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Post by Circe on Aug 4, 2020 16:58:28 GMT -6
"You say that as if you have a preference..." Xiaolian remarked as she finished making sure she had everything. "You might as well tell dispatch we're going to need several units." They would have to cordon off the streets around the clinic, if not for officer safety but for the rest of the population. How they were even going to get a gun man out of the clinic, muchless the civilians she had no idea yet.
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Post by demikara on Aug 7, 2020 10:59:58 GMT -6
"There's one in New York. I used to go there, but I felt more like a curiosity there. Otherwise, all my choices are in other countries." Having to go to another country for a doctor was insane. It made more sense just to pop on to her home plane than it did try and find somewhere in the human realm that would treat her. Molly called up dispatch on her phone and explained the situation. After a moment's thought, she requested mundane back up as well. They'd need the extra help. This wasn't a situation that they had ever had to deal with before.
She took her place in the passenger side of the car, knowing better than to think that she would be driving this time. "The mundanes can keep any onlookers well enough away at least. And they may have advice on how to deal with the situation." Gun violence happened in the unseen some, but nowhere near the same levels as it did for the mundanes. Molly couldn't recall ever having learned about how to deal with this sort of hostage situation.
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Post by Circe on Aug 7, 2020 14:02:44 GMT -6
Xiaolian didn't reply, being a curiosity wasn't something she had much experience with outside of that one particular incident with Molly's Ratatoskr master. That had been uncomfortable, and had lead to even more uncomfortable interactions later on. Perhaps she really was a relic of a time now gone, but that didn't exactly give the Ratatoskr the right to poke and prod like they had. Xiaolian wondered if it had something to do with them being fae, given that fae didn't exactly take no for an answer.
"One can hope." She commented turning the engine in the car over. Taking a means of transportation other than mundane, despite the urgency of the situation, wasn't the best of ideas. Especially given the inter agency politics currently. If the mundane found out that some things were actually being hidden from them out, if only out of fear and concern, then things truly would become more than any of them could handle.
Pulling out of the garage, she reached over and activated the lights and siren. It didn't necessarily mean they'd get there quicker, but it might encourage some otherwise difficult motorists to get out of their way.
Resolving the situation had taken the remainder of the day, and unfortunately resulted in injuries to at least three other officers. The Warden was far from pleased with the outcome of the situation, and had as usual the job no one wanted of talking to the press about what had happened.
Thankfully, surrender when it eventually came, had been peaceful.
But the situation left Xiaolian with more questions and even fewer answers, something that she didn't like. The attack with the gunman and clinic reminded her all too much the things that had led up to more recent issues in her own community. Was this any indication that corruption was close to gaining a foothold in this realm? Or was it a symptom of something else entirely?
The solstice hadn't exactly given her any time to think about these things, especially when saddled with a charge that refused to listen to soundly founded advice.
"Well that was fun... not." Xiaolian remarked more to herself than anyone else. "May you live in interesting times is a hell of a curse."
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Post by demikara on Aug 31, 2020 18:54:56 GMT -6
Molly sighed. "At least it's over. And no deaths." It wasn't completely injury free, but no deaths would be enough for her, for now. It was a big enough miracle. "And you and I don't have to talk to the press." It was rare that that happened, but it had happened once or twice. It was better that they do their jobs without dealing with the press at all as far as Molly was concerned. The fae sighed and looked around. Everything was clearing up now. Victims had all been seen to, and their information taken down as witnesses. That included Maria and Mateo Zhang. Mateo had been sent home after all that, but Maria joined Xiaolian and Molly by the squad care.
"I'm just glad you all were able to take back the clinic. Whoever told me 'may you live in interesting times' is a terrible person." She was more used to being on the opposite side of issues. Maria wasn't used to having to deal with gunmen holding her and entire clinic hostage. There had been a tense moment when he had figured out she was a cop after having managed to corral everyone in the back to the front, but they had made it through the other side. "At least I'm cleared to go back to work now." She had been getting tired of desk duty.
"Just in time to help with all the solstice cases." Molly declared all too cheerfully. "Which just means you get to help with the foot work from the solstice fall out. And it was a wild one. Everything was stranger than usual." Molly wasn't sure why, but it was as if the magic had decided to riot. Usually it was just an upswell of magic and for one day it felt like it did back home. But this time, it had been an absolute riot of magic and spells had been going wrong all across Dallas. And the solstice meant all hands on deck and plenty of small specialist level emergencies.
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Post by Circe on Aug 31, 2020 20:06:30 GMT -6
"Oh gods... don't remind me. The list is ridiculously long.. I'll be amazed if we get through it in a week." Xiaolian moaned. There was MCU fall out, and then there was Guardian fall out. She was sure to hear something sooner or later about the shunt that the Jinhai had loaned them. Xiaolian just hoped that nothing else happened in the wake of everything; Tyrus's little mishap would have to be the worst of it.
