10:21 <banana> Manchester does have a musical tradition, despite everything. 10:22 <VoxPVoxD> Because of everything. Miserable people make a lot of art. 10:22 <Quaker> Badawi could outplay these guys. 10:23 <Crion> Aster's glad he has a mute. 10:23 <banana> Willie’s on primary shift today, with others as necessary - right now that’s everyone, as it’s time for a meeting. Studio Ralph, in south-central Manchester, is playing host to two very different types of band. 10:23 <hrolf> Not a single good band since the 'Roses. And yes, fuck the Gallaghers. 10:24 <banana> Over in one of the recording rooms are Reveille and her bandmates, who you still don’t know well - L-Plate, the drummer; Charlie Miracle, the firestarter, and the bassist who calls herself Dis-Aster. Hopefully not an omen. 10:26 <tom> Bob doesn't need his jacket; the Mjolnir's battery pack puts out enough heat to keep him comfortable on the long shift. 10:27 <banana> The Nameless House are gathered in a meeting room. At some point studio personnel are supposed to interrupt you with lunch, but it seems like the session’s going to go long. Is the injured but not entirely Dissed Aster present, or perhaps zooming in? 10:27 <hrolf> Does Dis-Aster have a sunnier disposition than the dis-free Aster? 10:27 <VoxPVoxD> This isn't exactly Willie's kind of music, but she's had enough boyfriends in bands to be able to maintain attention, if not interest, in what they're doing. 10:27 <tom> He's wearing pretty much all the time now, buttoned up with the armor and shoulderpads. Comfy guy inside. 10:27 <Crion> Not a fan of the bassist. Spent a lot of time avoiding that joke. 10:28 <tom> wearing it* 10:28 <banana> Rolf’s met her once now, and her real name is Paola Anna Santerini; she kind of shreds on stage but has a kind of mouse-like timidity when not playing. It’s not that she’s particularly nervous in affect, she just tends to leave very quickly when anything startles her. 10:29 <banana> The music leaking through the walls is start-stop. With some reluctance, Waistcoat Colony are recording little fix-up fragments that their producer’s demanded... 10:29 <banana> You’ve got decisions to make. 10:34 <Quaker> Badawi is looking at the guitars through the glass. She should totally show these guys up! 10:35 <hrolf> Rolf waves at Reveille, attempting to get her attention. He makes motions with his thumb towards the door - is there a break room, or somewhere private around? 10:35 <tom> Bob's sprawled out across the couch in the breakroom, bouncing his knee nervously. The Mjolnir's purring in his lap, powered down but still warm. He's been cycling the batteries every ten minutes to keep his hands warm. 10:35 <Crion> Aster, for his part, is out of office. Or, his office is his Land Rover. There's leads to follow up on. He is patched in to the group 'chat,' however. 10:36 <banana> Your client.. isn’t paying attention right now. Studio people reluctantly let you guys near the door if need be, but the band’s not going to interrupt their session if it isn’t something really important. Might be best to talk among yourselves first. 10:36 <Quaker> She already sent a photo of her notes from the interrogation to Aster. Lots of insane shit about numbers and veiled locations. 10:36 <Quaker> [All that is within your grassp - 22049, the river, at its beginning and its end. 159561, the sserpent, in a trench of unbridgeable death. 150706, heart of the bear. Basingstoke.] 10:37 <tom> Bob taps his visor. A speaker lights up on Aster's interface: "Your rifle's in the shop when you wanna grab it, man. Got some spare promags. BYOB on the optics, though." 10:37 <hrolf> Rolf taps on the glass divider between the recording area and the rest of the studio before making a face and giving up. 10:39 <Crion> Aster sent back a thanks and a 'good work.' Then an hour later, a litany of concerns and notes of things they should prepare for. Friday? 10:39 <Crion> Why on Earth is this middling regional rock act so important? 10:39 <banana> There’s a TV in the ceiling corner of the room where you’re meeting. Thankfully, there’s also a remote on the table to mute it. You could probably turn it off entirely by playing with the cable nest up there, but... there’s going to be a report on the mid-morning news about yesterday’s highway incident. 10:40 <tom> Bob swallows: "So you guys think we should... like, ask her... to not drive through the city... during the alien invasion?" 10:40 <tom> "Would that help?" 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't know if anything short of hiding in the country would help, and she's not going to do that." 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> "Maybe we could look into it? It sounds like a geography problem. Maybe Richard could do some maths at a map for us." 10:41 <tom> "Well I've got the property out in the hills. Maybe she should do that." 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> "Maybe she should, but she won't." 10:42 <hrolf> Rolf: "We can convince 'er." 10:42 <Quaker> Badawi: “You’re usually pretty excited to try and save innocent lives. Is a rocker that much more intimidating than an elder vampire?” 10:42 <hrolf> "Just need to get 'er away from er groupies and suchlike. So she doesn't lose face, innit. The chinese 'ave a word for it." 10:42 <tom> "I would just... feel bad, if the next rock from space lands on a bus or something." 10:42 <banana> Aster, wisely staying away from the place where aliens are most likely to attack, is nevertheless trying to hunt some down. He’s in danger of being a distracted driver - as well as the video feed of the cell’s meeting, he’s got occasional popups on the Huntr chat - something from Haldane about how he’s got reading to do, so if you need anything from him today, call on this number 10:42 <banana> instead of just sending a message. 10:43 <Crion> Aster is not bothering with video or pop-ups while driving. Come now. 10:43 <banana> Okay, very responsible. Then how’s he going about the investigation - looking for a way to perform astronomical observations? Or people who’ve already made them (perhaps weather forecasters)? Or does he have something else in mind? 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If we try to pin her down, she's going to start viewing us as hostile. That's a road that ends in us not getting paid, or in her dying and us not getting paid." 10:43 <Crion> He knows what you all look like. 10:43 <tom> Bob turns to Badawi: "Just wanna be agreeable is all..." 10:43 <Crion> Expert opinions. We're looking for astronomers who are in deep with the supernatural, or astrologers who sell out to the starchild mob. Surely they exist. 10:44 <tom> "Got enough people yellin' at me." 10:44 <hrolf> Rolf: "Well as I said. 'ave a good one to one chat wif her so she doesn't feel threatened or 'ave to put on airs in front of her groupies. If you can get 'er alone she'll listen to reason. Maybe Willie can do it - woman to woman an' all." 10:44 <Crion> Spend a long enough time developing an expertise on something adjacent to the hidden world, and the hidden world will come offering a consultancy fee. 10:44 <tom> Bob stares at Rolf as the man talks. "That's a good idea, actually." 10:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I can take it to her, if you like. I will say that asking to put her in a box and raise our rates is going to make both a much harder sell, so we should prioritise." 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> Of course it's a good idea! Rolf's been doing all the shifts, and he's not stupid. 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Do we have an ask in mind?" 10:46 <Quaker> “Taking her somewhere defensible is the most important thing. We know when the next wave of attacks are supposed to go, so we can start fortifying our location immediately.” 10:46 <VoxPVoxD> "Aaron?" Aaron can be counted on for elaborate money opinions. 10:46 <VoxPVoxD> "Do we have a safe location?" 10:46 <hrolf> "'ow about your cottage?" 10:46 <Crion> To the rest of the cell: "Don't be extortionate. Frankly, I disapprove of this entire line of enquiry. We have a rate. It's a very high rate. Our brand is built on this rate. If it gets around we take jobs then as for more money than one million pounds sterling, that lessens us. It hurts the House brand." 10:46 <tom> Bob: "I don't care about the money so much. If these things are after her, she can cool it in the moors for a week or two so the drop pods are hitting sheep instead of pedestrians." 10:47 <Crion> *then ask 10:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We could camp out at Crime Farm. It's not very defensible, but it is reasonably remote, on water, and we've got time to work." 10:47 <tom> He nods at Rolf. "Yeah, I volunteer the Tintwistle farmhouse. I've been renovating it- it's not quiiite done?" 10:47 <VoxPVoxD> "Bob's got a place in the country as well, but his is in much worse shape." 