12:39 <banana> Samantha Blackfin: "Yes, it'd be good to have her help. We've got a lot of furniture to move around, not to mention the weirder gear." 12:39 <banana> The psychologist, or consulting detective, or whatever she is now asks Aster: "...is Mr. Bonasera going to tag along?" 12:39 <Crion> Aster: "Honestly, I've no fucking clue. I'll text." 12:39 <Crion> To Willie: <Sam asks after Sergio.> 12:39 <Crion> <If he's coming with you.> 12:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: <may he?> 12:40 <Crion> To Sam: "Do you want him tagging along?" 12:41 <banana> Blackfin: "Well... he's strong, right? Look, to be honest, Aaron, I think I need to get used to these people. Not that we didn't talk to them in the old days, but there was an enormous pressure to categorise. Demographise." 12:42 <banana> "Everyone's taking off the masks now..." 12:43 <Crion> Aster barks a laugh. "That is the guideline." 12:43 <Crion> "I'll tell her yes." 12:44 <Crion> To Willie: <He may.> 12:44 <banana> Sergio is around, doing nothing whatsoever. Willie's place is good for this in the daytime, as it has more furniture to laze upon - when the sun's up he acts a little like Mr. Blimp, sprawling on things and engaging in conversation whenever she catches his eye, yawning and talking about drawing something but never quite getting to it. 12:46 <VoxPVoxD> Honestly, being able to talk to Sergio during the day has been a godsend, particularly as Omicron once again quashes in-office work for the forseeable (one news cycle) future. He looks so good lounging, too... 12:46 <VoxPVoxD> <😃> 12:47 <banana> On the way over to the office space, back seat full of voight-kampff gear and textbookx, Samantha asks about the kinds of cases Aster's working on at A.B.. "Do you get specials coming around the place, or is it more tangential, cops and ghouls and people with haunted looks?" 12:47 <Crion> Aster: "He's in. On your head mote it be." 12:47 <Crion> Aster doesn't do 'teasingly,' but old pagan signoffs are pretty close. 12:48 <Crion> Sam will know that. 12:48 <banana> *textbooks 12:49 <Crion> To the business at hand: "Yes, to all of those." 12:50 <Crion> "We've had cases with the government, and cases with a weird goofball mason ghoul who wandered in off the street after I hurt his friend." 12:54 <banana> While Willie's getting ready, Sergio muses. "The estimable messrs Aster and Blackfin. They're very... intelligent. Is that something of a safety net?" 12:54 <VoxPVoxD> Over the sound of the shower: "For whom?" 12:54 <banana> Sergio: "If I - if you made the kind of mistakes that place blood over human decency, they'd notice." 12:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie doesn't answer immediately. Maybe she's washing her hair. 12:56 <VoxPVoxD> Eventually: "I suppose it is. Does that bother you?" 12:56 <banana> Sergio: "Very much no." 12:58 <banana> Blackfin: "The wizards are going to want to come around, since I haven't agreed to set up shop in their premises. I suppose they can conceal their nature... or if you accept their framing, it's everyone else that's weird." 12:58 <banana> The two of them will be arriving before Willie and Sergio get there - where is the new office space, in relation to Aster Biologics and so on? 13:00 <banana> Sergio goes on, in a way he might not have last month. "It's actually a selfish impulse, you see. Having people around who act as checks and balances - it takes off some pressure to self-regulate. I feel a little freer, less worried that what I want to express is monstrous." 13:00 <banana> "No, that's not the right way to put it.. if it's to be monstrous, let the monstrosity only be art. Or love." 13:01 <Crion> Aster: "Which wizards? Strangeways?" 13:01 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm glad." The water shuts off. When she dresses it's in a stolen sweatshirt and jeans. "I don't think it's particularly selfish to allow other people to care about how you behave." 13:02 <VoxPVoxD> "It's not about forcing people to make your decisions for you, it's just... it's a sanity check. Caring about the opinions of other people - caring about how they see you - is how people stay normal and well-behaved." 