| Gaining Experience |
| Summary: | Domino throws Kurt to the wolves, teaches him how to borrow cars from police impound lots, a necessary skill |
| Date: | (2014-10-07) |
| Related: | Yes, Kurt Contracting |
| NPCs: | Some police night guards |
| Scene Runner: | Domino |
| Social/Plot: | Plot |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
It's another late night in the city, which means it's the perfect time to call someone and potentially get them out of bed. Domino's deliberate in giving Kurt zero prior warning. Training is about to officially start, with blessedly clear instruction.
"Hell's Kitchen, West Thirty-Ninth and Eleventh. Travel light."
The destination's not far from the harbor, close enough to hear the evening gulls and the wash of waves. It's a pleasant evening, crisp and quiet. Sucker bet whether it's going to remain this way.
He hears the voice, responds in German, "Hildred, it isn't time for school yet …" Either dreaming, or something from his childhood and automatic response. Even as she hangs up though it registers with Kurt. Hell's Kitchen, West 39th and 11th. He's starting to get the city, but even as he puts on t-shirt and fitting pants, little else cause he likes his feet workable when moving around (like to walk on surfaces), he has to use a google map search just to be safe.
Thus instead of taking maybe five minutes from the time of call, it literally takes him about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the spot. Then, not knowing if he should be street side or on a building, he gets atop the highest building on the corner by bamfing and wall crawling for vantage. Thus, if she is there, waiting, he makes his way through the cool, crips evening air, listening to the gulls nearby as he tries to ponder what time it really is. He should of checking the clock instead of fumbling for clothes and google search. In fact he should of just looked at the top of his device while searching which would of showed him the right time.
Domino's right at the intersection of the two streets. Standing. Waiting. She's paired down on much of her usual hardware and opted for hiding nothing, standing there in her black and grey synthetic skin with a pair of holstered collapsible batons and a few other small odds and ends. She also doesn't look happy.
"Get lost?" she pointedly asks once he makes his appearance known. "You're a teleporter, aren't you? Even if you had to go street by street it shouldn't have taken you this long. We've lost time, the guard switch is going to be any second now. Just gonna have to make do."
Guard switch? Make do with -what?- She isn't saying, not yet.
"C'mon, Fuzzy. We're going to practice infiltration, and silent but non-lethal takedowns if we screw up." Read: If YOU screw up.
Slightly groggy, Nightcrawler nods, "Well ya, but I still need google to help, its a pretty big city in case you missed the memo on that." He says, down on street level with her, looking around like someone might just see them - though few people trying to move about street side at this hour in this neighborhood, least of all the ones that want to avoid being scene.
Then he looks around, "Guards, takedowns … uh, okay, but where we going to practice. And should I be aware of cameras or something, you know, that whole public image thing of being a CEO can come back to haunt me …"
He's still looking around curiously, not sure what's going on. Aside from gulls and city traffic on busier streets echoing around the buildings, he might catch the hum of streetlights and crickets of he listens enough, not sure the whole plan, but going along and trusting Domino in this endeavor. He's complained, ya, but not protested to this idea she has in mind.
Oh sure, -now- he worries about the flippin' cameras… "That's something you should have considered before setting up the contract," Domino points out. Passing a challenging look his way, she asks "Gonna get cold feet already?" before she starts walking down the street toward the shoreline.
Assuming he's following along, she continues with "I went out of my way to find something entry-level that doesn't involve killing. This one's all for you." Or so she's claiming.
It isn't until reaching near the end of the street that she holds back to the shadows and points onward. "Pier seventy-six. Home of the NYPD's impound lot. Normally not worth the trouble to gank a second-hand Prius, but every once in a while a real gem comes through this warehouse. Real one of a kind stuff. If it isn't claimed it goes to auction. We're going to save them a bit of trouble by claiming one of them."
Looking Kurt's way with a toothy grin, she adds "It's gonna be a sweet run."
