Two {Student Investigation Topic}

Their only clue led them to one of the most famous joints in the town. Shepard stood idly by the door, waiting for the others to catch up. The back of the receipt was their only path. They needed to follow that clue to the source. A chilling gust of wind blew down between the buildings, sending a shiver through the students. With the promise of pumpkin spice everything in the near future, they entered as casually as possible, Shepard leading the head of the group with a casual stroll, eyeing his name on the Wall of Fame, then his eyes guiding down the multitude of names on the wall. How would they know who was who?

He stopped by the counter, hand tucked around the folder. Hopefully, they could get some sort of lead. "We need to talk to some employee." He whispered to the group, catching the pichu's gaze. "Preferably someone who was there."

ooc; Go ahead and post as them gathering, then we can roll (One d20) for convincing the cashier/ employee. c:

Hye-Rin followed not too far behind Shepard. He'd been catching her up on what had gone down on the first day and the investigation that had been launched. It most certainly seemed like a serious situation, and detective work was something she was more than willing to get her hands dirty in. Or rather, help out with. She had taken the time to review the clues that they had access to, and she generally agreed with the sentiment to come to the Burger Bar.

With the burst of wind blowing through and coming right to her, despite being rather short in comparison to the crowd, Hye-Rin drew her jacket closer around her and nodded.

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Maeve held up the end of the group, walking in her customary military position. She had skipped out on training to come here for the investigation, something that took a good bit of convincing to do. Classic to her style she had asked to serve more as a guard, considering they had a good handful of students. Her gaze focused mostly on Shepard, who honestly was probably the most at risk. There hadn't been any more incidents that she knew of, but it was just too... organized for nothing else to happen.

Stephen had no idea what was going on, he was just at Preston's to get some lunch. But then he saw a bunch of students walk in, with Shepard leading the pack. He waved to his best friend and smiled. "Heyyy Shep! What's with the posse you've brought in here?" he asked.

ooc; pls no bulli my son. he just want his food

She could've led them there blindfolded. The diner was like a second home to her, even if long five hour stretches made her Saturday and Sunday shifts feel like a forced weekend stay with an estranged parent. In the most faded fringes of her memory, she could remember swiveling in the stools and getting served milkshakes like royalty. It didn't hurt to be the boss' kid.

And in the library, it'd felt like a personal attack, newfound conviction coursing through her. This killer walked into her family's sacred space, and his face was hanging on the wall. But standing here now, peeking into the kitchen from the door frame, she was almost wilting underneath Shepard's glancing look. Dad could be... well, stupid, sometimes, when he felt like she was messing with anything that might kill her. Which were most things in this world, although he made exceptions for hyper-sharpened kitchen cutlery and hot stoves. The lights over her head dimmed and flickered as some friend of Shep's spoke out, drawing attention to their huge party.

Faced with the first obstacle, it started pressing on her now that things might not just straighten themselves out so smoothly. "I can get my dad to talk," she said, fiddling with her thumbs behind her back. Probably. "But we probably shouldn't tell him... everything. You think? If he knows we're figuring this out on our own he's just going to tell us to butt out of it."

Now that a few days had passed since the incident during the school's opening, Brianne had a bit more of a pep in her step as she walked into the restaurant she and her fellow "investigators" were led to by the evidence they'd seen. Some of the food offered got her attention. She could bring some home for her dad and her siblings, depending on how long they'd stay here. Moving her caramel gaze away from the tempting menu, she listened to Cailin's suggestion with interest. "That sounds like a good start." She glanced at the other members of the group as she spoke, then to one of Shepard's friends who happened to be sitting at one of the tables. "Though maybe a large group like this might be a bit suspicious?" She gave a wry smile before eyeing the Walls of Fame and Shame, respectively. 'I wonder, could I do it?' Physically, sure, but would she ever be allowed in here again?

Wordlessly drifting away from the back of the group, the petite boy kept a tight grip around the large duffel bag's strap and sauntered toward the cashier. "Just a small vanilla milkshake, please and thank you." His mask playfully danced its way to a happier emote as Aine dropped the exact amount needed on top of the counter, the coins clanging against one another atop the dollar bills. He didn't wait for the cashier to say anything before he spun on his heel. Plucking the receipt from the machine, the pallid student flopped onto a random seat and turned his head toward the portrait-littered wall.

Though his lips parted in what appeared to be a sigh, he projected his voice to the ears of his fellow faux-investigators, jabbing at their lack of caution in a teasing sing-song, "Really now, you guys don't know how to avoid suspicion, do you?" Aine's suggestion came off as demanding, like a king would order his subjects to follow without question, betraying his relaxed and slouched posture. "Order something and take a seat! And don't sit all in the same place either. I'll make sure we can still communicate, so sit wherever you like before I decide to take a nap."

