Veil of Smog, Chapter 1

[Esprit15]

Sarah hands the man the disc. “I came here earlier and requested some security footage of an incident that I observed. I was instead given this footage from several days ago.”​

[Charybdis1618]

Sarah hands the man the disc. “I came here earlier and requested some security footage of an incident that I observed. I was instead given this footage from several days ago.”​

"I see. Can I see that card again? For the paperwork on my end. Yeah, lines up with the log. Now, what time and which location did you need the camera footage for? Right. One minute. Can I send it to an email? I'm out of blank CDs at the moment. Speaking of, I'm just going to wipe this one. You were authorized to receive some footage, so getting this one is a minor incident at most. Still, I do need to remand it. You have no other copies?"

[Charybdis1618]

Seemingly pleased with what he had found, Rufus pulled at the door handle as hard as he could.

The door swings open with a sharp snap. The smells of stale beer and decaying food waft out. Stepping in, you nearly walk into a stack of pizza boxes as tall as you, teetering precariously out of the doorway to the kitchenette. The living room to your right is a maze of bottle and can piles. Clouds of fruit flies condensate above the glass and aluminum mountains, occasionally raining down a fly descending to feed. The TV silently flickers a soap commercial at the cobweb-strewn rear wall. The apartment's occupant is nowhere to be seen.

[Esprit15]

“Nope,” she lies. Lowering her voice, she adds “Although, I did notice an incident on that disc that was concerning while watching it initially.” She looks around the room and pushes the door closed. “Have you noticed anything unusual going on at this hospital, sir? Or been requested to do anything that you thought was against protocol?”

[Xihirli]

The door swings open with a sharp snap. The smells of stale beer and decaying food waft out. Stepping in, you nearly walk into a stack of pizza boxes as tall as you, teetering precariously out of the doorway to the kitchenette. The living room to your right is a maze of bottle and can piles. Clouds of fruit flies condensate above the glass and aluminum mountains, occasionally raining down a fly descending to feed. The TV silently flickers a soap commercial at the cobweb-strewn rear wall. The apartment's occupant is nowhere to be seen.

Leif, having a thought about establishing a timeline, tries the remote to see if the TV will pause. Depending on the TV, it might say how long it’s been playing.
"How long has it been since you last saw the tenant?"

[Charybdis1618]

“Have you noticed anything unusual going on at this hospital, sir? Or been requested to do anything that you thought was against protocol?”

"No, no requests of the sort. A few more of my people than usual have been slipping up, but I suspect that's just because we've had a recent round of hiring. Speaking of, we're still hiring, if you know anyone interested? We'll pay you through training."

[Charybdis1618]

Leif, having a thought about establishing a timeline, tries the remote to see if the TV will pause. Depending on the TV, it might say how long it’s been playing.
"How long has it been since you last saw the tenant?"

The TV is live. It seems to be some cable channel showing a game show rerun, per the guide.

"He turned in his last rent check at the beginning of the month. Guy keeps to himself, otherwise. If he had friends, he might have generated a noise complaint once in a while."

[Esprit15]

"No, no requests of the sort. A few more of my people than usual have been slipping up, but I suspect that's just because we've had a recent round of hiring. Speaking of, we're still hiring, if you know anyone interested? We'll pay you through training."

The bureaucrat raises an eyebrow. "You say 'Slipping up.' In what ways? And whom?" Her eyes drift to the monitor(s) in the room. Was there anything interesting happening on-screen?

[Charybdis1618]

The bureaucrat raises an eyebrow. "You say 'Slipping up.' In what ways? And whom?" Her eyes drift to the monitor(s) in the room. Was there anything interesting happening on-screen?

"You know, rookie mistakes. Forgetting to sign off a check they actually did, using the wrong code, doors not locking properly. Basic things everyone messes up once in a while, especially when they're new."

[Esprit15]

“Uh huh… Humor me for a second. I want to show you something on the video I was given.” Her eyes glance up to the air vents in the room every few seconds, just in case. “It looked like more than just rookie mistakes.”

[Xihirli]

Leif checks out the guide to see what’s circled for this channel. It would be fair to assume that the time of disappearance was after one of the circled shows’ start.

[Charybdis1618]

“Uh huh… Humor me for a second. I want to show you something on the video I was given.” Her eyes glance up to the air vents in the room every few seconds, just in case. “It looked like more than just rookie mistakes.”

He watches the recording impassively. "Looks to me like the nurse saw a bed, and tiredness won. What's your point?"

[Esprit15]

The government worker raises an eyebrow. “How long have workers been falling asleep on the job like that? And are workers being allotted the appropriate amount of time between shifts?”

[Batcathat]

Rufus looked around, seemingly inspecting the apartment but actually using his glasses to look through the walls into the apartments above, below and next to the one they were in. Perhaps there was some entirely mundane reason for Mark Jameson not being home, but if it was connected to their mission, he might not be the only one.

[Charybdis1618]

The government worker raises an eyebrow. “How long have workers been falling asleep on the job like that? And are workers being allotted the appropriate amount of time between shifts?”

"Everyone's offered overtime as standard, but nobody has been forced to take it. They're still held to the rolling work limits as required. We're short at the moment. Half our guards transferred to other facilities."

[Charybdis1618]

Rufus looked around, seemingly inspecting the apartment but actually using his glasses to look through the walls into the apartments above, below and next to the one they were in. Perhaps there was some entirely mundane reason for Mark Jameson not being home, but if it was connected to their mission, he might not be the only one.

