She parks her car in the parking lot, gravel crunching on asphalt. She looks in the rear view mirror to check her hair and makeup in the light of the early-morning sun. She steps out. She finally looks where she's going.
And it seems that Verna Gardner's heart has temporarily lodged itself in her throat.
It's a strange sensation when your world comes crashing down. Mangled, like that door.
Perhaps thieves broke in and stole everything, in which case Friday may have been her last day. They secured funding for the next year, but replacing all the lab equipment would eat through that. Might require more than that.
The assistants would be the first to go. It would make sense.
The way she works it up in her mind, a drug addict or a gang of them must have broken into the place to steal what they could, just to fuel their habit. In all likelihood, it was something like that. They were some ignorant, short-sighted idiots who might have glanced at the blackboards full of formulae and sketches and could never understand their importance. They were the kind of people who shouldn't even be allowed in the presence of Dr. Andrássy's genius.
The first thing she does is get back in the car. She tries René's phone -- straight to voicemail.
"Dr. Jacobs? This is Verna. Please call me back. Someone has broken into the lab," she says to the machine, trying to sound as put-together as she can about it. "I don't know what to do. The door is... well, it's wide open. It needs fixed immediately. I'll be waiting for your call."
She then tries Dr. Andrássy's -- straight to voicemail. And this time, it's a bit harder for her to remain emotionless. The tone sounds, and she has to spend a couple seconds sitting there in her car trying to think of what to say. She's never called him before, and that's tension enough. But now, a terrifying thought comes to mind. What if he was here when they did this?
"Dr. Andrássy. It's Verna. There's been a... a break-in. The door looks like it's been torn down. Please call me back." Because I need to know that you're okay.
She tries to call again. And again.
Then she calls the police. Because the door has been busted open, there may have been a burglary, and it just wouldn't do for the lab to be turned into a refuge for homeless people overnight. So she gives them a report of what she can see, and what she thinks those doors were meant to protect. She tries to make it very clear to whomever will listen that this is not just some warehouse with a few thousand dollars worth of goods within -- this is an important scientific installation.
She also makes it clear to whomever will listen that she can't reach her boss. That her boss would work in the lab alone late at night. That she is afraid.
But Verna is not so much afraid for herself. After practically begging the police to come, she grabs her purse, arms herself with a can of Mace from inside it (because the culprits could still be in there) and goes to take a closer look at that door. What could possibly cause that kind of damage?
Noel @ 7:56PM
[Perception 3 + Investigation 2 = What happened here?!?!]
Roll: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 5, 10) ( success x 1 )
Noel @ 8:03PM
[Perception 3 + Science 4 = Fermi estimation of forces involved]
Roll: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 7, 7, 7, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 6 )
Noel @ 8:06PM
[7 successes]
Noel @ 8:07PM
[Perception 3 + Investigation 2 = Examining the door frame]
Roll: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 5, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )
And it seems that Verna Gardner's heart has temporarily lodged itself in her throat.
It's a strange sensation when your world comes crashing down. Mangled, like that door.
Perhaps thieves broke in and stole everything, in which case Friday may have been her last day. They secured funding for the next year, but replacing all the lab equipment would eat through that. Might require more than that.
The assistants would be the first to go. It would make sense.
The way she works it up in her mind, a drug addict or a gang of them must have broken into the place to steal what they could, just to fuel their habit. In all likelihood, it was something like that. They were some ignorant, short-sighted idiots who might have glanced at the blackboards full of formulae and sketches and could never understand their importance. They were the kind of people who shouldn't even be allowed in the presence of Dr. Andrássy's genius.
The first thing she does is get back in the car. She tries René's phone -- straight to voicemail.
"Dr. Jacobs? This is Verna. Please call me back. Someone has broken into the lab," she says to the machine, trying to sound as put-together as she can about it. "I don't know what to do. The door is... well, it's wide open. It needs fixed immediately. I'll be waiting for your call."
She then tries Dr. Andrássy's -- straight to voicemail. And this time, it's a bit harder for her to remain emotionless. The tone sounds, and she has to spend a couple seconds sitting there in her car trying to think of what to say. She's never called him before, and that's tension enough. But now, a terrifying thought comes to mind. What if he was here when they did this?
"Dr. Andrássy. It's Verna. There's been a... a break-in. The door looks like it's been torn down. Please call me back." Because I need to know that you're okay.
She tries to call again. And again.
Then she calls the police. Because the door has been busted open, there may have been a burglary, and it just wouldn't do for the lab to be turned into a refuge for homeless people overnight. So she gives them a report of what she can see, and what she thinks those doors were meant to protect. She tries to make it very clear to whomever will listen that this is not just some warehouse with a few thousand dollars worth of goods within -- this is an important scientific installation.
She also makes it clear to whomever will listen that she can't reach her boss. That her boss would work in the lab alone late at night. That she is afraid.
But Verna is not so much afraid for herself. After practically begging the police to come, she grabs her purse, arms herself with a can of Mace from inside it (because the culprits could still be in there) and goes to take a closer look at that door. What could possibly cause that kind of damage?
Noel @ 7:56PM
[Perception 3 + Investigation 2 = What happened here?!?!]
Roll: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 5, 10) ( success x 1 )
Noel @ 8:03PM
[Perception 3 + Science 4 = Fermi estimation of forces involved]
Roll: 7 d10 TN6 (3, 7, 7, 7, 9, 9, 10) ( success x 6 )
Noel @ 8:06PM
[7 successes]
Noel @ 8:07PM
[Perception 3 + Investigation 2 = Examining the door frame]
Roll: 5 d10 TN6 (2, 5, 5, 6, 7) ( success x 2 )