13:02 <banana> Blackfin: "Yes. As expected, they're pushy... more interested in the Process than our newly mutual auditors would like. I'm interested too, but I won't trust them with something like that unless they show their own cards about this apocalypse stuff." 13:02 <VoxPVoxD> "...to a point, anyway," she concedes to an imagined counterargument. 13:03 <Crion> Aster: "If they want to come around, they can. I love to talk." 13:04 <Crion> Where are they right now? Outside the Labs? With the truck just sitting there parked on the curb? 13:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "And they're really very nice for how smart and middle-aged they are." 13:04 <Crion> The new office space is literally the floor above Aster Biologics. 13:04 <Crion> Which was empty, and he purchased outright. 13:04 <banana> That's where they are until they're ready to go in. (Unless they're waiting for the others, or wanted to check in with Simon Kingfisher.) 13:04 <Crion> Simon might be about, but unless he wheedled Aster into paying him extra to help move in -- which he might have! -- he's been sent home. 13:05 <Crion> That's up to Simon, though. Aster wouldn't ask. 13:05 <banana> Sergio laughs. "We mustn't look down on people just because they can add large numbers in their heads..." 13:06 <banana> It's not actually dark yet; Willie has to help him make a run from the door to her car with a coat over his head. Fortunately, Twilight got something right; briefly exposed skin, for someone not sunk deep in the Curse, sparkles and does not yet burn. 13:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, grinning: "I'm just saying! Particularly for nerd with a hunt background, they're lovely company. We have fun together! Call it Boffins and Coffins." 13:12 <banana> Simon doesn't have much hustle. He's gone by now, leaving a pad full of recent phone messages. (Some might interest Aster: Kim Yun Ha left her number, and there's been an inquiry from 'Consolidated Mutual Alpha-Sigma' about analysing some archaeological relics.) 13:13 <Crion> Mmm. Yeah. 13:13 <Crion> To Sam: "You remember Kim, from trivia." 13:13 <Crion> "The doctor." 13:13 <Crion> "The younger of the doctors that was mad at me." 13:13 <banana> Blackfin sighs. "Yeah, the hemophages used your name for something. Typical." 13:14 <Crion> Aster: "Yes, well, they did it under license. She's left a message for me. I'm considering hiring her on. I simply have too much work outside of the lab, and she's underserved by a government paycheck. How did you react to her?" 13:14 <banana> She unlatches what in this country you suppose is a boot rather than a trunk. The heavy furniture's already inside, albeit not laid out as she wants it, but some of the devices here were best not trusted to movers. 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's old green car rolls up, producing Willie and some kind of man-sized coatrack. 13:17 <Crion> Aster: "Ah, good afternoon Willie, and, the Lump." 13:18 <banana> Samantha: "Hmm." This is her meat and potatoes; snap analyses that fit into a larger picture. "They were on the outs, her and Megan.. the relationship's not going to last. I think Kim's the one who's upset by that. So she's looking for new things." 13:18 <banana> "And her brush with a serial hemophage.. she's got unanswered questions. I expect she's calling you to find out the answers, but you could probably use that. An opening, the same way the Union gets people into their trade." 13:20 <banana> Sergio: "Laugh it up if you like, so long as you've got keys... or a parasol." 13:20 <Crion> Aster: "Well, I do happen to have some of those answers. Hello Sergio. I will." 13:20 <Crion> Aster does in fact have an umbrella at hand. 13:20 <Crion> He's an asshole, not a poor host. 13:21 <Crion> It's a black matte umbrella, not something that lets light through. Obviously. 13:23 <banana> Blackfin: "Good evening to you both. Another quiz question: who knows what this is?" She gestures at the boot, where there's a large machine all folded up - many brass arms with card slips attached at the ends, like an enormous typewriter that's been disassembled by Rube Goldberg. 13:24 <Crion> Aster: "A machine for prigs." 13:27 <banana> Blackfin: "Well, it's true that I'd rather not come into direct contact with the business end of it." 13:27 <banana> Sergio: "If the cards flatten out, they could be the legs and feet of a mechanical millipede." 13:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Oh my god! It's an autotarot! I haven't used one of these since Milan. I had to spend a weekend with a test cards, a lodestone and a set of silver chimes tuning one once." Please don't ask why. 13:27 <Crion> He's checking the street compulsively, now that Sam's told him the mages might have a quarrel and the Italian Stallion is sunny side up. 13:29 <banana> Samantha lights up. "Fantastic! It'd be hell to try and move it all connected-up, but if you can help with the tuning we can just do this in pieces..." 13:29 <VoxPVoxD> For Sergio's benefit: "Those little glowing bits are piezoelectric, they're like... vibe traps." 13:29 <VoxPVoxD> Well they're not glowing *now*. But it's obvious which bits glow when it's on. 13:30 <banana> Sergio: "I'm happy to lift and carry, as long as we start getting inside... nowish." 13:31 <banana> Blackfin: "...I promise I'm not trying to run a timing experiment on you." To Aster: "Is that the door?" 13:32 <Crion> What time is it? 13:32 <Crion> Where's the sun? 13:33 <Crion> To Sam: "It is." 13:33 <Crion> To Sergio: "Get on in there. We can just wait until actual sunset." 13:33 <Crion> "No one's going to fuck with me on it because then I'll go to the council and demand to be allowed a loading dock." 13:34 <banana> It's after work - and the sun began setting before most people were even out of offices. But there's a little of it left on the horizon, and even the indirect light that bounces off the surrounds is starting to glitter on the Ventrue's face. 13:34 <banana> He nods soberly and walks briskly into the Aster Biologics lobby. 13:34 <Crion> So twenty minutes. Is Simon still around collecting his technical hourly rate? 13:35 <VoxPVoxD> It's much prettier than it was in the movie. 13:35 <banana> Samantha to Willie: "Keeping up appearances? Sorry, I mean- is it important to him to be able to participate in... things at this hour?" 13:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie watches him go and waits for the door to shut to say, "We're just making an effort to spend more time together. It's easy for circumstance to keep us apart. And then we get terribly lonely." 13:38 <Crion> Aster will make sure the lobby is comfortable for Sergio, which might mean managing Simon. 13:38 <Crion> He's not going to dismiss the young man before his scheduled hours are up, however. 13:39 <banana> If Simon's still around, he's effectively going to be harassed by a large dilettante(?) who refuses to give a specific reason for being present but is relentlessly pleasant about it. 13:39 <banana> Samantha: "Ahh. I see.. I think.. look, if it's helping, it's worthwhile. Er." 13:39 <Crion> Is he or isn't he? 13:39 <banana> "We might as well start taking this thing apart, right?" 13:39 <Crion> Aster wants to see how he reacts to a vampire. 13:39 <VoxPVoxD> Is Simon here?? Then Willie's got a small paper-wrapped package for him. 13:41 <banana> Kingfisher: "Mr.." 13:41 <banana> Bonasera: "Oh, there's no need for formality." 13:42 <banana> Kingfisher: "Sir, could I get your name? The manager will be here in just a moment, but we do need to know who's, uh, what your business is." 13:42 <Crion> Aster: "I'm fucking here, young Simon." 13:42 <Crion> "Christ." 13:43 <Crion> "His business is...Sergio, what is your business?" 13:43 <banana> Bonasera: "Commendable. It strikes a balance between your clients' own desire for attention and the necessary security measures. The various sta-" 13:43 <banana> Kingfisher: "Aaah!" 13:43 <banana> "Mr. Aster, hi.. sorry.. I was just finishing the, reading this thing." 13:44 <Crion> "Yes, yes. 'Aaah!' this. 'Aaah!' that. Stiff upper lip, isn't that what they say? Reading what." 13:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "...is there something on your mind, Dr. Blackfin?" 13:44 <VoxPVoxD> She helps Samantha dismantle the thing as she asks this. 13:44 <banana> Simon has a magazine on the counter, now that you look. Sergio helpfully describes his business: "Manual labour." 13:45 <Crion> Is it pornography? 13:45 <banana> Motoring Magazine. So in a sense, yes. 13:46 <Crion> Sigh. 13:46 <Crion> Cars or boats? 13:48 <banana> The autotarot comes apart into twelve major 'arms' and a central mechanism which is weighty but not large. Samantha looks at Willie a little helplessly: "Look, I'm sorry. In theory I understand human relationships pretty well, and I have this body of professional knowledge on your boyfriend's nature, it's just that connecting them together makes a... short circuit." 13:48 <banana> "Please don't take it as ill-meant. We learn something new every day, right? Sometimes many things." 13:50 <banana> Simon sheepishly closes the magazine, on the cover of which is a bright red Lotus. "Right, and I guess there's no need to take that down since.. you're here with Mr. Aster directly." 13:50 <banana> Sergio: "It's your call, man, but you seem to have it handled. If I swing by some other time I'd be here as a documentary filmmaker." 13:51 <banana> To Aster: "Actually, do you need any advertising done?" 13:52 <Crion> Aster smiles thinly. "Only to certain clientele." 13:52 <Crion> "But we can discuss it." 13:53 <Crion> "Simon, do you want to make an extra...christ. Sergio. What's three hundred dollars American in 'quid'." 13:53 <banana> "About two hundred if we're lucky." 13:54 <banana> The last dregs of the sun flee from the Northern winter. Unlike the caravan park kids, everyone in the parking lot and foyer has heavy clothing on, though it may be for show in the vampire's case. Fortunately there's not much wind right now, which helps with the chill and makes it easier to get things out of the car. 13:55 <Crion> Aster: "Do you want to make whatever that is? If so report to Willie Wellesley and Dr. Blackfin outside and assist in hauling." 13:56 <banana> Simon is inattentive, not stupid. "Yes, Mr. Aster." He's out right away. 13:56 <Crion> Aster just slips the bills in under the computer mouse. 13:56 <Crion> He won't miss them there. 13:56 <banana> Sergio: "Jesus, he looks young." 13:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles brightly. "Oh, perish the thought. We're learning, too." Willie needs both hands to carry the mechanism. "It's not a particularly sore subject." 13:56 <Crion> Aster: "Well, he is." 13:56 <VoxPVoxD> Definitely not as sore as what she imagined Samantha might be musing about. 13:57 <VoxPVoxD> As Simon emerges: "Ah! Simon! What luck." 13:57 <Crion> Aster considers warning the man, but gives him the benefit of the doubt that he knows 19 year old uni students that work for him are off-limits. 13:57 <banana> Sergio: "Sure. It's just a reminder of history catching up with me." 13:57 <banana> "Nice car, though." 13:58 <VoxPVoxD> "I've got something for you. Are you on the way out or did Mr. Aster conscript you?" 13:58 <Crion> Aster: "Mmmhmm. The one thing more transient than youth: a car being nice." 13:59 <banana> Sergio: "Don't you think there are some classic lines that stay pretty relevant?" 14:00 <Crion> Aster: "Only due to effort and marketing." 14:00 <Crion> Ah, but what are we really talking about, dear Sergio? 14:01 <banana> Sergio: "No, I don't think that's all. Fashion in designs varies - that's always been an issue with Detroit, the wild swings between boxes and curves, flat and tall - but there's both meaning and utility to the shape of a vehicle. You have affordances in the sweep of this thing which are based on the physical world it has to move through, and there are ratios which catch the eye out of any 14:01 <banana> particular decade." 14:01 <Crion> Aster keeps this to himself because pursuant to their last conversation he's grudgingly put to bed being an asshole to Sergio for fun. 14:02 <banana> Simon Kingfisher: "I'm at your service, ma'am and ma'am. Is this all there is to carry?" 