"Ohhh, wait, we're borrowing a car," says Kurt, following, coming to a stop and looking at Pier Seventy-Six as the points it out. "You know, I could just buy one," he says turning to meet her with a grin, "But that would be less fun, nein?" He rubs his little three fingered hands together. Its a car from police auction, despite his inclination towards good, he sees no harm in this. It was probably seized from some criminal and they police are using it to turn a quick buck despite being a public services and covered with normal tax money. Forgetting how selling the car makes the new owner suspect to more taxes, including yearly registrations, that furthers the police support system. He's most likely in.
"You have one in mind, or we just going in to see what you like. If I go fast enough, they won't get good footage of my face, if I get to the car fast enough." He bounces on the balls of his feet a moment as if loosening up even, "Wait, where are they keys?" Forget he doesn't know which car they're trying to take just yet.
"'Borrowing,' yeah," Domino quietly seconds. "Buying one completely invalidates the point of the exercise."
Then the questions begin. To be fair, she knows more than she's letting in on. It's not a blind op, and maaaybe he's not up for that sort of thing yet. This doesn't change her mind any where getting the experience is concerned, while he could probably teleport the entire car out where they could do the work in peace it would also be way too easy.
The albino pulls out her phone and taps the screen a few times before turning the screen Kurt's way. "Metallic flake red 1970 Dodge Challenger, complete with factory wing and vinyls, custom tuning and upgrades, and a Roots supercharger." Which is probably the bulky chromed scoop sticking out of the hood. Taking on a malicious grin, "The drug trade turns a good profit around here. It still doesn't save you from becoming a prime target if you post all of your shit on MyFace."
"Op follows: Avoid detection from the cameras and evening shift. Infiltrate the building, find the car, get in and hotwire it. No teleporting until you hear that Detroit monster waking from its nap. We could always drive our way out but chainlink fences hurt. Besides, they park those cars -right- next to each other. I don't want to risk the paint on my new ride."
"Fair enough, get in, start the car, get out. Piece of cake," responds Nightcrawler, "Just be ready, with a car, I'll be a little woozy myself, I think that's pushing my current limits on moving stuff. I can do more machines then people, ja, but its taxing." He grins, all ready to go even.
Then a pause, "Oh yeah, how do I hotwire a car, they didn't teach that in London."
He's looking to the impound lot and back/forth between Domino, like she just tells him touch the red wire, it goes or something. He's totally ready to start bamfing and hotwiring like a pro it seems.
Dom simply says "One thing at a time. There's more to infiltrating than teleporting yourself through the front door. We go in dark, this means no bamfs. Even if you get noticed. Dealing with the situation is part of the job, you can't always rely on avoidance." Looking back to the warehouse, "The guard detail should be minimal but they keep lights on inside of the building. They're old bulbs and spaced apart, should still be plenty of shadows. Just don't get caught out in the open."
A quick check beneath her left wrist updates her on the time. She nods once and says "Right" before ducking out across the last road between the two and their destination. Chain link fence, barbed wire coils up top, a security checkpoint at the front of the lot, and floodlights for the grounds. There's a lot of empty space between here and where she wants to be.
"Ya, okay, so …" and she nods, give him a 'Right' and is ducking off across the last road. Nightcrawler pauses, she didn't let chatty elf get chatty and he stands there dazed for half a second. Good thing for him, he didn't tell her about his acrobatics just yet. She might of seen some with his moving around between bamfs, but not yet the full extent of that.
He doesn't know if she's only going to show him the way, make sure he gets in and is moving, if she's going to show him how to be stealthy, or just see what he does. He starts following like she wants, but instead of going directly for the fence, he looks for nearby street poles with things like wires on it to supply the pier with power. Instead of figuring out the fence itself, he's simply meaning to scale the round pole to get over with some flipping business, unless she sees him to correct him. Heck, it could be a test and she might want him to just jump in there without her guidance on what to do. He goes for it.
Sure, maybe Dom could have given better instruction. Not only does she prefer to work alone, she's also lost time because she had to wait for him to show up. The op doesn't involve leaving the blue guy alone to flounder about within secure grounds. Rather, she wants him to follow after her so she can keep him focused, as it happens to be.
