[ SEMI-OPEN ] MEDIUM, LIVE!

[knightscode]

Date: 17th to 31st of October, inclusive!
Plot: Medium, Live!
Areas: Manchester for the pre-London show, then Greenwich




Worldwide phenomenon Sarah Silverton is coming to London. The British Born psychic, medium and all round lady of the supernatural is doing a special tour ending with a Halloween show in the enormous setting of the O2 arena.

She's booked out the placed, too, tickets are sold out. They weren't exactly cheap, either.

Silverton has plenty of critics, but nobody can deny that she does put on a good show. Some put it down to publicity stunts, but every time she takes over a stage there always seem to be mysterious problems. Lights flickering, sound problems, all sorts of spooky goings on while stage hands swear blind they didn't touch anything. There have even been some who quit because they couldn't take it any more, claiming members of Sarah's team must have been deliberating interfering to draw crowds.

It's no surprise, then, that the Night Council has taken any interest. With the reports of strange goings on escalating (including a falling piece of set in one show that caused injury to one unsuspecting audience member) they've launched a full investigation. While most believe Silverton to be a fraud simply putting together elaborate stunts to sell tickets, any chance that she's a real member of the community flagrantly breaking the Statute of Secrecy must be addressed. Lancelot is charged with putting together a team and investigating carefully. Sarah Silverton is a celebrity, and they can't risk drawing attention to themselves in the process or causing any kind of public scandal. They have just over two weeks until her live show in London, and a lot of work to get done....

[ ooc; Post for the medium, live! plot. Still time to sign up if you want! Spooky content likely, in the spirit of Halloween. ]

Comments

RECRUITMENT;

[knightscode]

Lancelot knows as soon as the files are dumped on his desk that this is going to be a problem.

If even the slightest hint of this investigation being in process reaches the papers they'll have a media frenzy, and if Silverton's security and PR team step up they'll never get within a foot of her.

Lancelot knows he'll need a range of skills, then. They'll need to pull all the records on her first, see what they can dig up in her past, then see what they can find out about the set up of her shows. If she's ordering a hundred stage hands with instructions to levitate things and radios for people to feed her answers then they might have an answer there.

It's probably worth seeing if someone can get close enough to try and sense something off her, too. Lancelot doesn't trust his bluff skills enough to do it himself, but there are a few people he can ask.

[ ooc; For everyone who signed up -- you can either have Lancelot approach your character someone he'd know they'd hang out, or have them already aware what the issue is and being pointed to him. He can meet them in the Night Council offices, or somewhere of their choosing if they'd rather not go there! ]

[dirtyredneck]

Daryl wiped his hands on the red rag that was near constantly in his back pocket, getting the grease off his fingers as he made his way from the back of the garage and through the lobby of the shop to the waiting room. He paused for a moment in the doorway before clearing his throat, surprised to see Lance sitting there. When he'd been told he had a guest, he'd thought it likely to be someone from Hillingdon. Maybe someone one of his regular clients sent over.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked, curious and genuinely confused as to why Lance of all people were. Far as he knew, the man didn't have a bike.

[knightscode]

Lance is sitting in the waiting room with his dog, who is currently far too white to be this close to all the grease and oil that comes with a garage. She's sat pressed against his legs, eyes flicking around curiously, and they lift as Daryl steps out -- tail swishing along the floor of the waiting room. Hello, Daryl! Hello! Are you a friend? Because you smell like cat!

"If you have two minutes?" Lancelot answers, and gestures vaguely to the door. Since it isn't exactly garage related business he's here on.

[dirtyredneck]

He knew that dog. Dog probably didn't recognize him, though. Not with all the grease and garage smells on his jumpsuit. He'd seen her in Lance's place when Faolan brought him by to investigate the man's kidnapping. She'd been awfully friendly, then, too.

Daryl stepped through and shut the door behind him. Moved so he could take a seat opposite Lance. Far enough away that it would be difficult for the dog to get too close and get that lovely white fur all dirty.

He doesn't say anything as he sits down, just lifts his head and looks attentive.

[knightscode]

Well, they're going to just talk here then he supposes. Lancelot lofts an eyebrow at the silent way Daryl sits down, ruffling at Lily's mane and ears.

"I need some help with an investigation," he says finally, "something that needs to be done... carefully. Do you know who Sarah Silverton is?"

It's something of a toss up, after all. As a celebrity she tends to hit chatty talk shows and sometimes a little column in the paper, but if you don't read the papers much or watch TV you have zero reason to know who she is.

[dirtyredneck]

Ne nodded and pointed over to the corner where the tv was set for the most innocuous daytime talk shows, "Yeah. Seen her commercials in here. One'a them fake psychics. She get too close to something she shouldn't?"

