2007-10-08: Quick Change Artists

Starring:

Meryl_icon.gif Megan_icon.gif

Summary:

Meryl and Megan to some background investigating into Dorsey for their mission.

October 8th, 2007:

Quick Change Artists


Kirby Building

It is a well-known fact that the best spies LURK IN THE DARK. Which is why Meryl's chosen to pull off her grande heiste during the day. Because it's much less suspicious, and if they can get by without using Megan's ability, all the better. Sure, it'd be good practise, but too much of a good thing is— Well, too much.

Sometime after lunch, she arrives at Megan's door at Kirby, and knocks. She's not dressed in her usual casual today, but is wearing a very nice (New, perhaps!) suit, hair pulled back in a bun, with glasses. She stole them from someone, and because they hurt her eyes, they're sitting on her head. Even so, this gives the illusion that she's smart and belongs here, which will hopefully be more convincing. Unless the guard happens to know Meryl, then he'll realise that she's up to something.

Not having much in her wardrobe for intrigue or spying, Megan is dressed in a nice pair of pants and a button down shirt. Fit in seems to be the theme in their wardrobe. "S'this okay?" The Scot asks Meryl when she opens the door to her friend. She's nervous and unsure if she can even make it through this without fainting or doing something else that will totally give them away. Though she's not one who always plays by the rules, she's also a little nervous about going against the place that she's just starting to get more leeway with.

"Yeah, you look nice," Meryl says, eyes smiling a little. She's carrying a couple manilla folders. One has papers in it, and the other one's empty. Both are labeled; as well, she has a small flash drive around her neck, along with her own Company ID. A card, her picture, name. It's one of those magnetically-coded things that you hold in front of a panel to open doors. "Here, made this for you. Shouldn't work anywhere, but it's for appearances." The idea isn't for it to work, anyway. It's for it not to work. But more on that later.

Or maybe Meryl's just crazy.

"So, the plan— " Pulling a folded up bit of paper out of her pocket, she shows Megan the drawing. It's in crayon, because crayons have the brightest colours. "This is where we're going in the building. Since we packed up and moved from Hartsdale, they're keeping records up here. Confidential records here - the hallways is limited-access."

Taking the card from Meryl, Megan carefully slips the card into her pocket for later use. Glad that she didn't already ruin this plan before it even started, she leans forward to take a look at the crayon map. Not bothering to comment on the strangeness of a covert plan being laid out with children's toys (because she should expect this coming from Meryl) she just studies where Meryl points. "Alright. M'jus' gonna follow ye." That will make things much easier. Less to remember. "Ye'll tell me what to do."

"All right," she says, with a wink. The crayon map is tucked back into her pocket as she heads off.

The records hallway they're looking for is on one of the upper floors, and Meryl opts to take the elevator. Almost all the halls in this place look alike, but now or then, she'll reference her map, until it leads her to the right place. Not too long of a journey by any stretch of the word, but eventually they'll reach a heavy metal door with a security checkpoint on the outside. It's a plain black square with a red light on the front… After looking at it from a distance for just a moment, she walks toward it. It's time for the act.

Neither card will work. Meryl knows this - she doesn't have access to these files, and neither does Megan. Or, rather, Meryl could have access to them if they were necessary, but since this planned outing is still a secret, her card won't let her in. To that end, when she swipes it across the panel, the thing beeps three times and remains red. She does it again. Quietly, she explains:

"Each time they get an incorrect code, it's recorded back there. If it happens enough, the security system tells the Recordmonkeys that something's not right, and they'll come to investigate. Try yours."

In the elevator, Megan tries not to shift her weight from foot to foot like she does when she's nervous. Instead, she just folds her hands behind her back so as to not fiddle with the buttons on her shirt or any of the other dozens of things she does when she wants to fidget. Not exactly the best actress - the girl wears most of her expressions right out where everyone can see - she's not sure she can really do this. However, being upset that your keycard doesn't work will probably fit in with what they're doing. Pulling her card out of her pocket, she starts to swipe it just like Meryl did and gets the same error beeps and red light. "One more time?" she gives Meryl a questioning look. She doesn't want to do it too many times or be annoying about it. She holds the key ready to do just that should she be instructed to do so.

Looking through the Lexan window on the heavy door, Meryl takes stock of what's directly on the other side. A small data room with the intranet hub on one side, and just down the hall beyond on the other side is what she thinks might be an employee kitchen. Good, good. just in case. After Megan tries her card, Meryl does hers again. "One more time ought to do it," she mutters to Megan, indicating for the other woman to try again.