So, when she realizes he isn't there behind her anymore… It takes a moment to find him (the boy does love his heights,) then she attempts to flag him back down to ground level. Where -she- is.
"I'm not sending a newbie after something I genuinely care about, Furball. This is supposed to be training, otherwise it would be my laughing at your expense."
First order of business remains the fence. "Cutting through leaves a trail. Best to go around if it's an option. Make a small footprint, taking out the lights or cutting down their numbers is suspicious, puts people on alert. The best infil is where no one realizes you were there. Now, you're squirrely as hell so I'm betting you'll have no trouble with the fence."
She's armored, a little barbed wire is a temporary setback at most. She looks from one side to the next then makes her move, climbing right on up and over.
The fence is indeed easy for Nightcrawler, including barbed wire. One might think he would be good in the circus, and he was. "Ja, training, you can still laugh at me, it makes me think you care, somewhere in that cold black heart of yours neidlich-chen." He says, with lots of real endearment in there despite what he's saying as he moves up and over to join her on the other side.
"Call me sentimental, but is there gonna be dogs in here that I have to run from," he asks, thinking of it more like a junkyard than an impound lot. Its not far off, certainly, but the bad cars on the outer lot his his mind racing and worrying just a little.
"I wouldn't bet on it," Domino replies while peering over the hood of a parked car to the parking lot around them, and the warehouse beyond. The impounded goodies are on the inside, what little is in the outside lot doesn't concern her any. "And you are still really, really strange." That he would be happy to be laughed at..? What planet is this guy from?!
Pointing, she says "That door's a good bet. The cargo doors make way too much noise but we wouldn't have another way out without your little trick. If we were rocking this oldschool I'd have us split as soon as the right car is found. One person to hotwire, one to operate the door. A subtle exit is off the table, wouldn't be any other way out."
Two obvious cameras are pointed out, affixed to lightpoles. "They're watching the front and the main warehouse entrance, no one's expecting a side hit." That said she dips her head then comes out from behind the car, low and silent as she cuts a straight line across empty space to the awaiting door.
By the time she makes it she's got a set of lockpicks in her hand, waiting for the Fuzzy One. "Ever practice a little B and E?" Now's his chance!
"Strange could be my middle name," he calls out, following between cars just he same, she might notice his indigo fur blends well with shadows as they move close. "If you haven't noticed yet, I'm covered in awesome blue fuzz and have a tail, I'm entitled to a little strange, ja." He looks up, noting the cameras she points out to him, trying to avoid them if at all possible.
"I can't just go up and take them out real click, honest, like two seconds and no cameras." Forget she just mentioned that might leave evidence they were there, or alert someone. But she's bee lining for the door and he has to move to catch up. He sprints faster on all fours, not entirely unlike a dog as he bounds and sprints. Then catching up, "What, why would I practice B and E, I did practice Sneaking Out in college during dorm hours, does that count? I was more worried about an exit then an entrance." Though in versely, getting back in was similar, but he knew which doors and windows he left unlocked so it was sort of cheating, he's never picked a lock.
..Huh. He caught up a lot faster than she had been expecting! Good in a straight line, check. "I'm sure you could," Domino replies. "But what do you think happens when the camera operator notices one has stopped responding? They send someone to go check. If you're real lucky they go to check, themselves. If they notice -two- going down, they put everyone on yellow alert. Stealth isn't about defeating their systems, it's about slipping through the blind spots."
She didn't figure he had any prior experience here. It's okay, really it is. Smirking, she drops the picks and tensioner into one of his palms. Even if she has to grab him by the wrist to do so. "Parents are in bed, you're sneaking back in after a late night. Problem is, it got cold so the windows are all closed. And maybe they changed the locks or something, just put this piece in here with light pressure then start at the front and work your way in. It's like Whack-A-Mole, but with really tiny moles."
