22:20 <Quaker> Four days after the alien attack, Badawi is in a snow-blanketed Hattersley, in front of the run-down community center. There’s a lock on the door, but it doesn’t stop her for very long. It’s as she remembers it: cavernous, water-stained, not very fit for purpose. Still, the furnace works. Time to convert it into something wonderful for children. 22:21 <Quaker> AB (to WW): <Hi I’m in Hattersley at the Nightingale Club do you want to come over. Lots of ideas I’d like to talk to you about> 22:22 <banana> Apart from the gym the Nightingales are now using, the only part of the building that's in regular use is the kitchens - technically it's administered as a whole by the local council, and they do auxillary prep for soup drives and foodbanking in there. 22:24 <Quaker> There’s the empty pool, the basketball court-turned-theater, and the kitchens…anything else in the building? 22:25 <banana> Sad little rooms that used to be offices, and before that used to be a library. Now they house rat traps. 22:25 <VoxPVoxD> Agostina gets a reply pretty quickly: <ok! I'm on my way. should i bring anything> 22:26 <Quaker> AB: <No we can make a list and then go shopping> 22:26 <VoxPVoxD> <👍> 22:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's there in about twenty minutes, so bundled up she totters just a bit. The burns are all gone, though, so that's nice. 22:28 <Quaker> Are any of the kids hanging around? Seems kind of desolate if there’s not choir practice on. 22:29 <Quaker> When Willie comes in through the door, Badawi is waiting with a second coffee, bought from an abominable little cafe down the street. “How’s your back doing?” 22:29 <banana> Depends on what time of day you've come here. As far as Agostina's aware, they tend to gather as a group on Monday-Thursday afternoons (with some of them arriving early enough that school can't have let out...) as well more irregularly at night on the weekend. 22:29 <banana> They have keys though, so they might randomly turn up elsewhen. It's more secure a place than most of the kids have access to otherwise. 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> This place is a bit grim, isn't it? Hopefully Agostina's got some nice plans. "Hello! Doing very well, actually. Mari showed me how to take care of dressings and between that and the magician it's healed up a treat. How are you?" 22:31 <banana> This place is right on the west edge of Hattersley, before it gives way to an actual urb (specifically, the university quarter). Two blocks in that direction and you might see someone with a job. 22:34 <Quaker> “Fine.” Is it a response to Willie’s healing, or how she’s doing? Who can tell. “How much did you give these kids again?” 22:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Cash? About £4,000. But I also paid up a year on the lease of the place they chose... which was this. And they wanted a piano which it was easier to buy for them than make them get out of pocket." 22:36 <Quaker> She’s borrowed a van for today, so she’s got a folding table set up in the gym, and some blank posters and art supplies - markers, colored pencils, and ribbon and glitter. 22:38 <Quaker> “It’s a nice enough building. Pretty warm. I checked the roofing, no leaks. But it could use some TLC, dont’ you think?” 22:39 <Quaker> “Tell you the truth, it’s been keeping me up.” 22:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah. The whole estate could, really - " The whole north could, really - "- but we've carved this place out already. No excuse for leaving it neglected." 22:42 <banana> When you look around the former basketball court there are signs of its recent habitation. Mugs from the kitchen have been left out on a row of seats, and there's a heavy-looking locker nearby. Some stickers on the walls, and graffiti... which doesn't help the air of the place... but it's kind of cute graffiti. Lyrics, drawings of singers, someone's initials in a heart (just the one pair!). 22:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "D'you see that?" 22:45 <Quaker> Badawi walks over to the locker and pokes at it with her foot. “Isn’t that mage language?” 22:45 <Quaker> Is it locked? 22:46 <banana> It is - and Agostina's had a lot of experience with enchantment. It's resisting her in a way which some people might think was mechanical coincidence but is actually due to a mage's warding. 22:46 <banana> There's a telltale vagueness to her own perception, an inability to pin down why she can't open the thing. 22:46 <VoxPVoxD> "Did you tell your Strangeways friends about this place? Maybe one of them left a gift." 22:46 <VoxPVoxD> "Hopefully it's not whatshisname, January, the mad old evil one you went all Errol Morris on." 22:47 <Quaker> “Yeah, Octocat’s been by.” 22:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I was wondering - does 'Octocat' connote a cat with eight legs, or an octopus with whiskers? Is that a rude question to ask about a nom du sorcier?" 