Boolie Hinson

Concept: Black Hat

AKA: Boolie’s given name is Parker. Boolie is short for “Boolean”

Desc: Skinny as a rail. Partakes of caffeine, truckstop uppers, and on the occasions he can afford it, cocaine. African American. Keeps his hair putting green short. Thick glasses. Fairly youngish. While he prefers to have his mind go a thousand miles a minute, he’s not generally a talker. Not because he’s shy or introverted or anything like that, but because most people, in his opinion, are monstrously stupid. Fastest typist you ever saw. Hums while he works. Constantly tapping his fingers or wiggling his feet at his desk.  If you see him in anything other than a T-shirt and sweatpants, it means someone has died.

History: While Boolie isn’t exactly the most stable guy you’re ever likely to meet, he has a particular flavor of smart and he has it in bucketloads.  Never all that good at the softer academic subjects, he excelled at Mathematics and when he got his first computer, well...it was on like cheap on a K-mart.

   Boolie came from a poor family and the only way he was going to a decent school was with an academic scholarship. So not only did he begin popping Dexatrim to be able to stay up late enough to get the AP course work done, but he became very adept at test cheating on subjects that he wasn’t so hot on.  He got that scholarship and he went away to become a CS major. He even finished his degree in 2 1/2 years.

    He came home with a newly minted CS degree from a top school in the region and found, as you sometimes do, that you had put forth a LOT effort to attain a certain amount of mastery in a field that wasn’t hiring.

  Well, it wasn’t that they weren’t hiring exactly.  But they wanted the fucking moon in terms of qualifications. Boolie didn’t read a single job application for an IT position that didn’t require deep knowledge of a dozen separate pieces of software, a half dozen programming languages, 5 years of experience, and oh yeah, you should probably be white.  All this, for a job that pays a couple of bucks over minimum wage and will eat up every scrap of your free time if it can.

    Boolie did eventually get hired. He’s got a gig as a junior IT guy with a statistical analysis company. He does a lot of work because frankly the senior guy doesn’t do fuck all.

   But that period where he couldn’t even get arrested in this town changed something in his attitude. He’d worked hard all his life to master the one thing that he loved, had been told all his life that if you worked hard and put the effort out, you could achieve anything...And of course, once he was out of school it turned out to be bullshit.

   Well if that’s how the world is going to be, FUCK it.

Boolie began using his mad skillz to make himself rich. He’s done a lot of reading and he’s talked to a number of hackers online and has honed his skills considerably. And while he’s impatient about a lot of things. Spending the money he’s making on the side is not one of them. He’s found that amassing a small fortune tends to create a certain amount of Buddhistic calm. and when his Mama needs something for her diabetes or her glaucoma, somehow those bills get paid.

   The means by which he manages these feats are multifold.  Like T.C. Mitnick, he’s got his hooks into the systems he uses at work so he has all the computing power he needs.   He buys Terabytes and 30 gig thumb drives in bulk.  He loads virtual machines onto those drive along with a few custom scripts and crypto-breaking scripts of his own design.  He constantly tinkers with his own, but he sells these tools on the dark web for serious bitcoin.

   He’s also set up his iPad as a mobile RFID collection station. Did you know that you can hack phones and even credit cards in unshielded wallets?  He’s very careful to make his identity theft as unobtrusive as possible. He uses multiple re-mailing services for the goods he purchases online, and he’s careful to disguise his chipping away at people bank accounts as charges they are likely to have on their bank statement anyway.  Almost all the executives at his firm have a Brazzers account so he’s been quietly ripping them off for years now. It makes it easier when one of those dudes is dressing him down for some damn thing or another. He can still smile.

Attitude: “Nearly every point of sale device in my neighborhood is in my pocket. I’m not hurting by any stretch and I always get my lunch for free. Fuck corporate America.”

Skills: While Boolie is no great shakes physically, he can type and run like the wind. He’s also not terribly great on the social front having only a few friends that he can really talk to. However, on the mental front, he is damn near unbeatable.  He’s trained himself to speed-read and he can do math almost as fast as a calculator. His personal computer is set up for voice commands and he can even dictate code strings into it.  He’s a genius with scripts and he has automated a number of his processes to such a degree that he can call his home computer on his phone, dictate an IP address to it and launch a series of hacks against that IP address. When the system in question is owned, it will even text him back to let him know.  Boolie has a few plans in place should things go south of course, and while he does own a gun or two and has shot it before, he isn’t really a combatant. Boolie’s best plan is to leave the country immediately for a place that has no extradition treaty. He’s even thinking about converting to Judaism “on paper” just that he can utilize Israel’s “law of return” you know, just in case.

Gear: Boolie’s home system is a thing of beauty. Three full machines networked together and connected to 4 separate storage units (each about 8 terabytes apiece) It is inhumanly fast and he pays top dollar for a T3 connection. He’s faraday caged his room. He also keeps a microwave in the room and a power drill for his hard drives should the authorities break down his door.  His laptop is mostly specced out for media watching as he rarely uses it for anything like hacking. But he can run all the processes on his home system from either his laptop or his iPad. His phone is a dumb phone oddly enough. He tends to carry 3 burners in his oversized tool bag.  He usually has about 8 thumb drives in there along with a tool kit, sour apple Bubble tape, a couple of canned sodas, and a few other odds and ends. 

Home:Boolie, like most hackers, knows that if you steal big you’re liable to get caught. But if you can steal small, over a long period of time, then the sky is the limit. Boolie currently owns 3 separate business licenses which he uses to lease his home, car, and pay for his mama’s expenses. Mama thinks that Boolie makes WAY more at the company than he actually does. Boolie does what he can to keep a low profile, living-wise.  He doesn’t want to attract IRS attention.

Circle:  Boolie has only a couple of friends from the old hood, 3 women from his past that he is still kind of obsessed with, (He’s very repressed) and a few people he liked in his CS program at school. The rest of his social circle are hackers and as a group, are obsessively protective of their anonymity. He’s even met a couple of them in real life and didn’t know it.

Story Uses:

“So I stole his identity. He wasn’t really using it.”

Boolie is a career criminal and an unrepentant one at that, but he isn’t a monster. He’s not one to steal money from people who can’t take the hit and he’s more likely to rip off corporate targets than personal ones.  That said, he’s not a nice guy and supernatural people have uses for not nice guys.

