Luke Griffin's Questionnaire

I live just south of Downtown Los Angeles, in a one bedroom apartment on the second floor. I ended up in LA after a string of burglaries in Nevada, stealing cash from small casinos along the highway. I decided to lay low in LA and look for a launderer. Eventually I made some connections and was able to find a mostly reliable fence, who will deal in whatever I can bring and occasionally gives specific requests. Life's been comfortable here for a bit, so I haven't had a reason to move on yet. My apartment is cluttered with trinkets I've klepped while here that are either worthless or too personally interesting to fence.

My "work" is burglary. I generally prefer to target stores with older security systems after hours, but I will occasionally target residential buildings as well. My fence, Talkative Tony, will also occasionally ask me to "retrieve" a particular object or rarely a specific apartment or house. He always pays well for these, so I don't ask to many questions. I've had a couple big purchases recently in a gently used Ford Mustang and a handgun. (I prefer not to use violence in my "work", but the gun helps build my cred with Tony.) Otherwise my expenses are mostly entertainment, food, movies, and dates. Anything else small I need I just "pick up" when I see it.

I want to pull of the world's greatest heist, leaving everyone wondering who could have done this and how could they ever have pulled it off. Being the only person to know this and fully mastering my skill would almost be its own reward; the loot and retirement will also rock though. I absolutely do some mission impossible level death defying stunts to achieve this. I'm much more hesitant about killing for my goals. I don't like to use violence in thefts (I'm a burglar not a robber), but if it was absolutely certain that killing one person would let me achieve my Ambition, then yes I would. However the more violence required, the less fulfilling the accomplishment would be.

At 15 I got caught shoplifting in my home town of Chamberlain, South Dakota. It wasn't the first time, but as far as my folks were concerned it was the last. They refused to bail me out or help, so I almost got thrown in Juvie. "Lucky" for me someone noticed I also klepped all the pens from the court house and diagnosed me with Kleptomania; instead of Juvie I got to spend 2 years in a psych ward. I spent the time in the ward learning how to not get caught stealing and how to make useful connections to trade my loot for what I actually needed. Once I got out, I realized I wouldn't have a "normal" life like everyone else, so just grabbed a car and started driving and stealing.

Unfortunately Talkative Tony might be the person I'm closest to. He's my local fence in LA, and he seems to be a surprisingly good person for being a large player in the LA underground. While working with him for the last two years, I've learned he has a wife and kids. He's always trying to set me up with friends of friends, trying to get me to settle down and stay in LA. My landlord, Ms. Hendricks, is simultaneously appreciative and suspicious that I always pay my rent in cash. I suspect she knows I'm on the run from my past, because I insisted I have a parking spot directly below my apartment's window. She keeps trying to get me to join her church for some reason. Finally there's Sally, the one person I still keep in touch with from Chamberlain. We grew up together and she always cut me slack whenever she found her missing stuff at my house. She doesn't know too much about my current life, but she gives me a window into what my life could've been like.

My childhood was alright. Living with undiagnosed kleptomania was tough, since I was constantly getting into trouble for stealing even though I was trying not to. My parents were constantly worried about saving enough money for me to go to college, long after the point it was clear I would never get in to a college. They were determined to "give me more opportunities than they had", so were infuriated when I kept stealing and getting into trouble. We all meant well, but could never really understand each other. I was in school until the age of 15, when I ended up in psych treatment for my kleptomania and eventually got a GED. Before that I was quickly labeled a "troublemaker" by my teachers, for disrupting class and taking other kid's stuff. I was often left on my own while my parents worked, so after school I would hang out with Sally and some of the other "troublemakers".

No, of course not. Well, maybe Sally, but no that's stupid. We were just good friends. We hung out a lot as kids, and she was only mildly annoyed by my thefts. But I left her along with everyone else in Chamberlain, and don't have any reason to ever go back. She wouldn't be interested in my current life anyways; living on the run, always ready to bolt. We still chat occasionally, but not about anything important. All my recent dates seem to go terribly; I haven't figured out a good answer to everyone's inevitable first question "what do you do for work". I just tend to fumble my words trying to come up with something plausible and legal.

