10:15 <banana> There's a detente beneath the kebab shop. The Mars/Venus question is unsettled, but the planets are not at war. 10:16 <hrolf> Good fing, Venus would get crushed. 10:16 <banana> As Bob and Mari work their way toward fuller disclosures, one thing she says is this: "I'm going to try harder to listen instead of.. assuming, or interpreting. Since it's not fair to make you phrase everything perfectly on the spot." 10:16 <VoxPVoxD> Crushed on, you mean. 10:16 <banana> (This could be read as an insult to Bob's intelligence, if he prefers?) 10:18 <tom> He doesn't. Bob's been drinking a lot of water since he got back from Premsonland. 10:18 <tom> "You don't gotta change up anything, hun. It's me who's gotta- well, you know." 10:19 <tom> He draws himself up on the sofa and rubs his eyes. She wasn't kidding about the aftereffects. 10:21 <banana> Mari: "I- don't know, actually? But I'm going to find out. There's no rush." She smiles, quickly and momentarily, then retreats back to a textbook. 10:22 <banana> Bob's got to to meet Rolf soon enough. How are they getting down to London? 10:22 <hrolf> Rolf's driving, natch. 10:22 <tom> Bob squeezes her shoulder then gets up to take a cold shower before he has to meet Hughes. 10:23 <tom> Whatever you do, don't throw any punches man. You got this. You're... you're the pog champion. 10:24 <hrolf> While Bob's in the shower, a series of insistent honks begin emanating from the road under his flat. 10:26 <tom> Bob stands in the stream of cold water with both hands clenched into fists against the wall of the shower, eyes wrenched shut. 10:26 <banana> Aster and Badawi have an approach to plan. The basic idea is to use Georgiou's astrological charts and a BBC weather satellite to locate the earthly influence of Epsilon Eridani on this fine(?) city... how are they going to organise it? What's their cover story, their timing? Can they do the charting themselves or will they need expert advice (perhaps from the weather people, who might need 10:26 <banana> a reason)? 10:26 <hrolf> If his phone's nearby, he might also see the following message on Huntr: 10:26 <hrolf> If his phone's nearby, he might also see the following message on Huntr: 10:27 <tom> He's got a duffel slung over his shoulder as he steps out the iron gate onto the street. 10:27 <hrolf> am downstars lets get a move on get this bstard xx - rolf 10:28 <tom> "My girl's tryin' to study, man..." Is what Rolf gets as he hauls himself up the improbably high step into the passenger-side seat of the Range Rover. 10:29 <banana> The address Liam's given you is in East Ham, a more suburban part of the city. Rolf knows the area, since he owns property in it, but it will be quite a drive. 10:29 <Crion> Christ, he needs a cover story? What in the world are the vampires doing here if not smoothing these gears? Right, Aster knows the answer to that: being nosy, impositional leeches. Well. Aster still has whatever consultancy badge he was given by the Scotland Yard SCU -- he'd have made sure one went missing over his tenure and palmed it before replacing it entirely for this purpose -- and 10:29 <Crion> the ability to give an absolutely withering stare. 10:29 <hrolf> BEEP BEEP BEE- Rolf takes the hand off the horn as Bob climbs in. "Oh, ey there. You ready to rumble mate?" 10:29 <banana> Aster's got permission to do this thing, but he'll need a way to answer questions when curious people ask them. 10:30 <Quaker> Has he tried…lying? 10:31 <hrolf> From the radio, a man with a gravelly voice is sombrely intoning the day's news: "....welcome to GB News, podcast edition. Today: Oslo city council votes to not fund christmas trees, in the international front of the war on Christmas. Lockdown lunacy: has Boris Johnson gone woke? But first, illegals have started crossing the channel in ever greater-" 10:31 <tom> "Yeah. Um. Sounds great." Bob produces his stubby little gun from the duffel in pieces and starts slapping parts together. 10:32 <tom> "Please don't start shooting until I do." 10:32 <tom> "I'm gonna try and hug this one out first." 10:32 <Crion> Oh, is that all. If he's got permission then the rest is merely a negotiation about how uncomfortable they're going to force Aster to make them before he gets what he's been allowed. 10:33 <banana> Rolf and Bob both got the same email, Rolf at his business address and Bob through the Freehold network. 10:33 <banana> From: liam_new_private@manc.ctl 10:33 <banana> Subject: The asshole's final dance. 10:33 <banana> Would you believe he's moved back into one of your shitty rat traps? He wants us to find him, imo. I've got the address and I've been writing down his hours, but be careful. He's had builders in and out of the place and I'll bet it's trapped. It's what I would do. 10:34 <Quaker> Badawi: “What if we say we’re there on orders from Buckingham Palace?” 10:34 <tom> "I mean you can probably still beat his ass I don't think anyone's got a problem with that-" Bob slips in the bolt through the rear of the weapon, followed by a spring. He screws on the cap to tension the damn thing, fucks with the release a bit while Rolfie drives. 10:34 <Crion> Aster: "Why in the world would I want to do that?" 10:34 <Crion> "The first principle of good lying is to stick as close to the truth as possible." 10:34 <hrolf> Rolf slams on the accelerator, and the Rover pulls out onto the street. A beeping noise grows louder until Rolf grunts and unsets the parking brake, car already travelling at 50 km/hr. "Hmm? No can do mate. I've already let Baz and the lads know - this ****'s not long for this world." 10:34 <tom> Bob pales. "I've just been thinkin' is all." 10:35 <Crion> Aster: "Frankly, I think I'll simply bully them. They're English. They react well to it, if it comes from a place of authority." 10:35 <tom> "Anything about Lie-am's behavior that just... doesn't add up, to you?" 10:35 <Quaker> Badawi: “Well, if that doesn’t work…I can blow some magic smoke in their face.” 10:35 <Crion> Aster can be driving the Range Rover, unless Badawi wants to ride in luxury." 10:35 <Quaker> “What are you going to tell them you need it for?” 10:35 <Crion> -" 10:35 <hrolf> "Thinking about wot, mate?" 10:35 <Crion> Aster: "I'm not going to tell them what I need it for." 10:35 <Crion> "They're not cleared for it." 10:36 <tom> "He came to the meeting and heard us talk about sparing him. He like full-on listened to us talk about findin' ways for him to not die," 10:36 <tom> Bob: "Then he sabotaged it." 10:36 <tom> "That make a lot of sense to you?" 10:36 <Crion> Aster has a file full of notes already. The mainstay of them is a list of dates and precise times, which correspond with the ambush downtown, the arrival of the aliens at the farm, and other important logged moments in their association with Reveille. 10:36 <tom> "Now we're hearing he moved back into your flats? Where we could obviously find him?" 10:37 <hrolf> Rolf: "I don't know mate. Seems pretty manky to me - also, you trust this email we got from the other one? Somefing real fishy about 'ow we keep confusing one wif the other - do you think its im, or the real one? Or even if they're working together?" 10:37 <Quaker> “What if you run into someone who *is* cleared for it?” 10:38 <tom> "I can tell the difference on sight now," Bob taps his temple. Sans visor his eyes regard Rolf with an uneasy look. 10:38 <tom> "I don't think Liam's fuckin' with us, if that's what you mean." 10:38 <tom> "I think Lie-am's straight-up trying to do a suicide by cop." 10:39 <banana> Olly's supposed to be back at work today. 10:39 <VoxPVoxD> That's an ominous supposed-to-be, narrator. 10:39 <Crion> Aster: "Then we will congratulate each other over our mutual clearance. I actually will have permission to be there, you know." 10:39 <hrolf> Rolf: "If 'e wanted to suicide 'e could of done it at the last place. Nah mate 'e's playin to win I fink. Dunno what 'is game is though." 10:39 <banana> Well, Willie's only just turned up. Given the multi-job drifting she's doing, she might not even have planned to spend the whole day in the office... but as things stand, it would be reasonable to expect that Bhojani's inside. 10:40 <Crion> Aster: "It's just a question of whether we tell them aliens are falling for the sky or not. I hold: no. We simply don't tell them anything at all, and thank them for their service." 10:40 <VoxPVoxD> She's gotta put more time in here. This is the job she came up to Manchester for, and it's the one part of her life that isn't partly-terrifying or emotionally dangerous. 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> Not that terror and emotional danger or bad, or even undesirable, but... there's been a bit too much life in her work/life balance. 10:41 <Crion> Well, give it time. 10:41 <Quaker> Badawi: “Mm. Well…i’ve still got the magic smoke, just in case.” 10:41 <tom> He finishes fucking with the shitty little gun and screws on the suppressor can in silence. 10:41 <Crion> Aster nods. "It's always good to be prepared. And I will not be taking a firearm into a government building." 10:41 <tom> "I don't know, man. I just dunno." 10:42 <tom> "You ever kill an elf before?" 10:42 <hrolf> A few hours later, Rolf pulls up at an alley a few blocks away from the target location. Anything around? Rolf: "I 'aven't, but we won't be doing it alone. Baz, Wozza and some of the other lads should be 'ere. " 10:42 <banana> Manchester to east London is a long enough drive that you wouldn't want to do it very often, but in the absence of fae provocation Bob and Rolf should be able to survive each other. They could stop for a bit if necessary and still make it by arguable-lunchtime. When they do reach East Ham, they're supposed to find (a) Liam at J-Edge Delicatessen - some sandwich shop he apparently used to like, 10:42 <banana> in the old days. 10:43 <tom> Bob's got an eye out for the man's mien, this time. 10:43 <banana> Willie can walk the floor a bit on her way up to the executive offices. The UC planning people are doing better now, there are even more people staying home - variants and all - and it doesn't take long. 10:44 <banana> As usual, Olly's in her office rather than his own. He's frowning at his laptop, apparently deeply harassed by the machine, and looks ill-slept. 