“Don’t you worry mama. I’ll make sure that the insurance company pays...and pays...”

Even a bad man loves his mama. and even a bad man can feel outraged for the occasional injustice done.  Pity the poor fucker who runs afoul of either if Boolie is on the case. His intellect cuts like a knife, and he never ever fucking sleeps.

Connections:

*Grew up with Grace Cook. Was at the wedding. Has heard the stories. Feels bad for the family because everyone knows ghosts aren't real.

* Has two sets of class-A documents from Clavo Hernandez. Best guy in the business as far as Boolie is concerned.

* Knows and yet has never actually met T.C. Mitnick Along with Ramirez, Doctor Cero, Pengo, Arcangel, and that whole crew.

*Has done occasional contract work for Holmes, Gillis, Baker, Savage, North, and Dean They pay on time and never change the details of the deal. That's all that matters to Boolie.

Rosalie Prescott

Concept: 3rd shift Cashier with a little bit extra

AKA: Rosalie has a vibrant social life on Deviant Art as an artist going by the handle "Degree Absolute" Or D.A. for short.

Desc: On the short side and heavy. Unafraid of any man or beast and strong eye contact as a direct result. Long straight black hair strenuously tied back. Multiple piercings in her ears, at least two are there for the sole purpose of averting migraines. (it seems to be working.) A stud in her bottom lip. Ink in various places, but not with any kind of coherent theme. Some good muscle in her arms. Not particularly pretty, and yet undeniably sexy when she feels like showing it. Has a voice that could stun a police dog.

History: Rosalie knows that she’s made some mistakes in her life. Wrong guys. Bad decisions with drugs and alcohol. Screwing up in college and losing her scholarship. Being fucked over by feckless room-mates and gormless boyfriends.  And on those occasions when she has time alone, and with nothing to do, she has a bad time with her mind downing her for those decisions.

And sure, she’d like to have gotten a real job somewhere. She just wants an opportunity to make her art. (She paints but mostly does digital art now because it’s too expensive to buy real art supplies) and raise her kid Stuart.

And maybe that day will come.  But until then, Rosalie works 3rd shift at Gas-N-GIT! on the third shift. and on those nights when Stuart isn’t with his father Jamal, Usually he’s on the floor next to her chair fiddling with his beloved legos. It’s never a problem usually. Stuart is autistic and not all that verbal really. He melts down occasionally, but Rosalie has a positive gift for cooling him out.  

In fact, Rosalie has begun to notice that she seems to have a gift for cooling ANYONE out.  One night some hopeless homeless guy rolled into the GnG. Policy is that they are allowed to sit in the area by the deli section and that customer service representatives can even give them a cup of coffee. But they aren’t allowed to let them sleep.  One this particular evening the fellow in question sat there, nursed his coffee, asked the occasional incoherent question (greeted with a nod and a smile). and then, as predicted, he nodded off.

Well, S.O.P. is to call the cops and have them roust the guy and move him along, but you’d be surprised at how little the S.O.P. actually trickles down to third shift. So Rosalie touched the guy on the shoulder to wake him up and move him along. and he flipped the fuck right out.  and he tried to turn over the racks and shove the roller grill off the counter. And then at some point, she touched the guy and she felt something go out of her...and his eyes cleared immediately.

Embarrassed, he started and ran out the door. But then he came back a week later. and he was very contrite. Not more coherent mind you, but he seemed so pitiful that she reached out to him and she touched his shoulder. and it happened again. His eyes cleared and he said, “Oh dear Jesus. I can think straight again. I think YOU did it! ”   

They sat and talked for hours. He made lists to remind him of things he should remember when he wasn’t able to think straight again. and he wandered back into the early morning light with a promise to seek out some help...Which he got. Thank God.  He’s recovering still and he’s got meds now.

It happened another time. Some dude wired on crank came in with a kitchen knife and demanded all the money in the safe. He was not interested in the idea that the safe had a time-lock and she couldn’t open it at all. Without thinking ,as the guy came closer, she threw up her hands and accidentally touched his wrist.

It was surreal. Sitting outside, on the 12 packs of Pepsi, one arm thrown over the guy's shoulders as he cried it out. But he left the kitchen knife and she never saw him again. He did send her a card, though. Thanking her.

She doesn’t know what to make of it yet. But she’s grateful for this gift...if it is a gift.

Attitude:  “ So. Guys...there’s a new element in my life and I don’t know exactly know what it is or why it’s come into my life. But it’s interesting and I just wanted to share it with my Deviant Art Peeps...”

Skills: Rosalie has decent physicals although she’s not really a combatant. (Although she has been in a fight or two and normally walks away.) She’s gotten pretty good with social skills and has an undeniable presence. She’s got a smattering of Spanish. She’s got some actual serious computer skills.  Her artistic skills are weapons grade but since it’s mostly digital art, she’s kind of ghettoized in the art world. Getting the book jacket of a sci-fi or fantasy paperback is essentially a holy grail for her.

Still, she picks up small change commissions from deviant art folks who want her to do character sketches and the like. She’s also been approached multiple times about producing art “for exposure” and her usual response is something along the lines of, “And how exactly am I going to use exposure to feed my autistic toddler? How about you directly go fuck yourself!”

Additionally, she has developed a psychic gift that essentially chills out emotional agitation and suspends the effects of derangement for the space of a single night and a day. This gift requires a skin to skin contact and the expenditure of a willpower point and if you are using “Second Sight” may be the gateway to additional powers detailed in that book.

Gear: Rosalie has exactly one thing in her life,aside from her son, that is well cared for. Her laptop. It was top of the line about 2 years ago when her old one went tits up. Since she got it from a rent-to-own business, by the time she actually owns it, it will be terribly obsolete and she will have paid 350% what she would have if she’d bought it retail...but it truly doesn’t matter. Her Lappy is her absolute lifeline.  She normally carries rolls of quarters for both laundry and bus riding purposes but she HAS discovered that they make good “Brass Knuckles” in a pinch.  She also normally has a large handbag for toting Lappy and Stuart necessities.