In the meantime she'll keep watch, and offer a helping hand if necessary. It's a trial by fire and she knows it, but it's why this op is so ideal to start with. Low risk, but with the fear of major consequences. If need be she could have this place locked down on her own in ten minutes, tops.
"You got the memo I was spoiled right," grins Kurt taking the picks and tensioner, trying to move along at her direction, "My folks died before I had to worry about that you know, and the staff spoiled me, I won't lie about it." He says, still moving to get a feel for how they work. Good thing he has metahuman agility, he is more sensitive to the feelings coming from the tools.
He'll probably need a hand push or five to get it just right and make it click though. "Heh, whack-a-mole, I feel them, do I get tickets if I win, I want the plushie blue elf, 100 tickets." Does he just ever shut up, even when he should be quiet. At least he can whisper pretty good and finally, a click.
"Great, then try to throw some money at the lock and see what happens," Domino challenges with a sharp motion toward the lock in question. "Fine, then I'll not bother with trying to put it in layman's terms. Just get the damn door open." If she just happens to be placing him under greater pressure to get the task done then it'll just be a more successful test. Win-win for her!
"If we can catch one of those little guys I'm sure there's a taxidermist somewhere around this part of the country," she idly suggests while guiding the guy through the pick.
And there's the door.
She recollects her picks from the guy before proceeding, why bother replacing them later if she doesn't have to? "On the upside, what we're after is unique. On the downside, what we're after is unique. Easier to identify for everyone involved. What we -"
The albino woman stops herself short as a patrolling guard happens to make his way closer. Her next course of action? Grab Kurt and boldly push him up front. They're going to get noticed. Or..rather, -he's- going to get noticed, but only because she's letting him take this fall for her.
Experience!
"So, where do we put this unique thing we don't want people to see that we've taken," Kurt is asking before he is unceremoniously pushed forward in front of a guard.
"What the, holy shit, a devil," claims the guard, he pauses, turns a flashlight on the ceiling elf, then scrambles of his walkie, on that coiled chord and attached to his radio at his waist. "Shit, guys," he is begining to say, trying to push the button. But then there is a bamf, Kurt is behind him, "Karata chop," he swings an arm at the guys shoulder, it works in the movies, not realy life. "The fuck," says patrolman reaching for baton. If Domino listens, no one responds, he didn't push the button in time.
Before the guard pulls a weapon, Nightcrawler grins, "Ja, fun time." Lifting his brows he touches the guy again and starts multi-porting him around until the magic happens. Too much woozy, too much spinning, not really too much g-force but the man's body reacts as some do and when Kurt stops close to where Domino was, they guys is bent over, out of his mind from all the porting and Nightcrawler lays him on the floor.
Alright..Domino hadn't been expecting Kurt to go all hyperspace-happy with the guard in question like this. When he comes back, complete with one very unhappy guard, she had used the time to sneak around one of the impounded cars and come up behind where the guard -should- have been. Now she's crouched and ready to lash out and grab hold of a nonexistent threat from behind, yet motionless with widened eyes.
"That's..one way to do it…"
Sigh. Fortunately, she planned for this. One of the extras on her person is a small hypodermic, which she now pulls free and jabs right into the guard's keester. In goes the plunger, out goes the lights.
"Bonus points for flair, but points lost for excessive effort. It's one guard, Fuzzy. You've worn yourself out -and- you didn't fully eliminate him. Subtle," she softly reminds the indigo elf. "I know that goes against your Carnie ways." But tough.
Another quick check of the time. "Alright, best hope this isn't one of the guys that had been set to switch out for the night or they're going to notice one failing to report in. Three minutes, Wagner. Find the car, get inside, and hope you're not too worn out to 'port a couple tons of steel out of this place. Keep it moving."
"Right this second, nein," responds Kurt, grinning like this is some game. Then again, for him, he could port out and be three miles away in a second, six to nine in a few and who knows how far beyond that. Being caught isn't a worry for him yet at least.
"But give me one of those minute of non porting and ya, the steel car can be outside the fence. It'll be where we met at, I can't go much further, but if this car is fast or something, that won't be a worry." Getting it to a place it won't be recognized though, might be an issue, but he's confident Domino has this plan down pat.
