10833/City Fall: Pawn to F8
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| City Fall: Pawn to F8 | |
|---|---|
| Date of Scene: | 22 January 2020 |
| Location: | Abandoned Warehouse, Lower East Side |
| Synopsis: | Natasha investigates the mysterious chess board deliveries scheduled for Gotham |
| Cast of Characters: | Shredder, Shadow |
| Tinyplot: | City Fall |
- Shredder has posed:
For most people, tracking the trucks might be difficult. They were unmarked box trucks, and the shipping was all legitimate, nothing under the radar. No funny business. However, for those who run international shipping companies, the resources to track and understand the shipping procedures probably helped. All of the trucks first were sent to a warehouse in the Lower East Side, and then were same day shipped to a distribution warehouse. The only odd thing is that the warehouse is not considered an active distribution center currently. It's supposed to be under rennovation. This fact even affected some of the local supply chains for Cranston shipping, causing a reroute of some goods to other centers. A fairly routine thing, really. It wouldn't normally raise any eyebrows. And normally trucks being sent to that shipment center would also not raise any eyebrows. But trucks sent during a rennovation...that's strange.
- Shadow has posed:
Strange, but even that would probably have passed by anyone's eyes without remark -- if it had been anyone else. If the location hadn't already caught her attention. But as it is... Natasha reviews the schedule one more time with a raised eyebrow before reaching for the intercom to inform her long-suffering secretary about a last-minute change in schedule. She really needs to give the poor girl another raise for putting up with her... erratic... behaviour without protest.
By the time the trucks arrive at the supposedly-unused warehouse, the Shadow has been in position for quite some time, watching, waiting...
- Shredder has posed:
There are three trucks that arrive over the course of about 4 hours. No one is wearing any ninja gear this time. Just some young workers. A few of them are pierced and tattoo'd, but of course such things are not uncommon for young people today.
"So, Gotham?" one of them asks another. "I never can figure out why they send places to the centers that they do. I mean, isn't it more gas to drive them there from here?"
"Yeah, I'm sure some math whiz has a reason it's the best way to do it, just scan in the crates and we can register them for delivery."
"Which company was it?"
"Uh," the other checks the data pad in his hand. "Account 2146."
- Shadow has posed:
The Shadow memorizes the number and fires off a quick text message to Oracle to investigate and come back with an actual name, but for the here and now it's not important. She follows the pair as they scan each crate, taking an interest in their observations -- and a quick look at the contents of the pad when opportunity arises...
- Shredder has posed:
For the most part, the pad is rather boring, a bunch of numbers and shipping label information, like any of dozens of pads like it throughout the city. Very valuable no doubt to those who use it, but rather useless to others, and would require the database for the company or someone who knew what the numbers referred in order to be utilized properly.
It takes them about fifteen minutes, a scanner going to each crate to log the data. They talk about the girl the younger one plans to ask out as soon as he gets up the courage, and whether the NY Giants are going to change ownership before next season. "Okay, one down, two to go," the older says, and they move to the second truck to do the same, leaving the door to the first one open. Probably not protocol, but there doesn't seem to be much danger of being robbed at the moment.
- Shadow has posed:
Having an excellent memory for shipping numbers and label formats helps -- and the Shadow has multiple venues of information to turn those numbers into actual names at her leisure later. For now, this is a good opportunity to take a closer look at the crates and see if they can be unsealed without being quickly detected.
Cranston Shipping uses a particularly tamper-resistant sealing protocol, but it's also somewhat more expensive and there have been more than a few discussions with the board about excessive paranoia and its effect on profit margins, but sometimes it's good to be the one whose word is law. This, however, isn't a Cranston subsidiary, so...
- Shredder has posed:
The crates are sitting on flats, not particularly tamper proof, but they are wrapped in celophane, a very low tech version of tamper resistance. Sure it's easy to get through, but then everyone knows unless you wrap it back. Well, assuming they are paying attention.
- Shadow has posed:
Low-tech but effective... Unless you've worked with it enough to know its limitations. A truck like this usually carries a spare cellophane roll because it doesn't take up much space, and if you're careful with a knife and even more careful rewrapping it, you can make it hard to notice... It all depends on how much time she has, but they did mention two entire trucks more to check.
- Shredder has posed:
Indeed, there is a spare roll in the corner of the truck, not secured. Inside the crate, sure enough, there are the chess sets, still in their boxes and ready for distribution to...whoever they are going to. Nestled tightly and compact, they sit ready to be opened by whoever the purchaser or giftee might be.
It seems that each of them have an address already. Not all remarkable names, all of them are addressed in Gotham. A couple might be noteworthy community leaders, but no one that is a crime boss or anything of that nature. People with money, people with influence over the city. These seem to be the targets.
- Shadow has posed:
... And after what the coins held, and that mysterious woman's comments earlier, almost certainly more magical shenanigans are afoot. One box is quickly pocketed, the remainder rearranged to make its absence less obvious, and then it's a quick but thorough cellophane rewrap before the Shadow makes her way back out to see what the scanner duo has gotten up to...
- Shredder has posed:
As the wrap is applied, the sound of stretching cellophane across the pallet draws attention/ "Did you hear something?" the younger asks.
"Like what?"
"Like someone messing with the wrap or somethin'," They are coming out of one of the second truck, and heading back to the first truck.
- Shadow has posed:
On the one hand, there aren't many places inside the truck that *aren't* shadowed, so chances of being detected are low. The roll is replaced on the bed of the truck, half-wedged between two crates where it could easily have rolled while the truck was in motion, and the Shadow crouches behind a third, waiting for an opportune moment to pass just in case one of them is brighter than they've so far been and breaks out a flashlight.
- Shredder has posed:
The two men look back into the truck, and wander around. "Probably another one of those stupid rats," the older says, "Go hit the lights on the truck and see if we can get it out. Nobody likes finding a dead rat in their shipment.
The younger nods, and disappears around the side of the door, presumably headed to the cab to turn on the interior light for the truck.
- Shadow has posed:
That's the Shadow's cue to leave. A moment's distraction of the older, a sound he thinks he heard, and she slips past before the lights go on.
She has what she came for. Now she just needs to find someone who can tell her what it is she has... And a great number of Gothamites will need to be checked on.