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> She remembers back in August or whatever when it felt like we were Past This. That feels like an entire chapter in the Henriad ago, now. Like she's died and been resurrected. "Good morning, Olly," she says, briskly. "You look like you could use some coffee, and perhaps..." demonstrative wriggle of her work pastry basket "...a croissant?" 10:46 <banana> Bhojani: "Oh, Willie, that's the good stuff... maybe in a bit though. Eh-" he glances at her desk. "You've probably got a lot of email again, but this is fortune-telling rather than science." 10:46 <banana> She has a lot of email. 10:46 <tom> Bob slips out the Range Rover with his hands tucker into his jacket's pockets, feeling the reassuring bulk of the gun strapped to his side. 10:47 <Quaker> Let’s go, then. What’s the BBC building like? Who are they looking for? 10:47 <hrolf> Rolf grabs a shotgun from the backseat and slides it into a folding inside his coat. He steps out of the car and slams the door behind him. Weather's freezing - he blows some hot breath into his hands and rubs them for some warmth. "Shite fahckin day, even down 'ere. Alright mate, let's get to it." 10:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie sets the basket down somewhere Olly can reach, and does the same with her thermos (she got voted down both by her team and by the other managers, so the office's coffee comes in shitty pods, like aggravating whales might) once she's filled her THIS IS WHAT AN AMAZING CIVIL SERVANT LOOKS LIKE mug. As she settles in: "How are you doing? How's the family?" 10:48 <banana> J-Edge isn't really a cafe - there's some indoor seating but the place mostly caters to working men picking up salad rolls, egg concoctions, lunch beers and so on. Liam Penberthy is inside nevertheless, exoskeletal and all. He's dressed unobtrusively, warm grey wool that's appropriate for the season and won't stand out on CCTV, but he spoils the effect a little by the gusto with which he's 10:48 <banana> eating. 10:48 <Crion> Are we headed back to the same one, or a different one? Aster already has a contact at Savoy's. Well, other than Savoy herself. 10:50 <tom> "That's the real one," Says Bob. 10:51 <hrolf> Rolf makes his presence felt as he enters the cafe, looming over an exiting patron and glaring around the place. He nods at Bob and walks over to real-Liam, sitting down next to him. "Alright then?" 10:51 <tom> He gives the man a nod and raises his palm before going for a seat. 10:51 <banana> The BBC Weather station in Manchester - the only one between Glasgow and Swindon - has a satellite uplink, with a special control room that doubles as a comms office for weather alerts. You've had to wait until today to get a slot on the heavily-booked device, but in theory you're now credentialed and ready to go in. 10:51 <banana> Jonas will probably be there. 10:52 <Crion> Then Jonas can walk us in. How gauche is it to slip him an appropriately denominated pound note for his troubles? Aster will have done it last time too. 10:52 <banana> Liam: "Yeah, all good. Thanks for coming. This thing's a damn imposition, I know." 10:52 <tom> Bob isn't hungry. He's visibly uncomfortable, the way his eyes slide from Rolf to Liam and back. 10:52 <hrolf> "It's my pleasure mate." He grunts as he settles into his seat. "Now what're we in for, 'ere?" 10:55 <banana> The tip is just as gauche as it was last time. Aster's been here before, but it's Badawi's first time seeing the interior of the station- it's somewhere inbetween a newsroom and a NASA control center. They have banks of very old computers built into desks, 90s swivel chairs and a 70s water cooler. Half a dozen geeks are scattered about the place talking about the weather. 10:56 <banana> Liam: "It's a trap, I've become increasingly convinced of that." 10:56 <Crion> As with any American in Europe, his response to complaints about tipping is 'would you like to give it back?' Though in fairness, it's not a tip. It's a bribe. 10:56 <tom> "Why, because he made it obvious where we'd find him?" 10:56 <hrolf> Rolf: "'ow can you tell?" 10:56 <banana> "At the same time.. it's our best opportunity. He's staying in one place, has no backup, he's not any stronger than I am and you-" he nods to the hunters- "might be tougher than either of us." 10:57 <banana> Liam: "Yeah, once we got on the email thing he stopped trying to hide his movements at all. And now he goes to ground, with tradesmen going in to the place like it's a renovation spree." 10:57 <banana> "So.. how do we attack a fetch's fort?" 10:57 <Crion> Aster will run his eyes over the assembled computerage and electronica. He's probably seen equipment like this before in Philadelphia -- they don't update the weather centers much there, either, and he's had a long career doing lots of random things. He's had to check in with meterologists before. 10:58 <Quaker> …a weather station, really? Wow, was the paint-drying factory too full? 10:58 <hrolf> Rolf: "What I'm wondering is 'ow the 'ell 'e managed to rent one of my prop'ties again. Fahckin property management ort to have blacklisted him." 10:58 <Crion> He knows enough to trust them on their area of expertise, and try not to lead them too far outside of it with talk about werewolves, or ghosts, or aliens. 10:58 <tom> Bob: "Standard breach and clear. Flashbangs, go in through the windows. No trick to it." 10:58 <banana> Diane Savoy, hair done up in the same bob as last time Aster met her, intercepts them before anyone else can ask questions. She's got an office, glass-walled but it muffles sound effectively. 10:59 <Quaker> She wonders what kind of couches the kids in Hattersley would like. Where do you even buy couches? 10:59 <hrolf> Rolf taps his fingers. "Flush 'im out instead maybe?" 10:59 <Crion> Excellent. 10:59 <banana> Savoy: "Mr. Aster, and... your colleague. Are you sure you know what you're doing with T.A.R.D.I.S.?" 10:59 <tom> Bob: "That could be messy. He could get away, there could be witnesses." 11:00 <hrolf> Rolf: "Can we get in through a mirror or somefing? Like you lot do." 11:01 <banana> Liam: "We could go in through the Hedge, bypass most of the building. I'm a good navigator.. now, at least.. but it'd do your head in a bit; there are risks." 11:01 <tom> Bob's eyes flash. "Don't take this the wrong way, bro, but isn't your whole deal that you weren't good enough at navigating the hedge." 11:02 <banana> Olly doesn't seem to want to look at Willie for a bit while contemplating his answer, but he eventually raises his head. His face is filled with confusion and maybe pain. 11:02 <Crion> Aster: "I know the data I require and the observations I require to get to that data. I wouldn't presume to put my hands on your instrument suite in lieu of your operators." 11:02 <VoxPVoxD> Oh no. Now Willie's is too. 11:02 <tom> "Hence, you know-" He gestures at the man's exoskeleton. "Sick power armor by the way." 11:02 <Crion> They call it the fucking TARDIS? 11:02 <hrolf> Rolf: "Well, there might be others good at navigatin the 'edge." 11:03 <hrolf> "Woss her name? Wasp's Rose? She got any of 'er lot in the city?" 11:03 <banana> Bhojani: "I might need your help. Or... I don't know, I shouldn't, but I'm being completely stonewalled." 11:03 <banana> "They're saying his visa is cancelled. After forty-two years." 11:03 <banana> Liam: "What, like... me, you mean?" 11:04 <banana> "The Wasp Queen's my liege... or will be if I can pass this test." 11:04 <hrolf> "Oh, right. Well, erm- I still fink it's worth a shot. Lateral finking. 'e won't see us coming that way." 11:05 <banana> Liam: "It's an option, for sure. If we can get to the man- the thing- I don't know what kind of powers it has, but there surely are some." 11:05 <banana> To Bob: "You said he poisoned your emotions?" 11:05 <hrolf> Rolf: "'ow many of us can you take wif you? Got some of me mates coming along to 'elp." 11:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Your father? Why would they do that??" 11:06 <tom> Bob shrugs, sinks back into the seat. "I mean sure, let's go into the Hedge. I haven't had any training, I'm sure it'll be great." He raps his knuckle on the table. "He made me attack Rolfie. I wasn't carrying, thank Christ." 11:06 <banana> Savoy: "The Thermobaric-AtmospheRic Displacement Information Satellite is a precision instrument, and it's not just ours, not solely in my control. Nobody can notice anything... weird has happened." 11:06 <tom> "I don't feel good about this." 11:06 <tom> "The guy has done everything he can to piss off just about everyone he's met- what the fuck kinda endgame is that?" 11:07 <banana> Olly: "I don't know. I don't understand. He hasn't done anything wrong... Dad's been a model citizen, or I guess not technically a damn citizen." 11:07 <banana> "All I've managed to get out of the Home Office is that they have these criteria for when they can cancel visas.. and they've met their own rules for doing so. But is it just because they can?" 11:07 <Crion> Aster: "What's interesting to your operators and meterological benchmarks and what's interesting to me in corresponding star chart/atmospheric activity are two very different things, Ms. Savoy." 11:07 <hrolf> Rolf: "'e's a nutter mate. Not much to it. Rabid dog that's ort to be put down. And we're gonna do it." 11:08 <tom> Bob looks queasy. 11:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Give me everything you've got on this. I will not rest until this is settled." 11:08 <banana> Liam: "If you've got mortal allies that's welcome, but I won't be held responsible for what might happen to them in t' Hedge. Perhaps we should go in the front door." 11:08 <banana> "Bob... Bob, Bob, Bob... you have misgivings." 