"And may you live in interesting times is an ancient Chinese proverb masquerading as a curse and I agree it's terrible." She added. Primarily it had been a way to curse a person without them immediately realizing, but now it was an annoyance more than anything. "Solstice was rough for everyone. But... we didn't have any major disasters so we'll consider it okay."
No major disasters was drastically minimizing what had happened out at Mezar and across town. But unless someone talked, it would likely go unnoticed for some time. That would at least give her time to get through the backlog and figure out how to discretely inquire with Tyrus and the Warden on how best to proceed.
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Post by demikara on Sept 1, 2020 18:28:12 GMT -6
Maria paused a moment and closed her eyes, then let it slide off her like water off a duck's back. "At least it's more than desk duty. I was going insane." Being stuck at a desk constantly had been killing her. She was entirely too used to actually investigating, to going where she was needed. And they had a huge territory to cover. It was not, unfortunately, just Dallas that they were specialists for. That was just the biggest population center.
She got into the car, in the back seat, knowing better than trying to beat Molly to the front seat. That was a fight she would not win. And of course Xiaolian drove. That was a given.
Molly wrinkled her nose. "I can see why it'd be considered a curse. I'd much rather dull times for a few weeks at least. So we can at least try and get caught up." The solstice always put them back. And it had just been her putting out specialist level fires. "Some of the officers were enough help I make recommend them for specialist training, in a year or two. Baldwell and Marshburn seem to have good heads on their shoulders at least." She'd have to see their personnel files to really recommend them, but she could always snoop a bit before requesting them.
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Post by Circe on Sept 1, 2020 20:26:47 GMT -6
Xiaolian nodded as she started the engine and pulled away from the scene. "That'd be nice, if only though." She agreed. Zhen had claimed that the ward was still intact, but Xiaolian had her suspicions. The man could be lazy and avoidant even at the best of times, and had been far from amused with what she had asked him to do the previous day. After they were done, he had grumbled something about the jingling and their meddlesome metal eating habits. Xiaolian had never really known them to be terribly destructive, but she supposed that each encounter could be different from the last.
"If you think those guys are so good, toss them up the chain to Blackwelder. The Warden's always in need of extra hands." Xiaolian added. They were woefully understaffed, and at their current numbers it was something like a dozen or more calls per Specialist for the little things, never mind getting enough man power to handle something like what had happened with Cedar Ridge. "Might as well start the track now, or we'll never get out from under the mountain."
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Post by demikara on Sept 2, 2020 15:29:20 GMT -6
"True. I'll put the names forward. Hopefully there's funding." Specialists cost more to train and field than a regular officer did. For good reason too. They handled things regular officers couldn't handle, in addition to being on call for their specialties as needed. You could be sent across territories if they needed your specialty badly enough. Molly had been called all across the states for her ward breaking skills. Her home base was Dallas, but that didn't mean she stayed there in any measure. It just meant the majority of her cases came from that territory.
"It takes months to go through the training." Maria pointed out. "So we'll still be buried under the mountain for awhile longer." It wasn't a matter of waving a wand and becoming a specialist, or a promotion with no training. They had to open up the specialist training courses again, and that particular course load wasn't constantly running. "Assuming Baldwall and Marshburn even want to become specialists." It was a more dangerous position after all. Maria had wanted to become one, but even she had been cautious on accepting the nomination to the academy. It could be dangerous, and tended to involve more fighting than people anticipated.
As evidenced by her recently healed jaw. She needed to improve her dodging skills and fighting skills in general, apparently, but now that she was okayed for work, she'd probably go back to a martial arts course somewhere.
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Post by littlekreen on Sept 2, 2020 16:36:06 GMT -6
Driving had its extensive list of hazards though MCU had one just a bit longer and quite more strange. Both lists gain one more today as a furry muzzle emerged from a storm drain by the side of the road fringed in tattered metal. An instinctual run between hiding spots in search of food drove it across the street. The eyes in directed focus on yet another storm drain on the opposite side. The ears didn't move as the car approached Xiaolian's path, nor did a limping canter change at all. All too close, the coyote head stared at Xiao as two unreflected holes stared back.
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Post by Circe on Sept 2, 2020 16:58:01 GMT -6
Eventually discussion had led to office rumors, which had then led to Molly whining about one thing or another as usual. Xiaolian largely ignored the other as she let her own thoughts drift back towards the previous day. It had been all they could do to contain and redirect the energies that had poured through Tyrus and in turn Catherine. She had been lucky enough to get Zhen to agree to helping initially, but as the day had worn on it had been increasingly difficult. Traveling along with the flow of traffic, combined with the host of noises from the car's equipment, any normal driver could have been forgiven for being distracted. "Months is an understatement. Depends on where they send you and who has a slot open." Xiaolian commented boredly. Specialist training was the last thing she wanted to talk about, in fact she would have really preferred a few days off after the solstice herself, but knew it wasn't going to happen as short staffed as they tended to be.
