2020-06-18 TPC: Sharing Info
Sharing Info
Location: The Bawn - Fremont Hotel Lobby
Date and Time: June 18 2020
Summary: Lots of info and some new targets.
Deep within the earth is a lost piece of Los Angeles history - the Fremont Hotel. Thought demolished in 1955, it was instead sunk into the earth by the Garou of Los Angeles to serve as a place of respite. The formerly six-storied Mission style building is partially embedded in the earth as the land claimed its due of the agreement. The stone shifts in a transition to the yellow brick facade, with most of the front portions of the formerly L-shaped building still accessible, though a part of the retaining wall remains above as well. The original front balconies are still present, as are the red-tiled entry tower and scalloped parapets. The neon sign bearing the hotel name still hovers down the side of the tower, flickering in the cavern.
Inside the lobby, the mission style persists with cream stucco walls darkened over the decades, and pillars and ceiling beams of redwood with a grand iron chandelier. The floors aren't nearly as shiny as they once were and many of the tiles are cracked, but the deep tawny marble tiles still add a fleeting touch of elegance. A reception desk remains with the old wall of keys and mail slots next to a grand staircase. The windows glow with daylight or moonlight to reflect the world above the cavern, with electric and water supplied through the sept's means.
The Bawn is quiet today, while up above the world is baking in blazing sunlight. A gibbous moon waxing means that the tension is starting to build down here, but it's not as bad yet as it will be in a few days. Snake's in the hotel lobby, doing something on the grand staircase - something involving a bucket and a trowel, and apparently a lot of swearing in a few different languages.
A few quick inquiries managed to get Mariana pointed in the right direction of where exactly the Keeper might be this afternoon and so before too long, Snake will get a bit of company observing those repairs. She waits until a fit of cursing is over before stepping closer. "Think the stairs have learned their lesson for the moment? If you need a break, think I founbd something for you..."
Snake doesn't even seem to register Mariana's presence until she speaks, at which point he jolts in surprise. "Gaaah! Oh. Hey. Mariana. Hi. Just trying to get this patched before people break it walking on it. Um. If I stop now the concrete will set, but take a lean somewhere and tell me what you got?"
Mariana leans in a little to get better look at just what he's doing with the towel and cement even if she doesn't have enough construction experience to full understand. "Huh... always thought they were wooden stairs..." She shakes off that tangent and focuses. "Anyways, about that gas station you wanted looked into. I know Ikal told you what he found about the manager and the suspicious deliviers, but I managed to dig a little deeper." And now she digs into her bag to pull out a little manilla folder with a few sheets printed out in it. "Found some weird connections. And some names too."
"Marble," says Snake. "I got a special coloured cement, should do the trick." He listens to the rest, and eyes the folder thoughtfully. "Yeah? Sounds great, Ikal mentioned you'd gone digging deeper, I figured you'd turn up something juicy. So, what've you got?"
Mariana nods. "The Green-something he got the cashier to mentioned. I think it's GreenMotion. Small, private lab out in Westlake North. Supposedly they focus on R&D for low emissions fuels." What she could find of address info for the lab is one of the sheets in the folder. "Turns out both the managers of the two stations are 'friends' with a guy that works in the lab. Dominic barber. They also both went on suspiciously expensive vacations for small gas station managers in the past couple months. Could be getting paid off by someone?"
Snake hmmms. "Yeah, sounds /real/ suspicious for folks on the up-and-up," he says. "I think we need to go check the other side around Westlake North and see what we can find. Thanks, Mariana - you're a real gem. Gonna leave that folder for me so's I can pass it round?"
"Right? And you'd think people would know better than to 'friend' their suspicious business contacts where anyone can see," Mariana still has to shake her head in disbelief at that particular find. "Yeah, got fairly recent pictures of the managers and that Dominic guy in there. Plus what google maps had for the GreenMotions building. Figured picture's worth a thousand words for passing that all on. And if you get any more gas stations that need some poking about, you know you can always call me. It was even a bit of fun. Ikal's a good kid too. Seemed like a natural with the cashier."
Snake smiles. "If you could check where else their stuff's being delivered? That's one confirmed and I figure almost certainly to the gas station a mile south of that one, on the northbound. It's any others that I'm worried about, because if it wasn't real concentrated by the road layout we might not've noticed so fast."
Mariana frowns a little. "I can try... that might be a bit harder to find. The Fuel Selling Permit the gas station had up didn't list anything about Green Motion, just two of the regular brands. So someone at least knew best not to advertise this new fuel change. I'll try and see if the dominic fellow has any other gas station managers on his contacts taking suspicious vacations recently..."
Snake nods. "No worries if you don't turn anything up," he says, "And don't expose yourself, alright? What you've already turned up is a lot more than we had already. Hopefully this is their pilot before they go into major production."
"Trying my best with that. Using a VPN and everything. I'll check with Jason though just to see if he's got some better tips and tricks on that front. but for now, I'm just going to set this here," Mariana places the folder a safe distance away from Snake and his wet concrete project, going so far as to dig out a paperclip to keep the folder closed and not risk losing a sheet. "Take care!"
Snake is doing something with a bucket and a trowel on the lobby's grand marble staircase. Mariana's just placed a manila folder nearby. "Thanks," he says to her with a smile. "Seriously. Thank you. And thanks for looking after Ikal, too. 'Preciate it."