11:09 <banana> "But what's your alternative?" 11:10 <banana> Olly: "Oh, thank God. I mean, thank you." He puts his face in his hands for a moment before turning his laptop around to slide it over to Willie. He has so many browser tabs open - email, legislation, 'online chats with a support officer', files full of phone numbers and plans. 11:10 <hrolf> Rolf: "Hmm in that case...well Baz's a new dad, wouldn't want 'is missus to 'ave to deal wif a squealer all by herself, like. I'll text em to guard the exits to the flats - we'll go in, the three of us to the 'edge. Sound like a plan?" 11:10 <banana> Olly: "The crazy thing is, I'm an expert in navigating these systems. I build these systems." 11:10 <tom> He closes his eyes, thinks: "We can go in through the Hedge. Rolfie's friends should go in the normal way- wait out front until we give them a signal. We can pincer him from multiple directions using Rolfie's friends as a distraction." 11:11 <tom> He turns to Liam. 11:11 <tom> "Does your test require you kill him." 11:11 <banana> Liam: "No, I won't blag you on that. I've to resolve my situation, come to terms one way or another." 11:11 <banana> "Killing the monster that's replaced you is a standard way to do it." 11:12 <tom> "Cool. We'll take him down, but don't kill him until I get a chance to talk to him first." 11:12 <tom> "That's my condition for helping you." 11:12 <tom> He glowers at Rolf. 11:12 <VoxPVoxD> Can Willie check Olly's working? He's right, this is very much his area of expertise, but people get sloppy when their emotions are involved! Or so Willie hears. 11:13 <banana> Diane reluctantly accepts Aster's protestations. She still doesn't know who Badawi is... but she has her orders. 11:15 <Crion> The British compunction to follow properly-given orders is a boon to getting things done, in a value-neutral setting. 11:15 <Crion> Aster is inclined to show the proper respect to everyone present and take up as little time and space of theirs as possible. Hopefully no one gets too nosy. 11:16 <banana> The manager leads the two hunters into a smaller white-walled room with different ancient computer equipment, including some microphones and what looks like teletape. There's an operator waiting inside- she introduces you. "Gregory, these are our guests from the lab. You've got a two-hour timeslot, exclusive on the Earthside cameras and shared access to the antennas. If anything's... well, 11:16 <banana> I wish you the best of luck making your observations." 11:17 <hrolf> Rolf: "Should we call anyone else from the team in?" 11:17 <tom> Quietly: "I expect to get your word on this too, Rolf." 11:18 <Quaker> “Good morning.” Is there a reason they’re treating a weather satellite like a viral laboratory? 11:18 <Crion> Aster: "Thank you, Ms. Savoy. How do you do, Mr. ...?" 11:18 <Crion> He is not about to start calling this high-level, highly-skilled technical operator by his first name. 11:19 <banana> Gregory Hulp: "Hulp. Level four tech." 11:19 <banana> If Badawi or Aster know how to operate a weather/spy satellite they could conceivably send this guy packing and do everything themselves; otherwise, they should be able to talk around him. How, then, do they go about correlating the movements of the stars and the canals? 11:19 <Crion> Aster: "Thank you, Mr. Hulp. Let's get started." 11:19 <hrolf> Rolf leans back and looks at Bob, an annoyed look on his face. "You want to talk to 'im? Fine. I'll 'ear 'im out. Final decision on whether 'e gets whacked isn't wif you though - this bastard trashed me properties, was indirectly responsible for me flat getting wracked, owed me back rent, and tried to get me killed via puttin a trained killer on me. It's not going to be upto your Goreman, it's me 'o's going to have to be convinced." 11:20 <tom> "Fine." 11:20 <banana> Liam: "Your colleague speaks for himself, and I do accept the condition also. But what d'you propose if he attacks before you get a word in edgewise? Are we trying to hold him down as he starts spitting fire and ice?" 11:20 <tom> Bob crosses his arms over his chest. "You guys go down like anyone else if someone kicks you in the scrote." 11:21 <tom> "If we can't take him down without killing him- fine. Whatever. Who cares." 11:21 <tom> "That's the job." 11:22 <tom> "I'm packing hammered iron stingers and a couple'a stunners on my belt. We spend as little time in the hedge as we can. Rolfie's boys knock on the front door to draw him out; we come in behind and get him by surprise." 11:23 <banana> Liam: "I'll plot out a path, door-to-door, then come back to fetch you." 11:23 <hrolf> Rolf: "Sounds like a plan - as I said, do we want anyone else in on this? Badawi, the other yank? Don't fink our lady of Remain's in fightin shape though." 11:24 <tom> Bob palms the flashbangs under his jacket. "What, you scared or something? I can probably take him solo." 11:25 <tom> "If we need to bring in the whole British Army to take this one fuck, what' are we even doing?" 11:25 <hrolf> Rolf: "It's like wot your yank army says innit. Why fight fair when you can fight unfair." 11:25 <Crion> Aster thinks they have enough time for a threefold program: first, he wants correllary data between star activity for the Eridanus constellation, focused on Epsilon Eridani, and weather activity in Greater Manchester -- specifically cloud and tide data, where applicable -- at a number of specific timestamps. This should be as simple as performing some simple database recovery commands, 11:25 <Crion> putting them up on whatever god-old CRTs they're using, and finessing output data to, almost certainly, some kind of hacked-together fax machine. It's a godsend if it can export to a USB, but Aster knows where the bounds of realism are here. If they get paper data, they simply have to guard it with their life until they return to the Greybox and make high-quality scans. 11:25 <banana> Liam: "I do like the way you think Hughes, if not the way you look." 11:26 <tom> "No need to involve anyone else." 11:26 <hrolf> "Really? Me mam always said I was a beaut.." 11:27 <tom> Now it's Bob's turn to be a little annoyed: "We already have the numbers, unless he's got backup. If it is a trap, we still outnumber him five to one." 11:27 <banana> Liam shrugs. He's finished his sandwich. 11:27 <Crion> The second leg of the program is upcoming analysis: if the TARDIS system is capable for projection, then Aster wants to know when the observed conditions in the reserved dataset -- the corollary dataset of star AND weather patterns -- might recur, given the larger complete database. This ask he is worried about: they only have two hours, and this is very much a "might have to leave this 11:27 <Crion> running overnight" question. 11:28 <tom> Bob takes out a little pouch, unzips it; there's a few pairs of sunglasses and little transparent baggies of earplugs. "I'll open with a stunner as we come out; make sure you've got eyepro at least." 11:28 <hrolf> Rolf fishes one out of his coat. "Let's roll." 11:29 <tom> As for himself, he reaches into his coat for his mirrored visor. He's on the clock now, so he isn't breaking Badawi's promise. 11:29 <tom> "If we don't die, I want to learn how to walk the Hedge." 11:30 <Crion> The third leg is: open the floor. Ask Hulp what he thinks. Let Badawi freestyle a bit. Indulge the dialectic process of investigation. 11:30 <Crion> Again, two hours isn't much. 11:30 <Crion> They might only have time to complete the first leg...but Aster immediately feels the three of them are working very well together. 11:31 <tom> While they wait, Bob tells Rolf what he does know: "Okay so, first thing's first. Never ever, like for any reason- do not ever go off the path, okay?" 11:31 <tom> "That's the one thing I know." 11:31 <banana> The hunters and the changeling can meet Rolf's fellow hooligans outside No. 13 Lesse Crescent. Baz has brought both Stevie and Steve-o, so there are six of you, and Liam's shorter than the other five. He makes up for it in simmering anger. Bob might imagine that that the Summer courtier's deliberately keeping himself mad as an alternative to thinking hard about the idea of alter-Liam's suicide 11:31 <banana> by cop. 11:31 <tom> "Like pretend the whole area's a Sharia zone or whatever." 11:32 <banana> Penberthy: "Afternoon, gents. I'm just going to duck through this gate, don't follow me, I'll be back for your Rolfie in ten to fifteen." 11:33 <banana> Most of them have met him before, so it's not too weird when he steps through a gate into some rando's garden and doesn't end up inside, but rather, nowhere. 11:33 <hrolf> Rolf: "Yeah got it." He nods as the crew pull up at a side alley beside the AO. "Wotcher Baz. Stevie. Steve-o. 'ow's the knuckles? 'eard you 'urt em pretty hard collectin on what Big Mad Ben owed to the bookies?" 11:34 <banana> Bazza: "Y'know, the hands weren't hurt as bad as me pride. Took more'n 30 minutes to get him to cough it up, and I had to give Moneyed Guy a free pizza." The others laugh. 11:35 <banana> They're looking inquisitively at Bob. Does Bob have any kind of multicoloured scarf on? 11:36 <banana> Willie focuses hard on the UKVI bureaucratic maze. She's not getting her own work done, but isn't this her job? To get the machinery of government moving in the direction that distributes what's available to those who deserve it? 11:36 <tom> What? No. What- why, would- no. Bob's looking squirrely as fuck in his poofy jacket, which does much (but not really enough) to conceal his arsenal. 11:37 <VoxPVoxD> If she falls behind she can just bring her inbox on the next night shift with Reveille. 11:37 <banana> Olly answers questions as necessary. Yes, Dad came here in 1979. No, he wasn't part of a special visa scheme. He might have been an Overseas Territories citizen, but he doesn't remember. No, he hasn't had a passport in years and years. 