Besides the obvious of just death, I think imprisonment is my worst fear. Not being able to control what I do and where I go is terrifying. I've already spent a few years trapped in a mental institution being "cured" of my kleptomania. That place wasn't too bad, but it was still awful being stuck and forced to live on other people's schedules.

A more recent fear is returning to mundanity. After experiencing the thrills of the Harbinger's gifts, it would be terrible to return to a normal life without them. Knowing what's out there, but unable to engage and explore it would be a constant torture.

(Finally a fear Luke doesn't even realize he has is a fear of commitment or settling down. This is essentially a mundane version of his fear of imprisonment, and they feed off each other. As if Luke isn't able to cut ties and run at a moments notice, he feels much more vulnerable to being caught for his prior crimes. That vulnerability keeps him too scared to potentially enter a situation in which he considers settling down.

Overall imprisonment is the largest and most relevant fear for Luke considering his current "occupation" and criminal history.)

My most prized possessions are my x-men comics. I always loved the idea of super powers, and they were the only things I managed to keep from my life before the psych ward. Other than these, I've spent my most recent years always on the move and traveling light, so I haven't had a lot of time to collect and hold onto much. My kleptomania seems to be especially fond of pens and keychains, but they always seem to lose their appeal once I look at them again back home.

Now though, since super powers are real, my most prized possession is this magical throwing knife. It's already helped me out of a tough spot. It's amazing and seems to just keep getting better. After this most recent job, it can know cut through walls. With a bit of work and a special ritual I can use the knife to break any object. Even better I can put the object back together again afterwards.

My biggest problem is that I need a reliable team, but can't trust anyone to be reliable. It seems like ever stellar heist is pulled off by a team of experts, so everyone can hyper specialize. The problem is no one is good enough for what I want to do, and even if they are I couldn't find them or talk to them. How are you supposed to find and recruit other criminals? The entire point is they can't be caught, and if they are caught then they aren't good enough for the jobs I want to pull. These other "contractors" I work with are good at what they do, but their skills are all over the place. What's a necromancer or a magician going to do on a heist? Knowing a healer is great, but he's still not able to help in the moment. Morgan could make a great lookout or recon, but all that agency talk makes me think he'd be just as likely to rat me out.

I wake up, and check outside to make sure there's no strange cars watching my building (cop cars or just sketchy vans). Then I go brush my teeth, and get dressed for a workout. I'm usually up early to go for a jog or a workout. Jogs are always nice because they feel extra productive. I can get my exercise in, practice moving quickly through a city, and keep an eye out for any stores with out of date security or convenient backdoors. Before leaving my apartment, I once again check outside, and I check out the peephole for anyone waiting near my door. If everything looks good, I'll head out for my jog or workout. After my jog, I head back to the apartment for a quick shower. Once I've finished working out and showering, I'm much less worried about someone suddenly getting the jump on me, so I'll make breakfast in pace. My go to breakfast sandwich with eggs, sausage, bacon, and biscuits.

First I would be incredibly suspicious of the event. Why would they invite me?!? After scooping it out and verifying that it wasn't a trap. I'd go get a suit tailored to fit me. I would wear a classic suit without a tie. If I'm really going all out with a tailor, I would definitely ask them to add several hidden pockets in the coat and pants to help stash some lockpicks and maybe some wire cutters. (Where ever I'm going must be fancy, so if I can grab any loot then it'll more than cover the cost of the suit to begin with.)

The prep would take a few weeks to get the suit and scout the place. Getting ready on the day of, would probably just take an hour tops, including a shower. The only thing different would be wearing the suit instead of everyday clothes and using some product to style my hair.