Blue eyes flickered from the counter to Cailin. "Yeah, try ta' keep what you say to a minimum." He nodded, pushing the doors open to his normal hangout.

The blond's eyes met Stephen's as soon as he spoke, a grin crossing his face. Quickly he took Hye-Rin's hand and joined his best friend at the booth, sliding in after Hye-Rin. Leaning forward as far as he could, Shepard hurriedly whispered away to his friend, unknowingly still holding Hye-Rin's hand. "We have a lead on the man and group that shot at my dad. Long story short--it leads here. We think one of the losers on the wall of shame is someone in that cult." Shepard paused, eyes moving toward the most recent picture on the wall of fame. The grin widened. "Well, won't cha' look at the most recent winner up there?"
Relishing in his victory had been short-lived as soon as others began shooting words and quips at him.

Legs pointed out of the booth, Shepard listened to the two girls speak, and after a moment nodded. "I'm glad we are on the same page then. Welcome to the team, Claire." He winked, eyes catching Aine plop down on another seat, then turned back to Stephen and Hye-Rin. "'Kay, sorry. Stephen, this is Hye-Rin. Hye-Rin, Stephen!" He excitedly looked between the two, eyes practically shining.

Observation was all that Hye-Rin was doing. Not really speaking or anything, she looked at everybody within the group. If anybody was un-nerving to her, it was the kid with the kaomoji mask. She thought she had escaped those things. Following behind Shepard into the burger joint, a little squeak of surprise came out unwillingly as Shep took her hand. A light blush tinted her otherwise pale cheeks a soft peach color, but she followed his lead. Giving a grateful not before she slid into the booth, she inspected the boy that Shep seemed to eager to meet.

Giving his hand a squeeze as a friendly reminder that he still kept her hand in his, her eyes traveled over to the wall that he mentioned to. Ah, he had defeated the Croft challenge. A grin of pride crept up on her face whether she really liked it on not.

Still having kept quiet, once Shep finished his rounds and introduced her to his friend, whom was named Stephen, a polite smile came as she nodded. "Pleased to meet you." Her korean accent was most certainly shining through, although it was starting to mute itself hanging around the people she was. She really was just there to accompany Shepard, if anything.

She had the feeling they had every employee's attention already. A huge party, big orders. Not seeing her father anywhere on the floor, Cailin followed Aine's advice and quietly, prudently, got a table close to the mosaic of sick defeated faces, and after a minute or two of audibly debating to herself over a large fry or an extra large chili fry, she flagged a server's attention, fingers twitching with an electric current, tugging invisibly at the girl by the ear—her metal earrings.

Cailin slid the faded receipt across the table, speaking just under the general buzz of the restaurant, the calling of tickets and clatter of dishes. "Hey, um, this is weird, but could you help me out? Do you know who Cashier Two would be?" Handing out customer information was probably... well, not encouraged. But she considered this greasy building her kingdom, and considering the circumstances, she was sure the Lord would forgive her for prying into Mister Carter's secrets. "And did you know you're only allowed to wear studs when you're in uniform?" She kept her index finger pinched against her thumb, a soft but persistent tug.

(my original post i rolled a 7    for posterity lol)

The fries here always had the perfect amount of salt. Not too much, not too little, but just right. It was also the one place where she had a difficult time demolishing her burger due to how big it was. Humming quietly to herself, Amelia broke her burger into smaller pieces, popping the smaller portions into her mouth. Her blonde hair, tied back in a ponytail with a cheerful hedgehog band, swayed in time with her movement. A pair of orange earphones ran down to her jacket pocket. She would have continued eating her burger in peace if a group of students, seven of them(not including the one already here), hadn't walked in. Of course, they drew attention from the customers around them, but only for a moment before they went back to there food. Amelia watched them over a big cup of Dr. Pepper, fiddling with the white and red striped straw. For a moment, she settled on leaving them be, while she ate her meal, but the few snatches of words she had managed to hear caught her interest. Something about the wall of shame and a cult. Her brown eyes lit up. What were they doing? Was it about the school shooting? Maybe she could poke in too. Running her fry through the thick puddle of ketchup on her plate, Amelia munched on it a few times, pulled her earphones off to stuff them in her pocket, before grabbing the remains of her finished meal to toss in the trash bin.

Contrary to the fact that she looked more like a meek young girl, Amelia had a skill in getting herself into mischief, and a skill in sniffing out dangerous fun. Combined with her gift, and she was certainly a thirteen year old terror. She bee-lined to the group, placed herself next to a blonde dude, and climbed up onto the seat next to another fellow. An impish smile curled up once she'd settled neatly onto her seat. "Hi. I'm Amelia." She swayed side to side, looking from one to the other, still smiling. "Whatchu doin'?"" She wanted to get in on the investigation, and she was sure she'd be able to help on way or another. Besides, walking always took forever.

