2609/Cut: I Want A New Drug

Cut: I Want A New Drug
Date of Scene:	25 July 2020
Location:	Batcave
Synopsis:	What IS this stuff? We still don't know but we know it's dangerous. Red Robin and Red Hood make plans to crash a party and find out more.
Cast of Characters:	Tim Drake, Jason Todd

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Tim Drake has posed:
While the Bat's away...

Well, not exactly. Tim's facilities at his place are good, but not as extensive as the ones in the 'cave. And that's what its for, after all, for the Bat Family to use the facilities as needed to do their business of tending to Gotham.

Red Robin is frowning at the biochemical scanners as they run. They've been running for over an hour, which is its own kind of frustrating. He isn't in costume, which isn't entirely out of sorts for the cave. No one with access to it wouldn't know him in or out of costume anyway... just jeans and a dark blue t-shirt, his hair mussed. Well, there's also the sling on his left arm, mostly immobilizing it.

While he waits for the analysis, however, he should be working on repairing his suit. It's laying on one of the tables, the chest portion obviously cracked and damaged. It's apparent it took several bullet rounds. Actually, from the look of the suit, the fact that Tim is standing there glowering at the blank screen without wheezing and wincing is a miracle.

Still.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason's bike pulls into the cave and he brings it to a stop next to the rest of them, pulling off the Red Hood helmet leaving his eyes covered by a red domino mask, which he takes off as well, since he was here in Bat Central.

Hearing someone else in the cave, Jason heads that way, announcing his arrival once Tim is in sight. "What the fuck happened to you?" he asks. Ahh, brotherly love.

Tim Drake has posed:
"Tangled with some dealers last night," Tim snorts. "Got shot." There's a beat. "You should see the other guys." He can't be too injured if he's snarking. "Brought the product I nabbed off of them here to run some tests. The scanners are having a stroke. I think we'll get something at some point, just..." he waves his unslung arm at the screens. "Whatever this is is weird. My preliminaries at the Roost showed it to be some sort of tainted heroin. Trying to find out what the taint is, though... hell if I know."

There is a bag with smaller bags nearby, of what looks like heroin but obviously not exactly... it's a shade of pale blue, like the unknown drug Tim had brought in earlier.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason nods, the humour draining out of his expression when he sees it's someone other than Rose who put the hurt on him. "They better look worse, little bro," he manages to make the term sound like an insult. "We've got a rep to maintain after all."

He says and listens to the report, his humour returning, "Well you see Timmy the taint is the part of the body between-" he leaves it at that. If he was Deadpool he'd say because MU* policies prevent him from being too graphic.

Then in crime-fighter mode, he crosses his arms and frowns, "Weird, most of what dealers cut their shit with is cheap, and easy to find, since they're adding it in to expand their product for a bigger payday, but if this stuff is making the sensors freak, sounds like something else," he says before adding. "I'm putting a fifty bucks on it's some new fear thing from Crane."

His eyes fall on Tim's suit then and Jason's head tilts and he walks over for a closer look. "What in the fuck Tim? How in the shit are you still moving around?" The suit told the tale of much, much, more serious injuries than looking at Tim would suggest.

Tim Drake has posed:
Tim's eyes flit towards the suit. "Uh. Yeah." He winces. "By all rights I shouldn't be, but I'll just say I seem to have a guardian angel." He's a bit evasive. "You know how the Boss feels about other operators in Gotham."

He tilts his head. "I checked for that. And the usual Joker toxins as well. Nothing has matched. So yeah, I agree... this seems... off." He frowns, pulling up an earlier scan. "Actually, there was another anomaly in the heroin itself, too. As in, it took 0.022 seconds for the system to analyze." He looks to Jason. "For reference, it would usually take 1.264 seconds for the system to be sure. I checked to see if Babs put in some upgrades I didn't know about, but..."

Jason Todd has posed:
"Guardian Angel?" Jason asks, "Gonna gues they have powers if you're looking like you do," he says, his tone laden with how Bruce was going to feel about operators with powers in the city. "You give them 'the speech' after they patched you up?"

As for the drugs, "Tim," he snaps his fingers. "Focus, what are you driving at?" he asks, trying to yank the younger bat out of his nerd hole.

Tim Drake has posed:
"Uh... no. Rose was there, and it wasn't the first time I've dealt with Beacon." Tim looks sheepish. "I mean, I probably should have, but she's harmless. Spends her time handing out food to the homeless. She's got some sort of healing abilities... which is, you know, good for me, since I'm pretty sure I had some shattered ribs and a nice bullet trench on my face." He makes a face. "She couldn't completely fix my arm, but it's better than it was-- just mildly sprained for a few more days. It did have a hole in it." He's trying to make light of it, which actually only underscores exactly how bad it was.

"Right, right. What I'm saying is, it's almost like it's super-heroin. But that doesn't make sense if it's been adulterated, right? And it's definitely heroin, not cut fentanyl."

Jason Todd has posed:
"Jesus, you weren't kidding about the angel part. Keep an eye on her, people that nice don't last long in this city."

Jason finds something to lean on as he listens about the drugs. "So, it's cut, but it's still even more effective? Shit, fiends will be lining up around the block for that. Who had it?"