10:47 <tom> "Either'd work probably." 10:47 <hrolf> Rolf: "You can sell it as like, a beautiful place in the countryside to spark your creative juicees. Maybe do a folk rock album, like Led Zeppelin III." 10:47 <Crion> Aster: "That said, if you manage to pull it off, I won't say no to more money. But you'd better pull it off." 10:48 <hrolf> "Get the whole band in there, takin beautiful walks and then comin back in to record a song. Sounds pretty good eh?" 10:49 <Crion> Aster: "Building them a recording studio seems like a perfectly fair reason to ask for a raise." 10:49 <banana> Aster’s got his notes and his contacts. Georgiou, the mystic from the Mersey-side club, recommended a programme of observations involving mapping the stars to a river, which anyone with a sufficiently large telescope could perform. 10:49 <banana> That suggests the Manchester Astronomical Society, amateurs based out of the local university... and it also suggests an occasional bit of work he’s had down at the lab. 10:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Alright, so priority one is to get Reveille to agree to more security. What do we know about the 'tripods'? Should we expect the same sort of weapons they fired on us with already?" 10:50 <Quaker> Badawi is texting a certain Liverpudlian Free Assembler. AB: <Hello….would you like to see some Aliens in hostile action. seats are limited> 10:50 <Crion> The dictionary and torus case? 10:51 <Quaker> She looks up: “We can assume equal or greater threat. The lizard didn’t know much but he framed it as some kind of extreme escalation on Cosmos’s part.” 10:51 <tom> "Bigger and meaner, I'd guess. This is you guys' fault for not letting me get a recoilless rifle. I have been saying I need anti-armor weapons." 10:51 <banana> There are forecasters locally - BBC Weather has a station that does local observations as well as weather studies for the Irish Sea - and they came to him once before. Some intern from the broadcaster with papers showing unusual distortions and the request for an analysis. 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Perhaps if you said it less often, people would pay more attention when you did." 10:52 <tom> Bob grins. "That's fine. I don't need a fuckin' Carl Gustav. I can improvise, yeah? Make it a challenge." 10:53 <tom> "If we can get her out to some pre-prepared place? We'll have homefield advantage. Easy win." 10:54 <Crion> That's an interesting in. How long will it take for him to fulfill the request and do the analysis, so that he has it in hand when he shows up at the intern's desk (cubicle? coworking spot?) and asks for his own favor? 10:55 <banana> It’s just a matter of going through the maps and CSV files they’ve sent to see whether his special expertise applies. Not a full-day task. 10:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Do we have a line on the materials we'd need to fortify a farmhouse? What's the outlay on that?" 10:56 <VoxPVoxD> "We can't really invoice Reveille for the extra work but it's a number it'd be nice to have at my fingertips to demonstrate our seriousness." 10:56 <Crion> Aster: "It's an investment, but I have liquidity. Bob, stop laughing. If I'm convinced the return is worth it we can likely get materials on demand. They should be local enough that lorry nonsense won't affect it." 10:57 <tom> Bob scratches the back of his head. "Not really materials, more like, equipment. A backhoe would do it. Gotta dig some emplacements and ambush points." 10:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We should know how much it costs to get professionals to do it, in case it's impractical for you to drive heavy machinery." 10:58 <tom> "If we can fight from a prepared position and maintain the element of surprise- that'll mean, I think, thermal blankets, Reptilians fucking love heat vision, dude- but it's doable." 10:58 <banana> Well, you’ve got several days. Fortification is not out of the question. 10:58 <tom> "We just need to get her onboard with being smart." 10:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Leave that to me." 10:59 <VoxPVoxD> "Any other items?" 10:59 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm on main shift until midnight, though I won't say no to company. But we have several leads to run down as well." 11:00 <Quaker> “What needs investigating?” 11:01 <tom> "Yeah, Badawi's got elf court, so I'm the liason on that I guess?" He looks over to Agostina, working his jaw thoughtfully. 11:01 <tom> "We should probably reschedule that?" 11:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks just a bit nervous. 11:01 <hrolf> Rolf, to Willie: "I can join you if you need an 'elper to talk sense into the bint. Spent enough damn time around 'er to know 'er tics well enough." 11:01 <banana> There’s another lull in the music. They’ve been jumping between tracks, so it’s not the best as private concerts go (and the walls are thick enough to muffle most of it anyway). Into the quiet you can hear the TV’s morning programme drawing to a close - the news will be on soon. 11:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gives Rolf a look that lingers... and softens. "That's a good idea." 11:05 <tom> Bob flips the switch on the Mjolnir's grip, and the battery pack spools to life with a blue glow. He rubs his hands and places them on the weapon's flat body for warmth. 11:06 <tom> Smokers have cold hands. 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> Not Willie! 11:10 <Crion> The intern isn't going to like the implications of what Aster's found out, but they might get rich off of it. To wit: an examination of the low pressure zones between the Isle of Man in either direction in the Irish Sea in 1901, 1910, 1936, 1952, and 1972, when compared to current activity in the same geographical region, reveal similar tolerances and projected outcomes. The years will be 11:10 <Crion> more important to a subject of the Queen than they originally were to Aster. 11:10 <Quaker> Badawi: “I’ll tell the Courts that something urgent came up and they’ll have to pick a new day.” 11:11 <banana> A message from Zebek Trajan’s number: <Space aliens, undocumented immigrants, or the film?> 11:12 <Quaker> To wit: AB: <Hello Your Majesty. Sincere Apologies but something extremely urgent has come up for Friday and I won’t be able to make it. I remain at your disposal following a rescheduling. Thanks and again my apologies> 11:12 <Crion> He is not actually going to give the intern betting advice, however. If the Queen doesn't die, or if her death is otherwise hidden or hijacked, that would reflect poorly on him. Merely his conclusion is: the time has come. 11:12 <banana> Aster’s actually being given a bit of a runaround when he arrives at the tv studios. It’s not personal - they’re very busy, scurrying around like a recently upturned anthill. Looks like for some reason he’s going to have to wait a few minutes. 11:13 <Quaker> AB: <Lizardmen with rayguns working for Epsilon Eridani trying to enslave a local psychic and kill us. They land in asteroids. Also something called “tripods” will be showing up> 11:13 <banana> Zebek: <Hot damn. I believe the deal was that you promised excitement in exchange for my aid deexciting it?> 11:13 <banana> <Is the Doctor involved?> 11:14 <Crion> That's fine. He doesn't bust out the Talon module on production assistants just because they don't have time to respect his time. 11:14 <Quaker> AB: <Who is that> 11:14 <Crion> He's once again in his sharp charcoal suit and without armor. So hopefully nothing falls out of the sky with guns. 11:14 <banana> Zebek: <Exactly.> 11:15 <banana> Zebek: <’Who’ is that, but I take it the ansible’s no.> 11:15 <banana> <Answer. Sorry, autocorrect.> 11:16 <Quaker> ???? 11:17 <Quaker> AB: <No doctor sorry just aliens. The diamond orders seemed pretty interested so id get a move on if you want to see them before they lock that shit down permanently> 11:17 <banana> On the TV, an ITV newsreader (blonde, local accent, suit jacket) is now talking about a matter of interest. 11:18 <Crion> Oh? 11:18 <Crion> Wait, Aster's at a BBC studio. Nevermiknd. 11:19 <Quaker> AB: <If you do want to do some sightseeing though I would recommend bringing your most serious gear. the rayguns are very real and very dangerous> 11:19 <banana> “More and more questions are being raised about the highway bombings. Greater Manchester Police have refused to confirm whether they suspect terrorist involvement, but drivers at the scene continue to report a ‘battle’ between two uniformed groups. We’re hoping to hear shortly from Inspector-” 11:20 <banana> The presenter raises a finger to her ear, face dropping in shock. 11:20 <banana> “..” 11:21 <VoxPVoxD> ... 