14:02 <Crion> Aster: "To my mind, combustion engine vehicle design is about aerodynamics, meaning mileage, and how much you care about it." 14:03 <banana> Samantha: "Ha. Carry up, yes.. then we've got cupboards, tables, A/V gear and a whole meeting room to move around upstairs." 14:03 <Crion> "And what's interesting there is that the progression is nothing near linear." 14:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie beams at him. "Thank you so much." 14:03 <Crion> "The most expensive vehicles on the market are typically the sleekest; McLaren, Lambourghini." 14:03 <Crion> "But the most money is made with dipshit trucks." 14:04 <banana> Sergio: "In a race car it's not - spoilers or ground effect lead to a step change. But a consumer vehicle has constraints, and it's from constraints that design is born." 14:04 <banana> "The 4WD... represents giving up. It simply doesn't achieve the same purpose that even some Chevy of yesteryear did, let alone a road-legal sportster." 14:05 <Crion> Aster narrows his eyes. "You object to four wheel drive?" 14:06 <Crion> "Ideologically?" 14:07 <Crion> Now this is interesting. 14:07 <banana> Sergio leans on the counter Simon's left, both elbows by his sides. "It's a perfectly good drive train for a tow truck." 14:07 <Crion> Aster: "To be clear: you advocate for front-wheel drive in all conditions?" 14:08 <banana> Sergio: "No, no. Cars are a bit of an accident, but they've become the great art exhibit of our society. The most expensive thing people own. Form should follow function, and an SUV's function is to pretend that it is not in society at all." 14:08 <banana> "It's a car which strives to be ignorant of its peers." 14:08 <Crion> Aster: "Well, that much is correct." 14:10 <banana> "You've got, what is that, a Landrover? Same one as Mr. Hughes, I think. It has function; Willie's told me about the time you had to drive out into the hills to reach some ancient tomb. But its shape... marketing effort. A Jeep would achieve the same thing, in any era." 14:10 <Crion> "Those who require the additional traction and road control afforded by four wheel drive, especially in hazard conditions, have not been ill-served by it. As many psychotic Disneyland fathers driving Chevy Suburbans exist in this world, there are still park rangers in Montana." 14:10 <Crion> "Well if I could fucking get a Jeep Wrangler in England I would." 14:11 <banana> Bonasera: "I know a guy who does imports, actually." 14:11 <Crion> "But even after I get that shit shipped over here, then I've got a bunch of high blood pressure bobbies asking me oi what the fuck's these plates on, what's the steering wheel doin' over there for and I don't have time in my life for that." 14:11 <banana> "Normally he's more of a Maserati type, but he has the contacts for it..." 14:12 <banana> He laughs at the Old Bill accent, either because it's good or because it isn't. Outside, the women and the teenager have got everything over to the lift. 14:12 <Crion> "If you can get me a high-clearance Jeep Wrangler with the proper tags and street legal allowance for the United Kingdom I will pay 20% markup." 14:13 <banana> What's this 'something' Willie has for Simon...? 14:13 <Crion> "Because frankly between you and me I'm fucking unimpressed with Range Rover." 14:14 <Crion> Not because of mileage; he can pay for that easily. It's just a bad vehicle?? 14:14 <banana> Sergio: "I'll put you onto Salmon." 14:14 <banana> "Think we should help Willie and your partner?" 14:15 <Crion> Aster: "Give Simon a bit longer." 14:15 <Crion> "He should get to feel like he got paid for something." 14:16 <banana> "Not a bad way to do a Christmas bonus." 14:17 <Crion> Aster: "Mmmm." 14:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's package for Simon is wrapped in plain brown paper. It contains, neatly stacked, a portable phone charger, a nice leather wallet with a bank-fresh £100 note in it, and a hand-drawn card on nice paper that someone's sketched a bird on. Inside is a pleasant signed Merry Christmas note from Willie. "For your professionalism." 14:17 <VoxPVoxD> The bird looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/EMREIPY.png 14:18 <banana> Simon: "Hey, wow. That's really nice of you, Willie." He holds the partially-wrapped package for a moment, weighing up - along with something else." 14:19 <VoxPVoxD> "Merry Christmas, Simon." 