Unknown Armies - IC

[Kythia]

Tuesday 13th August 9:41

"You back with us then lad?  Chocolate does a right lot of good doesn't it.  What's this you've got then"  He pulls the keys slightly closer to him, using the palm of his hand, not taking them from your grasp.

"J Honer And Sons.  Builders And Plumbers Merchants to the Trade.  0191 2746546.  Double you double you double you dot honers dot co do you kay.  You can count on Honer's" he reads, peering at them and purses his lips in thought.

"I've heard of Honer's before.  Now where have I...." he frowns in thought then snaps his fingers, looking quite worried and staring at Miyo.  "That's the name of the business isn't it?  That you said earlier.  Fuck.  OK."  He thinks a moment more and then scrambles into his car - exposing a lot more flesh as his dressing gown rides up - to snatch a notebook and pen from the litter strewn back seat.  When he emerges, barely thirty seconds later, he looks at you then the notepad blankly.

"I had something I wanted to write down.  Something I knew I'd forget.  Any offers what it was?"

[Rook Seidhr]

Bran rips the notepad out of Tannen's hands, scrawls the name, address and phone number of Honer's and hands it back. "Unit 17. Right bloody there. Where there isn't a Unit 17 any more. It goes straight from 16 to 18. Don't you find that the least bit odd, Mr My Turf?" His voice is shaking with repressed fury.

[Demigod1945]

      Chris walked over to where Bran and Tannen were having their little "confrontation", and decided to make a suggestion. "Mr. Tannen, this may seem a bit odd but, do you mind if I ask you a few questions about yourself? Generally most people reacted with hostility to this, usually because they didn't like him prying into their business. "I promise not to ask anything too personal, just some basic questions."

[Kythia]

"Errr, I suppose that's fair, yes.  Tell you what I'm going to do though.  I'm gonna say my piece first.  Not that I'm putting you off mate, but I reckon I'm going to forget it again soon if I don't do it now and I think your friends" he nods at Norm and Bran "are getting pretty pissed off with me already.  That alright with you?"

He pauses a moment then continues.

"You want to go see Ron Percy.  Ronald.  You'll find him at the King's Head down there and to the right."  You know of the pub he's talking about, maybe even been in once or twice.  A small place with leather seats that seems to derive all its income from the four or five regulars who are always found there.  It's not that strangers are met with Deliverance style stares or anything, simply that its a quiet pub in a non-residential area that's made absolutely no effort to get involved in the drinking and dancing of Newcastle's famous nightlife.  Come to think of it you've heard of Ron Percy as well, he's somehow involved in local politics.  A town councillor maybe, you're not entirely certain.  Its just a name that pops up in the newspapers from time to time.

"Tell him I said to see him.  Tell him everything that happened - you might want to write it down for him.  Tell him I'll help if he stops being such a dick about this road naming thing.  Although maybe don't use those exact words.  Oh, tell him he might want to try Back Monkey, I know he knows it.  You got that?  Back Monkey, like if you have a monkey on your back.

Ron knows what's going on, and he'll be none happier about all of this than I am.  He's got my phone number as well, I'm afraid I don't know it and my phone is sat next to my cigs.  Get it off him if you think it'll be useful.

That's what I'd do if I were you, I'd talk to the king.  Ron, I mean.  He looks after his own and I figure he'll be the best place for you to start.  Course, you got no reason to trust me and I know that."  He shrugs  "Not a lot I can do to change it.  I promise I'm not trying to be cryptic.  I am in a bit of a rush..." he glances at his watchless wrist and frowns, remembering ... "but I'll answer what I can.

Starting with you, Mr Manners was it?  What do you want to know?"

[Blythe]

Miyo didn't feel as if someone were tampering with her. Her memories felt...real enough. She saw no reason to doubt herself unless Tannen offered genuine proof she was somehow out of her mind. She smiled but said nothing. No need to tell Tannen that she thought he might be a few cards short of a deck. She ran a hand through her black hair and felt more than a little nervous, but she listened to the conversations going on around her. She tugged a small notebook from her purse and wrote down :Tannen says to go see Rom Percy at the King's Head. He said to try Back Monkey and to ask about the “road naming” thing.:

She slipped the notebook back in her purse; normally she used the book for stray calculations for her job, but she figured if the building didn't exist, she had a day off, so she might as well keep kooky notes in it. She cast a glance at Chris, Norm, and the kid....and decided to let them ask questions of Tannen first.