It was the only reason Daryl could think of for an investigation involving her. Maybe one of the people she did a 'reading' for was part of their community and let something slip?

[knightscode]

"That's what we're trying to find out," he admits. "There have been reports that her shows are a little more realistic than we'd like. Some people injured by mysteriously falling set, damage to theatres, that sort of thing. The Night Council are concerned that Silverton's shows might not be as fake as we all thought. If that's true she's breaking a lot of secrecy laws."

Which is a big deal, especially considering how much public attention she draws.

Re: RECRUITMENT;

[defy_the_stars]

Liadan had expected to find herself in a few unusual situations when she moved to London, but she hadn't expected it to happen quite so soon. But when she'd heard about this woman who may be putting the entire community at risk, she knew she had to do what she could to help. And so she headed to the Night Council offices, leaving Johnny in the care of her new neighbour, who seemed kind and trustworthy.

She mentioned the name Lancelot when she arrived and was told where she could wait to speak with him. As she sat, she closed her eyes. She could feel the power of this place, of the people in it. Hopefully, she might also be able to sense - or not sense - the power in this supposed psychic.

[knightscode]

Lancelot is busy, and on top of that he's exactly the sort of person who is poor at delegating. Currently he's trying to juggle the influx of investigation results, several other cases, answering the phone to a dog sitter and flicking through his emails trying to work out how he can get out of his normal Met Police job for a day or two without drawing suspicion. He opens the door, phone balanced awkwardly one one hand as he holds out a folder to a very prim woman sat at a desk neatly typing. She jumps up and scampers over to take it from him, then his eyes land on Liadan and widen slightly.

"If you could," he's saying into the phone, "that would really be a great help. Even if it's just the one night. Text me when you can confirm? I actually just have another appointment right now --"

He mouths just two seconds and waves at her vaguely, stepping back and holding open his office door for her. The desk is littered with files, the book shelves behind sparse but for a few reference books, and a photo of a very fluffy white dog sits in a frame.

[defy_the_stars]

Liadan looks around the office as she waits for the phone call to end. She doesn't know much about this man but she has a feeling he keeps his schedule very full. It reminds her a bit of her mother, who had always been doing ten things at once - and each of those ten things had been a task for someone else, never anything for herself. Liadan had always admired that.

Her eyes are drawn to the photo of the dog, which seems out of place with the rest of this. She wonders what the animal's name is.

[knightscode]

Pushing the door closed behind her he switches the hand he's holding the phone in, begins scribbling a note down.

"Yes, thank you that's perfect, yes. Uh, after five? Brilliant, thank you. Talk to you later." He hangs up, drops the phone onto his desk and takes a deep breath before smiling at her. "Dog sitter, sorry about that. Liadan, isn't it? Right, forgive me I totally lost track of time. Think you for coming -- please, sit down. I can get you something to drink if you like? I hope you weren't waiting too long."

He winces slightly at the thought, aware of what a shambles he must seem.

[defy_the_stars]

"It wasn't long," she assures him, smiling. She's seen her husband in a similar state countless times and isn't bothered by it. There are always so many moving parts for those who are in charge.

"Water would be lovely," she adds, though the water in London tastes different than what she is used to. People usually look at her as if she's crazy when she mentions it, however.

[knightscode]

He nods and flops into the chair behind the desk, wheels back and yanks open a cupboard with various things. He digs out a bottle of still and a bottle of sparkling water, not really sure which she'd prefer, then a clean glass which he sets on the desk for her.

"There we go," he says softly, and digs for another one for himself -- sets it down on the desk and shuffles forward again to loosen the caps on both bottles. "Right, how can I help you then?"

[outstandingbalance]

"Hey," Natasha says, smiling when Lancelot approaches her. Between his expression and the fact he's approaching her on campus, she feels confident that she's right when she continues coyly, "I get the feeling you didn't come here to take me out to dinner."

She tilts her head, considering him, wondering if she can guess what's concerning him.

"Want to tell me about it?"

[knightscode]

"If you'll indulge me. It's work, but it's more of a request than an order. You can say no."

He stops what he judges as a safe distance off, close enough to not be applying pressure, and stands with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Shrugs a little.

"You can listen then say no too. You can even make me pay for your listening time in coffee. This is your ground, not mine."

So it's her rules, and he doesn't want to throw his weight around about it. Guinevere had told him he didn't seem frightening even though he's a guardian, but he'd like to keep it that way. Head of guardian division could easily be a title that makes you head of the hired thugs, used the wrong way. He's sensitive to that.

[outstandingbalance]

Natasha smiles slightly at his gameness to be fair with her. It's not really necessary, but she appreciates the effort none the less. It's a level of freedom to decline that's still new for her.

Even in Redbright, it's not something she gets much of.

"How about if I listen over coffee. Then I can give you my answer."

