unknownseas | WEEK 1

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week 1

WEEK 1

Well, you've now met the brains of the operation, as well as the shockingly nice-looking young lady in charge of day-to-day business. Now all that's left is to get used to your accommodations - there's 24 other people in similar shoes to yours to meet in this building, you know! And who knows how much longer you might have them...

The daily routine in the facility quickly becomes obvious - the only way to tell time moment to moment is to check the strange device The Professor gave you, but at the same time every day the lights in and out of the facility go up, and at the same time every night they go down. Otherwise, it's almost maddening sometimes, how little happens in here. At least you have a few rooms with enough to hopefully keep you occupied. Who knows what secrets they might hold? And there's always that vending machine, if you can find something that fits in the coin slot...

MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Peace Week! Enjoy it while it lasts. Remember, office hours for The Professor's Assistant are over here if you're interested, while regains can be deposited over here! ]

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Water, milk, soda, seltzer...pretty much anything that won't get you drunk. Though, scientifically speaking, it's often debated whether or not it's a good idea to have one. After all, when you're a teenager, you always want to do things that aren't allowed...

[ She sounds like she's speaking from experience, there. ]

[...

Maybe it's a good thing she talks so much, because Therion only understands about one word out of each ten she says.]

...I'll have two ales. And salted pork.

[And he orders that with his barley bread.]

That's the spirit! Actually, that sounds yummy, I should put pork on top of my noodles too next time...

[ Maybe he'll loosen up a bit after some drinks? He seems a bit thin, so maybe he can't hold his liquor... ]

Anyway, I'm sorry for my manners. I'm Ema Skye. I'm part of the forensic investigation team for the Los Angeles Police Department. You know, like CSI?

[ She's...probably going to have to explain a bit more than that, huh? ]

...

[He sighs, and then states flatly:]

No, I don't know. [And, to clarify:] What anything you just said is.

Yeah, I kind of thought not, actually, after I said it out loud...

[ Okay, maybe we should start from the beginning-- ]

So let's say, just as an example, that a burglar comes to Joe Schmoe's house. Someone breaks into his safe in the middle of the night and takes all of the money inside and runs, and nobody saw the culprit at all. My job is to help narrow down who did it. You with me so far?

[Well, well, well. Way to be relevant to Therion's interests.]

How, if no one saw anything?

[ A-ha. Now she's got his attention! She can't help but mentally fist-pump. ]

Well, even if no one actually sees the crime, it's very possible, even if the burglar is extra careful. There are little traces that the criminal tends to leave behind, even if he doesn't know it, and with those, I can usually figure out important information. For instance, let's see, little more details...let's say that it was raining and he left some footprints in the mud. I can use the size of the footprint to figure out the general height of the person, and measure how deep the footprint is in the ground to figure out his weight. And just like that, I've got a general idea of the guy's body type.

But I can do better than that.

[Ah, yeah. Grudgingly, he nods a little at her example. He's dabbled in some of that logic himself, though he definitely didn't glean anything that specific out of his casual investigation in Atlasdam.

Her last remark all but begs the question, but damn him, he's curious.]

What do you mean?

[That she could figure out a man's body type just from footprints is already slightly nerve-wracking.]

[ She's got him! ]

Take a look at the inside of your fingers for me. Close look. See those little patterns on the tips?

[ She shows him hers, just for good measure. ]

Something interesting about fingerprints and bare footprints...actually, two interesting things. First and foremost, every single person in the world has a completely unique set of them. Sure, you'll find common patterns, but even two brothers, even two twin brothers are going to have a different handprint. Not only that, from the moment you're brought into this world to the moment you're out of it, your fingerprint will never, ever change. There's only one way you can get rid of your fingerprint, and that's by permanent damage to your hand.

Now, of course, you might think to yourself, a good burglar would never touch something that would leave a visible print, right? I mean, it's not hard not to touch ink, or wax, or something like that when you're at a place you're trying to steal from. And if you don't leave a visible print, I won't be able to find it, right? Right?

[ There's a huge grin on her face that just screams "wrong". ]

[Ema is BLOWING HIS MIND RN]

...Right...

[Therion knows, from long experience and also more recent events, when he's being led into a trap. Unfortunately, there's no way out that he can see. She's Gonna Tell Him.]

Well, if you'd like to know the right answer to that question, you'll just have to stick around for lunch with me, won't you?

[ As her noodles approach on the conveyor belt-- ]

Gosh, these look good...

[Oh, damn it. She got him good. Therion pulls his scarf up again to mask a long exhalation as his own meal comes down. Also, more importantly, the ale. He's going to need it.]

Maybe that's why the Professor's keeping away from here. So, whatever we do, there won't be any of these invisible traces to find.

[He collects his tray and goes to find a table without waiting for Ema. She knows she's got a captive audience, he doesn't have to let her gloat about it.]

