10:17 <banana> It's dark outside and noisy. "NERD" (not the famous one) are winding down, but they're not quite done; stepping into Reveille's trailer will let you get away from the racket. The singer has dirty ash-blonde hair, a heavy dress that's been deliberately cut up with leather patches and symbols sewn between patches of glitter, and a magnetic presence derived in large part from the hidden power 10:17 <banana> of the mind. 10:18 <Crion> Aster, of course, can set that easily aside. 10:18 <Crion> And has. 10:18 <tom> Bob and Rolf have stopped shoving each other, for the moment. 10:18 <Crion> It is so nice when he doesn't have to actively chaperone. 10:20 <banana> There's light inside and smells. Three other women - but it'd really cram the space full to add all of you; one of them pushes out the doorway before you can get it. "I'll go do the receipts, M&M." The one who's leaving was a guitarist in the brief footage you watched. Blue-eyed and less tired than the others. She scowls as she passes the hunters, but it seems to be a matter of principle rather 10:20 <banana> than any personal dislike. 10:21 <tom> The guitarist gets a bashful smile from the hunter as his visor reads her electrostatic field and clocks her cranial core temp. 10:21 <banana> That trick works when starchildren are using their powers; either she's not, right now, or she's not one of them. 10:21 <tom> He puts his hands in his pockets. "Sorry we couldn't take the contract earlier, ma'am. We got swept up." 10:22 <tom> This is to Reveille, of course. 10:22 <tom> What's Reveille's readout like? Bob's prepared to be impressed. 10:24 <Crion> Aster decidedly does not apologize. "It seems like we're coming up on the proper time to be concerned about this thing anyway." 10:27 <banana> Rolf's got a call to take, so there are only five of you in the backstage trailer, making it a little less cramped. The band's drummer is changing behind a curtain, and there's also a slightly older man with grey hair and a creased jacket. That guy cracks his shoulders a little as you enter. "You know a lot about our business, guys." 10:27 <banana> Reveille: "And we've heard of you of course. Your representative made it clear what you can do and how expensive it is." 10:27 <Crion> Aster: "Mm, yes. We get that a lot. Not quite sure why. You wouldn't prefer us stupid." 10:27 <banana> The singer throws up her arms, knocking over a couple of troll dolls on a high shelf. "I wouldn't! I have an expensive problem! So." 10:27 <banana> "This thing may be a foregone conclusion but we do need to talk." 10:28 <Crion> Aster nods. 10:28 <tom> Bob claps Hughes on the shoulder before turning to watch one of the dolls bounce off the drum set. 10:29 <banana> "This is Lindsay." She gestures at the back. "Lindsey, unrelated. What were your names again?" 10:29 <banana> The silhouetted drummer yells "'m L-PLATE." 10:30 <Crion> Aster: "I am Aaron Aster." 10:31 <tom> "Bob Goreman, ma'am." He lowers his visor, showing off his half-lidded smile. 10:31 <banana> The place is full of discarded clothes and more carefully-racked musical instruments. 10:31 <tom> "I gotta admit, this is the first time I've tried to kill a destiny. Usually the things I'm hired for are less... abstract?" 10:31 <banana> There's more in here than just the stuff they used on stage, and from YouTube you know that's part of the band's thing - some of them are polyglot players who switch it up between songs. 10:32 <tom> Nice! 10:32 <Crion> Aster: "Ultimately, this will not be particularly abstract, I suspect." 10:34 <banana> Reveille: "Yeah, no. It's got way too physical already." Bob's scan showed her brain-heat fading over time, and the charisma-aura does seem to be diminishing. The singer sighs. "For research and contracts, you'd better know that I'm Mary Morgan. I got used to 'Reveille' now, but it's up to you. How much do you know about the Calling?" 10:35 <tom> Bob: "They don't pay me to know stuff," he indicates with a snapped finger toward Aster. 10:35 <Crion> Aster: "It was explained by your ex-husband, when he attempted to mark his territory on this job, so to speak. You should not worry further in that regard." 10:35 <banana> Lindsay (the band's manager, you heard from Athletic): "Great." 10:35 <banana> (This was to Bob.) 10:37 <tom> With a weary smile, he considers how delightfully normie the situation feels compared to the horrible blood pyramid shit. 10:38 <banana> Reveille has an expression between interest and distaste. "Okay. Honesty's good... I wouldn't want a violent criminal involved, and you've guessed that. Although I can't really... disclaim..." 10:38 <banana> Lindsay: "It's not your fault." 10:38 <banana> Reveille: "But there's been violence." 10:38 <Crion> Aster: "We are not unfamiliar with it." 10:39 <banana> The curtain rattles aside and you've got another woman watching you, L-Plate. Her hair's much longer than Reveille's but styled into a fairly outrageous set of spikes and bows. Absolutely fixed in place, despite sweat and hot artificial lights. 10:40 <Crion> A Lindsay, a Lindsey, and an L-Plate? Time to make a chart. 10:43 <banana> Reveille: "How many staff do you have? The attacks are difficult to predict. The people we hired from GEO did outside-the-home coverage, but they were.. about as good as we paid for. I can't put someone cheap at risk again." 10:44 <banana> Elsewhere that night, in a nearby city, dinner is settling down. Hunters and mages (or hunters, a mage and Some Guy) linger over its remnants. 10:44 <Crion> Aster: "Five field, one manager. All of us are...well. They don't have certifications in our field, at our level. But I am highly doubtful whatever you are going to throw our way is more dangerous than our last quarry, and I don't say that to sell your Calling's tantrum short." 10:46 <banana> Lindsay: "My client's the one things are being thrown at. Your job is to, uh, stand in the way- I can see why it's well paid." 10:46 <banana> L-plate: "That's the passive approach. We've got to find the agent and stop this before M&M gets hurt." 10:48 <Crion> Aster: "We're not unable to do both." 10:48 <banana> Reveille: "Well yeah, that's ideal, but it's going to happen one way or another. The way these things- whatever power out there takes an interest in our" (she airquotes) "'special minds', the confrontation has a deadline. In my case, Christmas." 10:48 <banana> "So what I need is personal protection, until Christmas- or, if you can track down the Agent of Cosmos, earlier." 10:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie had the foie gras with nurungi, now she's having the foie gras with daigona. Always fun when a restaurant lets you do that kind of thing. "...and obviously there haven't been any spree attacks since." 10:50 <banana> Zebek props his chin in his hands. "Because they're fighting each other now. That's actually a pretty good outcome." 10:50 <Quaker> Badawi is picking at a small tea saucer with some oyster crackers on it. 10:51 <Crion> Aster: "A 24/7 security detail will strain our resources -- there will be times we can only have one agent with you or on your house -- but if we're aggressive about tracking the root cause, I don't think we'll need to sustain the detail for too long." 10:51 <tom> Bob: "What kind of controntation are we talking about, ma'am?" 10:51 <banana> Daniel, the mage's husband, sympathises with your various dealings - he too is a mortal who's been caught up in the Underground. "What gives you the drive to do this stuff? The money balances out the risk, but most people would just run, burn out." 10:52 <Crion> "You mentioned you had a previous outfit and that they were inadequate. So the Calling is already probing your defenses?" 