11:21 <tom> Bob watches newscast with a dopey smile, half-lidded eyes. 11:21 <tom> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) 11:21 <banana> “I have to inform you.. there’s been another explosion.. we’re hearing reports of a massive explosion in nearby Liverpool, at the Women’s Hospital on Mulgrave Street.” 11:21 <tom> "What." 11:22 <tom> Oh noooo. 11:22 <Quaker> AB: <Are u ok????? Are u on Mulgrave Street?????> 11:22 <banana> “Early indications that some kind of vehicle was involved again... we’re going to get you more on this as soon as we possibly can. Can we cross to Sergeant Walker? ..not available.. we’ll be back after a short break.” 11:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks over at Bob. How's he reacting? 11:23 <hrolf> Rolf: "Fahckin islamofascists I'll bet." 11:23 <tom> "I didn't do that. We didn't do that. Right?" 11:23 <tom> "Right guys?" 11:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "The only one of us who isn't here is Aaron. Who is not a mad bomber." 11:24 <Crion> Aster, over the line: "What?" 11:24 <banana> Zebek: <At the very least I’d like to know what dimension they’re from. Any idea when and where I might have a close encounter?> 11:24 <tom> Bob's leaning forward in his seat. It occurs that his Mjolnir is powered on. 11:24 <Crion> "I'm at a BBC newsstation." 11:24 <VoxPVoxD> "There was an explosion at the Women's Hospital in Liverpool." 11:24 <banana> Zebek: <Mulgrave Street?> 11:24 <Quaker> Badawi: “We don’t know anyone involved with this Women’s Hospital, do we?” 11:24 <banana> Zebek: <Sorry, let me get back to you> 11:24 <Crion> Aster: "Well that explains the excitement over here." 11:24 <VoxPVoxD> "We've just had it on the news." 11:25 <VoxPVoxD> "No connection... surely?" 11:25 <Crion> Aster: "Wait, why does Bob think we're involved." 11:25 <Quaker> AB: <Yeah apparently an explosion at the hospital there?> 11:25 <hrolf> Rolf: "Someone nutter went on a stabbin spree near me flat in London. Turned out to be one of em Syrian refugees. Not sure why they keep lettin these people in." 11:25 <Crion> "What does Bob know." 11:25 <Crion> He needs to figure out how to mute Rolf. 11:25 <Crion> Just Rolf. 11:25 <Quaker> AB: <stay safe and check in!!! Do u need help??? Let us know 😰> 11:25 <tom> "I don't- Look, I don't know what weird shit you guys get up to on your off-hours!" 11:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie waves a hand impatiently at Rolf. "I don't think we do, Agostina. Unless some of the Assembly magicians do?" 11:26 <banana> The front desk reception is finally manned again, if Aster wants to see whether they’ll let him into the weather studios. It could take fast-talking, under the circumstances. 11:26 <Crion> Aster: "It's Liverpool. They have their own ecosystem to blame. One moment." 11:26 <Crion> He will do so. 11:26 <Quaker> Badawi: “I’m texting Zebek, who seemed to hear the news from me for the first time. Do you want to check up on the others? Their studio wasn’t on Mulgrave, was it?” 11:27 <tom> "I mean, come on," he murmurs, looking down. "-really thinks I'd blow up a women's hospital??" 11:27 <tom> "Ohh fuck what if it's like, someone who thinks he's a copycat," he groans. 11:27 <VoxPVoxD> It wasn't, was it? 11:27 <Quaker> Just for thoroughness, she texts Octocat: <Explosion in Liverpool?? Anything we should know? do u need help with anything> 11:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "No, it's not close." 11:28 <VoxPVoxD> "I'll text Quill." 11:29 <VoxPVoxD> She does. <I just heard about the explosion and wanted to make sure you were Okay> 11:29 <banana> Zebek: <I’m fine, but thank you. This may be hostile action, so I’m off to a meeting. Stay safe over there, and stay away from iron...> 11:30 <Quaker> AB: <Ok 😷 Protect your neck> 11:31 <tom> Bob looks at the others, the first trickle of sweat starting down his cheek. He looks down at the live Mjolnir in his hands and, eyes widening, immediately powers it down. He exhales slowly. 11:31 <banana> The music’s started up again. This time, the band is beginning a track from the beginning, and you can actually get a sense of it - an anthem piece about defiance, taking back your life, and so on. There’s a really good double-guitar riff. 11:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie likes this one. 11:32 <tom> He puts his hand up to his visor and brings up a browser. The open field gets <liverpool bombing casualties update> 11:33 <Quaker> Badawi throws a crumpled piece of paper at him. “Stop googling it. Nobody knows anything yet.” 11:33 <banana> Most of the major uk news sites have liveblogs up, but many of them are still on entry 1: Apparently Something Exploded. There’s one of them saying that the hospital is in lockdown, with no casualties known to have occurred. 11:33 <tom> It bounces harmlessly off his head but he still goes "Ow!" 11:33 <tom> "Look I mean- it's gotta be related?" 11:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "No it doesn't." 11:34 <Crion> Aster thinks of himself as an unsually impressive, weighty, important man now, so it's quite the thing when the receptionist at the desk takes his declaration that he's here to see the intern that sent over the notes about their project and that it's very important with a distracted nod and a request for him to go sit down over there. But when his "Really?" doesn't get a response, 11:34 <Crion> there's not much else for him to do. 11:34 <banana> Bob’s not alone there. Most of the headlines read something like “second explosion in Liverpool region”. 11:34 <VoxPVoxD> "But even if it is, our plans haven't changed. We need to try and convince Reveille to accept greater security, and we need greater security to put her in." 11:34 <tom> "It just means we're gonna get even more heat," he gulps. 11:34 <Crion> So he tunes in to whatever the others are talking about again. 11:34 <Crion> Apparently this Liverpool thing is actually important. Who knew. 11:35 <tom> "Listen Willie if you want me to make up some dummy terrorist org to take the fall, I can start writing a manifesto tonight." 11:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Stop taking credit for the explosion!!" 11:35 <Crion> To the group: "It's Liverpool." 11:35 <Crion> "We're not in Liverpool." 11:35 <Crion> "Stop being silly." 11:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Being silly is fine. Just don't be incriminating." 11:36 <Quaker> “It has nothing to do with us. Let’s focus on getting the equipment and let Willie and Rolf persuade Reveille.” 11:36 <tom> "I mean the thing, The Thing, the fight on the freeway, not this- people are gonna start asking questions..." 11:36 <tom> He falls silent. 11:36 <Crion> Aster: "No they're not. This pushes our thing out of the news." 11:36 <Crion> "They'll blame it on an immigrant or something." 11:37 <tom> Bob shifts uncomfortably. "I don't want anyone gettin' lynched cus people think they did it either..." 11:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We know nothing right now. Just... a bit of patience, yeah? Focus. We solve problems as they become apparent, we don't make them up for ourselves." 11:38 <banana> The news is back, but they don’t know anything, so it’s not worth listening to. You’re informed that the national terror threat level has been raised to “severe”. 11:38 <Quaker> Jesus Christ, Bob. “Do you have your keys? Let’s go to the farm.” 11:38 <Crion> Pablum. 11:38 <hrolf> Rolf shakes his head. "Fuck sake. We need these people deported yesterday." 11:39 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We have other illegal aliens to worry about, Rolf." 11:39 <tom> Bob buttons up with a polite smile. 11:40 <banana> When a very young man with his hair back in a short ponytail finally comes hurrying out of a side wing to meet Aster, he is so sorry about the delay, and has a little cardboard thing with coffee cups of apology. 11:40 <tom> "Why the farm?" 11:41 <Crion> Aster will take a coffee cop if it's offered. He has an accordion portfolio of print outs and data for the young man, whose name is...? 11:41 <tom> "I mean, shit, I can start digging trenches today if you let me go get a backhoe." 11:41 <Quaker> “Aren’t we fortifying it? We need to start making plans.” 11:41 <tom> "Yeah, yeah... alright," Bob nods. "Good idea, let's get started right away." 11:42 <tom> He shuts his eyes, focuses, seems to crumple in on himself- it passes. "Alright, we'll start with a concealed position in the hillside for you to shoot from." 11:42 <banana> This would be Jonas.. although the one time they met, it was obvious that his identity and ambitions were very unimportant. 11:43 <Crion> What? 11:43 <tom> "You guys got a handle on things here? We're just gonna head out to the farm and do some surveying." 11:43 <Crion> What does that mean? 11:43 <banana> He’s just following orders, I mean, tasked to clear up this thing - he doesn’t have any power within the newsroom. 