Meanwhile, she flips open the folder with the papers in it. There are locations for hard copies of the files they need - namely, Dorsey's last known locations - as well as things that aren't public records that they need to find out. What Agents have been assigned to him in the past, the official report on what happened to Meryl and her family - Meryl was nine at the time, after all. She can't remember everything - and passwords for the Intranet, so they can access it. "Last time I was in here was with my partner. She did the work, but I took notes."

Once Meryl tells her to, Megan swipes her card again, already used to the beeps an the flashing light. Hopefully soon there will someone there that will let them in because just standing here getting red lights puts her on a bit of an edge. Not that she wasn't already there to begin with. "Well. I dunno what yer partner did, but I think this time the roles'll be a bit switched around, yanno." Because Meryl is the one that knows what she needs and knows how to get it. In a strange turn of events, Megan is just the safety net should something go wrong.

Through the window, a woman approaches. She's wearing a uniform of sorts - all black - with a small stitched 'badge' on one side of her shirt. She opens the door; there's a firearm strapped to her side, though it's not drawn just yet, thankfully. This woman - an agent Brumder, if the badge is correct - is all business, though. As she looks between Meryl and Megan, she scowls. "This is a restricted area."

Meryl doesn't miss a beat. "You're absolutely right. Astute observation. Always important to have fine people like yourself noticing things." She's all smiles - it's a real compliment. Brumder arches her eyebrows and scowls a little more, putting her hand out as Meryl tries to get past. "We just got clearance to grab some files. It doesn't look like our cards were coded in just yet, so if you could just…"

"You I know," Brumder says. Doesn't look to happy to see Meryl, all the same. "Who are you?" she asks Megan.

Card still in her hand, Megan watches the exchange between Meryl and Megan with anxiously, hoping that the security woman will just let them through. Of course, this a secure facility, so she doesn't blame Brumder for not just letting them in. When the questions are turned onto Megan, the Scot gets a little flustered. "Er, well, m'new," she says, blushing a little. "Sorry." Why is she sorry? Who knows. "M'name's Megan. S'a pleasure to meet ye." This is normally where she would shake Brumdaker's hand, but she doesn't actually want to possess her, or accidentally possess her. Not yet, at least. So she just gives an awkward smile.

Brumder isn't buying it. She's eying Megan suspiciously. Company agents don't act like this - then again, Company agents typically don't act like Meryl, either, so there's a bit of a conflict going on in the poor records security guard's mind.

"Here, we've got documentation," Meryl says helpfully, pulling the paper out of the envelope. It looks official. The wording is probably really off, and there's also a forged signature at the bottom. Plus, it doesn't exactly say what they're looking for. So they need a distraction to keep her from looking at it in greater detail. Meryl? Looks at Megan, as Brumber takes the paper from her.

"Well, 'Megan,' I've never seen you before," the woman mumbles.

All it really needs to do is look official, right? Megan looks back at Meryl when she's looked at and tries to think of something. Possessing her, even passively, would be a bad idea, since she'd lose control of her own body if she did so. "'Ve never seen ye b'fore, either. So we're even." Keep it friendly, at least. Acting like a proper Company Agent would probably look even more suspicious coming from Megan, because she really isn't all that aggressive or intimidating. Oh, if only she was more like Lachlan in that regard. Trying to think fast, she moves to swipe her card again, just as if she's checking to make sure she's doing it right. "Ye know, 'm'no' sure 'm'doin' this right. Mebbe they've already cleared us and 'm'jus' no' getting it. Here, canna borrow yers to check and make sure?" She holds out a hand to take Brumder's card. Hopefully it's enough of a distraction to take her eyes away from the paper.

The agent at the doorway doesn't look to sure, even still. Luckily, it doesn't seem as if she's telepathic, at least, or else she'd know right away that Megan and Meryl are BIG FAT LIARS. Meryl's just starting to suspect that they'll have to use Megan's ability to get past the guard - that's why she was scoping out a few rooms behind the metal door. Good places to store Megan if they have to! However, Megan's action has just given Meryl an idea.

Confuse the guard.

It's a classic tactic. Laurel and Harvey, Abbott and Costello, That tricky rat from Inherit the Earth, which no one's likely played but Meryl, EVER, but the idea is a sound one.

Brumder hands over her card with this look of scepticism. Even so, when Megan tries it against the black panel, it will beep once and the light will turn green, indicating a successful pass. This done, Meryl tries her card again and is met with fail. "Lemme see your card again, Meg," she says, then reaches out to take both Megan's card and Brumder's.