10:53 <Quaker> “Why does Michael Jordan play baskteball?” 10:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles a bit at that. 10:54 <VoxPVoxD> We are all mad, aren't we? 10:55 <tom> Bob leans against the wall of the trailer and brushes some dust off his jacket. 10:57 <Quaker> She did, in fact, say ‘baskteball.’ 11:02 <banana> Zebek: "The whole thing reminds me of this timeline we visited where the Veil had been lifted - but only metaphorically. Governments and mass media were aware of the magic in the world, it was the biggest political topic ever, disasters and conflicts all over - basically they had an infodemic instead of Covid." 11:02 <banana> "Some people saw the whole thing as an amazing new age of progress but.. most couldn't handle it. There was an essentially a cold war between 'normal people' and what they saw as monsters, and it wasn't going well." 11:05 <banana> "The only other vigil-keepers I've met are in Daniel's family." 11:05 <banana> Daniel: "Not everyone who grows up in MCAS gets Confirmed." 11:08 <banana> Lindsay on the confrontation: "Merde, it was nasty. Pardon my French." 11:08 <banana> Reveille: "We were playing in this bar on Guy Fawkes' day, getting set up for it in the morning before open." 11:08 <Quaker> Badawi: “Is MCAS the name of your family’s cell?” 11:09 <tom> "What happened?" Asks Bob, quirking an eyebrow as he looks from Lindsay to Linddsey. 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Here or there, there are boundaries that need to be watched and maintained. Points of friction, margins between groups of people, call it whatever you want. Here, now, it mostly falls to the night-city to self-police. And they do try, mostly. In their ways. But they have very particular interests. A very particular point of view." 11:09 <banana> Reveille: "It's not like anyone cares these days, but we do have a song about blowing up Parliament, so. Anyway, the guys from GEO were named Alfred and Adewale." 11:10 <VoxPVoxD> "We believe, frankly, that they could use our help." 11:10 <banana> "They did a good job, I guess.. they watched the perimeter and the back alleys outside the building and they intercepted the lizardmen before they could get to me." 11:10 <tom> Bob: "Excuse me, what?" 11:10 <Crion> Aster: "Lizardmen. Interesting." 11:10 <tom> "Do we have a Reptilian situation?" 11:10 <banana> "Which meant they got half their flesh melted off by laser guns." Lindsay winces; Lindsey looks sober. 11:11 <tom> Bob: "Yeah that sounds like Reptilians." 11:11 <tom> He rolls his shoulder. "From the Constellation Draco." 11:11 <Crion> Aster, to Bob: "You and Rolf should open up the armory for this one." 11:11 <banana> Reveille: "Exactly. But it might not be the same guys next time." 11:12 <banana> "Like.. they got to us, the GEO guys were still fighting but they were on the way down. The thing is, the whole band was there. Me and the girls." 11:12 <tom> "Did the boys from GEO make it?" 11:12 <Crion> Aster: "So long as they have minds I'm not worried about the precise form they take. Lizardmen. Uruk-hai. Low men in yellow coats." 11:12 <Crion> "...If they made it to you, why didn't they complete their job?" 11:13 <tom> "Thin men," Bob adds. 11:13 <banana> Reveille: "You've got to understand something: we are not trained fighters. We don't want to be military, we don't have the instinct or skills for it.. Charlie has this kind of guilty pleasure but Paola Anna was throwing up." 11:13 <tom> He looks sympathetic. 11:13 <Crion> "Ah." 11:14 <banana> "But all of us are... you know. Psychics. We can do things, lash out in desperation, burn down a building." 11:14 <banana> L-plate: "That was Charlie." 11:15 <tom> "Good news, ma'am, you've got England's only representative of Task Force Valkyrie's Operation FORT. We specialize in extradimensional and extraterrestrial threats." 11:15 <tom> The starchild gets finger guns. 11:15 <tom> "Reptilians are old hat." 11:15 <banana> Lindsay: "Legally, it was not Charlie. It was an accident, due to substandard three-phase power, and it's a good thing it happened before anyone else was in the building." 11:15 <Crion> Aster keeps from rolling his eyes. They're not going to appreciate you introducing yourself liket hat. 11:17 <Crion> Aster: "What my colleague is trying to say is that at the very least we're not going to be caught unawares to the true nature of the danger, and we don't carry pistol-caliber carbines we snuck into the country against the law." 11:17 <Crion> "We are much more demonstrative in our response." 11:18 <banana> Daniel takes a drink of after-dinner rosé. "Stands for Mancheter-Cairo Apiarists'... Society. For my parents' and grandparents' generation the whole thing was just tradition and conspiracy, so a lot of people who grew up in that world went off in other directions." 11:19 <banana> Zebek: "We're no less viewpointed than anyone, but-" He shrugs. "Not involved in politics. The other guys you described, they've all got their own motivations?" 11:21 <Quaker> Badawi: “They all have so many motivations and factions that they are slowly ceasing to function.” 11:21 <banana> Zebek: "I mean your House." He doesn't put the same irony into the name as many have. 11:22 <banana> Reveille: "GEO were licensed bodyguards, that just wasn't what they needed to be. Guns were.. I didn't see the full thing." She turns to her drummer. 11:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes. It's a kind of work that draws in the idiosyncratic, and I think most would agree that we're particularly so." 11:23 <Crion> Aster: "What, they topped out at police batons?" 11:23 <banana> L-plate: "They did shoot up the aliens. That's why not all of them made it to us, and there was that one dragging his tail, bleeding weird lizard crap. They just didn't have any defense against ummm.. cosmic powers or laser guns." 11:24 <VoxPVoxD> She goes on: "I think it's very much to our credit. Each of us provides something unique and quite irreplaceable to the team." 11:24 <Quaker> Badawi: “Some of us are more charitable or altruistic than the others, but mostly I’d say we’re all in it for love of the game.” 11:24 <Crion> Aster: "I see. Again, will not be an issue with us. We would like to pro-actively locate and destroy them, however." 11:24 <Crion> "We'll have to work in shifts to protect you. We would not have to work in shifts to kill the Calling's servants." 11:24 <banana> Reveille: "I will be happy to facilitate that effort." 11:25 <banana> Lindsay: "Do we need to talk about Option C?" 11:25 <banana> Reveille: "Nah." 11:26 <Crion> Aster: "I assume it's something along the lines of actually fulfilling your Calling. Which I further understand to essentially be impossible." 11:27 <banana> Zebek laughs. "You'd get along well with some of the Arrows - football-mad lot. Want me to dig up an invitation to a sleeper-inclusive party?" 11:27 <banana> Daniel: "If you haven't heard it, 'sleeper' is the mage word for not mages, which they don't mean as an insult." 