Otto's Multiversal Mayhem

[arcanus]

Listen roll of 10 (He also has the acute hearing ability through his cyberware)

Keeping below the window within the door, Otto can indeed hear air or a breeze moving through the classroom.

[Otto]

Using his band of accuity, he will cycle through all of his vision enhancements to look through the doors and the wall nearest to it.

Weird Science 7

[arcanus]

Allowing a moment for the Headband to initialize Otto found his vision extend beyond the wooden door, into the classroom and further into the corridor adjacent.

The image resembled that of looking upon a photographic negative, the majority of large surfaces or area black or deep blue, corners and lines accented in clear white, nothing was immediately apparent other than the building being deserted.

The classroom showed signs of disarray, a hurried departure, but not chaotic enough to have been a stampede, a couple of cages contained dead rodents, but other than that the nearby vicinity appeared still and lifeless.

[Otto]

Otto stood and fumbled with the door latch. It opened silently. Drawing his pistol he entered the classroom swiftly, and after another quick scan through the spectrum of his senses he gestured to the group to join him.

'Close the door, and shut the curtains.' He said tersely as the final person entered the room. It smelt of chalk dust, dead animal, and the sour reek of human urine. The childrens desks were in disarray, with chairs scattered and up ended as if the room had been vacated quickly. It appeared that they had been learning mathematics, as the blackboard was filled with basic workings. Broken writing slates and chalk strewn the floor, coupled with a few satchels and childrens bags. The white stone walls were adorned with pictures of birds, drawn by the school children.

'They would be about Dawns age.' He surmised, thinking of his daughter.

'Don't make this personal!' He thought, mockingly. 'You cannot stay with these people.'

'Mr Wells and I are going to search the rest of this school block. Now I'll need one more person to help us.'

Looking at them all, he gave them a smile. 'We'll find the safest place to us all to hole up, so we can rest, find some food and plan the next move.'

'So who is with us?' He asks.

[Otto]

A grim character by the name of Arty Chiddingfold stepped forward to assist Wells and Otto.
A shortish stocky man, Arty had the look of the streets about him. He had long dark greasy unkempt hair coupled with a pair of mutton chop sideburns. He wore a threadbare shirt, that may have been white at some point, and filthy slacks. His shoes seemed in good order, almost new, which made Otto think he may have looted them recently. His appearance belied the mans bearing and manner of speech which revealed a possible military background.

'I'm your man, Ottovo.' he said in a quiet voice.

He brandished a large cudgel of which there were nails hammered into it. Otto noted the trace elements of human blood and skin on it. God knows what he has done to stay alive, he thought.

'Very good.' Otto said. 'Scerrit, take charge while we're away. We won't be long. As soon as we have secured a better place for you all we'll be back.'

'All set?' he asks the duo. Both reply with a silent acknowledgment.

He regards the vagabonds weapon once more, and produces a revolver from under his coat and tosses it to the man.

Arty catches it deftly and weighs the weapon in his hand, opens the chamber and with a satisfied nod closes it with a flick of the wrist. The speed of this maneuvering catches Otto off guard, though he does not register it openly.

'You obviously are!' he says with a wry smile.

'If we're not back in fifteen minutes, then I suggest to get out of here.' he says to Scerrit as he passes over his pocket watch to him.

'Right, lets go.'

[Otto]

Otto and his two companions made their way cautiously along the dingy corridor of which was now bereft of sunlight and gaslight, and It was evident from the start of their advance of the blind panic that had occured in the school. More detritus of the childrens belongings were everywhere.

Suddenly Arty turned and with a surprising authority told them to hold their ground.

He moved slowly and systematically left to right, up the corridor, scanning every aspect and contour until he came to a grey form in the middle of the floor almost twenty feet along theroute that was obscured with the darkness. A crunch and tinkle of glass was audible as he crouched down to look at the form.

Shortly, he beckoned Wells and Otto to him shaking his head as if to warn them of unpleasantness.

