Log:Magic finds Bee

Guilt Complex 2013/08/08 	 Bee Sasha Rashmika

14

Champions Mush - Thursday, August 08, 2013, 6:24 AM

Bee has commandeered the workout room for its holographic projectors, displaying evidence in multiple cases in the air like a massive bulltin board. Bomb damage is here. Museum pieces there. A melted vault door. A derailed train. A bomb damaged hospital. A mugging. Five eviscerated bodies around a crater. All float in the room like decorations on a christmas tree while Bee walks between them.

Sasha wanders through the door to the workout room. He has a towel flung over one shoulder and is presently looking down at at a battered PDA. After a moment, the youth looks up with a puzzled expression as he partakes the scene before him.

Bee hops over to the control panel and shuts the display down. "Oh! I'm sorry, is it morning? I kept working after Regan and Vicki went to bed because I need less sleep and ... and you don't care, do you? I'll get out of your way."

Sasha blinks at this flood of speech then smiles warmly. In a fairly thick Russian accent, the youth murmurs, "It is afternoon, mam'selle. I apologize. I should have checked to see it the room was in use." He looks at the now bare room. "You need not stop on my account. Oh! And I am Sasha."

Sasha 

This youth stands about 5'10" tall and has a wiry, gymnast's build. His hair is dyed a raven black with a burst of red in the front. He has a warm clear complexion with a slight scar on his upper lip under the center of his nose. His eyes are a pale glacial blue. Overall, his physical attributes make him as pleasing to the eye as most professional models. 

''He is dressed in a white A-line shirt over a pair of white highcut workout shorts. A pair of flip flops accent his feet. He has multiple tattoos on his left arm as well as his back (see +finger for image file). A few faint scars can be seen peeking out underneath the shirt on his back. His fingernails are painted black and two thin leather bands circle his left wrist. ''

''He seems very self-possessed for someone his age, but smiles easily as he meets people's gaze. His gaze is intense, but does not linger long on anyone or anything. ''

Bee finally really looks at Sasha and the corners of her mouth curl up in a hint of a smile. "I'm called Bee," she says as she offers Sasha her hand.

Sasha takes your offered hand and gently, almost caressingly, shakes your hand. "I think I have seen you on the news." His brow furrows. "Or was it at the coffee shop?" He shrugs slightly. "No matter as it is a pleasure to meet you in any and all cases, no?"

Bee says, "Sorry for all the clutter, but the case I'm working on involves magic and if I have a holes in my knowledge of the world, magic is one of the biggest." Bee doesn't hurry to let go of Sasha's hand.

Sasha nods slightly. "Well, my Baba is a vedun, hmm, a wise woman you would say." The youth shows no signs of releasing your hand either. "Maybe I can help? I used to drink in her stories."

Bee hesitates and starts to pull her hand away unless Sasha grips it. "It is not a ... 'pleasant' case.

Sasha seems to reluctantly let you draw your hand away but does not stop you. With a soft but slightly dark chuckle, the youth says, "I have not always led a pleasant life. I, hmm, doss in Harrisburg after all. I think I can handle it."

Bee nods and turns to the walk back to the control panel. Leaning forward, she programs in some instructions, the looks back at Sasha over her shoulder. "I warned you," she says ominously, before hitting the final button to brink up a single image: a vault door melted by acid. Before the door is a pile of something else that has also been destroyed by acid.

Sasha blinks for a moment then leans towards the image for a moment. In a dispassionate tone, he murmurs, "A guard?" as he pionts at the something else.

Bee says, "If the splatter pattern is correct, he is the source of the acid. Pitting on the intact portions of the door are consistant with a blood splatter of a man with a slit throat, except, of course, that he was spraying acid instead of blood."

Sasha nods as he tilts his head to one side in a bird-like manner. "What makes you suspect this is magic? Could it not be some unfortunate mutant or biotech weapon at work?"

Bee says, "If he was a meta, he wouldn't have been dissolved by his own blood. If he was the victim of a biotech weapon, there would be chemical residue and their isn't ... other than the fact that he has acid where he should have blood."

Sasha shrugs slightly. "Granted. Can you tell anything about the blade that made the cut?" He draws a finger across his throat as he speaks.

Bee says, "Such as what?"

Sasha gestures with his hands. "Straight blade, curved, deeper on one side than the other, sharp or jagged, I think forensics can determine that." He glances at the image again. "Of course, the body /is/ in poor dahpe, so..."

Bee says, "The only reason we even know it was his throat that was cut was by the height of the splatter. Most of the forensics has been, literally, soaked in acid."