11:28 <banana> Reveille: "You got it." 11:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's not as unkind as the vampire word for humans." 11:28 <banana> Reveille: "Do you think you could do what I need to you to do? Protection for a bit, hunting down the source ASAP? Within your capabilities?" 11:29 <Crion> Aster: "Yes. We will begin immediately. Rolf will take the first protection shift." 11:30 <banana> Lindsay: "Well thank goodness. The good news we've got for you is that only Mary gets attacked, and it's somehow proportionate - if she's not with the others, there's less frequency, less danger." 11:30 <Quaker> Badawi: “If you don’t mind the question being turned around, why do you do what you do? ‘Adventurer’ sounds pretty far from the whole War in Heaven thing the Pentacle has going on.” 11:31 <Crion> Aster: "I'll need everything you can possibly provide in the way of raw information and guidance on how to read the Calling's cards." 11:32 <banana> Daniel: "Well, it's not because he met me. I got seduced into adventuring. Stolen away from the family tradition!" 11:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It does sound reasonably seductive." 11:33 <banana> Zebek: "That's the only time I met someone worthwhile through the underground. The way I see it is... okay, you mentioned the Pentacle. They're ideologues. The idea is that we should defeat the bad guys, obtain total power over reality, and then solve all problems in the world." 11:34 <tom> Bob nods politely along as Aster seals the deal. 11:34 <tom> Shit, this is easy. All you have to do is shut the fuck up? Really? 11:35 <banana> Zebek: "Meanwhile, we have this.. power. An incredible piece of luck, like being born rich or in Sweden." 11:36 <banana> "The 'bad guys' are real, and they do try to stop you using it. But there are things they don't care about, other places entirely you can go. An escape." 11:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "And yet you do still feel some obligation to the world you leave behind. It's hard not to, I imagine." 11:38 <banana> Reveille: "We're ten minutes from a bus out of here, and there's plenty to go over. I can tell Mr. Hughes some things if he's following me home-" a prospect about which she seems a little uncertain. "Beyond that, how about we meet tomorrow and I can give you the rest? We can exchange- dossiers, mystic secrets and payment information." 11:39 <banana> "I'm not holding much back here guys. I don't know you but you might be able to save my life." 11:39 <banana> L-plate: "Save some more pubs from Firestarter." 11:39 <banana> "Seriously, save M&M's life though. If you wanna blow up a building to do it that's fine." 11:40 <Crion> Aster: "Hughes will remain on-dossier or he will answer to the workgroup." There is a combination of finality and relish in that possibility that might reassure Reveille. Or it might not. 11:41 <Crion> "But I do not anticipate an issue." 11:41 <banana> Zebek: "This planet is our home. Not that it's particularly easy to travel to another planet, anyway." 11:41 <Crion> "Try not to get into 'banter.'" 11:41 <Crion> He nods to L-Plate. 11:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks at Trajan: "You mentioned destinies before. I'm curious: does what you see incline you towards or against working with us?" 11:45 <banana> Zebek Trajan: "I wouldn't judge someone by their fate. If you're interested in joining an expedition team, I bet we can work something out... you have vigour, sense, and magic powers. But that's not the real question, right." 11:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods politely. 11:47 <banana> "A geas of some kind isn't that uncommon. People come into contact with organisations, rituals, secret ways that just aren't very important, without ever knowing it. Badawi, the only thing you've got upon you is minor - you shall live a long life." 11:47 <VoxPVoxD> A blessing, arguably. 11:47 <banana> "That's a tendency, not a certainty. Something's influenced you... it could be as simple as a fervent vow, could be actual magical action." 11:47 <banana> "All else being equal you're likely to experience longevity." 11:48 <Quaker> She is positively beaming. Oh ho ho! 11:48 <banana> "Wellesley, I have demurred a little here, but like.. if you're sure!" 11:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, now I insist." 11:50 <banana> Zebek: "Yeah, yeah, okay." 11:50 <banana> Daniel: "Zeb isn't from around here. I mean, he's a human from England, but he came from a part of the country where they have different magical specialties, like this casual destiny-readout stuff. Try not to be weirded out, please?" 11:51 <tom> Bob pipes up: "Oh uh, one other thing... normally I don't ask but... psychics... do you guys mind if we can you? Standard House procedure." 11:51 <Quaker> …Wales? 11:51 <tom> He taps a button on his visor. 11:51 <tom> There's a little chime, but he waits to proceed until the starchildren have a chance to ask their bit. 11:51 <Crion> Now Aster does roll his eyes. 11:51 <VoxPVoxD> Wales isn't part of England, no matter how many boomers from market towns retire there. 11:51 <tom> "...Look man I think consent is good." 11:52 <Crion> Aster: "Do you really think that was the part I was objecting to?" 11:52 <Crion> "You, Willie, and your toy." 11:52 <tom> "Look I been gettin' yelled at a lot okay." He adjusts his collar. "Tryin' to be nice now." 11:53 <Crion> Aster decides not to have anymore of this conversation in front of a client. 11:53 <banana> Zebek clears his throat. "You shall pass through fire, and be burned. You shall be subject to trials until you will it otherwise. You shall be cursed with exposure, and the enemy of the hidden. You shall be among the vessels of the elect. ...You shall burn brightly rather than at length." 11:55 <banana> "There are at least three different geases coming together here, and I can't easily pick apart the influence they've had. At least one of them would be impossible to break without changing your identity, your soul-deep self." 11:55 <banana> Reveille: "If this is part of your toolkit go for it, but I'd like to know what you're doing." 11:56 <banana> There's a rap on the door. Lindsay goes out to meet someone - a venue staffer taking away trash, and notifying him of their bus's arrival. 11:56 <Crion> Aster, closing his eyes for evenness: "They want to know your theme songs." 11:56 <VoxPVoxD> ",,,thank you. I'm grateful you told me that. I would rather know than not." You don't have to be a face-reading genius to tell she'd rather she heard something at least a bit different even more. But she did ask. 11:56 <VoxPVoxD> "I have to admit it does sound quite cool." 11:57 <tom> Bob grimaces. "You make it sound way less cool when you just- well, okay." 11:57 <Crion> Aster: "I know I do. That's why I do it." 11:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie would disagree that that sounds less cool! But then she wasn't trained in military jargon. 11:57 <tom> Next time he gets a chance, he'll ask Willie if she can handle the trackchecking for a while. 11:58 <tom> He waits for Reveille and her entourage to nod before he taps the button on his visor. 11:58 <banana> Reveille: "If I had to pick, my favourite at the moment is Street Kids and Sheet Mids." 11:58 <banana> "It's on the new album." 