as written by Sentry and Brokowsi
Jeanne had lead Felix to the medical examiner's office at some ungodly hour after calling an acquaintance. The gates and the back door were open, giving them ease of access.
Right behind the first door, a pretty young woman with blonde hair greeted them, ushering them quickly down one of the halls. "Jeanne, you know I hate breaking the rules as much as I love the- who is this?" she asked, pointing to Felix. "I'm Ninette. Hi," she smiled, holding out a hand.
____
"Felix Corbin." The necromancer put on his most charming smile as he shook the pretty blonde waif's hand. "I'm, a, what's the word? Contractor?"
There was an air of confidence about him, clearly his partner in non crime was respected enough to pull some of the tightest strings in Lutetia. He'd have to make a mental note to ask her why she was so revered after this was all over.
"The force just wants a second or third opinion on this, dear." Snake oil salesman as he was, Felix withdrew his hand after a bit. For all of his frailty he could read people as well as he read their corpses. The examiner was going to allow them to pass regardless of his attempts at charm, Jeanne clearly had that kind of pull. Regardless, it couldn't hurt to make a good impression, Merveilleux was lacking in the bachelorette department. Too many old school witch doctor types living off dowries.
____
"Right. Yeah. Jeanne told me, it's just... y'know, interns can't really be here after closing... um..." She fidgeted, but managed to shake Felix's hand firmly while throwing him a sweet smile. "It's this room over here... we got all the results from the bodies and everything if you need those. We removed all the salt-"
She reached for a door ahead of them and fiddled with a pair of keys. She glanced upward at the little window.
And then, she screamed.
She collapsed with her back to the door and her hands over her head. Jeanne drew her gun. "What's wrong?"
Ninette pointed to the window, and out of it, a face looked back at them. Bonner's face.
____
This wasn't the Den or some other seedy dog infested joint. The attendant's shock was alarming for a moment but Felix managed to cut a steely figure. This was the domain of the dead, one of the few factions in Lutetia that didn't require a quick trigger finger or some absurd mutation to survive.
"Looks like someone got here before me." The necromancer sighed, almost too at ease as he shouldered Ninette from the sight of Bonner's risen remains. There was a hesitation before Felix opened the door. It wasn't born of fear of death, but fear of further poverty. If he fucked this up he was sure that the Church and their kin would hunt him like they did the more open acolytes.
"....Nikto." He finished a short chant, just enough to immobilize the recently risen dead. Once the immediate threat was vegatative, he nudged the door open further.
"You or me first, officer? I might have to charge extra for any flesh wounds."
____
Jeanne switched the safety off on her pistol and motioned Felix aside. "Well, I can't have my contractor getting injured, hm?"
She opened the door and slipped inside, pointing the barrel right at the dead man's temple. With her other hand, carefully, she unbuckled handcuffs from her belt and slipped it into Bonner's wrist, then pulled it back the best she could- rigor mortis seemed to be fighting her with this- and managed to clip the other wrist.
"You're safe to come in. I have a leash on him," she said, keeping a firm grip on the chain. "Unless he manages to pop his arms off."
____
"Contractor? I could get used to working with la police. That's the nicest thing I've heard from lips other than my own since some old broad in Merveilleux said I reminded her of her son." Felix quipped as he fully crossed the archway, casting a casual glance towards the immobilized undead. "Of course, the charm of it weared off once she had me contact the junkie bastard from beyond the pale."
The necromancer strode towards the cuffed corpse, confidence creasing into a grin on his face. The corpse was still fresh enough to resemble the one from the photo. In fact, without the gore and other outside circumstances it would be easier to make out the marks carved into Bonner's skin.
"Just let me take a look, I don't think the gun'll be necessary.....nor the chain." Felix blithely remarked. Harm to himself wasn't much of a worry, he'd seen 'booby-trapped' corpses. Zombies and the like, petty necromancers liked to use them as a middle-man for muggings and grudges. Instead he feared that whoever committed the crime had made whatever information Bonner's body held inacessible.
____
Jeanne eyed the corpse warily, but she let go of the cuffs. "I'm not taking it off. Just in case. You never know- well, I suppose you do, but I've seen enough of these walking around that I wouldn't like taking chances." She lifted a hand to present the corpse. "I'll handle Bonner to you, then."
The standing cadaver snorted at them through his teeth. Ninette poked out from behind the door, just barely peeking in. "Um, we... do you need any details from the..." She stared at the corpse and frowned deeply. "I... the autopsy report... or..."
____
"Autopsy is filed, sealed, made confidential. Whatever you folks do." Felix continued to circle the snorting corpse. It wasn't quite a rhinoceras. Bonner was a large man, but not an intimidating one. Well, at least not physically, his connections tended to be miles more malificent.
"Sir, do you have any recollection of the day before your assailant assaulted you?" Some folks took death in stride, hell a lot of the mothers and fathers in his district embraced it. That being said, he doubted his current case study was of that sort. Not all dead accepted death and someone as vehemently opposed to necromancy would likely defend the idea post mortem.
"I understand that this morgue is a strange place to hold such questioning but a man of your importance deserves safety and this is one of the most fortified safe houses in town." Felix strode around, feigning dramatics with flicks of his wrist and changes in his tone of voice. "I mean, the last thing we want is the wolves and corpse fuckers finding out you're here. "
Jeanne had lead Felix to the medical examiner's office at some ungodly hour after calling an acquaintance. The gates and the back door were open, giving them ease of access.