Edited 2020-04-06 22:56 (UTC)

That could very well be...the place seems immaculately clean anyway, but if he was here, he could leave prints, or hair, or even fibers from his clothing. Even the smallest traces can prove totally vital in an investigation.

[ As she follows him over to his table, she already can't help picking at her noodles with a fork. She really must have been hungry-- ]

But unfortunately, there's only so much I can do without having access to my tools. If I had my bag, I'd be able to do some more in-depth searching, but that Professor must have taken it from me before I woke up yesterday...

[ A sore spot... ]

If it turns up, I'll be able to at least search doorknobs and that vault for prints. It might not be much, but it could prove to be a boon.

[Not like someone like him cares about manners. He sits and starts in on his first ale.]

What kind of tools let you search for these... prints?

[It's easier to talk about her skills when they're hypothetically being used against someone else. ...Not that he was putting himself in the example burglar's shoes or anything.]

Would you be able to improvise something?

Ah, right, I was getting to that! So here's how the science behind it works, if you're curious.

[ As she sits down and starts to dig in... ]

So your body naturally produces a pretty small layer of sweat and oil on the surface of your skin. And when you touch something, be it a tabletop or an object or pretty much anything solid, the oils from your skin are transferred to that object, and they imprint the shape of your fingertips onto them, along with any of the ridges. They leave a "latent print", which is completely invisible without the proper chemicals! But the smoother the surface is, and the fewer pores it has, that latent print will be much easier to discover, and much cleaner to pull.

Now, there's a white powder that we use in the field that will cling right to these oils, and it's primarily made with a chemical called "aluminum". We brush the aluminum powder over the surface, and lightly blow it away...

[ As she blows the steam away from her noodles... ]

And what remains should look just like those patterns on the culprit's fingertips. After that, depending on whether the surface is rough or smooth, we can pick up the print with tape or with another chemical called silicone...

I would do that until I have all of the prints, and then examine them to see which ones match up. If I have two sets of fingerprints that match, I know they belong to the same person! Simple, right?

[Well. Like. If you take out all the tough words like "aluminum," it actually isn't that hard to follow.]

Could it work with other powders? There's no chalk or sand here, but...

[He plays his fingers idly up and down his glass. Once he realizes what he's doing, he swipes at the condensation, then looks at the space where his thumb was resting. Like she said, any latent print he might have left is completely invisible.]

They cooked your food with spices, right? They powder those. Would it work if you got your hands on some of that?

Hm....you're on the right track, but I don't think just any powder will do it. For example, sand wouldn't do it, and chalk probably wouldn't either, if we crushed it by hand. We'd need to make sure it was extra-fine, so that it gives us as accurate of a print as possible. Otherwise, it won't stick properly to the oils...

[ She tries to balance her silverware on the side of her pointer finger, watching it dip... ]

When I was a kid, I used to make my own powder from scratch with my sister Lana. We needed cornstarch and some soot from a candle. If I could find either of those, I might be able to make something work...

Hm. Maybe there's starch in the laundering room, but all the lights are powered by that... lightning in a box stuff. So no candles that I'm aware of.

[He'll understand this teck naw ledgey thing eventually.]

Would soot from any kind of fire do?

I think it should. Not that I'm advising starting any fires for my sake just yet, because we'll also need an airtight container to put it in to make sure any moisture doesn't get inside, but as long as we have those two ingredients in equal measure, it's something, even if it's not perfect.

...All right. Maybe I'll look into that.

[Airtight container, starch, soot. An easy enough list to remember. Therion swigs more of his ale and finally starts in on his actual food.]

Oh really? If you could help me make some, I'll absolutely show you all about how it works first-hand! I think you'll find it fascinating. Maybe you could be my assistant and learn some tricks of the trade yourself!

[ And a second pair of hands never hurt nobody nohow... ]

[He huffs a laugh through his nose.]

I'm a little old for a prentice, but sure. I'm not opposed to learning something new.

Then we'll make a toast!

[ She reaches across the table and borrows his second mug of ale, if only to hold it out for him to clink glasses. ]

To the start of a new professional relationship?

...

[For a moment, he hesitates, and it looks like he might actually refuse the toast. But then, with an odd, wry look, Therion gives in and clinks his mug to. Well. His. Ema best not think she can steal from him.]

Let's hope it's short-lived.

Oh, come on, you say that now, but by the time this is over, you'll be upset that you don't know more. Or, at least, that's how it was when I first started learning about it.

[ She slides his ale back over to him; she wasn't stealing! ]

Just a shame you won't be able to see the kind of things we do in the crime lab. That's where the real fun is. But field work is pretty valuable, too, and it is where the bulk of your time on the job is...

(no subject)

bolderfell - 2020-04-08 01:35 (UTC) - Expand

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