11:43 <Quaker> Badawi texts Amjad the location she wants him to meet them at, and then starts looking up local backhoe rentals. 11:44 <banana> Jonas: “Uh, I wasn’t able to book a meeting room, so, uh... we could sit in my car just outside?” 11:45 <Crion> ... 11:46 <Crion> Aster: "My Range Rover has more room." 11:46 <banana> Octocat gets back to Badawi eventually. <No need to get involved, if you hear anything feel free to pass it on. I can tell you it does look like magic unfortunately, not anything we expected though.> 11:46 <Crion> He will pop the back as a demonstration space, and hopefully there's enough room to lay out his exhibits. 11:47 <Crion> Aster was going to spend half an hour proving what the low pressure zones WEREN'T, and then introduce his theory on what they were, but now he'll hurry through all that. 11:47 <Quaker> AB, to Amjad: <Actually I’m venmoing u money to rent a truck and a backhoe to bring it on. Thank you 🥰> 11:47 <banana> Jonas is deeply embarassed but will accept the offered room. “Right. I’m sorry again, everything’s a madhouse right now with the second attack... but this is important work, and it sounds like you’ve found something out.” 11:47 <banana> (Whoever gave the work to this guy didn’t think it was important, but he’s trying to sell it - either to himself or to you.) 11:48 <Crion> The conclusion: "I can't tell you for certain that the Queen's dying, but we both pay attention to the news, and the signs are clear." 11:48 <banana> Jonas: “W-what.” 11:48 <Quaker> AB, to Octocat: <Ok, we’ll keep our ears open. Stay safe> 11:48 <Crion> "My advice to you is to tell your boss nothing came of it, and perhaps place a small wager on the side." 11:49 <banana> With Aster off the call, Bob and Badawi leaving, the recording studio’s becoming less full. Willie and Rolf never did get their promised lunch. The music’s stopped again, so maybe they could go looking for the band... 11:49 <Quaker> Presumably, she’s driving with Bob. “Octocat says whatever happened in Liverpool involved magic. So it officially has nothing to do with us.” 11:49 <hrolf> Rolf walks around to find Reveille. Are they in the recording room? 11:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's not hungry. Where's the band? 11:50 <Crion> Aster: "Furthermore." 11:50 <Crion> "If the Queen does 'survive' this." 11:50 <Crion> "I would make plans to be anywhere but the United Kingdom." 11:50 <banana> Half the band is, but Reveille and Miracle have just left it - they’re talking to studio staff you don’t know, though you know the old guy who makes hand gestures is some sort of producer. 11:51 <banana> Mary Morgan: “Hey guys.” 11:51 <banana> Bob’s getting messages now - both Mari and Sumi want to know he’s okay. He does occasionally visit Liverpool! 11:52 <hrolf> Rolf nods. "Alright, then?" 11:52 <banana> Charlie Miracle: “Yeah, a good session, but we can’t keep tweaking the sound. You try and smooth it out too much and you’ll lose something. We’re not.. post-post-punk.” 11:53 <banana> Producer: “Because that doesn’t actually mean anything. You’re whatever Pitchfork demands, loves.. wait until you hear what I’ve got, okay?” 11:54 <banana> Reveille moves away from the others a little to talk to her bodyguards. “Alright indeed. I’ve spent enough time indoors...” 11:54 <tom> Mari and Sumi get <im fine honey im nowhere near there> and <were good> respectively. 11:54 <Crion> Aster: "Now. That's my contribution. Time for me to make my ask." 11:54 <hrolf> Rolf nudges Willie. That's your cue. 11:54 <banana> Reveille: “Might go for a walk before we head home. Is that okay with you two?” Rolf, she notes, is not exactly young. 11:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "This does seem a bit claustrophobic, doesn't it? Would you like to walk and talk? We have some matters we'd like to discuss." 11:56 <banana> Reveille: “Aw, crap. I’ll ditch the others, then... this better not be about Gord.” 11:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie blinks. "Is Gord alright?" 11:57 <tom> It's kinda weird that Bob already has the basic outlines of a firing position mapped onto a few satellite pictures of the property, isn't it? 11:57 <banana> Reveille: “Oh, yes. If you’ve no problem there’s no problem.” 11:58 <hrolf> Rolf walks towards the exit and holds the door open. "After you, ladies." 11:58 <banana> Jonas the weather intern doesn’t want to believe what Aster is showing him.. but he’s persuaded by the message that whether or not he believes it, it’s best to leave it alone. “Wow. Well, I don’t gamble - apart from forecasting more than six days in advance, ha ha.” 11:59 <banana> “I mean, when I say forecasting, we just run it through a big model. But they’re only- it’s a chaos theory thing.” 11:59 <Crion> Aster: "If men from the Crown show up asking how you know what you know, don't feel bad about sending them my way. I should be on their retainer already." 12:01 <banana> Reveille: “Lindsay, get them to forward me the revised masters on MP3. Cherry, I’ll let you know whether it’s any good.. it always is so far. Thanks again, everyone.” 12:03 <VoxPVoxD> Once they're outside, Willie unties Kaga and brings the mastiff along. "How's the album coming?" 12:05 <banana> Reveille: “It was done before, and it’s still done now... but scheduling means we’re not releasing anything until Christmas no matter what, so there are all these bloody revisions. Polishing.” 12:05 <banana> “We’re not going to let them sand the edges off, though.” 12:05 <banana> Outside the studio is just crappy back streets and warehouses. A walk around the block won’t poison you, though. 12:06 <hrolf> Rolf: "'s right. Gotta keep the artist integrity." 12:06 <banana> Reveille: “How’s everyone doing? I saw Paryszewski was with you today, e’en though she got shot in the car.” 12:08 <Quaker> Badawi makes some calls while Bob is driving. How’s his Spanish? 12:08 <hrolf> Rolf: "Doin well so far. I was listenin to one of me favourite bits of music onna way 'ere actually. Led Zeppelin III. Did you know they recorded the whole fing in a cottage in the countryside?" 12:08 <banana> Jonas: “Gosh. I, uh, guess we had the right contact for your analysis service.” 12:08 <VoxPVoxD> Agh, no, too fast too fast. 12:08 <banana> Jonas: “Okay, I’d better get back to.. throw most of this in the bin, I suppose.” 12:09 <Crion> Aster: "As you wish." 12:09 <Crion> "But I need access to the meterological service. In lieu of payment." 12:09 <Crion> "The star Epsilon Eridani." 12:09 <tom> Bob's truck grinds to a halt on the drive. He's got his ODIN sync'd up to his phone: "It's no trouble, hun, I'll stop by Tesco and get some chickpeas, yeah... just gotta do some work first." 12:09 <VoxPVoxD> But Willie's glad to get some exercise, and some fresh-- some Manchester air. "Mr. Aster's busy tracking down leads as we speak. Mr. Goreman and Ms. Paryszewski are contacting our suppliers so we're better equipped for the next go round." 12:10 <VoxPVoxD> "You haven't seen the news today, have you?" 12:10 <banana> Reveille: “I try not to let that shit in my head.” 12:10 <banana> It’s unclear whether she’s using the expletive as a verb or a noun, here. 12:10 <tom> He gets out and jogs around the back to begin hauling out supplies. A big scroll of blue paper gets tacked to the table under the awning. He produces his red sharpie and starts drawing a line. 12:11 <tom> That's where they'll find him when the others start to arrive. 12:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Right. Well, all you need to know right now is there's been an incident in Liverpool that, if you squint, looks related to the attack. There's no connection, of course, but a narrative seems to be coalescing around heightened risk. I would expect heightened police activity in the area for a while." 12:12 <banana> Jonas: “In.. Eridanus, of course. Uh. I’m not sure we can get you access to it... were you hoping for a hookup with NASA?” 12:13 <VoxPVoxD> "Additionally, we interrogated one of the attackers, and learned another, larger attack on you is imminent." 12:13 <VoxPVoxD> "We have a date: it's Friday." 12:14 <banana> Reveille: “Ugh. That’s a faster pace than ever...” 12:14 <banana> “No reason for us to go to Liverpool I think. What did you find out from the bao guai?” 12:14 <Crion> Aster sighs. "Young man, I was hoping for whatever I can get. I only have until Friday. You don't want to know why." 12:15 <banana> Jonas: “I think I do, sir.” 12:15 <tom> He returns to the truck and comes back with great big loops of heavy wire, which he unspools in long straight lines across the slick grass. 12:15 <Crion> Aster quirks an eyebrow. "You know that business downtown? Rocks from the sky?" 12:15 <Crion> "On Friday, it gets worse." 12:15 <banana> “A third attack?!” 