Home: Rosalie and Stuart live in a shabby little duplex that is right on the bus line. Rosalie’s car is in various states of repair/decay and hasn’t moved from the driveway since they moved there. Rosalie is the only one on the lease but she sublet the back bedroom to various people. Carl moved out two months ago taking his half-ass automotive expertise and his bass guitar with him. Fortunately, Rosalie was able to get her actress/stripper friend Lisa to come and share the rent. Lisa makes good money but likes nose candy a little too much and so she normally has to be OUT during the day because Stuart and Rosalie sleep in the daytime.  Both the living room, which doubles as Stuart's bedroom and Rosalie’s room have black poster paper gorilla taped to the windows.

Circle:Online, Degree Absolute is considered an art goddess, but IRL, she has only a few real friends. Some people she went to high school with and some people from college. Most of her friends have made the same sorts of questionable choices in their lives and have the police records and shattered credit scores to prove it.

Story Uses:

“Don’t worry. You see this sort of thing all the time on the night shift.”

Rosalie might be a good person to know, not just because she has this weird gift, but because occasionally, you want Burritos and smokes after dealing with your usual world of darkness problems and the Gas-N-GIT is well stocked for both.  Also, people on the third shift have seen some stuff.  It may only be a matter of time before Rosalie might have to cool out some pissed off werewolf or a frenzying vampire.  Then, I suspect, it will be ON like barbecue sauce.

“I didn’t know the two of you knew one another...Shit.  Fountain drinks are on me tonight.”

Weirdly, Rosalie like Rory O’Halloran has the potential to be one of the sorts of characters that nearly everyone in Painted Corners town has met, even if they don’t necessarily KNOW her.  Sure, Rosalie has some people she considers her regulars, and she even LIKES some of them. So you never know who you’ll bump into over at the Gas-N-GIT.

Connections:

* Jack Marston has been in the GnG more than a couple of times in the late nights and early mornings. Some time ago, he bought one of those ENORMOUS insulated travel mug deals which he routinely fills with coffee. While this normally means killing a whole pot that Rosalie has to then turn around and make fresh, he's such a nice guy that Rosalie doesn't grumble. also, he's easy on the eyes.

* Jackson "Whitey" Savaliga comes in often enough that Rosalie recognizes him and they struck up a conversation when she noticed his camera case. His house is about a two blocks away and he comes in all the time because he's occasionally restless or there's so much fucking going on that he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Rosalie loves him, He's one of the few people she can talk art with in real life.

* Officer Wesley Ullman and Detective Bela Janofski and Officer Honus Brightwater are all regulars. S.O.P. is that all law enforcement professionals get their drinks free and if they want day old donuts and there ARE any leftover, they are welcome to those as well. Bela and Wesley are decent dudes in Rosalie's book. Wesley's a little high strung, but he doesn't have any problem with coming out on an official call involving asshole customers. Brightwater, on the other hand, seems like a stiff. Or maybe he's got issues with fat girls or some crap.

* Used to fuck Rick Deluca in high school.  Heard that he went into business for himself.  He drops by occasionally. Sometimes he has treats. He seems to get on well with Stuart, being that he has some medical training there is a whole host of things that she doesn't have to explain to him about autism.

* Joseph Cartolano is the regular donut delivery guy. He's also a fellow comic book nerd. Follows her Deviant Art Account with interest.

* Rosalie and Ezekiel Stubbs knew a lot of the same people growing up. Once, at a party, he knocked it through her uprights. He may not necessarily remember doing so. Rosalie remembers, though. Oh yes.

* Clavo Hernandez did most of her ink. They were acquainted in college and he also follows her Deviant Art Account...to the point of thinking about creating one himself.

* Has bumped uglies with, and still does occasional business with Teflon John Galloway. In fact, there was some question as to whether or not Jamal was Stuart's father after all.  John, for his part always seems to be able to get a smile out of Stuart and Stuart ain't like that with ANYBODY else.

* Occasionally, one of the regular customers is kind of creepy. Rosalie just gets bad vibes off of Lewis Flowers and Stuart will hide in the cooler until he goes away. Flowers is very careful to not let Rosalie touch him for some reason. Does he know something? WTH?

* The Caboose is not far from here. Rosalie is always glad to pick up the ones for her drawer. She's friendly with most of the girls and is not unfriendly with DJ Razor Burn...She sees the signs already that he's a "Wrong Guy" but she just can't help herself. The one thing that prevents her from going after him is that he's been impatient with Stuart and looks like the type to smack a kid.

Jack Marston

Concept:  Bounty Hunter

AKA: Some of the people in his office call him “Cactus Jack” Jack’s okay with this because he’s a Mick Foley fan.

Desc: Jack looks like he ought to be on old school cigarette advertising. Rangy and tough looking. He has a nice smile( he flosses)  and pleasant blue eyes. He tends to wear jeans and a denim jacket as his everyday wear. He tends to go for boots. His frame is fairly compact but he has serious muscle. He’s got a deep tan that comes from growing up on a farm and working outdoors a lot. Keeps his blond hair short and clean cut.

History:  Jack isn’t dumb but he knows that a guy who grew up on a farm, and who went into the Marines as soon as he was old enough has limited options when it comes to the job market. After a while, it was clear to him that career Marine wasn’t going to be for him.  He came home and for a while did some bouncing.  And that was okay and all.  But it just wasn’t for him. He wasn’t interested in getting into crime. Finally, he answered an ad in the paper for a Bail Bondsman’s office.

It turned out that Jack had a real talent for it.  The way it works is like this.  Some guy gets himself arrested. That guy may not necessarily have the monies to pay the bail. So they get a bail bondsman to cover the necessary payment.  Then at some point, the person may go to trial.  If they decide that they’d rather skip and take their chances on the run, that’s when Jack swings into action.  A lot of his actual work day involves a little pre-emptive investigation on the people who use the bail bondsman’s service. This way, if a guy decides to skip, They already have a certain amount of intel already banked and they aren’t caught flat-footed and on the clock.  Of course, when they skip, that’s when Jack has to go on the road and run them down.

      There’s something about it that he likes. He’s good at solving puzzles.  He’s decent at talking to people and getting them to give him information. And he likes meeting new people and traveling to new places, even if it does mean people setting their dogs on him or pointing shotguns at him.

