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Forten's Illusion: Schmoozing in Rapture

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  1. #1
    Edward Heinrich's Avatar

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    Ingratiating yourself as a regular was a time-consuming (and capital-consuming) process. How consuming depends on the place and your appearance. A retired old man could go to a golf course daily without provoking negative judgment. A young man could go to a club daily and only provoke mildly negative judgment.

    Edward wasn't either, but he knew he was old enough that going to a club daily looked like a midlife crisis. Not exactly the vibe he was hoping for.

    So it took longer — once or twice a week. It was slowly figuring out the rotation of shift workers. Who had a say? Who didn't have a say? Was there workplace drama?

    Week 1 Socializing:
    3 successes


    Beyond that was all the information that could be taken in sitting there and chatting with people. How often was Forten or others of his posse there? Who had access to the VIP room? Was it always the same guard? A thousand little observations could be made, and of course, Edward was prepared to be confronted. Forten clearly had some connection to the supernatural. With that being said, Edward's rapier stayed in his car. Other than his clothing, all he carried was his smartphone and a wallet with the usual of credit cards and two of each denomination of cash.

    Week 1 Investigation:
    1 success

  2. #2
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    (blush, imbibe)Vitae 2 Spent
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    Bookkeeping

  3. #3
    Seryna's Avatar

    Jennifer Hazelton

    Edward did spend some time in the lively night club. It was quite popular and he quickly recognized a few regular customers who enjoy the bar and dancing. The head bartender, a dark haired man in his forties, was competent and possessed excellent situational awareness. His name was Clint, and he would set a regular's drink in front of them while watching the waitress on the floor. Clint was professional, and would talk with Edward. He would not gossip about employees or customers - and certainly not the boss.
    The waitress who worked the busiest shift on Friday and Saturday was named Ginger. She had shoulder length blonde hair and was in her mid twenties. She would talk - especially for tips. Ginger told Edward that the body guard was the most professional person - he never left Forten's side. She would state that the boss was Forten, a man who has a French accent. At the end of Sunday, she confided that Forten's nephew was in the bar.
    Edward could look over and see a dark haired white man ordering drinks with a brunette woman. A blonde woman was with them, yet kept a sharp eye on anyone around the two. They were polite and kept a low profile. After a few minutes, the two went to the VIP section, where they were brought expensive wine.
    Clint had the most power, behind the entertainment manager, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was not accessible for Edward to talk to easily. She was walking everywhere, checking on the live music, communicating with security in her ear piece. She was energetic, always moving.

    Edward saw Forten twice - on Thursday and Saturday. His bodyguard remained by his side and then blocking off the entrance to the VIP section. There was always the same large guard. There was occasionally the blonde woman who Edward had seen with Forten's nephew. This woman was watchful of anyone near Forten.
    Only Ginger could bring trays to the VIP entrance. However she was made to stand beside the guard while the blonde would take the tray from her. No employees could go up the stairs

  4. #4
    Edward Heinrich's Avatar

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    It was nice to have such a clear chain of command and difficulty. Edward wasn't old enough for it to be the main method, but social hacking had never vanished. It was how they got the worm into the Iranian reactors. Agents on the ground figured out which companies were maintaining the computers, cybersecurity experts wrote the worm, and then agents tricked a worker into plugging in a USB.

    It didn't matter how much skill and sophistication went into the malware unless someone would deliver it to the air-gapped machines deep underground.

    The employees had a fairly clear chain. Elizabeth was almost certainly out of reach. Clint would take time to crack. Ginger was double-edged; Edward had no illusions that his conversations with her would be kept between them.

    So he kept at it. Asking Ginger about shallow matters, casual curiousities. Not pressing Clint hard, just chatting occasionally, asking about the craft — unrelated things. Slowly but surely. In the meantime, he kept an eye out for the blonde and the brunette that had been with the nephew. If they were ever alone, they made good targets.

    4 successes


    Edward wondered who else might go into the VIP area. If the employees ended up as dead ends, what about anyone else who went up there? Was it really only those with Forten? Was Forten or his nephew always there when others were there too? Edward also watched for what, specifically, they ordered. It was always good to have gift ideas.