11:58 <Crion> Aster: "You don't get to pick." 11:59 <banana> At the moment you've got Mary and Lindsey in here, so the device is recording two musicians' songs. Should be done in a moment. 11:59 <tom> Bob: "While we're at it, you didn't happen to score the laser rifles the Reptilians had, did you?" 12:00 <tom> "We always found they had a hard time with overheating. It's the cooling cycle, wears out the- you don't care." 12:00 <Crion> Aster: "It would be interesting to see if they still worked, but if I've got the right conception of this whole thing, I assume they broke down into uselessness and degraded out of existence as soon as the lizardmen were dealt with." 12:01 <tom> He doesn't quite shrug- the wave fades before it hits its peak. "Doesn't hurt to ask." 12:01 <Quaker> Badawi: “Well…I had advised against taking the job, but if you want to fill us in on why you need help, Daniel…I’d feel bad if we did *nothing* for you, now.” 12:02 <Crion> Aster: "Agreed." 12:02 <banana> Daniel: "I don't mind just talking about it. This stuff is pleasantly weird if you haven't had to actually live it." 12:03 <banana> Daniel: "The dead gods are like.. this overbearing presence that never actually matters. They all went back to sleep a hundred years ago, approximately forever." 12:03 <VoxPVoxD> "But not Khemut-Re?" 12:04 <banana> "Apparently, He's got unfinished business." 12:05 <banana> "And that's okay, I guess? Whatever this underworld-driven quest might be, driving the cult into action, bringing back the old hits.. it's gonna be something specific and time-limited. Not of global or permanent impact." 12:05 <banana> Zebek: "Well, not usually." 12:07 <banana> Daniel: "Yeah, the odds are it's something I personally could just.. try to stay out of. But the family stories, cult histories, they all put a lot of horrified emphasis on what K-R brings with him. The god's guardian." 12:07 <tom> Bob is clearly a little excited. Reptilians! About fucking time. 12:08 <banana> "Naswut. The honey-crocodile. A creature that eats and hates, and cannot be killed. And when the god is on Earth, it's always around - a permanent vortex of murder." 12:09 <VoxPVoxD> That does sound like a problem. 12:10 <banana> Reveille: "Once the fire department was done, there weren't any laser rifles in the wreckage. Nor any lizardman bodies, which was a relief." 12:10 <banana> Reveille/Mary Morgan/M&M | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTrk4X9ACtw | "Fallen through a hole in the cage -- she will stand between kings and priests -- or she will fall further." 12:10 <tom> Bob: "Oh hell yes. It's customary to let the scanned listen." 12:11 <Quaker> Badawi: “Uh-huh. What did the other mages say when you told them about this?” 12:12 <tom> Nobody could get mad about Orinoco Flow, right? 12:12 <banana> Reveille doesn't seem impressed. "I guess she's classic, but why not one of mine? Or at least the right kind of music? Is this a who-would-play-you-in-the-film thing?" 12:12 <tom> Bob: "Might be." 12:12 <Crion> Is that actually customary. Aster is pretty sure they haven't been doing that for all the vampires they've been surreptitiously scanning. 12:12 <Crion> Aster: "It's a possibly-malfunctioning old artifact's bad joke." 12:12 <Crion> "I would not take it as dispositive." 12:13 <banana> "Well what the hell does it mean to have a theme song anyway? What's this pull quote?" 12:13 <tom> Bob flips off his visor and lets her take a gander. 12:13 <VoxPVoxD> I do recommend thinking about it a lot and getting really upset, though. 12:13 <tom> He looks deeply tired without that stupid visor on. 12:13 <Crion> "They read like performance notations, usually." 12:13 <Crion> Less so this time. Can we get back to work? 12:14 <tom> Bob's visor goes back on. He smiles affably. "That about do it?" 12:15 <banana> "The only thing which makes this- yeah. Okay, Lindsay's setting things up with Hughes. I'll also give you my number." Since she's holding your phone anyway. "Don't hand this out, but like I said - I know I don't get to keep secrets here." 12:15 <tom> "Whadda they say here? Mum's the word." 12:16 <Crion> Aster: "I don't hand out people's private lines." 12:16 <tom> Bob nods. 12:16 <Crion> Aster: "Time to get to work, then." 12:16 <banana> L-plate: "My mum claims she can't make out any of the words in our songs, and that we should be more like the Beatles. The Girl Beatles." 12:16 <tom> Bob: "Oh, one last thing, the boys from GEO.... KIA?" 12:17 <banana> L-plate/Lindsey Farrier | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1c2OfAzDTI | "A healer and a heroine -- medic to millions -- or just a kid who never grew up." 12:17 <tom> He'll go over the fire department reports later. 12:17 <banana> Reveille: "Very dead." 12:18 <tom> The groupchat updates. BG: <F> 12:18 <banana> "The company wrote them off along with our payment and didn't want to ask questions." 12:18 <tom> "Well, if it's more Reptilians I think they'll be in for a surprise." 12:18 <banana> Which means that Waistcoat Colony can now pay you instead. Win-win. 12:19 <Crion> Aster is indeed interested in getting to work immediately. What do they have to work with? Does Reveille have star chart data or dream journals or anything concrete to give a starting point? 12:21 <Crion> To Bob: "If you're going to point that thing at clients, for the love of God, don't show them the songs." 12:21 <Crion> This is when they're back in the van. 12:21 <tom> "Yeah alright. Just wanted to build some client trust. Yeah." 12:22 <tom> He's fiddling with his gun. 12:22 <tom> He stows it under the seat. 12:22 <Crion> Aster: "I don't know what it is with that thing, but the songs are always insulting." 12:22 <Crion> "Or at least deflating." 12:22 <tom> "I liked mine," he mutters, unloading the magazine one bullet at a time into his palm. 12:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie thinks of hers as an imprecation. 12:23 <tom> "Anyway you're the one what said it was their theme song. I just wanted to say it's a scan." 12:24 <banana> Most of that will have to follow tomorrow, but to begin she gave you the name of a star. "The Agent that's directing obstacles into my path - it used to just be these career roadblocks, now actual attacks - it's Epsilon Eridani. Taken shape and power here as a body of flowing water." 12:24 <tom> Satisfied, he slaps his pack and deposits it behind his seat. 12:24 <Crion> Aster: "The number one rule of psychics is don't lie to psychics." 12:24 <Crion> "Even lies of omission." 12:24 <tom> Bob: "Noted." 12:25 <Crion> Aster will text Haldane via HUNTR: Epsilon Eridani, the star. Work up a very basic profile, especially with regards to astrology. 12:25 <banana> Zebek grimaces at the mention of other mages getting involved with Naswut and Khemut-Re. "Yeah, about that.. have you ever heard of cryptopoly? The thearch-thaumaturge relationship?" 12:26 <banana> He smiles at Badawi specifically. "More of this nonsense, I'm afraid." 12:26 <tom> "That's funny." 12:26 <Crion> He has to drive the van, so he can't also be in the back on the computer. 12:26 <Crion> "Hmm?" 12:26 <Quaker> Badawi: “Yes.” 12:26 <tom> Bob is unlacing his boots. "Normally Reptilians, we get the ones from Draco, yeah? Eridani is team blue, or so I've heard. Nordics are from there." 12:27 <tom> "Friendly bunch. The swastika is backwards, that's how you can tell they're not Nazis." 