[Rook Seidhr]

Bran slowly shook his head. Tannen was speaking gibberish, but his attitude made it clear it was meaningful to him, if not to anyone else. That made him a lunatic.

On the other hand, what did misplacing Da and all of Honer's make Bran?

He simply didn't know what questions to ask, so he shut up and waited for the others to speak.

[Demigod1945]

Chris simply spoke in a deliberate manner, and asked the same questions that he always asked, and out they came rapidly, each question started almost as soon as the previous ended.
"What's your name, where are you from, what's your mothers name, do you know anything about Honer's, where are you from, where are we right now?" The reason for these random questions was to surprise Mr. Tannen, since he was being asked unexpected questions, and these questions were being thrown at him rapidly, any lie he may have prepared for a certain one would be forgotten as he would most likely attempt to answer one question as the next one was already being asked. Therefore the idea was to make him so caught off guard that he couldn't be able to lie without Chris catching it. This was one of Chris's favorite tactic when it came to interrogating someone, as it made things all the more easier.

[Kythia]

He gives a...a smile?  You're not quite sure that's the word but you can't think of a better one.  It's a weird mixture of apprehension, distaste, amusement and something else, confusion maybe?  More at why you're doing what you're doing than the action itself.  A brief glance to the other three of you, then back to Chris.

"O..Kay...Errrrm.  I'm, errr, I'm pretty certain I told you my name.  Michael Tannen.  Obviously I'm not going to tell you my mother's maiden name, or the name of my first pet or anything like that.  I'm, errr, what else did you say?  I've never heard of Honer's in my life, so nothing I guess. I'm from Elsecar and, errrr, we're, well, we're on a pavement.

I think I should probably get going, to be honest.  I'm going to be late  for work as it is and, yeah, it seems like we might have exhausted the, you know, the useful portion of this conversation."

He eyes Chris suspiciously for a moment then shrugs to himself.  "I get it's weird, Mr Manners.  I do.  And I guess I can't fault you for how you deal with it.  Is there any of that chocolate left lad?"  This to Bran.  "I think your friend could probably do with some of it as well."  He shrugs again.

"I'm going to dash home and finish getting dressed.  Can I offer you a lift somewhere?  I promise" he addresses Miyo "that despite all evidence to the contrary I'm not a crazy person.  Feel free to text someone my registration number or something if it'd make you feel any happier."  Another shrug, another eyeing of Chris then he turns and gets in his car, but pauses to wait and see what you all do.

[Rook Seidhr]

"I couldn't eat all your chocolate if I tried," said Bran. He considered asking for a ride to the King's Head, but the condition of Tannen's car dissuaded him. Instead, he nodded in the general direction of the others and set out at an easy, energy-conserving jog toward the pub, head awhirl.

[Kythia]

Tuesday 13th August 10:02

Bran, Potentially Others.

The King's Head Pub.



The King's Head is exactly where Tannen said it would be and where you remember it being, which is potentially a little relieving.  The front door is wide open and a small alleyway leads to a beer garden round the back littered with cigarette and cigar tabs.  A brass plaque above the door announces the Liquor Licence holder as "M and P Turner" while a hand-lettered sign in a window announces that the guest ale is Milk Street Zig Zag and that food is served from twelve noon.  Looking inside the door shows a middle aged woman - the word "matronly" springs unbidden to mind - setting up the bar area, two men playing on the quiz machine and a man you recognise as Ronald Percy sat in a high backed chair, smoking a cigar in open defiance of the smoking ban.  The room is set up so that the chair he's sat on forms a clear focal point of the room, most other furniture is arranged to a greater or lesser extent to be facing it.  He doesn't seem overly concerned by being the centre of attention in an almost completely empty pub though, just tapping cigar ash on the floor while he reads the sports section of a newspaper.

Everyone but Bran

Feel free to be present if you wish, or to remain interacting with Tannen, or to go somewhere else.  Just make it clear in your post what you're up to

[Rook Seidhr]

Remembering the difficulty he'd had with Tannen, Bran stopped outside the pub to take a spiral notebook and a pen from his messenger bag. He jotted down a succinct account from his perspective of the events of the morning so far, from the unexplained closure of the Metro to Tannen's conditional offer of help and suggestion that "Back Monkey" might be of assistance. Tearing out the page and stashing notebook and pen away again, he swallowed back a nervous rush of bile and entered the pub.

