Bernard Knapp's Apartment Unit

[Bernard]

”This guy is more than useless.” Bernard thought as the distinctive smell hit his nostrils. What did he get himself into? One thing was certain; the man didn’t likely have the balls to double cross him.

”Pull yourself together man. Tell me what you know and I’ll let you know if the situation warrants you to carry a gun. Besides, with the way you reacted when I pointed this in your face you would be more likely shoot yourself in the foot or me in the back for that matter, long before you hit what you mustered the courage to aim. If your information is accurate enough we should be able to get in and out without firing a shot.”

”What kinda score we lookin’ at anyways.”

[FG Admin]

He sniffed a few times. His eyes lost focused a bit and he slouched down on the floor. "I don't... I-" He had to blink a few times before his eyes focused back on the gun. When Bernard told him to pull himself together he nodded his head and tried to think. "I ain't gonna shoot nobody but cops. I'm a real good shot. I used to shoot squirrels back on my Pops farm. One shot, one kill. If I help you, you gotta give me a gun..." He stopped to think for half a second. "A big one..."

He sniffed again and wiped his nose.
"I'm pretty sure there are two guards in the early morning. I think Two more come in just before sunset, maybe... I can't remember.
I guess the bank don't like being open while it's dark and junk. So they have two more come in just before closing; they stay and do the night shift when everyone leaves. If there is a delivery of money coming in all four guards are there all day..."

He tried to sit up to look around the room. "What's that smell?" Only now did the man look down at his underwear and realize what had happened.
"Oh... Uhhh..." He now stood up and took a step out of his own urine. "Yea well, I had help last time. We didn't go in the day cause it was too hot. But I remember the guy sayin' that we had to hurry because the response time was fast in the Government district...
If we do it the way me and the fellas did it, we gonna need some explosiveness and junk. We go in fast, and get out faster."
He scratched his arm and sniffed again.

[Bernard]

((ESP Roll - Scrambled eggs and toast- Roll =32 You seriously thought you could read that??))
((SP= 10-1/10/40/40))


The brute was so high he likely had no idea what was coming out of his mouth. Much of what Lloyd did have to say could have been provided by just about anyone who cared to take notice. The dimwit was proving to be next to useless other than a sacrificial offering to provide a distraction while the Sensitive strolled in and made off with the goods. It was five small words that changed Bernard’s way of thinking.

“You’ve done this before?” Bernard inquired. Obviously, Lloyd wasn’t the mastermind of the operation. If they had pulled this stunt before it was even more likely that any information the addict could provide was stale.

“When?”
“ How much help did you have”
A haul like that there has to be something left over. We can use what’s left to get the supplies we need. Where’s the cash now?”
“Maybe we can get the others in on it to help one more time. What cha think?”

Bernard kept up the assault of questions not giving the poor man a chance to think while he scanned the poached mind looking for stray thoughts. If his instincts were correct there was likely a tidy sum stashed away somewhere. Lloyd may have squandered much of his share of prize, sorting it up his nose or shooting it in his arm, but there was always one in every group that squired things away for a rainy day. It was that man that interested the young Sensitive.

[FG Admin]

Scrambled eggs was a good way to describe the man named Lloyd's mind. The attempt to see or hear his thoughts failed, and only incoherent jumbled bits and pieces of stray thoughts floated around.

Lloyd stared at Bernard with a deep frown on his face. Too many questions at one time. "Dang, man. All these questions is giving me a headache. Yeah, I had help. We did the job about a month ago. There were about five of us at the time..."
He shook his head. "We can't get them all back together. The guy that put it together planned it out six months ahead, man. He had two of his guys working as guards before I even signed up. I don't even know where them dudes are now."
He scoffed and waved a hand as if saying 'forgetaboutit.'

"I ain't got no money left anyways. I've been living with my honey these past few months. I blew all my money on the Stims." He pointed to the two syringes on the coffee table and wiped his nose. "Dang, man. I don't even know who you is and you getting all up in my personal business and junk. If we pull another job, I want 60% of the cash. You know, seeing how I'm doing all the work."

[Bernard]

“Me??”
“ I was the guy that was going to solve your cash problems that would keep you rolling in those stims.”

“But, it would seem I have been misinformed. You obviously were nothing more than hired muscle. Then again, they had two men on the inside and any muscle worth their salt would have their own firepower or at least would have asked for a weapon by name. Besides, there is no way you could squander that much money so quickly if they gave you a fair cut."

"Ah, I got it, lookout, right??” Bernard mocked after a brief pause, pointing an incriminating finger towards Lloyd and punctuated with a judgmental wink. "You said it yourself, the guy that put the bank job together planned for six months. That kind of guy would be worth sixty percent of the take. Sadly, your not that guy.”

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have to pay a visit to the low life scum who sent me on this wild goose chase and aerate the lying sack of S*** for wasting my time. I had planned to rob a bank tonight. It looks like those plans have fallen through."

Bernard turned away, half heartedly hoping the man had something significant to add that would change his mind before he leapt through the broken patio door.

[FG Admin]

“ I was the guy that was going to solve your cash problems that would keep you rolling in those stims.”