12:15 <VoxPVoxD> The dog ranges far from Willie - he's got a long leash, and keeps pace at Rolf's side as they walk. "We're still deciphering most of it, but we know about the attack, and the 'tripods', from the attacker." 12:16 <Crion> Aster: "You know about the first one." 12:16 <Quaker> Badawi gets off the phone as he’s unrolling wire. “Alright. I’ve got us some equipment. It’ll be here before Friday.” 12:16 <VoxPVoxD> "We could get you a copy of the transcript if you think it might be meaningful to you. In the meantime, we'd like to relocate you temporarily to a secure facility in the countryside." 12:16 <hrolf> Rolf: "'least its tripods and not Daleks." He does the voice. "Exterminate!" 12:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles a bit. 12:17 <banana> Jonas: “Not personally, but of course you hear things in the corridors - they actually called us in, the weather service, to see if the meteor shower was just a coincidence.” There’s been some sort of miscommunication here. 12:17 <tom> "Cool," Bob beams. He gestures over to the opposite hillside, some distance upland. "The property line's over there. See the fence? It's the highest point on the property. I can dig you in a concealed position. Weatherproofed, get a heater in there, you'll be cozy, yeah? Perfect for a sniper." 12:18 <tom> "I'm gonna make barrage balloons," He grins, pointing at the wire. "We can use a rapid inflation device to spring it on 'em when they show up, and throw up a bunch of high wires." 12:19 <tom> "The legs are the weak point!" He gushes. "If they're True Tripods they'll be mostly leg. If we throw up a bunch of floating wires over the property, they'll get all tussled up." 12:19 <Crion> Hrrrrrm. 12:19 <banana> Reveille: “If it was Daleks, I’d just stay home - up on the second floor.” 12:19 <Quaker> Badawi: “Well. Assuming the tripods are literal, it should be effective. Maybe rig some flares to each one, to illuminate wherever they land?” 12:19 <tom> "Great idea." 12:19 <banana> “About this... facility. Relocation. I need more details, please.” She doesn’t look super happy about it. 12:20 <Quaker> “Where would you put an M3 Carl Gustaf, if you could get one?” 12:20 <Quaker> “And a GPMG?” 12:20 <Crion> Aster: "Well...certainly. Yes. I need that information quickly if I'm to help. Whose office do I have to impose upon to get it?" 12:20 <Crion> "It is perhaps a matter of your national security." 12:20 <tom> He whistles. "The Gustaf would go with the sniper. It's got a longer range than the property, assuming they don't do clever shit like land over the hill and use stand-off weapons." 12:20 <banana> Jonas gets out of the car. “Wow. Um.. well, I can take you to see the boss.” 12:20 <tom> "...If I had one." 12:20 <hrolf> Rolf: "It's a beaut location. Fantastic countryside, like in Midsomer but wif less murdering goin on - 'opefully. Great spot to get those creative juices flowing." 12:20 <banana> “But she’s going to be pissed off if this isn’t a thing.” 12:21 <tom> He squints at Badawi. 12:21 <banana> Jonas: “Not just at me.” 12:21 <Crion> Aster: "It's already a 'thing.'" 12:21 <Crion> Aster: "But I will not go on camera." 12:22 <banana> Reveille: “Okay, the picturesque countryside. But about this relocating. Am I to be picked up and put down at your leisure? Like in an arcade claw machine?” 12:22 <banana> “When, why, how long?” 12:22 <Crion> "It should be quite obvious this is not in the interest of full disclosure to the public." 12:22 <Quaker> “It’ll be here Thursday. Along with the MAG and 2000 rounds, and something like a hundred pounds of plastique.” 12:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's a work in progress! Our team is hard at work. We've got a former US Army technician on the job, and extensive contacts to deploy. Right now it's a farmhouse. But if you have requirements we will work to meet them. We'd like you there until the tripods come on Friday, at the very least, and we'd like to reassess from there." 12:23 <Quaker> “The MAG’ll have a tripod, so it should get great stability.” 12:23 <Quaker> “A tripod of our own.” 12:23 <banana> Reveille: “I remain impressed by your level of energy, as individuals and a team. I’d just like to zoom in for a moment on the word ‘until’.” 12:23 <tom> Bob is instantly over the moon. "And it isn't even my birthday." 12:24 <tom> "Do you want the honor? I'm thinking of just building a dang mortar." 12:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We'd like to move you in as soon as it's ready. I don't have a firm ETA on that, but Thursday at the latest, obviously." 12:25 <Quaker> “No, I’ll set up on the hill with my rifle. Maybe Rolf can man the Gustaf, and you can take the machine gun. Just need to make sure the hill position isn’t on the very tippy-top, or they’ll just level it out of instinct.” 12:25 <tom> Bob sketches out some firing arcs on the blueprints. The whole kill-zone looks like a giant red box, the nexus of several overlapping fields of fire between the positions. 12:26 <tom> "Nah it's only partway up, over.... here." He taps his finger on the map. "I can dig you out a foxhole with a gravel base so it doesn't flood you out... camo tarp to keep you dry. Should be comfortable enough." 12:26 <banana> Jonas: “Concealing information from the public isn’t really our job, Mr. Aster. At the very least it’s above my paygrade.” You may have actually offended him. “Look, do you want to see the boss or not?” 12:26 <tom> "You'll want thermal blankets or you'll light up like a christmas tree on the scanners." 12:27 <Crion> Aster slams the back of the Range Rover shut. "Lead the way," you little shit. 12:27 <Quaker> “Alright. I’ll chop up some branches and such to cover the top. Amjad’ll be here with a backhoe in a few hours.” 12:27 <Quaker> “Where do you figure Reveille will be during all this? The house?” 12:28 <banana> Reveille: “Let’s go with Thursday evening. I don’t mind spending some time getting familiar with your setup, but I’m not going dark for the rest of the week in anticipation of, well, being made to go dark. That’s what it wants, y’know.” 12:28 <tom> "That's the plan. I can dismantle the obstacle course and start the renovations." Bob seems to remember something. "If you wanna try to beat my time, this might be your last chance for a while." 12:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You're right, it is. And I wouldn't ask you to make this kind of concession if I didn't think it gave us the best chance at giving you a lasting victory over Cosmos." 12:30 <VoxPVoxD> "May I ask you a question?" 12:30 <Quaker> Badawi thinks. It would be a shame to not at least try… 12:30 <Quaker> “Just the one time, though. We don’t have that much time to relax.” 12:30 <tom> "Sure." :D 12:30 <banana> Aster never does end up passing through the main BBC Manchester studios, but intern Jonas takes him through a side entrance into the weather wing. They have a whole setup here, looks almost like a ground-control lab - desks full of equipment, big screens showing clouds and radars, technical people gathered in groups discussing... well, the weather. 12:31 <Crion> Interesting. 12:31 <Crion> If he doesn't open his mouth, he probably seems like a suit from the head office, with appropriate gravitas -- so he doesn't, to the extent he can avoid it. 12:31 <tom> Bob jogs around to the side of the house. There's a fucking hole blown into it, with cheap plyboard tacked on to conceal a gap into the interior. There's a big 1 sloppily splashed across the board. 12:32 <banana> From his cursory research, they handle everything south of Edinburgh from this center. There’s still a considerable amount of shipping at Liverpool, and up throughout Northumberland the turn of the seasons matters quite a bit to rural folk. 12:32 <Quaker> Badawi takes off her denim jacket for this. The orange turtleneck underneath looks suitably tactical. 12:32 <banana> Reveille: “Of course.” 12:33 <banana> She smiles at Willie, looking flinty if it weren’t for the eyes - the woman’s presence fluctutates, you think deliberately, but now it waxes. The singer deigns to answer her fan. 12:34 <banana> You’ve been recognised a couple of times before when out on the street, but there’s nobody around in these back alleys. 12:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "A lot's been made about the plan the stars have for you, about where the fault lies — but what do you want? How do you want to feel when this is done? How do you wish to be seen?" 12:35 <tom> "So there's six stations... you just follow the orange arrows. One point per target, no points for civilians. Don't look at the ones with the glowing eyes, that's an instant D.Q." He does not elaborate. "Breach and clear's the first station-" He gestures in sweeping motions around the imagined interior. "Then you're in the crawlspaces for close-up encounters." 