"Mr. Percy?" Bran addressed the, for want of a better word, enthroned (and hadn't Tannen called him "the king"?) figure. "Sorry to bother you, but…well…something very bad has happened, and Michael Tannen thought you might be able to accomplish what he couldn't." Bran hadn't missed the implication of a rivalry or other hard feelings between the two men, and figured a subtle bit of flattery wouldn't hurt.

[Blythe]

Brief reply to Tannen just outside of where Honer's was


Miyo frowned and realized that there was probably not much more she could learn from Tannen, but as he walked to his car, she suddenly had a thought. There was a chance that Tannen was crazy, yes. But on the off chance that something was not as it seemed and people might accuse her of being crazy, Miyo wanted to have some sort of alibi. And Tannen was looking like that person. Miyo hustled over quickly, and she said, “Just in case, Mr. Tannen, would it be possible to get your phone number? In case things get any more strange? I'm not at my best at the moment, and if there is a chance later that I can't get a handle on what's going on and could use someone to ask, perhaps...considering you have been so indulgent here already, you might indulge me a bit further and answer a question from time to time until I get my bearings about the situation here?”

She mostly wanted the number to prove later that Tannen had been there and he existed. She was somewhat furious that Honer's had upped and apparently stopped existing—she would be damned if this first initial contact did that, too.

[Kythia]

The King's Head Pub
Bran, Potentially Others

He carefully folds the newspaper and lays it on the arm of his chair before fully looking up at you - piercing bright blue eyes.  He's probably in his late fifties to early sixties to look at him, but speaks with the sort of very strong accent you associate with much older men.  The type who formed their voice before omnipresent radio and TV softened regional accents.  I shall spare you any attempt at transliteration.

"Why I'm guessing you're probably right.  Also guessing that fat cunt didn't use them exact words, but?"  His tone isn't overly unfriendly to Tannen, more teasing than anything else.  "Why divvin't you grab yourself a chair and we'll see if we can't sort out what's troubling you.  Mabel," he calls over to the woman behind the bar "Why divvin't you sort this laddie out with a drink while me and him have a talk, but." 

There's a rattle of coins as the quiz machine pays out, all but one of the coins go in to pockets, the remainder is placed back in the machine to start again.



Between Units 16 and 18
Miyo, Potentially Others

"I don't know my number I'm afraid, lass."  While he's talking he's rummaging about in the litter on the back seat "Never ring myself, you know.  If you jot me down yours though I can text you when I get back so you'll have it.

I do have though...." he trails off as he continues to rummage then "A ha!  Knew I had one!  Here you go."  He holds out a slightly chocolate stained business card for you:

[Rook Seidhr]

Bran pulled up what he couldn't help thinking of as a supplicant's chair, sat down in it, and said, "I wrote it all out for you. Er—Mr. Tannen found he couldn't remember it for long—" the last said in a doubtful tone, though he'd witnessed it first-hand "—so you can glance back at it if you have trouble." He passed over the hastily-written notebook page and waited expectantly.

[Kythia]

The King's Head Pub
Bran, Potentially Others

He gives a throaty chuckle as he takes the notepad from you.  "Aye, that sounds like Tannen, but.  Oh this is my city, this is my city, this is my city, what's that?  There's a problem?  Better let Ron know, fuck all to do with me, like.  Chubby little fuck.  Let's see what we got here."

As he reads through your notes Mabel comes over with a glass of what looks like Coke but smells like Methanol.  "Rum and coke, laddie.  Don't you go telling your da we've been letting you have alcohol though.  Just looked like you could use something a bit stronger than a pepsi."  Ronald grunts in agreement, still reading.

Eventually he looks up.  "Champion little mess you've got yourself in to here.  But Tannen's right.  Ronald Percy has never let his own down, and I'm not about to start now, but.  Now, you just take a sip of this, I want to check something."  He takes a cheap biro from a pocket and writes you've read this on the top corner of the notebook sheet, scrawling his signature below it.  Drums his fingers on the arm of his chair for thirty odd seconds then picks it up and reads through again.  When he looks back up at you he's chuckling.

"Why, I think you might be on to something here.  If I hadn't have seen with my own eyes a note telling me I've heard this once..."  He shakes his head and makes a lone tally mark under the reminder.  "Normally, laddie, I'd think you'd gone radgie but the fact I can't remember this after having just read it..."  He shakes his head again.  "Champion little mess, but"

"Knew a lad called Honer once.  Jimmy Honer, contractor on the shipyards.  This is before you were born, like.  Years ago.  Left when his old woman gave him a bairn."