I'm planning to drive up to Tahoe and go skiing. I love going skiiing. It lets me get a workout, while simultaneously being alone and surrounded by other people. The cold air helps clear my head, and the extra layers means there's nothing tempting me to swipe it. The only time I've gone several days at a time without klepping anything is when I go skiing. It's surprisingly relaxing to not worry about who's watching me or what I could get away with. There's just the cold wind whipping as I zip down the mountain, followed by a rocking ride as I head back up the chair lift. Peace.

My greatest regret was when I used a romantic partner to pull of a burglary. I had a target in Los Angeles from Talkative Tony, but I couldn't find a good way into the estate. Security was tight and up to date, so there was no blind spot or security flaw to exploit. I did notice that the target was frequently throwing parties, so I looked through all the pictures to find a guest that was consistently there and consistently single. Once I did, I more or less orchestrated a meet-cute and began a relationship with her. From there I just had to wait until she got invited to another party and I could tag along. During the party as a guest, the job became trivial. Tony was amazed I pulled it off, but I had to break up with her shortly after to avoid suspicions. I still feel bad for using someone like that.

My gifts seem to be tied to an ethereal realm or ghosts. I'm not sure how it works, but they're not really a part of me. They're not exactly a wish either, it's more like if there's a need or desire the next gift helps fill that gap. The harbingers sent two artifacts, but now it feels more like I am slowly discovering the potential in them. My knife can sense my intentions and adjust to fill them, and seems to turn things ethereal instead of actually cutting them. It's basically the same end result, but it looks much weirder. It also means that the knife can basically cut through anything given enough time to work. The cloak on the other hand seems very protective, shielding me from both bullets and sight. It almost feels like there's a blanket of fog wrapped around me that swirls with my thoughts to keep me safe.

Before all this started I wasn't very spiritual or religious. My parents were religious, so I went to church and Sunday school stuff. I got into enough trouble that it was eventually clear I wasn't welcome there anymore.

Now, I don't know how I could not be spiritual. I feel like my powers are tapping into a spirit realm, so there's something going on there. I think I have seen a devil, so that sort of implies that there's some validity to Christianity. I guess it's not clear if there's a god or gods, but there's definitely some major supernatural powers in the world. At a certain point it seems like just semantics.

Maybe I should start going back to church or something, but on the other hand, they came and offered me these contracts when I wasn't going to church. I don't think whoever is running things really cares about "worship".

The events in my contracts have been far more brutal than anything I'm used to. I knew that brutal stuff happened. It is all over the news, but it was always a distant thing in another country or state. This is the first time it happened to me, and then the first time that I participated in it.

I thought I wasn't a violent person and I don't want to be, but a few near death experiences and a maiming will change your perspective real quick.

On top of that is the reality that I went from occasionally reading about supernatural events that might just be hoaxes to living in actual supernatural events routinely. I never would have guessed that the supernatural community tends to be just as messed up as the normal communities.

Luckily my reactions are very focused in the moment, so I tend to just focus on staying alive during the contracts and wondering about my place in it all while recovering.

The main contractor I see often is Guy. He's paranoid but extremely effective and well prepared. He's got useful tech: radios for all the contractors and a local signal jammer. He's absolutely focused on the mission and completing the objective. On the one hand that's great because it means we're very likely to get succeed and get a power. On the other hand it means he can be very cold and cruel as he will complete the objective regardless of who is standing in the way or might get hurt. His powers are also very useful; that telekinesis is wild as he just hold people in place then rips them apart. The rest of his abilities are far less flashy, so I'm not fully certain what all he can do. I thought he could detect poison, but he almost died to a poisoned drink so it might not be as reliable or accurate as I thought.

The perfect room would be sort of like the danger room from x-men. A large open room with plain grey walls. Then any furniture or items you need would extend from panels in the walls while you needed them and tuck back away once you were done. This would let your one room do everything you needed without being cluttered: workout equipment, a kitchen, a bedroom, bathroom. There could also be a joint setup, so I could practice moving over and around obstacles. If all the parts are pulled out at once, then practicing navigating from one end to the other without needing to run outside around the city. It would also be great as there would be zero places for an intruder to hide in the room if everything was put away.