14:29 <banana> The trip through the Malmin Bloodwork catacombs is quick, tonight - the robed apprentice Casaubon hustles you rapidly through a part of the complex in which the Order of Dracula prefers mortals not linger. 14:30 <banana> To Bob, it’s all new- but expected. He’s been told about the silent office spaces, the self-operating machinery, the mine tunnels and the seemingly shifting chambers. 14:31 <tom> I've been to weirder lairs than this. 14:31 <VoxPVoxD> Every time Willie comes here she's more bundled up. This time she's wearing a her earmuffs over a balaclava. 14:31 <Crion> Casaubon gets an even brisker greeting from Aster than normal. He's keeping at least one eye on Bob now. 14:31 <VoxPVoxD> The one dragon she's absolutely certain Bob won't hit on. 14:32 <banana> All you really have time to see in the restricted area is a vast pair of wooden double doors (similar to another set you've seen in these passages) and an unoccupied room containing a bubbling cauldron. Then you're through to a basically-modern looking lecture theatre, where half a dozen vampires turn to see you, most instinctively baring their fangs. 14:32 <VoxPVoxD> Or otherwise act weird around. 14:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie bares her teeth... in a friendly smile. "Good evening!" 14:32 <Crion> Aster narrows his eyes at them behind his glasses. 14:33 <tom> Bob's goofy smile stays plastered beneath his visor from the moment he gets to see the robed Casaubon. 14:33 <banana> Despite the reception it just doesn’t have the same aura as Inchcape. For one, the woman at the podium - Carol - has enormous bottle lenses that you haven’t seen her wear before, holding them up to peer at a sheaf of printouts. The attendees at the seminar also look more like scholars than nobles. 14:34 <VoxPVoxD> They look like that because they are. 14:34 <banana> Vados isn’t here, but both his chief lieutenants come forward to greet you - Sarhos Sari, the drawer-out of demons, and Paranewton, the dark woman in light medieval armour. 14:35 <banana> Sari: “You’ve survived another night, Aaron, and so have we. These are the two guests you’ve brought?” 14:36 <tom> Bob folds his hands behind his back and tries to look aloof. 14:36 <Crion> Aster: "Yes. Due to...current events...we're sadly reduced to traveling in force. This is Bob Goreman, the third arm required to turn aside a great sword." 14:36 <banana> The other Kindred of the Dragon generally nod at Willie’s greeting, but their attention is on the end of the lecture - only the Masters have come up the aisle to greet you at this entrance. 14:37 <tom> "Ma'am." 14:37 <VoxPVoxD> Oh no, are we interrupting? 14:37 <VoxPVoxD> Was Willie accidentally rude?? 14:37 <Crion> Casaubon waved us through. 14:37 <Crion> Any imputed rudeness is to his exacting scheme. 14:38 <banana> Carol Sebastian: “...which is what makes this a breakthrough: the non-fungibility of the blood. A pint so dedicated can have its provenance tracked, farm to table. We can establish ownership of every individual cell, regardless of their medium in serum.” 14:38 <Crion> Did they permit the demon inside? Did Willie try? 14:38 <banana> The answer to the first depends on the second. 14:38 <VoxPVoxD> He may have just presumed a greater level of social anxiety than Willie would consider reasonable. Willie would've asked ahead about Kaga. 14:39 <VoxPVoxD> He's here, outside, or at home, depending on the reply she got. 14:39 <Crion> And Aster would have relayed the question. 14:39 <banana> If asked, Kagamenauch was refused. They don’t seem to mind the shotgun. 14:39 <tom> Nice. 14:39 <VoxPVoxD> Do they mind if the demon is tied up outside? It's probably fine to go without him if she's travelling with Aaron and Bob, to a legal and well-protected space. 14:40 <Crion> The closest Aster will come to baring his fangs tonight is likely hearing the assembled worthies discuss fucking NFT vitae. 14:40 <banana> Sarhos Sari looks Bob up and down. This guy’s got shaggy hair and a slight accent; the other hunters weren’t able to tell you all that much about him, but he has some tech skills and maybe also psychotherapy, but evil...? 14:40 <VoxPVoxD> But she does, somewhat awkwardly, make them insist she do so. 14:40 <VoxPVoxD> That's called psychotherapy. 14:40 <tom> "I'm told you guys are scientists." 14:40 <banana> Sari: “That’s an event that has passed into rumour. Fire and damnation on the Irk... feel like giving your side of the story?” 14:41 <banana> To Bob: “Yes.” 14:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We wanted to learn. They wanted to feel safe." 14:41 <VoxPVoxD> "We agreed to disagree." 14:42 <tom> Bob continues: "Not much to tell, sir. Happy to report nobody was seriously hurt." 14:43 <Crion> Aster: "Fire is the combination of friction, pressure, and oxygen. In most ways that matter, the fool set himself ablaze." 14:43 <tom> He shrugs in his jacket. "Biology isn't my thing. More of an applied chemistry guy myself." 14:43 <Crion> "He knows where to find us if he wants his sword back. Should we be seated?" 14:43 <banana> Carol: “An initial tranche of volunteers has been provided by the Court for divestment. For once, the blood ages like fine wine - so if you’re going to participate in the project, get in early. Thank you.” 14:44 <banana> Sari: “Well, you’re up next, or you are, Willie. Don’t worry, we don’t mean to make you give a speech.” 