He stares at you blankly for a moment then picks the notepad up and reads through it again.  Shaking his head as he makes another tally mark.

"Will not stick in my head, but.  And that's gaun gie us problems.  I can't go asking questions, reckon I'll forget what I'm asking half way through asking it,like, and look a reet fool.

Two things gaun on here, like.  And I reckon you need the answers to both of them.  First one is why this place has gone..." he trails off into another blank stare and picks up the notebook.  A phlegmy chuckle and another tally mark before he continues.

"Right.  Two problems here, but.  We want to know why this Honer's place has vanished and we want to know why you and your friends still remember it when no one else does.  Might be the same thing, might be different. 

Powerful lot of mojo making everyone forget about this place.  Someone must have really wanted it gone, but.  Not easy to do it, and I reckon I know someone you can talk to about that.  I'll get to that in a moment, because I'm not exactly being generous in what I'm gaun to propose.  Second thing is why you're shielded from it and I'm not.  Figure that's why Tannen suggested Back Monkey.  Fat cunt might be on to something there, first time I've known him have a good idea that wasn't to do with eating."  He laughs, which slowly turns in to a coughing fit.  Mabel starts to come over looking worried but he waves her away and thumps his chest a few times.

"Lungs are fucked, laddie.  Strange it is, no matter how much I smoke they never seem to get any better, like"  He laughs again.  "But before we go any further, I reckon its your turn to talk for a bit, like.  What exactly do you want to happen?  You willing to put a bit of time in to looking in to it?  Did any of what I just said even make sense to you, like?"

[Rook Seidhr]

"Me Da? Now there's the problem…" Bran muttered, and sipped cautiously at the rum and Coke. It wasn't the first liquor he'd drunk, of course, but he was hardly a veteran wrist-raiser and there was no telling how strong she'd—whoosh! Yes, good thing he'd taken it slowly.

When Percy proved as susceptible to memory change as Tannen, Bran sighed and nodded. The facts of the situation were sinking in now, past his protective armor of disbelief and down to where he could reason about them.

"What exactly do I want to happen? I want Da back safe and sound. Wouldn't mind the rest of the people in the building coming back too, like, but—well, call me a selfish bastard but he's my first concern; I want him back if it takes me a hundred years.

"And…both you and Mr Tannen seem, well, possessive about Newcastle. Mr Tannen says it's His Turf, and he called you 'the king'…as if you each had, well, some kind of special relationship to the city. What if the fact that the city has been altered is what's made you both susceptible to memory loss? We don't even know how someone with no connection to Honer's would react to seeing Unit 17 gone. I haven't looked for the web page, is that gone?" He paused and turned to Mabel. "Ma'am, do you have wifi here?"

It occurred to him that the cut might run the other way instead. What if Percy were right, and only the four of them could remember Honer's at all? What about Ma? Did she remember Da? What if she didn't, what then? He started to panic again, but took a series of deep breaths.

[Remiel]

Norm L. Mann's instinct is to go straight home, put on a tinfoil hat, and go to bed.  He's relatively certain that any suspicious poking around in Things Man Was Not Meant To Know Wot Of will draw the attention of a very angry eldritch elder god and make him all the more likely to end up being an hors d'oeuvre for some nightmarishly colossal octopus. 

But he is also keenly aware that he is now, technically, unemployed, and that is not a happy state of affairs.  He rather enjoyed his boring little mind-numbingly tedious job, and is quite vexed that someone should want to take it away from him. 

Tucking his umbrella under his arm, he flips open his suitcase, the contents of which include a pocket tape recorder and a pencil and steno pad.  He is about to take notes when he notices that Miyo has had exactly the same idea.  Still, he takes notes anyway because that's just the sort of man he is.  The Department of Redundancy Department and all that.

Ron Percy, Kingshead, he writes.  Don't be a dick about the road naming thing.  Back Monkey.

"Right," he says, frowning when the Manners bloke assaults him with an impromptu interrogation.  Still, Tannen seemed to weather it with good grace, even going so far as to produce a business card for Miyo.

"Might I have one of those?" he asks, referring to the business card.

[Kythia]

The King's Head Pub
Bran, Potentially Chris

Mabel nods and calls over to one of the men at the quiz machine "What's our internet password, Phillip?"

