11134/Puzzling Things Out

Puzzling Things Out
Date of Scene:	27 February 2020
Location:	Rome, Italy
Synopsis:	A race begins for the Prince.
Cast of Characters:	Indiana Jones, Silk

---

Indiana Jones has posed:
One long drive through the picturesque countryside, the two adventurers are back in their spacious hotel room, looking out at the lights of Rome. Centuries of history was out there.
But right now, after a distracted dinner, Indy is back in the hotel room, and looking at the TV screen connected to his laptop.

ONE OF SIX TO EIGHT.

He wondered if he was tired. He'd been looking at it for a solid hour and it seemed...impenetrable.
He rubbed his face, took another swig of whiskey, and took a deep breath. Cindy was doing her stuff (although he suspected she was making copious use of the dinner buffet - could that girl ever eat after the day THEY had) and he hoped she would return soon.

Silk has posed:
There is a soft rap on the door, and the click of the room key reader, then the door opens. "Knock, knock," she says, slipping inside with a cloth-covered basket. "I brought some rolls and pastries, and some butter. And honey. And a couple of sausage rolls. If you're hungry." She sets the basket down on the table and sets down a second basket full of fruit that she hadn't mentioned, beside it. "This should get us through till breakfast." Should.

"What're you up to, here all alone in the room?"

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy pointed to the screen. "I'm trying to make head or tail of this. Why don't you put on your fedora and help me out with this? I'm worried I'm going to get drunk before I get inspired."
He paused, then said, "Some days...I DON'T have all the answers."

Silk has posed:
Cindy looks at the screen as she unties the belt of her red mini-trench and slips it off. "Well...I figured it was talking about Catherine of Aragon. I've heard the riddle before. But the Twisted Sister hasn't played any video games. So she could be looking at it a different way." She frowns and tilts her head as she scooches in against Indy. "Six to Eight would pretty much have to be Henry the Eighth's six wives, right?"

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy blinked at Cindy. "Eight. EIGHTH. Christ, I'm an idiot." He rubs his face in what suspiciously looks like a facepalm. "Henry's six wives. Of course. But...wait." He looked at the screen, then typed:

CATHERINE OF ARAGORN
ANNE BOLEYN
JANE SEYMOUR
ANNE OF CLEVES
CATHERINE HOWARD
CATHERINE PARR

"Okay," Indy said, sitting back. "Six wives. More than one were Catholics. Henry split from the Catholic Church to form the Church of England."

He paused. "It can't be religion. Our nun had forsworn God in favor of Machiavelli...and she was accused in 1527, the same year Henry died. It...okay. I think...yes, it has to be. Three Cathies...Two Annies...but only one Jane. And Jane provided an heir. Cindy, do you have links to the Vatican online archives?"

Silk has posed:
Cindy is leeeaning back over the chair, reaching for the pastry basket on the table. She may be flexible, but her arms aren't extra long. A tiny /thwip/ is audible, before she's pulling the basket slowly back toward her. She fishes out a strawberry and cheese pastry, and begins to munch as she picks up her laptop from the pile of books beside the chair. "Pff...what chick DOESN'T have links to the Vatican's online archives?"

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy is staring at the screen, but Cindy can see the gears turning in his head. The whiskey glass is forgotten.
"Okay...we're looking for personnel transfers in 1527 to 1528. She would have been sent out by her order to another convent while this whole mess was going down. Nuns take on new names when they take the habit and role, but knowing our Mother Superior, she wouldn't have put much stock in God by this point. Look for a nun who used to have the name JANE."

Silk has posed:
Cindy is happily munching her pastry as she taps the keys on her laptop. "Mmm....Hmm." She takes another bite and chews it, swaying ever-so-slightly in decadent happiness. Then she pauses. "Here's one..." She turns her screen to Indy and clicks the link.

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy leans forward. "Okay...Jane Brighton. AKA Sister Judith. Moved from the convent to...okay, that's one of the Vatican's archives. They have multiple repositories in Rome. The one she was sent to..." He began clicking on links. "Okay. Those books are in the same place. The repository is on the Eastern wall of Vatican City." He sits back. "I bet you if we go there, that is where we'll find it. She probably concealed it in a way she would know how to find it again, should the Mother Superior be exonerated...but she wasn't. And the buried secret lay buried." He smiled to Cindy. "You did it."

Silk has posed:
Cindy's eyes go wide, as she chews a mouthful of sweet pastry goodness, then swallows, licking a dab of cream cheese from her top lip. "No, YOU did it. I just pointed you in the right direction. I woulda still guessed Catherine, since she was the first of the six. This is why I heart you. You're so SMART!"

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy chuckles. "Well, you pointed us in the right direction. Credit where it is due. This is why I like having you with me. You're a fresh set of eyes. People can get tunnel vision sometimes." He closed the screen. "We should..."
He got up, then looked around. He distinctly heard a voice, and it was coming from the connecting door. He looked to Cindy, then cupped his ear wth one hand and pointed to the door with the other...

Silk has posed:
Cindy's enhanced hearing didn't miss the voice. She nods silently and moves stealthily toward the door, pausing just inside it to listen. Her brow is furrowed as she looks back to Indy.

Indiana Jones has posed:
The voice is in Italian. "<Yes, boss. That is what they said. On the eastern wall, Vatican City...>"

Silk has posed:
"Shit!" Cindy breathes the word as she looks back at the door. "Someone already has the info," she whispers. We gotta either mislead them NOW with something credible, or we need to make a flying trip to the Vatican."