Sasha smiles slightly. "I should have guessed that, but grifters are seldom criminologists, yes?" He turns to look over at you. "I would guess based on my Baba's stories that if it is magick it would be Black, Blood, or Alchemy in that order." He gestures back over his shoulder. "Leaving the body indicates a contempt for society and the rules of normal behavior, so I would bet on Black magic."

Bee pulls her goggles up to her forehead to rub at her eyes. The eyes revealed are a pretty brown except that the 'whites' are honey yellow. Her eyelashes are long and black. Putting the goggles back in place she says, "and knowing that it is black magic tells us what?"

Sasha asks, "What was taken from the vault?"

Bee pulls up another image. "Some gems, but not the most valuable ones, some ritual items - blades and such - but again with no regard for value ... and every single piece of jade no matter what form the jade took; even a rectal plug."

Sasha nods slightly at the list of items. "According to my Baba, jade is associated with strength and durability even longevity so I would imagine something is being, hmm, 'constructed' that needs a great deal of jade." He looks back at the image. "I would guess that the bile of betrayal was used to alter the victim's blood. He was betrayed by his companions or even servants perhaps. Its a powerful evil source to draw upon aided the transmuation of the blood." He turns back to you. "Its easy to lay the blame on DEMON for this. They are a group that thrives on the evil after all."

Sasha adds, "But DEMON hardly a 'lock' on the use of black magic."

Bee frowns, pulling up another file. "But the acid wasn't bile. It wasn't a steroidal acid at all. Bile wouldn't have done anything to metal." she sighs and starts to pinch the bridge of her nose again, but doesn't move the goggles this time and simply lets her hand drop. "The more time I spend on this, the more confused I get."

Sasha smiles slightly. "Magic uses correspondence. A metaphor is as good or better than precision of language. The betrayal filled his heart with bile? Why not make the bile of hatred into an actual acid, no?"

"Sooooo ..." Bee says slowly as she adjusts her thinking. "Just any person would not have been sufficient for the acid victim. Betrayal itself was an ingredient in the ritual?"

Sasha bows slightly to you with a grin. "Exactly." His grins fades. "Sacrifice is not about logic. It is about emotion, the more powerful the better."

Sasha closes his eyes for a moment. "What a powerful conduit is the fear and pain and loss a victim feels. How /tasty/ to the creaturs that power black magic."

Bee pulls up five files, all biographies, then walks away from the contol panel to look them over. At Sasha's 'poem', she freezes and turns *very* slowly toward him while just as slowly reaching for a pouch at her hip. "What was that again?" she asks warily.

Bee thinks .oO (Oh shit. This could be one of the killers. I knew his pretty bad-boy look was too inviting to be true.)

Sasha sighs softly. "Something my Baba told me about black magic. Some of her stories were darker than dark. I still have nightmares about Baba Yaga." He shudders. "Black magic corrupts. But it is easily offered. A simple path so long as you do not value your own soul."

Bee says, "And what do *you* value?"

Sasha looks over at you with a slight smile. "Myself, my friends, and excellent vodka." He adds after a beat. "But I digress but it will hopefully give you an insight into the mind of those who practice the Dark Arts."

Bee starts to walk back toward the control panel (perhaps to close the files she just opened), but reconsiders. If this is one of the bad guys, that doesn't mean he is above showing off and telling more than he should. If not, well, no reason to end things prematurely anyway.

"When talking about jade," Bee says, "you said longevity and *durability*, not hardness; right?"

Sasha nods. "Correct. If you want hardness use oak. Preferrably petrified. Makes it hard but flexible." A faint smile plays about his lips.

Bee gestures toward the five files: Penny Wong, age 20: Student at CBSU studying finance and public policy. Sarah Mulligan, age 33: Public Servant - Virgnia department of public health - records section administrator. Francis Ramirez, age 26: Runs a web design and programming business from his home. Marcus Ablett, age 45: Owns an auction house specialising in objets-d'art. James Pattinson, age 28: Unemployed - normally lives with parents.

"These five people were kidnapped in circumstances thematically similar to the vault robbery," Bee says, "big danger with widespread death as a possibility, on a big highly public scale while an equally ham-handed 'slash' sledge-hammer-style operation follows in a smaller scale to get a possibly magical objective. The use of magic over technology when technology would have better served. In this case, all five kidnap victims at the hospital bombings have Osteogenesis imperfecta: brittle bones."

Sasha looks over the file. "Intriguing. I wonder if someone is planning on using them as test subjects fro some ritual. If so, it might indicate that the person ultimately behind all of this has a similar weakness." He holds the file out. "Of course, it could be for another reason we are unaware of. Perhaps the auctioneer has an item that is needed, but why then kidnp the others, hmm?"