22:51 <Quaker> Badawi is focusing on the box. “I think the cat with eight legs. It’s from some kind of mascot for a programming website, or something.” 22:51 <Quaker> “How precise can you be with your fire? I’m thinking about burning the runes off this thing so I can pick the lock.” 22:52 <Quaker> “Not that I don’t trust mages around kids, but…actually, I don’t trust them even around adults.” 22:53 <Quaker> “I can’t make out what they say, can you?” 22:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie stands next to Agostina and leans in to squint. 22:54 <banana> Willie doesn't know a lot about high speech or handwriting, but she can figure out one thing by paying sufficient attention: there are two sets of runes, repeating the same pattern or design. The first is confident and precise, and the second looks like an imitative scrawl (although it's laid out along some neat notional line with the other group). 22:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It looks like teaching someone to write. Like you know when you're in primary school and learning to copy letters for the first time?" 22:55 <Quaker> “Hm. One of the kids is a mage?” 22:55 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't know what it says, but you see it's the same thing twice, but done sloppier the second time." 22:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Maybe!" 22:55 <Quaker> “That’s no good.” 22:56 <VoxPVoxD> "D'you want me to burn it open?" 22:58 <Quaker> Badawi thinks about it, squatting next to the locker. When she turns back to Willie, she just rotates on the balls of her feet. “This isn’t very PC of me, but I feel like we’ve got a responsibility for these kids now, and I really don’t trust the supernatural elements of this city to be left unsupervised with them.” 22:58 <Quaker> “If you’d like. If you can scorch the runes off, I’ll get the lock.” 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie points a finger at the runes, and the ember that dances at her fingertip flashes and grows denser and denser, to a blowtorch point. She waves it over the chest and... the amateur's runes remain. "Wow. I could feel it resisting the heat. Whoever drew those on really did not want them open." 23:02 <banana> Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they will simply stonewall you and pretend they can't hear you yelling. 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Christ, they really are just civil servants, aren't they? 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> "Anyway, I don't think it's bad to want to keep an eye on the children, especially since they've been spied on by vampires, have kin to a werewolf among them, and apparently are being babysat by wizards." 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> "That's quite a confluence for some down-at-heel theatre kids." 23:04 <banana> If Octocat's keeping an eye on them, they could do worse... but he didn't tell Badawi. 23:05 <Quaker> Badawi: [To the tune of the Pink Floyd song] “Hey! Wizard! Leave those kids alone,” 23:06 <Quaker> “They could do worse than have us keeping an eye on them fron now on. It would give us something good to do.” 23:06 <Quaker> “I had some ideas for this place.” 23:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles. "What are you thinking?" 23:15 <Quaker> She runs her thumb over her lips while she thinks, and even while she talks, pointing. “We could replace the fluorescents with LEDs, that’d give this place a much better light. New paint on all the walls, tear up the old carpet and put some new wood in, some Morris wallpaper and wainscoting, or maybe some woodworked moulding. They’ve got to have a real stage, maybe some platforms and decking in front of a bandstand, rigging it all for 23:15 <Quaker> electric. Plenty of space beyond that, so lots of tables and storage for crafts projects and tutoring, couches for them just to relax. We can knock the walls out of the offices and turn it back into a library. Lots of decorations and reminders on the walls. Screens and projectors for cinema, maybe some televisions. Fix up the kitchens so they’ve got places to cook.” 23:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's smiling bigger the more Agostina talks. "A proper community centre!" 23:16 <Quaker> “We need some reliable people to supervise and help with their academics, too.” 23:17 <Quaker> “Yeah. The Nightingale Club. We can get them little patches to sew on.” 23:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We should be able to do that no problem. Have you talked to the kids about it yet?" 23:19 <Quaker> “No. Haven’t had the time until now.” 23:20 <Quaker> “They’ve been left alone for so long, they’ll probably recoil at the thought of anything changing.” 23:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah. We've got to be delicate, or else we'll be sinking a bunch of resources into a space they abandon because they no longer feel like it's theirs." 23:23 <VoxPVoxD> "We probably ought to be including them in decision-making as much as is practical. Decoration, priorities for equipment, et cetera." 23:25 <Quaker> “That’s true. But as much as we both value independence, the structure and help is good for them. Sometimes no decision is easier than any decision, if you haven’t got any experience. I don’t want them to stagnate just because it’s more comfortable in the moment just to say no to everything you can’t do by yourself.” 23:25 <Quaker> “How would you put it to them?” 23:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie folds her arms, thinking. How are they using the space right now? 23:27 <banana> Singing, dreaming of fame... and maybe some sort of occult training. 23:28 <banana> Though there's only the one sign of the latter. 23:28 <Quaker> “I don’t want them to turn out like Reveille.” 23:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "She really made an impression on you, didn't she?" 23:31 <Quaker> “Did she leave one on you? Gunfire on the highway, even worse about to come at her in public, and her first reaction was to make sure to tell us that she was going to do as she liked, because fuck everyone who told her no as a kid." 23:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Very irresponsible, yeah. It takes a bit more than an overbearing parent to instill that kind of attitude, though, I think. It's a survival skill." 23:34 <VoxPVoxD> "Defiance grows in all seasons, all climates. Humility is a hothouse flower; it only thrives in safety." 23:35 <VoxPVoxD> "So I think if we want to give these kids the best possible shot of not feeling like they have to explode out of any boundaries to be able to define themselves at all, we want to put it to them just that way. This is a place where you can be yourself, whoever you are. This is a place where you can hold onto hidden things. The things that are precious and secret." 23:35 <VoxPVoxD> "That are precious because they are secret." 23:38 <VoxPVoxD> "Suddenly I'm quite grateful we didn't burn that locker open." 23:39 <Quaker> “I’m not so sure. Tell you the truth, I’m not so sold on the self separate from everything else.” 23:39 <Quaker> “But I just want to see them safe and supported.” 23:39 <Quaker> “What about a nurse? Any of them have disabilities?” 23:41 <Quaker> “We’ve got to put up safety railing around the pool, anyway.” 23:42 <banana> If you want to save or support someone, there might be an opportunity. Distant voices at the outer door. 23:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We probably wouldn't need to hire anyone full-time, but something like a monthly visit wouldn't go amiss." 23:43 <VoxPVoxD> "Oh!" 23:48 <banana> The kids are quiet, but get louder as they make their way down the hall. Sounds like just a couple of them. 23:48 <Quaker> Badawi absentmindedly pats herself down. She didn’t accidentally bring anything dangerous, did she? Uh oh, what’s — oh, it’s just a paintbrush. 23:49 <banana> Art is dangerous. 23:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie takes the opportunity to unroll her scarf so she doesn't look like some sort of Winter Burglar. 23:54 <banana> The gym door opens and three Nightingales pile in, although they slow down suddenly when they realise they aren't alone. Cameron Kingfisher, trailed by Bertie and.. a slightly smaller Bertie. "Hello, Mrs. Badawi," the first two chorus. 23:54 <banana> Brother of Bertie: "..Mrs. Badawi." 23:54 <banana> There's another voice. It rings leaden and hollow in only Willie's head. She's heard the dead speak once before and it is unmistakeable. 23:54 <banana> It's also American, archaic, a man's southern drawl. 23:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's eyebrows shoot up. 23:55 <banana> Geist: "Ohhh, and what is this? The rich girl's back. See if she'll cough up for an amplifier." 23:55 <banana> Cameron: "Uh- hello, milady. None of your guy friends sing, yet?" 23:56 <Quaker> “Hi Cameron. Hi Bertie. Who’s this friend?” She indicates smaller Bertie. 23:57 <banana> Bertie scowls politely. "Herc, introduce yourself to our patrons." 00:00 <banana> This kid is, what, ten years old? He looks kind of overawed by the adult women, having been previously following loyally after the older Kingfisher girl. "...'m Hercules Fidel Johnson." 00:01 <banana> Bertie: "Herc is pleased to meet you, right?" 