12:36 <tom> "Through the living room, up the stairs to the mean trick, then you gotta climb along the side-" He paces around the exterior of the house, noting a lazy orange arrow along a number of handholds between windows. "And the final room with the hostage rescue. You get time when the last target goes down." 12:36 <tom> "Ready to start? I'll walk you through it..." 12:37 <tom> Bob will bring Badawi back over to the table. He pulls up the blueprint to reveal the tacked-down floorplan beneath: https://i.imgur.com/Xa79tO2.png 12:37 <tom> Bob clicks on over the radio. "Just pull the velcro tab on the charge, set it against the wall, and take cover. Timer starts when the charge goes off." 12:38 <banana> Reveille addresses both Willie and Rolf. “What I want, friends, is to be recognised in my own right. After a life spent in the shadow of the powerful and the cowardly.” 12:38 <banana> “You know most of us don’t see Cosmos as an enemy. It’s a guiding whisper, right? A secret friend, an invisible ally when we were going through this shit childhood and being weird an’ so on.” 12:39 <hrolf> Rolf: "So most of you do whatever it wants you to do?" 12:39 <banana> Reveille: “To the Outfit, it’s an edge. The MENSA people think it’s like.. a demon you can bargain with, or a set of laws to be worked out.” 12:39 <Quaker> “Uh huh.” 12:39 <banana> “We try! And we fail. And we don’t even ask why.” 12:39 <tom> Bob: "Course master ready." 12:40 <tom> He turns on the cctv set and cracks his knuckles. 12:40 <Quaker> “These crawlspaces…am I crawling through a duct or something?” 12:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Whereas you mean to be different to what you're meant to be." 12:40 <hrolf> "We all want to be recognized in our own right, innit. Like George 'Arrison." A beat. "Or Ringo Starr." 12:40 <tom> "They're just narrow spaces beneath the stairs, then a corridor. It's for C.Q.C." 12:40 <tom> "You don't actually gotta crawl." 12:40 <banana> “Yeah, but less extremely old and crusty than those guys maybe?” 12:41 <banana> Reveille: “I want to beat it. I wanna sing, because it fucking rocks, and I want my songs to be a- a divorce.” 12:42 <banana> Aster’s attitudinal disguise works fine, and nobody objects to his presence before he’s shephered into a glass-fronted office. 12:42 <banana> *shepherded 12:42 <Quaker> The rifle isn’t very big, so she’ll just unscrew the sight on it. 12:43 <banana> Jonas looks worried, possibly having second thoughts about all this supernatural business.. but you’re here now. There’s a woman in a suit behind the desk who looks up - and a look of horror passes momentarily over her face. 12:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "To separate, and hold onto what's yours, which is yourself and the life you've built." 12:43 <Crion> Oh? 12:43 <banana> Aster doesn’t know this woman, but he’s seen her, in a line outside Konnections. She was with a group of young guys, and they were calling him Daddy. 12:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "A sense of ownership." 12:44 <Crion> Then he'll permit himself the absolute slightest of smirks. 12:45 <Crion> And mentally pat himself on the back for not wearing the exact same suit. It's close though. 12:45 <Quaker> Badawi stands next to the breaching hole. She’s not really expecting to do very well: the last time she was doing something like this was playing laser tag with some of the kids from the church. At least it will relax Bob’s mind by doing something he enjoys. 12:45 <hrolf> "Like you were spected to rent a council flat but someone gave you the chance to buy your own 'ome." 12:45 <banana> Jonas: “This is Aaron Aster, who’s taken care of the pressure discrepancy analysis for us. And he’s got something... um.” 12:46 <Crion> Aster: "I've forgone a fee." 12:46 <banana> Reveille: “Reasonable analogies. ‘Course, most of the audience won’t know anything about all that.” 12:47 <VoxPVoxD> "If your voice comes through on the album, it will. I really like that last song you were working on." 12:47 <banana> “Yeah, thanks. Early access, special perk of the job.” 12:47 <tom> The report echoes around the hills and the side of the farmhouse goes up in a spray of dust and drywall. Badawi's immediately faced with a choking haze that just starts to settle before she senses movement in the back of the room. A paper target launches itself forward on a rail toward her, a humanoid of corkboard with a sloppy pair of red fangs painted over its head. 12:48 <banana> If the guards have no objections, Reveille’s going to her car so that they can head back to her place for a while. 12:49 <banana> (They’re driving or riding along, so it doesn’t actually end the conversation!) 12:49 <Quaker> Badawi just holds her breath and steps over, squinting. As the target rolls forward, she smoothly brings the rifle up and shoots it in the face. Slow and steady wins the race. You’re not trying to beat a time, just keep your head. 12:49 <VoxPVoxD> Fine by Willie. "I want you to look at what we're proposing as another opportunity to take ownership. A brief concession, a disruption for safety's sake, to set up a chance to bring the resources you have marshalled - us - to their fullest extent. Without the need to worry about civilians or media, we can bring phenomenal force to bear at your direction." 12:49 <Quaker> and aims it at the face.* 12:49 <hrolf> Rolf: "So 'ow'd your meet the rest of your band, then?" 12:49 <banana> Weather Boss: “Ah- then you want something other than money. I’m- my name’s Diane Savoy.” She recovers, largely. 12:50 <tom> More targets present themselves and go down. The orange arrow points her into the bedroom closet, where the wall to the narrow space under the stairs has been bashed out with a hammer. It opens up into a short corridor- there are tracks all over the floor. 12:50 <Crion> Aster: "Ms. Savoy. Yes. Collaboration." 12:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "And you can take advantage of the delay in other ways. Consider: every day you can't come in to the studio is a day the producer can't chip away at a finished album." 12:51 <banana> Savoy: “I’m not sure we’ll have a lot more to offer you, Mr. Aster. Occ- obtuse patterns don’t show up too often in our maps.” 12:51 <Crion> "I have a significant interest in an astrological configuration that is of some relation to current events. Client privilege prevents me from going into it too deeply, but we're attempting to prevent another incident like the recent ones in Manchester and, apparently, Liverpool." 12:51 <tom> More targets now, faster. They're popping up from around the corners into adjacent rooms, flipping down from the ceiling, lunging down the hallway in front and behind her. They go down. 12:51 <Quaker> She calmly works the bolt and moves the barrel over each target in turn, in one smooth continuous motion. 12:51 <Crion> Might as well use it, if that's what they believe. 12:52 <tom> The last 'vampire' is still fluttering to the ground in pieces as Badawi steps into the living room. Tarped-up furniture sits in chest-high piles around broad orange arrows leading her to the next station. 12:53 <banana> Reveille’s pretty convinced.. assuming you’ve accepted her terms on timing. “Spending a day out in the country isn’t too much a disruption, not if it’s a lifesaver. You sure you wanna see yourselves as resources, martial or otherwise? It’s convenient to me, I admit it, but my destiny doesn’t demand your respect.” 12:53 <tom> One of the targets has glowing LED eyes- the type Bob warned her not to look at. It runs up the rail and grins evilly. The red glare touches everything except the cover behind the couches and cabinets. 12:54 <banana> To Rolf: “I know Charlie and Paola Anna from way back. We grew up on the same estate.” 12:54 <Quaker> She doesn’t look at the LED lights, because she’s not looking at heads. She just works the bolt, points at chests, and pulls the trigger. No hurry, no mistakes. 12:54 <banana> “L-Plate is a more recent arrival, one of the second generation from MENSA.. but she’s not dumb enough to be as smart as they are. A sweet girl.” 12:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Seeing ourselves as resources is what permits us to charge such a high fee for our services. That is the destiny we're making for ourselves, and I believe we are more than capable of outshining one shitty, sneering little star, ten light years away." 12:55 <tom> There's a bathroom at the top of the stairs. The 'Mean Trick' is next; Badawi's faced with a tub full of murky water as the next set of targets squeak forward. Just as she's cleaned them up, she hears a waterlogged mechanism squeal to life. 12:56 <Quaker> She just puts the barrel over the top of the tub and blasts the target as it rises up from the water. 