22:22 <banana> It's the third week of September. The weather's cooling down, and the crackling brown leaves that littered the sidewalk- sorry, the leaves that littered the pavement when Bob first came to Eccles have withered away. 22:26 <banana> Mari lost her old flat while she was away, and it's not like they were going to move in with her parents, so they're in a cheap basement underneath a converted empanada takeaway on Bentcliffe Way. 22:27 <banana> Eccles is a town-within-a-town, a suburb of Greater Manchester which once had its own urban identity and city corporation; now just a collection of shops and services around a central carpark which, by American standards, could barely serve the Aldi alone. 22:27 <tom> Bleak, but then, Bob's been to Houston. 22:28 <banana> They have to leave in about ten minutes, but there's no rush; Mari says the dinner party is in walking distance. That leaves Bob waiting for her to make up, hanging out in the back alley with the bare trees and the postcard he got this morning. 22:29 <banana> English air isn't polluted like it used to be, and he can't smell Cheiron on this thing. But it's still freaking weird. 22:30 <tom> Bob isn't sure how formal these guys are expecting him to be, but even he isn't big enough of a dork to show up in a suit to one of these things. Jeans and a polo seems to be the sweet-spot? 22:31 <tom> He fiddles with the postcard while he waits. He feels underdressed without a sidearm. 22:33 <banana> Mari encouraged him toward formality, actually. These friends of hers - members of the "seasonal court" - are mostly older and, she puts on a posh voice to say, "quite well-to-do even if they haven't a pound between them". 22:33 <tom> Then he'll bump up to khakis. His eyebrows disappear beneath the rims of his aviators as he scans the card for anything suspicious as a force of habit. 22:34 <tom> Briefly considers a quick smoke, squashes the thought. 22:35 <banana> Bob's card came without a stamp or postmark. It's not from anyone he knew back home; where there should be a return address there's half a playing card, cut with scissors and neatly sellotaped on. This is the second time he's heard from Sourjack and the first occasion he's had to do anything about it. 22:36 <tom> Man, everyone's getting cool code names. 22:37 <tom> While he flips the card over, Bob's angling his head back to the door, listening- everything alright back there? 22:39 <tom> In theory, the fact that people are sending him mailers should be enough to consider his cover blown, but Bob keeps waking up in the morning instead of at 3AM to the sound of flashbangs and shattering glass, so he's playing it cool for now. 22:39 <banana> "Last week," reads the peroration in neat and hasty writing, "we spoke of many things, what was right and wrong and how you can still make a difference. The opportunity to work against the real monsters here, still quite literal, far less cynical. Now I'm ready to make an offer and you can meet my agent at..." 22:39 <banana> Mari emerges, blinking at the afternoon light. Ever since you made it to Manchester, she's had a notable preference for staying indoors; it doesn't quite rise to the level of claustrophobia. 22:40 <banana> She's wearing a thin blouse and slacks, unaffected by the cold as usual, and she smiles at Bob. "Still nervous?" 22:42 <tom> "Butterflies every time," Bob offers an earnest attempt at a smile. "You ever get used to this stuff?" 22:45 <tom> Unless Mari's ready to head out, he'll stand there with his hands in his pockets with a kind of 'aw-shucks' posture. 22:47 <banana> Mari tilts her head, but not too much (hair's done up, and it would undo fairly easily). "It wasn't really a question of familiarity... we depend on each other easily, perhaps excessively. When the Winter scouts found me, I knew who they were right away." 22:48 <banana> "(Are you ready? It's just in the Grove, back streets all the way.)" 22:51 <tom> "It's good to have people," Bob concludes, slipping the postcard into his pocket and rolling his shoulders. As an American, the notion of traversing a city on foot is entirely baffling, but he is a guest here and must accede to their strange ways. 22:51 <tom> "Let's go, hun." 23:01 <banana> You walk. It's just a couple of blocks, past a green space built on the ruins of demolished apartments and then into far older streets, houses which were once part of some medieval village. Assuming that village was rich enough to renovate every couple of generations. 23:01 <banana> Mari is comfortable around her fellow changelings, but she wants to plan out all the angles of a situation and she wants them to like Bob. This will be the first time he's been in the same room as more than two of them, and his girlfriend's description of what to expect keeps changing. 23:01 <tom> He has enough sense to feel slightly embarrassed after catching himself casually noting the corners and lines-of-sight projecting from each stoop and window they pass as they walk together. He isn't sure if he should be holding her hand, but reading people has never been his wheelhouse. 23:01 <banana> Withdrawn, prickly, intimidating, enthralling, skittish, inquisitive - she's described the Winter Tor as all of those things. Irwell Grove's streets don't hold the danger Bob's come to expect.. but one of the nice old homes might. 23:02 <tom> Come on, this is England. Most of these people probably don't even have an AR-15. 23:04 <banana> Mari: "If Hatch is there.. people will be calling him Count. You shouldn't do that, he isn't your liege. Um, Joanna is coming tonight.. I told you about Joanna, she's the one who.. appears really tall." 23:05 <banana> "Paul is the guy you need to talk to about guns, Paul won't be part of this but Premson's bringing the wine and Premson knows Paul.." This is more scattershot than helpful. 23:05 <tom> Right. Appears. Bob wonders.. 23:06 <banana> He's seen Mari's blouse when she's not wearing it. At the moment she is, looking perfectly proper with only two holes for arms. 23:06 <tom> "Hey babe it's alright," He quickly intervenes before she starts to talk herself into a spiral. "I'm sure they know it's gotta be weird for everyone." 23:07 <tom> "We'll just play it cool. That's the Tor's motto, right?" 23:07 <banana> Mari: "No, but I'll drop it in the suggestion box." 23:08 <tom> He seems genuinely saddened that it isn't. 23:08 <banana> "I guess it will be alright. We can't hide from literally everyone literally all the time, everyone knows that. And Sumi will be there. You like Sumi." 23:10 <banana> Sumi likes Bob, anyway - Mari's close friend who thought she was gone forever and was loudly relieved to find out otherwise. She forgives a lot of americanisms just for his, as she puts it, "being present in moments", and has occasionally hinted that the only way he could possibly fuck up in her eyes is to drop Mariam or otherwise hurt her. 23:12 <tom> As an accomplished warrior in the battlespace of the Mind, Bob understands the importance of trust like that in relationships. 23:13 <tom> The idea of responsibility is terrifying, but never nearly so horrible as the notion that a woman might be mad at you. 23:15 <tom> "Sumi is a homegirl," He intones after a moment of contemplation. 23:15 <banana> Riaan's house is technically fully-detached, narrow little walkways on each side but enough that it isn't technically a rowhouse. It's two stories, all limestone which has faded from yellow to grey over the years. 23:16 <banana> Mari: "I'd better give the secret knock. Make sure nobody curses us with regret as we pass the threshhold." 23:17 <tom> Bob wonders if this house is older than his country. 23:19 <tom> "...Wait, are you being serious?" He adds after she doesn't follow up on that. 23:20 <banana> Mari: "How would you know if I was?" She lifts the knocker and gives it a couple of raps. It's gilded and looks oddly out of place on the plain door. 23:22 <banana> There's someone at the door immediately, a strangely shaped shadow. Jagged - or, from Bob's experience, pixelated. 23:22 <tom> "Well, tell your friends if they're gonna curs-" Bob shuts up. 23:23 <banana> Opening the door is a perfectly ordinary man. Well-dressed, but basically ordinary in shape. 23:23 <banana> https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/riaan.jpg 23:25 <banana> Mari swallows and steps aside so that the two men can see each other properly. "Coetzee. Thanks for inviting both of us... we really appreciate it, and I know this was the last chance to do something informal." 23:25 <tom> "(Have em turn me into a cool bug, not like a worm- something with a horn)" Is all he manages to get out. 23:27 <banana> Riaan Coetzee: "Medwar." He's smiling, and it looks pretty genuine, but the tone is kind of cool. "You've earned it, or you will." 23:27 <tom> Bob understands that there's no way to not come off hopeless here, so he bravely throws himself on his sword. Has Mari reminded him that the American handshake is NOT a thing Changelings do? 23:29 <banana> Yes, but it's difficult. Riaan looks like a handshaker! He's got a vest that might as well be a suit jacket, big solid hands, still grinning as he turns to Bob... 23:30 <tom> Bob has the presence of mind to stop himself from attempting a handshake, then. An iceberg glides a few feet off the port deck of the SS Goreman. 23:31 <tom> "Hey man," 23:32 <tom> There. The nervousness is gone. Now that he's led off on the most awkward possible foot, the dread instantly levels off and he can just Be. 23:34 <banana> Riaan: "Ey up. It's great you could make it, come on in-" He has to step inside the very-narrow hallway. It's all stone tiles as well as rough walls, amplifying the chill, but just down the end is a room filled with light and several others lounging about merrily." 23:34 <tom> "Ladies first." Bob flourishes. 23:36 <banana> Mari grips his hand for a moment before scuttling inside. If anything, Riaan seems happier to meet Bob than to see her - but that's not universal, and the greetings that burst out when she makes it to the living room all sound pretty jolly. Sumi is definitely there, and audible from the street outside until Bob's host closes the door behind him. 23:37 <tom> He squeezes her hand in return and gives his best smile. Going pretty well so far. 23:39 <banana> The narrow hallway has to fit in a narrow stair, but there's plenty of room once you're past it. Sumi and three others introduce themselves and each other to Bob, Riaan asks whether Mari wants white or red, there's a swell of music from another room where you can see a table all laid out... 23:39 <tom> When you meet a girl's parents- well he still has to do that but you know- being boring isn't the worst impression. 