00:01 <banana> Herc: "'m pleased to meet you, like." 00:01 <Quaker> “Pleased to meet you, Hercules. Fidel, like Castro?” 00:01 <banana> Geist: "Shh! I think she heard me." Heaaaard is drawled like something from a KFC ad. 00:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's caught a bit off guard, but just a bit. "How very good to meet you, Herc. Do call me Willie." 00:02 <banana> Cameron, helpfully: "It means loyal. Hercules means his mum watched too much old TV." 00:02 <banana> "How have you both.. been?" They're still all standing around in the entranceway. 00:03 <VoxPVoxD> "Good!" Willie lies. "Very good. How have you been liking the space?" 00:04 <banana> The boys look at Cameron, although Bertie opens his mouth to answer if she doesn't, which she does. 00:04 <banana> "We're happy practicing here. I miss the vibes at Gorton, alright, but it's safe. Feels less watched all the time." 00:05 <Quaker> “Where’s Gorton?” 00:07 <banana> Cameron Kingfisher: "That's the name of the old cemetery, missus. Y'know, you never did explain why people like you are working for the government." 00:08 <banana> She makes 'people like you' sound like a good thing, but this is the same girl who throws around 'fascist' to refer to Greater Manchester Council. 00:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, a bit distractedly as she looks from one child's face to the next. "I've been a civil servant since I got out of uni." 00:09 <Quaker> “Ah. Well, if I work for the government it’s just on a very provisional basis, Cameron. Ms. Wellesley is the government employee. I’m not exactly a secret agent.” 00:10 <banana> Bertie: "...course, I saw you both at King Underhill's party, so." 00:10 <Quaker> “Will you all sit down? I can get some hot chocolate from the kitchens.” 00:10 <banana> "This is kind of Ministry of Magic sh- stuff, right?" 00:11 <banana> Herc: "Yes please, I would like some hot chocolate." He sits. Very similar appearance to his older brother, but considerably less rambunctious. 00:11 <banana> Cameron: "The Ministry of Magic isn't real, Bertie..." 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, right. Willie just realised, if Cameron's haunted and the little kid is Bertie's brother, none of them are actually outside the night-city. 00:11 <Quaker> “No, nothing like that. We just like seeing your faces.” 00:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You talk to them about Underhill business?" It's not an accusation, or a judgment; she speaks as if to a fellow professional. 00:12 <Quaker> “Be back in a moment.” She goes off to the kitchen to grab some mugs and warm up some hot chocolate. If there is one thing a communal kitchen has in the cupboard, it’s mugs and packages of hot chocolate. 00:12 <banana> Cameron makes a grand gesture toward Badawi: "Your face's fine by the Nightingale Society too. Are you going to come sing again- oh, she does that." 00:13 <banana> Bertie: "Only the people with a twist. Like Jock and Jules and Cameron. People who don't fit in... you know." 00:14 <VoxPVoxD> How does Cameron react to being outed like that? 00:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Is it Jock or Jules with the locker there?" 00:15 <banana> With disdain. "I can fit in anywhere, twerp. I'm here because I am needed." 00:15 <banana> Despite the insult, Bertie looks to her rather than answering Willie himself 00:15 <banana> . 00:16 <banana> By the time Badawi returns, Cameron's saying: "I'm not... sure... I mean, what do you know, lady? None of this is really performance-related." 00:17 <banana> Geist: "If you can hear me, give us a sign of solidarity." Solidarituh. 00:17 <Quaker> Badawi comes back in with a tray. “Careful, it’s hot.” 00:17 <Quaker> “You know, I’ve got some Christmas decorations here we could use help with. I don’t suppose you three would like to help us paint some Santas?” 00:18 <Quaker> Earlier, she went to the dollar store and got some wooden Santa Claus faces, paints, and paintbrushes. 00:19 <banana> The Johnson brothers will grab for the chocolate as soon as it's polite. Cameron demurs a bit, watching Willie closely as she mumbles something about arts and crafts. 00:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't want to be presumptuous! Mrs. Badawi was thinking about ways we could contribute more to the space. Fix it up a bit, make it more of a home-away-from-home. We don't often get a chance to show straightforward solidarity like this with people touched by the night-city." 00:19 <banana> Bertie: "Early, innit? Could be a laugh though. I do not know a lot about fine art, outside of costuming." 00:20 <Quaker> “Never too early for Christmas.” 00:20 <banana> Cameron goes paler. It might not be entirely clear to Badawi why she says, "How did you know? None of you knew before." 00:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We've all learnt quite a lot lately." 00:21 <banana> Bertie: "Aaand with Jock not here... I'm staying out of that one. Come over here to look at Saint Nick, Herc." 00:21 <VoxPVoxD> Quite a confluence indeed. 00:22 <Quaker> Agostina takes out her phone and thumbs through various screens before she clicks play on something: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euklW45uhsc 00:23 <Quaker> “Here you go Herc. Use those paper towels.” 00:23 <Quaker> “Has that old Octocat been coming around here lately?” 00:23 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, Willie loves this song. 00:23 <banana> Cameron: "Are you both like.." she gestures at Badawi, but not imperiously this time. "Mrs. Badawi's friend? The need-to-know guy?" 00:24 <banana> "Yeah, him." 00:24 <Quaker> “No, I’m not a mage.” 00:24 <banana> "He basically just talks to Jock... okay, look." She picks up a mug determinedly and strides (insofar as you can stride at five feet tall) over to the bleachers. 00:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Nor I." 00:25 <banana> "Naturally I'm not supposed to have the password to this." She bends down to the locker; her lips don't move, but Willie hears "Salazar" and the runes pulse in exactly the pattern she failed to burn into them. 00:26 <VoxPVoxD> "Is Jock going to be upset you did that?" 00:27 <banana> "Nah." The truth value of this utterance indeterminate, she removes a book from the locker and holds it up - something like a textbook, plastic yellow cover, with bare black lettering: So You Need To Be A Wizard 00:28 <banana> "Jock's taking lessons. But he's not gonna forget where he came from." 00:28 <banana> Cameron: "There's a lot they lie to you about in school, huh?" 00:29 <VoxPVoxD> By now Willie's sat down to paint with the others. "A fair bit. Is your friend comfortable?" 00:30 <banana> Cameron returns the book to the locker and shuts it away - anyone looking might catch a glimpse of other treasures wrapped in cloth. She'll come over to the 'arts and crafts' project but not participate, sipping hot chocolate instead and pulling faces at Bertie when he's not looking. 00:30 <Quaker> Badawi isn’t actually painting the Santas: she’s working on something on poster paper, with markers. 00:30 <banana> "Dyou mean like... financially comfortable?" 00:30 <banana> "If so, no." 00:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "No, I met your ghost friend." 00:31 <VoxPVoxD> *meant 00:33 <banana> "I guess he can speak for himself?" 00:33 <banana> Cameron's Geist: "I sometimes experience a cramp or two. Nothing fatal." 00:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles just enough to dimple. "Very droll." 00:34 <banana> "But you, Lady Wellesley of English society... you ain't dead or damned." 00:34 <banana> "What gives?" 00:34 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm glad you think so." 00:34 <VoxPVoxD> "I seem to have become something of a medium in the last few weeks." 00:35 <banana> Bertie's less engrossed in the project than Herc and casts occasional nervous glances at the inaudible conversation. 00:35 <Quaker> Badawi: “We wanted to talk to you about something besides all that, actually.” 00:36 <banana> Cameron: "Yeah, that might be better." 00:38 <banana> None of the three kids have actually objected to the fact that you're here and kind of taking things over for now... but Cameron wants to know more. 00:38 <Quaker> Badawi holds up what she made for Bertie to see. It’s a large picture of a llama wearing a Santa hat. Underneath in block lettering it says: ‘No Drama Llama says…Merry Christmas!!’ 00:38 <Quaker> Badawi holds up what she made for Bertie to see. It’s a large picture of a llama wearing a Santa hat. Underneath in block lettering it says: ‘No Drama Llama says…Merry Christmas!!’ 00:38 <banana> "Er. Haha." The teenager is nonplussed. 00:39 <banana> (Maybe Herc wold be more into it, but he's busy giving Santa more and more of a beard, all the way up to his pointy ears.) 00:39 <Quaker> “Check this out, Herc.” 00:39 <Quaker> “No Drama Llama.” 00:39 <banana> "Oh, it's an alpaca! Like Geronimo!" 00:40 <banana> Cameron: "What did you want to talk about, Mrs. Badawi?" 00:41 <Quaker> “Well, I’m glad the Nightingales have their own building. But I thought it could use some more work, if you don’t mind me saying so. It seems like it’s been a while since anybody’s done serious maintenance here.” 00:43 <banana> Cameron: "Well, yes. This place is about as shit as most public buildings on t'estate, only quieter." 00:43 <banana> "And with better acoustics, so thanks for that." 00:44 <Quaker> “Want some help in making it better?” 00:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's Santa is painted very conventionally, but she's used black to tweak his eyebrows and the corners of his lips so he looks just a bit more devilish, like *<>:} 00:48 <banana> Geist: "Careful. The County Association used to offer this kind of help to strikers tired of soup." 00:48 <banana> Cameron: "What have you got in mind, Mrs.?" 00:49 <banana> Bertie: "Not a bad Santa.. or not a bad Bad Santa." 00:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie holds it up so Santa's face covers hers, and whispers, "Happy Christmas Bertie." 00:52 <banana> His ears actually flatten a little, which ape ears don't usually do, but all he says is: "Very naughty Santa indeed, ma'am. Watch out for this one, Herc." 00:53 <Quaker> Agostina writes down her list of suggestions with a pen, going over the same points as she did with Willie. Better lighting, a deck and bandstand for the theater, new floors, paint, and wallpaper, updated kitchens, couches and televisions and projectors, renovating the offices back into a library, whatever decorations they’d like to put up. “And we need safety railing for the pool, so you don’t fall in. Maybe we can turn that into a little 00:53 <Quaker> double-decker atrium. And wheelchair ramps.” 00:54 <banana> By the end of the list, Cameron's boggling and Bertie's also paying attention. The latter says: "Why-" 00:54 <banana> Cameron: "How come you'd do all this? What do you want from us? I don't get it." 00:54 <VoxPVoxD> Honestly the lack of ramps is already a code violation. We should get those in so that some other, less scrupulous civil servant can't get this place shut down, forcing the kids to do a talent show to raise money like the plot of a teen movie. 00:55 <banana> The two older kids' reaction is.. kind of very negative. They're not even thinking about the benefits, you think. Herc is just quiet. 00:56 <Quaker> “I don’t want anything from you.” 00:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It just feels good to help people without needing to worry about safety or politics or transactional fairness." 00:56 <Quaker> “Do you think the other kids would like having a place like that, to come spend time in?” 00:57 <banana> Cameron: "Yeah, bullshit you don't. Why help us, estate kids who you've met on what is obviously not civil service work?" 00:57 <banana> Bertie: "Hear em out, Cam." 00:58 <banana> Cameron: "Do you believe it?" 00:58 <banana> Bertie: "No, but I want to. There are... sugar-glass worlds." 00:58 <banana> Cameron: "For other people." 00:58 <Quaker> “I was an estate kid, a long time ago.” 00:59 <banana> Cameron: "She wasn't." 00:59 <banana> Geist: "No offence, but it's plain to see." 01:00 <Quaker> “Ms. Wellesley is here because she’s nice and because she’s humoring me.” 01:00 <banana> Cameron: "You're a better singer than most of us. Is this a recording industry thing? We know about contracts." 01:00 <Quaker> “But you see that locker over there? I don’t like the idea of you only getting attention because someone thinks you can be useful to them later.” 01:00 <Quaker> “No.” 01:00 <Quaker> “I don’t care if you become a professional musician.” 01:01 <banana> Cameron: "I do! Maybe." 01:01 <Quaker> “I mean, it’s not a condition.” 01:01 <banana> "I mean, if that's what I want, it'd be up to me." 01:01 <Quaker> “I guess I do have conditions. Would you like to hear them?” 01:01 <VoxPVoxD> Any season, any climate. 01:02 <banana> Bertie: "Yeah, go on. We know about contracts." He winks! 01:02 <banana> He may be misunderstanding something, but still. 01:02 <Quaker> “They’re very, very hard to meet.” She looks at Bertie. “Some might say impossible.” 01:02 <Quaker> “Are you sure you’re up for it?” 01:02 <Quaker> “Even super powerful adults can’t do it.” 01:03 <banana> Geist: "Next she'll double-dog dare you." 01:03 <banana> Herc: "Who's superpowerful?" 01:04 <banana> Cameron's rolling her eyes, but not interrupting if Badawi wants to set out her conditions. 01:05 <Quaker> “Alright. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She writes it down for them. 01:05 <Quaker> Agostina’s RULES: 01:06 <Quaker> 1. Be kind young men and women (or otherwise). 01:06 <Quaker> 2. Use your words. 01:06 <Quaker> 3. Be a helper. 01:06 <Quaker> 4. YOU are in charge of your mind and body. 01:06 <Quaker> 5. CHOOSE to make today GREAT. 01:07 <Quaker> 6. No fighting inside. 01:07 <Quaker> “There you go.” 01:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie finds herself holding her breath. 01:09 <banana> Cameron relaxes, now looking more baffled than disbelieving. "Er, Mrs. Badawi, I think you've mistaken us for kindergarteners." 01:09 <banana> Bertie: "Which Cam isn't, because as you can see- she knows long words." 01:09 <banana> "I also know short ones, twerp. Twerpie." 