11:40 <banana> As far as Willie can tell, they really do intend to cancel Taresh Bhojani's visa simply because they can. He's never officially been made a permanent resident, although Olly remembers some sort of application was sent in when he was just a teenager himself. 11:40 <banana> The visa category on which Bhojani senior didn't used to allow for ministers' discretionary cancellation; now it does, and many such cancellations have been issued, at the minister's discretion. 11:40 <banana> *on which Bhojani senior entered 11:41 <VoxPVoxD> Who is the minister? Who else can exercise the minister's discretion? 11:41 <banana> Olly: "He's married to Mum, right? And she's British, or she was, when Irish was the same thing. It's just... why? None of this helps anyone." 11:42 <VoxPVoxD> "It feels like someone just arbitrarily has it in for him, doesn't it?" Willie agrees. 11:42 <banana> Bazza: "What are your colours, mate?" 11:42 <tom> Bob, with respect: "What the fuck are you talking about?" 11:42 <banana> "Ah, it's an English thing. Who's your team?" 11:43 <Quaker> Badawi sits quietly on a rolling stool, gently going over the complicated instrument panels and making sympathetic noises whenever the operator says how hard something will be to find. 11:43 <tom> "West Ham, for tonight." 11:44 <banana> Either Steve or Steven claps Bob on the shoulder, grinning. "Mate, West Ham is for life." 11:44 <hrolf> Rolf: "Up the irons!" 11:45 <tom> "Yeaugh," Is what comes out Bob's mouth. 11:45 <banana> After all that work, Aster and Badawi have printouts as well as a USB - there was a conversion process involving some sort of weird plastic disk, transferred from an old system to a slightly less old one. They've got maps overlaid on maps on maps, timings of tides and stars, and they've got maybe twenty minutes left if there's anything else they need to look into. It boils down to this: 11:47 <banana> In the last couple of months, the occlusions of Eridanus have begun to synchronise with the filling and drainings of the Gorton Reservoir - a segment of one of the old rivers that's been turned into a pair of lakes. The shape of the upper reservoir, in particular, has also changed, seemingly without any civil engineering works, to better match the constellation. 11:48 <Crion> Aster: "Well then. Gorton Reservoir. That name's come up before...I can't place it." 11:49 <Quaker> Badawi: “The cemetary.” 11:49 <Quaker> “Same name.” 11:49 <Crion> He shakes his head. "No matter. We'll raise it with the workgroup." Aster would like to spend the last twenty minutes getting whatever seemingly-ancillary he can about Gorton Reservoir. 11:49 <Crion> "Ah." 11:49 <Crion> "Yes, you're right." 11:50 <banana> Hulp: "It's a suburb, too. Ah- here's another datum. Your star, the one we ran historical tracking for.. its waning began abruptly on the 25th of September. Dwindled to 70% brightness." 11:51 <banana> This correlates, unfortunately, with another chart provided by Georgiou. If the agent of Cosmos has expended a particular fraction of its energy to manifest.. there's a lookup table.. ah yes: it means you can expect a caleban of the Second Degree. 11:51 <Crion> Aster: "Hrrrm." 11:51 <Crion> That's almost certainly bad. 11:51 <banana> Not as bad as the First Degree! 11:52 <Quaker> “Did anything out of the ordinary happen on the 25th?” 11:52 <banana> Hulp: "Around this reservoir you keep asking about, perhaps? Let's pull down the image archive." 11:53 <banana> "The resolution on these things is actually very good.. not like what the CIA has, I'm sure, but if you give them a multiscan region you get something rather better than what a weather balloon could capture.. of course, we didn't. Still! Hourly photographs of south-east Manchester, reasonable DPI." 11:54 <Crion> Aster: "Incredible. This is very helpful, Mr. Hulp." 11:55 <banana> It's obvious to you. It might or might not be obvious to Hulp. There's a section of the upper reservoir that's cut off from the rest, a little lake mostly serving the nearby golf club, and the shot taken at midnight has the water level so much higher than the shot from 11PM that it's visibly larger in the photograph. 11:57 <banana> The garden gate on Lesse Crescent opens and Liam steps out of thin air. This time, he leaves it open behind him. Bob, Rolf and Rolf's buddies can see something like the suburban garden there, but parts of it are odd - the flamingoes are missing and the grass is far too high, and where the house should be is a solid metal wall... 11:57 <banana> Penberthy: "I've blazed us a trail. Should hold for long enough. Are you boys ready to cover the exits?" 11:58 <tom> Bob draws the crude-looking little SMG and slaps in a stick mag. "Let's go." 11:58 <hrolf> Rolf opens up his coat and cocks his shotgun. "Let's go, let's fahckin goooo!" 11:59 <banana> Willie reads, follows rules, and makes a phone call or two. Eventually, she's satisfied that nobody has it in for the Bhojani family in particular: the discretionary power in this instance has been exercised by an algorithm. There are at least 35,000 nonpermanent residents of south Indian and Sri Lankan origin in, or back on, the same boat. 12:00 <VoxPVoxD> That's unfortunate. She can't feed an algorithm to Kaga. 12:00 <banana> Somebody wrote it, though. 12:00 <banana> Somebody made the policy decisions that enabled it. Somebody voted for them - she's pretty sure Olly did, too. 12:01 <banana> He's no Brexiter, but he's always been a Conservative. 12:01 <tom> Bob's eyes slide from Rolf to Liam as the trio steps across the threshold onto the other side. What's the first thing that hits his senses, here? Any abrupt change? The ODIN beeps ominously as it loses contact with the rest of Bob's devices back in the range rover. 12:02 <banana> Liam: "Careful now. This place is calm, so try not to think too hard about it." 12:02 <Crion> Aster will wring every bit of data and analysis he can get out of his 120 minutes, thank Gregory Hulp for his -- can't keep doing this -- assistance, and punctually evacuate the, sigh, "TARDIS." Perhaps Savoy will already be on her way down the hall to kick them out when they step forth. 12:02 <hrolf> Rolf, like Bob, looks around for anything threatening. "'ow far to the exit?" 12:03 <Quaker> Badawi, as they leave the room: “What do you make of that flooding?” 12:03 <banana> Rolf and Bob see a strange parody of the street they've just left. There are facades where there should be houses, each made out of metal in a different colour but cut into shapes that resemble the red brick. The sky above them is faded, the sun dull and weak; the road is almost frozen over, ice in the gutters. 12:03 <Crion> Aster: "I distrust its precision and design." 12:03 <Crion> "But I approve of the fact that we now have a map marker, and a significant amount of easily-transferable data." 12:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's lack of appetite for ironic comeuppance is among her least hellish qualities. "It's just numbers. But someone put them in and somebody ran them." 12:04 <banana> Down the street a little are garden after garden, each separated from the next by an identical white picket fence. In every second one of those plots, little things move... animals, maybe rabbits? 12:04 <Quaker> “Would your contact in Merseyside be able to make sense of this?” 12:04 <VoxPVoxD> What are her options? 12:05 <hrolf> Rolf: "Mind the ice, let's not slip 'ere eh. Well, what next boyo?" 12:05 <tom> Bob double-taps his ODIN to begin recording. Aster will want to see this, probably. 12:06 <tom> He knocks the back of his palm against the metal surface experimentally. 12:06 <banana> Bob's visor buzzes oddly. Hopefully nothing's malfunctioned while he hasn't been wearing it. 12:07 <banana> Liam: "We've just got to get around that thing in order to come out a door in its- in his attic. Let's head down the plots here a way. The first three doors are fake, then the next one has teeth, but they don't move. Gotta jump." 12:07 <tom> William Goreman, interdimensional traveler: "I'm freezing my nuts off." 12:08 <hrolf> Rolf: "So jump over the fence on the fourth one?" 12:08 <banana> Liam: "You can do what you like with the fence. The door's got a ring of teeth in it, I'm telling you." 12:08 <banana> "Not sharp, but clearly gingivital." 12:08 <tom> "It's probably a fakeout." 12:09 <banana> This yard is one of the ones with... rabbits. Perhaps it's best to think of them that way. They're white, they have hair, and they hop about. 12:09 <hrolf> Rolf: "Oh you mean...jump through the teeth?" 12:09 <banana> Liam opens a 'house' facade's door - there's no keyhole. As promised, the interior is a human mouth. 12:09 <hrolf> "Jump where exactly?" 12:09 <tom> Bob makes sure to sweep them with the ODIN, just to be sure. Postmission analysis will show his fingers trembling just a bit as they pass along the edges of the frame to tap the visor's buttons. 12:10 <banana> The yard.. creatures.. don't show up as targets - too small, no spikes. 12:10 <banana> Liam: "I shall demonstrate, Hughes my man." 12:12 <banana> Olly: "What are our options? The usual way to deal with this would be.. initiate a rulemaking process.. send a notice of concerns to the, ah, parliamentary draftsmen. A Lords committee. Jesus Christ." 12:13 <tom> He rubs his hands together and sweeps the street with his visor; the camera lingers on oddly-shaped streetlamps. 12:13 <Crion> Aster, to Badawi: "I think so. At the very least, it's a useful bilateral partnership to encourage at basically zero cost to ourselves." If Savoy ISN'T there to tell them their time's up, he'll want to do her the courtesy of dropping by her office to notify her they're leaving. 12:13 <banana> Diane actually looks surprised to see the hunters return. "Oh, hello. Have you found what you're looking for, Mr. Aster?" 12:14 <Crion> Aster: "Absolutely. Your man Hulp was of great assistance." He's fully over it. "Simply wished to notify you that we'll be getting out of your hair." 12:14 <banana> "You know, I completely forgot- I have a message to pass on." She looks dubiously at Badawi. 12:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I think Papa would be on that committee, so let's call it Option Zed. I'm going to try and make a couple of phone calls, see if I can get something expedited informally. How long does he have?" 12:15 <tom> ...This isn't so bad at all. Really, this is what they were hyping up? This fucking... High School Theater bullshit world? Bob seems a little disappointed as the ODIN beeps amicably at the 'rabbits'. 12:16 <Quaker> Badawi’s fingers close around her vape pen. 12:17 <Quaker> But, otherwise, she stands politely silent. 12:17 <banana> Olly: "I put in the form for a delay pending administrative appeal. They didn't give him... any time, technically. It was a letter that said something like, you have overstayed your welcome by twenty god-damn years. You are required to secure passage to return to Gujarat, or if you haven't in six weeks, I guess we'll send in the Border Force." 12:17 <Crion> Aster: "She's cleared. Regardless of from whom the message comes." 12:17 <hrolf> Rolf looks at Bob, as if intuitively sensing it from his body language. "Don't get cocky Goreman." 12:18 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Six weeks is enough time to avert a Martian landing; it's enough time to keep your father in his home." 12:19 <VoxPVoxD> The molly hangover is really synergizing with her desire to set something on fire. 12:19 <banana> Diane: "Alright, then- my grandmother wishes to let you know that she's available for exorcism logistics at your convenience. Here's the office address for her organisation - the hours are nine to five, PM to AM." 12:20 <tom> Bob grunts: "I think the snow is painted on." 12:21 <Quaker> Odd hours. Oh. Wait, an exorcism? A…vampire exorcism? 12:21 <Crion> Aster will accept the address note. "Christ, the woman has my e-mail. But thank you. Sorry to be the cause of her organization's impositions." 12:21 <banana> The teeth in the door-mouth are comically outsized, but there are still dozens of them. They're also covered in horrid gunk, so Liam's admonition against touching them seems wise. Liam braces himself, then coils up and jumps through the door, passing over the bottom tooth-row without touching the ones on top. Although he lands on what looks like soft-palate tissue, it appears to be entirely 12:21 <banana> solid beneath his boots. 12:22 <banana> "Potemkin biology, this. It's a display home," he explains. 12:23 <hrolf> Rolf takes a deep breath, not out of fear but in case the mouth smells rank. He walks back a few paces, then turns around and takes a running jump through the teeth. 12:24 <banana> He lands on what feels like wood, with a thin carpet of flesh. Liam: "Good. Onward." He heads inside, ducking a ceiling light costumed as an epiglottis, beckoning you onward through open doors and cleared-out rooms. 12:25 <Crion> Aster will endeavor to wrap up their business with Diana Savoy quickly and politely after that, so he can answer Badawi's questions in the privacy of one of their vehicles. 12:25 <banana> Diane Savoy: "It's no bother. Adds something to the job that you can't predict seven days in advance." 12:26 <banana> There's no real reason to stay further. The weather people aren't intrinsically interesting, they just had the technology you needed. 12:26 <banana> None of this answers the basic question: what is an agent of cosmos, a star's avatar, when it's at home? Or on Earth? But you've learned that it has a great deal of water-displacing volume. 12:26 <Crion> He does almost regret no longer having an excuse to enter the living Savoy's orbit anymore. He's self-aware enough to know that to the extent he has a type, she's it. 12:26 <Crion> Nevertheless. Onward. 12:27 <tom> Bob takes up the rear, stumbling through the mouth (does it move to bite him if he moves too slowly?) and cursing. 12:27 <Quaker> Badawi: “What does Stella Savoy want with an exorcist?” 12:28 <banana> Rolf can work out some of what's going on here - you're basically just moving through the inside of an apartment building, up its stairs in fact, but made to look like the interior of a human skull. The bannisters squish like brains. If this is the Hedge, it isn't too scary right now - presumably you haven't provoked it. 12:28 <Crion> When they're in the vehicle: "So. Yes. The exorcism. This was something Willie and I were debating whether to bring to the group. Our hesitation was due to the fact that the House is formally not accepting what Willie would in a text message call, with capital letters, 'Vampire Business.'" 12:28 <Quaker> “Uh huh.” 12:28 <Crion> "I do not have such a restriction in my personal, mercenary capacity, and indeed my standing with the Night Court requires I help them out from time to time. You recall Henry I? The registrar." 12:29 <banana> The same things are apparent to Bob, and his caution, scans and rear position let him pick out some more detail - there are paintings on the walls which appear to show a perfectly normal suburban landscape. Windows to the outside world? They move and change, and he thinks he can see one of Rolf's friends through them for a moment. 12:29 <Quaker> “The…blonde host? At the nightclub?” 12:29 <hrolf> Rolf warily follows behind Liam, making a particularly pained gammonface at the decor. 12:30 <banana> Brain matter gives way to bone-floor and keratin walls. Liam: "On the landing, here, we have some ways to dreams - someone's takin' a midday nap. So don't open any of those." 12:30 <hrolf> Rolf: "Not too bad so far. 'ow much further you fink?" 12:31 <Crion> Aster: "The same. That is actually Henry I, also Henry Beauclerc, fourth son of William the Bastard also known as Conqueror, King of England from...when was it. Year 1100 to 1135 AD. As in, the same body. Whether or not he's the same person is a question for the philosophers and behavioral psychiatrists." 12:31 <banana> "It's actually just at the far end of the hall. We go out the window -" not one of the world-windows Bob's noticed, an actual eyesocket-shaped window in this place - "and across to the next fake house, then we can exit." 12:31 <tom> Fucking weird. Bob lingers before one of the paintings for maybe just a moment too long; get your head in the game, dude! He makes sure not to let Rolf or Liam dip out of sight ahead of him. 12:32 <banana> As Rolf passes an upper-landing door, he can hear snuffling from inside. 12:32 <Crion> "Anyway, the exorcism isn't of him. It's of his tomb, which is haunted by the ghost of Cristina Ætheling, daughter of Edgar the Exile, or Edgar II, or Edgar the Uncrowned. You may, even without a survey knowledge of old English history, begin to understand the grudge here. 12:32 <Crion> " 12:32 <hrolf> "Right right, let's get a move on then." He freezes as he hears the sound, then keeps moving. "'eard somefink on that other door back there - ignore it, right?" 12:33 <banana> Liam: "You've got the idea." 12:33 <Quaker> “Wait, so he’s with the Carthians now? I thought aristocratic elders were persona non grata.” 12:33 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm going to sort this out no matter what it takes. There are a lot of places to hide bodies in- oh hello, Cyril! Yes it has been too long? How are Mabel and your lovely baby girl?" 12:33 <banana> Bob thinks he can see a weird tinge to the air in the crack around that particular doorway - akin to the twist of light that he sees in changelings' seasonal Mantles. 12:34 <tom> That'll be the one then, yeah. Yeah? Yeah. Let's see. The ODIN pans down as Bob opens his jacket to double-check his stun bombs, the extra magazine for the shitty little gun. He nods the affirmative. 12:35 <banana> Liam: "Right, the window here." Or eye-socket. "We can see across to another open window, next house down..." You can, but it's a whole block away. 12:35 <Crion> Aster: "He got an in with the Carthian revolutionaries through the vicious class traitor Samwise, who currently runs the WASC intelligence services. Insert your own joke here." 12:35 <hrolf> "So, we just climb through it? No magic rituals or words or nuffink?" 12:35 <banana> Bob scans the entry from which Rolf heard noises. Definitely a heat signature on the other side; human-shaped and pressed right up against the door. 12:35 <banana> Liam: "No, I'll do a bit of magic first." 12:36 <Crion> "Henry I is stuck in a some sort of cycle where he lives a fairly long life for a mortal, enters torpor, then reawakens some thirty to forty years later with no memory of his previous self. Frankly, it sounds like living the dream, as far as vampires are concerned." 12:36 <banana> "See, this distance represents... summat, I don't know, but I'm going to reinterpret it as the gap between lovers' hearts." 12:36 <hrolf> Rolf turns back to check on Bob and rasps out a sharp warning: "Goreman! Leave it alone." 12:36 <banana> "Imagine my very own Juliet on yonder far balcony, yearning. Basically conjure up a fantasy, you know- what's that?" 12:37 <Quaker> “Wow. So he just…disappeared? And let Stephen and Matilda fight it out? Doesn’t that mean he has the entire Anarchy to answer for?” 12:37 <tom> "Bro there's someone there..." 12:37 <Quaker> Badawi: “From the Cadfael books.” 12:38 <tom> Bob, curiously: "...Like right there." He leans up against the door and listens. 12:38 <hrolf> Rolf: "Don't fahckin care mate. Let's get movin. Keep your gun pointed at it if anyfing comes through - " Rolf leads by example. "Keep doing your thing Penberthy." 12:38 <banana> Bob hears an urgent whisper. But the door doesn't open. 12:38 <Crion> Aster: "Eh. Yes and no. He did indeed die mostly as history has recorded; the vision I had in his tomb had him turned literally on his deathbed, and it's unclear whether the oddities and outright sorceries in that vision were curious ritual flair in the process or simply something Hell added as special effects. It's possible the circumstances of his Embrace rendered him incapacitated for 12:38 <Crion> quite some time." 12:39 <Crion> "Either way, asking him about it is certainly no help. The man simply wants to run his nightclub and process d/b/a forms." 