14:45 <banana> Paranewton, quietly: “We’ve a new stimulus for your dark passenger’s response.” This woman looks young, superficially, but her hair is a very dull colour and she doesn’t move fast. 14:45 <VoxPVoxD> How are they volunteers if the Court provides them? 14:45 <VoxPVoxD> Whatever. They're talking to her now. "How exciting! Let me take my coat off." 14:46 <banana> Sari: “Here you go, bags and stands by the door.” The lecturer’s packing up and chatting to a couple of audience members who’ve come forward to help her - but it doesn’t look like anyone is going to leave. 14:47 <VoxPVoxD> She'll hang all her outwear on one of the coatracks, revealing hair that somehow stayed tidy under the balaclava, earrings that sparkle, and a heavy jumper: https://i.imgur.com/CEVymti.jpg 14:48 <Crion> Aster hangs a heavy coat and his jacket on the rack and will proceed to his seat in slacks, shirt with slightly rolled up sleeves, and tie. In case things get hot. 14:48 <banana> Paranewton follows Aster a little too silently. “Few of us have met Carl of Eccles. Vulnerabilities would be welcome - what’s his tendency to foolery?” 14:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie lets Paranewton follow Aaron around and sidles up to Bob. "I'm excited." 14:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Did you hear? They have something new." 14:50 <Crion> Aster: "Arrogance. Incredible self-regard, no filter. Hasn't needed it in XXX years, one presumes." He pronounces all three Xs to indicate centuries. "Not a fan of fire, but not uncommonly afraid of it. No, I suspect it's the arrogance and entitlement that are the actual twist point. He didn't need to declare feeding. He simply wanted to make a point. The point was: he could." 14:51 <tom> Bob's visor pans the room. There's the obvious, the red boxes around the vampires that turn to urgently blinking dots on his peripheral as his eyes slide over them, then there's the random pings he's been getting on the etherics, the stutter, the framerate drops... 14:51 <Crion> "Use that against him, and you'll see better results than any theorycrafting of banes." 14:53 <tom> He taps the visor and goes through the modes again. "Also try to get him in a generous mood." 14:53 <Crion> He pauses. "It made him angry, close to lethally so, for me to violate the sanctity of his mind." 14:54 <Crion> A glance at Paranewton. "I get the impression, however, that this might mainly be shame and revolt on the same level of a farmer watching a pig audit his taxes. So your mileage my vary." 14:54 <Crion> A glance at Paranewton. "I get the impression, however, that this might mainly be shame and revolt on the same level of a farmer watching a pig audit his taxes. So your mileage my vary." 14:55 <tom> Bob kneads his shoulder where the flat of Carl's blade fell. It's still mush, and he winces as he brings his hand back to his pocket. 14:55 <banana> Master Paranewton: “A creature of instincts, and it works for him. But it didn’t. Very... interesting.” 14:55 <banana> Master Sarhos: “Let’s just hope they didn’t learn anything from the experience.” 14:56 <Crion> To Sarhos: "'They?'" 14:56 <banana> The podium is empty now - spotlit, but everyone’s returned to the first two semi-circular rows of seating. 14:57 <tom> "I'd hope they learned not to jump us, sir." 14:57 <banana> Sari: “I don’t mean it like the Mekhet gender thing, I’m talking about politics.” He grins. “Sorry.” 14:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie heads up there as soon as the first person gives her a 'why isn't she heading up there yet' look. 14:58 <banana> It’s unclear whether this was the look in question, but a couple of people are watching her. Paranewton trails behind as Willie crosses the floor of the hall; some wag calls out, “Is the extraordinary Willie Wellesley presenting a paper of her own?” 14:58 <banana> Sari tells Bob and Aster, “Excuse me. You’ll want to be down the front.” He hurries to catch up and perhaps restore some dignity to the proceedings. 14:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm terribly sorry, but I wasn't told to prepare anything written..." 14:59 <Crion> Aster was going to press him on the 'they,' as a matter of politics, but it seems we're beginning. 14:59 <banana> There are... quite a few vampires that you don’t know here. Some of them you’ve seen at Elysium, but that doesn’t mean faces-to-names. 15:00 <tom> Bob makes his way around the side of the room back to the audience. 15:00 <banana> Aster has met Carol; he and Willie have both met the guy called Butcher. That leaves four audience members who are entirely unknown quantities (but the Odin highlights them dutifully). 15:02 <banana> Paranewton, to Willie: “I can do the presenting, but we will need you as subject and object.” 15:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Of course. Lead on, Master Paranewton." 15:03 <Crion> Aster will mentally catalogue them but not pay them any special mind. 15:03 <Crion> Unless they're paying him some in return. 15:03 <banana> Sarhos has actually borrowed the mic for a second. “Just to catch you all up, colleagues... yes, this is the Extraordinary Willie, who’s trusting us to help her get in touch with herself... the deal is that we also get in touch. So let me just summarise the last couple of experimental results.” 15:04 <Crion> Ah. They've named her like a circus act. 15:04 <VoxPVoxD> Do they really call her that all the time? 15:04 <Crion> Vampires. 15:04 <banana> He turns his head and adds, to the mortals, “The latest analysis should be in your drop box now that we’ve got the PGP setup.” 