Attitude: “Listen, Jorge...Are you listening?  Dude, It only takes about 17 foot-pounds of pressure at this angle to break your arm.   Now I don’t know what unfortunate state of affairs led you to this sorry pass. But whatever it was...You ARE coming with me.  I’d just as soon you be conscious and ambulatory.”

Skills:  Jack breaks down like this. He’s got more Resolve than other forms of mental. More Manipulate than other forms of social.  He’s got more stamina than other physicals but his other physicals are pretty high. He’s got a martial artist’s build (He’s a practitioner of Jiu Jitsu and has some dots in M.A.C too.) and he runs to stay in great shape. Running tends to figure into his work.  On the social side of things, Jack doesn’t tend to come on heavy. He smiles and is pleasant to people and usually has a premise worked out ahead of time for contact with locals, (“No Ma’am. The lawyer sent me to find him because his uncle died and he’s coming into some money. Might be he might kick a slice to someone who helped me find him”. *Big sincere smile*)  He’s also got lots of dots of Animal Ken which has come in handy more than once. (“ That’s right. you were just being a good boy. I get it. I understand. Yes.”)

While he’s nobody’s hacker, He’s got more than a single dot of Computer and a few dots of Investigation with a specialty in “finding people”.  He is actually pretty good at answering a lot of questions through statistics, reference books, and web searches.  And clients of  Mr. Lee’s bail bonds service have their affairs looked into, BEFORE they skip, as I mentioned.  Mr. Lee is prudent that way.

Gear: Jack’s primary mission is to bring them back alive.  As such, he is usually armed with Taser and stun baton.  He keeps a bull-pup configured shotgun with bean-bag rounds in the trunk of his 76 Dodge Duster. (Don’t laugh, it’s got a v8) He has kevlar inserts for his denim jacket and if he’s expecting fire, he’ll bring along a motorcycle helmet.  He also carries a sheaf of zip-ties. (He knows that zip ties can be snapped in two, so he’ll tie the thumbs too.)  If he can close, he’ll use his martial arts.   He also carries a hunting knife. Because you never know.  He’s jacked up more than one runner just by jamming the thing through the front of a radiator.  Can’t get far with a hole in your radiator.

Home: Jack lives in an apartment. A nice one too. He has a large Irish wolfhound named “Mick” which keeps an eye on the place while he works. They also go running together. Jack has a fairly large collection of music. His CD’s take up a whole wall in his apartment.  He may have every single album that Johnny Cash ever recorded.  He has friends in the apartment complex too, who aren’t shy about looking after Mick. In fact, Mick may have more friends than Jack does. 

Circle: Jack has friends at his office, at his apartment complex and on the weekend he has friendly people at his dojo and at the C&W watering hole where he likes to line dance. Jack is pan-sexual but doesn’t exactly put that on blast. (Mr. Lee is a bit conservative. He might not take it well.) so he occasionally brings home people...And sometimes they end staying in the spare bedroom for a while.

Story Uses:

“Can I bring him in? Yes.  Will he be any use to you by the time I get him back here...That I can’t say.”

As you can imagine Jack would be a pretty good addition to any supernatural creatures payroll. He’s competent and doesn’t rattle easily. He’s good at what he does and takes pride in his work.

“Stings like a sumbitch, don’t it?”

On the other end of the scale, One might have to deal with him in a more professional arrangement. Most supernatural creatures think they’re above the law. And as such, might pay the bondsman and then just skip, thinking to disappear.  This does not work out well when Cactus Jack is on the case.

Connections:

* knows Joseph Cartolano from his dojo. The kid really dropped the weight.We're all really proud of him.

* Has used Rory O'Halloran to case certain targets. The P.I. who put him onto Rory said he was gold and he was right. Also, who'd have thought Irish cuisine could be so good?

* Has had peripheral contact with Tyronne "Tiberius" Glover by dint of having to run down some of his boys. There was a tense situation or two where Jack was forced to explain to Tyronne that some of his boys had made certain promises and had broken them. Weird thing is, Tyronne gets pretty upset about broken promises.  On both occasions, he handed the boys over to Jack, although both were the worse for wear. Tyronne has an interesting relationship with Mr. Lee and boys who attempt to skip...Are endangering it.  He doesn't take that well. Tyronne's got RULES.

* although he is essentially a part of the Law Enforcement community, there are times when it might be necessary to patronize someone on the other side of the tracks. Hence, he knows Dr. Ronnette Franklin and is, just a little bit smitten with her. In fact, if he gets hurt, he'd rather go to Ronnette and put money in her pocket than to another doctor. 

* Had to run down Teflon John Galloway once after he tried skipping on a narcotics bust. It was too bad. John was kind of cute in Jack's assessment.  His lawyer got him off, though. 

* Used to work as a bouncer at The Witness. So he knows all the crew there. Every once in a while business takes him that direction and he stops by and they treat him like the prodigal son. He'd go there more regularly, but the music isn't to his taste.

* After his bouncing gig, Big Dan Tarleton made an approach, but Jack wasn't interested. 

Selma Collins

Concept: Arsonist for hire

AKA: As will become apparent below, Selma once became a woman named Emily Coleman

Desc:  Selma is about 5’8 with shoulder length brunette hair. For fitness, she runs and swims. She has eyes that seem to take in everything.  She’s also got a bit of “Resting Bitch Face”. When under stress, she tends to hum to herself.  If you listen long enough, you can eventually identify the song she’s humming as “Sunny Came Home” by Shawn Colvin. She is not aware that she does this.

History: Pyromania is a form of pathology that is essentially about stress relief. Selma as a young child was one of those few children who went through the sociopath troika. (I.e: Bedwetting, Cruelty to animals, fascination with fire.)  Both of the other phases were short, but the fascination with fire lingered.

It was the strangest thing. Her old home town was simply PLAGUED with fires.  Any place that was old and looked deserted. Houses of kids in her neighborhood that she didn’t like much.  Uncle Lou’s house. The Junior high (once)  and even the high school (3 times).   Most of the time, nobody ever looked twice at Selma.  It’s fairly rare for women to express as pyromaniacal and she was able to keep her mouth shut. So naturally the community thought it was a boy, or boys, who were setting these fires. No one ever put it together that Selma was the one common element at each of these fires.