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy nods, then whispers, "Knock out whoever that is." He begins pulling on his boots.

Silk has posed:
Cindy frowns at the thought, but she knows Indy is right. She silently counts to three, then swings open the door and thwips out a web toward the man on the other side, jerking him toward the door and slamming it as his head reaches the doorway. He falls into a crumpled heap on the floor, and Cindy sets about binding him with webbing. The phone on the floor is still connected, with an urgent voice on the other end asking if he is still there, and what happened.

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy bolts through the door, looking down at...

Oh, no.
He was looking into the bruised and unconscious face of Vincent.
He picked up the phone, then listened to the voice.
<...is going on? What is Jones doing?>
He clicked off, heading back to his suitcase to grab his gun and bullwhip. "BELLOQ. His descendant is a chip off the old block. Okay. As far as I can tell, car is the fastest way. We MIGHT get there before Belloq arrives..."

Silk has posed:
"Well then, let's go!" Cindy strips off her jeans and top, and slips on a red wrap dress over the spider suit beneath. The transformation takes only seconds. But it will enable her to change in half that time should the need arise.

Indiana Jones has posed:
Three minutes later, the Fiat rumbles out of the parking garage and into the city streets of Rome.
"Looks like Belloq is on the move as well. Front desk said he 'stepped out' during a pleasant dinner with some members of the Surete. Guess the black sheep was liked more than he said he was. Dammit, I wanted to like the guy..."

Silk has posed:
"Not me. Easier not to like some people. Cause most of them are gonna disappoint you." Cindy is eating a protein bar that she promptly stuffs in her mouth as she unwraps another. "Wunna phroteen var?" she asks around her mouthful.

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy looks over to Cindy, then back to the road. "You'd better keep it for yourself. I get the feeling a LOT of webbing is going to get used tonight. How do you feel about breaking into the biggest church in Catholicism?"

Silk has posed:
Cindy shrugs, attempting to swallow half a bar. "I feel like we better do it now, while we're still young and dumb," she replies with an impish grin. "So we break into the Vatican. What's the worst that can happen?"

Indiana Jones has posed:
Indy groans. "WHY do you keep SAYING that?"

Twenty minutes later, Indy pulls over to the side on an alley road. "Okay." He hands her an earbud. "I'll keep an eye on our car. I'll need you to go in." He takes a deep breath. "You don't need me slowing you down. The building is marked ARCHIVE #19. The door's locked, but I'm sure you can sort that out. Just don't do TOO much permanent damage, okay?>"

Silk has posed:
Cindy salutes. "You got it, Boss." She strips off her dress as she steps out of the car, and she blows him a kiss before pulling her mask up over her nose and mouth. "See you on the other side, Handsome." And with that, Cindy heads off in the direction of ARCHIVE #19, per the maps she has seen online. She keeps to the shadows, using her webs to maneuver over buildings instead of around them, until she finds the place. One window, up high, is tilted open. Cindy climbs the wall effortlessly up to the window and slips inside. "Piece of cake..." Man. Cake sounds delicious.

Indiana Jones has posed:
One would expect sch an archive to be filled with dusty tomes, shelves piled high with scrolls.
This...killed that mood.
The archive was pristine walls, ceiling, and marble floors. There were shelves, but they were sealed, books compartmentalized in clear plastic containers. There was even a robot arm, ready to select the book in question and bring it to a presentation compartment to be unsealed and examined. It was all very 21st-century.
The archivist, on the other hand was dressed in traditional cardinal's robes. He was sitting at a modern desk, sipping coffee from a mug with VENI, VIDI, VINO written in red with a wine bottle graphic next to it.

Silk has posed:
Cindy boggles for just a moment as she looks around the room. And there is no amount of explaining this suit to the archivist that will assuage his suspicions. So Cindy pulls a jawbreaker from her pocket and throws it as far as she can toward a corridor to ensure that it will make enough noise to be investigated, as she attempts to stealth her way toward the eastern wall.

Indiana Jones has posed:
The clatter startles the cardinal, who stands up. "<Vito?>" he calls. He looks around, then grabs his mug and begins walking down the long hallway towards the sound. That must be a very dangerous mug he is carrying.

Silk has posed:
Cindy follows swiftly, making her way toward the eastern wall, and looks over the items there. She circumvented the robotic arm with trepidation: it might become self-aware at any moment.

Unfortunately, there are shelves upon shelves upon shelves. Cindy shakes her head, and spies a computer on the indexing desk. She slips over to it and quietly types in...what? Maybe....Maybe....

"J A N E."

Indiana Jones has posed:
A moment of nothing...and then a list pops up. At the top, there is a helpful drop-down menu. LIST BY TITLE, AUTHOR, TYPE, OR ARCHIVIST?

Silk has posed:
Cindy frets at her lip, and clicks on...Author. Enter. As she listens for the mug to shuffle its way back up.

Indiana Jones has posed:
The list is arranged by author, but that still leaves over 120 names. The names are many and varied. Various notes, journals, treatises, even novels and plays...
One minute passes. Cindy is almost to the end of the list when she sees this:

JANE SEYMOUR    MOTHER MARIA'S FOLLY    PLAY    SISTER JUDITH (1527)

Silk has posed:
Cindy's eyes widen. That has to be it...given the date. She clicks on it and looks around cautiously.

Indiana Jones has posed:
The computer responded immediately. SHELF 27, ROW 5, POSITION 12. RETRIEVE (Y/N)?