Barely spotting the creature in time, Xiaolian slammed hard on the breaks and brought the car to a screeching halt; but not before a dull thumping sound eccoed from the car's under carriage. Staring numbly ahead, Xiaolian could have sworn what she had seen was not real. The wards were supposed to be holding at Mezar, and the glades would be dealt with. Unless there was another rift in Dallas, then there was no reason for such a creature to be there. "Just a coyote."
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Post by demikara on Sept 2, 2020 17:08:39 GMT -6
"Watch it!" Molly cried out, seeing the animal just before they hit it. She held onto her seat belt when they slowed down rapidly and sat back again once they stopped, hearing the thump and wincing. She hesitated a moment. "I'll check on it. It may have survived." Sometimes they did, after all. Molly hopped out of the car and peered under it. She had never seen Xiaolian hit anything before. But it had been a fast critter. Molly frowned and watched it's sides a moment, then stood. "Pull forward a bit. It looks like it survived. We need to call animal control." Injured wild animals meant animal control after all. That was pretty much common sense as far as she was concerned.
Maria had a hand on the seat in front of her as they slowed rapidly. That was unexpected. The thump explained why though and she watched Molly get out and then pulled out her phone. "I have the number. I'll call." she offered and dialed it easily. "I hope it's okay." It probably wasn't. They had just hit it with a moving vehicle after all, and it had gone under the front. That had to have injured it at least a little bit, even if they had slowed down drastically.
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Post by littlekreen on Sept 2, 2020 17:30:28 GMT -6
One leg twitched under the vehicle among a puddle of grainy red ochre paste that streaked the road underneath. As they pulled slightly forward a red mealy gloss led to the hip and head as well as a trail of small sharp objects. Shards of a bumper fractured under the impact. Though the bleeding already stopped once under the car with a chest that did not move. Except, as a door opened, the chest started pulsing back and forth. A faint flapping noise from its mouth as they got closer. Though a soft meaty snap came as the hip's unhealthy bend snapped back into place. The legs pulled in and out in uncoordinated spasms as a long tongue lazily licked at the spray and chrome shards in front of it.
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Post by Circe on Sept 2, 2020 17:34:43 GMT -6
Xiaolian nodded numbly as she took a breath and pulled forwards at Molly's suggestion. This entire week had been unusual, and she could be forgiven for being a bit tired and distracted. Placing the car into park, she got out herself to look and see what exactly she'd run over with the car. Steeling herself for the potential for guts and gore, she walked around the car towards the rear where Molly stood.
"Looked like a coyote at first glance, and it's nearly dusk. Probably chasing a rabbit or something." She suggested. If anything had survived getting hit at 30 miles per hour by one of their cars, it would be surprising. Reinforced bumpers, under carriages, and other things generally took the brunt of any excess force; not that it had stopped someone from folding one in half like a taco once. The Warden had been livid for weeks after that.
Staring at the animal, if one could even begin to call it that, reassemble itself in front of her eyes Xiaolian knew something was terribly wrong. Coyotes didn't simply reassemble themselves, and they didn't lick at detritus left on the road. There was a breech, and finding it just became her number one priority.
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Post by demikara on Sept 2, 2020 17:45:05 GMT -6
It was...reassembling itself? That was not good. "So that's not a coyote." Molly said quite firmly. "What that is, is on the wrong plane entirely." Which wasn't good. Especially given Molly was stuck on this plane and couldn't return it to the In Between where it probably belonged. "I can call my relatives to come get it." she offered Xiaolian. She didn't recognize the species, exactly, but she recognized what it was doing. "Though maybe we'll be lucky, and it's some mage's construct?" They weren't lucky. They were never lucky.
Maria slipped out of the car and came around to look at it. "So...do I still call animal control? Extra-planar beings require specialists, but-" were they the right ones? Extra-planar anything was incredibly rare. It had been the solstice though, so she supposed something could have happened. It was lucky they hit it, she supposed.
Molly waved her hand. "I'd be the specialist contacted. We just have to keep it from running off." It looked like it was healing, which meant they'd actually have to put some effort into it. "Go ahead and call animal control. A leash and cage can only help."
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Post by Circe on Sept 2, 2020 18:13:30 GMT -6
"If it doesn't eat the leash and cage first..." Xiaolian muttered under her breath. This had to be related to the jingling at Mezar, those had been interested in primarily metal. She had just dealt with this yesterday, and here it was again. "Besides I don't think that's a construct, Bronson..." Constructs were different, cruder often, and not as prone to wandering so far from home.
"Extra-planar entities is the right term." Xiaolian corrected Maria as she crouched down to get a closer look. Watching with horror and mild fascination as the hip popped itself back into the socket with a sickening wet POP, she wondered just how many more of these there were. "Being implies its aware of where it is, and what its purpose here is. This this seems... rather dumb." She added.
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