17122/Traffic Infringement Notice Patrol

Traffic Infringement Notice Patrol
Date of Scene:	07 February 2024
Location:	Nelson and Murdock
Synopsis:	What do you do when the police impound your time machine? Why, you go to Nelson & Murdock of course!
Cast of Characters:	Casey Brinke, Matthew Murdock

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Casey Brinke has posed:
Casey blocked the traffic of a New York street in an attempt to find her missing time machine. Usually they don't go missing but this one did. Of course there's still that lingering doubt that her time machine might not even exist. A figment of some comic writers imagination. But! you can't sit on your laurels on a may be.

That's when she found the infringement notice stuck to the parking meter. Now she knows what a parking meter is. Unregistered vehicle parked in a zone of no-parking between the hours of 7am and 10pm.

As luck would have it she also found a flyer in a nearby food shop for Nelson and Murdock, lawyers. A good lawyer is exactly what she needs to navigate this primitive 2024 legal system and get her time machine back.

A gentle knock on the door before she entered. Hands on hips standing triumphant and enthusiastic. A positive step in the right direction is always worth feeling enthusiastic about. "Hello. I am Space Case and I am in need of your expertise!"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
There's a fill-in from some employment agency working reception today, with the usual one taking a personal day. She smiles in greeting as Casey enters, though the smile falters a little when she introduces herself as 'Space Case' and requests immediate expertise. Nelson & Murdock weren't so coveted that they were booked months in advance, but there were only a few days of the week where they took walk-ins.

"Uh, certainly! If you'd just like to ... " the receptionist begins, before a man in a stylish but inexpensive grey suit nudges past Space Case with a white cane held out before him. He has a white paper bag containing something that smells delicious, and his eyes are hidden behind a pair of dark glasses.

"I've got it, Monica," says the man, tapping the floor in front of him and speaking with his ear turned towards Casey, "If you don't mind me eating while we talk, I can see you now?"

Should there be no objections, he leads the way to his office (the one without the fancy view) and pulls out one of the seats on the opposite side of his desk.

Casey Brinke has posed:
Matt misses out on the spectacularly blue coveralls that Casey wears with their stylish yellow and red stripes. It's definitely an outfit out of its age. Way out of its age. She gives a small nod to Monica with a cheerful smile and then follows after Matt.

A glance at the desk tells her this one isn't Nelson. "Not at all. A full tummy makes for a happy mind," she says as she takes a seat. "Your law firm was a beacon to my predicament and navigating the intricacies of this timelines bureaucracy so far escapes me."

"A situation most dire must be rectified." The parking notice is placed down in front of Matt. It does not have brail of course. "My time machine has been taken by the New York Metropolitan Police Vehicle Impound." Somehow she says all those capitalisations as if they were just as important as the words themselves.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"Timeline?" Matt asks, sitting down in his chair and cocking his head to one side curiously. It's not the first time he's had someone in the office with eclectic ideas, and to his credit he takes it in stride. His food is left in the bag, pushed off to one side for now.

As she puts the notice on the desk, he reaches out and places his hand over it. He picks it up, turning it over in his hands. Not legible, at least not without giving some secrets away, so he just smiles politely as he listens to the story.

"I'm guessing this is Notice of Violation?" he asks, putting two and two together, "You're ... time machine? Well, first thing - do you have any outstanding violations? Have you spoken to the Department of Finance yet or did you come straight here?"

Casey Brinke has posed:
"Mmhmm. Yes. When traveling backwards in time you have to be careful where you aim. There are so many competing timelines. The historical records from 2024 and surrounds aren't the best... but you work with what you can." Even as the words escape her mouth Casey starts to feel a pang of doubt. Things that were so sure to her only a day or two ago now start to seem a little farfetched.

"...but yes. When I arrived here I left my vehicle out of the way of the other vehicles. But when I went to fetch it two days ago it was gone. Time machines don't just disappear like that and I was sure I locked it."

Her mouth opens and shuts though as he mentions Department of Finance. "No outstanding violations. I've only been here about two weeks. I'm not sure what a Department of Finance is." Her eyes crinkle just a touch as she considers, "You wouldn't happen to be one of those time periods dominated by money would you?" Oh dear - yet another charity case without a cent to her name. One who seems to think she has a time machine too.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"That's ... uh, yeah," Matt turns to his computer, hands reaching out to tap out a sequence on the Braille keyboard. A moment later, the text-to-speech begins to speak and he turns his head slightly to listen.