[knightscode]

"Works for me." He flicks her a smile and gestures slightly over his shoulder. "There's a place on the corner I usually go to, but I can defer to the person whose time I'm buying."

Lancleot's smile turns playful as he waits for her to pick a direction, falling into step easily.

"So, is Redbright meeting your expectations?"

Either the faction or the person, he's leaving that deliberately ambiguous.

[outstandingbalance]

"I know the place. That'll be fine." Natasha's not picky, and that's the closest coffee shop. She's more interested in where this is going than getting a particular cup.

She starts that direction, slipping her hands into her jacket pockets as they go.

"Lucky for me, I didn't come into this with particular expectations. Hard to fail them when I didn't have something in mind to start with." That's not entirely true, but it's true enough. Redbright hasn't disappointed her, but she expected not to be happy with everything she had to do so in that regard, meeting her expectations wasn't all that great.

[knightscode]

He tilts his head at that, half watching her and half watching the road as they walk.

"It's good to keep an open mind. I can't fault you for that. I do find it hard to believe you have no feelings about it at all, though. You must have had an idea of what you wanted it to be."

Surely you can't join a program called something like 'Outreach' for a school system and not have some sort of expectation for how that would work?

Certainly, Lancelot would never have expected an 'Outreach' group to be involved in something like what happened to Abigail. But then again, that's none of his business, he supposes.

Checking the road is clear he jogs across and pushes his way into the coffee shop, ambles up to the counter and begins squinting up at the boards idly trying to decide.

[reticence]

He doesn't need to look all that far for help in Faolan himself.

Glancing up at the other man from across the office he raises something of an eyebrow at Lancelot as he watches the other man frowning at the folder before him. Seeing as Lancelot is effectively his senior there at the Night Council, it comes as no surprise that Lancelot should receive the bigger cases to them delegate assignments out from there. He wonders if it's anything of the sort, as he picks up his Mr Grumpy mug and shuffles over to perch on the edge of the other man's desk.

"Anything good?" he asks, nodding to the paperwork spread across the desk in front of him and doing his best not to read any of it over without permission to do so.

[knightscode]

'Good' isn't exactly the word he'd have used, himself. Lancelot lets out a heavy sigh and leans back in his chair, picks up the Samoyed property laws travel mug that Faolan had given him in may and sips lukewarm coffee from it.

"Possible secrecy law breach," he says, and flips around the file he had open so it faces him. "Too public to dig into openly."

[reticence]

Faolan reaches for the file to look at it closer as it's offered to him. Flipping through as he carefully reads through the situation. Raising an eyebrow slightly as he realizes just who it is that they'd be investigating. He's pretty sure he's seen more than a few advertisements for her upcoming show here and there, though honestly he hadn't paid the thought of it much mind. Not as far as the rules of the underground were concerned.

"She's been around long enough, you would have thought the Council would have taken an interest in her sooner then..." He glances up at Lancelot again, as if in question although from flipping through the file he's all but certain that's the direction that this is headed. "Before she became the 'Worldwide Phenomenon' that this claims her to be." He gestures to a flyer from a previous show that someone seems to have wrangled up for the purposes of the file.

[knightscode]

"There are plenty of supposed mediums and psychics in the world. The problem here is we all assumed she was a fraud, but some of these reports have thrown doubt on that."

He leans forward and flips the file pages Faolan is holding until it stops on one of the accident reports.

"Things like this have become more frequent at her shows. It could be a coincidence, it could be nothing, but..."

But if it isn't then it's a risk, and if it's a risk they need to put a stop to it.

[reticence]

Faolan keeps the file loosely in his hands, allowing the other man to turn the pages for him until they stop on the accident reports. Scanning the sheet as it details the damage done to the theater this particular show had taken place at. He flips to another behind it, with similar results. Frowning down at the report before glancing up to Lancelot himself.

"They wouldn't have put the report on your desk if they thought it was nothing," Faolan replies. Even with so little information as what he's just gleamed by skimming through the file, Faolan can see why they'd be suspicious of it. Of her. Of course, if she really is more than what she seems, she's a dangerous woman indeed. Especially if she's doing these things around the crowds of people that her popularity suggests.

[knightscode]

"It's obviously suspicious," Lancelot half agrees, and he leans back in his chair -- rubs at his face in thought. "But we can't just walk up and ask her if she's using her gifts because her whole persona is that she does. We need to work out if there is magic involved at all first, and then if there is what the source might be. It could be a stage hand, could be an audience member out to cause problems, could be a ghost haunting her. It could be that cat for all we know. My initial thought..."

Here he sighs a little and turns the file back toward himself, flips through pages.

"... Was to try and send some people up to Manchester. She has a smaller show there first. If some people go and feel it out they might be able to confirm if magic was at least in use at all."