12:27 <Crion> Aster: "...Do you want to take point on this?" It's a genuine question; he's not making fun. 12:28 <tom> "I mean shit, I only met the one alien and maybe he was just fuckin' with me." 12:28 <banana> Zebek: "Well, it's that sort of thing. The north point of the Diamond is the Silver Ladder, mages who seek to rule. They have a hierarchy of increasingly-less-magical organisations and entities through which they operate, and somewhere down that list... the local mummy-cult. It's all very hands off. The leaders of the organisation know of secret powers above them, the rank and file don't." 12:28 <tom> "But yeah I'm always down to scrap with Reptilians." 12:29 <banana> "Given the mummy's impending return, the cult may have broken free of its ties and be going its own way. Or it may not." 12:29 <Crion> Aster texts Haldane, then, that all that information should be forwarded to Bob first, and that Bob will be point man on the lizardmen questions. 12:29 <tom> He's nodding: "I'll pull the Mjolnir out of storage. Shit, I hope they aren't wondering why there's an extra in the arsenal." 12:31 <tom> Or why it's got shit spray-painted on the side. Or a lot of things, really. 12:31 <Quaker> Badawi: “Well, we’ll look into it a bit more and give you an answer if you send us the details. We can’t guarantee we’ll say yes. But we will consider it. It’s just that mummies have a reputation for being dangerous, and good at keeping grudges for eternity.” 12:31 <Quaker> “Does that work for you?” 12:32 <Quaker> “In return, we can let you know if we stumble across anything particularly…adventurous. That we think you’d be interested in witnessing.” 12:33 <banana> Daniel: "Thanks for considering it. If I can get someone to do this, I'll be paying 'em with the cult's own stolen funds, so.. that increases the grudge level, maybe. Also the adventure level!" 12:34 <banana> Zebek: "It would be fun, if they didn't know exactly who we are." 12:35 <banana> The mage rubs his stomach a little and sighs. "This particular cuisine fusion... it's okay. They have ideas, at least." 12:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Korean dishes with French technique... you can only go so wrong." 12:40 <banana> A few days later, it's raining 12:40 <banana> . 12:41 <VoxPVoxD> This was the message Willie sent to Weaste at Aaron's urging: <Lord Weaste, I have a question of protocol: the Baron Agecroft sent me a series of messages over several weeks, beginning with the urging to entertain him, followed by a series of apparent prophecies and culminating in a shirtless selfie and quite vivid threats of violence. It was only these latter messages that let me distinguish 12:42 <VoxPVoxD> them from anonymous harrassment. I confess I am quite uncertain in what spirit the messages are intended, and what manner of response etiquette dictates. I would value your advice.> 12:43 <banana> Greater Manchester's central business district is just beginning to flower with Christmas decorations; shops are putting holly above the doors, there are giant Santa hats on outdoor monuments and lighted office windows are going green-and-red at night. 12:44 <VoxPVoxD> She's also got a favour to ask of Aaron at the meeting: she wants him to check this tube for bad vibes or dark histories before giving it to the team as a gift from Sergio. "I trust Sergio. I do not trust Sergio's master." A distinction Aaron might not respect, but one that means the world to Willie. "If you judge it safe I would like to give it to the team as he asked me." 12:44 <VoxPVoxD> Maybe she can even get out of this without saying 'tube' in the way that Americans always tease her for. 12:45 <Crion> Aster is moving very gingerly. He accepts it without a wince, though. "Of course." 12:47 <banana> Simpson Kirkpatrick left Willie on read for a day. She did get a response eventually, which was this: <I appreciate your reaching-out, Lady Douro. He may be family, but Lord Agecroft is frankly intemperate. Emily has made it clear to him that there is presently no business between us, and if he doesn't respect that nobody's going to take his side.> 12:47 <Crion> He's not at the top of his game, not this soon after yesterday's outing, but he's certainly well enough to analyze a tube. 12:48 <tom> Bob pulls back the panels at his workstation to watch. 12:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks a bit pained. She still feels guilty about what transpired down in Wessex yesterday. She's not going to try and mother him, though. It would be weird, and he wouldn't like it. At least one of those things has to not be true. 12:49 <VoxPVoxD> She wonders how many deliberations went into that message. The day's delay makes Willie read a lot into it, like being left on read always does, but because she always reads too much into it she's gotten pretty good at not actually doing anything but read into it. 12:49 <banana> Weaste: <Your discretion will be rewarded with peace.> 12:50 <tom> After a fashion, Bob comes out of his fortress to nod and give Aster a wry smile. "Hanging out with Suzie, I see." 12:50 <Crion> Aster reaches out and touches the resonance of Sergio's gift. 12:50 <Crion> To Bob: "Her name was Cristina, actually." 12:50 <tom> "Sounds nice." 12:51 <Crion> "It wasn't. We're going to have to go back. She's very angry about Henry I." 12:51 <Crion> "So gear up for an exorcism, because we're asking you." 12:52 <banana> The storage chube isn't canvas-length, but it holds a sizeable piece of paper. To physical inspection, there's no apparent trap. 12:52 <tom> "Ooh!" Bob gushes. "Hell yes. I brought out the ghost goggles already." 12:52 <VoxPVoxD> She only hems and haws for a couple of hours (while chewing through her inbox) before responding: <I value your grace and understanding. Thank you, Lord Weaste.> 12:54 <banana> Richard Haldane steps out of the shower block, fully dressed but with a towel wrapped around his hair. "Now, when you say ghosts." 12:54 <banana> Aster sees... through another man's eyes. 12:54 <tom> There's a rising electronic whine and the rims of his visor bleed ultraviolet. 12:54 <Crion> Aster: "Cristina Ætheling." 12:54 <Crion> "You can do the math." 12:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We were down by Reading Abbey." 12:55 <VoxPVoxD> "I seem to be able to commune with the dead a bit." 12:55 <banana> He dances, and talks, but mostly he observes. Samhain. The Underking's people are lovely and colourful, but the ones who catch his attention most are mortal, life-blooded, Willie's people. 12:55 <Crion> Aster's no longer part of the conversation. 12:55 <Crion> Ah. This is uncomfortable. 12:55 <Crion> The vision had better stop before he leaves the party with her. 12:56 <banana> The egregious Rolf, canny but no more socially appealing than his namesake. England runs on the labour of men like him. 12:56 <tom> Bob taps his visor and flips off the etherics. He does a google search: "Long drive, huh. What's in the abbey?" 12:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "In the Abbey, nothing of note. But we found a thousand-year-old tomb, from which the Carthian Registrar emerged. It turns out he is in fact Henry Beauclerc, son of Guillaume le Conquérant." 12:58 <banana> You dismiss Rolf. Aaron Aster is worth watching, vigilant, distracetd only by his going-native girlfriend. Samantha avoids you, knows what you are, slips you a business card at one point in the evening - the amnesty programme. How many vampires take up that offer? You suppose they don't get counted either way. 12:59 <Quaker> “Can we dial the elliptical cryptic statements down by around twenty percent? Because the conversations in here are getting to the point where they make no fucking sense.” 12:59 <Crion> Oh now that's interesting. 12:59 <Quaker> Badawi is watching a movie on the VHS/TV setup. 12:59 <Crion> What is she into now, in bonny London? 13:00 <tom> What movie? 13:00 <tom> Bob, turning to face Willie with a blank expression under his lenses. "I get it." 13:00 <Quaker> The Yakuza, starring Robert Mitchum. 13:01 <banana> Agostina Badawi, if that's her real name. She looks like a queen but acts like the concept of authority doesn't exist. A will at odds with reality. That wasn't obufscation, so she has some other way to be truly invisible - there was no scent until she stepped onto the scene. 13:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks at Agostina with mild confusion before turning back to Bob. "A Norman King! Buried beneath him, and in some sense the origin of the job Aster's taken through his private business was Cristina Ætheling, who was heiress of the Saxons the Normans deposed." 13:02 <banana> Haldane: "I've done the maths. It's a bit hard to believe, isn't it? A bloodsucker that elderly would be bigger news. Possibly a national crisis." 13:02 <banana> "Specifically a national crisis if he was the rightful King of England." 13:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Perhaps he's forgotten. Aaron hasn't had the opportunity to interview him yet." 13:03 <tom> "Woah, shit-" Bob turns to Richard. "I don't think he'd push it, yeah? Seems like he'd have more to less from the exposure on that one." 13:03 <tom> lose* 13:04 <banana> Apart from Willie, the one you spend the most time watching is Bob Goreman. The man's ability to alternate between sozzled and sober is enviable, which is one of only two things to envy about him. 13:05 <banana> If it wasn't for the Lost girl he'd have fixated on Willie, that's for sure. You should be thankful. You're kind of worried about him instead. Might want to invite him to something that doesn't involve any blood or bullets. 13:05 <Crion> Oh that's just pathetic, Sergio. 13:05 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Anyway, Cristina's need for revenge on the Britain-That-Is seems to have animated a curse on poor Dylan Pritchard, who is filled with visions of Saxon noblesse oblige and would quite like the cursèd torc removed from his person." 13:05 <banana> Aster's vision fades, but the memories of the hunters are the strongest impression associated with the tube. 13:05 <VoxPVoxD> "We're working on it." 13:05 <Crion> Where's that Continental confidence? 13:06 <Crion> That wasn't one of the questions. 13:07 <banana> Haldane: "It's a side-job, right? None of this is on the balance sheet or in the database." 13:07 <Crion> Has the tube been in possession of anyone but Sergio's, to the resonance Italian's knowledge? 13:07 <banana> No. 13:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Correct, this is through Aster Biologics." 13:08 <tom> "You don't have to pay me to bring me onboard for ghost shit. Reptilians and ghosts? Shit, I can finally fill out this piece of shit card-" 13:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I actually also have some side ghost work, though likely far more prosaic. My friend Sarah from university wants a sample of ectoplasm." 13:08 <banana> Richard: "Do you get issued a new one once you've got a score?" 13:09 <tom> "Yep. Goal's to fill out at least one before, well, you know." 13:09 <tom> Bob laughs, coughs. 13:09 <Crion> Is there anything possibly dangerous at all about the tube to the resonance's knowledge? 13:11 <banana> There's a slight dissonance as Aster's interpretation of the evidence diverges from the more esoteric aspects of the Process. From his point of view, the answer is No. 13:11 <tom> "You make your own, you know. If you make it to easy to win you get the soap." 13:11 <tom> too* 13:12 <banana> Haldane nods solemnly. "A terrible fate for Fort soldiers, having to be the one who washes." 13:12 <tom> "That's why I'm about that defector life, haha, you get it." He offers Haldane a pathetic fist bump. 13:12 <Crion> Aster returns to the world, blinking and shaking his head. "Christ. Fuck." 13:12 <Crion> "It's nice to be respected, I suppose." 13:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "But yes of course you can come! We could make an evening of it. Aaron's also expressed interest." 13:13 <tom> Bob: "Is it a bomb or what." 13:13 <Crion> To Willie: "The tube is safe to the extent I can determine." 13:13 <tom> "Nice. What is it." 13:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Sergio made it! For the team." 13:14 <VoxPVoxD> "He asked me to let everyone open it together." 13:14 <VoxPVoxD> "I just wanted to make sure no one had snuck a curse on it." 13:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Bit of that going around." 13:16 <tom> Bob: "May I see it?" 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> "Everyone can see it together!" 13:16 <Crion> Aster won't lean forward, mainly because it hurts. 13:17 <banana> The official purpose of today's meeting is to catch up and sort out plans for the new job- but it's the first time you've had most of you together since the Gardeners. With one or two people out guarding Reveille it's going to be rare for everyone to be here. 13:18 <tom> Bob is just hoping and praying Rolf isn't getting into fistfights with teenagers. 13:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie will open the tube once everyone's at the table. 13:18 <banana> Inside the chube is just what Willie expects: a drawing. It's the five members of the Nameless House, as Sergio knows them. 13:19 <banana> Each of them is mostly a head and face, with little stylised bodies attached - the caricature element. He's placed the figures at the points of a pentacle, with an anonymous and sprawling villa in the center. 13:19 <Crion> Upon seeing this, Aster leans back and grimaces, as if with heartburn. 13:19 <tom> Bob has to be coaxed away from the little television set Badawi's watching her film on, but he joins the others. "Oh nice. We should frame that sucker." 13:19 <banana> It's somewhere between a sketch and a full illustration, with little bits of strategic colour but mostly pen-on-pencil-on-paper. 13:19 <tom> "Oh come onnn, you like it." 13:20 <Quaker> Badawi: “Oh. Like those fellows on the beach who draw you in a little car.” 13:20 <banana> Aster looks.. only a little like his porpoise-masked self; the nose remains, but his face is human. Glasses have slipped down it, and his gaze pierces over them. Mouth's set in a comically grim line. 13:20 <banana> (The comedy, he thinks, is intentional.) 13:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie beams. "Isn't it lovely?" 13:20 <tom> Get his ass, Sergio. 13:21 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, she's ever so pleased. 13:21 <tom> I'm cool, right? That's the only thing that matters. I'm definitely cool. 13:21 <banana> Badawi is crowned, her face surrounded by orbs and crosses - floating symbols of royalty. In the drawing she looks across the pentacle, studying the moat that surrounds the House. 