Selma is Off the Chart Smart.  And like many teens who go through a period of lawbreaking without getting caught, she had to determine whether or not to continue until she set a fire so big that she would HAVE to be caught. Was that what she was planning for herself?  Setting herself up to fail in the biggest way possible. It didn’t feel that way really. It’s just that setting fires was such a deep release for her.

So, she reasoned, If I can’t really stop. I’ll have to find a way to do it professionally. Taking some money she’d saved from birthday savings bonds and such, she bought herself a decent fake ID and got herself a job. Convinced her clueless parents that she’d gotten a job as a secretary in an office.  Which was technically true.

What she didn’t tell them, was that she’d gotten hired as a secretary in the Fire Marshall’s office. She spent all day and many nights surrounded by all the information she could ever want about how to set fires, what sorts of chemical residue would be found at the scene and the kind of decision-making process during investigations to determine whether a fire had started via natural misadventure or arson. Like many budding young sociopaths, she would use her youthful body to deflect attention and to allow her to be close to the office so she could keep learning more. Sure, she’s almost completely asexual. It’s only the fire that arouses her really. Although, if a person caught her in just the right mood on a night when she’d set a fire...That person might be in for a wild ride. Pathologies can be complicated.

Then, at the point when it was clear, she couldn’t really ask any more questions without tipping her hand, and she’d learned all she could from reading the reports, she simply disappeared.

A year later she turned up here. She put her out shingle out as an arsonist for hire.  Naturally, it’s a bit of a specialty in criminal circles, and hard for unknown people to break into.  So she had to set a few fires in order to stymie the local Fire Department and get her name into the hands of the right sorts of criminals. When she began to work, she bought a new identity and went back to school to get a degree in chemistry.  Granted, she’s double majoring in psychology because she’s interested in understanding this problem in her mind... But as long as she can keep setting fires and getting paid for it. She isn’t necessarily wanting to cure herself.

Attitude: “No one can exactly accuse me of being a sensualist. But we all have a sensual relationship with the elements. The feel of the wind, how our skin reacts to water and earth. I tend to have an affinity for fire. The way the heat feels on your skin and in your bones. The smell of it. The way that a large fire will drive the moisture out of the air. the snap and crackle of it. There is something about it that feel like coming home...Like touching the face of an angry god...I don’t know how to describe it properly...”

Skills: A dot or two of athletics and a single dot in Firearms. Several dots in Science, with specs in fire science, chemistry, and psychology, and some dots in crafts for making home-made explosives and detonators. Also some dots in Investigation with a spec in Arson. Some social acumen, mostly in persuasion. 

Gear: Owns a mini-van. Normally keeps her fire-making materials in a bundle in a stroller. No one looks at her twice coming into someplace, but they might notice she hasn’t brought the stroller out.  On her person, she keeps a flaregun, (which has come in handy more than once.) a tiny multi-channel radio detonator, and a stun gun.  She also carries picks, (which she’s not very good with) and a set of bump keys, (which don’t require much skill at all.)  For certain gigs, she’ll wear a Nomex suit and a respirator, but those are rare. Normally, the gaff with her is to set up a fire to go off at a certain time and be elsewhere when it occurs. She dislikes clock timers though and prefers timed chemical reactions.  She got a lot of mileage out filling the bottom of an envelope with a certain type of discontinued hair crème and sprinkling pool chlorine on it, sealing the envelope and then walking away.  The chemical fire caused by that is very very hot and doesn’t leave much in the way of trace residue for accelerants. Has a smartphone and leaves it in her glove box when she’s “Working”

Home: Bought herself a nice place with a large concrete reinforced basement/attached garage. Manages to keep the usage of her own personal fireplace down to about once a week  in the spring and fall. And she seems to do a lot of grilling out in the summer months. Funny.

Circle: Doesn’t have anyone she holds particularly dear. She’s gotten herself a new job working in an insurance office.  Occasionally, it puts her wise to investigations, it points up other arsonists (pro and amateur) and suggests clients to her (which she might approach through a proxy.) Pretends to be BFF’s with the other girls in the office. Can’t help but fantasize about burning the place down.  To be clear, Selma does NOT actually need the job. But she uses it to her advantage.  

Story Uses:

 “Don’t worry, the chemical reaction won’t happen until the aluminum triiodide dries out completely. We’ll be long gone by then.”

Selma prides herself on being a pro. Sure, there is a whole other side to it for her, she’s not just in it for the money, but she CAN be patient and wait if it’s necessary. She’s the sort of criminal specialist that many different types of people would like to have in their Rolodex..or in their back pocket.

“They told me about people like you. I must be something like your worst nightmare...”

Fire cleanses. Selma might be a problem for the sort of PC that fire is bad for.  Worse thought, what if Selma developed Pyrokinesis?  I mean, even if she was only able to kindle a fire with her mind, her knowledge of chemicals and accelerants would make her super dangerous on ground she had prepared ahead of time.

Connections:

* Psych department usually being small, she's met both Dr. Paul Pickford and Collette Reeves. Both have pegged her as Asexual, but they figure she's on the autism spectrum somewhere. She comes off as a bit of a cold fish around the department.  She tends to save her "Friendly" act for the insurance office. It's too draining otherwise.

* John Patmos has turned up at a number of fires that she's caused. Occasionally, if she can manage it, she likes to watch the fire she's set and take video footage if she can.  She's seen this man more than once.  He seems to have an appreciative look on his face when he looks at the fire. Could be a fellow arsonist or a fellow pyromaniac. Selma is wary of both because of the one's she's met, she has better impulse control than any of them.  But this one is strangely intriguing.

* Once got hired by Lorna Crane in another city a few years ago.  Doubt they would recognize one another, though.

* Don Pentangelli has hired her in the past. sometimes, a good bust out scheme needs a blow-off or a business partner needs an insurance windfall to finance a do-over. When this occurs, The Don calls Selma.  The Don is perhaps one of the few people on earth that Selma thinks might be as smart as her.

She's not afraid. That would require greater emotional sensitivity than she is capable of. But she IS respectful.

*While Selma is smart, she doesn't have all the time in the world being a part time employee and a part time student.  As a result, she's found that it's good to do some digital recon and the best person for that is T.C. Mitnick.