"Nice to meet you, Hye-Rin." he said, probably butchering the name. He sat back as the crowd gathered around the booth he had been occupying and he suddenly felt a little claustrophobic. Which only made him even more awkward than normal. He eyed the wall of losers, noticing his picture up there. Stephen frowned. "I hope that I'm not a suspect, right?" he joked, laughing nervously. He had no clue if this was the time for jokes or not, but fuck it, he was going to make one.

OOC: I'm sorry please end me ;;

The employee balked and wheeled and wrung her hands under their persistent, prodding questions, protesting more than once that they couldn't give out customer information like that, but enough pressure from enough people knocked down whatever pillars of resistance the server had left.

"Okay, okay," she said, after a promise not to tell Mister Andrews about her lapse in dress-code. "Tanika works the register on Mondays, you'd have to ask her." And after a scramble for another cashier, and a screw up with their order, Tanika didn't hesitate to point out a couple on the Wall of Shame, two innocent faces amidst a mosaic of dejected faces who had tried to consume the Croftburger, only to be consumed in turn.

One was the lean-faced Norman Carter, downcast eyes and shaggy brown hair, just inside the margins of the picture, picking at half a chili fry platter. A woman was front and center, bowed over a complimentary Preston's Puke-Pail, face concealed by a curtain of black hair. "Bitch didn't tip," Tanika said, throwing a small black book on the tabletop. "They left this too."


(aol whao aoha dl mvssvd pz uva mvbuk if wbzopun hmaly aol spnoa, iba if mvssvdpun aol khyr. if mvssvdpun aol whao aoha dpss bsapthalsf slhk av vby cpjavyf. aol whao dpss slhk aoyvbno aol khyr, aol whao dpss slhk aoyvbno aol aybao. av qbzapjl. aol lukz qbzapmf aol tlhuz. huk pu aol luk, hss dpss il jslhuzlk vujl tvyl.

mpuk bz pu aol khyr, mpuk bz slhkpun aol whao aoyvbno h thgl vm kvbia, iba aybza aol zohkvd aoha mvssvdz. hss dpss il dlss pu aol luk.

yltltily fvby yvsl, tf mypluk. yltltily fvby yvsl. uv nvkz, uv thzalyz, uv rpunz.

ohwwf, slma, mvydhyk adv obukylk huk mvyaf-aoyll whjlz, ypnoa, mvydhyk 45 whjlz, huk slma vujl tvyl lpnoaf-zlclu whjlz. ilopuk aol wpsshy, mpuk aol tlzzhnl vm aybao, lualy aol jyhal.)

Hye-Rin's smile had stayed shifting between Stephen and Shepard, before finally flicking over to the counter as the small black book was tossed onto the table. Letting go of Shepard's hand, the girl stood up and came over, looking at the contents of the book. Something quickly clicked within her mind. "Oh, a Ceasar Cipher. Easy. Mind if I see this a moment~?" She hummed sweetly, taking it in her hands and returning to an empty table. Behind her ear a pencil had been hidden, which she plucked and turned to the next empty page.

"The fact that it begins with 'aol' immediately tells me the shift is a 7..." Words were muttered to herself as she got to work, flipping back and forth between pages in order to decrypt the message. When she was finally done, a grin spread onto her face. "A-ha! Got it! Guys, look at this."

Flipping the page to purely the decoded message, Hye-Rin had the book rest flat against the table as she spoke the contents.

"the path that we follow is not found by pushing after the light, but by following the dark. by following the path that will ultimately lead to our victory. the path will lead through the dark, the path will lead through the truth. to justice. the ends justify the means. and in the end, all will be cleansed once more.

find us in the dark, find us leading the path through a maze of doubt, but trust the shadow that follows. all will be well in the end.

remember your role, my friend. remember your role. no gods, no masters, no kings.

happy, left, forward two hundred and forty-three paces, right, forward 45 paces, and left once more eighty-seven paces. behind the pillar, find the message of truth, enter the crate."

Another girl practically popped up, skidding into the booth next to Stephen. Shepard hardly had time to blink before she introduced herself, and posed her question. She seemed like the kind of kid who would always be excited to be part of something--at least that is what he picked up from her few words. He sent a curious look back towards where Pichu spoke to a worker, quietly wishing her the best before turning back to Amelia, "I'm Shepard, we are looking into the group that caused all the ruckus a week ago." Stephen--suspect? Please. "You were next to us when it happened, Stephen. The only thing we have to suspect you of is not doing your homework."

Blue eyes widened as Rin's hand vanished from his own, turning to see what the commotion was about. "And I think we found something." The blond too slid out of the booth, beckoning the other two at the table to follow. Peering over Hye-Rin's shoulder, he quietly watched her decipher the code with an ease that put him in awe. "Great job, Rin!" Shepard whispered, reading closely to the instructions at the bottom. "It has to be leading us somewhere." He commented, flicking his wrist and opening up the Map App of the unity link.

Spoiler: