21:34 <banana> It's done, at last. A month of increasingly fraught information gathering and choice-making, caught between the rising pressure from two deadly factions. The All Night Society is split, and you didn't want the Nameless House to fall through the cracks. 21:35 <banana> At last, everyone is agreed: we're going to leave the damn vampires alone. 21:35 <banana> After just tying up these few loose ends. 21:36 <Crion> For us to leave the vampires alone, the vampires have to leave us alone. And for that to continue, Aster has to selectively not leave the vampires alone. 21:36 <banana> There are a few secure places for Aster and Wellesley to argue about it. The greybox is, of course, very safe, as long as you don't mind an eavesdropper. There's Aster's own safehouse, or some public spot, or the app... 21:37 <Crion> No guests in the safe house except under extreme circumstances. The Greybox will do. 21:37 <VoxPVoxD> Probably not the app, since that just invites commentary from a backreading Rolf. 21:38 <banana> Rolf's actually been kind of occupied recently. Wonder what he's up to. 21:39 <VoxPVoxD> 10So Willie brings croissants to a morning meeting. And since it's winter... it's jam season. Willie's got three big jars of preserves: blackcurrent, marmalade, and apricot. That way they're around for everyone! 21:39 <banana> Richard will be pleased to furnish you with the boardroom table, the usual chairs, and tea or coffee, as long as you make the coffee. 21:39 <VoxPVoxD> So Willie brings croissants to a morning meeting. And since it's winter... it's jam season. Willie's got three big jars of preserves: blackcurrent, marmalade, and apricot. That way they're around for everyone! 21:39 <VoxPVoxD> *blackcurrant 21:41 <VoxPVoxD> How's Aaron doing? 21:42 <Crion> He's been slightly less agitated than usual recently, but now that he has to do vampire politics he seems more or less himself again. 21:42 <Crion> That's what he's preparing to do tonight -- and was preparing to do with Bob, and without Willie. 21:43 <Crion> He narrows his eyes suspiciously. "You've brought jams." 21:43 <Crion> "You want something." 21:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles a bit sheepishly. "...I would probably still have brought a jam. But, three? Yeah, you got me." 21:44 <VoxPVoxD> "You haven't taken a meeting with the Council, yet, have you? Since we cleared the Gardener case?" 21:45 <Crion> Aster's eyes don't un-narrow. "I suspect you know I have not. I further induce that since you see me wearing this coat--" He is in fact in the Spider Jerusalem coat. "--you know where I'm going tonight, and wish to come along. My inclination is to say no." 21:46 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Because of my particular political exposure. Yes! Sensible! Eminently sensible! Permit me to attempt to change your mind? Have my jams bought me that much?" 21:46 <banana> There's an invitation burning a hole in Aster's inbox. The Carthian Council want to speak to Aaron Aster... and possibly his colleagues. 21:47 <VoxPVoxD> "The marmalade in particular I worked quite hard on." 21:47 <Crion> Aster: "They have. I'll put one on half of a bagel. Do you know how hard it is to find good bagels on this accursed island? I have yet to succeed. Do you want the other half?" 21:48 <Crion> His eyes at least are regularly open again now as he fiddles in the kitchenette. 21:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Please!" 21:50 <Crion> Aster has, in his desperation, turned to whatever the premium brand is at the most expensive store. They're not fresh and won't be pretending to be fresh, but before England he didn't actually know it was possible to make bad fresh bagels. 21:50 <Crion> He has a feeling most of these bakers don't actually understand the process, or care to. English. 21:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Now, you're right that my presence raises certain questions that will be difficult to answers. Or rather, the argument I am imputing to you is right. I'm aware I haven't let you speak yet. But: is it not also true that those questions are raised even more sharply by my conspicuous absence? After all, the Council is already aware of my connections to Vie, through Barrowsmith at Samhain." 21:52 <VoxPVoxD> She had maybe one too many espressos this morning, getting this all jarred up and seeing her team off for a couple of hours and thinking about this meeting. 21:52 <Crion> Aster: "Rolf and Badawi will also be absent. Yours will not be conspicuous in a crowd." 21:53 <Crion> "A crowd...of absences. You understand my meaning." 21:53 <Crion> Aster: "How do you prefer yours toasted?" 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Dark. But they will still have the same questions whether I'm there or not, yeah? And it wouldn't be terribly difficult for them to just send someone round to question me, given where I live. What gives us more control over how this comes across? I argue, it is with me in the room, benefiting from the corona of your esteem within the Court." 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Or I suppose your penumbra, considering." 21:57 <Crion> Aster: "Flattering my self-regard is clever, and works, but is less efficacious when I see it coming. I am not sufficient to protect you from a properly-motivated vampire who wants answers, and this recent episode has provided that motivation." He'll set the toaster to toast setting 6 of 8 (Why 8? Why not 10?) for both halves. 21:59 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You're right, of course. But I don't think distance affords me much protection either. I can't exactly go hide under Inchcape until it all blows over, or some kind of coup eventuates. The fact that you are willing to stake even part of your reputation on standing beside me in public view amounts to a substantial show of good faith before the Council and the Court." 21:59 <VoxPVoxD> "Assuming you are willing." 22:00 <VoxPVoxD> "Plus! Bob behaves better when I'm around." 22:00 <Crion> Aster sighs and leans against the counter. "That is, sadly, your most convincing argument yet. And I can't exactly disinvite him." 22:01 <Crion> What's that e-mail say? Who specifically is looking to meet with them, and what do we know about their capacity and propensity for assuming direct mental control? 22:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie leans against the same counter, opposite the toaster, a meter or so between them. "I feel terribly guilty for my part in overcomplicating this, and... doubly so for my part in seeing Gardener back in Inchcape. It eats at me. I need to contribute. And I think I can, if you'll have me." 22:03 <Crion> The bagels pop and are nicely toasted to spec. One of Aster's first mornings post-kitchenette installation was spent carefully testing the various settings on the thing. 22:03 <Crion> Aster will go with apricot. 22:04 <tom> Bzzzzzz 22:04 <tom> Bzzzzzz 22:05 <tom> Bob's outside the greybox, rubbing his hands together in the cold. Bocce ball is going to be rough if Sergio can only come out after dark. 22:05 <banana> The email said: the Wise and Solemn Council awaits your pleasure in the MacDonald Room, above Elysium. It didn't go into detail on the nature or degree of pleasure. 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie lets Bob in. "Good morning, Robert." 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> "There's jam. And something approximating bagels." 22:06 <Crion> Aster: "They're not fresh and never could be, but they don't have a weird undercooked texture." 22:07 <Crion> What degree does Bob like his bagels toasted to, if at all? Aster probably already knows this unless Bob hasn't had any at the Greybox before. 22:07 <tom> He's freshly shaven, a few small cuts and knicks at the corners. His sunken eyes twinkle at the sight of food and coffee. He burns the fuck out of them. 22:08 <banana> The memory of the parmo fades with every jammy taste. 22:10 <tom> He sits down at the conference table and makes a kind of "eeuuauurgh" noise. "Morning Aster. Willie." 22:10 <Crion> Continuing to Willie: "Well, there is good news. Begruding, perhaps, but good. The meeting is above Elysium, not in Elysium proper; that means your theoretical, hypothetical exposure to various and sundry court elders would be limited to the members of the Council who chose to attend." 22:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That is encouraging! It suggests that, whatever the hypothetical combination of this meeting, there are things at work that isn't intended for public consumption." 22:11 <Crion> Aster pinches his nose. "Phrasing." 22:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie winces. 22:12 <Crion> Bob's bagel halves go in at 8 of 8, and when they're done Aster will give them another thirty seconds. 22:13 <tom> "...And that's why I'm going." Bob chews his toast. "You don't mind if I'm rocking D.B. shells, yeah?" 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> Eventually she manages to recover enough to continue: "...which I think is in our favour here. Since the only thing they would want to do to us publicly is rebuke or threaten us. It also suggests that the Council itself may not be unified on the issue." 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gives Aaron a Significant Look at the mention of incendiaries. 22:13 <banana> If their job is to debate... there's been a lot to debate recently. It would be wise (and solemn) to consider all points of view. 22:14 <Crion> Aster: "If you're going to bring the gun, bring it loaded properly." 22:14 <tom> "It'd be kind of insulting not to come armed after I put on the whole costume for the inchcape crew." 22:15 <tom> He accepts his destroyed toast with grace. 22:15 <VoxPVoxD> When Bob didn't bring a gun to the summoning, Willie assumed he'd lost his. Sounds like he didn't. So that's good. Right...? "Yeah, that makes sense. They'll definitely respect our desire to want to project strength, and we are meeting outside of their Elysium." 22:15 <Crion> It's a bagel, but maybe Bob doesn't differentiate. Aster: "Only if they knew about that. Them not knowing about the things people in this room have done in and for Inchcape is the keystone of this particular arch." 22:16 <tom> Bob spreads jam on the bagel in silence. 22:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie holds her breath, waiting for Aaron's decision. 22:17 <tom> "I'll be good, boss. Don't you fret." 22:17 <tom> He gets up to get the box of hand-loads. 22:17 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, don't call him boss. No, no, now's not the time. Right now, Aaron is the boss. 22:18 <Crion> Aster: "...Assuming the meeting is not with the Prince or any lurking masters of the mental blood arts, and assuming we are all very very very careful and I mean this to allow me to handle any and all questions about the vampires across the river and not mention them otherwise, then yes, I can see this working with all three of us." 22:19 <VoxPVoxD> :D 22:19 <Crion> Additionally, keeping Willie where he can see her means keeping her away from Sergio for a night. She's still pale. 22:20 <Crion> Whatever time the e-mail specified for the meeting, or whatever time Aster sets with the Council account in the following back and forth, Aster will arrive outside the Radisson forty-five minutes ahead of." 22:20 <Crion> -" 22:23 <banana> The Council will be available 'from 5 PM'. So it's a quarter past four, and the sun is already sinking blood-red below the horizon. 22:23 <banana> The long nights of Winter have begun. 22:24 <VoxPVoxD> It's nice. God, though, summer is going to be awful. It's a bit like being with a man who spends half the year on a Nordic oil rig or something. 22:25 <banana> There's no sign from outside the hotel on St. Peter's Square what waits within. It's a pretty expensive place; you don't want to look visibly ratty, or lobby security might be on you before you can walk confidently into the interior. 22:25 <Crion> That's not an issue for Aster or Willie. 22:25 <Crion> How has Bob dressed. 22:27 <tom> Comfy guy inside a warm jacket. Mari picked it for him. The visor's back from the shop, secured beneath the quirked eyebrows he's giving Aster. 22:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks great! She's got those red pearls around her neck and a canary yellow suit underneath her closest approximation to Aaron's Hunter S. Thompson coat. 22:27 <banana> Central Manchester: defined by the clash of old and new styles, moderate and slightly immoderate expense. Rush hour is beginning, and the three waiting hunters are anonymous among crowds going for the trains and the cab ranks. 22:28 <banana> Given the proximity to sunset, there probably won't be anyone ready for you before 5. Any last minute preparations, or are you going to wait, chat about street-safe things, and go? 22:28 <Crion> It'll do. It's probably close to go time when everyone else arrives, unless they all showed up real early as well. 22:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie arrives last of the three, and either or both of the men can probably see her make her away across the square all the way from her apartment building at the far corner. 22:29 <Crion> Aster wanted to make sure no spooky limousines or ominous lines of vans containing possible elders or shooters respectively pulled up in the sundown hour. 22:29 <Crion> Well. 22:30 <Crion> She was not kidding about her essentially being on tap for WASC if they were sufficiently persuaded. 22:30 <Crion> Again, Aster, phrasing. 22:30 <tom> Bob, about to step into a vampire den: "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Super important." 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "?" 22:30 <tom> He turns to Willie: "Can you help me pick out a dress for Mari, to go with the hat? I have no idea what fashion is." 22:31 <Crion> Aster shakes his head. 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie beams. "It would be my pleasure." 22:31 <Crion> Aster: "Heads in the game, please." Then he kills his cigarette. Time to go to work. 22:31 <tom> He nods. 22:31 <banana> Bob's distracted by fashion. The others notice it: the shadows lengthen and fill with eyes. 22:32 <Crion> Aster: "We are now, officially, under surveillance." 22:32 <banana> By 5, you're being watched from at least two places, a window in the hotel and the crowd in the square. Willie's neck itches. 22:32 <Crion> "Step lively." 22:32 <tom> Bob rolls his shoulders. 22:33 <VoxPVoxD> A chill passes over Willie. But from her current personal headspace, she interprets it as a lively frisson. Her eyes brighten. She's more alert, more poised, and slightly flushed. 22:33 <tom> The halves of the shotgun are secured beneath his jacket, magazine brimming with candy-coated buckshot. 22:33 <banana> The sun is fully down, but it's still busy and the city lights are bright. The lobby is even more so- five stars of brilliance, business travellers checking in and out, the dinner rush just ramping up. You've got directions within the plush corridors and don't need a bellhop's assistance, although they will offer and may need to be mollified. 22:37 <Crion> Aster will give one a look and a sufficiently hefty pound note. Is a 'fiver' still good for that or has the currency here been debased that much by now? 22:37 <banana> ...in a five star hotel? Try fifty, or you're getting called something untranslatable. 22:38 <Crion> Oh right. Radisson is a luxury brand over here. Two fifties it is. Unless he's particularly stupid the bellhop will understand he's being paid to fuck off. 22:39 <Crion> Though it might have been worth it to see Willie give "untranslateable" a go. 22:39 <banana> He's not that stupid. Staffers avoid you for long enough that a purposeful walk does the rest 22:39 <VoxPVoxD> It's quite a nice hotel. Still a travesty they didn't preserve the Free Trade Hall at all, but one supposes that a social obligation to one's own history cannot compete with the weight of metaphor. 22:40 <banana> After a couple of minutes' navigation - take the stairs marked GUESTS ONLY here, the ones that go down - you've come to a short corridor with negative-numbered rooms. -110, -108, and so on. 22:40 <tom> Bob looks diminished in the hotel's finery. Smaller, more fidgety. Maybe it's just the lighting. 22:40 <VoxPVoxD> That's how he always looks. 22:40 <Crion> Too cute. 22:40 <tom> This fucking country. 22:40 <Crion> The numbering, that is. 22:41 <banana> There are brass plaques on some of them to give them names. MacDonald is -104, and there's no doorhandle on this side. 22:42 <Crion> No reception? No mid-floor carveout lounge? 22:42 <VoxPVoxD> Not exactly getting off Scot-free, are we? 22:42 <VoxPVoxD> Now now, Minnie - we call puns the death of wit. 22:43 <banana> It's all very informal compared to Aster's previous experiences. Perhaps the Council has no need to show off. 22:43 <Crion> Regardless, Aster is disinclined to knock. 22:43 <Crion> They're under surveillance. Their arrival is known. 22:46 <Crion> He'll wait until it's obvious they're going to be smug about this, which is a bit under a minute. 22:46 <tom> Bob resumes shitposting. 22:46 <banana> It's a bit of a contest of wills. Aster's not going to be the supplicant here, but is one of the people in that room going to actually get up and open the door? No. After a minute, someone finds another way. 22:46 <Crion> Excellent. 22:46 <banana> The door swings open under its own power. There's a horseshoe-shaped table inside, gleaming wood, things on the walls, the Prince of Manchester and several other people about whom you find yourself briefly unable to give a fuck. 22:47 <Crion> Well. This is the one person we did not want to be here. 22:47 <tom> He clears his browser tabs for this one. 22:47 <VoxPVoxD> Eh, it's not the Constable. 22:48 <Crion> We have yet to see if the Constable is here. 22:48 <banana> The presence of Seele Shaw is staggering. She's gorgeous, of course, movie-star looks with 80s lawyer shoulderpads, but it's more than physical looks - you know she's the most important person in the room and that it will stay that way when you enter it. Which you must. Shaw wants you to approach. 22:49 <Crion> Aster will, without trying to be impolite, very deliberately try to figure out who the hell else is in this room. 22:49 <tom> Bob's brain squirms like a pinned insect, but he accepts his fate with a kind of serene calm. 22:50 <VoxPVoxD> Phwoar. 22:51 <Crion> He will also make sure to enter the room deliberately at his own pace, but without any obvious spurning delay. 22:51 <tom> Bob taps into Huntr, really just so he can try to capture her photo. 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, meanwhile, comes off the kind of starstruck you get if you've met a bunch of celebrities but are still quite impressionable about it. 22:52 <tom> The machine boots up back in the greybox. 22:53 <banana> People say things, greetings. Half of them are on laptops, you think. Unusual looking, but- Prince Shaw bows with a flourish of her arm. She wears lacy black gloves that shouldn't go with the suit jacket, and makes them work. 22:53 <tom> Bob shakes his head, grunts. Is Letitia here? 22:53 <VoxPVoxD> What a damn boss. 22:53 <banana> "Aaron Aster, now of the Nameless House. So prompt of you all." 22:54 <banana> As Bob advances with little thought into the conference room, his head clears enough to realise who else is here. It's an all-star gallery from his point of view. 22:55 <tom> Uh oh. 22:55 <Crion> "Good evening, Prince Shaw. We intuited some gravity and importance to the invitation, and have treated it with according seriousness." 22:56 <banana> Starting at the left end of the table there's Suzie Cutsworth, seen for the first time in a suit, although she's cut the bottom half off both the jacket and the pants to leave her stomach and shins bare. Then there's a woman Bob doesn't know, young but twisted, almost hunchbacked. Her hair is red-brown and and she's talking to Suzie, a conversation that predates your entrance. 22:56 <tom> How does Suzie make that work? It's unreal. 22:57 <banana> Shaw: "All to the good. Will you introduce yourselves around the room, please? We've got a bit to get through and a lot of strangers." 22:57 <tom> Focus bro. 22:57 <banana> Seele Shaw - not actually Sigourney, but the resemblance is strong and her hairstyle plays it up - obvious, and Bob has to drag his eyes past or they'll stick. Not even his fault. 22:58 <banana> Next is Letty. Letitia Barrowsmith... again. She just... points at him. 22:58 <tom> Defeated: "Hey Letitia." 22:59 <banana> To Letitia's left (Bob's right) is a man Aster will recognise now that his artificial focus is withdrawing - Killer Clive, dreadlocks, into politics, fangs bare in what would otherwise be a friendly grin. 22:59 <tom> "Bob Goreman. Valkyrie. Retired." 23:00 <tom> He's not quite sure if he should bow, so instead he just kinda nods with deference at the Prince. 23:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie doesn't look around the room, because she can't. "Willie Wellesley, Your Night-Worship. And esteemed luminaries." 23:00 <Crion> Aster: "As previously stipulated. Aaron Aster. Proprietor of Aster Biologics." 23:00 <banana> Finally at the right end of the table is a black woman in a sort of de-identified uniform - looks a bit like British military gear, but there are no flags, labels, pins or insignia of rank. She looks skeptical of this whole thing, chin on her curled hand and elbow on the table. 23:01 <banana> That makes six presumably-powerful vampires in the room and three of you. But you're above ground, or nearly so. 23:02 <tom> Valkyrie considers three-to-one odds against vampires to be basically a toss-up. So we just need about fifteen more tacteam guys to have a shot. Good to remember. 23:02 <banana> Round the table the Carthian Council goes: "Suzie Cutsworth." "Boxer, Jane Boxer." "You know me, bad penny." "Clive." and: "...Gabrielle." 23:03 <banana> Shaw sits. You hadn't even realised she was standing. A number of previously-unnoticed things are becoming clear, like the odd plating on the walls, shelves with rows of bottles, certificates and electronic gizmos... 23:04 <Crion> How he loathes that trick of hers. 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> Are there seats of hers? 23:05 <VoxPVoxD> This is so cool. 23:05 <Crion> His training doesn't seem to work against it. Passive effect. 23:05 <banana> Night Mayor: "Our next item of business is the report of these Introduced humans on their recent work for the Court - ultimately unsuccessful, but without contract penalty." 23:05 <Crion> He'll figure it out. 23:05 <banana> The Councillors all have chairs and you do not. :( 23:05 <VoxPVoxD> That's fine. Willie can do a stand-up with the best of them. 23:05 <banana> Shaw: "To start, why don't you tell us what you think we should know?" 23:05 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe she'll be impressed by how good at standing Willie is... 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> For now, she demonstrates her prowess by standing quietly behind Aaron and not speaking unless directed to. 23:07 <tom> Aster can see the Carthian council, oddly indistinct in Bob's mirrored visor as the man turns to look at him in deference. 23:07 <banana> Most of the Councillors are paying attention. They murmur things to each other - but mundane things, not blood-secrets. This has the air of a Congressional hearing. 23:07 <banana> Of course it's a much smaller room. 23:08 <VoxPVoxD> She's got the presence of mind not to be resorting to her ordinary meeting habit of making polite eye contact with people around the table periodically. 23:08 <banana> The three of you are now in the centre of a horseshoe table, the focus of questions to come. To date, the only one who looks at all hostile is Gabrielle, but that's probably a failure of diplomacy on her part. These people are supposed to be politicians. 23:08 <VoxPVoxD> Ahhh she's always wanted to testify before a Select Committee. This is a childhood dream come true! 23:09 <VoxPVoxD> Total geek moment. 23:09 <Crion> Aster: "You had an active serial killer event on your hands -- and incredibly dangerous one -- that we took active measures to find, and which put us at significant legal and personal risk for, non-exhaustively, breaking and entering, burglary, assault, and getting ourselves torn limb from limb. We had made significant progress towards a satisfactory milestone in the assignment -- that is 23:09 <Crion> to say, the location of the current lair of Ruth and, hypothetically, Alex Gardener -- and then while iterating our plans for dealing with possibly two dangerous and rabid vampire elders at once and pursuing other House business in Liverpool, political machinations in the larger body politic foreclosed our endeavor." 23:11 <banana> Clive: "From where I'm sitting, you haven't ventured or gained." 23:11 <banana> Bob's visor chooses this moment to receive the first of what will surely be a stream of messages. 23:11 <Crion> Aster: "I intentionally and, here, pointedly, decline to make further comments on that political matter in my report. There is already sufficient confusion in my House and in yours, Prince, about how exactly this job was offered in the first place." 23:12 <banana> Killer Clive | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwmUOJR-GwA | “A man of the people — some of the people are even his friends.” 23:13 <banana> The rest of them are more patient, letting Aster say his initial piece. 23:14 <Crion> For his part, Aster glances at Clive to acknowledge that he heard the comment, but doesn't address it further. 23:15 <banana> Shaw: "That's a matter of interest. The first question I'd like to ask is who made the offer and under what circumstances." 23:15 <banana> Suzie: "An' when." 23:16 <banana> Suzie Cutsworth | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPW5A_JyXCY | “We all recognise the hook -- you won't see her coming -- but she's got you in both directions.” 23:17 <tom> ...And that's a bad thing? 23:18 <banana> Jane leans toward Suzie a little and says something quiet about defacements in a cemetery. 23:20 <Crion> Aster: "The offer was made by Constable Syndey Damani after we were forwarded to him by Brutus Barrigan. This was done after inquiries that we ourselves directed to the Court. The intelligence behind those methods is proprietary to the House, as is its acquisition, but I can frankly share that all that was contained in it was the suggestion that the Court needed someone or someones hunted 23:20 <Crion> down. Services which are directly this House's remit." 23:21 <Crion> "It was during the meeting with Damani in which we were formally presented with the portfolio, terms, names, and backgrounds of the subjects." 23:22 <Crion> "The date was--" He'll give the correct and truthful night and time. 23:24 <tom> Bob takes out a stick of nicotine gum and chews it. 23:24 <banana> People type notes. Barrowsmith says: "I was with Barrigan the Lesser when he took the meeting. In order to deal with this question of-" scarequotes with stubby fingers- "proprietary knowledge, he set 'em a task. Keep kids away from a sensitive location." 23:25 <tom> He'll turn to offer a second stick to Willie, if she's not too overawed still. 23:25 <banana> Suzie: "That bit went fine." 23:25 <VoxPVoxD> She doesn't even notice. 23:25 <tom> Suit yourself. He pops it into his mouth. 23:25 <Crion> It seems Barrowsmith has completely misinterpreted what Aster was referring to. He wonders if that was intentional. 23:25 <Crion> He doesn't intend to owe her one. 23:26 <tom> I wonder what Agatha's up to. 23:26 <banana> Shaw: "What did Sydney tell you about the escaped prisoners?" 23:30 <Crion> Aster: "His introduction to the contract was that he required two vampires killed, discreetly. His introductory description thereof, in his precise words, was 'Blood-mad elder kin of ours, descended into irrecoverable monstrosity and weakened by decades' deprivation.' I recall it because it begged a number of questions." 23:31 <banana> Gabrielle: "It sure freaking does." 23:32 <banana> Gabrielle X | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5Fb4K8pNmg | “The fire mellows but does not fade — dull and stable are only adverbs.” 23:32 <Crion> Aster: "We were then treated to the boilerplate history of this Court in both its current and past configurations, as well as the inflection point on that timeline." 23:32 <banana> Gabrielle: "'Kin' is the first thing I'd take issue with, but how could he known if they'd gone into Wassail? Also, they hadn't. One of them got out sane." 23:32 <banana> Suzie: "Ish." 23:33 <banana> Gabrielle: "Did Damani know about the oubliette?" 23:33 <banana> Shaw: "Naturally that's one of the things we're trying to ascertain. Let the human speak." 23:35 <banana> Clive: "The Night Mayor intends 'human' purely as a descriptive term here, without prejudice imputed or aforethought." 23:35 <tom> "None taken," Bob smiles. "Been getting that a lot." 23:36 <banana> Shaw: "He didn't tell you anything else? Doesn't seem like enough to do the job." 23:36 <Crion> Aster: "He was aware and willing to relate that the Gardeners had been kept in captivity by elements of this Court, yes. He did not speak to who, what, why, or how long. Outside of a joke about direct messages on Twitter." 23:37 <banana> Jane: "Impatient. Lacking attention to detail. But it could just as easily be a coverup. This is the man who held the axe." 23:38 <banana> Jane Boxer | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L4YrGaR8E4 | “Some of the old ways work -- Some of the old work weighs.” 23:38 <Crion> Aster: "Prince Shaw, a rabid vampire had been killing or abducting between one and three people a week in Manchester in every sense of broad daylight except the literal. Once we were put to the task, Ruth Gardener was not difficult for this House to track. Nor was she difficult for elements in this Court to track." 23:39 <banana> Letitia: "Yeah, that's a point. Even the cops were starting to think something was up." 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie seems to have finally regained enough of a sense of herself to look around the room. There's Barrowsmith. Oh, that's what Suzie Cutsworth looks like. Get a grip, Bob, honestly. 23:42 <Crion> If Aster were smarmier he'd repeat what Clive said back to him but about the term 'vampire,' but he's sure it's implied. 23:43 <banana> Something catches Aster's eye on the shelves as the Council debates. 23:44 <banana> (Shaw: "Then I need an explanation for why it took us so long to find her." Boxer: "Clearly we weren't actually trying. 'We'.") 23:45 <banana> There are other doors out of this room, both on the far wall from where you entered. Above them is a long shelf; placed at regular intervals are many small glass bottles. 23:45 <banana> Each of them contains a bit of black and grey dust, maybe enough to fill a third (although it smears in different ways in different bottles, and there are hints of pink). They're each labelled with a number: [56], [280], etc. 23:46 <tom> Hell yeah. 23:46 <Crion> How civilized they are. 23:46 <banana> Clive: "Redirect, please. How did you carry out your investigation, guys? What did you discover?" 23:46 <VoxPVoxD> That's a bit macabre. 23:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's very pleased with how well-in-hand Aaron seems to have this, and Bob's very appropriate level of Bobness. Not totally absent. Just a fun little splash of colour. 23:48 <banana> Jane: "Of course you don't think the constable's done wrong." 23:49 <banana> She turns to look at the hunters, which is a little uncomfortable - her head rotates more than a neck ordinarily should. "The man's question is worth answering, however." 23:51 <tom> Bob shifts a bit, redoubles his smile. 23:55 <Crion> Aster: "I am a licensed, trained, and competent psychometric residue analyst. We located where she attempted to snatch her most recent victim and I used my latent abilities, combined with my associates' unmanned aerial surveillance program, to triangulate a prospective lair. While keeping that lair under surveillance, we pursued other leads and engaged in self-assessment over our ability 23:55 <Crion> to actually take down two powerful vampires in the grip of, as you say, Wassail. The trick and problem was never, to our analysis, finding them." 23:56 <Crion> Aster: "Our theory is that the woman vampire was kidnapping humans, bringing them back to said lair, turning them into vampires, and then feeding them to the man vampire." 23:57 <banana> Suzie: "An' the brief you were given wasn't to find em. Kill the elders, Damani said. So you gathered your powers and so on." 23:57 <Crion> "Therefore, going into that lair without precise information about what was in store could have led to any number of outcomes." 23:57 <Crion> He nods to Suzie. "That is correct." 23:58 <banana> Shaw: "Very difficult to tell whether this was sabotage. If the elders had, somehow, been destroyed... who among us would be complaining?" 23:58 <banana> Letitia: "Not among us." 23:58 <banana> Letitia Barrowsmith | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HSO9YtEAyA | “Cut in to change the scene — someone has to render history’s judgement.” 23:59 <banana> There's silence. Six people are watching three. 00:00 <tom> Bob kinda nods his head to Letitia's music pumped through his earpiece. 00:00 <Crion> Aster, dryly: "I note this inquiry is incomplete. Or at least has not deigned to call multiple witnesses at once." 00:01 <banana> Seele grins. It's nearly blinding for a moment, then it's just happy-looking - incongruous. "We can't find the bastard. We will." 00:02 <banana> Gabrielle: "We don't.. know for sure that.. it's likely, but-" 00:02 <Crion> Aster: "Oh, I didn't mean Damani." 00:02 <banana> Clive: "They've got him, you realise?" 00:02 <Crion> "I meant Stella Savoy." 00:02 <banana> Everyone's talking over everyone else... until Aster throws a stone into the conversation and its ripples spread out to silence the lesser waves. 00:02 <banana> Gabrielle X: "Huh?" 00:03 <banana> Bob feels it, the presence invading his mind. 00:03 <tom> Hey there little buddy. How's it going. 00:03 <tom> Are you sure you wanna be in here? 00:03 <banana> There's no way to hide this sort of thing. It's a direct mental connection, two-way, including telepathy. She slinks her way in there, limboing under mental lasers. It's taking a while. 00:03 <tom> He scowls. 00:04 <banana> By the time Shaw demands: "You'd better explain that, Mr. Aster," Bob's hearing a different voice. 00:04 <banana> Suzie: [Not very comfy in here. You've got springs loose on your emotional furniture.] 00:05 <tom> Hey Suzie. If you could *not* murder Willie or my girlfriend that'd be just great. 00:05 <Crion> Aster: "With all due respect -- and I mean this genuinely, not as a placeholding opener -- I need to make one aspect of our business relationship very clear: if this Court is going to send its ghouls to openly and directly threaten and attack us while we are on business for this Court, we will do our best to extract ourselves from that conversation peaceably, because we value good 00:05 <Crion> relations with this Court, and addicts are occasionally not responsible for their behavior." 00:05 <Crion> "But if there has to be a second conversation, there will not be a third." 00:06 <banana> Suzie: [I don't like to murder people at all, Bob. Thinking of that waste of humanity, flesh turned cold and rotting away... it gives me the shivers.] 00:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks suitably grave behind Aaron. 00:06 <tom> Bob's brain is on fire, but he's trying to make the place a bit more hospitable. 00:06 <tom> [So how boned are we?] 00:07 <banana> Shaw: "We have a business relationship, Mr. Aster, not one involving threats. Nor does the Carthian Council employ ghouls." 00:08 <banana> Suzie: [I think you're doing ok? We know it wasn't you who found Ruth, and that's a good thing. You'd look pitiful racked up in her larder.] 00:08 <Crion> "While in pursuit of the mentioned lead that broke this case, namely, the psychometric resonance of a victim's backyard, three hirsute characters with claws that sprang from their fists like a comic book character accosted us. We were told we were interfering in matters we did not understand -- arguably true -- and were told we were to cease our investigation immediately, under penalty of 00:08 <Crion> violence to our persons. We said no. They attempted to make good on those threats. I put one in the hospital and he's lucky my associates didn't put the rest of them in the morgue." 00:09 <tom> [I bet I could fix her.] 00:09 <banana> Suzie, out loud: "Hirstute." 00:09 <banana> Gabrielle: "Night Mayor, I'll take this one?" 00:09 <Crion> Aster ignores her. 00:10 <tom> [Well, if you're in here you already know I'm never gonna draw on you. Whaddaya need, kiddo?] 00:10 <banana> Suzie: [Yeah? Even sane she was a bitch. Tried to have me disfigured before turning so her man wouldn't be so interested.] 00:11 <banana> Shaw: "Is this a Gangrel thing, Gabby?" 00:11 <tom> [What a psycho. Wow, that's so hot.] 00:12 <banana> Gabrielle: ".........Yes, the clan was being territorial. Excessive." 00:12 <banana> "Now, I want to be fair here... you weren't working for the Court. You thought you were." 00:13 <Crion> The ascent of Aster's eyebrows communicates how much he thinks of that distinction. 00:13 <banana> "Damani, who has a good history but can be erratic, sent you off on this thing in a way which exceeded, arguably, his authority." 00:13 <banana> "The third-hand version of what was going on that got about had it as some sort of collusion or subversion of process. Stella overreacted. I apologise." 00:14 <banana> Suzie: [What'd he even do to them?" 00:14 <banana> ] 00:14 <banana> [Analyse their psychometric residue?] 00:14 <Crion> Aster nods in a way that's almost, but not quite, a slight bow. "Apology accepted. I believe that concludes all formal and relevant parts of our report." 00:14 <tom> Bob adds another stick of gum. Maybe the mint will help clear his mind. [Who? Oh, Squidward? He's got the brain powers. I'm sure you know. We found some bone frags.] 00:15 <banana> Suzie: [Play it back for me, boyo.] 00:16 <banana> He feels Suzie attempting to actually read his mind. It's a sense-memory thing.. she's going for the limbic system, experiences at the time, trying to bypass conscious will. 00:17 <tom> Bob: [Hey, hey, hey, c'mon.] 00:17 <tom> [You think this is my first time at the dance?] 00:18 <banana> Shaw: "Thank you again, Aster - Goreman, Wellesley. Logically, we shall now proceed to the informal, but not the irrelevant." 00:18 <tom> [We got the viscon from the memory of some poor girl she tried to pluck outta a party. Mistake on her part, she was close to a cop, so they actually noticed when one of their friends got tore up. Still some missing people out there. Yeah it's eating me up inside. You know the drill.] 00:19 <tom> [The rest was just getting some friends with their voodoo bullshit to track her via her old hat.] 00:19 <banana> Suzie: [That sucks. However it went down, I'm glad the old woman is off the streets.] 00:19 <tom> [If you guys figure out what happened to the missing people... I mean, closure for their families.] 00:19 <banana> Letitia: "Aaron Aster, is it? You're a great changer of subjects." 00:20 <banana> "Tell me, and I throw this question open to the floor, about the Victus Indomitus." 00:20 <Crion> Aster turns to consider her, but there wasn't an actual question there, so he doesn't respond. 00:20 <Crion> Ah, here it comes. 00:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie stays silent unless directed not to by Aaron. 00:21 <tom> Bob has been weirdly still and silent throughout. Maybe this is advanced discipline in practice? 00:21 <banana> Suzie: [I saw some of them. Stacked up like meat, still breathing... they'd been frozen to near hypothermia. We think V.I. got them out before the explosion, which is interesting.] 00:21 <Crion> Aster has been too busy talking to be worried about what Bob is up to. 00:22 <tom> [If they're alive we'll want them back. I will, anyway. Can't speak for Aaron.] Bob puts his hands in his pockets, angles his head with his eyebrows half-cocked. [But it's good to know we can't rule out they're alive.] 00:22 <banana> Letitia: "Willie, then. I understand you have some contacts on the other side. Correct?" 00:22 <tom> [Gonna keep that one in my pocket if I need to get us to storm Inchcape.] 00:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's focus is on remaining poised and attentive. Bob can take care of himself. 00:22 <banana> Shaw watches peacefully. Several people look surprised or even worried. 00:22 <banana> Suzie: [You been to the place yet?] 00:23 <tom> Bob chews his gum. [I'm sure you talked to Lettie about it.] 00:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie acknowledges Councillor Barrowsmith with a serious nod, but she does wait for some kind of nonverbal signal from Aaron before speaking. 00:23 <VoxPVoxD> Message discipline is so important. You can't have multiple streams of outgoing information. 00:23 <banana> Suzie: [Not really. We've got different tastes in videogames.] 00:24 <Crion> Aster will wait a second to make that distinction clear to the assembled, then nod slightly. 00:24 <VoxPVoxD> Then Willie looks to the Councilor: "That's correct, yes." 00:24 <tom> [Oh man. Yeah, she's more of a Simcity fan I bet.] 00:25 <tom> [I'd say you'd have to try harder to find out... but that kinda gives the game away anyway, doesn't it.] 00:25 <tom> [We're not fans.] 00:25 <banana> Suzie: [Zork.] She transmits, mentally, her own making an expression of disgust, tongue stuck all the way out. 00:25 <banana> [OK. Show me the time you met Prince Emily.] 00:25 <tom> [That's so cute. Don't tell her I said that.] 00:26 <tom> Bob: [( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)] 00:27 <banana> Barrowsmith: "This includes some of the poor saps on the edges of their web as well as at least one meeting with the aristos?" 00:27 <tom> [She's pretty cute. I wanna ask her if Joan of Arc was cool.] Bob scowls. [Too bad the guillotine didn't take the first time, I guess.] 00:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's correct, Councillor Barrowsmith." 00:27 <banana> Clive: "This casts a completely different complexion on what you've told us. I don't want to believe it, but preparation begins to look like stalling." 00:27 <banana> Suzie: [Axe.] 00:28 <banana> Suzie: [You take a lot of drugs, Bob?] 00:28 <tom> Bob: [Meth mostly. Government-issue meth.] 00:28 <banana> Suzie: [I got the feeling you've done.. what do they call it now. The ego death thing. Mind blown, maybe even better than I can do to you.] 00:29 <tom> [Believe me, if I ever fuck up things with Mari you will be the first to know.] 00:29 <banana> Letitia: "I'll ask the obvious question. Did you discuss the 'Count' Salford with his former cronies?" 00:29 <Crion> If Clive's outbursts were actual questions to be taken seriously instead of whatever he thinks passes for erudition, Aster would mention, again, that the House is not a Court retainer and has other business, which Barrowsmith herself can attest to: Samhein, for instance. 00:30 <banana> Suzie: [No, Bob, cmon, I know you're no tthat dumb.] 00:30 <tom> [I can have a little death, as a treat.] 00:31 <banana> Suzie: [OK, fine.] 00:32 <banana> Suzie: [Play me back your last.] 00:32 <tom> Bob's fingers twitch in his pockets. 00:33 <banana> A memory unspools in Bob's mind... he doesn't feel it himself. It rises, detaches from the brainstem, floats through the air. Suzie nods, decisively, and closes her eyes for a bit. 00:34 <tom> Gulp. 00:34 <tom> Bob's silent, within and without. 00:35 <tom> Something stirs. The man scowls. Bill: [Not nice.] 00:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I discussed it with one of them. Simpson Kirkpatrick, who styles himself Baron Weaste. My primary relationship with the thralls of the old blue-bloods is his direct descendant. I believe the term of art is 'childe'?" 00:36 <banana> Cutsworth: [Seemed pretty nice to me. I get it, boyo. That's the stuff you let surface, hungers and wants. The facade of thirst to keep your real secrets locked away. I seriously get it.] 00:37 <banana> Gabrielle: "Ohh my god. Relationship?" 00:37 <tom> Bill: [Yeah. Great, can we wrap this up?] 00:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes." 00:37 <banana> Letitia: "Yeah, that's the word we use. Hmm. Let's try something less excruciating." 00:37 <banana> "How about-" Seele holds up a hand. Letitia is immediately silent. 00:38 <tom> Bob: [I got a long way to go and I don't wanna wear out the novely just yet.] 00:38 <tom> novelty* 00:39 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's poise remains intact. 00:39 <banana> Shaw: "Maybe you can convince us you did nothing wrong here, didn't betray us to our ancient memories. Maybe you can persuasively argue that you acted alone, Aster and Bob aren't to blame. Maybe mitigating circumstances? Maybe not. But you might as well try." 00:39 <banana> "You want to try." 00:39 <banana> "Every cell in your blood strains to confess and explain." 00:40 <banana> Suzie: [It's not like I've got anything else- There's a chime in Bob's visor, interrupting her. He, and Suzie, see: 00:40 <banana> Seele Shaw, Night Mayor of Manchester | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYMD_W_r3Fg | “Never include the start — we aren’t CSI — emphasise casually cruel moments but use silence for routine pieties.” 00:41 <tom> Bob: [Don't read into it too much. It's just some weird tech we found.] 00:41 <tom> [Yours is a real banger. Wanna give it a spin?] 00:41 <banana> Suzie: [Yes!] 00:42 <tom> He boots it up. 00:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie glances at Aaron here. Does he move to interrupt her? 00:43 <banana> Jane: "I want to point out that we - most of us - knew nothing of this. Someone's being treated unfairly... but I'm not sure whom." 00:43 <Crion> Is she using the dread power of the blood? 00:43 <banana> "It might not be you, Miss Wellesley." 00:43 <Crion> She sounds like she is. 00:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie doesn't look ensorcelled or hypnotised. She did look away from the Night Mayor to Aaron, after all. 00:44 <Crion> Aster will stare at Shaw, and let the pause last longer than he did with Barrowsmith, but then slightly nod. 00:44 <tom> Nodding along to the music: [This would be super illegal for you to do if I had Aster's perks, right?] 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks Seele Shaw, who filed her Sergio's death certificate, right in the eye. "Alas, Your Night-Worship, my blood is in two minds, as any demonologist or longtime reader of the Sun could tell you. But honour weighs in on the side of explanation." 00:45 <tom> Bob: [I hope you don't mind I'll be looking into getting that. It's already two crowded in here with just me.] 00:45 <tom> too* 00:45 <banana> Suzie: [She's out to get you, danger ♬ by design ♫] 00:46 <banana> Night Mayor: "We've set aside enough time for a proper explanation." 00:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Permit me to tell you a story of two cases: one whose failure, as you have intuited, is mine; and one whose failure, I think we're all coming to understand, emerges from some political dysfunction within this Court." 00:47 <banana> Gabrielle to Clive: "Suzie knew. She's not batting an eyelash, which takes force of arms to stop." 00:48 <banana> Shaw: "Uh-huh." 00:48 <Crion> Aster is going through scenarios in his head. Bob's closest to Boxer, and hopefully smart enuogh to know to shoot her first. Aster's first Talon module use will have to go for the Prince, and hope it connects. Theoretically possible. From there... 00:48 <Crion> Well, the numbers aren't good. 00:48 <banana> Letitia's quiet. Some of them totally shut up and defer to the Night Mayor, others... don't. 00:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "For the first, in brief: I met a man through Bumble. He didn't know I was a Wellesley; I didn't know he was a Ventrue. We reached a mutual understanding beneath Inchcape, where he debuted me with an eye towards securing favour for my Embrace. Or, alternately, vampiric lesbians." 00:49 <tom> Bob: [Hey are you following all that? It sounds like things could go wrong.] 00:49 <banana> Gabrielle: "Typical." 00:49 <banana> Jane nods too. Seele doesn't. 00:49 <tom> [Well you already know my terms. And I'm in with the Winter people. Got the oath and everything. If it goes down it won't stop here.] 00:50 <tom> [Before you play with fire ♫ Do think twice] 00:50 <banana> Suzie: [Kid, I've spent a.. hundred years? Almost a hundred years being underestimated. I don't mind gossip.] 00:50 <banana> [I'll leave you alone then. Show me how the music machine works?] 00:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Now, accepting induction by death into the lowest rung of a rapacious, cowering blood-pyramid, was both morally and metaphysically impossible. And they knew I was a hunter. They knew about my background. My only thought, before those aggregated millennia, was survival. And so I attmped to convert a failed debut to a sales pitch. Then I could bring it back to my team and face 00:51 <VoxPVoxD> whatever consequences emerged at some remove." 00:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Somewhere besides that fortified tomb." 00:52 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "And so we were told that there was some indication that the Count and Countess Salford, long assumed dead, had begun to stir." 00:52 <banana> Boxer: "Truth stirs in Her well." 00:53 <Crion> Aster looks over. Is Bob preparing for-- ...Oh. His eyes slide, with extreme annoyance, from the moon-faced blank stare of Bob Goreman to Suzie. 00:53 <banana> Shaw: "We appreciate Her. So... they knew. Blood ties, of course." 00:53 <tom> Bob: [Oh, one last thing.] 00:53 <tom> [Are you evil, by chance? I got a bingo card.] 00:53 <Crion> Well, he can't be relied upon then. If this goes wrong, it's going to go wrong very quickly. 00:54 <banana> Suzie: [Yeah, you mean by uh.. C of E moral principles? I'm sinful, yeah.] 00:55 <tom> Bob takes out his card and uncaps the felt pen. 00:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Meanwhile, independently, we were following up on a lead that this Court was looking for someone who could take care of some sort of fugitive problem among the Kindred. Deputy Constable Barrigan sought to test our loyalty or viability by giving us the simple job of getting some harmless kids out of a random cemetery in Hattersley." 00:55 <banana> [Not that THAT changed when they fanged me. Peace, boyo.] 00:55 <banana> With a last caress of the lobes, her presence is gone. 00:56 <banana> Suzie: "You say 'meanwhile' and I believe it's an important word." 00:56 <VoxPVoxD> "Yes, Councillor." 00:56 <VoxPVoxD> "It was this delay that, unwittingly, trapped us. Because when Constable Damani took the meeting that gave us the Gardner case, I had already wormed my way out of Inchcape." 00:57 <banana> Mayor Shaw: "I've got some sympathy for your position but consider your line of work, and the risks you're accepting. Consider that you could have turned down the job!" 00:57 <tom> Bob takes the card, marks it with two dagger-shaped checkmarks, and it goes back into his pocket. https://i.imgur.com/iR4VPle.jpg 00:58 <Crion> An astonishing position for the Prince to take now, considering her previous position is that the House was never technically employed. 00:58 <banana> That was Councillor Gabrielle X's position. 00:59 <tom> Bob coughs, pops his neck. 01:00 <tom> "Can't blame us for chasing that bread, Ma'am." 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We could have refused the Constable's offer, yes, but the circumstances - he met us in an oubliette, and had to be persuaded to give us actionable information upon the case - were such that it felt politically untenable to refuse on the spot. So, because of this confluence of errors, we dithered. Not formally accepting either job, and attempting to work the case using all the 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> information we aggregated." 01:00 <banana> Clive: "Is that bit true?" 01:00 <banana> Shaw: "Yes. No official acceptance, at least not by email or a visit in-person." 01:01 <VoxPVoxD> "And the timing was such... we had received an invitation-by-prophecy to another event, which consumed much of our time and attention during this few-day window at the end of last month." 01:03 <tom> "You had a rep there, so you know." Bob nods at Barrowsmith. 01:03 <banana> Letitia: "Also true." 01:03 <banana> She continues: "You paint a pretty picture, if the question is blame and the taking of sides.. but you were working the the case. And VI4 did find them." 01:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes, Councillor." 01:04 <VoxPVoxD> "That was not the outcome I wanted. But it is the outcome that eventuated." 01:04 <banana> Shaw nods. "Mr. Aster, you have the look of a man who's been subject to the decisions of others." 01:05 <banana> "Including mine, shortly. I think it's incumbent on you to give us your version of the ending." 01:05 <banana> "You've already declined to comment. Do you want to revisit that?" 01:07 <Crion> Aster: "We went to Liverpool on House business which is outside the scope of this inquiry. While we were in Liverpool, events progressed in such a way that made our iterations and preparations old news. I have no particular insight to add on what went down when the other vampires crossed the river, except to reiterate that I abide by the terms I agreed to with this Council and am routinely 01:07 <Crion> siloed out of House business with VI." 01:08 <banana> Shaw: "You've never met them?" 01:08 <banana> "Corresponded?" 01:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie still feels pretty good, honestly. It's cathartic to get this out, and being in an enclosed space with this many vampires still gives her a kind of full-body buzz she hasn't felt in 8 or 9 years. 01:08 <Crion> Aster: "I have met the boyfriend. At the same event as Barrowsmith." 01:08 <VoxPVoxD> We've got this. 01:09 <Crion> The distaste on the word is subtle, but obvious. 01:09 <tom> The gum is flavorless by now. Bob chews thoughtfully. 01:09 <VoxPVoxD> She feels so good that she permits herself a shy smile at his dadlike intonation. 01:09 <banana> Shaw: "Would you be willing to swear to the truth of that under Clive's compulsion?" 01:09 <banana> Clive blinks. 01:10 <Crion> Aster's eyes narrow. "What are the terms of the compulsion. What are the terms of the oath." 01:11 <Crion> This is now directed mainly at Clive. The answer is mostly a fait accompli at this point. 01:11 <VoxPVoxD> The thought of Aaron being subjected to that because of her doesn't kill the buzz, but it does drive a big fuckoff stake into it. 01:12 <banana> Clive: "I-" 01:12 <banana> Shaw: "He'll instruct you according to the following formula: 'Tell us the truth of this statement: I have not met or attempted to meet with with the four Kindred who call themselves Victus Indomitus.'" 01:12 <banana> "Personal meetings are the thing, you see. That's when they get you." 01:12 <Crion> Aster: "Then let's get this over with." 01:13 <banana> Killer Clive sighs a little, but he turns his chair to face Aster and will look into his eyes, or attempt it. 01:13 <Crion> Aster doesn't look away. 01:15 <banana> The vampire grunts with effort. Aster's training doesn't give way easily. 01:15 <banana> Clive: "Tell us the truth of this statement. I haven't met with or attempted to meet with the four Kindred who call themselves Victus Indomitus." 01:15 <Crion> Aster, calmly: "The statement is true." 01:16 <banana> "Say the damn thing, with 'I'. ...that's an order." 01:16 <Crion> "I haven't met with or attempted to meet with the four Kindred who call themselves Victus Indomitus." 01:16 <banana> Clive scowls at Shaw, who just nods. Her hair bounces out a little. 01:17 <Crion> He doesn't bother rolling his eyes. The man asked him to tell him the truth of the statement so he did. 01:17 <banana> Night Mayor: "Alright, thanks. This is an executive decision, but I will take advice." 01:19 <banana> They have a procedure for this, apparently. Around the table, each of the Councillors looking you over, giving their opinion in turn. Despite their opinions and factions, they all seem fairly comfortable with the judgement part of it - they've been doing this for quite some time. 01:20 <Crion> Honestly, he expected more from Clive. Good to know. 01:20 <banana> Gabrielle X: "Who's this boyfriend? The young ones de la Warr has enmeshed recently are victims themselves." 01:20 <banana> (This is an actual question, directed at Willie.) 01:23 <tom> Bob's kinda hoping that Suzie or Letitia will argue that he shouldn't be instantly killed. 01:23 <tom> Fingers crossed! 01:24 <tom> Really, as long as Willie and... Aaron, I guess... are allowed to walk out, there's nothing but upsides to dying. 01:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Sergio Bonasera, of Clan Ventrue, died in 1979, ostensibly of the terminal cancer that would have killed him if he hadn't been offered a devil's bargain by the Baron Weaste. He was then immediately staked, and kept as a corpse in deep storage for 40 years. His death certificate was processed by the Night Mayor herself, according to my research." 01:25 <banana> Shaw leans back and cracks her knuckles. The gloves muffle the sound. 01:26 <tom> and leaps forward to crush bob's spine with a single blow to the top of his skull- 01:26 <banana> "I... do remember the name. Yes. I was a lawyer for the Court. Some dilettante... very sick. The family loved him, and were very sad." 01:26 <VoxPVoxD> "He has no part in this. Like me, all he wanted was to survive. And the monsters who own him do not value him as I do." 01:27 <banana> "You're pleading that your opinion of VI4 is low." 01:27 <banana> Suzie: "VI5." 01:27 <banana> Shaw: "Whatever." 01:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I am pleading for you not to take Sergio's opinion of the Victus Indomitus against him." 01:27 <VoxPVoxD> "His will is not his own." 01:28 <banana> Clive: "My advice: opinions don't count as much as deeds, do they? We know that. Gardener himself was 'one of the good ones'. It didn't keep him from being so hated that someone - probably the other Barrigan - had him in a secret dungeon." 01:29 <banana> "Your deeds, Wellesley, have endangered us all. Bonasera's have been trivial." 01:29 <banana> Shaw: "It is never trivial to survive." 01:29 <banana> "Lettie?" 01:30 <banana> Barrowsmith: "Ah, hell. In the old days we could have sorted this out easily, right?" 01:30 <banana> "Just pick a representative to ghoul. A 'volunteer'. If we were them. We could be assured of who we trust." 01:30 <tom> Bob: (👀) 01:31 <banana> "How do you people see the stakes, here?" She's asking everyone. "You're not vampires, hard to blame you for that, but what do you think it means to us, or should?" 01:32 <tom> "You know anything about some of the awful shit that went down with the Cartels, down in Mexico?" Bob pipes up. 01:32 <tom> "You know what kicked that off?" 01:32 <banana> Letitia: "Hit me." 01:32 <tom> "They tried to take out the leadership, trying to- you know, trying to stop the violence." 01:32 <tom> "-Which left a power vaccuum. Which left a lot of headless corpses in ditches outside Veracruz." 01:33 <tom> "...How about giving harm mitigation a chance?" 01:33 <banana> Letitia: "Yeah, when we did it it didn't work by decapitation... only because we took out everyone, most of ourselves included. There was nobody left to do violence, really." 01:33 <banana> "Your point cuts both ways." 01:34 <banana> Shaw: "That's your advice?" 01:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I believe that we were a catalyst for a conflict that was already fermenting, because of whatever strange circumstances the Gardeners found themselves in, to which only the Constable can testify. I believe that, had we acted differently, the Victus Indomitus would be one monster smaller tonight. I believe, had this Court acted differently, the same would also be true." 01:34 <banana> Boxer: "If we had fewer internal ructions and intrigues. Yes." 01:34 <VoxPVoxD> "I take full responsibility for my House's failings. It is the prerogative of the Night Mayor to allocate responsibility within the Court." 01:34 <banana> Shaw: "I wish!" 01:34 <VoxPVoxD> Half an hour ago Willie would've smiled at that. 01:35 <VoxPVoxD> She's more clinical now. Forensic, some might say. 01:35 <VoxPVoxD> "As you say, Your Night-Worship." 01:35 <banana> Jane: "I think she should be permitted to take the full responsibility. They're useful people who tried to do the right thing in an impossible situation that we, and she, put them in." 01:35 <Crion> Aster: "As far as the Gardeners go, my ideal resolution would have been them Final Deathed and us paid. I'm a business man. I want to make money. But to be brutally honest, given my line of work, I am not averse to an outcome where two criminals responsible for the death of between one and three humans a week are forced into more sustainable methods of satisfying their compulsions. As for 01:35 <Crion> the stakes of this conversation, I regret not bringing my full team." 01:36 <banana> Gabrielle: "What kind of stakes are you talking about?" 01:36 <banana> "Joke." 01:36 <tom> That gets a laugh out of Goreman. 01:37 <tom> Bob: "If you like Zork you should try Hadean Lands, by the way." Letitia gets finger guns. 01:37 <banana> Shaw: "So." 01:37 <banana> Suzie: "Advice." 01:38 <banana> Suzie: "These assholes are trying to do good and make money at the same time. Be players in the Underground - main thing that's going for them is that they are human... if you ignore the latent psychic.. and the hellsblood... and the alien machines. They didn't actually hurt anyone. It seems to me they went to a lot of personal risk and inconvenience in order not to hurt anyone." 01:39 <tom> Bob can't help but grin. 01:40 <banana> Shaw: "Sure. That seems right, and it's a good thing. What I have to consider is what will or will not get our people hurt. There's nobody else to look out for the monsters, after all." 01:40 <banana> "I have an opinion. Any final submissions?" 01:41 <banana> Letitia: "Are we or are we not social insects?" 01:41 <banana> Jane: "That's more of a thought experiment than a submission." 01:42 <banana> Gabrielle: "...Let's separate the past and the future." 01:42 <banana> Suzie: "What does that mean?" 01:42 <banana> Shaw: "It means we're thinking along the same lines. Alright." 01:43 <banana> "Would anybody like a glass of water?" The Mayor gestures to a side table, where there is a jug and table service, completely unused. 01:44 <Crion> Aster: "I will pass, thank you." 01:44 <tom> "Oh wow, yeah, actually. Mouth's kinda dry after the mind-reading. Every time." 01:44 <tom> Bob goes for a glass. 01:44 <Crion> Aster was sufficiently prepared not to react to that. 01:44 <banana> Several councillors glance at each other. 01:44 <banana> Seele Shaw just waits until anyone who wants one has a drink. 01:45 <tom> He gulps down the water. 01:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's done a lot of talking, but she's not going to take water in front of strangers. 01:45 <banana> "Here are my findings." 01:46 <banana> "As background, we know that Ruth and Alex Gardener were captured or killed forty years ago, most likely in torpor for some period." 01:46 <banana> "Subsequently, and at an unknown date, they came into the custody of members of this Court who are currently unknown. These presumed citizens took justice into their own hands and degraded it. They are the most to blame for everything that has followed... save perhaps the Gardeners themselves." 01:48 <banana> Shaw: "More recently, these human mercenaries were approached by two separate parties to track down the former Invictus elders. Due to confusion, backstabbing and their own incomplete intelligence, they were given conflicting work." 01:48 <banana> "First, I find that the promise to work for VI4 was the fault of the Nameless House, but not including Aaron Aster. Technically not within the authority we claim at all." 01:49 <banana> "Second, I find that the mercenaries before us were cautious and well-intentioned enough to delay, a delay which perhaps further complicated affairs but had no direct negative effect on the Court." 01:51 <banana> "Third, I find that VI4 retrieving the surviving Gardener or Gardeners is proximately due at least in part to the Nameless House's actions. The root cause is far more complicated and likely includes deceptions by Sydney Damani." 01:51 <banana> Shaw pauses, but doesn't take a drink of water; she's undead. 01:52 <banana> "Fourth. I find that the increment of VI4 to 5 is is a destabilising influence. It's unpredictable but the worst case scenario is open warfare. Her propaganda value is as significant as her once-stupendous powers." 01:53 <banana> "Fifth, I find that the Nameless House is not likely to work for the benefit of VI5 in the future. Their expressed regrets are genuine and their pragmatic reasoning is sound." 01:55 <banana> "Sixth. I find that the Constable and the Court as a whole failed to exercise appropriate controls, such that the Nameless House became a poorly-understood rogue force, acting in a partially-obfuscated fashion which contributed to the aforementioned destabilisation. Which is to say, if we are to be the haven of stability we claim to be, we must remove the beam from our own eye." 01:55 <banana> "Actions." 