15:04 <VoxPVoxD> Not that she's complaining, 15:04 <tom> Bob scans the crowd and idly categorizes the vampires by scariness as Sarhos speaks. 15:04 <Crion> Aster will nod to that. 15:05 <banana> This is not a large room. Unless Bob’s tried hard to avoid it, he’s sitting next to a vampire - probably the donnish guy with grey hair and a square jaw who first made the ‘extraordinary’ crack. 15:06 <tom> That suits Bob just fine, as long as he keeps it in his gums. 15:06 <banana> The name of that guy you do not know, but Bob makes eye contact he’ll smiles genially and inquire, “Are you also a man of science?” 15:06 <banana> *but if 15:06 <Crion> Aster: "You don't have to answer that." 15:07 <tom> If the vampire can see through his mirrored visor, he can also see Bob rolls his eyes. "It's fine. I freaking love science." 15:07 <VoxPVoxD> Don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh— 15:08 <banana> Sari, to the audience: “We’ve learned a little about Willie’s powers over fire - learning more will require the completion of our asbestos chamber - and discovered that her blood quantum is precisely one half. There’s no magic in it, though there may be a Curse - by the standards we would apply, or the Thebans, she’s just manipulating physical law.” 15:08 <banana> He addresses Willie more directly. “We’ve further learned that there is a presence within you... but not whether that presence is you. Destiny, or merely capability?” 15:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I have consulted another expert on the topic of Destiny, independently, who professed that I may be under something like three interlocking geases. Is that the correct plural?" 15:10 <Crion> Aster spends these sessions being vigilant about the room around them. He can read the papers later, when he's not in a room with four vampires he doesn't have strict and formal lines of protocol with. 15:10 <Crion> Good that they've got the dropbox working though. Finally. 15:11 <banana> Vampire of science: “Good to hear - it’s been really revolutionary. You know we used to make do with these incredibly primitive intellectual tools? Naturalism, pure reasoning, and - frankly - a form of theology. The first few decades after the Revival let us lock in incredible progress.” 15:12 <tom> "Yeah. I hear you guys aren't exactly looking for a cure." 15:13 <Crion> Lock in, huh. 15:13 <banana> Sarhos: “In English, it may be. I would say gealar, which is already plural - in my homeland we never believed in such a thing as a single fate. There are always opposing threads, which may be entangled or even cut together but which do not lead to the same warp of the loom. 15:13 <banana> “ 15:13 <tom> "More like a," he snaps his fingers, searching for the words. "...more like a paradigm shift?" 15:13 <Crion> Aster had suspected the main issue here wasn't the progress but how to ratchet it. 15:14 <banana> Vampire who honestly looks kind of like Desmond Llewelyn: “State transitions are not reversible, lad.” 15:15 <Crion> Sarhos, meanwhile, seems to be pontificating outside the scope of the dataset. 15:15 <banana> Sari: “I’ve digressed. Let’s turn this thing over to Willie and the Master of Hunger, who will demonstrate stimulus... and response.” 15:16 <Crion> Aster stiffens involuntarily at that. He's getting too used to malevolent entendre from this phylum of the night. 15:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Interesting diversity of viewpoints! The magician I consulted spoke of fate almost like a river, that could be swum against or with great feats of engineering, dammed or diverted. And the starchildren conceive of destiny as coterminous with God, in a sense. Something you can submit to, make peace with, ignore, or oppose." 15:16 <VoxPVoxD> She's ready for whatever. 15:17 <VoxPVoxD> This is so excitign! 15:17 <VoxPVoxD> *exciting 15:17 <banana> The Master of Pain steps down from the podium, but he’s still interested in Willie’s take on destiny. “If I was to propose yet another view, perhaps... friction. Fate is what will be, if we do nothing to change it.” 15:18 <tom> He falls silent to watch Willie speak. Then: "And what are you transitioning into?" 15:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "One of the fundamental forces, almost, like gravity." 15:19 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't feel competent to evaluate any of these claims. I am not a scientist; merely an enthusiastic amateur." 15:19 <banana> Llewelynlike kindred: “I study the corrosive effects of the Sun... on everything else. Our affliction is a matter of degree, you know, and yet that degree varies with the state of sin. That means photons have a moral valence.” 15:19 <banana> “Just imagine the potential.” 15:20 <tom> "Yeah we already tried to make that one. Doesn't work, can't recreate it in a lab," Bob adds, helpfully. 15:21 <banana> Paranewton takes the podium and waits quietly. Sarhos nods and gets out of the way - taking a seat way up the back. 15:21 <Crion> Aster has imagined the potential, which is why he's not going to help vampires with their sun problem. 15:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks on patiently. :) 15:22 <banana> Solar scientist: “Lad, your lab was probably.. compared to the Room, it can’t.. well, I suspect it’s, erm, not very good.” 15:23 <banana> Paranewton, into the mic: “Alright.” 15:23 <Crion> He will file that nugget away, however. 