13:22 <Crion> Aster: "It's not actually cursed. Just. I don't know. Culturally so." 13:22 <VoxPVoxD> Long live the queen. 13:22 <banana> Bob's wearing a dark-glasses version of his visor - you can't see any eyes, but the light glints off them, a little drawn asterisk. His mouth is in a sloppy grin, at odds with the secret-agent earpiece cord that coils past it. 13:23 <VoxPVoxD> Ahahaha. 13:23 <tom> 10/10 13:23 <tom> Bob is in such a good mood. He's reheating some apology manikish in the microwave. 13:24 <banana> Rolf has a West Ham scarf, his head rising out of it like a mass of wrinkles. His forehead is creased with... wisdom? It could be wisdom. Sharp eyes, to the extent you can make them out. 13:24 <banana> Richard: "Promotional poster? Or is that a little too honest." 13:25 <banana> Richard, of course, isn't on it - but Willie is there, at the bottom point of the star, head turned a way a little. Her expression is oddly gentle. 13:25 <VoxPVoxD> What do you mean 'oddly'? 13:27 <VoxPVoxD> Aaaaaah she's so happy. She looks it, too. Embarrassingly so, if one were of a mind to get embarrassed, which Willie is not. 13:27 <Crion> Aster glances over, sees that, and decides not to press the issue of the other vampire thing until she's ready. 13:27 <Crion> Besides, it hurts to speak. 13:29 <VoxPVoxD> Finally, Willie sits down: "So that's item one of vampire news: the extremely good news. The moderately bad news is that I've been threatened, or at least harrassed, by the Baron Agecroft, one of the Victus Indomitus elders, including quite a vivid, fruit-based threat." 13:29 <tom> Bob offers the grimacing Aster a cold bottle of water from the fridge. If he doesn't take it, he'll pop the cap himself. 13:30 <Crion> Aster: "I think direct clarity is necessary here, Willie." He accepts the water. "It's a straightforward rape-murder threat." 13:30 <Crion> "He's sending pictures of himself." 13:30 <tom> Now it's his turn to grimace. 13:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie presses her lips together. "I defer to Aaron's expertise." 13:30 <tom> "I can range in artillery on Inchcape by this evening." 13:31 <banana> Richard, on his way to his chair, gives Willie an eye-contact moment of sympathy. "All of our resources are at your disposal." 13:31 <Crion> "If you've seen the dog out front, you've seen part of my advice. The other part was...well, Willie can communicate what the response was to it, as I don't know." 13:31 <VoxPVoxD> "Now, the countervailing moderately good news is that on Aster's guidance I've taken some additional steps toward my security. I have my familiar outside, a hellhound. My instinct is to leave him outside when we're here. There are a number of ways to limit my exposure. One of them is that I've reported this to another elder, Baron Weaste, Sergio's sire. His response was as follows." 13:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie repeats it verbatim. 13:31 <tom> Bob: "Is that good?" 13:32 <Crion> Aster: "That puts us putatively in the clear for my main proposed solution to this problem." 13:32 <Crion> "Which is that if Fortunato comes across that river, we kill him. And we make it public." 13:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It does, so long as we handle it ourselves and do not take it to the WASC." 13:32 <tom> Bob: "Finally! Fuckin'... finally we're on the same wavelength." 13:33 <banana> Haldane: "It's manipulative. 'Your discretion will be rewarded'. What are the chances that Vie coordinated the whole thing?" 13:33 <Crion> Aster: "We already have the passive benefit of Willie's apartment being cat corners with the WASC assembly hall. I don't think we need anything further from them." 13:33 <banana> It's nice that that's a benefit now. 13:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Manipulated us into doing things we'd have done already? I feel okay letting them pat themselves on the back for that." 13:34 <Quaker> Badawi is rubbing her forehead with her thumb and index fingers. 13:34 <VoxPVoxD> "Insofar as they have a motive to manipulate, it's insecurity." 13:34 <Crion> Aster: "Manipulated Fortunato into using a smartphone to send text messages? The Victus Indomitus?" 13:34 <banana> Haldane: "Mm. Wishful thinking, perhaps." 13:34 <tom> Bob: "Look, I met the guy. Bad vibes, dude." 13:35 <VoxPVoxD> All it takes is one bad day to drive you crazy. 13:35 <Crion> Aster: "If we get a favor from a mage in our pocket, especially that weird shithead we used to track the Gardeners, no offense to him, then putting a tracking beacon on Fortunato should be our priority." 13:36 <Crion> "If he stays on estate grounds, then that's fine. Survivable for him, even." 13:37 <banana> Hyperclasm can't see into the greybox, but he wouldn't take offence. 13:37 <VoxPVoxD> That's the most offensive thing about him, really. 13:37 <VoxPVoxD> Although one supposes someone operating with that kind of pervert's toolbox who was ashamed about it would be so much more unpleasant, and not actually any better. 13:38 <Crion> Aster: "But the five of us and the demon against one elder that another VI elder has said is taking his privilege into both his hands if he steps out and to us...I think we're a deterrant. And if we're not, his dust will be." 13:40 <tom> Bob hmms. 13:41 <tom> He clears his throat meaningfully. 13:41 <banana> Haldane: "In time, we should be able to sweep the whole remnants of this affair into that dustbin. Our employer has- yes, Bob?" 13:41 <tom> "There's another thing." 13:41 <Crion> Aster: "That said...I think we're going to have to adjust to having more Sergio, collectively, in our lives. Hmm?" 13:43 <tom> "I got intelligence from an eye witness- Suzie Cutsworth- that a number of the Gardeners' victims were alive when the Inchcape people got them. I want to do a fact-finding mission, just to see if it's safe to follow up on." He nods at Willie. "We've got a contact who has some distance from the Elders." 13:43 <tom> "If it's too risky, we bounce." 13:45 <tom> Bob: "I just wanted to bring it to the group first. If you or Badawi-" he looks meaningfully at Agostina- "-don't approve, we drop it." 13:45 <Crion> Aster takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. "We're not going to be enacting a daring raid on Inchcape to rescue them, so this sounds like an exercise in making yourself sad." 13:45 <tom> "We don't know. That's just it." 13:46 <tom> "Maybe they've already debriefed the survivors- sans a few memories, maybe- and let 'em go. Can't hurt to find out what the play is." 13:46 <Crion> Aster: "I am directly saying that it's a bad idea to know." 13:46 <Quaker> Badawi: “Is that my cue to offer my opinion?” 13:46 <tom> "Go ahead." 13:49 <Quaker> “Don’t take this the wrong way. But I think your plan has some pretty serious holes.” 13:50 <tom> Bob looks crestfallen. 13:50 <Crion> Aster: "Who's the contact? Is this that Agatha woman?" 13:50 <tom> "Hursley-Apple." 13:51 <Crion> Aster: "Developing Agatha as a contact for insight into VI politics is worthwhile. Trying to pursue this thing with the Gardener victims is not." 13:51 <banana> Haldane: "English names." 13:52 <Quaker> “I can suggest some things.” 13:52 <tom> Bob: "Would it be okay to ask indirectly? If we can find out more about what happened when De La Warr crossed the river, it could give us clues without exposure." 