"Kings head, all one word, the "k" and "h" are capitals" he shouts back, Mabel repeats the exchange to you as if you could have missed the top of their voices conversation held metres away from you.  Ronald reads over the notepad again and then writes some quick letters on the sheet below.

"Son or sons?" He looks up abruptly and asks.  "You've written here J Honer and Sons, is that right?  Just want to make sure I have everything correct, like"  He quickly draws lines through the letters and shrugs then lays the pad to one side before continuing, leaning forwards slightly.

"Aye, there's no shame in that being your priority.  Family's family, like."  He stares at you thoughtfully for a while then laughs and rereads the notebook.  "You don't get long to think about it, but.  Totally forgot what problem I was trying to solve.

Tannen should nae have told you I'm the King of these parts, like.  I'll have a word with him next I see him.  But what's done is done and he's right.  So I'm gaun help you as I say.  But you have to remember, lad, that finding your da is...It's not that I don't care, laddie, divvin't think me heartless, like.  But it's not my main concern.  If helping you is gaun cause damage to another part of my realm then I'll have to have a think about what to do, like.  But I'll play honest with you and let you know if there's a problem, and you'll do the same with me.  Might be down the line we can talk about bringing your problems and mine a bit closer together, but lets leave that conversation for another day.

You might be on to something with mine and Tannen's link to the land.  My guess is you aren't, like, but its easy enough to check.  So tap away on your eye pod thing and have a look.  Check some other things as well, business listings, like, or the register of companies.    Divvin't just rule it out because the website's gone.

I'm gaun have a little talk with some people."  He nods at Mabel then at the couple at the quiz machine "And see what's what.  You might want to try giving your da a bell on his mobile as well, like.  Lets rule out easy stuff before we get to the hard ones."  A door behind the bar opens revealing a staircase and a youngish - mid twenties maybe - woman with her father's, or more likely grandfather's, piercing blue eyes wearing smart office clothing.  She, Mabel, and the two at the quiz machine head through another door behind the bar.  Ron nods at you and picks up the notebook "I'm gaun take this.  You'll get it back, like.  But conversation will be pretty useless if noone there can remember what we're meant to be conversing about." then stands up and heads towards that same door.

Bran

Made you a substantial Soul check which you succeeded.  When he stands, you feel like you should as well.  it's not enforced in any way, the decision is entirely yours.  It just somehow seems inappropriate for you to be sitting while he's standing.

Let me know what you're looking up, and give me a significant General Education check to think of some appropriate places to check that you (as a non-UK native) might not think of.  Also, give me a Major Notice check.  Feel free to post before I've actioned those rolls if you want a post of you searching/thinking/whatever.  Otherwise I'll let you know what you find once I get the rolls.

I know you know this, Riveda, but just in case anyone else reads this spoiler:

Just to recap rules - Significant rolls are under the governing stat, so for the General Education roll, Riveda is trying to roll less than his Mind.  Major checks are under the skill itself, so for that check he's trying to roll under his Notice skill.

Between Units 16 and 18
Miyo, Norm, Potentially Chris

"You might be asking the impossible, there." he says with an apologetic grin before commencing an even more in depth search of the back seat.  "They made me print loads out, never had a chance to use them.  Bloody typical that the one time I need them..."

As he moves aside a brown paper bag bearing the McDonald's logo he looks round at you again.  "Oh, that's a thought.  If you don't want to see Ron, or if he tells you to fu...sorry, to get lost, then you might want to see...Christ what's his name.  It's Indian or Pakistani or, sorry, I don't really know the difference.  Which are the ones with the turbans?  He's one of them.  Patwel?  Something like that.  Works at Maccy D's" he taps the bag.  "Honestly, Ron's a better bet, but he's a distant second.  Oh, wait.  Looks like you might be in luck."

He holds out another business card to Norm, identical in content, varying wildly in the position and extent of food stains. "Sorry it's a bit scruffy"

[Rook Seidhr]

It felt a little crazy to do it, but Bran stood for the departure of the King of Newcastle. It seemed…safest. Yes. Like throwing salt over your left shoulder after spilling it, or knocking on wood three times. Neither of which he had ever done in his life. Maybe that was why he was where he was now.

Bran shook himself out of his reverie after Percy left, sat down and pulled out his tablet for some quick research.