15:23 <banana> “Willie, all of you lot - tonight we ask: to what does the blood call? What answers?” 15:24 <tom> Bob falls silent, swallows, watches the woman in leather with a carefully calibrated politeness. After a moment, he'll mutter: "Yeah it was just a DARPA lab, not a freaky haunted cave, whadda we know, right?" 15:25 <banana> She looks mostly at Willie as she talks. “If our analogies have any meaning, there’s an experience of desire - not shared, but stated. You burn... right?” 15:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I *can* burn. But I need not." 15:25 <Crion> Aster, without looking away from the stage: "Where do you think vampire studies are most fruitfully prosecuted? It's not anywhere with flourescent lighting, I can tell you that." 15:27 <tom> "Depends on the study." He smiles. 15:27 <banana> Paranewton: “Yeah, that’s presently the case - it’s been optional. So this is a three part thing.. the first one might not amount to much. I’m just going to give you this deck of cards...” 15:28 <banana> Inside the podium is indeed a deck. Not exactly Rider-Waite, but they’re tarot-like - stylised figures with snazzy titles. However, each one depicts... hungers. Things it is possible to want. You’ve got Beer, Sex, Recognition and so on. 15:29 <banana> Only Willie can actually see the deck in her hands, although she could hold them up for the audience if she liked. 15:29 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, this is like a Derren Brown thing! 15:29 <banana> Another vampire one seat over from the moral photons guy leans past him just enough to say, “Where did you study?” 15:30 <Crion> Is that to Bob? 15:30 <banana> Either of you, really. 15:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie will hold up the cards for those in the seats. Sort of fan them out a bit before stacking them back up. 15:30 <tom> Bob, without a pause: "Task Force Valkyrie." 15:31 <Crion> Aster: "The Philadelphia city morgue." 15:31 <banana> Paranewton: “Okay, please contemplate these things.. things you’ve gone without, things you want and sometimes attain.. if you could order the deck roughly by how sated you’ve been, that will get you in the right frame of mind.” 15:32 <VoxPVoxD> "Most sated on the top or the bottom?" 15:32 <banana> “Doesn’t matter.” 15:35 <banana> She addresses the audience again: “As many of you know... the scales that cover our eyes can be a mercy. We are not always aware of what we most desire, and a hunger unacknowledged can be.. effectively, not a need at all. What do we need, really? Not breath nor feed nor drink. The weakest among us sleep. Sleep is a solved problem.” 15:35 <tom> It occurs to Bob that he's being insanely rude to the vampires. "Bob Goreman." Handshakes are offered all around, assuming they don't grab him by the wrist and go directly for the carotid. 15:37 <banana> The leaning vampire... leans away a little, but he’ll shake hands and introduce himself as “Second Caller”. So will the beaming Llewelynlike (“Jacob! Initiate of the Turn.”) 15:37 <banana> Caller: “Yeah, I’ve.. heard of the Task Force. Yeah.” 15:37 <banana> Jacob: “And I have heard of Philadelphia. Shall we listen, chaps?” 15:38 <tom> Bob nods. 15:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie goes through the cards pretty fast; someone watching could probably tell she's handled a lot of cards before, for divination or gambling. She organises them such that the face-down deck she presents to Paranewton has her most sated/least intense appetites at the top (starting with Family, then Professional Respect, then Safety, and so on), filtering down through the deck to become 15:38 <VoxPVoxD> broadly less abstract and more venal. The bottom three - the most acute hungers - are Opium, Knowledge, and Sex. 15:39 <banana> Paranewton: “Ah, thank you. Yeah, I’ve been there. But it’s interesting, right, Family all the way on top- technically this is the one that’s in the blood.” 15:39 <banana> “A barely needed thing? A useful pair of sunglasses? ...well, I need a choir here.” 15:39 <banana> There’s a pause; nobody is quite sure what she means. 15:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks at Paranewton questioningly. 15:40 <banana> “Initiates and beneath, to me. Range yourselves around the back of the podium, please, and listen without thinking.” 15:40 <banana> Everyone but Sarhos Sari (and, presumably, the hunters) gets up. 15:41 <Crion> Aster: "Chorus." 15:41 <VoxPVoxD> Quite a lot of comparatively low-ranked people. 15:41 <banana> Paranewton: “Willie, would you mind moving down onto the floor there.. your colleagues, they should, well, either be here or further away, it’s an interesting experiment either way.” 15:41 <Crion> "She meant chorus, not choir. As in Greek." 15:41 <Crion> This is mostly to himself. 15:41 <VoxPVoxD> A comparative lot of them, anyway. "Not at all!" She joins her colleagues. 15:41 <banana> Sari’s got his laptop out, as well as a video camera. 15:42 <VoxPVoxD> They can keep their distance or not. If Paranewton has no expressed opinion, neither does she. 15:42 <Crion> Aster isn't about to move unless asked. 15:42 <tom> Bob purses his lips. He's half-expecting a big net to drop on them from the ceiling or something, the way he's looking around the room with raised eyebrows. 15:46 <banana> Paranewton herds six vampires to form a half-circle behind her, mostly using gestures; their arc forms a counterpoint to the now almost empty seating. As the lower-ranked members of the Order watch quietly, she turns back to face Willie - but also, incidentally, Aaron and Bob - and passes a hand down her forehead, shuddering a little. 