135/Loitering

Loitering
Date of Scene:	24 April 2017
Location:	Gotham City
Synopsis:	Summary needed.
Cast of Characters:	Batman, Zachary Lightwing

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Batman has posed:
The sun's set beyond the horizon, and the last vestiges of warm daylight bleed through between the buildings that mark the skyline.

Similarly, a few ragged bits of police tape remain stuck to the walls and the sidewalk around the area where Bruce Wayne was recently murdered. There's no longer a police presence, and it looks like a few individuals have left flowers to rest against the side of the building nearby.

There is an occasional individual headed out of the Wayne building--it's not long after quitting time, after all--but the scene is relatively quiet.

Zachary Lightwing has posed:
What is he even doing here? Oh well.

Zach approaches the scene of the murder, putting his phone back in his pocket and letting out a heavy sigh. There would have been pictures, of course, of which he cut out of the newspaper he originally saw in the article. He steps up to the place where Wayne had been found, the exact spot, and stares for a solid minute, shaken by the reminder of the death of a philanthropist. He holds up the picture, and backpedals to the point where the photographer was standing. He holds up the picture to compare, his brow furrowing.

"Killing one of the most influential men in Gotham in broad daylight," he murmurs to himself, "Do they even have suspects yet?" He looks over the article, unfolding that part from his other pocket to look over it. "Batman should be all over this one..." Well, there's the other thing, one of the reasons he's looking into this. The chance to meet Batman. No kid grows up in Gotham these days without knowing that name.

Zach raises his head and scans the surrounding buildings, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. Any window with line of sight, any rooftop, any ledge or corner. Cameras, for instance, there could be a digital witness of the moment that was missed originally.

Batman has posed:
There is a faded stain from where blood had likely pooled under the body, although the vast majority of the blood has been cleaned up by CSI.

Similarly, there are numerous marks in the sidewalk surface and a wall near the front door, suggesting a scuffle or fight of some kind; the marks look like they might have been caused by sharp weapons of some sort.

While there don't see to be many cameras pointed down toward the entrance, there are certainly security cameras visible inside the lobby, as well as traffic cameras that might catch the area in their surveillance.

Zachary Lightwing has posed:
Zach takes note of the marks, and steps up to take pictures of them with his phone. Then he takes pictures of each camera that would have line of sight to the incident, so that he can look up the model of camera. It might be... pretty illegal to do so, but there's a chance he can hijack the digitized footage with a bit of work. Alternatively, he can just slip into the security room of the Wayne building and attempt to access the footage that way.

He measures his choices. Tampering with government property would have to be done in his normal human shape and his presence here was probably already noticed by people willing to put the pieces together.

Zach closes his eyes and adjusts his glasses, and does a quick sweep. If magic was used here, he might pick up on the residue. He doesn't expect any mage or otherwise would be so bold as to attack a famous man in front of his own company building, but he can't discount it until he's checked for it.

After that, it's just a matter of getting into the security room of the Wayne building in his ghostly form and finding that footage. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

Batman has posed:
There is absolutely an arcane residue--in fact, it's possible to recognize the essence of multiple occult engagements here. Like the blood, it may be difficult initially to get a sense of how much power had been expended, or when, but the scene has the sense of being more than purely mundane.

As Zachary focuses his attention on attuning himself to whatever magic may be present, a security guard walks slowly toward the front entrance, which he opens slightly to stick his head out. "Is there something I can help you with, sir?" the man asks quietly. "You seem like you're looking for something."

Zachary Lightwing has posed:
Zach is startled. The look he gives the guard is... pale. Being drawn out of his focusing, he is obviously regaining his mental faculties in order to answer the guard, taking a moment to really think.

"I... uh..."

He decides to be honest. "Just looking for answers. I've lived in Gotham my whole life, you know? And this was a Wayne." His brow creases, and he tries to smile but finds that to be pretty difficult. He awkwardly runs his fingers through his hair, looking around at the area, musing on the sensation of arcane power used on this exact spot.

"So much happens in Gotham without anyone getting any closure and..." he doesn't elaborate, giving this helpless 'what can you do' shrug at the guard. "Uhh... Could I look at the footage of when this happened, by any chance?" he wonders, "I might be pushing my luck. I just want... need to know."