12:56 <banana> Diane Savoy’s attention is thoroughly caught by Aster’s pitch. “Astrology? Terrorism? Are you sure you’re in the right place?” 12:56 <tom> The next room has an open window and a rope out over the awning. 12:56 <VoxPVoxD> "It can't be a real divorce until they hurt enough to regret trying to use you in the first place." 12:57 <VoxPVoxD> She's still talking about Reveille. She's almost sure of it. 12:57 <Crion> Aster: "Detective Sergeant Walker doesn't have telescope access." 12:57 <Crion> "And I am on a clock." 12:57 <Quaker> She steps lightly onto the little walkway. This might be a challenge for others not used to balancing high up, but not for her. She walks down the gangway like she’s walking down a boulevard. 12:57 <tom> The arrow painted to the siding terminates at a window back into the master bedroom from the other side. A 'vampire' with glowing eyes rotates in place, surrounded by civilians. 12:57 <banana> Reveille: “If they’re sending Tripods, I do believe I’ve hurt its feelings.” She grins, lighting up the whole car. 12:57 <Crion> He's making an effort not to sound annoyed here; merely business-like and breezy, as if this is normal. 12:58 <hrolf> Rolf: "Pers'nlly, I feel my destiny is to make lots of dosh." 12:58 <Quaker> What’s the last room like? 12:59 <banana> Savoy: “So you want time on the satellites, and you don’t want to give a sane reason for it. Jonas, get outta here. Aster, why should I give you access to Her Majesty’s state of the art space-based telescopes?” 12:59 <tom> There are windows on all sides; they're all open. The 'vampire' in the center of the room is spinning quickly bathing its forward side in the red glow of its LEDs, and multiple target tracks line the walls. As Badawi sidles along the wall she can see the silhouettes of more targets ready to spring out as she makes her entry. 13:01 <Quaker> She doesn’t even need to step into the room before she kneels down for a few moments and nails each target, and then the vampire in the middle. Then she just comes in at the same measured pace, moving towards the exit. 13:01 <tom> "Time." Bob taps his phone timer. His lip quivers as he reads out the time: "Forty-nine point four seconds." 13:01 <tom> "A new course record." 13:02 <Quaker> Badawi puts the rifle down and takes the round out of the chamber. “Nice. How much faster were you?” 13:02 <Quaker> “Oh. Cool!” 13:02 <tom> "Ya beat me by ten seconds!" He beams at her as she makes her way back to the patio. 13:02 <tom> "That was the slickest shit I ever saw. You tore their ass up." 13:03 <tom> He contains himself, with visible effort. 13:03 <tom> "I can't believe you aren't special forces." 13:03 <Quaker> “I played Laser Tag recently. It’s kind of the same thing.” 13:03 <tom> "I can't believe you aren't special forces." 13:03 <tom> That he cannot refute. 13:04 <Quaker> “Ugh. Army guys? No thank you. No offense.” 13:04 <banana> Rolf may note, but may want to keep to himself, just how similar Reveille’s place is to Benni Athletic’s home 13:04 <tom> "None taken. Wow though." He lowers his gaze to his notes, grinning like an idiot. "Wow." 13:04 <banana> It’s got that same white stucco villa look, with very similar interior design - essentially the same sense of taste (or occasionally otherwise). 13:05 <tom> He quickly tabs over to Huntr on his visor and updates the scoreboard. Devices beep. 13:05 <VoxPVoxD> A notification in Huntr from WW: <Client consents to secure location plan for HG Wells Scenario. she wants to stay mobile until thursday, which gives us the maximum time to prepare the facilities> 13:05 <banana> White marble but not on the countertops, shag pile carpets, a central tv/living room and rounded stairs to the second floor... 13:05 <Crion> Aster: "There's going to be another attack Friday. You can call Scotland Yard if you like; drop my name, I used to work there as a liaison from the American federal services, and I still have colleagues on the line willing to vouch for me. Call the army if you want. My people are taking the proper precautions. If everything goes to plan, there will not be another attack in the press. I 13:05 <Crion> want to look out, not in. No satellites are going to be retasked to China. No diplomatic incidents. I want to track the star Epsilon Eridani, and I want all data on it for the last six months. The question you have to ask yourself is: how does this balancing act work out? You give me absolutely and completely non-classified information about a star system -- pure scientific data, for which 13:05 <Crion> I'll sign the release and non-disclosure forms so it doesn't show up on websites somewhere, and which I am or can easily become appropriately cleared -- or what? Call MI5? I'll talk to your Mulder and your Scully, but do you think they'll get out here within 96 hours?" 13:06 <hrolf> Rolf: "Very nice digs. You 'ave it designed?" 13:06 <Quaker> “Honestly, that wasn’t even full effort. You know, maybe my line of work helps. You really have to calm yourself down when you’re working. Going through a room, you have to keep your heartrate down no matter what pops up.” 13:06 <Quaker> “Can’t be flinching at every sound when you’ve got to get through a lock in the next five seconds.” 13:07 <Quaker> “Hey, do you have a bluetooth speaker? We can listen while we work.” 13:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, who hasn't seen Benni Athletic's place, coos appropriately. Not the way she'll be designing her villa, but it's a coherent look and it works for her. 13:10 <tom> Bob fusses with a box of odds and ends. It looks like's started moving some of his stuff over here. He fishes out a pair of speakers and what looks like a hacked-apart Alexa. 13:11 <Quaker> Nice. Badawi will disappear for a few minutes and come back with a big handful of leafy branches. Time to start hacking these up and tying them together into a concealing mat. 13:11 <hrolf> Any features that stand out in Reveille's digs? Fun posters, statues, souveniours, or items of interest? 13:11 <Quaker> Meanwhile, they can listen to some tunes while they tinker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_JX7j1gm28 13:14 <banana> Reveille: “Yeah, we did well enough in the last few years that I get to pick from catalogues and have experts actually do the layout. Maybe when we make it big I can add something dumb like a home theatre wing.” She shrugs. “It’s just a house.” 13:14 <banana> The thing which first stands out is that there are other people around! You can hear someone upstairs, and down here on the ground floor is Charlie from the band, helping a driver carry a load of groceries indoors. 13:15 <banana> Reveille: “I’m going to go up and rest a while. See you in a few hours?” 13:15 <tom> Bob is laying criss-crossing lines of cable across the grass around the property. From above, he's sure the whole thing would look like the outline of an enormous spider's web. It'll take a couple trips to get everything set up. It takes time to spray-paint the deflated weather balloons the same dead wet brown as the grass, hanging them up under the patio and spraying back and forth with 13:15 <tom> the paintcan while Bob sways to the music. 13:15 <hrolf> "Take it easy." 13:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'll be right here." 13:16 <banana> Charlie: “Ahh. Have a nice time.” The guitarist rubs her chin as she turns to look at Willie and Rolf, a little uncomfortable in the bodyguards’ presence. (The guy with her nods, but he’s still busy moving in the shopping.) 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie wants line of sight on Reveille's bedroom door. She smiles at Charlie. 13:17 <banana> Charlie Miracle is just millimetres taller than Reveille, but she has a shaved head which makes up the difference when they stand side by side. She wears the same kind of cut up denim post-punk gear, in her case with numerous badges and stickers. 13:18 <hrolf> Rolf: "Alright then? Busy days, hey?" 13:19 <banana> Reveille’s bedroom door opens and closes to admit her. All Willie can see is that it was Gord inside. 13:19 <Quaker> Badawi texts Amjad again. <Also can you stop at my place and bring some clothes and my guitar!! We’ll be here for a while…thank you so much!!> 13:19 <VoxPVoxD> ... 13:19 <VoxPVoxD> You know what? She doesn't know anything. Ridiculous to speculate. 13:20 <banana> There’s not much need for speculation once they turn the music up to cover the noises. 13:21 <VoxPVoxD> That's fine. Willie can just spend time with... Rolf... and whoever this is. 13:21 <hrolf> What's the music? 13:22 <banana> Diane Savoy does have an inkling of knowledge on the Underground - or Aster Biologics wouldn’t have been brought in at all - but this play staggers her. She actually stands up from behind her desk - pointlessly, but it puts her closer to eye-to-eye. “Look. I understand you’re someone, and that this may be important, but it’s a question of authority- I’ve got to make a call. Would 13:22 <banana> you mind waiting outside for a moment? Please?” 