12:39 <hrolf> Rolf barks out an order: "Get away from that door Goreman!" 12:39 <Quaker> She wonders if he knew Cadfael. Is (was) Cadfael real? 12:40 <Quaker> “Huh. Well, what’s their quote for the exorcism?” 12:40 <banana> Liam gazes lovingly across the gap. Things shift, dizzingly, and there's a warning groan of protest from the.. bone-timbers of the skull-house. 12:40 <tom> Bob narrows his eyes and scurries away from the door. 12:40 <Quaker> She climbs back into the Range Rover for the drive to Merseyside Mensa. 12:41 <banana> Quite suddenly, the two windows are just centimetres apart - fairly safe to climb from one to another. 12:41 <tom> He shakes his head as he catches up with Rolfie. "I'm here, I'm here, don't lose your panties." 12:41 <banana> "This is so much easier now that I got fucking locked in a magic suit of armour forever and made a deal with velocity." 12:42 <tom> At Liam: "...You ever hear any weird bullshit about towers, or whatever? Thorns n' shit?" 12:42 <hrolf> Rolf points his gun at the second window. "Let's get in there. Toss a stunner in first maybe?" 12:42 <banana> Liam: "Tip: play it off against amperage, they're enemies. Thorny towers...? Can't say I have." 12:42 <Crion> Sadly, there was no information in the vision about Cadfael. "As I said, I'm mostly doing this job quid pro quo, and out of a personal interest in helping the Gangrel ghoul who is rather comically suffering the impositions of a Liberal Democrat space messianic memetic virus on his personal life. He simply can't stop talking about how Her Majesty's Government needs to replace the nuclear 12:42 <Crion> launch capability in Scotland with a spaceport. If I were to bring it to the group, obviously I'd have to come to a new understanding with Stella Savoy about payment, and I'm unsure she's willing to suddenly come up with pro-rated shares of a million pounds sterling." 12:42 <tom> Bob: "Weird." 12:42 <Crion> "So on that matter, I will keep you posted, if you wish to be kept posted." 12:43 <tom> Bob reaches into his jacket and produces a taped-up cylinder about the size of a soda can. 12:44 <tom> "Eyepro," he reminds Liam. 12:44 <Quaker> “I don’t know shit about ghosts. You’re better off finding a specialist in the area. Unless Bob and Rolf and find some more etheric bullets.” 12:45 <banana> By the time Willie sets down the phone, she's heard more names of People who Matter at the Home Office than she cares to recall. This kind of action is deadly-impersonal, politically driven, really just a matter of signalling that the Government is carrying out its ideological programme. 12:45 <tom> "This is gonna seem insensitive," says Bob nonchalantly as he pops in his earplugs. "Can you take off your armor to piss or, you know- look, I'm sorry man." 12:45 <banana> And that means that nobody's going to notice or care if one old man is excluded from the pointless deportations. 12:45 <Crion> Aster: "I think we can dispose of the pretense that it will be difficult to convince Bob to participate in an exorcism, let alone one involving Willie. The man is simply interested in such things." 12:46 <banana> If Willie's willing to make use of her position here, she can get an appointment with the Right Person and prepare some favours to trade. It should all work out. 12:46 <Quaker> She does *not* mention the revenant child, or the young ghost wizard, she is now personally responsible for. 12:47 <Quaker> “You think Savoy has any pull in Hattersley civil affairs? That ratty estate near the graveyard?” 12:47 <banana> Liam: "If you're starting this thing with grenades, it's unlikely we get the conversation you want." 12:47 <Quaker> “I mean, I’d think about it, for a favor in that direction.” 12:47 <hrolf> Rolf: "It's non lethal mate." 12:48 <banana> Liam: "I thought we were calling it less-lethal now? On your mark, then, and we'll pile in after the flash." 12:48 <Crion> Aster: "Savoy? Difficult to say. Vampire political nature is essentially territorial, and I don't yet have a great sense for what WASC's map looks like other than knowing that my part of Manchester is in Savoy's remit and domain. If the Night Court claims Hattersley, then there's someone territorially responsible for it. And we have met a vampire from WASC there, haven't we? Suzie Cutsworth." 12:49 <hrolf> Rolf: "On 3, then." 12:49 <hrolf> "1" 12:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, to Olly: "Alright. I've got a meeting with the crossbench life peer whose protege is the Minister of State for implementation. My father got his father into frontline politics. I can... sort this. I've got this sorted. ...for your father." 12:49 <hrolf> "2" 12:49 <hrolf> "3 - fire in the hole!" 12:49 <tom> Bob cracks his neck, flips the grenade into his hand and rips out the pin. 12:49 <VoxPVoxD> "But there are so many other fathers..." Ugh. The chemical depression is becoming anti-synergistic. Blue shift. Blue shift!! 12:50 <tom> He underhands the fizzing bottle through the window with a snarl. 12:51 <banana> Olly: "Yes. It doesn't make a lick of sense. I mean.. thank you, so much. But why have we got this far? It isn't necessary. It isn't what anyone asked for." 12:54 <banana> There is a flash and a bang. Liam does something as the three of you leap the gap between windows, and you come out the other side in reality, shielding your eyes as you pile into a small third-floor flat. There's a man on the bed, but there are also tripwires and bits of glass and a mess of piping with wires attached... 12:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm going to look into this algo some more. But, later. I need to get stuck into my inbox." She folds up her laptop. "I'm away for lunch to clear some emails somewhere I can primal scream. Do call if anything comes up, yeah? You're a gem, Olly." 12:55 <banana> Olly: "Not a very good cut, I'm afraid. I have a lot to catch up on, too." 12:55 <banana> "I could use a stale croissant." 12:55 <tom> Bob's in first, gun in hand and an arm raised to protect his eyes from possible frags ricochetting around the room from the stunbomb. 12:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Partake! I'll leave them here." 12:56 <Quaker> Badawi: “Hm. Preferably no vampires would be there, ever.” 12:56 <Crion> Aster: "If wishes were fishes we'd all be pescatarian." 12:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's working/screaming lunch is at the Greybox, where she's brought what looks like a shoebox-sized container of takeaway chips and four shots of espresso. 12:57 <banana> Aster and Badawi get back to the safehouse before it's cooled down, and the conversation will draw Richard out of his hole. 12:57 <Crion> "Cutsworth is at least one of the more manageable ones. Though regretfully managing her means utilizing Bob, who has had quite enough women for one month." 12:58 <Crion> Without elaborating on that: "Ah, Richard. I have some data for you." 12:59 <Quaker> To Willie: “Back to Gorton, looks like. The Star is somehow responsible for some kind of terrain shaping up there. Some kind of summoning dated to the 25th of September.” 13:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks up from her laptop just as she opens it. "What is it about that estate?" 13:01 <Crion> Aster: "Also, Stella Savoy has sent along a note about the exorcism. We're ready to proceed to the next stage. The staging...stage." 13:01 <Crion> "But we can talk about that later." 13:01 <Crion> He'll hand her the note regardless. 13:01 <banana> Haldane: "I really like data." 13:01 <hrolf> Rolf takes a running jump and lands on the hardwood, non-tonguelike floor in the Real World. Continuining his momentum, he immediately beelines for the man on the bed, pouncing on him and raining down punches to pulverize him into submission. 13:02 <banana> Haldane: "Now, what file formats have we got on this thing..." 13:02 <Crion> Aster: "So does one Gregory Hulp of whichever governmental sub-bureau runs the 'T-ARDIS'" he still just says it TARDIS, just with more disdain "instrumental suite at the Manchester BBC station." 13:02 <banana> "Incidentally, when you've caught each other up, there's something I'd like to mention briefly. Shouldn't change anything in particular." 13:02 <VoxPVoxD> "9pm to 5am? That's awfully cutesy, but I suppose that's the WASC house style." 13:03 <Crion> Aster: "I prefer it to getting calls from Barrigan in the middle of the damn day." 13:03 <tom> He dips under a length of fishing wire held taught inches in front of the doorway; it's connected to a tincan full of rusty nails that Bob nonchalantly kicks away from the door after cutting through the line with his pocket knife. The welcome mat's another easy one- that one's been an ole reliable since Fallujah- the two lead-wires are pried loose as he casts it aside. 13:05 <tom> "That's what you get for making me eat a fucking parmo dude." 13:05 <banana> Liam's right behind them, gun out to train, steady on his doppelganger. Alone* in a room with the man who's been ruining his life at last. He keeps his finger on the grip, not the trigger. 13:06 <banana> Lie-am coughs and splutters, trying to draw air into his lungs with Rolf on top of him. "Enough, man! No more or I swear, I'll do something about it!" 13:06 <tom> "Bro.... Bro.." Bob rubs his eyes over his drooping visor. "What is your fucking deal dude?" 13:07 <hrolf> Rolf pauses mid-punch: "You fink you're in a position to threaten us?" 13:07 <tom> "It's like God made you to make me look like an asshole, man!" 13:07 <tom> He sweeps the floor of broken bits of glass with his boot. 13:07 <banana> "What- khhhhm, khem, ughh- what is.. your mother's deal?" 13:08 <banana> "Because when I was- get your hands off me, Rolf Hughes." 