    1 success

  5. #5
    Seryna's Avatar

    Jennifer Hazelton

    Edward managed to become a casual acquiantance of Clint and Ginger. They would stop by and say hello to him when he stopped by the Club. He had good surface conversations with them. Edward did notice that Clint remained professional - he did not discuss the business, or the owners. Clint would occasionally remark 'the owners are having a private party tomorrow afternoon'. Tonight, Clint mentioned that he was offered a private, well paying contract by Forten to work at a charity auction that the club would be hosting. He did mention to Edward that the Club would be closed on March 26th for this auction.
    He did notice that the blonde had excellent situational awareness. Her head seemed to always be on a swivel.
    2 successes

    Edward noticed that the blonde woman was aware of Edward. She looks over at him occasionally, yet does not walk over or engage with him. Yet on Friday, she did linger near Edward at the bar while she was alone. She put in for a drink order that Edward recognized was a 'house special' for Forten when he was accompanied by the blonde woman and a brunette man who appeared in his early twenties. Three house special drinks of a maragrita mix and a fine wine and glasses.
    Edward noted that the VIP area was closely watched by the large male gaurd and the blonde woman. No employee was permitted to ascend the steps. Although on Friday after the VIP guests departed, a waiter was permitted to sweep and clean the VIP area. Hee was a new waiter who Edward had not heard his name.

  6. #6
    Edward Heinrich's Avatar

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    Clint's professionalism was increasingly familiar; his volunteering details about work were a good sign. That was how the professional opened up.

    Edward would show interest, asking about what charity the auction was associated with, if it was a regular event, and if it was open to the public -- expressing disappointment if it wasn't, but not pushing the matter -- and other such questions of polite interest.

    Edward had a good guess about which charity the auction was associated with, but it was a standard principle to verify clues using unrelated leads.

    1 success


    The brunette man was interesting too. Edward kept his eye out. Was he the new waiter? Someone else?

    1 success


    The blonde woman didn't really concern Edward. He was under no illusions that nobody would notice him, but that didn't mean they understood what he represented. Depending on how things turned out, near the end, he might even walk over and say hi.

  7. #7
    Seryna's Avatar

    Jennifer Hazelton

    Edward discovered that the auction was not associated with a charity, yet was a private event. The auction was was held once every six months. Yet he had heard of a special reveal if some rather rare antique came in. For the auctions seemed to be geared towards rich collectors. Edward said that most guests were on a prestige customer list for Forten's business. Yet there were two or three invites that were given out to others, such as rich locals or politicians. Clint stated that the younger Forten was the one who had the authority to add someone to the guest list. Clint nodded to the young Forten at the bar with the attentive blonde woman.
    The new waiter seemed to be getting on well. He was young and did not know all the ropes of serving. The other staff helped him along. Edward noted that he remained the only one to access the VIP area for cleaning.

  8. #8
    Edward Heinrich's Avatar

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    Edward wondered if the auction was the same as the one in the antique store, or maybe the antique store was closing that day, and the auction was to be held here? Either way, invites would be good.

    Plus, the new waiter was a prominent lead. He might be a ghoul or something else. Edward wasn't about to tail him alone. He would, however, speak to the man when given a chance.

    Edward focused entirely on social endeavours this time. First, on becoming acquaintances with the younger Forten.
    5 successes


    Second, on speaking with the new waiter. Edward was looking for something past the usual awkwardness -- something that indicated he was more than just a new human hire.

    failure

  9. #9
    Seryna's Avatar

    Jennifer Hazelton

    Edward needs to write out how he becomes acquaintances and what he says to the new waiter. Rolls alone will not create this

  10. #10
    Edward Heinrich's Avatar

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    Edward would wait for times when the waiter did not have an active task, such as when waiting for the uncertain departure time of the VIPs before going up the clean.

    He couldn't know when a moment of idleness would come, but he would watch and be patient while pursuing his other objectives.

    He could start with something small, a teasing introduction: "is this my first time seeing you because you're new or because you only serve the important people?"

    Edward would smile, watching for a reaction, ready to indicate that he was joking. He would introduce himself, tell the new hire he came by pretty often, wish him a good day and wait for the next time before chatting with the new waiter again.

    In the follow-up, Edward might joke that the new waiter looks a bit bored or lonely waiting for them. And then ask, in a friendly manner, about the man's history: what made him take this job? did he grow up in Sacramento? The lines of casual questions that any supernatural would lie about.

    And then, Edward would look for the usual: stumbling over words more than normal, sudden breaking of eye-contact, longer or shorter than average answers, odd story telling devices included in the answer, unusual use or lack of use of hands. Nothing alone was a strong indication, but collectively it raised questions.

    Lying was simple, really. When you lie, you are impersonating yourself; to do it well, you must know what you're like and be a good actor. Usually, people lack at least one of the two required traits.

    The problem of noticing is that you have to know the person's "normal." Without that knowledge, there's nothing to do but look for inconsistencies in the answer. The person is of no use. Even worse, many people were nervous the first few times they spoke to someone new, further ruining attempts at acquiring a baseline.

    Given all this, Edward had little hope of noticing anything strange. But anything was possible.

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