dictated | mars investigations, line one, please hold.

[earthtomars]

[ There's the sound of paper shuffling around, the pages of the book being rapidly flipped through before the thing's just slammed down onto a dresser regardless. Veronica shouts at first, ] Okay! Empty book! No means of answers, patience wearing thin! Oh boy.

[ Her voice meanders, and it's clear she has no idea that she's actually being recorded right now, just kind of ranting to herself as she stands akimbo over the journal. ]

You know, it's really one thing to roofie and kidnap a girl, but not even a handcuff to the bed? Locked drawers, giant safe in the corner? Bear traps? They bought me clothes? Kind of creepy, dudes, kind of creepy! [ Maybe it's not her first kidnapping. But then again, maybe it's not exactly something an 18-year-old girl just gets herself used to. ]

[ Her breath is puffing a little, almost panicked, but when she speaks up again, her voice is resolute and decided. ] We're doing two things, Veronica. We're getting out of this room, and then we're knockin' in some doors. Okay. [ She claps. ] Here we go! Chins high, eyes front, karate - chop.



( ooc: feel free to meet her either via the network or in the hallway! maybe not knocking in doors but at least knocking with some certainty on them. maybe trying to pick a lock or two. )

Comments

dictated;

[thiefoflight]

Did you just power kick a door?

dictated;

[earthtomars]

Nnnnope. [ There's kind of a strained noise. ] Yep. The doors are solid! Oh, the doors are solid!

[ A beat, for her to suddenly look around her room. ] Wait, what? Who's talking to me?

dictated;

[keelahs]

Welcome to Paradisa. [ Oozing with sarcasm. ]

dictated;

[earthtomars]

[ Sardonicism? Undeterring! ]

[ She puts on a Southern belle voice. ] And I'm just ever so blessed to be here!

[ohrot]

[It's been a few days now since Anne's own arrival to the castle, but when she leaves her own room she still does it with her pistol on one hip and her cutlass on the other. She's heard from her friends here that this place is safe most days, but she can't help but still be on edge. It'll take some adjusting and until she has, she stays armed.

And maybe it's a good thing, now that she sees this girl apparently trying to break into her bedroom. They're of a similar age, Anne thinks, and by the look of things she isn't having much luck with those picks of hers. Amused, Anne cross her arms over her chest and leans a shoulder against the wall, settling in to watch and see how her progress goes.]

[earthtomars]

[ It takes about a full eight seconds for Veronica to even notice Anne standing near her, and her gaze flickers up, double-takes, and swoops out her lockpicks, fumbling with them and even dropping one on the ground as she smiles unbothered and charmingly up at Anne. ] I seem to have dropped something next to my dignity.

[ Caught in the act. I must be losing my finesse. ]

[ Nice outfit. One could almost call it pirate chic, or perhaps less-than-humble bar wench. Although bar wenches don't generally tend to carry. One of her fists goes to her hip, the other slipping into her bag with the lockpicks. ] Gun! ... Sword. You're not part of one of those crazy steampunk kid brigades, are you now? Don't tell me. It'll be our secret.

[rightchoices]

[ When Lee happens upon Veronica in the hallway, textbooks tucked beneath his arm, his expression cycles through a few quick emotions: surprise, then confusion, before it finally settles on something like vague concern. Is she trying to pick a lock? ]

You get locked out?

[ He didn't recognize her, but there were plenty of folks in the castle that he couldn't identify on sight - it didn't necessarily mean she was a new arrival. ]

[earthtomars]

[ Blessed be the day that my alibi arrives before I can even get the chance to offer it up. ]

[ Briefly, Veronica smiles up at Lee, tilting her head at the lock afterward and undeterred from her pathway into the room - empty, maybe, like so many of the others, but potentially useful. ] You'd be surprised how often I just leave the key right in the dresser. You try to keep something safe and it just plays the ol' hide and seek on you.

[dictated]

[defyingfrigidity]

[... Okay wow that voice and the way this girl's psyching herself up sounds. Pretty familiar. She almost sounds like...]

... Anna?

[dictated]

[earthtomars]

[ You can practically hear the sarcastic bat of her eyelashes in her voice, playful. ] Or whoever you want me to be.

[ Okay, so maybe not Anna. But who was the mystery guest, who was Anna, and most importantly, why was I being confused for her? ] You'd be surprised how often I get that. Lose a friend?

action;

[themuse]

[Kate's getting used to seeing some strange things in the castle, even though she's been there a few days. Appearing sandwiches are one thing, her fiance being in a coma a whole other.

She's been dutifully by his side since her own arrival, except on occasion of exploring the castle and helping Alexis get her bearings. So finding a young woman, about Alexis' age, picking a lock in a hallway gives her pause. Kate crosses her arms, a single eyebrow raised as she watches her quietly before speaking.]