13:08 <banana> Liam: "He can't help himself." 13:08 <banana> Lie-am: "If you're not going to shoot me, let me sit up." 13:09 <hrolf> Rolf gives Bob a Look, and then reluctantly stops hitting the thing. He lets him go and stands up, keeping his gun trained on him. To Bob: "Alright mate, do your saviour routine. Keep it short, like." 13:09 <tom> Bob gestures with his stunted little gun. "If you do literally anything I'm going to pop you like a zit." 13:10 <tom> "What the fuck, dude?" He groans after a second. "You're in fucking shambles man." 13:11 <banana> "I'm in East Ham. Not sure where you lot came from. If I called the police, what would I say? Faeries broke into my apartment?" 13:11 <banana> "Imagine P.C. Plod asking whether they had a poofter along for the ride." 13:12 <tom> The visor reflects the false Liam's angry face. "You do just wanna die." 13:12 <hrolf> Rolf: "I'm 'appy to oblige." 13:12 <tom> "Not until I'm done," he growls. 13:12 <banana> The other Liam pulls himself together, gaining some semblance of dignity - although he's wearing pajamas, so it's not that much. Downstairs, you can hear The Lads calling to each other, guarding the ways. 13:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Okay, so we've got a go-ahead from Savoy, we've got datums from space, we've got a road that leads back to Hattersley... do we need to loop the Mensas in? Does this have bargaining power with Bogdan?" 13:13 <tom> "Rolf, can you go sweep for any remaining traps on this floor- don't want Baz and the boys to get covered in rancid piss from this embarrassing Home Alone shithead." 13:13 <banana> "I wouldn't say I merely want to die. Nothing so simple about it, Goreman. I'm not going until I've done as much as I can to rid you of your delusions. Why're you hiding behind them, anyway?" 13:14 <banana> Liam: "I.. am not hiding. In exchange for the assistance of these fine gentlemen, I made them a promise of forbearance. You shan't provoke me." 13:14 <tom> Bob is flabbergasted: "Fucking really, dude? You've been trolling me just cause I don't wanna kill your stupid ass?" 13:14 <banana> Lie-am: "Not you. Come on." 13:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Where are the lads? Was today their Faerie Business?" 13:14 <Crion> Aster: "I'm going to be looping them into the data, yes. I want anything they do to be coordinated through us." 13:14 <Crion> Aster makes a face. "Apparently so." 13:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, hopefully it ends in the desired number of slapfights." 13:15 <tom> "Aw hell, this is like, some sort of internalized shit-" 13:15 <banana> The last you heard from Bogdan Georgiou, he'd offered to give you some sort of recipe - ritual? spell? - that a group of mentallists could use to summon the caleban. His plan was to get the Athletic Outfit to do it, so they fight each other. 13:15 <Quaker> Badawi pulls a chair up to the central table. “What’s a Caleban of the Second Degree?” 13:15 <banana> Lie-am: "I can explain myself perfectly well, if you're forcing me at gunpoint." 13:15 <hrolf> Rolf: "The quality of mercy is feelin' pretty fahckin strained right now. Get a move on!" 13:15 <tom> Bob doesn't quite lower his gun, but he relaxes his grip on the handguard. His eyes slide over to Liam. 13:16 <Crion> Aster: "That is the question at the top of our list right now." 13:16 <banana> Liam: "Seems we are." 13:16 <tom> "No dude I got you figured out a while back." 13:16 <tom> "You remember being him, and you remember what you'd do if you woke up as one of the doubles, yeah." 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If it's a Starchild thing, I'd start by looking in science fiction novels or comic books or something." 13:16 <banana> Lie-am: "You are irrelevant, Bob, outside of an anime convention. I've never heard of another man who wants to be a changeling." 13:16 <tom> "Excuse me, dude? You think that's-" 13:16 <Crion> "Presumably it is either better or worse than a Caleban of the First Degree, depending on whether they're using the severity scale for burns or crimes, respectively." 13:17 <tom> "Oh man you are being really stupid, wow," 13:17 <Crion> "No, other way around." 13:17 <Crion> "Crimes or burns." 13:17 <banana> The fetch chuckles. "With apologies to Mr. Hughes' forbearance. When did you learn it, by the by?" 13:18 <hrolf> Rolf just shakes his head in response. 13:18 <Quaker> Science fiction novels and comic books? “Richard, have you heard of it before?” 13:19 <banana> Richard: "Both the same thing, when you're not among friends." He taps on, or just short of, a monitor. "Well, I've digitised and read the pamphlet you got from the dragon mages." 13:19 <Crion> We do have a phone number for Gregorieu, right? And presumably they have computers with the internet. We can just call him and e-mail or FTP the data. 13:19 <banana> "Did you know the thing tries to zap your scanner if you run it through one? Anyway-" 13:20 <banana> "The mages divide 'agents' of 'Cosmos' into three tiers - star-children in its employ, 'external incarnations', which is to say the creatures from outer space that have attacked you, and 'stellar foremen'. Whipping stars." 13:21 <banana> Haldane: "They don't use the 'degree' terminology, or not in the materials they gave us. But they do note the idea of a physical hydrogen-helium fusion ball being.. extracted and projected in part down into the Fallen World." 13:21 <tom> Clouds pass over Bob's face. He turns away from the Fetch to the man in skeletal armor. 13:22 <banana> Haldane: "If we're going to fight one... we'll need very good insulation. Or some way to end a nuclear reaction." 13:22 <tom> "He set all this up so you wouldn't feel shitty killing him." 13:22 <banana> Liam: "That's quite a leap of logic." 13:23 <tom> "I do that a lot." 13:23 <banana> Lie-am is silent. 13:23 <banana> Liam: "What would that change? If it was true." 13:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What, like, load up a harpoon gun with cadmium control rods?" 13:23 <Quaker> Badawi: “How has it not been noticed since September? These entities have not been subtle. They’ve been suicidally aggressive. And now there’s a mini-sun that’s just been…hiding out?” 13:23 <banana> Richard: "Yes! The thing will take a human form, but it is still, materially, a sun." 13:24 <tom> Bob sighs. "Fuck if I know, dude." 13:24 <banana> Lie-am: "May I make a counterpoint?" 13:24 <tom> "You're really the only one who has the right to make the call here- although he did try to make me airhole Rolfie." 13:24 <tom> "-Thanks for that, by the way, asshole." 13:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "How do things like this exist without giant craters all over the world?" 13:25 <Crion> Aster: "This sounds like something for disaster event protocols, not five people with guns, telekinesis, and demonology." 13:25 <banana> Lie-am: "Wish I could have seen it. Anyway, I just wanted to point out that your bright idea is flawed in the premise part - for me to be helping out this guy, I'd have to not know what he is. A mockery, that is to say. Once-human, now worse at pretending it than yours truly. Gets just as angry, I might point out, with less cause." 13:26 <hrolf> Rolf: "Musta done 'is 'ead in, innit? You're supposed to wake up finking you're a normal lad, cept 'e 'ad memories of going into the 'edge. 'e knew what 'e was, on waking." 13:26 <banana> The fetch glances sharply at Rolf, but doesn't retort. 13:26 <banana> Liam: "Shit, it's the decision I might have made in that situation." 13:26 <banana> "Make myself into the enemy." 13:27 <tom> "He's full-a shit anyway, you're still human." 13:27 <Quaker> Badawi: “Well…we know it’s big. And the water level rose in the upper reservoir…displaced? I guess it’s hibernating under the water there. Maybe it doesn’t activate until specifically summoned.” 13:27 <tom> Bob believes what he says, for what it's worth. 13:27 <banana> Richard: "Are disaster event protocols an option? We could call in the ONR." 13:28 <banana> He turns back to the computer. "No, hang on a sec... it would be the DNSR...?" 13:28 <banana> "Military people. Nuclear bomb disposal squad." 13:28 <Crion> Aster: "We would have to determine how to reveal it first. And whether revealing it would immediately create a Chernobyl situation, or worse." 13:28 <Crion> "Presumably it is not currently irradiating everyone around it to literal death because that would be reflected in statistics. Unless mages are involved." 13:29 <banana> Liam: "What are you going to do if we let you up? Keep fucking with me forever?" 13:29 <tom> The gun doesn't waver in his hand, pointed directly at the Fetch. But he does ease it down into a more comfortable position, couched up against his upper arm. Is it... could it be... is this actually working? 13:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't think fusion makes radioactive waste, does it? The concern would not be contamination but losing kilometres around in a torrent of fire." 13:30 <Quaker> Badawi: “Should we let the mages know about it? This seems like…a city-wide hazard. Maybe they’d be able to sense it out.” 13:31 <VoxPVoxD> "I endorse any help we can get." 13:31 <banana> Lie-am: "You've made a promise to the weapons, there, before you even went in too deep. Swore to maintain them and so on. It became a real deal once you got the power, I know this." 13:31 <VoxPVoxD> "Maybe we can ask them to relocate to Inchcape for a spell?" 13:31 <banana> "My deal, too. And so I can simply-" 13:32 <tom> Bob: "Don't try it." 13:32 <Quaker> “Inchcape? I don’t think they’d want to room with VI4.” 13:32 <VoxPVoxD> "I meant the sun-person, but no I suppose they wouldn't." 13:33 <VoxPVoxD> She smiles at Richard. "You had an item?" 13:33 <Quaker> “Oh…like, teleport it? Well, maybe.” 13:33 <Quaker> “I just think we should warn them in advance this time. Let’s not piss them off further.” 