* Told Clavo Hernandez a cock and bull story about working as an accountant for the mob and needing to get out of sight. He didn't buy it entirely, but he took her money and gave her good paper. He also liked her look and sketched her, but she wasn't into him. Must just not like fat guys or something.

*Is in the Rolodex of Alejandro Dean of Holmes, Gillis, Baker, Savage, North, and Dean. Occasionally it's handy if a place burns down right before a trial. I'm not saying that's happened...Wink wink nudge nudge.

John Joseph Staglione

Concept: Mob Sniper/Grandpa

AKA: Answers to Johnny, or Joey. But you call him John-John or Jo-jo, and you’d better be ready for a smack in the chops. Sometimes among friends, he’s Johnny Two-Tap

Desc: in his 50’s and still got game. Dresses well. Shaves his head, because he used to have a serious head of hair back in the day, and now it’s all gone on top and gone gray all around the fringe.  Fuck that noise. He'd rather be smooth. His eyes still have a bit of twinkle and he still walks a 6-mile stretch every other day.  He’s the kind of dude who can pull off a canary yellow dinner jacket, bright green pants, and white shoes, and not look like a putz.

History: Johnny is a career man. He grew up in the kind of neighborhood where you got into the Outfit if you wanted to go anywhere in life.  He started young as a runner and a bag-man. they put him to work as a soldier when he was old enough and discovered he had a talent for it.  In fact, one of the older guys, who’d had some experience overseas, worked out that Johnny had some serious talent with long arms and he taught him all he knew about the gentle art of sniping.

  Don’t misunderstand, Johnny’s plenty capable of handling himself in a fight. Or a least he used to be, but with a long arm in his hands, he is more than capable of putting a target on the deck from over a half mile away.  Still is.

   He swears he’s retired now. He made decent money killing people for the mob, and occasionally being hired out to take care of problems for other criminals.  He’s even got a young person who he’s teaching, He’s never been greedy, that shit never paid for anybody coming up in the ranks. So he’s got a certain amount of credibility.

   But every once in a while someone needs to be shot down, and maybe the guy is impossible to get at by other means, and maybe the Don asks Johnny a favor...And Johnny, for his part, although he plays it cool, gets the itch sometimes. And hey, he can always shovel some of that money into his grandkids college fund.

Attitude: "It’s all about stillness. You have to learn how to be conscious of all the little twitches and ticks the human body is heir to. You have to learn to calm your mind and slow your breathing. You have to be able to squeeze the trigger not jerk it like some guys prick. The slightest movement won’t have an effect on shooting close-up. but shooting close up is a whole other set of problems.  But stillness is what you need to hit a target a long way off. Okay, Lisa...Hit the match heads. Make Grandpa proud."

Skills: Firearms 4 possibly even 5. Dots in Sniping FS. A couple of dots in melee and brawl too. at least a couple of dots in athletics (“You laugh Tony, But walking, isometrics, and yoga make me shoot better and helped me get my diabetes under control. So shut the fuck up.”)  He’s not the most educated guy, but he’s got a decent amount of native cunning to be able to do okay at business and his life in the mob means he’s got a dot or two in politics. Socially, he’s pretty adept.  He can intimidate without coming on all heavy, and he’s still got strong game when it comes to the ladies, His wife has been dead for a few years now, so he and his girlfriend have been much more open about their relationship, at least to the kids.  Johnny is a pretty decent dancer too.

Gear: Johnny favors tools in the field that are durable. His arm of choice is an old and well cared for Dragunov. The FBI could likely close 40 cases if they could ever get their hands on that weapon. He keeps it broken down in a safety deposit box along with its ammo in a neighboring box.  He also carries a mini-uzi with a silencer for any work he’s forced to do close up. A pearl-handled switchblade (which was a present from the Don) and a strangling wire round out his basic field kit.  He carries an attache case for most of these operations, and walking away from the scene looks for all the world like a bank manager hurrying back from lunch. Never carries a phone while working. 

Home: Johnny owns his own home under the auspices of a “Tactical and security consultancy firm” that the IRS would dearly love to prove is bullshit, except that Johnny has gone to some lengths to make it into an actual business, and one that pays pretty damn well.  He lives in a decent sized place in the “Really Nice, but not SUPER rich”suburbs.   His kids live near him, not because they can really afford to, but because Johnny loves being able to stroll down the block and see his grandkids whenever he wants.  His son at least knows that it’s possible that his father might go away on “Business” and never come home again.   His daughter has worked very hard to be completely unaware of this, to the point of screaming and crying anytime her brother brings it up.

Circle:

Most his social circle consists of his old goombah friends and a few of his “Clients” and a couple of people he knows at his church.

Story Uses:

“There...That ought to...What the fuck?”

Of course, the most direct way to meet up with Johnny Two-tap is to be in his cross-hairs. Not that this will ever be fun for the target, but it might not be fatal... Johnny has seen some weird shit in his time, though, and he doesn’t rattle easily. So just because you got back up, doesn’t mean you’re necessarily off the hook.

“Hmm. Can you make your approach from right there, where I'm pointing? That opens up my field of fire.”

Every once in a while, it’s good to know a criminal specialist. It can mean the difference between a successful negotiation and a blazing clusterfuck.

Connections:

*  Don Pentangelli wishes he had a dozen just like him. While they didn't come up in the same neighborhood, they have found the other one to be "Their kind of people"  The Don appreciates talent and composure. Both if which Johnny has in spades. Johnny appreciates an even temper in the people he's doing work for. That's Francis all over.

* Has heard good things about Marcie Hawkins but has yet to work with her directly. They'd get on well, though.

* While the Mob has a certain amount of institutionalized racism, one tends to get respectful in the face of real talent and competence. NOBODY but the dumbest of fuckers calls Immanuel Washington a "fucking eggplant" The one thing that bugs Johnny though is that Manny seems to have "Rules" with a capital "R"   Johnny doesn't care about that stuff. If the Don says the target has to go, then they have to go.  Granted, The don isn't likely to order a hit on an innocent. But Manny has to fucking check for himself all the time.

* Once, Johnny went along and kept a watchful eye on a little operation being run by Lawton Krase It went SO badly, that Johnny packed up his gear in disgust and ex-filled before it was all over. If that dumb son-of-a-bitch managed to survive it, he'll likely fall over dead from shock.

