Of rational decisions and investigations

We slowly (since the skiff isn't exactly a speed boat) make our way into the city, Alpha steering towards the imposing building known as Haarlock's Folly. Sinophia has never been a very populous planet, but everywhere signs of its downwards spiral (a 92.5% decrease in population from its heyday) are evident. Neglect is omnipresent, and the city seems all but devoid of human beings. The streets have flooded in many places, transforming the city into a weird canalscape. Paired with the steady downpour and dark skies, it makes for quite the gloom portrait.

I am interrupted in my musings by the now all too familiar sounds of gunfire. Alpha edges the skiff forwards around a corner, where we see a transport being attacked by a gang of ruffians. We briefly discuss whether we should engage. Alpha and Lazarus in particular argue we should (though I suspect Alpha just wants some action), so I give in and we press the attack. I did some quick mental calculations and according to the criteria I set this was a clear no-brainer:

I am quite open to altering the critera, but if looked at logically I am very certain this was a very solid no go. However, this is where my recent reading of "A guide to well-adjusted social behavior: how to make friends and not enemies" volumes I-III came into play. I was fairly certain Alpha and Dar would look incredulously at me if I presented the basis for my vote. Lazarus would probably understand, but disagree anyway since his moral code as an arbitrator (which, given the events on Xicarph, seem to be fairly...fluid) would force him to act. Mr Potter didn't seem to care either way and my impression is his approach to knowledge is more intuitive rather than grounded in sound logical principles.

Either way, the upshot was that I deemed it unlikely to be able to convince my compatriots and thus only expressed mild surprise and disapproval that we chose to engage.

Alpha pointed the skiff towards the skirmish, the rest of us firing with various firearms at the bandits. Potter concentrated, then telepathically flung a big stone gargoyle directly at one of the bandits' vessel, completely destroying it. The fight seemed to be going well, but 4 snipers presented a challenge, nearly incapacitating poor Dar. Without mr Potter's healing abilities I am quite sure our cadre would have had some new members by now - if indeed it would exist at all!

In the end we prevailed. The boat turned out to belong to one Zul Maywroth, a minor noble with residence in District 7. The PDF arrive in a heli once the shooting stops, not surprisingly (given Sinophians' reputation) they don't give the slightest vermin's bottom about the bodies except for looting them. Their "report" consists of their captain scribbling something on a notepad then tossing it overboard as soon as Lazarus' back is turned. Lovely bunch. The captain on the barge shares some gossip, including one exceedingly interesting tidbit: about one year ago, pretty much exactly when we released the Gilded Widow from its prison in the house of Dust and Ash, the Folly was struck by lightning - 13 times. The adrenaline and rain had me shivering already, but I swear to the God-Emperor my spine was quite close to jumping out the top when I heard that!

We travel onwards towards the Folly. The building itself is quite impressive, as expected. We all notice the Haarlock symbol on the archway entrance: a golden spider in a web, with stars caught in it. Hubris? Not at all...

We are met by Fihad Constantine, arbitrator adjutant and our contact on Sinophia. He leads us into the building proper, explaining that the arbitrators moved in about half a year ago. Mr Potter uses his sensitive side, and not unexpectedly has a chilling reaction. He explains that he felt like a small child surrounded by infinite darkness, an ancient evil clawing at his back. Lovely, just lovely.

We take one of three elevators up to the second floor, where the officers are stationed. Constantine explains that their previous HQ was blown up by a group we've heard of already: the Logicans. Apparently the PDF was infiltrated...by themselves. The Logicans had managed to position themselves in positions as physicians, experimenting with gene altering on hapless victims. Most died, but they managed to cultivate a virus that turned some soldiers into "super soldiers", the so-called Empty Men. One of these gained entry to the Arbitrator HQ and overloaded the plasma generator used as a power source, killing 90% of the men, leaving a scarce 30 Arbitrators in the entire city.

We are led into a control room. A big map is on the wall, with an abundance of tools, cogitators and so forth spread throughout. A spiral staircase leads up to the quarters of Marshal Scarman, who is currently out on a mission. Constantine is of course happy to inform us about the previous cases, but tells us a new murder has taken place a scant two hours ago and suggests we go to the crime scene. I am quite eager to talk to the biologist adept Lecto Talanis, but agree that going to the crime scene takes precedence. This was my quick mental calculation of this scenario:

A clear "go" scenario.

Constantine informs us that the murder is both similar and dissimilar to the previous ones. The methods are similar, but the target is new in that it was not a nobleperson. Always interesting when the MO changes. This one took place in the 13th district. We take our own vehicle and drive out.

The scene is a hab unit in a fairly large building in a run-down district. There is blood spatter in the hallway and the door has been ripped off its hinges. The body seems to have been torn to pieces, 10-12 shotgun shells are scattered about it, clearly used in defense. I secure scans of the entire hallway and room with my auspex and camera before we disturb the scene.

The body has indeed been torn to pieces, and more disturbingly by what looks to be human hands. A secret compartment in the floor has been ripped open, wherein we find 6 vials of ghost pollen and a red silk cloth. The victim's name is Bal Grey, a so-called "rag baron" (a minor crime lord), ex-PDF. We are informed by arbitrators that there's another body in a nearby alley. Interestingly, this chap has been dead longer than mr Grey...and yet, his bullet wounds are consistent with the caliber and other details (angle, distance etc) from the hub, suggesting he was killed by mr Grey! My oh my, do we really have a zombie case on our hands?

Our investigation of the scene complete, we go to interview the reportee, a tired old bloke living in the hub capsule downstairs from the victim. He saw four men arrive, heard a lot of noise, gunfire and horrible screams from mr Grey's apartment. A short while later, the four men walked down the stairs, one of them staggering then lurching off into the alley. The rest simply walked on, not a word being exchanged in between them. Their faces were covered by cloaks.

The old man tells us that Bal and another rag king, one Juvinal Priator, were having a row previously. Insults were exchanged, then shots, then they seemed to come to terms again after mr Priator delivered a small package wrapped in red cloth to mr Grey. A veritable font of knowledge, the old man also tells us that there's been another murder similar to this one down in "the Sinks" (from my memory the most slummy part of the city), where 8-9 people where slaughtered four days ago. This was not reported to the arbitrators/PDF - the populace in that area prefers to take care of their own business. We also learn that Priator is either dead or undercover, as he hasn't been seen for a while (?).

There's certainly no shortage of directions to take here - let the God-Emperor guide our minds to decisive and rational decisions and allow us to stop these probable undead fiends from taking ever more lives. And then, of course, there's the Folly with its utter darkness, secrets and ancient evil...