Lose your key?

action;

[earthtomars]

[ So it looks as if all the rooms without the nameplates, unmarked, they're all unoccupied. Waiting for more captives? Setting up camp? They're all leading me nowhere, but, hey, a girl needs to cover all her bases, doesn't she? Living the dream, bases loaded, our very best smash hit up at bat. Will she hit the home run? Or will everyone go home empty-hand - ]

-ed? [ I've gotta stop daydreaming. ] Shucks, can't blame someone for trying. [ She draws the picks out and tucks them back into her bag, giving a false laugh. ] I've got no idea what these do.

Dictated

[sworn]

Do be cautious of whose doors you "knock in." Not everyone will appreciate an invasion of their privacy.

Dictated

[earthtomars]

Really? Is that the policy around here? Because I think they forewent that necessity around the time they, oh, I don't know, kidnapped me.

Dictated

[the_effect_she_has]

[... Well, Katniss was impressed. Definitive action. Well done, Veronica.]

We'd prefer if you didn't kick down our doors, but if you have questions, I have answers.

Dictated

[earthtomars]

I doubt it. [ Because I have an awful lot of questions to pin down, and the forefront of them nobody seems to be able to answer. ] But I thought it would catch somebody's interest.

[action]

[fearbringer]

[Is that a knock on his door?

... Is that somebody trying to fiddle with his lock?

Well, that just won't do. Pitch stalks over to the door and opens it, well aware that whoever's on the other side might not even be able to see him.

Whether he's visible to her or not, Veronica might be surprised at what's in the room behind him. The door isn't open wide enough to see much, but it looks like a darkened cave, with stone walls and floor.]

[OOC: Info on what sorts of characters will be able to see/sense him!]

[action]

[earthtomars]

[ Was it just me or did I just see - ]

Hello?

[ She calls out into the blackness, digging immediately into her bag for a flashlight. Her gut tells her to stop, it's a poor idea, almost foreboding in a way. Her curiosity's always been the thing to get her in the end. Luckily, I haven't run out of lives yet. Count them: All nine. ] Is anyone in here?

[ She takes a sly step in, shining the light all around with her hand lingering on the handle. She mutters to herself: ] Come out, come out, wherever you are.

dictated;

[raisingdad]

Are you trapped in one of the rooms?

[It hasn't been but a few days since Alexis herself woke up here. She had woken up in the courtyard though. She can't imagine the kind of panic she would have been in if she had woken up trapped in a strange room.]

dictated;

[earthtomars]

[ Veronica puffs out a breath, blows her hair out of her face. ]

Trapped? No. Pissed off about it, on the other hand? Color me that one. I guess I get a little jumpy when I'm dumped in a room with silk sheets and the scent of fresh longing in the air.

Action forever and ever

[indirectcause]

[Wow, Veronica, way to not knock in a door. Ben will just open his, aching his eyebrow. They're getting crazier in this place, crazier by the day, he's decided. ]

...Are you trying to karate chop my door?

Action until the end of time

[earthtomars]

[ She - may have. ]

[ Her jaw hangs slightly agape for a moment before she saves face, hands curling into mock fists as she hops from foot to foot like an exaggerated boxer. ] Fists of fury. [ She stops bouncing long enough to peek out from behind her hands. ] Never doubt the power.

[Dictated]

[therealrisette]

[You know what mostly caught Rise's attention here? That this girl seems to actually have some experience with kidnappings. Which is something she can definitely relate to. If she had realized what was going on way back when she first arrived here, she definitely would have been frustrated, too.]

So it's not your first time, either...?

[Wow, is it just her, or did that sound really insensitive?]

I mean... being taken somewhere! This place isn't exactly normal, though...

[In a way it's better than most kidnappings? But then, that's going to be hard to explain at first. Not when this other girl is all fired up like this. Kind of reminds her of Chie...]

[Dictated]

[earthtomars]

[ Veronica's not one to beat around the bush when it comes to the big, mildly intimidating topics. Scratch that, Veronica's one to take a lengthy stroll around the bush, to jig aplenty near and about the bush but never exactly making her way round unless she really, absolutely has to. ]

[ She can hear this girl hoping for some kind of kinship in their shared experiences, but when she's getting these absurd flashbacks, Aaron Echolls' searing eyes in the back seat of her car, all she's got are jokes. ]

Taken to Chuck E. Cheese? [ Slyly: ] Red light district? [ And then excitedly: ] Space camp?!

[assassino]

[Dictated in that usual heavy Italian accent :') Teasing, flirting:]

Did you want to be handcuffed to the bed?

[earthtomars]

[ Welcome to the Dirty Italian Club, sir, please take your number, seats back, trays in upright position, if you catch my drift. ]

Hey, I'm into some kinky stuff, but leaving a girl abandoned in a nice hotel room with all her clothes on and all means of escape? Whoof! [ She fans at herself, unseen over the network. ] Talk about too hot to handle.