Ilya Grishenko

Concept: Art Mafioski “The Cleaner”

AKA:None 

Desc: Buzz-cut hair and icy blue eyes. A storm of ink in the Bratva style stretched over a lean muscular body.  Strong jaw and largely silent demeanor. Late30’s-early 40’s. He has one of those chiseled faces that will make it look as if he's in his late 30's until he's well into his 60's. He’s not overly confident of his English, so he’s doubly quiet. His fellow "Mafioski" tend to go in for flashy ill-fitting suits and gauche jewelry that even a car salesman would blanch at.  On those rare occasions when he doesn't have on his studio overalls, he wears a suit that fits and little to no jewelry.

History:  Ilya’s father was an engineer. Ilya grew up wanting to learn a trade and he learned as much as he could at his father’s knee.  Kolya, his father taught him as much as he could before he got sick.  Ilya might have gone to school, had it not been for that.  

    As it was, Ilya ended up enlisting in the army and being slotted into their nearest equivalent of the army corp of engineers.  And that probably would have been okay, as the red army wasn’t exactly fighting a lot of wars at the time.

And then Afghanistan happened. Which, as Ilya could have told you, was going to be a disaster. Only an engineer could have known that the soviet army’s machinery was in so woeful shape that the Afghanis would be able to cripple and kill soviet tanks with hand axes. (Which they did.)  In Afghanistan, Ilya saw a lot of truly horrible things.

And in Afghanistan, Ilya DID some truly horrible things.

He came home. and without much in the way of direction, fell in with some army buddies and got involved with the Bratva. Occasionally things needed fixing, and it WAS something that Ilya was good at.

The higher ups in the Bratva liked Ilya. He was good at taking orders. He wasn’t ambitious. He wasn’t greedy and he never mouthed off.  If there was anything that concerned them, it was that he generally wanted to be left alone.

He spent a lot of time alone, whenever he could. He found himself doing something he couldn’t really explain or articulate to the others. He started doing art. Metal-working mostly, with the occasional foray into sculpting. It soothed him and allowed him to express certain things that words couldn't.

It wasn’t until he presented his Pakhan with a sculpted iron wolf about the size of a skull, that they began to realize that maybe Ilya had hidden depths.

Ilya’s just a soldier but a valued one. He still earns money from the Bratva by dint of the fact that they use him to fix problems and get rid of bodies. He makes art in his own time, and as a bit of a side hustle is essentially the Art Mafia in this place.  Don’t kid yourself. Politics in art can get ugly. and at times can get violent.  There ARE people who are willing to pay to have a rivals hand broken, or put out an eye. There ARE people who are willing to pay to burn down a gallery or take a razor to a real painting in order to prop up a forgery. That sort of thing happens.  Ilya would rather not have to do such things...But many times, he doesn’t get to choose.

Attitude: “I do what I have to.”

Skills: Ilya is craft savvy with multiple specialties. He also has a nice dollop of science dots mostly geared towards chemistry. His socials aren’t great and the only thing he’s actually good at is intimidation.   As a former soldier, he’s been in fights, and he’s got a dot or three in melee, weaponry, and firearms. It should be mentioned that Ilya is a serious physical specimen. His strength,dexterity, and stamina are non-trivial. 

Gear: On his person, he doesn’t carry much. He has a garden variety Glock and a Karambit knife that has seen plenty of use. He hates cell phones. But he does carry a digital camera. Occasionally, he sees things he wants to take pictures of.  And occasionally, he needs to take pictures to prove that something has been done. He carries a fat wad of cash. Because he’s found that money talks in America.  He also has a large black step van. It’s been pressed into use for body removal on more than one occasion. It houses a black metal cabinet full of various chemicals, and a large drum of sulfuric acid.

Home: Ilya has an upscale loft in the seedy but artistic side of town.  It doubles as his workshop/studio. It has a freight elevator and that’s where Ilya keep the motorcycle he’s been working on for the last six months. He’s having to machine certain parts by hand because they no longer exist. Otherwise, he’d be driving that thing.

Circle: Kind of depressing. Doesn’t really have the tools to be able to market himself in the art world, even though his work has a rough brilliance. A number of his old friends from the army are all dead now. Some got killed, some got greedy and then, got killed.  Most of his fellow Bratva don’t really get him all that well, and he hasn’t had sex with a woman in years, who wasn’t a whore.  

Story Uses:

“I like your work...but someone does not.”

If your PC is an artist and has garnered some envy, If your rival has the money, Ilya may come around and bring trouble with him.

“I won’t forget this kindness. It is rare.”

Ilya has seen a lot and done some bad things, but he may not be unsalvageable.  The right friend or even, the right woman could turn him around.  This, of course, would be an UTTER disaster for him as the Bratva probably won’t want to let him go.

Connections:

*Occasionally, Ilya has need of a machine shop with more resources than he already possesses or he has need of some bit of technical expertise that he himself does not have time to do. He has become aware of Axle's shop and has met Darla Grumman. Darla is so unlike any other woman he's ever met that he is a little fascinated with her and oddly, they've become friends. Darla has NO knowledge of his criminal business and while his Ink tells the story, she's not exactly up on that stuff.

* Lillian Penobscot owns an Art Gallery. Ilya has leaned on her in order to get his work shown. Of course, In exchange He burned down the Bergman Gallery, So it's kind of worked to her advantage. Lil thinks that maybe she wants to bring him a little bit more into her orbit. Might come in handy to have a man like him in her corner. Not recognizing that maybe her corner would not really belong to her much longer.

* Has met Captain Roy Gunderson in passing during certain things. Captain Gunderson will smuggle for anyone really, but the organized crime clients tend to be the most reliable. Well...SOME of them.

"Dr. Coulton Bennett"

Concept: Big Con/Long Game

AKA: His real name is Sherman Pentonvale

Desc: Tallish and barrel-chested. Capped Teeth. Twinkle in his eyes. Shock of white hair. Strong handshake and always great eye contact. Looks great in a tux. Think Brian Denehy at his most charming.

History: Sherman is pretty good. I’m not saying he’s never done time, Short cons tend to make more trouble, at least that’s the way he’s always felt.  But you do a big con, and you do it well enough, and you can retire. Or you can take some of your retirement now instead of at the end of your life.