23:40 <banana> Sumiya is the only other one here who's young. Ish. She's older than Bob and Mari, but easily as energetic; brunette, bouncy and slightly tipsy. 23:41 <tom> Oh fuck, what if they ask him to dance? Quickest escape route would be through one of those windows. 23:41 <banana> Joanna Maybe is very tall. It's a good thing the hallway goes all the way up, but she's going to have to duck under the house's lintel to leave. She smiles a lot but it never reaches her eyes. 23:41 <tom> That's sad as fuck. 23:43 <tom> Bob is reserved in the sense that most Britons would probably find him merely overbearing. But he's trying to start off on the right foot here. 23:43 <banana> Our Premson - that's what they call him - also looks Indian, but he doesn't have Sumiya's accent. Someone mentions that he's a doctor, though the sweater he's wearing is so cheap it must be an old favourite. That or they don't treat doctors very well over here. 23:43 <tom> Ben Shapiro warned us. We didn't listen. 23:44 <tom> No, fuck off with that- Bob has a brief mental schism as he beats down the intrusive thoughts. 23:44 <banana> The final guest is a man who's name Bob already knows, though they haven't met. Nor does anyone introduce him. Seelie Count Hatch Starling is resting in an armchair, fantastical white beard curled along his body and down one leg. He watches Bob very closely and smiles like Joanna, then stops. 23:45 <banana> Mari's back from the kitchen with a glass for her and one for Bob if she knows what he likes. "Wow. Half the hill's players are here and it's still more than a week to safety. Did you guys want to meet my boyfriend that badly?" 23:47 <banana> Some demur; Joanna insists that she did want to vet Bob, who "looks tough enough but kind of like a baby". Sumi and Riann are moving a roast and various salad bowls to the dining room. 23:48 <tom> If Bob's gonna fuck this up, now is the moment. So instead he just returns a like smile as best he can and accepts Mari's offered glass like a Boston Dynamics robot, measuring every muscle movement by the micron. 23:49 <tom> "I'm a total child prodigy. No other toddler in my class can hit a 2-inch group at 200 yards." 23:50 <banana> Several baffled looks. Premson: "That's a group of targets? Damn good aim." 23:52 <tom> "It's the distance between bullet holes on the- yeah, you're right." 23:53 <tom> Bob's hoping he can leave it at that and not explain the whole- Yeah I'm the cleanup crew for when the company trying to turn you people into lipstick fucks up. 23:54 <tom> Definitely don't think about that around possible mind-readers, fuck up. 23:55 <tom> Bob's smile is still holding. Maybe it's been too long. Shit, he's supposed to be playing this cool. Gotta get outta the headspace. He rattles through Mari's coaching of what topics he definitely shouldn't bring up. 23:57 <banana> Dinner's just about ready, and everyone's moving to the dining room. Starling trails behind and catches Mari's arm; he speaks so quietly it clearly wasn't meant to be overheard. Bob has good hearing and occupational paranoia. 23:57 <tom> Once again, he calms himself by checking the angles and corners while his mind races. Trying to pick up idle chatter, anything to avoid thinking- 23:57 <banana> "We've reached the equinox. That gives us margin, despite Wyrd's churlish adherence to Greenwich. My protection extends enough to keep the five of you safe in a private home, despite I am not yet King." 23:58 <tom> Honestly it's kind of comforting to hear that. Protection, kingship. Strife and conflict. He was genuinely worried these guys would be a glorified support group for a second there. 23:59 <banana> Mari, however, seems to take it as a rebuke. She nods, bowing a little, and scrambles for a good seat at the table - as things stand, Riann Coetzee is taking the head himself and placing Bob at his left side, with Mari the next one down. Any objections? 00:00 <tom> The only thing Bob is certain of right now is that he will be moving to his seat as directed. 00:01 <banana> People laugh and joke for a moment more, someone mentions a TV show he hasn't seen - but then there's the roast. 00:01 <banana> Sumiya, who did most of the cooking, gets to carve the lamb. This is going to be a serious meal. 00:02 <banana> Mari: "Ohh bismillah. I forgot about real food." 00:02 <banana> Riann: "I'll take all the potatoes, if nobody minds." 00:03 <tom> Oh, shit, Bob remembers that he's actually starving. 00:04 <banana> There's a period of quiet music and loud appreciation. 00:05 <tom> It takes more than a single glass of wine to take the edge off Bob's natural squirreliness, but it sure helps. He eases down into his seat an tucks the handkerchief as Mari had told him. He's not a complete savage. 00:06 <banana> Nobody seems to care about table manners - although Hatch Starling, seated at the far end of the table with nobody on either side of him, is using silver cutlery as he picks through the main course. 