He didn't need to hear anything else Bernard said, that one sentence was enough to get him jumping on board.
"Yo, look man. I was apart of the plan from the start and I got a fair cut just like everyone else. I ain't no goon. I still know the details of the job." He wiped his nose and sniffed; scrunching his nose up as a deep frown settled on his face.
He was starting to get angry with Bernard's attitude. He wasn't no punk, and he didn't like being treated like one.

"I had to pay some debt that I owed, so I need the cash. Give me 50% of the loot and I can help you get in the bank. I know when the guards make the switch for the night shift, and my girl's got access codes. I can get us in. But you know, we still need some explosives to get past the final safety vault. Only a few people have the codes for that door, and she ain't one of them. I'll give you the codes and bank details, but in exchange, you gotta give me some extra cash."

He hooked his left thumb into the band of his underwear and wiped his nose. His face was still scrunched up with frustration. "So how about getting me that big gun now so we can hit the bank?"

[Bernard]

“I can get us in. But you know, we still need some explosives to get past the final safety vault. Only a few people have the codes for that door, and she ain't one of them. I'll give you the codes and bank details, but in exchange, you gotta give me some extra cash."

“You surprise me Lloyd,” Bernard remarked with a chuckle as he turned back around to face the underwear clad man once again. He could see the displeasure written all over his face.”Tell you what. You come through on your end, and I’ll worry about how to get us into that safety vault. Give me that, you can keep anything you can carry out with you. Judging by your size that take should be more than enough to meet your demands.”

"So how about getting me that big gun now so we can hit the bank?" Llyod came the impatient bark.

“Here,” Bernard proclaimed tossing the safetied SMG-10 upon the couch to appease the man’s current needs. “Hopefully you won’t even have to fire a shot. Given what you claim, we should be in and out before we are even noticed."

Let's get down to business, tell me more about this final vault that has you so worried?

((removing SMG-10 from inventory))

[FG Admin]

The man's face was still scrunched up, but it was now in a gangsta style smirk as Bernard tossed the gun on to the couch. "Yeeeeah boi. That is what I'm talkin' about!" He walked over and picked the weapon up and examined it. "I could do some serious damage with this bad boy. Hahaaa!"

He began waving the gun around randomly.
"Alright, I'll tell you what you want. My girl had to memorize the access codes because they didn't want her to have them on the computer. She wrote them down on paper though so that she could read it over. I took a pic of the paper on my cellphone and saved it. If we go in when the bank is closed, we just gotta put in the access code for the main door to disable the alarm. Then we gotta get passed the guards. In the back is another security door with another access code, but I got that one too. After that one is the last door, the safety vault. We need to get in there to get any cash. It's like a heavy duty bulletproof blast door. We gotta blast the hinges off of that badmutha and knock it over if we wanna get in. If we go in the morning, we could just hold the manager hostage and have him open it for us."

[Bernard]

“Nah, we go in tonight. More light, means more witnesses. Once inside you keep an eye out for the guards while I deal with the hinges on that door. That things gonna attract a lot of attention once it hits the floor and then we’re on the clock. Five minutes max and then we break for the exits.”

Bernard glanced at his watch. “It’s getting close to 2am now. That doesn’t give us much of a window. If we’re gonna do this tonight we best get moving. You sure them codes are up to date?”

((To be continued Streets of Osiris First Trust Bank L-15))

[Bernard]

((Continued from the Government District))

The rising smoke and the falling snow helped mask the mysterious biker’s escape. The city was eerily quiet; too quiet a response to a bank burglary. Surely the bells would have warranted some response. The skies lit up momentarily as if a freak flash of lightning erupted in the winter storm but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Without the benefit of the accompanying crash of thunder Bernard couldn’t be sure. If he hadn’t been flying he might well assume somebody had taken his picture.

"Had he lost his hearing in the blast?”

The focused concentration to maintain flight was beginning to become more and more of a burden. The high winds and the sustained injuries made the return to the Soaring Heights Apartments much more of a task than expected. The Sensitive was relieved to have his feet finally touch down upon the balcony. He quickly slipped inside the dark apartment and made his way to the bedroom to remove the costume and stash the stolen loot in the closet.

Bundled in his bathrobe and toque he strolled back to the balcony once more and looked out over the snow covered city. The evening’s take had been lucrative and he would discern the exact value of his take tomorrow. There was little doubt in his mind that this event would draw even more attention from the authorities given the nature of the theft and the amount of destruction the mysterious biker from the Gabriel’s Crossing incident had imposed.

Bernard looked to his left as his mind turned to his bumbling partner. He half wondered if the man had made it out of there alive although he had some serious doubts of the thought could ever occur. The redheaded woman would be better off if he had died in the shootout, although the trail would eventually lead back to her if Lloyd was associated with the break in.

Either way there was limited evidence that connected Bernard to either of the pair, apart from the brief scuffle in the hallway.He would find out more in the morning over some buttermilk pancakes at Casa de Luna later in the morning. Right now he was off to have a quick shower and get some much needed shut eye. Tomorrow was shaping up to be a busy day.