Zachary seems even more exhausted. That's right, he's doing this because of his own failures and a desire to do something good with himself... More than just curiosity, it's personal. Remembering that creates a real pitiable look in his eyes. He doesn't look too hopeful, though.

Batman has posed:
The guard relaxes a bit, leaning most of his weight on the door frame behind him. "Yeah, I hear that," he says in regards to Zachary's initial words, before he adjusts his cap. "Whole family's got a sad history, and I guess it just sucks for all us joes to hear it don't end well for even the richest and most famous of us."

At the request, the guard frowns, his lips tight. "You got a reason to do so? I might sympathize as a fellow townie, but there ain't no way in hell anybody's gonna risk their job to hook you up like that. You'll have to watch the news like everybody else, or Youtube the clips."

Zachary Lightwing has posed:
Zach rubs the back of his neck, fixating an apologetic look to the security guard. He holds that look for a while.

"I just want to do something, anything," is what he says, eyes lowering, "Nevermind, you're right, I'll just get going. Thanks." He turns to give a look to the flowers, sigh and prepare to walk off. Unless he's stopped, he'll walk right off, looking dejected and certainly feeling the same.

Batman has posed:
"You want to do something, consider maybe donating to one of the dozens of charities Mister Wayne oversaw and contributed to," the guard calls. "That info's all on the Wayne Enterprises website. Look for the 'About' page!" He grins for a moment. "They drill that into us during orientation week. But I figure it might be especially helpful now, you know, since..."

Zachary walks off, and the guard shrugs. "Ah well. Definitely sucks, fella, I get it," he mumbles to himself before returning to his post in the lobby.

Batman has posed:
MUCH LATER THAT EVENING...

Traffic is sparse, and the streetlights can only illuminate so much of the area. Sure, there are lights directly outside Wayne Tower, and the lobby within has a visible security guard (albeit a different one than from earlier in the evening).

It's quiet and dark, even with the lights.

Zachary Lightwing has posed:
The lights flicker. Electric systems dim for a second as a ghostly presence passes through cables and jumps from point to point to get to where it needs to go. Zachary is lucky in that the Tower isn't blocked from the power grid, and manages to get all the way to the camera systems so that he can trace the system back to where the footage is stored in the building.

Once actually at the source of it, he emerges from an electrical socket below eye level, making no particular noises as this happens as he can suppress the expected sparking or humming that a strained outlet might give off, though his presence might cause lights and screens to flicker. He'll quickly case his surroundings and make sure he's tucked away in a concealed spot, to count security guards and try to spot the proper peripherals for accessing the security camera computer. He is about the size of a housecat, and relies solely on his size and weightlessness to avoid notice at least at first.

All he needs to do is look at footage of that day, and as long as someone's manning the computer, he won't need to do much to get to it. Their security credentials have likely already unlocked the computer. At least... that's what he hopes, as he gets his bearings.

Batman has posed:
Luckily, there's a guard whose third-shift duties seem to be a bit too much for him, and his eyelids weigh heavily.

The security footage, for the most part, seems as boring as it any average day might be.

The early, early morning footage--the time when Wayne was murdered--is also quite boring. Too boring, in fact. It looks like footage of the murder has been edited out.

At least...that's what appears to have been the case. There are quick glimpses at one point, single frames that have been missed.

A closer examination reveals Wayne standing defensively against ... Batman?

Zachary Lightwing has posed:
There it is. The glimpse of something, of someone. And it's...

Zachary tries to process what he's looking at, leaning in toward the screen. Naturally, as a native of Gotham and one of the ostensibly good people that Batman protects, this is a hard pill to swallow.

All sorts of questions run through his head.

But mostly, it's just...

"Why...?" he breathes out, his voice so quiet. He then steps into the screen and heads back to his apartment through the electrical cables once more, only after resetting the computer.

On his way home, he thinks.

Why would Batman kill Bruce Wayne? /Did/ he kill Bruce? If magic was being used, was that even the real Bruce Wayne? It's hard to believe the Caped Crusader would just up and kill one of the most prominent figures in Gotham.

The only good way to answer that would be to ask Batman himself.

But how does he get Batman's attention?

And should he, if Batman really did this?