00:06 <banana> Conversation starts to pick up, initially about someone Bob doesn't know, and then Joanna asks: "What about the dead wizard? Is King Sam going to kick that can entirely to us?" 00:08 <banana> Sumi: "I don't think he can put the guy off any longer! There's very little dirt left on the coffin-" 00:08 <banana> Premson: "I wasn't informed of a coffin." 00:08 <tom> Bob doesn't have a pen on hand so he makes a mental note to write 'wizards are real' on his palm when he gets a chance. 00:08 <tom> Huh. TIL. 00:09 <banana> Sumi: "Metaphor, our Prem. I mean that the dead guy hasn't got anything else keeping him here, so if he doesn't get the answers he wants soon, he's going to leave." 00:10 <banana> Mari remains quiet. To Bob: "Would you please pass the white spears?" 00:10 <tom> It's too late to ask Mari if the muggle has permission to speak, so he just does: "What?" 00:11 <banana> "It's the stuff with lemon sauce, the asparagus wrapped in chicken." 00:11 <tom> Did he hear her wrong? Are there white pears on the t- 00:11 <banana> Joanna: "..I would also like the asparagus. Pretty amazing, Riann." 00:12 <tom> Britain is a terrifying place. He scoops a token amount onto his plate and sends the tray down the line. 00:12 <tom> They are really good though. 00:13 <banana> Premson: "The dead mage is not going anywhere meaningful. His geist is bound to a dream, and the dream is bound to an estate. I surmise that Plape indeed intends to toss us a googly." 00:13 <tom> In fact, Bob is having his entire conception of what genuine British food is basically razed and rebuilt in front of him. English food can be good? 00:14 <banana> Somebody mentioned "pudding" earlier, though there's plenty left of the main course to go around... 00:14 <banana> Hatch Starling is still moving through his at a slow and steady pace. He's clipped his sideburns up to keep them away from his dentures and the beard is back over one shoulder. 00:14 <tom> Things are going suspiciously well so far. Which means the only way he can fuck this up now is if he does something boorish like eat All the pudding. 00:15 <tom> Bob idly wonders if Hatch knows what a continental soldier is. 00:16 <banana> There's a digression about pop music. Riann asks: "Bob, have you met any singers over in your country?" 00:19 <tom> "I'd feel bad for them if they were in Missouri." 00:19 <tom> "My state's not really known for the arts." 00:20 <banana> Riann: "Oh that's the one which- I haven't actually heard of Missouri." 00:20 <tom> Is that strictly true? Most of Bob's experience of St. Louis is the suburbs, of course, but then most of his fellows treated going into the actual city as a death sentence. 00:20 <banana> Hatch: "There are so many." 00:20 <banana> Joanna: "But literally all of the top 100 this month were American bands. They must form in swarms all over the country, like cicadas." 00:20 <tom> "There should be a rule that if your state has fewer than 6 sides on a map it gets folded in with the next one over." 00:20 <banana> Mari: "That's just because British stars are all eighty and complaining about Eurotours." 00:21 <banana> Premson: "The four-colour map theorem wouldn't allow for that, Robert." 00:22 <banana> Bob catches Mari sneaking a look at him. She's not going to say anything about the name if he doesn't, and this is funny to her. 00:22 <tom> Bob, whose name is actually William and only arrived at Bob via the serpentine logic of William -> Bill -> Bob, has no leg to stand on and takes his licks like a man. 00:23 <tom> At least they aren't calling him Bobert. 00:24 <banana> His geniality helps. The conversation is pretty uninhibited, and he's learning a lot - being trusted to learn things, which says a lot about how much they like Mari. He gets the sense that she's the least senior person in the room by far. 00:24 <banana> Some more things Bob can pick up: 00:27 <tom> Bob still has the postcard in his pocket, but it occurs to him only now that the idea of standing up, approaching Hatch Starling with the intent to initiate conversation, feels like a titanic undertaking. 00:29 <banana> The group's ages vary. Hatch is ancient, obviously, but Premson is probably a lot older than he looks. There's something about his word choices and speech patterns that aren't just 'educated man' but almost from a different era. Riann, despite his fairly solid appearance, seems to be more of a peer of Sumi's (and the two of them are either good friends or 'good friends'). Joanna is difficult 00:29 <banana> to place because she's doing the worst job of looking human. 00:30 <tom> Not a cell phone in sight. Just people [?] living in the moment. 00:30 <banana> There's also another conversational passage that catches Bob's ear, when they talk about someone called "Damani". Prophecy(!) says that this guy is riding high but ready for a real hard fall. 00:30 <tom> Also that's mean editorializing. Joanna is doing great. 00:30 <banana> In context, it doesn't sound like he's a changeling. 00:31 <banana> There's a pre-pudding lull. People have been saying things like So, Bob, tell us about yourself-. and he could do that, or tell them something else, or take the opportunity to ask about particular things... 00:32 <tom> Bob is still kind of hungry but propriety demands sacrifice. He crosses his knife and fork on the plate like Mari asked him to. That means something, right? 