DiscoDude: ---BEGIN SESSION---
DiscoDude: Session logging commenced
GM: > EXCHANGE #5
GM: (With +3 CLEVER, you're up, Andie.)
GM: "You're up, missy." The Director nods for you to head into the room, Andie.
GM: (Andie?)
Andie: Andie gives a thumbs up before heading in, carefully setting the can of soda she was previously sipping at before taking a seat. "Sorry if things got a little heated back there, Ms. Maishiki. Would you mind just explaining what kind of relationship you have with your brother?"
GM: (Is she attempting to Create an Advantage? Overcome the On Thin Ice [!] aspect? Something else?)
Andie: (Ah, let's go for the second one)
GM: (Got it; so, you're using CAREFUL to mostly just calm her down, then?)
Andie: (Yeah)
Andie: !f 1 (Careful)
DiscoDude: Andie rolled 4dF+1 for 1 [4dF = [+][ ][ ][-]]
GM: !f (STAYING MAD)
DiscoDude: GM rolled 4dF for 0 [4dF = [-][ ][ ][+]]
GM: (I'll use the Free Invoke on On Thin Ice [!] - you've disarmed her, mostly, but the incident (and by extension, the Aspect) itself is still fresh in her mind. (Unless you want to invoke, that is.))
Andie: (I'll invoke)
GM: (On what?)
GM: (Keep in mind that I just spent the one Free Invoke on this aspect; invoking will only take away an option for what to spend my last fate point on.)
Andie: (Ehhh, nevermind actually)
GM: (Alright.)
GM: "My brother..." Akaia still manages to glower at you, but she loses some of the edge in her voice. "My brother is someone I care about, obviously. It's becoming clear that he's gotten in over his head... as he's often want to do. I'm... honestly not sure whether he'd be okay if I weren't there for him."
GM: (You're up, Harry.)
Harry: (mmmkay just 1 sec)
Harry: "Would you say you do a lot of cleaning up after your brother?" Harry says, casually.
Harry: (I'm trying to create an advantage here - getting under her skin about the connection)
GM: (Using the stunt?)
Harry: (the stunt doesn't apply; that's if he uses Forceful)
GM: (Ah.)
Harry: (i'm using Clever, 'cause Harry's zeroing in on what he sees as a chink in her armor)
GM: (Roll it. I'll use KEEPING COOL, meanwhile, but... I don't think this is direct enough for her to use her "No Comment" stunt.)
Harry: !f 2 (Clever)
DiscoDude: Harry rolled 4dF+2 for 4 [4dF = [ ][+][ ][+]]
GM: (However, I think I will cut down on the number of actions this Exchange by having her lawyer assist with STONEWALLING.)
GM: !f 3 (KEEPING COOL + Assist:1)
DiscoDude: GM rolled 4dF+3 for 5 [4dF = [-][+][+][+]]
GM: (Are you going to invoke? Succeed at a cost? Fail?)
Harry: (what cost do you think would work?)
GM: (For Create an Advantage, that'd usually mean making an aspect along the lines of what you wanted, but with a Free Invoke that's against you instead of for you.)
Harry: (let's call it a fail, then)
GM: (I think Success at a Cost is mostly useful if there's an "all aspects are true" situation that's important to achieve.)
GM: (Alrighty.)
GM: Akaia is about to say something, when her lawyer whispers into her ear.
"... No comment."
GM: Akaia adjusts herself in her seat.
"Moving on, I believe I have an answer for your little delivery car conundrum... if you would allow the use of my tablet. My lawyer has informed me of an important piece of evidence that has just been sent to it."
(Creating Advantage with MAKING CALLS.)
Harry: (is that a thing she can even actually fail at though?)
GM: (Hmm... I suppose not - at least not legally. She might still have technical difficulties, but yeah, at the very least, this will likely be against passive opposition.)
GM: (Conceptually, pulling a new Clue in her favor out of thin air will be against Fair (+2) difficulty.)
GM: (Though I suppose one of you should respond, first.)
Harry: "Your lawyer can," Harry says. "Not you."
GM: (Oof. Well... I guess this can count as her acting through him. Maybe failure means he takes a while.)
Harry: It's a little bit of rulebending, but Harry can at least trust the lawyer to some degree of legal responsibility - not so much the suspect.
Harry: With any luck, Maishiki's escape rope will be what they need to hang her instead.
GM: She nods.
"Go get it, counsel."
"Yes, ma'am."
GM: !f 2 (MAKING CALLS)
DiscoDude: GM rolled 4dF+2 for 4 [4dF = [+][+][-][+]]
GM: (Success.)
GM: (Hmm... Since this is a new clue, I'll count it as an Overcome. A Clue with an aspect or two revealed, at least one hidden aspect, and no Free Invokes.)
GM: ((Don't worry, this will all get a lot simpler next time. ^_^;))
GM: After a minute or so of awkward silence:
"I've returned, ma'am." The big lawyer bird has a tablet in his hand. He props it up on the table, facing the two of you. "If the officers would observe..."