Oh..you know. Dom probably has a plan for it. Maybe. "I can get you your minute, just be ready to go."
In the meantime, there's a car to be found. The warehouse is a big place, with dim lighting. Fortunately there isn't much chrome to be had above bumper level. She just sticks her head up and looks for the tell-tale gleam. It doesn't take them long to find the Dodge in question, almost as if it's asking to be discovered.
Fortunately the doors aren't locked, either. It's a secure impound lot! Why would they need to lock the doors?
She makes a point of climbing into the passenger side, though she's still helpful in reaching over to stick a small blade into the panels around the steering column in order to pry then apart. Then she hunkers into the passenger footwell and unclips a small flashlight, using it both for illumination and as an instructional tool.
"The colors vary by make and model, don't rely on the insulation. You're looking for these two in particular," she helps lead him through the process. "Pull from this end, tap 'em together, and hold your breath. We're about to make an ungodly amount of noise."
Taking his time to walk and recover as he follows here, Nightcrawler only needs to not bamf to recover, it doesn't stop his talking it seems. "Ready to go, ja. And look, a few lovely German models and you're going for this Dodge Charger." He ponders a moment, "That year, it was before Nissan bought the Dodge company isn't it," he doesn't know cars, but he knows business history. He was a teen boy when that happened and may have looked up to the business model changing to more super globalization than it had in the past, inspired by it even.
Then she finds the car and he's ducking into the passenger seat with her. Fixing the car he is not ready for, but he is mechanically inclined at least, first he feels the wheel, the pedals, knowing where everything is under the light of the flashlight before looking down with her. Then he is doing it, tapping, and tapping them together until that spark flares to lift, the engine rumbles. Even in here, all cars open and ready, seems some idiot left a few car alarms on, they trigger too and he's bamf'ing, right where he said he was gonna go, her, the car, him, to that corner.
Its sightly off with the weight and his judgement with the strain, it pauses wheels partially in the ground until its all pushed into real space where it should, jostling the whole car. "Ja, let's roll Starsky," he says, referring to an old American show from the 70s that made German syndication in the 80s closer to his time, and he hits the pedal to open it up. Even as more lights start going on behind them.
"Challenger," Domino corrects without really thinking about it. "And I happen to really enjoy German cars. But -this- one is special." And it'll really piss off the previous owner, which makes the whole ordeal worthwhile. "No idea about Nissan but that's a sad thought."
Then he's in the passenger seat, -with- her. She slowly turns to look at the guy, eyebrows hooked upward. "Never drove before?" Okay, she didn't count on this either. Either way, it's too late to turn back now. Especially with all of the car alarms now going off!
They're teleported clear before she can start cackling, which quickly turns into a squeak of surprise as the car suddenly drops back down to the road. They're clear, the engine is hot, and Kurt's got himself behind the wheel. "Hammer down, Hutch!" She'll just hang on for the moment. She has no idea how well this guy can drive a normal car, let alone one like this! "It'll take them a good five minutes just to figure out what happened, let 'em scramble! We're outta here!"
"Its funny that, Nissan," grins Nightcrawler to Domino, "I think the company managed a good rebranding finally with this hemy stuff, its being bought up like crazy again. After 20 years of being beat by Ford and Chevy in the rural communities of America. Brilliant rebranding even."
As if its every day stuff, and he hauls out of there, letting it tear up the road, echo off the buildings.
"How far can we get in five minutes, just driving, in the middle of the night with mostly empty streets?" Domino would know and he's asking her. He can drive, that's for certain, and seems to enjoy it. No race car driver, he's probably had a few fast cars as a young wealthy boy with money to spend.
"Far enough," Domino says with a grin, one hand on the 'oh shit' handle and the other braced against the dashboard. "Hang on a little while, I'm next in line to make us disappear. For the next few minutes, just enjoy the ride."
Fade – led to safe spot for stolen cars at the guidance of Domino.