15:48 <banana> Then, the vampire seems to relax. 15:49 <banana> Her whole posture changes; it becomes apparent just how much tension she was under up until this point, incredibly tightly-wound. There’s an expression of something like bliss that crosses Paranewton’s face momentarily, even as the other six Kindred look momentarily surprised, almost relieved. 15:51 <banana> There’s something wrong... Bob and Aster see it. They’ve trained for this. It’s not exactly the same as other vampiric blood-disciplines, but akin, and they steel themselves, only feeling a wash of hunger, a passing emotion. 15:51 <Crion> Aster will stand, but not move from in front of his seat. 15:51 <banana> Willie is closer. Willie is attuned to her needs - and now to the needs of half a dozen of the Kindred. The whole deck of cards seems to drip with blood. 15:52 <VoxPVoxD> "..." 15:52 <banana> She feels an overwhelming desire to Feed. 15:53 <banana> You need this thing - this vitae - you don’t have the means for it. No fangs! There are mortals right here, a knife would do the trick.. there’s the demon knife for just this purpose, right? Or there are the vampires, their blood would- no, you retain intelligence, you know the risks of that. 15:54 <banana> This hunger overwhelms all others. There is a picture in her mind - a procession of Wellesleys, seven seventh sons and daughters. All of them with strong hearts pumping rich blood. 15:54 <VoxPVoxD> "I..." 15:55 <tom> Bob gives her a weird look. "Are you okay, Willie?" 15:55 <banana> Paranewton: “You need what they have. You are like us and like them, and it will kill you not to choose.” 15:55 <Crion> Aster: "Did you feel that?" 15:55 <VoxPVoxD> She turns to the men behind her, doe-eyed, plaintive, needy. "I..." She reaches out to Bob. She lays her palm flat against his chest, directly above his heart. 15:55 <Crion> "That curl...no, not in your stomach...in your throat..." 15:56 <Crion> "Bob!" 15:56 <tom> Bob, looking down: "Uh." 15:56 <Crion> "Step AWAY!" 15:56 <VoxPVoxD> Her fingertips graze upward, passing his collar, dragging along the skin of his throat... settling unerringly on his pulsing carotid. 15:56 <VoxPVoxD> She leans toward him. 15:56 <VoxPVoxD> "I..." 15:57 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm so hungry--" 15:57 <Crion> Aster begins accessing the Talon module. Just in case. 15:57 <Crion> "Bob--" 15:57 <VoxPVoxD> Is this what Sergio feels? 15:57 <VoxPVoxD> Is this what Emily feels? 15:57 <VoxPVoxD> Is this what it's going to be like? 15:57 <tom> Bob's eyes widen. "Shhhh-" He stumbles back onto the chair. 15:57 <banana> Paranewton: “There is a need that burns.” She’s gripping the podium with one hand, doing something - nobody quite has the attention to make it out right now. 15:58 <tom> "Turn it off! Turn it off!" 15:58 <banana> “I can’t.” 15:58 <banana> “I can change it. Change her.” 15:58 <tom> Bob puts his hands up, away from the sides of his jacket. "You better!" 15:58 <VoxPVoxD> "Don't--" One hand lashes out like a cobra, the other braces against the chair, holding Willie back with a stiff forearm. 15:58 <Crion> Aster: "Bob, she's asking, not telling. Simply step. Away." 15:58 <VoxPVoxD> "Don't stay. Don't go." 15:59 <Crion> She doesn't have the capacity to compell...yet. 15:59 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks at Bob with begging eyes. 15:59 <banana> You think you hear one of the neonates mutter, “I’ve never felt so free.” 15:59 <tom> Bob scrambles back against the wall of the room, bracing himself on the back of one of the chairs. 15:59 <Crion> Aster spins to Paranewton, hissing, "Finish your ritual." 16:00 <VoxPVoxD> The sudden movement compels Willie onward. She gives before the chair does, starts squeezing between them, clambering over them, towards Bob. 16:00 <banana> Paranewton: “Willie! Willie Wellesley!” 16:00 <banana> “Would you rather my hunger or your own?” 16:01 <tom> Bob sweats fucking bullets as his eyes dart from Willie to Aster. "Do something bro, c'mon!" He insists in a quiet voice. 16:01 <VoxPVoxD> "Whatever I feel is mine. If you would claim ownership, take it from me." 16:01 <VoxPVoxD> "Please." 16:02 <VoxPVoxD> Bob gets the impression this last might be to him. Paranewton's pretty sure she's talking to her. 16:02 <Crion> Aster is doing precisely what needs to be done: staying away from the subject and object while the ritual coheres. You wanted to meet the Draculas, chief. 16:02 <banana> Up against the other wall, Sarhos Sari has propped up his camera against the back of a seat; he then steps through a door, closing it with a little click. 16:03 <tom> Bob narrows his eyes behind the visor. 16:03 <banana> The vampire repeats, the first thing she’s really said loudly all night: “What you feel is yours.” 16:03 <banana> Any desire Willie had for blood is suddenly, entirely gone. But the hunger remains. 16:04 <tom> "Mina, Mina, hey, hey, snap out of it-" 16:04 <banana> A burning need, unsated. 16:05 <tom> "C'mon," He chuckles a little too quickly, "We're makin' a scene in front of the Draculas..." 16:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie shudders, eyes closing. She grips the chair and grimaces. When her eyes open, she's looking at Bob if anything more intensely. But it's not the needy, grieving focus of a moment ago. This is more like, if he remembers the way she was looking at the menu at that restaurant after they went dress shopping. 