[Remiel]

"Maccy D's? Oh, you mean McDonald's."    Norm blinks at the paper bag, dyed an unhappy red and yellow and stained with various iterations of grease.  He studies the business card for a bit, and then carefully tucks it away into his billfold.  "Thank you for your time, Mr. ..."  He pauses, frowns, and looks for a moment as if he might be suffering some memory loss of his own.  Just as he's about to cheat and fish out the card, however, it comes to him.  "Tannen.  Be seeing you."

He turns to Miyo.  "Well, seeing as how there's not going to be any accounting done today, how about a burger? After all..."  he pauses, and the corners of his lips tremble upward into something approaching a smile.  Clearly, Norm hasn't had much practice at smiling; it is obvious that he isn't very good at it.  "After all, there's no accounting for taste."  He seems quite pleased with himself; apparently, part of his revenge upon the world is the deliberate and premeditated creation of dreadful puns, aggravated by the infliction of them upon perfectly innocent people.

A glance in Chris' direction indicates that he, Norm, would not be offended if the other bloke were to tag along as well. 

[Blythe]

Miyo took the card from Tannen and jotted down her phone number for the man for good measure before taking her leave of the situation. She thanked the man politely before deciding to take her leave. She looked to Norm, seeing him taking notes, and she said, “Good idea. If more than one of us takes notes, we'll catch more that way in the long run.” She scribbled the name Patwel and McD's in her notebook, followed by If Ron doesn't pan out.

But seeing the food was tantalizing; a grumble of Miyo's stomach called to her attention that she hadn't had much to eat. She sighed and listened to Norm's godawful pun...and smiled reluctantly. It really was an awful joke, but she couldn't resist retorting, “Seeing as none of this about Honer's adds up, we may as well catch a bite.”

She called out to Chris, “Come along with us. It looks like you're tied up in this, too, and I'm all for safety in numbers...or anyone else that recalls Honer's frankly.”

[Demigod1945]

Chris had been a bit lost in his own thoughts, not bothering to pay attention to the conversation going on around him. It had just hit him that the contact he was supposed to be meeting was either not here or had "disappeared" just like Honer's. Whatever the case, Chris was a little upset by the fact that he wouldn't be able to look into the lead on his wife's case, more than upset really, he was furious, but he tried not to show it. He perked up when Miyo invited her and Norm to come with them for a burger, distracting him from his thoughts. He smiled briefly.
"Now that I think about it, I do feel rather hungry."

[Kythia]

Tuesday 13th August 10:19

The King's Head Pub

Bran

You search the web, looking in obvious places first.  Honer's website is gone, but gives you a 404 rather than an advert for a webhosting company which strikes you as a little odd.  You're not entirely sure what to make of that.  Newcastle Chamber of Commerce has a listing for Honer's four and seven financial years ago, but nothing before, since or in between.  Ditto for the register of companies at Companies' House - the official list of all companies allowed to operate in the UK.  Four financial years ago, seven financial years ago.  Nothing in between, before or since.  There's no record of what happened in the other years though, and you kind of think there should be.  Surely the company needs to register every year?  And if it hadn't then...well, you're not entirely sure.  You need an accountant.

Google Streetview is no use, showing only the view you saw yourself an hour earlier, albeit on a much more sunny day.  While you're on a Google, you try a few sensible sounding searches - "Honers", "Honers Newcastle" "Honers Building Merchant" "Builders merchant, Newcastle" - but get nothing of interest.

The search function on the websites for the Chronicle and the Northern Echo, two local newspapers, give nothing but you're not entirely certain you'd expect them to.  The indexed articles only go back a couple of years anyway.

You're trying increasingly unlikely places, forums for Newcastle United and the like, when you finally find something.  A post made only about five minutes ago on Newcastle Craigslist, Missed Connections to be precise:


Subject:
J Honer and Sons.  Unit 17. Fergusons Road PLEASE HELP!!!
Message:
Does anyone know of a builder's and plumber's merchants called J Honer and Sons.  If ANYONE has ANY KNOWLEDGE AT ALL then please get in touch.  There is a REWARD for any information at all.

Please get in touch.

clicking on "Reply" brings up your email client to send an email to nqbdm-4578984432@pers.craigslist.org should you wish to.  Before you get a chance though, the young girl you saw come down the stairs opens the door to wherever they went.

"We're ready for you when its convenient.  If you're still busy though, feel free to finish off."  It would be clear where she's from, but she has nowhere near as strong an accent as her presumed grandfather.