13:33 <banana> Richard: "Ahh, I suppose I did." 13:33 <tom> The man in the stupid sunglasses is between the Liams in a flash, the muzzle sweeping over the Fetch, his finger on the trigger. 13:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You think they'll try to take over the job?" 13:34 <Crion> Aster: "We've been reliant on them recently. I leave it up to your judgment whether that's a problem." 13:34 <Crion> "I doubt they'll ask for a cut." 13:34 <VoxPVoxD> "I don't mind working for them, I'd just like to avoid taking orders from them as much as possible." 13:34 <Crion> Aster: "I don't really care if they do take over the job, so long as they don't fuck it up." 13:34 <banana> "For what it's worth, I have no objection to keeping the weird wizards up to date. They may grumble, but they've helped." 13:34 <hrolf> Rolf senses a tension in the air. He's been in these kinds of situations before, many times over. He fires a round into the bed, between Lie-am's legs and very close to the baby making bits. "Whatever you're thinking mate - not a good idea." 13:35 <Quaker> “No, they’re pretty lazy. But they have been curious about the whole star children thing. Maybe we can trade some sensor information for tipping them off. It’s a danger to them, too.” 13:35 <banana> Liam's gun fires. 13:35 <Quaker> “Maybe they’ve been picking up weird signals from it.” 13:35 <banana> But Bob is in the way. 13:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That sounds fine, then." She dips a chip in mayonnaise and looks expectantly at Richard. 13:36 <tom> "BING-!" 13:38 <Crion> Aster: "I put a vote in favor of involving the mages. If Willie's onboard as well, we technically have a majority without having to ask the 'lads,' who probably don't care." 13:38 <Crion> "Alright." 13:38 <Crion> "Do any of you want to be on a call with Georgieu?" 13:38 <tom> "GHHAHAHAHahah! AHAHa, AAAHHH!" 13:38 <banana> The report is shattering, interrupting Bob's yell because, after all, he's been shot in the back. Liam yells: "I didn't touch it! I'm not-" 13:38 <tom> Bob is facedown on the floor, a bullet lodged firmly in his back. 13:38 <banana> Lie-am: "Ah, what the fuck." 13:38 <hrolf> "What the fahck! What the fahck are you doing?" Rolf swivels his gun back and forth between the two Liams. 13:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie wonders what Bob's doing right now. Hopefully it's nice. 13:38 <Quaker> “Sure, put him on speaker after Richard.” 13:38 <banana> He seems to fold over on himself, kind of collapsing onto his knees on the bed. 13:39 <banana> Liam: "Look, I'm not even - you took over the gun. Jesus fuck." 13:39 <banana> He flicks the safety on his weapon and then drops it. 13:40 <tom> From the floor: "Did you just kill me, you dumb freak shit!?" 13:40 <hrolf> Rolf kneels down next to Bob, and yells in a downward direction: "Baz! Up 'ere - we 'ave a casualty! Get in 'ere now!" 13:40 <tom> It's not clear who this is directed at. 13:40 <tom> "God damnit dude literally all I'm trying to do is save your fuckin' life here!" 13:41 <banana> Liam the fetch doesn't say anything else, or move much. He seems completely wrecked, as if some animating energy is gone from him. 13:41 <Quaker> Badawi texts Octocat. AB: <hey have any of your sensors picked up anything coming from any local reservors to the east of the city. received some additional info re: alien presence in manchester> 13:41 <tom> He really can'y help but laugh, face-down on the floor in this ratty ass apartment. 13:41 <banana> Liam the changeling steps over toward him and looks agonised, glancing back and forth, then bends down to help Bob. The Lads can get him to a damn hospital or something. 13:41 <banana> Richard: "Alright, so, this is not really worth mentioning, but in the interests of full disclosure..." 13:41 <tom> Oh God this is so humiliating. 13:42 <banana> Richard: "Since we do have several people gathered together, seems like a good time to mention - I used to be a demon, apparently!" 13:42 <banana> "No, sorry, that's not really accurate - needlessly alarmist." 13:42 <banana> "What I mean is that a demon used to be me." 13:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie slaps the table. "I knew it was something like that!" 13:43 <VoxPVoxD> "Always a bit of brimstone about you. How are you taking it?" 13:43 <banana> Richard: "My initial reaction... I'd say, extreme surprise." 13:44 <hrolf> As the Lads clamber up cacophonously to attend to Bob, Rolf strides towards the fetch, redfaced and getting redder by the minute. "Alright, this 'as been 'eartwarming but enough's enough. You're a fucking liability lad. Time to go." He holds the gun up against his temple, and pulls the trigger. 13:44 <Quaker> Badawi: “Uh…is that…what does that mean? Are you alright?” 13:45 <Crion> Aster takes this in. "How does one stop being a demon?" 13:45 <Crion> "In either direction." 13:46 <Quaker> “Like, from Hell?” 13:46 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I imagine something closer to the Alpha Strikes." 13:46 <VoxPVoxD> "How much do you know? Would you be interested in meeting with them?" 13:47 <banana> Richard: "Please, one at a time, I'm no celebrity." 13:47 <Quaker> “What is an alpha strike?” She - wait, is she dreaming again? She checks her satchel. No, she didn’t take anything recently. 13:49 <banana> Richard: "Okay, I don't fully understand this right now either, but it seems like... demons have false identities. Covers." 13:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie points Badawi to the, admittedly, well out-of-date city org chart. "Local gamer demon enclave. They have a very different sort of, idiom to the classical infernalism I was trained on in Milan. Rather more techy. Rather more-" she gestures around. "Like all this." 13:49 <banana> "I.. was a cover story, our employer says. And he's got the paperwork for it." 13:49 <Crion> To Badawi: "Gamers." 13:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "For how long?" 13:50 <banana> Richard: "Some years. I don't know exactly, because it's retroactive." 13:50 <Crion> "The technical term however refers to doing as much damage as you can immediately, from what I can gather. You aiming a sniper rifle and shooting for the head is an 'alpha strike.'" 13:50 <banana> "As Somejack would have it, I was created with a- a backstory." 13:50 <Crion> "Alpha versus delta. Math. Etcetera." 13:50 <banana> "One so good it convinced even me." 13:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "But... you've got parents. You went to see them up in Glasgow." 13:51 <Quaker> Badawi frowns. “So you’re not a human being?” 13:51 <banana> "And then my inhabitant, possessor, creator.. moved on. Leaving, I like to think, a fully realised human being, thanks." 13:51 <banana> Richard: "Also created, apparently." 13:52 <banana> "Everyone I know and everywhere I've been may or may not be part of the fiction." 13:52 <VoxPVoxD> "Are they parademonic as well?" 13:55 <Crion> Aster: "Unfortunate on some number of levels. You seem to be dealing with it well?" 13:55 <banana> Richard, to Willie: "I'm going to insist on 'no', although I don't know what the difference would be." 13:55 <banana> To Aster: "Tell you the truth, I was quite upset. It's... very strange, the idea of having, in causal terms, a different origin from people who came to be as a result of actions and reactions." 13:55 <banana> "But it doesn't seem to change anything." 14:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Alright. But this means that, between that and the manual, Jack has no more leverage over you, correct?" 14:01 <banana> "You do take charge of things, Hughes," Liam mutters. "But it's the help I asked for." 14:01 <tom> Bob slumps on the floor as the shotgun goes off. 14:01 <Quaker> Badawi: “Well…it’s a bit like Christ, really. Existing at the beginning of time. Except, you know, human. I wouldn’t worry too much, Richard. All our names are in the Book of Life, no matter how we got here. Right?” 14:02 <Crion> Aster resists the urge to waggle his hand. 14:02 <banana> "Perhaps what he was asking too, only only it wasn't polite... let's get out of here. Bob's bleeding, and someone might have heard the muzzles." 14:02 <hrolf> Rolf barks orders at the Lads. "What the fahck are you doing? Get im to an ospital, state? You got the van parked around the back innit?" 14:02 <Crion> Aster: "Resolution is, ultimately, a good thing. Eventually." 14:02 <hrolf> Rolf stows the gun away. "What about the corpse?" 14:02 <banana> Richard: "Ultimately, if we simply never think about this again, I think that's fine." 14:03 <Crion> That's one form of resolution. Perhaps the most pure one. 14:03 <banana> "Regarding Jack... I certainly hope not. Being treated as part of his 'purchase'... that's not employment." 14:03 <Quaker> “Will you be alright, healthwise? There’s no side effects from all this?” 14:04 <banana> Richard: "What do you call a man who keeps doing things he knows you won't like, then when called on them, cheerfully admits it and changes his behaviour? Each time growing closer to reasonable, having got away with as much as he could?" 14:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Management." 14:04 <Quaker> “Someone who hasn’t been beaten badly.” 14:05 <banana> Liam: "Either someone finds it in the next couple of days and they give him a burial, or it turns back to snow and carrots." 14:06 <hrolf> Rolf: "Carrots it is. Let's be off then." 14:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "But yes, silence's your prerogative. On our end this doesn't change anything. Filling in the backstory is terribly interesting but you are, from our perspective, who you've always been: a trusted and indispensable member of the team." 14:08 <banana> Richard: "Thank you, everybody. I'll put together some tactical options for a punk anti-fan who is a star and also a lake." 14:08 <tom> Bob gets up off the floor. 14:08 <tom> "I'll bury it."