Ok, I had bad food (probably with meat) last night and was really sick... which is a good excuse for not posting, but now I've got a trigger event story (some details may need to be changed when Rob creates a character, or if other people have conflicts with character details).
The scene is a seedy motel in Jamaica, Queens (which is creatively named Jamaica Station Motel) only a few blocks from Jamaica Station (the last Long Island Railroad station which is officially in New York City). Jamaica Station is nice, but Jamaica, in general, is one of those outlying areas where Giuliani's reforms never quite reached. Jamaica doesn't even look like New York--there are no bright lights, and the buildings are only tall enough to obscure any nice view you might have of the NYC skyline. Jamaica consists of warehouses, slums, factories that haven't operated since the 70s, and, oddly, a gigantic, very nice Bally's Total Fitness (which has a well-lit parking garage and lots of armed security guards). Unfortunately (for Elliot), as a new police officer, he was assigned the area of Jamaica near Jamaica Station as his first beat. He and his partner John Marini had been working nights for the past few weeks, and so they were called in when the night attendant at the Jamaica Station Motel called 911 and reported a strange scream behind the motel.
Elliot is driving, and pulls up to the motel, lights flashing, and slowly drives around to the very small back parking lot. The lot is completely empty, except for what appears to be a child lying in the middle of the lot. John doesn't even wait for the car to stop--he jumps out and runs over to the body. As he bends down over the body, he looks noticeably relieved. Elliot stops the car, and immediately notices someone stirring by the dumpster. He jumps out of the car, hand on his gun, and slowly walks towards the movement.
About this time, the one customer at the motel, <insert rob's character's name>, who had presumably been re-enacting some bizarre midget porn until recently, opens her door to see her now-ex-partner lying on the ground with a cop kneeling over him. The other cop is walking towards the drunk bum lying by the dumpster, looking very concerned.
Also about this time, the other possible witness, the drunk guy--Gregor--regains consciousness. However, he's not quite sure he's regained consciousness, since the scene he wakes up to is a cop standing over a midget with a small, unnaturally dark thing hovering behind him, in an unfamiliar parking lot. Gregor is mesmerized by the dark thing, which appears to be slowly growing, and somehow looks as if it's becoming more real as it grows. Gregor barely notices the nearly naked woman standing in one of the motel room doors, or the teenager riding by on one of those ridiculously funny little bikes.
As the dark spot grows larger, <insert rob's character's name> notices it, and calls out "Oh, shit, what the hell is that!???" At being noticed, the dark spot seems to triple in size, drawing the attention of the kid riding by (BJ), who was previously ignoring the scene and riding as fast as he could, trying to make it back to Jamaica Station before the last train of the night (he'd slept in the train station before, and man were his parents pissed, and besides, it's pretty damn uncomfortable). BJ stops and stares, and Elliot, pretty satisfied that the drunk guy is no threat, turns to see what the shouting was about. His partner looks up as well. The dark spot grows slowly again, and is mesmerizing. None of you really know how long you stare at it, but it feels like eternity. Elliot tries to move to help his partner, but finds that he can't. John looks petrified, as the black thing slowly grows large enough to envelope him and the midget's body (which may or may not be alive). After the two are completely enveloped, the dark thing takes another eternity shrinking, leaving empty space where John and the midget should have been. When the dark thing completely disappears, suddenly time seems to move faster--but you soon realize that this is the normal speed, and if anything, it had slowed down previously.
You all hear the train at Jamaica Station leaving, and instinctively turn your heads towards the sound, and realize that you are no longer paralyzed.
What you all know (and don't know):
Rob's character: You know the victim was a midget, and you know his name, address, phone number, some friends' names, etc. You were otherwise occupied for the past half hour, though, and as far as you knew, he had left safely before then (you heard his car start and drive off). You also know what kind of car he drives (the parking lot is empty, aside from the people and police car, though).
Gregor: You don't know anything. You don't even know what borough you're in, or how you got there. You may have been observant enough to know that the midget was a midget and not a child. However, if someone argues with you, no one will believe you that it was a midget anyway.
Elliot: You were too worried about your partner to notice anything about the midget--or that he was a midget and not a child. You, of course, know stuff about your partner.
BJ: You don't know anything about what happened, except what you saw. You probably didn't notice whether the body was a midget or a child. (It was an oddly child-like midget, in appearance, at least in the dark, with all the strangeness.) You know some local punk kids who won't know anything useful.
