AS ABOVE (game thread)

"Ah, officers." Bonham is instantly all "smiles" again, maneuvering their broad frame out of the elevator before gesturing to let them in. "SETH division. There's been a discovery of a new crime scene in the basement morgue. I advise you two hurry to ID the remains and set up a perimeter with the assistance of the staff, call in forensics. We'll clean up here."

Erasmus attempted a reassuring smile. It looked more like he was constipated.

"Gentlemen," is all Kyle says as he slips out of the elevator so the officers have an unobstructed entry to get the fuck off the floor.

The cops are likely on edge as things are, and Bonham decides to help things along a bit by playing on their anxiety, make them relieved to hand off authority over this area to someone else and hurry back to the relative safety of...a morgue with three rotting, mutilated corpses in it?

Bonham leans on the wall, subtly touching their finger to the elevator's control panel. The wires in the wall crackle and fizzle for a moment, and the lights in the area flicker, the HVAC system turning off and adding an eerie silence to the hallway. "You alright, officers? I think you could use a bit of a break from here."

"Shit, another- God fucking dammit." One of the officers rubs his temple, and walks into the elevator. "Garrett, come on. I'll call the station."

The other officer seems shaken for a moment, then nods and proceeds into the elevator. "Remains... more...? Oh, man..."

The elevator door closes, and the exorcists are left alone on the third floor.

After a long silence, Erasmus shrugged and clicked his fingers. "We will hunt." He muttered, before striding out into the hallway, Orion snuffling wetly for any traces of SIN.

Salem trails behind Erasmus, taking in each room's name as they walk down the hallway. He comes to a sudden stop, held in place by the blooming of a sudden weight in his chest as if he had swallowed a cluster of stones. His attention is drawn toward the room in question, led by the deepening sense of melancholy he feels.

Salem stops by the door. "Think that we've found our next scene." He looks at the room's plaque, to get a sense of how much subterfuge might be needed for this next step of the investigation.

Bonham takes position next to the door, crossing their arms under their cape. As they uncross, one hand is revealed to be holding an unloaded handgun, and the other a magazine loaded with armor-piercing rounds and a suppressor.

Smoothly, they slide the magazine into place, screw in the suppressor, pull back the slide, and release, locking it in place and readying the weapon.

"Form up. Weapons free. Let's see if we can't terminate with extreme prejudice."

Salem nods. "Alright, I'm with you. I'll head in first."

His hand dips into his pocket, ready to draw his axe from its depths. Hand on the door handle, he moves to step into the room, ready to provide a buffer between whatever lies within and the other exorcists.

Although Erasmus dropped to the back, hand drifting to his own weapon, Orion crept slowly closer, hunched down in a hunting position, growling softly.

"Always figgered I'd be th' first in, but that's fine," Lycaon says, taking the opposite side of the door from Bonham. Pulling his gloved hand free of the pocket it's stayed in, it's easy to miss the barbed knuckles.

Kyle may not realize it, but he has started smiling at this point. Not a "customer service" smile, no. A real one. He might just be looking forward to this part.