Tuesday 13th August 10:34

McDonalds, Northumberland Street

Miyo, Norm, Chris



The promised rain has started by the time you reach Northumberland Street, Newcastle's main shopping street.  Mothers with pushchairs cling close to the buildings to stay as out of the rain as possible leaving the centre of the pedestrianised road clear.  Outside the Carphone Warehouse, two men are collecting funds for an amateur musical theatre group by singing a medley from My Fair Lady but they're the only stationary people.  Everyone else hurries to wherever they're headed.  Miyo's phone beeps as you approach McDonalds with a text:

This is my number.  Stay in touch.  MT

The inside of McDonalds is pretty much like the inside of every other McDonalds.  But that's the beauty of the place isn't it?  You know what you're getting.  It's perhaps a little more full than you might expect as people drag out cups of coffee and items from the breakfast menu a little longer than they normally would to see if the rain will blow over.  Probably a futile hope.

Behind the counter are the usual group of teenagers and students each with a badge identifying them and assuring you they're happy to help.  A pretty blonde girl whose name is apparently Tina (she's Happy To Help, but has no stars indicating she's able to) is being shown how to use one of the tills by an almost unfeasibly good looking male of north Indian descent who, as well as being Happy to Help and having a colossal four stars to do it with, is apparently named Patveer and is the Shift Manager.  The name's not overly close to the one Tannen gave, but he is wearing a turban.



Tuesday 13th August 10:14

Between Unit 16 and Unit 18, Fergusons Street

Nova

From time to time you put on your largest pocketed pair of combat trousers and talk a walk around J Honer and Sons letting things "fall" in to the pockets.  Not because of any real desire for them - fencing the u-bend of a plumbing system is pretty hard - but just to punish your security guard father.  Most of the items end up getting thrown into a bin somewhere.  Today, having nothing better to do, was to be one of those days.

But the Metro was running late, and you get there a little later than you had expected.  And when you do finally get there... Honer's is gone.  All that remains of where it should be is a little alleyway between the two neighbouring buildings.  A man - dark groomed hair, tidy fashionable goatee, expensive looking suit - paces worriedly in front of it.  Tapping on his expensive looking phone as he does so and casting frequent looks over to the alleyway.  You don't need to be a professional at reading body language to know he's concerned about the same thing you are - where the hell has the warehouse gone?

He eventually finishes whatever he was doing with his phone and pockets it then stands staring at the alleyway, occasionally giving little exasperated movements.  After a moment, he starts to cry.

[Rook Seidhr]

Even if this turned out to have been some sort of freak natural occurrence, like a tidily store-swallowing ground subsidence or whatever, it wouldn't hurt to have displayed caution. Bran therefore used a throwaway contact address.

From: runningfree@mailinator.com
To: nqbdm-4578984432@pers.craigslist.org
Subject: Re: J Honer and Sons.  Unit 17. Fergusons Road PLEASE HELP!!!

Looking into that myself. Contact me at above email. We'll pool resources.

He covered his tablet, dropped it back in his messenger bag and stood to follow Percy's granddaughter.

[Ilasandra]

Nova was whistling a jaunty tune as she strolled down the walk towards Honer's, a small smile playing across her face. She was going to pay a visit to her father's old place of work and perhaps take a souvenir or two. She didn't do it too often, mostly when her hatred for her father reached the point that it was this or beat him to a bloody pulp. So instead of the possibility for doing time, Nova did this. Not that it wasn't without it's own risks as she perfectly well knew. Hell she had almost gotten caught a time or two. After all it is a little difficult to stuff a pipe down your pants and still look nonchalant. She giggled slightly at that as she round the corner, counting the buildings as she went.

15 . . . 16 . . . 17 . . .

The gigle quickly died on Nova's lips as she gazed at the scene before her, her face a mash-up of anger and confusion. What is this bull? she thought to herself as her mind almost immediately registered the man in front of her. Still most of her attention was focused on the gaping whole, screw this random dude. Where could a whole building go to? It's like it was never here. As if it was normal to skip a number on a street . . . Yeah, perfectly fine. Her face scrunched in thought as she shoved her hands into her jacket. It was the sound of the man crying that broke her from her thoughts. "The hell are you blubbering about? Could be worse. You coulda vanished like this here building, yeah?" Nova said roughly, the sight of a growm man making her distinctly uncomfortable.