16:06 <Crion> Aster's eyes narrow further. 16:07 <banana> This is far more quiet, but you can hear it - the mic is still on. “Not the focus I expected. We may save on furniture.” 16:07 <Crion> I'll bet. 16:07 <VoxPVoxD> She grits her teeth, grips the chair... "nnnnI'm fine. I'm fine. I get it." 16:07 <VoxPVoxD> She turns briskly towards the vampires. "Okay." 16:08 <VoxPVoxD> Fffffuck." 16:08 <banana> Several of them are kind of reeling about; the others are chastising those ones, telling them to kind of get a grip. 16:08 <Crion> Aster will walk back to his chair, pick it and it alone off the floor and set it upright, and sit back down. 16:08 <tom> Bob exhales. 16:09 <banana> Paranewton: “Only a partial success. You continue to resist hypotheses, Willie, but maybe we’ve set a spark...” 16:09 <tom> He'll return to an untoppled seat next to Aster. "Draculas, huh." 16:09 <Crion> So that...that echo...that was the Beast. The same way looking at an eclipse through a series of mirrors is an eclipse. 16:10 <Crion> His lips are a thin line. He doesn't have witty repartee for Bob. 16:14 <banana> The Master of Hunger leans on her podium, watching Willie. She looks a little less relaxed now, but basically okay. “Either the call of your blood does not allow for puppetry, or you have the will that most of us lack - that failing which allows us continued existence.” 16:14 <banana> “Perhaps the fire inside you burns brighter than the fire around you.” 16:15 <VoxPVoxD> "Would you rather burn brightly, Master, or at length?" 16:16 <banana> “I am a wick elongated to snapping point, and never quite beyond. I apologise for my failure. We will try again.” 16:17 <VoxPVoxD> "...yeah." 16:18 <Crion> Aster, into the silence: "Is there a further goal to accomplish here, tonight." 16:18 <Crion> "A further concrete goal." 16:19 <banana> Sarhos Sari reenters the room. 16:19 <tom> Bob looks very pale. 16:19 <banana> “I think if you’d like to call it a night, we have plenty to process here. Thanks a lot, everyone; we’ve got some good data.” 16:20 <Crion> Aster stares at her a moment longer after she isn't forthright enough to say 'no' to his face. Then: "Yes. Let's." 16:20 <tom> "Ahuh," Bob seems to agree? 16:22 <Crion> Aster will hurriedly re-jacket himself and retrieve Willie's garments if she's still dazed from the experience. 16:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Thank you for your time. Good night." 16:22 <VoxPVoxD> She takes Aaron's assistance gratefully, though she doesn't meet his eyes. 16:22 <VoxPVoxD> She can't even look in Bob's direction. 16:22 <banana> Paranewton was kind of overtaken by Sarhos there, rather than ghosting Aster. She’s gone back to being quiet, and is helping some of her subordinates get over whatever the hell she did to them (channeling their hunger in some way?). 16:23 <banana> It’s very cold outside. 16:23 <tom> Bob: "So my girlfriend's birthday is tomorrow." 16:23 <VoxPVoxD> She's very glad now to have the balaclava over her face. 16:23 <Crion> When they hit the pavement, Aster immediately lights a cigarette." 16:23 <Crion> -" 16:23 <Crion> Aster: "You should go enjoy that." 16:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's reading Twitter on her phone. 16:24 <tom> "Yeah," He squeaks. "Got everything planned out all nice, thanks for helping me find a gift Willie." 16:24 <Crion> The conversation that needs to happen here either needs to happen between Willie and Bob -- in which case he'll fuck off -- or needs to happen between Aster and Willie. And she doesn't look inclined to have either of those right now. 16:25 <VoxPVoxD> If she had to pick one, though, it's not the one with Bob. "Don't mention it," she mumbles. Kathleen Stock is at it again. 16:25 <tom> So instead it happens between Bob and Aster: "Can they all do that? I mean, can any vampire-" 16:25 <tom> "I mean if they're evolving that's a big problem." 16:25 <Crion> Aster: "They're not evolving. They don't evolve." 16:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's not evolution if you have to make it happen. It's mutation." 16:26 <banana> It’s windy, but there’s no rain; alone on these early-AM streets, you can look up and see the stars. Too far away to matter. 16:26 <Crion> "Their self-help group is swimming through molasses. They improve by increment." 16:26 <Crion> To Bob: "You should go home and get some sleep. You have a big day." 16:26 <tom> Bob takes a few opportunities to look over his shoulder in Willie's direction- he's just scanning with his ODIN to make sure they're not being followed. 16:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie doesn't seem to notice. 16:27 <VoxPVoxD> She does notice - his eyes are heavy as fingertips on her - but she doesn't seem to. 16:28 <tom> "Yeah, cool. Coolcoolcoolcuh-cool. See you guys after tomorrow to go jack up some aliens." Bob's eyes don't leave the pavement. 16:28 <tom> He staggers off. 16:28 <Crion> Aster will nod, and make some at least polite attempt to make it seem like he's walking Willie home instead of shooing Bob off. 16:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie plays along. 