   So, Sherman as a part of a big con was forced to attend a charity event, and frankly, it was a bit of an eye opener. And with a little research and a lot of thought, Sherman realized that Charities, with the right management and with the right handling, can be a never-ending gravy train.

  So, with a bit of help from some con artist friends and some very well made credentials, Sherman went into business for himself.

    He created Dr. Coulton Bennett and set about making the YDLSF. (The You Don’t Look Sick Foundation)  which is, on the face of it, a medical research charity specifically for curing and treating diseases that have very few outward symptoms, like Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,or Fibromyalgia.

   And in truth, He’s actually done some work to raise awareness of people who have these illnesses.  And if he were putting ANY of the money into anything other than the charity galas (And he STILL gets people to donate time, venues and catering.) Maybe it would DO something about the problem.  

In any case, Sherman has plans in place in case the balloon goes up ahead of schedule of the blow-off. And his team has code-words to know when the walk-away is now.  But frankly. He’s having the best time of his life right now and he kind of thinks that this particular con will become legend.

He would likely be right. If it weren’t for the fact that certain members of The Vermillion House have looked into him.  They are actually a little split. Some want to make an “Example” of him. Others...Are impressed, and want to see what he might be capable of with some real backing.

Attitude: “Friends let me tell you, the statistics about these sorts of diseases are staggering and the social stigma of having one of these diseases and receiving passive pressure NOT to talk about it is like the double whammy in my opinion. The foundation is all about treating these silent agonies, and it’s my devout hope you’ll help end the suffering. God knows that some people need more spoons.”

Skills: More dots in Empathy, Expression, and Subterfuge and Science: Psychology, than any PC is EVER likely to have. Strong socials, and while he’s not had much formal education, his wits are ridiculous.  He’s charming like a sociopath, but he does have his limits. Additionally, Sherman has become pretty adept at Ballroom dancing.  He’s good that way. He’s probably got a sprinkling of single dots in nearly every skill.  In truth, Sherman likes learning, but his learning is usually broad and shallow.  At present, he can pass himself off as a credible epidemiologist.   

Gear: Smart Phone, dead sexy automobile (leased), A Blank firing pistol in an armpit holster. Two wallets. One with getaway documents and tin foil (For wrapping the phone) . a second burner phone. Money belt.

Home: Upscale and leased. But he’s got a Winnebago stashed somewhere in case he needs to get out of town.

Circle: Professionally, he cozies up to the rich and powerful, initially, love bombing them a bit and then pulling back a bit with small judgments about their morals and ethics. Which of course, makes them want to prove themselves to him. He usually takes the opposite tack with women he intends to bed. ignoring them or discounting them and slowly warming up to them.  If allowed to continue in this particular con he’s developed a fairly good cross section of high society types, both old and new money. 

On the more serious side, he’s got a fairly decent troupe of fellow con artists and a few criminal specialists on speed dial.  He used to have a protege,but that didn’t turn out so good. She thought she was much smarter than she was. And now she’s committed to the violent wing of the state mental hospital.  She’s not actually crazy...but good luck getting anyone to believe THAT.

Story Uses:

“Ugh...My...heart...Quick... Get my pills. They’re in my jacket.”

And he’ll be gone by the time you turn back around. Sherman may be a crass,greedy, scum-bag. But he might be a useable crass, greedy, scum-bag.

But you’d have to see him coming and put him on the hook. And neither of those things will be easy to do.

“Kid. You may have talent. If there’s anything I can’t stand. It’s talent.”

While Cindy has probably soured Sherman on ever teaching anyone how to grift, you could do worse for a mentor, and Sherman’s pride generally means that if he gives his word to a fellow criminal, he’ll abide by it. Not keeping your word in criminal circles is usually bad for business...unless he can fix it so that no one ever knows that he broke that word. In which case...

Connections:
* Has met Marcie Hawkins in passing. Was impressed with her.  If he was planning a con which required serious stage management, he'd definitely give her a call. Marcie, for her part, tends to be wary of professional extraverts.
* Meredith Shaw's family is one of many who routinely gives to charities as a means of massaging their ego's, their guilt, and their taxes. Meredith and "Coulton" had a lovely dance at a charity gala affair. Each walked away having thought the other figured out. Neither was entirely correct. Meredith, for her part, is willing to put on a "Friendly" smile.
* Something about Lorna Crane puts Sherman's antenna up. He's not sure what. Something about her reminds him of Cindy.
* Every single "Man of God" that Sherman has ever met, especially the ones who preach about what a moral cesspool this country has become, has something to hide.  He definitely gets this sense from Reverend Mike Plumber and would dearly love to know what it is so he can soak him for serious money through a proxy. For now, he smiles and plays the game and allows the good reverend to be his entry into a world of rich conservative people with more money than sense, and more guilt than desire to give their excess wealth away. You know...like Christ instructs.  He may be a con man, but he's READ that Gideon bible.
* Has employed Lambrose Karanikas and First Class Limo Service as window dressing for various events. Lambrose loves this guy. He's fun.
* Has used T.C. Mitnick for tech support in the past.  Sherman is one of the few people who is psychologically adept enough and patient enough to REALLY talk to T.C. And on some level, T.C. appreciates it. Also. the money's good.
* Has used Clavo Hernandez over and over and has touted his work to other career criminals. Clavo enjoys repeat business and Sherman is very complimentary of his work AND his art. 
*Has been ducking Patricia "Carnie" Pitt because he says the work of the foundation isn't about him and he doesn't hold with "celebrity doctoring" (Whatever the fuck THAT is.) but it's mainly because he doesn't want to be on camera and get recognized.
* Yeah...Lillian Penobscot. You got to know he hit that...Just saying. Lil is actually enjoying the attention a bit. But she IS recognizing that she has to keep certain secrets from him. After all, he's a man of science and probably wouldn't understand.
* Knows Esmerelda Duchene of Bryson Import/Export from the bad old days. Remembers a memorable night when she came to him with a proposition that needed some head-shedding. After that, Tino met a bad end. Good for her.  Each time he hears about Bryson he smiles and privately thinks he ought to come up a with con that he can cut her and her girls in on. After all...They're already trained.