Slowly, with dread and foreboding they made their way to the vagabond.

'Good Lord!' Wells exclaimed loudly, the sudden sound splitting the silence and making Otto start.

Before them, lay the dessicated husk of what had been a child, a little girl.

'She's been drained of all her bodily fluids!' Wells gasped.

'Yes.' Arty said matter of factly. 'It would appear that the girl tripped and fell, and had her back broken by the stampede of her classmates. That didn't kill her, and she managed to crawl slowly up the hallway. The killer came through that window.' He gestured to the broken skylight on the left hand side of the corridor. 'Or seemed to stoop in through the window, as I can't see any signs of it's passing. Whatever it was didn't waste a drop, as there is only a small blood stain on the deck'

With a shiver, the memory of the choking, horrifying scream they had heard earlier played on Otto's mind. It hadn't sounded like a child at the time, but now guilt and conscience made it so.
It appeared to Otto, that this thought had crossed Wells's mind also, as his face must mirror his.

'Shall we clear her away? Would be unpleasant for the others.' Arty said cooly without any signs of distress or agitation.

[Otto]

Otto nodded his head and picked up a large discarded coat that must have belonged to the childrens teacher and began to gather up the remains of the girl in it.

Arty began to rummage in the schoolbags, and with a small crow of triumph produced two wrinkled apples, one of which he handed to Wells.

'No need for us to go hungry eh?' He smiled at the journalist, showing a mouthful of gold teeth.

'No, I suppose not.' he answered with an air of resignation as he placed the apple in his suit pocket. He then proceeded to help in the searching the other school bags.

Whilst his companions were occupied with their task, Otto folded the mumified remains of the girl in the coat. 'Amazing how much of the human body is made of water' he mused with a sense of detachment that had come from experience in dealing with grim situations. In fact, far too many situations throughout his lifetime.

How much longer could he deal with these sort of events? he thought as he, as gently as possible, pushed the coat bundle through the broken glass of the skylight.

[Otto]

As it turned out, the search of the school produced no more incidents of that nature. It was deserted of all life.
The school complex corridors ran in a square, with all of the classrooms leading off it. With the main hall situated in the centre of it. It would appear that the dormitories were independant buildings somewhere within the school grounds, but with the sinister dark and its new hidden terrors, the trio did not venture any further.

'Say nothing of the girl' Wells advised as they reached the classroom door where the group were housed.

With the group mustered, Otto chose the main hall as their abode for the evening. Scerrit, Wells and Arty lead parties in salvaging everything of use from the classrooms. The search had produced a small amount of food and drink, and enough clothing to provide Arty and a few others with better and more practical clothing including some which could be used for blankets and down.

But more importantly for Otto, they had located the laboratory. And after Scerrit has established a watch routine and the group had settled down to get what rest they could; Otto visited it to consolidate what he had learned over this terrible, eventful day.

[arcanus]

The laboratory was a quaint affair, wooden workstations with traditional Bunsen burners spaced evenly.
His main area of interest was the area at the front of the room, where presumably the lecturer would demonstrate, this had a proper workstation, with adjacent racks of test tubes, equipment and a locked case containing various compounds.
He smiled at the skull and crossbones symbol upon the door, a little bit of sulphuric acid was the least of these unfortunates worries now.

Despite his best efforts Olivia had refused to remain with the group, seeming to only feel safe with her protector, she now watched his musings with interest.

A short distance down the gloomy hallway Wells, Skerrit and Arty had mustered their beleaguered flock into clearing a room for their habitation,
Arty had prudently insisted that an inner room be chosen, although Wells had argued that this provided no means of escape.
Arty had responded that was the point, the less points of entry or exit the easier to defend.

Faced with such defiant logic Skerrit and Wells had agreed.

Arty seems a perceptive chap, he has a Perception of 14 - Make a roll?

[Otto]

Perception of 12