Right behind the first door, a pretty young woman with blonde hair greeted them, ushering them quickly down one of the halls. "Jeanne, you know I hate breaking the rules as much as I love the- who is this?" she asked, pointing to Felix. "I'm Ninette. Hi," she smiled, holding out a hand.
____
"Felix Corbin." The necromancer put on his most charming smile as he shook the pretty blonde waif's hand. "I'm, a, what's the word? Contractor?"
There was an air of confidence about him, clearly his partner in non crime was respected enough to pull some of the tightest strings in Lutetia. He'd have to make a mental note to ask her why she was so revered after this was all over.
"The force just wants a second or third opinion on this, dear." Snake oil salesman as he was, Felix withdrew his hand after a bit. For all of his frailty he could read people as well as he read their corpses. The examiner was going to allow them to pass regardless of his attempts at charm, Jeanne clearly had that kind of pull. Regardless, it couldn't hurt to make a good impression, Merveilleux was lacking in the bachelorette department. Too many old school witch doctor types living off dowries.
____
"Right. Yeah. Jeanne told me, it's just... y'know, interns can't really be here after closing... um..." She fidgeted, but managed to shake Felix's hand firmly while throwing him a sweet smile. "It's this room over here... we got all the results from the bodies and everything if you need those. We removed all the salt-"
She reached for a door ahead of them and fiddled with a pair of keys. She glanced upward at the little window.
And then, she screamed.
She collapsed with her back to the door and her hands over her head. Jeanne drew her gun. "What's wrong?"
Ninette pointed to the window, and out of it, a face looked back at them. Bonner's face.
____
This wasn't the Den or some other seedy dog infested joint. The attendant's shock was alarming for a moment but Felix managed to cut a steely figure. This was the domain of the dead, one of the few factions in Lutetia that didn't require a quick trigger finger or some absurd mutation to survive.
"Looks like someone got here before me." The necromancer sighed, almost too at ease as he shouldered Ninette from the sight of Bonner's risen remains. There was a hesitation before Felix opened the door. It wasn't born of fear of death, but fear of further poverty. If he fucked this up he was sure that the Church and their kin would hunt him like they did the more open acolytes.
"....Nikto." He finished a short chant, just enough to immobilize the recently risen dead. Once the immediate threat was vegatative, he nudged the door open further.
"You or me first, officer? I might have to charge extra for any flesh wounds."
____
Jeanne switched the safety off on her pistol and motioned Felix aside. "Well, I can't have my contractor getting injured, hm?"
She opened the door and slipped inside, pointing the barrel right at the dead man's temple. With her other hand, carefully, she unbuckled handcuffs from her belt and slipped it into Bonner's wrist, then pulled it back the best she could- rigor mortis seemed to be fighting her with this- and managed to clip the other wrist.
"You're safe to come in. I have a leash on him," she said, keeping a firm grip on the chain. "Unless he manages to pop his arms off."
____
"Contractor? I could get used to working with la police. That's the nicest thing I've heard from lips other than my own since some old broad in Merveilleux said I reminded her of her son." Felix quipped as he fully crossed the archway, casting a casual glance towards the immobilized undead. "Of course, the charm of it weared off once she had me contact the junkie bastard from beyond the pale."
The necromancer strode towards the cuffed corpse, confidence creasing into a grin on his face. The corpse was still fresh enough to resemble the one from the photo. In fact, without the gore and other outside circumstances it would be easier to make out the marks carved into Bonner's skin.
"Just let me take a look, I don't think the gun'll be necessary.....nor the chain." Felix blithely remarked. Harm to himself wasn't much of a worry, he'd seen 'booby-trapped' corpses. Zombies and the like, petty necromancers liked to use them as a middle-man for muggings and grudges. Instead he feared that whoever committed the crime had made whatever information Bonner's body held inacessible.
____
Jeanne eyed the corpse warily, but she let go of the cuffs. "I'm not taking it off. Just in case. You never know- well, I suppose you do, but I've seen enough of these walking around that I wouldn't like taking chances." She lifted a hand to present the corpse. "I'll handle Bonner to you, then."
The standing cadaver snorted at them through his teeth. Ninette poked out from behind the door, just barely peeking in. "Um, we... do you need any details from the..." She stared at the corpse and frowned deeply. "I... the autopsy report... or..."
____
"Autopsy is filed, sealed, made confidential. Whatever you folks do." Felix continued to circle the snorting corpse. It wasn't quite a rhinoceras. Bonner was a large man, but not an intimidating one. Well, at least not physically, his connections tended to be miles more malificent.
"Sir, do you have any recollection of the day before your assailant assaulted you?" Some folks took death in stride, hell a lot of the mothers and fathers in his district embraced it. That being said, he doubted his current case study was of that sort. Not all dead accepted death and someone as vehemently opposed to necromancy would likely defend the idea post mortem.
"I understand that this morgue is a strange place to hold such questioning but a man of your importance deserves safety and this is one of the most fortified safe houses in town." Felix strode around, feigning dramatics with flicks of his wrist and changes in his tone of voice. "I mean, the last thing we want is the wolves and corpse fuckers finding out you're here. "