13:22 <tom> The hardest part, as Bob will explain to Badawi over a beer in the kitchen, propped up between two of his exploded vampire targets while he heats up some chicken, is springing the trap. He'll need to set up the balloons to rapidly inflate- you know, like those emergency stairs on airplanes or whatever- and he'll have to build one for each set of balloons. The helium's kind of a pain to 13:22 <tom> source, but gettable. It'll be dark before he's done fiddling with the controllers. 13:22 <Crion> Aster: "I would not mind." 13:22 <Crion> He steps outside. 13:22 <banana> Looks like Bob’s place is close enough to a phone tower to get two bars. Badawi’s getting a video call, though... the quality is likely to suck. 13:22 <Crion> Jonas has presumably been listening at the door; Aster will be slightly disappointed if he hasn't been. 13:22 <banana> Jonas is wringing his hands about it. 13:22 <Crion> If so, Aster will ask if he could get a water. 13:23 <Crion> And, "Don't be so worried. You've done well." 13:24 <banana> Charlie: “Yeah, busy... well, no. Not really. We’ve got these fix-up sessions but apart from that it’s kind of a holiday. You know.” 13:24 <banana> Or maybe they don’t know. 13:24 <Quaker> Badawi: “Well, take your time. No sense in rushing anything sensitive.” 13:24 <hrolf> "An 'oliday?" 13:24 <Quaker> Who’s calling? 13:24 <banana> Zebek Trajan. 13:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What needs fixed?" 13:25 <banana> Charlie: “We won’t go on tour until the new year... visa problems, innit? And the album’s not out yet, so no press. That makes it a holiday.” She doesn’t detail what she’ll do on a holiday, though- she doesn’t know these people, although they’re costing her band a lot of money! 13:26 <Quaker> Badawi: “One of the mages. I’ll take it outside.” 13:26 <hrolf> "Time for Ibiza?" 13:26 <Quaker> She’ll hunt around outside for a third bar before picking up. “Nameless House.” 13:27 <banana> Charlie: “Just some timing problems on So You Want To Be A Wanker. And we had to redo a bit of Glam On Glam Off because the tracks weren’t separate enough for radio mixing. This kind of crap is the difference between performance and polish, you know, it seems petty but that’s the bar for a lot of listeners.” 13:28 <tom> Bob gives her a grave look and a thumbs up as she goes, before going to load another block of firewood into the kitchen's old stove. 13:28 <banana> The driver/shopping guy’s back. “Time for the racing, charlie?” 13:28 <banana> “How about you lot. Amazing Race fans?” 13:28 <banana> *Charlie 13:28 <hrolf> Rolf: "'s funny. Reveille was sayin that maybe you lot were doin' TOO much polish." 13:30 <banana> Charlie Miracle: “M&M doesn’t believe in editing. But she believes in recording contracts.” 13:30 <banana> Zebek’s face is very grainy on the screen, and for a moment you can’t make out his words. He frowns at the camera, and the video stabilises. 13:32 <banana> “And this is the Venturers’ Guild. Are your aliens set to attack.. the Peak District?” 13:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What do you think?" 13:32 <hrolf> Rolf: "Somefing to be said for 'avin that raw sound, like innit? Over production killed quite a few albums. Me cousin Donald works in the industry in Canada." 13:33 <tom> Bob watches her talk on the phone from the window, sipping on a mug of coffee, prepared to rush out there if Badawi suddenly randomly gets struck by lightning. 13:33 <tom> I mean that's what they do, right? 13:35 <banana> Charlie: “I don’t mind putting the best gloss on our music before we put it out there. Playing your heart out in a pub’s romantic, I’d be fine with that as a career, but the standard is different.” 13:35 <banana> She looks up at a clock on the wall. “It does seem to be half-past-television.” 13:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks at Rolf. "You can go ahead, I'll keep an eye on the turtledoves." 13:37 <banana> Jonas wants to ask questions, but he doesn’t want answers. Meteorologists are starting to look curiously at Aster as he waits (and receives his water); much more of this and someone might decide to introduce themselves. Diane Savoy is still on the phone inside... when Aster’s own phone rings. 13:37 <Crion> Caller ID says...? 13:37 <banana> Night Mayor’s office. 13:37 <Quaker> Badawi: “I don’t even know what that is, man.” 13:37 <Crion> Oh, this should be good. 13:37 <Crion> Aster: "Aster." 13:37 <Quaker> “How’s Liverpool? Mysterium said it was magic after all.” 13:37 <banana> Zebek: “It’s where you are, I believe. Isn’t that the Dark Peak in the background?” 13:38 <banana> “Yeah. Yeah, we should chat about that for a moment.” 13:38 <Quaker> “Oh, the national park. Yeah, I think.” 13:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie'd quite like to be alone, frankly, and think about outshining the stars, a tripod kill zone, and all the sex she isn't having because she has to donate blood to do it. 13:38 <Quaker> “What’s up?” 13:40 <banana> Zebek: “Well, there are plenty of forensics to be done and the cover-ups are still being covered up as we speak. May never know the full truth, &c. But it looks very much like the Seers have staged a terrorist attack. One of their favourite tricks.” 13:41 <banana> “In the Assemblies, we don’t order each other around.. and I didn’t want to drop your people in it on the basis that I may have heard something relevant. But I’d like to come and have a look at these aliens, and maybe help you anti-alien them in a way that’s less compromising to the Veil.” 13:42 <banana> Brutus: “Barrigan. I’m calling on behalf of the Sherriff to confirm your request for access to some public sector resources.” 13:43 <Crion> Aster: "Barrigan." 13:43 <banana> *on behalf of the Constable 13:43 <banana> Barrigan: “Yes?” 13:43 <Quaker> Badawi: “Just like 9/11. “ She looks back at the house and waves, and then gives a thumbs up. “You’re welcome to. You want to head out here now? We’re setting things up, and I imagine we’ll be pushing dirt around until Friday. We’ve got some heavy equipment about to be delivered.” 13:44 <tom> Back in the house, Bob relaxes. 13:45 <Crion> "Oh, just surprised to hear your voice early on a Monday. How is Constable Damani? Unfortunate business." 13:45 <banana> Zebek: “What fun. Sure, deal me in on this one. I could bring Daniel, or- no, actually, there’s someone on my team who would be better with heavy equipment.” 13:46 <banana> Barrigan: “I believe you’ve declared neutrality, Aster. Let’s not get political - this is about government.” 13:46 <Quaker> “We’ve got automatic weapons on tripods, recoilless rifles, and explosives. You can tell them we’ve got plenty of exciting things for them to check out.” 13:48 <Quaker> “I assume even wizards like to see these things up close.” 13:48 <Crion> Aster: "You've heard incorrectly. The House is not taking contracts at this time. Neutrality is something else altogether. As Baron Eccles learned the hot way." 13:48 <Crion> "But yes. I've put in a request." 13:50 <banana> Zebek: “Some of us enjoy the outdoors, possibly even sport. We’ll drop around soon to begin gawking.” 13:50 <banana> Barrigan: “Then I suppose we’d better grant it.” He doesn’t sound eager. 13:50 <Crion> That's fine. He doesn't have to. 13:51 <Crion> Aster: "My thanks." 13:51 <Quaker> “Ok. See you then. If you want amenities, bring them yourself. Bare living out here.” She hangs up, then opens Huntr. 13:51 <Quaker> AB: <Got ZT+1 helping us out with Friday. They’re coming out to the farm to help set up> 13:51 <banana> Barrigan rings off... and after another minute, Aster sees the meteorological executive put down her phone, then look up at the door. 13:54 <Crion> Aster grimaces politely, buttons his jacket, and walks back in. The machinery of democracy. 13:56 <Quaker> Off in the distance, she can see a flatbed truck with a backhoe tied down turn onto the farm road. Amjad honks the horn, the sound rolling up and down the little valley. 13:58 <banana> By the evening news, the media’s line is something like this: the Merseyside region suffered a second car bomb attack in as many days when a limousine exploding outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital. The body of a man incinerated in the blast is thought to have been that of the bomber. GMP are still investigating the incidents, and caution the public that there’s no proof yet of a terrorist 13:58 <banana> attack. 13:58 <banana> While no group has taken responsibility, several people of interest are in custody, and sources have named Emad al-Swealmeen, an asylum seeker from Iran whose claim was recently denied by the Home Office. 13:59 <banana> *exploded