01:10 <Quaker> “Not at all, Cameron. Those rules are for all ages. You would be surprised how hard they are, even for adults. Especially for adults.” 01:10 <banana> Cameron: "No." 01:10 <banana> "What town do you think you're in? I know it's hard." 01:11 <Quaker> “Then, there you go.” 01:11 <Quaker> “Do you want to try?” 01:11 <banana> Bertie: "Maybe they really are with the government. Like... child services. As well as the other side. Most people walk both sides." 01:11 <banana> "...Or that's what grandda used to say." 01:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We aren't. May I be perfectly honest?" 01:13 <banana> Geist: "Yes, but, can you?" 01:13 <banana> Cameron: "Quiet." She looks around. "Not you. Go on, lady." 01:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Our real job is protecting monsters from other monsters. It's difficult, painful, demoralising work. We spend all our time in the company of terrible monsters, and of people rendered smaller, colder, crueler by their exposure to the same." 01:16 <banana> The.. Louisiana? accent that the haunting entity has makes everything it says sound less childish. Yees, it drawled, buuut... 01:16 <banana> Willie gets the sense that he or it isn't possessing Cameron in the same sense to which poor Dylan's subject. She certainly doesn't do much of what it says. 01:17 <VoxPVoxD> "And what we see here is an opportunity to help people that isn't coloured by any of that. A chance to create an orderly and peaceful place where you can grow and work and create things, without the severity that breeds furtiveness, cowardice. The crushing need to control that is the mortal enemy of frankness, of decency, of true courage." 01:17 <VoxPVoxD> "But it's hard. Neither of us had that. We don't really know what it's supposed to look like." 01:17 <Quaker> Agostina looks at Herc and makes a funny face. Bluargh! 01:17 <banana> Bertie watches that and seems to approve. 01:18 <VoxPVoxD> "So it's very easy for it to come off as suspicious, or patronising, or awkward. The opposite of our intention, but not necessarily our actions." 01:18 <VoxPVoxD> "That's what we get out of this. It just feels good. Or it would do, if we could succeed." 01:19 <VoxPVoxD> "But we can't decide that alone. You need to let us in." 01:19 <Quaker> “That’s true. Although I guess my real real job is that I write books for children.” 01:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks surprised. 01:19 <banana> Cameron: "Never would have guessed." Too many of them have a habit of sarcasm. 01:20 <Quaker> “Occasionally I break into very protected buildings and take rare and mysterious things away into the night.” 01:20 <banana> Cameron: "...I'm just the founder of the Society, I don't boss the others around. We'll all need to look at what you're suggesting with, like, the actual details of what's gonna happen.. not just a list of classroom-wall rules." 01:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I think we're amenable to that. The last thing we want to do is pour time and energy into a space you abandon because you no longer feel like it's yours. But we think we can help without taking that sense of ownership away from you." 01:21 <Quaker> “Sure. I can get you a list of plans? Dates where contractors can come in and start the work, if you approve? Or we can have some bigger talks, see what kind of other things people want.” 01:22 <banana> Cameron: "I don't see any reason we can't at least look at it, cos if you're really trying to do, er, some kind of compensatory mentoring...the worst it'll be is unbearably lame." 01:22 <VoxPVoxD> Oof. Right in the pride. 01:23 <Quaker> Agostina laughs. “For goodness’ sake, Cameron. Don’t try and live your life trying to be cool. Nothing’s worse.” 01:23 <Quaker> “Well, then, we can leave you all to think about it, yeah?” 01:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie offers Cameron a commiserating look. She talks like this to us too, it seems to say. 01:24 <Quaker> She looks at Willie: “Let’s give them both our numbers, in case they need to ring?” 01:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Good idea." 01:24 <banana> Bertie: "I haven't got a phone." 01:25 <VoxPVoxD> She'll write hers on the back of a Nameless House business card. "You don't need to own one to make a call." 01:25 <banana> Herc: "Our mum says if you go in a phone booth you'll get a venereal disease." 01:26 <Quaker> As they’re leaving, and out of Hercules’s hearing: “One more thing, Cam & Bertie. If those vampires ever turn up, or you hear about one of your friends talking about them, you tell them to stay away and you come get us, right?” 01:28 <banana> Their response is: vampires??? 01:28 <Quaker> Yes. And Agostina repeats herself.