00:32 <banana> (Mari's happy with how the night is going and keeps taking his arm between sips of her drink.) 00:32 <tom> Be strong, Bob. Whatever you do, don't start. 00:34 <tom> Bob'll lean into her where appropriate. His floating track of possible ways to fuck up is resolving down to a choice few that he's confident he can navigate with a second glass of wine in him. 00:38 <tom> "You guys know the name 'Sourjack'?" 00:38 <tom> You fucking idiot holy shit. 00:41 <banana> Riann: "I do not." Others shake their heads, Sumi happily. "I'll get the pudding," she volunteers. The Seelie Count of Winter says, "I should." 00:41 <tom> He holds up the letter. "Give it me straight, doc. Am I going to Hogwarts?" 00:42 <banana> Hatch leans across the table, which is slightly further than he should be able to reach, and puts his hand on the postcard, but doesn't actually take it from Bob. "This is somebody's else secret. Do you trust us, knight in American armour?" 00:43 <tom> "It's good to have people," Bob reiterates. 00:44 <tom> He called me a knight. That has to mean this is going well. 00:44 <banana> Mari grips his arm tightly. Starling takes the postcard, moves his last rib out of the way and sets it on the table. All the words rise off the paper and array themselves in front of the changelings's face, marching to the left like a lower third. 00:45 <banana> The old man's eyes grow dim, but only for twenty seconds. Everyone's quiet when that happens - except Sumi in the kitchen. She's humming the song that was on earlier, and probably would be even if she was watching the ink spill through the air. 00:45 <tom> Okay, so, a few notes. That's magic. 00:46 <tom> Like, for real. 00:46 <tom> Hatch could tell him it's a fucking coupon for pizza. Who gives a fuck. 00:46 <banana> Starling puts(?) the writing back on the postcard after a while - he just sort picks it out if the air and presses it down with his thumb until it wiggles into place. There's a sparkle in the air, an expenditure of meaning which is totally opaque to Bob. 00:48 <banana> Hatch: "This was sent to entice you without doing harm. The offer is genuine - whatever they're promising, you'd get it if you deliver. I don't know the author. Not a Keeper. Someone on the edge of things." 00:48 <tom> "What's a ke-"Okay, no. This time he actually manages it, and the word just snarls in his throat. 00:48 <banana> Everyone relaxes, tense postures returning to partytimes. 00:48 <tom> "I mean thank you, very much." 00:49 <banana> Joanna Maybe: "Thank you for letting us help. If you keep the hill updated, we'll look into it further." 00:50 <banana> Sumiya: "But not tonight." 00:50 <banana> The pudding looks like this: https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/yorkshire-pudding.webp 00:51 <banana> Mari is smiling, possibly at the pudding but who knows. She's stopped drinking and, mostly, talking. 00:51 <banana> It tastes like.. nothing, but fluffy? It's like bread, but pudding bread. A gravy delivery vehicle. It's like you took the leftovers from feeding a family of fifteen and made them into a miracle. 00:53 <tom> It's like some sort of creme-pastry thing. Doesn't matter. He's not sure what exactly the intention is here with the gravy so takes his puddings... plain. 00:54 <banana> Tastes a bit like egg, then. Dry but not actually unpleasant. 00:55 <banana> There's no more suspiciously-coded discussion that evening, although when the party's breaking up, the hill members start making plans to meet for a big ceremony at the start of October. Mari will be part of that, but Bob's not yet sure he's invited - something to ask later. 00:57 <tom> He's still slowly uncoiling the knot of tension in his guts but it doesn't matter. At this point these people could make him eat bugs and he'd thank them for it. 00:58 <tom> He brings himself back down. Getting carried away is one of the few remaining points of failure. 01:00 <tom> Bob tries to make it not obvious that he's hanging onto Mari like a life raft. 01:05 <banana> This is harder once they leave, because she's wobbly on the walk back. Still steady, given the lack of bipedal factor, but her body as far as he perceives it is not going in a straight line. "You did good. We're making it through." 01:06 <banana> It's getting kind of dark though. Sumi's offered to walk them both home if they like, and there's still time to accept that. 01:08 <tom> Bob instantly shifts gears to keeping her upright, leaning back a bit to pull Mari's center of gravity back toward the mean. Sumi's offer is graciously accepted with what future historians will one day note as the closest a guy from the St. Louis suburbs ever came to displaying actual grace. 01:11 <VoxPVoxD> Hopefully Bob has a nice, restful evening... because he wakes up with a message on his voicemail from a chipper English woman. "Good morning. I'm calling about the job offer you received some days ago. As a followup, I'd like to invite you to an interview-slash-Q-and-A at the following address..." 01:11 <tom> There's no mistaking what's happening here, of course. Sumi has her priorities. 