It seems to be security footage of the garage at Cola's residence, if the lawyer's description is to be believed. Somewhere at around 8:20 in the morning, the garage door opens, and Cola's car pulls out.
"As you can see, officers," says Akaia, "Cola's Car was Unmanned both going and coming."
Sure enough, when the lawyer fast-forwards to 8:40-something, Cola's car pulls back into the open garage. Cola is in the driver's seat, but seems unresponsive. The car honks several times, and someone - likely an employee of Cola's - comes out, takes stock, and tries to shake Cola awake before resolving to drag him out of the car and the garage to the safety of inside.
GM: New Clue: Garage Camera
Cola's Car was Unmanned | Car Left at 8:20, Returned at 8:40 | ???
Harry: (so...)
GM: (Right, right, new Exchange. Sorry.)
GM: > EXCHANGE #6
GM: (Andie, you're up.)
GM: (Andie?)
Andie: "That. Is actually pretty helpful." She turns her attention to Akaia. "May I look at it closer?"
Andie: (can she do this is order to try and roll and uncover that last aspect?)
GM: Akaia looks to her lawyer. He nods.
"... Go ahead, then."
(Yep, that'll be Create an Advantage. CLEVER, I assume?)
Andie: (Ye)
GM: (And since it's evidence, not a person, that'll be against Fair (+2) passive Opposition.)
Andie: !f 3 (Clever)
DiscoDude: Andie rolled 4dF+3 for 3 [4dF = [ ][-][ ][+]]
GM: (Normal success. Want me to take the wheel on what you find?)
Andie: (Sure)
GM: You pour over the two clips several times over... and right as you were about to give up, you notice something.
Not as the car was leaving, nor as it came back, but before the garage door opened.
It's a face, seen through one of the shutter door's small windows, there only for a second.
Of course there was; a garage door can be opened with an app, and a driverless car can be called to your location similarly, but sending a car to a specific location away from you needs a manual input.
You zoom in on the window. Akaia and her lawyer seem to sense that you found something, but they aren't certain enough to truly start panicking. You want to say 'enhance' in your head, but you know that's nonsense technobabble. It's not needed, anyway.
It's Akaia's face.
Clue Updated: Garage Camera
Cola's Car was Unmanned | Car Left at 8:20, Returned at 8:40 | Akaia was In the Garage [!]
Harry: (my turn?)
GM: (Yeah.)
Harry: Harry looks at Andie, then back at the suspect. He's seen the same thing she has. "Ms. Maishiki, there is, to quote one of history's greatest investigative minds, a donut hole in the center of this evidence." He steeples his fingers. "I believe we have already well-established that, even in fully automated mode, a car still needs someone to give it a destination, correct? Your 'evidence' here, which you purport to indicate your lack of connection to the crime, proves no such thing. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. It could still very much have been you who set the destination on the car. And even if it wasn't...well, that still doesn't explain how Cola got into the vehicle. If the vehicle was unmanned, that only means there was someone at the destination already waiting to load him into the car - someone that could have been you."
Harry: (now I'm attacking, with Clever)
GM: (Alright, roll it. You cool with "No Comment" applying here? XD)
Harry: !f 2 (Clever)
DiscoDude: Harry rolled 4dF+2 for 1 [4dF = [-][ ][ ][ ]]
GM: !f 4 (KEEPING COOL + "No Comment")
DiscoDude: GM rolled 4dF+4 for 7 [4dF = [ ][+][+][+]]
GM: (Whoa!)
Harry: (can i have a moment to respond after the response here)
GM: (Not invoking, then? (For the record, I think you can seriously pile on the evidence here.))
Harry: (what?)
Harry: (i have one fate point and one free invoke to play with)
GM: (There's still Free Invokes on several Clues from forever ago, and Nor made a boost shortly before leaving.)
Harry: (how much damage can i do? enough to knock her out with one go?)
Harry: (because if not, pass)
Harry: (i have a different tack in mind)
GM: (Not quite in one go, no.)
Harry: (let her have her response)
Harry: (i'm not wasting invokes on a shit roll vs. a huge-ass thing like that)
Harry: (but then i wanna say something)
GM: "... No comment."
(Luckily, her stunt means no SWS for her.)
Harry: "Thank you for your time, then. Ms. Maishiki," Harry says, rising from the table. He gestures to help Andie up from her seat. "We won't take up any more of your day."
Harry: He looks again at the tablet, and looks Akaia straight in the eyes: "I'm sure if we investigate the garage, we'll finally get to the bottom of this."
Harry: (come on, have someone mention the warrant, have someone mention we need a warrant)
GM: Akaia rises from her seat, but pauses.
"... Talk to us when you have a warrant." She betrays nothing as she starts to head for the door.
Harry: "We don't need one. I'm certain your brother will give us permission to search the premises."
GM: "... No comment."
She heads for the door.
GM: (Are we cool with letting her walk for now? Final lines?)
Harry: "I'm sure." (And I'm good.)
Andie: "...Alright then." she says before crossing her arms and taking her leave.
GM: (Then let us...)
GM: !end