"Section Four-Zero-Eight, subsection a, paragraph 4 - when parking is prohibited by signs or rules, no person shall stop a vehicle, attended or unattended, except temporarily for the purpose of and while expeditiously receiving or discharging passengers or loading or unloading property to or from the curb."

When the computer is finished speaking, Matt nods his head and clicks his tongue against his teeth.

"The Department of Finance are the ones you're probably going to need to pay the fine to in order to get your car - your, uh, time machine - back. Yep, we're one of the money timelines."

If Matt thinks Space Case is out of touch with reality, he doesn't let it show. He's all good-natured professionalism.

Casey Brinke has posed:
Casey picks up the fine notice again and looks it over, "I see." She furrows her eyebrows a moment. A hero from the future isn't meant to have to deal with past era fines. "Then I will simply pay this one hundred and fifteen S with line through it."

There's an awkward pause. Anyone in the room can tell what that next question is going to be. "Is that a lot of money and how do I get it? wouldn't a department of finance be the ones handing out money instead of taking it. If money is needed to live in this place that seems a little backwards."

Her eyes roam over the notice and the address of the impound. "It's not a car though. It's a time machine. Well, space and time machine. You can't just zip through time because everything in the universe is always moving. You have to move in space and time at the same time.. and space."

Matthew Murdock has posed:
"I'll tell you what," Matt offers, drumming his fingertips lightly on his desk in thought for a moment, "Why don't you leave it with me? I've got a friend at the Department of Finance who might be willing to reconsider the infraction."

He doesn't include the part where his prospective client appears to be a little off-kilter. Though he's certainly going to mention it when he makes his call.

"Do you have somewhere you're staying, Ms. Case? It might take a day or two to get it out of impound. Failing that, they'll have payment plans or we can get your some financial aide. But let me try calling first."

Casey Brinke has posed:
Casey's eyes scan over Matt searchingly for a moment as if measuring the weight of this man and his intentions. After the shortest moment she nods her head, "I accept your proposal." She sticks out her hand to the man across from her. "Mr. Murdock. You can call me Casey Brinke. Space Case is my hero name and I understand it's custom here to share your real name to people you consider friend."

"I'm currently on assignment with the Doom Patrol, so I am staying at Doom Manor in Covington, Ohio in the United States of America." The way she says that last bit suggests even the country is a novelty to her. "You can reach me by telephone as they have one in the manor." She does not know the number.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Matt sits there smiling for a moment, the hand thrust in his direction apparently unnoticed. Well, he felt the rush of air and heard the motion but sometimes he's got to play up the whole blind guy thing for the sake of appearances. After a moment he reaches up into the air, grabbing at nothing once or twice before finding the offered hand and shaking it.

"Well, nice to meet you, Ms. Brinke. I don't have a hero name, but you can call me Matt."

He's heard of the Doom Patrol. Not in any great detail, but he has heard of them. 'Doom Manor' and Covington are new to him, but it probably can't be too hard to find, right?

"You're okay getting back to Ohio without your time machine? Monica can book a bus ticket for you if you need. On us."

Stop taking pro bono cases and giving out bus passes, Matt.

Casey Brinke has posed:
Casey overly enthusiastically shakes Matt's hand once it finds its way in to hers. "Matt is a fine hero name from where I'm sitting." She rises up and then pauses at the unexpected offer of charity. "Oh that won't be necessary. By the time I got back to Doom Manor by bus you'd have sorted out the issue most likely. I've been using a transmat beam to get there and b..a....ck. Nevermind I didn't say anything of the sort."

A cheery smile, "I look forward to hearing your voice on the telephone. With good news, but if not then we push on through. That's the way things get done." An affirmative nod. Her cybernetic leg cycles its internal power giving away its artificial and decided alien nature for just the briefest of moments. Surely all that nonsense she just spouted can't be true...

"Cheerio and ta ta Mr. Murdock. Best of luck on all your other work." She turns and heads out of the offices with as confident a stride as the one that brought her in.