01:12 <banana> The three of you walk from Irwell Grove back to the alley behind Empanading. Mari talks about inconsequential things her friends (or bosses) said, and Sumi hums some more, which seems to keep back the darkness a little. She crashes on the sofa and is gone by the morning when Bob gets his call. 01:12 <tom> Bob's still thinking about what he saw Hatch do with the postcard when he wakes up the next morning- barely a hang-over, so that's nice. He rubs Mari on the shoulder. "Oh god, Mari. Wake up. Don't panic, but-" 01:12 <tom> "There's a spider in the bed." 01:12 <tom> He braces for retaliation with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. 01:13 <banana> "Wher- ahhh. You're such a dick. Actually, I did notice one thing.." 01:13 <tom> We do a little trolling. 01:14 <tom> "Yeah, what?" He turns over, fumbles at the bedside table for his phone and listens to his messages as she talks. 01:15 <banana> Mari: "I noticed.." She's out of bed in a flash as soon as he turns away. "..that I get the bathroom first!" 01:15 <tom> "Juked again!" 01:16 <tom> There's a brief psychotic flash of insight that he could actually try to tackle her out of the way but it's quickly beaten back down. 01:16 <banana> He does have better combat reflexes, yes. Perhaps they're better applied to the voicemail. 01:17 <tom> He'll let her have it. The white noise of the shower gives him a sense of comfortable privacy while he considers the message. Then he'll get up- stumbling before he gets his stride- over to the couch to look up the address on Mari's laptop. 01:21 <tom> So Bob's there at the appointed time. Actually about an hour early, nervously smoking while the feed from the tiny dot loitering in a broad circle overhead starts, stutters, and resolves into a grainy static of blocky buildings and pin-points of heat signatures. 01:24 <tom> It's stupid, really. I mean what are the odds this is it. Well, thinking like that is how you get got- 01:26 <tom> The little RC plane putters out of sight and is quickly lost against the grey sky. Signal's good, and it's nice to get some flight time back in again, keep the skills from getting rusty. 01:26 <tom> From here on out the internal computer should put it on a wide circle over the AO. Thirty minutes of fuel, give-or-take. 01:26 <banana> He spots the site easily enough. The good news is, nobody's luring Bob into a dark alley to get him got.. the meeting's practically in public. It's an abandoned building, but largely demolished. There are only one and a half sides of facade left and the interior is just an empty lot, stripped down to the foundations. 01:26 <banana> No wonder the woman on the phone gave him a padlock code, there's one on the site fence's gate. 01:27 <tom> Once he's sure there isn't anywhere a Cheiron kill team could be keeping a getaway van or that he's not walking into the firing arc of some distant sniper, Bob's there just in time to be 15 minutes early. 01:27 <VoxPVoxD> Bob turns up to find an unassuming building in sort of a run-down neighborhood a bit outside the city centre. It puts him in mind of a vacant storefront, with how big and blank and empty it is, but it's not really in a rich or high-traffic area... which might be why it's empty. Past the gate, as he approaches the front door it unlocks audibly from the inside. 01:28 <tom> I really wish I had my gun... 01:28 <tom> That's bad form. 01:32 <banana> The padlocked gate opens onto the one largely-intact wall, but there IS a doorway here, so you can pass through if you like. To, presumably, nowhere. 01:32 <tom> Bob's standing there, hoping it isn't obvious that these are the same clothes from yesterday. Laundry's tonight, you pricks! Sometimes you have to do triage. 01:32 <tom> Same stupid sunglasses, same faintly quivering cigarette between pursed lips. 01:36 <banana> As Bob waits outside the empty facade, nothing occurs. 01:36 <tom> Shit, he actually has to go inside, doesn't he. 01:37 <tom> Well, there's no avoiding it. Bob cracks his knuckles and grinds out the cigarette. 01:37 <tom> Alons-Y. 01:38 <banana> With Bob's experience he's well placed to be scared less than shitless when he steps through the empty doorframe. 01:38 <tom> Oh wow you hit me with the magic portal-door yeah, like that'll get m-moh holy fuck. 01:39 <banana> The bare foundation's there on the other side, but so is another wall, with an actual door; he's in a small space *between* double-walls, the kind you fill with insulation. Or in this case, wires. 01:39 <tom> Alright, raccoon mode. 01:39 <banana> To Bob's left and his other left, the interstitial space is filled with uncountably many cables, cords, wires - they come bare, in pipes, twisted around each other, jacketed, zillions upon zillions of wires packed into space. 01:40 <tom> There better be a good reason Bob is now doing Urbex. 01:40 <banana> They run into each other, the walls and ceiling - but they don't encroach upon the space between the outer and inner doors. This is despite not seeming to ever terminate or follow any semblance of order. 01:41 <tom> The copper hasn't been stripped, so this place isn't abandoned.. 01:41 <tom> He doesn't stop, of course. What was that line in 'Who Moved My Cheese', again? Doesn't matter. Ever onwards. 01:43 <banana> The other door just opens. It does have a pretty solid looking lock, but it's not locked right now. There's a red shadow on the ground as it opens. 