There is no visible magical signature on the walls or air vents, but there seems to be a fog hanging heavy in the air. It occludes the magical x-ray vision effect, leaving only silhouettes and vague shapes visible. However, opening the bedroom door you quickly find Jameson. First the smell of evacuated bowels washes over you, underwritten with something more discomforting. The magical fog grows heavier too. In the tiny bathroom off the bedroom, you find Jameson himself flopped on the tile floor. He is morbidly obese, and morbidly pale. His shaved head still glistens with sweat. The smell of morbidity claws at your sinuses. You can see unidentifiable fluid running in the grout of the tiles, long since solidified. His chest seems oddly convex, as if his ribcage buckled from the inside.

[Esprit15]

She nods. "Interesting. Any particular reason? I'm not very familiar with hospital work, but this all sounds... well, way more ramshackle than I would have expected."

[Charybdis1618]

She nods. "Interesting. Any particular reason? I'm not very familiar with hospital work, but this all sounds... well, way more ramshackle than I would have expected."

"We're an independent security contractor. Bracken provides services to many facilities in Washington and parts of Oregon. The hospital can give marching orders, of course, but otherwise has minimal involvement."

[Esprit15]

“Thank you. Anyways, it should be about 1pm earlier today. I’ll need the hour before and the hour after for the sleep clinic, including the observation room and any other associated rooms,” she says with forced politeness. Oh great, an independent contractor. The word was new but the practice was old. Whether it was numeri in Noviomagus Trevirorum or G4S workers in London, the most useless people to run into were always the guys who weren’t from the area, didn’t want to be there, and nevertheless had exactly the wrong amount of power for their job.

[Batcathat]

"Oh dear", Rufus mumbled, discreetly creating a heavily perfumed handkerchief and holding it up to his face, hopefully masking at least some of the smell. After walking over to the body, Rufus knelt next to it, with some effort – even if he was practically underfed compared to Jameson.

Turning his head towards caretaker, he said: "We have to notify the authorities and check for possible contagions, perhaps it would be best if you waited in your office?" He paused, trying to find a good argument. "It is important to show that you are in charge and in control of the situation in times of crisis, wouldn't you say?"

Mostly as a formality, he felt for a pulse or any other sign that Jameson was alive.

[Xihirli]

Leif paled and tried not to breathe through his nose as he rushed into the room with the body. He looked for any blood, any sign of foul play, though he decided not to touch the body.
Since that was a great way to get his DNA all over it.

[Charybdis1618]

Leif paled and tried not to breathe through his nose as he rushed into the room with the body. He looked for any blood, any sign of foul play, though he decided not to touch the body.
Since that was a great way to get his DNA all over it.

The room is in disarray, but in the way neglect tends to create. Nothing seems recently broken, tossed about, or otherwise indicative of violence or foul play.

The caretaker says "I've got to write him off the lease anyway. And write up an incident report. You'll call the cops when you're done? Also, this card good for contact info?"

[Charybdis1618]

“Thank you. Anyways, it should be about 1pm earlier today. I’ll need the hour before and the hour after for the sleep clinic, including the observation room and any other associated rooms,”

"The observation room doesn't have coverage. I can get you the hallway outside the room this other recording came from. One second..."

He pulls up the recording you showed him again, and checks the camera ID. "I'll wipe this recording and copy the ones you need onto the disk, ok?"

[Xihirli]

The room is in disarray, but in the way neglect tends to create. Nothing seems recently broken, tossed about, or otherwise indicative of violence or foul play.

The caretaker says "I've got to write him off the lease anyway. And write up an incident report. You'll call the cops when you're done? Also, this card good for contact info?"

Leif nodded, happy to hear that the caretaker was leaving. The next thing he was searching for was the sand from the hospital room.
"Let's see if our little sandman is upgrading to boogeyman..."

[Esprit15]

"The observation room doesn't have coverage. I can get you the hallway outside the room this other recording came from. One second..."

He pulls up the recording you showed him again, and checks the camera ID. "I'll wipe this recording and copy the ones you need onto the disk, ok?"

“That will be fine. Can I see the segment you’ll be putting on first? Not the whole thing? Just enough to know you’ll get the right time.”

[Batcathat]

"Yes, yes. We will contact the proper authorities", Rufus said, gesturing in a half-reassuring, half-dismissive fashion towards the caretaker. Looking at the body, Rufus wondered whether they should actually call the police to handle to body if nothing else, or if it would be better if it just... disappeared.

After using his cane to pull himself back to his feet, Rufus stepped closer to Leif and lowered his voice, in case the caretaker was still in hearing range. "There is something in the air, I can't get a good look at the other apartments. I don't know if our dearly departed here is the only one."

[Charybdis1618]

“That will be fine. Can I see the segment you’ll be putting on first? Not the whole thing? Just enough to know you’ll get the right time.”

"Oh, sure. Here, pull up that chair over there."

The insulated room camera shows you and Rufus entering the room, talking with Jeremy for a bit, then him falling asleep suddenly. Both of you also sway on your feet a bit, and walk more slowly out of the room. The hallway camera shows Dr. Kohler going in the observation room briefly once you began talking to Jeremy, but leaving again a moment later. He does so again towards the end of the hour's window of footage. Otherwise, a few people pass the door of the room, but none of them stop to listen or attempt to enter.

[Charybdis1618]

Leif nodded, happy to hear that the caretaker was leaving. The next thing he was searching for was the sand from the hospital room.
"Let's see if our little sandman is upgrading to boogeyman..."

The room itself is devoid of the remains of the particulate sand that you remember from the hospital. However, looking into Jameson's mouth you see some sort of translucent powder has caked into a slurry from the moisture of the orifice.

[Esprit15]

“Thank you. That’s the right segment. An hour before and after it and I can be out of your hair.”

[Charybdis1618]

“Thank you. That’s the right segment. An hour before and after it and I can be out of your hair.”

He raises an eyebrow.

"You were approved for the other footage, so clearly you're authorized to have this. I'm copying it now. That said, why? Nothing here looks suspicious or out of the ordinary."