16:29 <Crion> When they're alone in a well-lit but empty square: "So." 16:29 <VoxPVoxD> It's only once Aaron speaks that she puts her phone away. 16:31 <Crion> "I'm going to have to apologize to Bob. He did everything I asked of him, perfect and to the letter, but he can't ever come to one of these again. That -- can't ever happen again. And the vampires take their fair share of blame in my eyes, but that's not all of it." 16:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah." 16:31 <VoxPVoxD> "What should I have done differently?" 16:34 <Crion> Aster: "In the moment? I can gameplan a different reaction. Say you could have played it off; tried to bite MY wrist. Even if your teeth break skin that's -- we can deal with that. That's not a big deal." He exhales smoke. "But what am I supposed to say, strategically? 'Don't fall in love with Bob Goreman?'" 16:35 <banana> Mari’s very sleepy, but she waited up - she doesn’t normally, if Bob’s out at vampire hours. She’s wearing heavy pajamas (not great heating down here once the empanadas stop), so when she walks out of the kitchen to hug Bob from behind it’s like some sort of fluffy animal got involved. 16:35 <banana> "Heyyy. I was thinking, if you're okay with it, let's just do the thing with Sumi and Riaan tomorrow. I know that sometime- and maybe they'll call, but-" 16:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's a very generous freaming of what happened." 16:36 <VoxPVoxD> *framing 16:37 <VoxPVoxD> "It's incompatible with blame, though. Responsibility, sure. Ownership. But you can't assign fault to a feeling." 16:37 <VoxPVoxD> "Feelings just happen. It's my conduct that should be judged." 16:37 <tom> "Yeah," Bob croaks, clears his throat. "Yeah! Great idea hun." 16:38 <banana> Mari: “Are you ok? You didn’t inhale more smoke, did you? I could get the Ventolin.” 16:38 <Crion> Aster: "My inclination for generosity towards you is why we're having this conversation. And why it's not completely off-limits for us to go back in there again. And I don't disagree...but you didn't actually bite him, despite the influence of the Beast. You asked him to take you." 16:39 <tom> "I can grill some steaks tomorrow. I know we both like 'em rare, what about the others?" Bob reaches over his shoulder to pat her, turns to peck her on the cheek, makes to break off and head to the kitchen to take the steaks out of the freezer to thaw. 16:40 <Crion> He takes another drag, looking away. "In a room full of WASC vampires, mind, so it's not completely out of the realm of possibility one of them tries to use this against you with Sergio." 16:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "The valence of the appetite changed, but it was still to a degree that was not natural. My conduct is totally explicable, given the circumstances. Sergio's not going to feel threatened by Bob. Nor should he." 16:41 <VoxPVoxD> "Explicable isn't the same as justifiable, or forgiveable. But." 16:42 <banana> Mari jumps to the wrong conclusion. “I know you said you want to talk about it some time, but not yet, so... not yet.” Bob can’t see the expression in her face, since he’s buried in the fridge. 16:42 <banana> “Sumi doesn’t eat meat, but she won’t be offended or anything. Coetzee will probably eat anything you put in front of him.” 16:43 <Crion> Aster: "That, sadly, is up to Sergio. But I take your meaning." 16:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's not even, like... you don't want to hear this stuff. But this is not the substance of a rift in my relationship. It's a logistical problem." 16:44 <tom> Bob palms the freezer shut and slops the sealed plastic bags into the bowl in the sink. He turns back to scoop her up into his arms. "Hun, no, no, don't worry about it one bit." 16:45 <tom> He takes a soft tone: "You should get to enjoy your birthday, not share it." 16:45 <banana> Mari: “Nope, I’m going to worry. But that’s ok too.” 16:45 <Crion> After another drag: "How often do you want to become a vampire? How badly do you want to become a vampire?" 16:45 <banana> “Don’t worry about me worrying. It’s late as hell.” 16:45 <Crion> "They were expecting the fire, in there." 16:45 <Crion> "I don't think they got the Beast by accident." 16:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "They don't know me as well as they think they do." 16:46 <Crion> Aster nods; takes another draw. "I should hope not." 16:46 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't want to be a vampire. I think about it a lot. You'd have to, in my position. Unless you're totally oblivious. But that's not something I aspire to." 16:47 <VoxPVoxD> "I just... sometimes, in some ways, I feel as if I already have." 16:47 <VoxPVoxD> "As if I always was." 16:47 <tom> Bob squeezes her around the waist and shuts his eyes, stooping over to meet her forehead with his. "It is late. And I got so much work to do before we're ready to face enemy mechs in the field." 16:48 <banana> Mari: “Well, come to bed and do it tomorrow.” 16:48 <Crion> He nods. "That's what I wonder about. That echo. Bob and I felt it too, you know. It didn't affect us in the same way -- our training, I suspect, and our vigilance in the moment, as we weren't there to learn things about ourselves -- but now I can catalogue. I know: 'Yes. That's what that feeling is.'" 16:48 <Crion> "And I wonder what doors that opens." 16:48 <VoxPVoxD> "The lesson, to me, of that experience is that the content of the appetite is secondary to its character. I don't want to hurt people. I don't want anyone to suffer because of me. I don't want to rule or own or conquer anyone. But those are political matters, they grow out of the underlying fact." 16:49 <VoxPVoxD> "The impulse to claim, to consume, to taste... that is something I know quite well." 16:49 <tom> Bob hefts her up and through the door into the bedroom. Ah fuck it, he can worry about that shit later. 