Bee says, "Well, at the least, you have cleared up one thing for me; the why behind the big disasters that call attention to the crimes instead of hide them."

Sasha nods. "Terror, fear, and dread. These are emotions practitioners of black magic, especially groups, thrive on. Create the proper atmosphere dontcha know."

Bee says, "Thank you, .... you know, I'm almost positive you gave me your name, but I can't remember it. May I call upon you if I have further questions?"

Sasha smiles slightly. "Certainly, Mam'selle Bee. And I am Sasha." He rattles off a contct number for you. "So, can I have the room now? I like practicing yoga in the waterfall program."

Bee says "Of course." She closes the files, raises her left wrist to her mouth and says, "Base, one to port home." A few seconds later, his disappears with a crack of displaced air.

Sasha murmurs after you have left in Russian, "What an intriguing puzzle you have set before me, mam'selle Bee. I will have to look into it." He sighs. "But first, exercise. Father would be /so/ proud." He walks over to the controls and brings up the waterfall program. When it activates he goes over to a spot near the pond and begins to stretch in prep for doing yoga.

Rashmika runs in the door, looking every bit the harried but fashionable assistant in her yellow "Crimson Viper" sunglasses. She looks around, taking in Sasha and the waterfall and mutters "Damn," a little too loudly.

Sasha looks back at Rashmika from between his legs in the Downward Dog position. He raises an eyebrow as he says, "Excuse me mam'selle? You are looking for someone?"

Rashmika doesn't have Bee's waist, but is still fairly attractive. She smiles at Sasha and says, "This may sound totally bogus, but you wouldn't have happened to have seen a superhero in black and yellow recently, have you?"

Sasha satnds up from the pose in he was in and arches his back to stretch it. "Yes, Mam'selle Bee 'poofed' out of here a few minutes ago. You just missed her."

Rashmika sighs, walks over to the control panel and pulls up a few files (on the control panel, *not* floating in the air the way Bee was doing it). With a sigh, she says, "The ditz forgot to password lock the files she was working on." A few clicks later, she mutters, "There. Fixed." Looking back up to Sasha, she asks, "When you say 'poofed' do you mean she talked into her wrist first?"

Sasha nods. "Yes. And then 'poof' she is gone."

Bee says, "Do you remember exactly what she said?"

Sasha screws up his face in thought as he begins to do a handstand. "Ah yes. Base, one to phone home I think." HIs brow furrows. "Or am I getting it mixed up with a movie. You know, that really old one with ugly little alien. Star Wars?"

Rashmika pulls out her PDA, speed dials. "Hey guys? Is Bee there? Thanks. Tell her I have those files she wanted but she has to sit still long enough for me to give them to her. Thanks, I will. Bye."

As Sasha listens he begins to oontort one leg down as if trying to touch his head with his foot.

Rashmika hangs up and puts away the phone, but doesn't rush out the door immediately, pausing a bit to watch Sasha's efforts.

With effort and time the youth manages to touch his head with his foot in the end. He then slowlyly lifts it back up then lets himself slowly collapse onto the ground. "Bozhe moi, I finally did it!"

Rashmika applauds. "Could you teach me to do things like that?"

Sasha says from his prone position, "I would be happy to try, mam'selle. But not I think today. My tendons are vibrating." He does sound pleased with himself though.

Rashmika grins. "Business wear and stilletoes are not exactly conductive to yoga anyway." She looks Sasha over, then asks out of the blue, "Did she ask you out?"

Sasha looks over at you. "No, she did not. I do not think heroes date grifters normally in any case." He tries and barely succeeds at a kippup but makes it to his feet. "Still need to work on that," he murmurs seemingly to himself.

Rashmika tsks, "As I said, brilliant but also a bit of a ditz. How does tomorrow for a late lunch sound? My treat."

Sasha grins. "It sounds very nice. But can I get your name first? Unless you wish me to refer to you as Mam'selle Honey." He points to his eyes. "The eyes you know."

Rashmika pulls off the yellow sunglasses. "Most people don't notice when I have my sunglasses on. Most of us at Hive Inc have them." She hands Sasha a card. Rashmika Ghandi: assistant operations manager, Hive Inc., Quinn Towers.

Sasha takes the card and nods. "A pleasure Mam'selle Rashmika." He adds after a beat. "Nowhere too fancy, yes? My wardrobe is limited."

Rashmika pauses, perhaps literal minded enough to imagine Sasha in a limited wardrobe, then says after a beat. "Flying Saucer for burgers?"

Sasha nods. "As my friend Alexander would say, Wunderbar!"

Rashmika holds up the file folder in her hands and turns to rush out the door. "I'll see you then!" She runs pretty fast in stilletoes.