01:44 <tom> Bob's already forfeited any opportunity to look cool by fucking around so he just raps his knuckles on the door and calls out: "Hey... Anyone." 01:45 <tom> If he doesn't get an answer he'll duck in, although now he's fumbling for the MAG-LITE he keeps just in case.. a heavy source of light is needed. 01:45 <tom> Cl-click. 01:47 <tom> What kind of Vibe this place giving Bob? 01:47 <VoxPVoxD> Bob passes through the foyer-cum-airlock to find the interior of a vacant warehouse — concrete floors, spare and dangling overhead lights, and two folding chairs on opposite sides of a folding table that bears aloft something wrapped in aluminium foil. There's also a very pretty woman in a fall-colored corduroy suit. Her face lights up in a welcoming smile as Bob steps into view, and she 01:47 <VoxPVoxD> strides toward him, hand outstretched, her brick-red shadow keeping pace along the swept floor. 01:47 <VoxPVoxD> For the American, Willie extends her hand. "I'm so very pleased you could make it." That's the voice from the phone. 01:48 <tom> Bob puts away his flashlight and finally exhales. He magnanimously takes the offered hand. "Shit, for a second there- well, no, I know this wasn't a trap." 01:49 <tom> "I have questions." 01:50 <banana> It's very trap-like, but he is not trapped. The door's still half-open and so on. 01:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I hope to answer them! Willie Wellesley. You're much more approachable in person than your videos imply; I was expecting something rather more grandiose. Hungry? I have bruschetta and chicken wings..." 01:52 <tom> Willie might get the sense that Bob is keeping himself positioned to always keep one eye on the door as he follows her in. "First, I played a character-" 01:53 <tom> "But your offer of chicken wings and bruschetta is accepted in the spirit of Anglophone solidarity." 01:53 <tom> Again, sheepishly: "It was the 2010s. You don't know what it was like in my fucking country." 01:54 <tom> Crap. "I mean, thank you, Willie." 01:54 <banana> Yeah, this is an expat alright. Do Americans have expats? 01:55 <tom> She's got him by the balls here. "You've got me by the balls here." 01:56 <banana> The interior of this place looks almost normal, except for a couple of unfinished cutouts where you can see the Wires in the Walls. They hum and occasionally spark, not with ordinary light. 01:56 <tom> "First you get my phone number- that's for emergencies, I only gave it to one other person." 01:57 <tom> "I haven't put out a video in like 3 years, but you know I'm the dipshit with the fake russian accent and the rubber mask." 01:57 <tom> "On the other hand, a fucking wizard told me this wasn't a trap." 01:58 <tom> "Those are real by the by." 01:58 <tom> "I guess I shouldn't be saying that shit in public huh." 01:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's surprised they don't have more expats. Whenever she's met one outside their natural habitat, even's the odds they carry themselves like a conquistador or a refugee. Bob is firmly in Column B. While unwrapping the foil on some kind of toast with exploded tomatoes and rich fluffy cheese, as well as more American-passing bar food, she says: "Yes, quite." 01:59 <VoxPVoxD> "I apologize if I've made you feel uncomfortable; my intention is quite the opposite. I was given your name and number and a few vital facts by my employer — who I hope will become our employer." 02:00 <VoxPVoxD> "And I did some research. Watches several of your 'video essays'. Very engaging, though I confess the technical details fly well over my head." 02:00 <VoxPVoxD> "Part of why you would be such a great asset to our team." 02:00 <tom> "Sorry," Bob takes the offered food. "Yeah." He takes a chicken wing, realizes it is bone-in, and just kind of stares helplessly at it, not wanting to go absolutely apeshit on a chicken wing in front of this poor woman. 02:02 <tom> He goes for the toast with tomatoes first then. Bob pulls himself up in the chair. "You aren't really going to tell me my videos are what got me picked up?" 02:02 <tom> "I've asked some questions so I think it's only fair if we trade spots. If you actually know anything about me then I've already got an idea what they might be." 02:03 <tom> The ball's in Willie's court. Bob goes to town on the chicken. 02:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie takes a wing and has no such compunctions, sucking all the meat off of a wing flat with relish in one go. "Frank's Red Hot is the canonical base of Buffalo wing sauce, yeah? Bit difficult to find." She nods after Bob's question and self-riposte. "I am curious about one or two things, Mr. Goreman. You prefer Bob?" 02:04 <tom> "Someone's gotta keep the torch alight, yeah. Bob's fine." 02:06 <tom> "Sorry if my manners are fucked, it has been a very weird 2 months." 02:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, Bob, I have to say this is quite a bizarre way to offer someone a job. Well outside my experience. I imagine, in your position, it would feel invasive. Unsafe." 02:06 <VoxPVoxD> "Yet here you are. A canny operator, walking into the unknown. What put your mind at ease?" 02:07 <tom> "If you think this is invasive you should ask about my last job." He slaps his shoulder with a chuckle. 