16:49 <Crion> Aster: "...Interesting. And they were unable to tell if that was the Satan, or simply the matter of being human." 16:50 <Crion> "Useless fucking vampires." 16:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Neither can I." 16:50 <banana> A negative result is also science. 16:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Whatever its origin, t this point it's so deeply habituated and engrained that whatever its origin, it's a part of me now." 16:51 <Crion> Aster: "The questions I posed earlier -- how often; how badly. Those aren't judgmental, but diagnostic. I think you should track that urge, as objectively as you can. And perhaps not share it with the Ordo." 16:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Trying to change it would amount to - what was your phrasing? Swimming through molasses." 16:53 <Crion> Aster stubs out his cigarette, pauses...lights another. "I'm going to cancel our session with them next week. We're going to need to rest after whatever happens with this H.G. Welles nonsense, anyhow. It should give them time to ponder tests marginally less dangerous, and I need to establish boundaries." 16:54 <Crion> "Vados wasn't there tonight. I have less confidence in the rigors of his disciples." 16:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Okay, set boundaries, that's fine, but if we're going to do this by half-measures should we be doing it at all? Prolonging the work is its own kind of risk. I'm not particularly worried about my self-control outside of the laboratory setting." 16:55 <VoxPVoxD> "That's not what I'm afraid of." 16:57 <Crion> Mmmm. Well: "Acknowledged. But the things I'm afraid of deserve countenance too. How about this: If I can wrangle Vados himself for next week's session, and we're in fit shape following whatever happens Friday, then we'll take the session as scheduled." 16:58 <Crion> "The two of us." 16:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's fine. I don't object to greater scruples, so long as the work is still worthwhile. I'd rather quit entirely than put myself through things like this for no risk or no reward." 16:59 <VoxPVoxD> Aaron can't see her wince beneath the balaclava, but he can probably guess. 17:00 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't know what I'm supposed to do, here." 17:00 <VoxPVoxD> "I recognise this is not what you signed up for, but I don't... who else can I ask about this? Especially now?" 17:06 <Crion> Aster smokes for a moment. "Neither of the paths that Lab Technician or even Director of Forensics Aaron Aster, M.S., would have taken in this specific situation would appeal to you. So I won't detail them. I will say that you...seem to fixated on not a person, or a path, or a goal, but on a fidelity. You want the completion that comes with understanding, and that understand is specifically 17:06 <Crion> of yourself, if I had to guess. Not as a person, but as a...let's say a vehicle. You're behind your own wheel and you're desperate to see what you can do." 17:06 <Crion> "So I think, doing the least harm to the fewest amount of people around you, you need to find out what you can do." 17:07 <Crion> "And I need to do things like ask the vampires to at least be following written fucking guidelines." 17:07 <Crion> *that understanding is 17:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's very wise." 17:10 <Crion> Aster: "I thought you might think so; I just told you that you should be doing all the shit you already wanted to do anyway." 17:10 <VoxPVoxD> Coolly: "Not all of it." 17:13 <Crion> A small, allowing nod of the head. "But the reason I think so is because you are a singular talent, one VASCU would have fucked up; one the Lucifuge already arguably did. Talents don't always get to develop. Sometimes that's on them. Sometimes that's on the rest of us. Right now, I aim to lower the influence of the latter group as much as possible." 17:13 <Crion> "So I'll tell Bob the bad news." 17:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Thank you." 17:14 <VoxPVoxD> "I can't talk to him about this. Not until... I don't know when. The end of the job? I don't know. All I know is, until I do, I'm out the only real friend I have in Manchester." 17:14 <VoxPVoxD> "I say it this way to avoid placing that awful burden onto you." 17:17 <Crion> Aster didn't even seem to register the implication, honestly. He waves off the explanation of it. "The discussion you and him need to have is outside both my ability and my interest to help with. This interoffice shit happens; it's never much fun. Are you going to be okay getting home?" This is the first time tonight he glances at the demon. 17:17 <VoxPVoxD> The dog is smiling. 17:18 <VoxPVoxD> Anything he said would gild the lily. 17:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah, definitely." 17:19 <VoxPVoxD> Big sigh. "See you tomorrow?" 17:19 <Crion> He has nothing to say to the demon. Doesn't even give it the courtesy of changing his expression. "Then I'll be off. Good night, Willie." 17:19 <Crion> "Unless I work from home." 17:19 <VoxPVoxD> "Good night, Aaron." 17:21 <VoxPVoxD> It's another couple of hours before Willie gets to bed. Luckily the thin walls of the apartment don't pose a problem; she learned to cry quietly at quite a young age.