As Megan's already kind of confuse and certainly nervous, at least half of the Confuse the Guard plan is in action. The confused part. Once she swipes Brumder's card, it beeps green and the woman is satisfied. With a sheepish smile she comments, "Ah. Was doin' it the right way, then." She's about to hand it back when Meryl grabs both Brumder's card and her own. Surprised, she bites back a comment of 'wait that's mine'. Instead, she just returns her empty hands into a clasped position and gives the Agent a questioning look. "What d'ye need it for?"

The old switcharoo is what she needs it for. In her hand are now three cards, which she ponders over - professionally // - Before swiping Brumber's card again. "Well, yours works. Here, hold this— " She holds out her //own card to Brumber, who takes it. Then Meryl takes it back after shuffling Megan's card to the front of the stack in her hand, before seemingly swiping her own card against the panel. Which turns green.

Then Megan's card, which also turns green. "Oh, looks like we're clear now. Here's your card, Agent Brumder."

The woman takes her card back and looks at it, then looks at Meryl and Megan, the former of which is handing Megan back her card. "Well… All right, you can come in." Sometimes it does take awhile for the authorisation to 'catch,' after all, and both cards did work. "Y'know your way around back here?"

Meryl nods. "Yeah, we shouldn't be back there too long."

Watching Meryl shuffle through all the cards is kind of like watching a magician shuffle through a magic trick. Not even Megan is sure of whose key is whose until they're rightfully sorted out at the end and handed back to the right person. "Thank ye," she tells Brumdaker friendly enough. "Was nice to meet ye." Might as well continue with the new and friendly routine since it's what's worked for her so far. Pocketing the card again, she quickly follows Meryl past security and into the records room. "How'd ye do that?" she questions in hushed tones. "Make her card swipe twice?"

Meryl does this way more than she should admit. It's fun, though. "You ever hear about quick-change artists?" she asks quietly as they leave Brumder puzzling near the door. "She's prolly tryin' to figure out what I did just now, and she won't. I'm too good at it." Meryl's allowed to be conceited about some things, especially since she really is fairly good at what she just did. "Anyway, it's kinda like that, you get their mind on something else, and they're not sure what's going on. You can learn a lot from video games."

She turns down another hall, where every door shows rows and rows of boxes and cabinets and file drawers, which… They'll have to look through in order to find what they're looking for. "After we figure out how they're filing things… We should be able to locate the hard copies…"
Meryl claps a hand down on Megan's shoulder. "Well! You get on that, would you? I'm going to take the much easier and less strenuous task of looking up information on the computer. Thanks!"

"Canna say I play many video games." Megan glances over her shoulder where they came from and then continues walking down the hallway for the files and computers. "D'ye know if it's chronological? Alphabetical? D'they have a card catalogue or somethin'?" Anything that could tell them where they're supposed to start looking. A deer in headlights look is given to Meryl when she's told that she's the one that's given the task of looking through the hard copies. "But. I dunna have any idea how they're s'posed to show. Or what ye need other than information on Dorsey. Canna I jus' do a keyword search on the computers? I think we'd get more that way."

"Well… They're a bit out of order," Meryl admits. Normally they wouldn't be, but since a lot of these files were salvaged from a partially burned building… "I think it's really going to be a lot of, you know, luck." In other words, they'll likely be here all day, or until someone discovers that they're here and shouldn't be, and tosses them out. Which means they have to work fast, which means Megan has a damn good point. Meryl will better know what she's looking for.

So she does the mature thing, and pouts, and stomps her foot. "Fine. FINE, Megan, YOU get the computer." She rips the password petulantly from the folder and hands it over. Then there's a little bit of a smile there. "Print out what you can find - information on his whereabouts, anything stamped classified - there's a program with scans called Fortis - see if you can look through that. Pick up whatever you can.

Fortis. Current Location. Password. Okay. Megan can handle that. "Are ye normally lucky?" Because Megan doesn't really have any sort of luck. Good or bad. Things tend to just…happen around her. Taking the piece of paper, she's nervous about the idea of splitting up. But, they have to if they are going to get out of here quickly and without being detected. "Alright. Ll'do what I can." Nodding at Meryl, she gives a glance at the boxes and boxes of files one more time before turning and making for the computers. Seating herself in a chair, she wheels her way closer to the keyboard to log in with her newly obtained password and start searching.

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