To The Sheriff's Office

[sndwurks]

"Somebody in the tribe's nephew," says Billy with a bit of a troubled look, and a frown. "The truth is, people disappear in this area all the time. Always have. We got our words for it, but... just leave it at this area is bad, and it's never really been good."

He sighs slightly, and shakes his head.

"Either he's on the island, and probably dead or worse... or he's somewhere else, not wanting to be found, and will turn up eventually. I'm going to tell his family the second one. It's hard to live with, but telling them their nephew found out about a secret facility, was eaten by giant animals, murdered by crazed inmates, got shot by Chinese gangsters... it's not believable if you hadn't been here. So I'm going to tell them he dumped his stuff, and jetted. Watch for his credit cards, and keep an ear to the ground. Might even be true."

As the Professor catches up with them, there's a notable look of surprise and a shrug from Billy. He just chuckles slightly, and shakes his head. He hooks a thumb towards Nick.

"What he said about the agent's papers," he offers, and then nods towards Eden. "She was the only one who made hide or hair out of the writing on them, though. Mostly had to deal with the prison, honestly. Nothing of a mystical bent, if that's what you're looking for. As for this being a nexus, or whatever? Well... it's not a good place. Bad things happen here. Just sort of the way of things."

And with that, Billy continues on towards the Sheriff's office.

[Nick Sleet]

"Hey Billy," says Nick, abandoning the obviously fruitless search through his bedraggled notebook, "what name should we look for on those hypothetical credit cards?"

While waiting for the answer, a quick thought comes to him; "Yeah, I remember the bus stopping to pick you up, Professor. Tough luck on getting the bus of doom..."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry listened as the conversation danced between what appeared to be an honest missing person's case and talk about ominous locations and ill fated bus routes. He did not feel the greatest urge to break the train of thought in the group. Having no great insight into the current karmic state of affairs, Henry kept an eye on the trail they walked. He struck upon a strange thought a short while later.

"This is more so I can get my head around certain matters here so forgive me if this seems to trip up the pace of the conversation. This place you are all heading towards, Whisper Hills, is close by here. I don't much take to the idea we are just drifting along like bits of magnetite waiting to be drawn to a lodestone. So I guess if we take all the hokey smoke and mirrors out, what the hell does anyone know about this place everyone is heading towards?"

[sndwurks]

"James Lefebvre," says Billy with a glance towards Nick. There is a thankful smile and a swift nod. "If you hear anything, give me a call. I'm not going to be holding my breath, though."

Turning towards Henry, Billy says "It's a little town on the northern side of the reservation. Not many people live there. Like most of the reservation land, there are various corporate invested sites there about, and most of it is controlled by Doyon Paper and Lumber. There was the Burning Sky disaster in Amertume, which is outside Whisper Hill proper, back in '68. This island is part of the Whisper Hill reservation land, too."

Billy pauses after a moment, and glances back towards the group.

"We have always called it Pakajiwi Gigimommdwa, the place of whispers. It's not... a good place to live. It never has been... but 1968 was a bad year. And, it's only gotten worse since. Why it's attracting people now, I'd rather not ask. It's probably one of those things it is better not knowing."

He turns back towards the direction they are headed, and lifts his head a bit, shielding his eyes from the sun.

"I think we should only have another half mile or so before we get to the office."

[Henry Gondorf]

"Hmm." Henry grunted. "Well I can guess why the suits are here. There are so many loopholes when it comes to Native American Reservations a half decent team of lawyers can find grounds for just about anything. And more than enough red tape to bury things under on the back swing if mistakes should be made. As for Whisper Hill's proper: I think I have an idea about the sudden draw."

Henry hooked his thumbs into the loops on his pants as he walked. "It like having the Bermuda Triangle within driving distance. If the place has some bad history and blood under its finger nails, people just have to march into to look at it. I will admit I am worried though." Henry slid his hand under his coat to checked if the hammer was cocked. "From what I've seen the words 'Tourist Trap' seems a lot more dire than people might realize."

[Nick Sleet]

"That would make sense" says Nick, flipping his notebook closed and sliding it into a suit pocket, "Corporate loopholes and the obvious lack of a sustained law enforcement force certainly explain both the black ops presence and the criminal groups like the Hong Hu."

He pulls out a throwing dagger from another pocket, checking the edge with his thumb.

"What I want to know is how much of a law enforcement force is present in Whisper Hill proper. The people I've talked too have told me, and I quote 'It's a quiet place with nothing to see or do. Non-locals usually head out pretty quickly'; even if they were telling the truth, you would think there would still be a larger presence of the law or a private security force of some kind, given the crazy stuff we've seen on this island alone."

He hefts the dagger, feeling the balance, and then tucks it away in favor of a pistol.

"My money is on Blackstone..."

[sndwurks]

"There's not going to be that much law enforcement in Whisper Hill proper," says Billy. "Tribal police get paid out of tribal funds, and we don't have much of that, despite how much money the corporations are pouring into our lands. Most of that money winds up in the hands of particular elders of the tribe, most likely, and isn't spread to all the members. Corporations making donations to tribal funds is all public records... and I think you all can guess how much corporations like having that on record."

The private investigator glances between Nick and Henry, and nods.

"Most of what you'll see out that way will be Blackstone. Private security, no real legal jurisdiction. Just soldiers for hire. Some, like the Sheriff, are tribal police, but not that many. It falls to the tribe to look into crimes like theft, assault, trespassing, the like. Small crimes. Anything that falls under a federal crime is the jurisdiction of the FBI, since it's reservation land. However, since I'm looking into a missing persons... I think you can guess how much the FBI gives a damn about what happens on our reservation."

[Henry Gondorf]

Henry smiled a wry smile then. "Well ain't that just peachy. No wonder the hardware around here didn't raise hell with the Sheriff."

Henry hooked his thumb back through the loop on his pants and continued onward. "So here is another wacky question: if this place and Whisper Hills is some kind of legal brier patch, what is going happen when word gets out what happened here yesterday? I mean if this place is those suits backyard, what is going to stop them from going all Ulysses S. Grant and rolling out the 'Slash and Burn' from here to the highway?"

[sndwurks]

"Because you can only do so much before the government has to take notice," says Billy with a shrug. "There's a prison riot? That is believable. The bridges were blown up using fertilizer bombs? Okay, we can pin that on the Triads. They obviously had something to do with the prison riot. Oh, and that napalm strike? That wasn't napalm, that was another Triad fertilizer bomb. By the time the FBI gets someone up here, and they will, to look at the scene, the corporations will have a straight story to sell them and it will all add up. The locals will agree to anything if it gets outsiders away. But you can't do that and remove every single person on this island. There are people here someone would miss. And the corporations aren't that stupid."

The private investigator shrugs, and gives a chuckle.

"Heartless, greedy, and evil? Yes. Stupid, no. And they aren't bigger than the federal government. Yet."

[Nick Sleet]

"Why get bigger than the feds when you can infiltrate and control the regulatory industries instead? Corporate agents already have access to most of what the government has already..." Nick says, grimacing, "But you're right, they do have to maintain plausible deniability, and mass exterminations are usually difficult to cover up."

He pauses, and a brief look of horror passes over his face. "Oh shit; so all those sci-fi shows really ARE out there to create plausible deniability. I'd say I'm just being paranoid, but after last night..." He shakes his head sharply and rubs his eyes.