13:53 <Crion> Aster gestures for Badawi to continue, as he sags back on the couch and closes his eyes. 13:53 <tom> Bob nods. 13:53 <Quaker> “Again, no offense, but you’re all thinking like vampires.” 13:53 <Quaker> “Or aristocrats.” 13:54 <Crion> Aster: "With all due respect, I am not going to take endless lectures on the dangers of vampires from someone making friends with some four different flavors of mage." 13:55 <Quaker> “I’m not going to lecture you.” 13:55 <Quaker> “You’re all obviously committed to the vampire thing.” 13:55 <tom> Bob's smiling nervously as his eyes slide from Aster to Agostina. 13:56 <banana> Haldane: "Let's move on to Mrs. Badawi's point- what's the vampirethought trap to avoid here?" 13:56 <Quaker> “I don’t think this person is going to stop, or that he would take a warning from his superiors seriously. From everything you say, he’s a depraved narcissist who is used to dominating humans for pleasure and sport.” 13:57 <Quaker> “That’s point number one.” 13:57 <Quaker> “And he can compel others to do what he wants, right?” 13:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's content to let this play out. She's dumped enough vampire business on the table and she is committed, so there's no reason to pretend to argue. 13:57 <Crion> Aster, wearily: "Do we know what clan Fortunato is?" 13:58 <VoxPVoxD> "He is the Daeva primogen. Connected by blood to Night Mayor Shaw." 13:58 <VoxPVoxD> "Richard's been working very hard on those org charts. I want to take a moment to note that. Thank you, Richard." 13:58 <Crion> Aster: "Then yes, he likely has ways of mental manipulation, though less direct than the Ventrue." 13:58 <banana> Haldane: :) 14:00 <Quaker> “Okay. Then if Willie is the focus of some kind of violent obsession, we should assume that he’s actively working on that. These aren’t people like we understand them. They’re violent slaves of desire.” She holds up her hands. “Not telling you to not associate with vampires. Just pointing it out.” 14:00 <Quaker> “So we should probably do two things.” 14:01 <Quaker> “One, we should freeze everyone on the other side of the river out entirely except for Sergio. As in, we regard any interest from any of them as extremely unfriendly in nature. We have no idea what kind of loyalties they have to Fortunato. Or what kind of pressures he can put on them.” 14:02 <Quaker> “Including Agatha, for now. We don’t want it getting back to them that we’re trying to find out more about them.” 14:02 <Quaker> “For any reason.” 14:03 <Quaker> “But point two is that we have to start learning more about them, without them knowing.” 14:03 <Quaker> “Which is what I meant by you all thinking like vampires too much.” 14:03 <Quaker> “These are literal aristocrats, yes?” 14:03 <Crion> Aster: "Some are. Most aren't." 14:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "These specific four are." 14:04 <Quaker> “Alright. And who do aristocrats not even notice when they’re standing in the room?” 14:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "The help." 14:05 <VoxPVoxD> "However, they are also deviously paranoid, and they have some idea of what their blind spots are." 14:05 <Crion> Aster: "They rape and murder the help." 14:05 <VoxPVoxD> "It's not Bertie Wooster we're talking about here." 14:05 <Quaker> “It’s not about how the help is treated. We can learn everything we want to know about VI4 without needing to contact the elders at all. We can start bugging and surveilling their ghouls, their servants, their mortal contacts, all until we find out everything about them.” 14:05 <Crion> Aster: "Incidentally, I don't appreciate repeatedly being told I think like a vampire." 14:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's worth looking into. The five of us are assuredly under surveillance in some capacity." 14:06 <Crion> Aster: "I do acknowledge that this is a preferable alternative path to cultivating a VI elder as a source." 14:07 <banana> Haldane: "The way I'd put that is that they're social manipulators. They tell you things about themselves as a way to gain power over you. It's an apparent openness which draws us in - thinking they way they want us to, not thinking like them." 14:07 <Quaker> “Yeah. Sorry. Not calling you vampiric. We just need to avoid the trap of being as fascinated with them as they are.” 14:07 <Quaker> “Not saying you currently are. Just saying we need to make sure we aren’t in the future.” 14:08 <Crion> To Bob: "Did you already offer to meet with Agatha?" 14:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Though, in the interests of fairness, I don't think Agatha qualifies as an elder, either by status or, particularly, by age. She holds no special rank, has responsibility for no territory... and 150 years isn't that long-lived." 14:08 <Crion> "Is this a fait accompli?" 14:08 <VoxPVoxD> "I believe the offer was tendered, yes. It wouldn't be impossible to rescind, but, it would need to be rescinded." 14:08 <Crion> Aster: "Then you take the meeting." 14:09 <Quaker> “Anyway, those are my thoughts.” 14:09 <Crion> "Offering and then backing out is the height of suspicious." 14:09 <Crion> Aster: "But you take no more, and offer no more, beyond this." 14:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I do think insofar as we do treat with vampires directly in a professional capacity we should continue to observe Agostina's buddy rule." 14:09 <banana> Haldane: "The trick would be to find out ways to watch them in future.. without letting Ms. 'Hursley-Apple' learn that's what you're doing." 14:10 <Crion> "...And in the future, don't ask permission when you're more properly asking forgiveness." 14:12 <Quaker> “And think of it like this, Bob. Ghouls or mortals do all their dirty work. And they’re not the smartest knives in the block, just the ones who happened to fall into their web. If those people got moved or imprisoned or, astagfirullah, killed and disposed of, the ghouls and mortals would know and eventually talk about it when they think the bosses aren’t listening. We’ll find out this way. And then — maybe — we can do something about it. 14:12 <Quaker> Maybe.” 14:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Surveillance is a good strategy we should look into." 14:17 <Crion> Aster: "I agree. Especially with drones and the Tag module at our disposal." 14:18 <tom> Bob nods and chews quietly on his manakish. 14:18 <tom> "I'll take the one meeting then, and then we cool it." 14:19 <Quaker> “I’ll help you work the missing persons case.” 14:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm going to have more contact with Vie through Sergio. I don't think it's practical or particularly useful for me to try to avoid that. But we should adopt some of the strategies the vampires are assuredly also already using." 14:21 <VoxPVoxD> While not thinking like them, somehow. 14:21 <tom> Bob turns back to look at the television set and smile at Badawi. "Thanks, Agostina. That means a lot." He shakes the genuine emotion off as fast as he can. 14:22 <banana> Haldane: "Personally, I'm quite happy we're using some of the time and resources which our employer has provided on, ah, aftercare. It might not be strictly part of the business model, but there is such a thing as morale." 14:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie makes a face at Richard. Surely there was another word. 14:23 <Quaker> See! See!!!