Tim Drake has posed:
"The Wild Childs over in Coventry," Tim grimaces. "Picked up a deal over under the Hanging Tree." Also got shot a lot. Because he tried to show off for Rose instead of thinking tactically. He's not admitting that part out loud though. "But if they have it, the Rolling Thunder and the Bodega Boys probably do too. May need to find a few of them to verify, but I'm sure none of us will lose sleep knocking a few more drug dealing gang members off the streets."

Jason Todd has posed:
The mental note pad is all but visible as Jason compiles a hit list in his head. Which is okay a non-lethal one, but still a hit list. "Definitely don't mind kicking a few asses. But this is something we need to shut down quick, word is going to spread these guys are dealing smokers, and addicts all over Gotham are going to come running."

Tim Drake has posed:
"I agree entirely." For a change. Though... when it comes to the Job, Tim and Jason can see eye to eye about the broad strokes. Maybe just bicker over the details. "I'm worried that whatever it is is already out there and--"

The analysis chimes.

"What in the world?" Tim stares at the screen in disbelief.

Analysis Inconclusive. Material Unknown. Chemical Compound Unknown. Point of Manufacture Unknown.

"Even the Bat computer has no idea what this is?" Tim looks shocked. This is impossible.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason nods glad there was no argument on what needed to be done about the drug even if what it was remained a mystery.

A particularly stubborn mystery at that. "What in the heck," Jason says, "That doesn't happen. I mean the database it's pulling from is huge, it has to be on there somewhere, on some level." He shakes his head. "Heh, well at least it knows it's the same stuff you and Rose found."

Tim Drake has posed:
"...huh. Look, I'm not a connoisseur of illicit substances or anything," Tim points out, "but what does this stuff do that they're lacing superheroin with it?" He frowns, pulling out one of the samples of the pure blue drug and looking at it. He sinks into one of the chairs, looking at the sample as if he were another Bat computer doing another Bat analysis. "This doesn't make sense without knowing what it does."

Rose's offer to take some of it comes to mind, and Tim scowls darkly. His mind immediately jumps to a vision of her seizing and dying, and that's not remotely a rabbit hole he wants to jump down. His good hand grips the armrest of the chair angrily.

Jason Todd has posed:
"Well if the guys I'm going to be paying a visit to are slinging this stuff, I should be able to ask a couple of them what it does. I mean, Scarface may have told the world the rule 'don't get high on your own supply', but the reality is most of the low-level guys deal to support their habit, so figure we can get some first hand reports that way."

Jason nods at the hand on the chair. "You okay?"

Tim Drake has posed:
Tim scowls, sucking the side of one cheek before he replies. "Rose offered to try it," he says finally. "I've declined the offer," twice, "because I think it's a bad idea. Just had a bad thought of what the worst that could happen might be. Didn't like it." He sighs. "You're right though. Questioning a junkie or three might be a valuable service here. Just maybe NOT bringing Rose on any of those missions. Just in case."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason makes a face. "Really hoped she'd kick the drug thing," he says of Rose. "She's got a handle on it, sure, but still-" he frowns, having his own share of visions though not of Rose but the times his step mom ODed until the one that finally killed her. "Best to leave her out of that part, yeah."

Tim Drake has posed:
"Yeah. I'd rather her not hear it and decide it sounds fun," Tim says bluntly. He turns the chair slightly to look at the screen. His shoulders are stiffened and his jaw is set. "Didn't really know she used, actually," he says after a few moments of scanning what little data WAS on the screen. He doesn't sound shocked. More resigned.

Jason Todd has posed:
"Well, she never made a big deal about it when I was around," Jason says, "Not even sure what she does, but if she's volunteering to try super smack, then gonna guess, the answer there is /yes/."

"Anyhow Rose is going to be Rose, not much you or anyone else is going to do about it, but try to keep her away from this blue crap."

Tim Drake has posed:
Tim shrugs lightly. "That is my plan," he injects some forced cheer into that. "She's disappearing less and for shorter times at least. And she's been patrolling with me." Which may explain the uptick in injuries left on various thugs, goons, and lackeys. Though nonlethal.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason nods, "Figured about the patrolling, haven't seen D around but there's word on the street of people coming into the hospitals with sword wounds, figured it had to be her," he reasons. The rest sort of catches him by surprise. "Guess she really likes this Roost of yours," he says. "Rose generally doesn't hang around anywhere for too long."

Tim Drake has posed:
Tim's face flushes a bit, but theres a grin playing at his lips. "Can't imagine why she might be sticking," he says mock innocently. He stands, gathering his busted suit. "I'm going to see if I can salvage anything from this and do some thinking. But if you're interested, rumor on the streets is that the Bodega Boys are hosting an underground Rave tomorrow night." He shrugs. "Could be... fun."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason snorts, "Keep dreaming there Cassanova," he says with a shake of his head. "Sounds like it's worth crashing, you going to be up to going?" he asks.

Tim Drake has posed:
"I guess the question becomes with or without masks?" Tim grins, nodding an affirmative to going. A sprain rarely stops any member of the Bat Family after all.

Jason Todd has posed:
"Like the meme says, 'why not both?', scope it out plain clothes, come back and rough them up in uniform after. Best of both worlds," Jason suggests after giving it a moment or two of thought.

Tim Drake has posed:
"Sounds good to me," Tim nods. "I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong with slumming it for an evening." He grins. "See you in a bit, Hood."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason makes a sour face that is moderated a little by an amused shake of his head. "Now you've jinxed us," he says. "But yeah, Red, see you soon," he says as he heads to his bike to get ready for the evening.