02:07 <tom> Leans back in the chair, stretches out. "Hooah. Can still feel it between the clavicle." 02:07 <VoxPVoxD> "It is my employer's hope — my hope — that you don't have to go through what you went through at your last job ever again." 02:08 <tom> He smiles sadly. "If this job is legit, then I literally have to." 02:09 <VoxPVoxD> "The work we do... the work we have been called to do... is vital. Absolutely vital. There can be no denying that. But the way in which it is done, and the culture and the organizations that have calcified around that noble impulse, are ruinous. Simply inhumane." 02:09 <VoxPVoxD> "We put it to you that it can be done better." 02:11 <tom> "Well, you've gone through more than enough to get me to hear you out." 02:11 <tom> "And again, I kind of cheated. Wizard." 02:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods. "My employer has asked me to put a team together. People who value their independence — personally, professionally — and who know that our moral compasses can point bang on through very dark territory indeed. He's offering steady work, with steady income, and a chance to get out from under the institutional nature of professional hunting." 02:13 <VoxPVoxD> "He has identified an underserved clientele and believes we are very well-positioned to tap into it." 02:14 <tom> "Oh, haha-" Bob's got his second wind. "You're poaching me?" 02:14 <tom> "An 'underserved clientele'." He rolls the words around his mouth. "You mean poor people." 02:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I mean people whose personhood is called into question. People who we might, under the pressure of those old institutions, misidentify as targets, rather than allies." 02:15 <tom> Bob pales. 02:16 <tom> "A-alright, yeah. I get it." 02:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "For all we imagine ourselves the bringers of light into darkness, the people we glibly call 'monsters' have, in practice, far more to fear from each other than they do from us." 02:16 <tom> "I'll be frank." Frank: "I need the money." 02:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie grins. "If we can get this team together, our minimum ask, split six ways, will be one million pounds a job." 02:17 <VoxPVoxD> "That's about 1.4 million dollars." 02:17 <tom> "How many pounds are in a doah." 02:18 <tom> Alright, time to nut up or shut up. 02:18 <tom> "I got conditions." 02:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods, understandingly. "Ordinarily I would take notes, but I think in the interests of discretion I will just commit what you say to memory." 02:19 <tom> "One, nobody tells me to shoot someone." 02:20 <tom> "Two. Bombs. I keep the detonators. They go in at mission start and I make the final call before we set anything off. No timed explosives that count down just long enough for a schoolbus to pull up and make me the most famous terrorist mastermind in British history." 02:21 <tom> "Three. I have an associate who might need a backup place to go if something goes wrong. That includes if things go to shit, I die, whatever. I need to know they're secure." 02:21 <tom> "That's it." 02:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Some of these are matters the team will have to decide for themselves collectively. Questions of hierarchy and methodology. But as far as material support, I can offer every assurance." 02:23 <tom> "Sure. Sure. I just don't want to see something I cooked up in the hands of the fucking UDF." 02:23 <tom> "You know the deal." 02:23 <tom> "God this is going to be a pain in the neck. Mari's gonna have to dig this sucker out so I can solder it." 02:24 <VoxPVoxD> Ah yes, an American. Always so weirdly intense and adamant about the Irish thing. "I'm sorry?" 02:24 <tom> "My chip. None of my Valkyrie shit will work without it." 02:25 <tom> "When my squad got waxed they 86'd us." 02:25 <tom> Bob scans her face for any recognition. 02:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's brow furrows. "...ah. Well, if you need medical facilities to see that done, I believe we can arrange that. But perhaps you'd be more comfortable with... was it Mari?" 02:26 <VoxPVoxD> "Is she your... beneficiary?" 02:27 <tom> "Yeah. I'm trying to keep boundaries up between work and home, you know." 02:27 <tom> "If you think I have fucking problems. Jeez." 02:27 <tom> "So no chance this blows back on her. I'll hold you to that." 02:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We're in the business of solving problems, Mr. Goreman. And we need you just as much as you feel you need us." 02:28 <tom> "That's what scares me." 02:28 <tom> He laughs. 02:28 <tom> "Thanks for the chicken, kid." 02:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Feel free to take the rest home with you!" 02:29 <tom> Bob is already grabbing up an armful. 02:29 <VoxPVoxD> Whew. That went alright. 02:29 <VoxPVoxD> ...they put a chip in him? Christ alive. 02:29 <banana> It's not how Sourjack would've done it at all, which was the point. Your next call will be interesting. 02:31 <tom> He's halfway home before he remembers he left the drone loitering and hurriedly scrambles to recover it before it ditches into the fucking Irwell.