01:56 <banana> "Most importantly, this council must act. We must reestablish control of the Constabulary and interrogate the Movement as a whole to discover what things are crawling under rocks. We must also prepare for war in order to avert it." 01:57 <banana> "With respect to the future of the people before us and the rest of their 'House' - an affectation? - I see no reason to avoid further contact or even bar them from future Court work. If it hasn't already, it will become apparent, the deeper you go into the night, who the worst monsters are." 01:58 <tom> Bob: "No kidding." 01:58 <Crion> The most uncomfortable Aster has been yet this meeting -- including when he was dominated -- is at Shaw doing this level of on-campus Court politics with them in the room. 01:58 <tom> He shuts up fast. 01:58 <Crion> Unlike Bob, though, he's not going to say anything until it's clear the proclamations are finished. 01:59 <VoxPVoxD> You wouldn't catch Victus Indomitus talking out of turn like this, that's for sure 01:59 <banana> "With respect to the actions already taken by the Nameless House, I can't ignore the the contact with VI4 made by at least Wellesley and Goreman. It was a necessary factor in the destabilisation which may yet damn us all. There was ignorance, accident, and deceit - but you knew you were acting for our enemies and continued to do so." 01:59 <banana> "A question arises." 02:00 <banana> "Two people not within the authority of the Court have harmed it. Our laws prevent us from extraordinary or supernatural punishments against innocents. What are you, Willie and Bob? What place do you occupy between player of the game and pawn?" 02:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It would be a lie to plead innocence. Ignorance, folly, sure— but I am not innocent. We are players, albeit at present we are comparatively small, comparatively ignorant ones." 02:02 <VoxPVoxD> "As were you all, once." 02:03 <tom> Bob purses his lips, straightens his back, speaks: "Ma'am, I had a choice to make." 02:05 <tom> He sucks in his breath. "If I didn't meet De La Warr, then Willie would be meeting her alone." 02:05 <banana> Out of the corner of his eyes, Bob catches Suzie rolling her eyes, but the others look suitably grave. 02:06 <VoxPVoxD> This all would've gone exactly the same if Willie had gone alone. 02:07 <banana> Shaw: "Okay. Ultimately there's only crime here, whether that be sheer unwise action or the continued lies of omission - to be honest, I think all we've got to do is sanction Willie Wellesley." 02:07 <VoxPVoxD> Except she'd have missed him. 02:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods. 02:07 <banana> "It may be inadequate, insulting, practical- I propose we apply human civil law." 02:07 <banana> "Your ill-gotten gains. Pass them on; we'll use the money to make repairs and fund preparations for what's to come." 02:07 <Crion> Aster stops himself from reacting. They're filing a tort? 02:08 <Crion> Incredible. 02:08 <tom> Holy shit. We're not gonna die. 02:08 <Crion> Aster nods to Willie again, without staring anyone down this time. 02:09 <banana> Clive: "Shit, it is 2021." 02:09 <VoxPVoxD> On Aster's signal: "Damages so totaled amount to £166,000. Is this satisfactory to the Court?" 02:09 <tom> Bob exhales for the first time in a long time. 02:10 <banana> Shaw laughs for just a moment, then returns to a more serious gaze. "Five of you, a million pounds from Weaste, I assume you've got overheads. Yes. Compensation... and don't do it again." 02:10 <tom> Very Quickly: "Yes ma'am." 02:11 <banana> Gabrielle: "So.. that's all? We're going to say, you know, fair enough, lesson learned?" 02:11 <banana> Clive: "We've spent a lot of time on this and there's more to do. Punishing people isn't the point." 02:12 <Crion> Aster: "At this point I would be remiss if I did not note a change in policy for the Nameless House. Given the tense political situation and recent events, the House is taking a step back from contract work from all factions in this dispute for the forseeable future. I and Aster Biologics, of course, will remain available as per my agreements and bound as per my oaths. I am informed the 02:12 <Crion> other parties to this decision have been or will soon be made aware of it." 02:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I can confirm that they are." 02:13 <banana> Letitia: "Ha. One exception to that, please: we might need to ask you for more details about the job you did take. Later; we'll turn down the legal temperature first." 02:13 <Crion> Aster, evenly: "Amenable. The House isn't going anywhere." 02:13 <banana> Boxer mutters something like "'factions' in a 'dispute'" but she doesn't argue. 02:14 <banana> Shaw: "You may, if you like, go out of this room." 02:14 <Crion> Aster nods to the Prince, and then to the table. "Good evening, Prince. Council." 02:14 <Crion> Then he'll turn to leave. 02:15 <banana> Suzie: "Good evening, all." 02:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Your Night-Worship; Councillors. Good evening." 02:17 <Crion> Sotto voce, when they're outside the room: "No talking freely until we're back in the Greybox." 02:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie stays silent. 02:18 <tom> Bob smiles broadly, clears his throat, murmurs something like 'y-you too,' and steps out. 02:20 <tom> [11:18] <tom> Bob smiles broadly, clears his throat, murmurs something like 'y-you too,' and steps out. 02:22 <Crion> Back at the Greybox: "So, Bob. What did you tell Suzie?" 02:24 <tom> Bob is unloading the shells from his shotgun one at a time and slotting them back into the little paper box. "I don't... think I gave her anything worse than what you told them." 02:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie tidies up in the kitchenette while the men talk. 02:25 <Crion> Aster: "What are you unsure about." 02:25 <tom> "She knows about the Trackcheck now. Oh and she got my memory of pitching the fuzzy cuffs to Mari. Great." 02:25 <VoxPVoxD> That's so basic. 02:26 <Crion> "As long as you didn't mention the phone call, the hat, the fact we were meeting with mages in Liverpool, anything you got off of that drone -- we should be clear." 02:26 <tom> Bob cringes a bit. "She did ask about the hat." 02:26 <Crion> Aster: "She asked?" 02:26 <VoxPVoxD> She's not even that sad about the money. Money's not really real to her. It never has been. 02:29 <tom> "Look, now- hey, I'm the one getting my mind read over here, like it's my fault." 02:30 <Crion> Aster: "All other things being equal, it's better that you told her than that she knew about it but didn't disclose it to the Council. She might ignore it, or not know its importance." 02:30 <Crion> "But you should not have told her." 02:30 <tom> "I'll keep that in mind the next time an elder vampire reads my mind," he sighs. 02:31 <Crion> Aster makes a face. "Her?" 02:31 <Crion> "You need higher standards for 'elder.'" 02:31 <tom> "I think over a hundred counts?" 02:31 <tom> "What, do you guys have like a system?" 02:32 <Crion> Aster: "As a matter of fact, VASCU does. I dislike it. Age doesn't correlate with potency all that well in practice." 02:32 <tom> "Anyway she didn't like, tell me to kneel and die or whatever. If they jumped us I'd be going for Boxer with the D.B. and throw down some smoke to give us a better shot." 02:32 <tom> "It's not like it'd matter though." 02:33 <Crion> Well...he was paying a little bit of attention. "Indeed. In the end, if all they got was Suzie knowing about the hat and Willie having to fork over her share from the job, we did well." 02:33 <Crion> "And now I know how good Clive is at his discipline." 02:33 <tom> Bob goes to get some coffee. 02:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes, I think that aside from your ritual violation, that was quite a best-case scenario." 02:34 <tom> "How're ya doing, Willie?" 02:34 <tom> Bob returns with a steaming mug. 02:35 <tom> "You've stepped outta your own grave twice in a week." 02:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, a little flatly: "Very well. We've finally put a pin in the Gardener case." 02:35 <Crion> He waves a hand. "Worth it for the information it gave me. Namely, Killer Clive is good at bullying men and women off the street with his control over the power of the blood, but it's made him lazy. He hasn't faced someone with training and practice in quite some time. I didn't even activate any protocols. That was all passive." 02:35 <Crion> "Sadly, now he knows that too. Maybe he'll rededicate himself." 02:35 <tom> "Oh yeah Suzie didn't get as much as she wanted either." 02:35 <tom> "I'm telling you, it's the brain exercises I'm doing." 02:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You both did very well. Thank you both for your unfailing support. Without both of you putting yourselves on the line for me time and again, I would quite simply be dead." 02:36 <tom> "As soon as I finish working out the creases I'll be completely invulnerable." 02:36 <VoxPVoxD> "I hope to be worthy of the trust and sacrifice you've shown." 02:37 <tom> Bob's giving Willie a stupid look. 02:37 <Crion> Aster narrows his eyes slightly at her, but tables whatever it is that concerns him for the time being. "You already have been. But accepted, in the spirit that it's offered." 02:37 <tom> "You're on the team. You're already blood for life, Wellesley." 02:37 <VoxPVoxD> "Do call me Willie." 02:37 <tom> He thumps his chest twice. 02:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You have a good evening, gentlemen." 02:38 <Crion> Aster: "Good night."