14:19 <banana> Aster's employee glances at Dr. Blackfin, who smiles benignly back, then makes up his mind. "There was actually something.. you don't have any cousins, right, who are also called Wilhelmine Wellesley?" 14:19 <banana> "Nobody else who, er, lives in Manchster and.. renovates things?" 14:20 <VoxPVoxD> Ahhh. "Not that I know of. Why do you ask?" 14:21 <banana> Kingfisher: "Well, it's because I do have a cousin. Cameron. She's a bit weird, don't get me wrong, not really a chav at all, although they do have a bunch of chav mates, aaand... I think you've met! Small world, right?" 14:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's face lights up. "Oh yes! Cameron and I are acquainted. I wondered if there was some relation. It is a small world after all, as they say." 14:22 <banana> Samantha steps into the foyer. "Everyone knows everyone else in this tiny-ass country." 14:22 <Crion> Aster: "Yes and no." 14:23 <VoxPVoxD> Everyone knows everyone when it hurts to; everyone's a stranger when it counts. 14:23 <Crion> "For instance, I've only today met someone who can get me a fucking Jeep." 14:23 <Crion> "Is the boy being properly respectful out there?" 14:23 <banana> Sergio: "We think we know each other, then you travel fifty miles and there's a kind of cider you're supposed to be afraid of like it's in your bones." 14:24 <Crion> He goes over to the elevator and properly opens it up. 14:24 <VoxPVoxD> With Simon, Willie and Samantha have the last load from outside. To Sergio: "Have you gone into automotive sales?" 14:25 <banana> Blackfin: "He seems fine. Surprisingly cool around Willie given the way others act.. I'm sure you know that's not an insult, Sergio." 14:25 <banana> Bonasera grins: "Willie is compelling as Hell." 14:25 <VoxPVoxD> "Simon is an absolute professional, a credit to his office." 14:25 <Crion> Aster: "She's been by before during work hours. Not his first time trying to pretend he's not 19 around her." 14:25 <banana> Willie's still outside with Simon! 14:25 <banana> He lowers his voice, and says: "Cameron says you can see ghosts." 14:26 <Crion> It seems she simply has decided otherwise. 14:26 <VoxPVoxD> Ohhhh. Okay. Willie lets him keep her outside a bit for this. 14:26 <Crion> Ah right, Hell. Presumably the demon dog has been lurking? 14:27 <Crion> In a backseat, idiotically on top of a van, some place he can be kicked, etcetera. 14:27 <VoxPVoxD> Kaga's probably still in the car. Looking out the backseat. Trying to make eye contact with Simon. 14:28 <Crion> This is the point where Aster will recall that it is outside, then, and say, "Excuse me." 14:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, sotto voce: "In a sense. I hope she knows she can rely on my discretion." 14:28 <Crion> Heading outside, picking up the demon, and: "Hey. HEY!" 14:28 <Crion> "You little shit." 14:28 <Crion> "Talk to him and I'll fucking kill you myself." 14:28 <VoxPVoxD> The dog's whine is barely audible from behind the rolled-up window. 14:28 <banana> Blackfin: "Let's get started upstairs, Sergio, and leave the lift open.. there's an alarming amount of crap to reposition." 14:29 <Crion> Without waiting for a response or intruding on the other conversation, it's back inside. 14:29 <banana> Simon: "Yeah, uh- Cameron says she can see ghosts, which I guess is true? I did not believe that last year." 14:29 <banana> "I thought it was a lockdown thing. But we haven't gone weird, the world has... right?" 14:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks startled, and then frowns, as Aaron comes in and out. "...honestly? I think the world's always been weird. I think we mostly have as well. But it changes. Strangeness is a moving target. The only truly odd thing is to stay the same across places and times." 14:31 <VoxPVoxD> "That's why I don't eat at chain restaurants." 14:31 <banana> Simon: "Huh. Never thought about them that way." 14:32 <VoxPVoxD> That's enough downstairs talk. Willie belongs upstairs anyway. 14:34 <banana> When you've all made it up the lift, there's half a floor of partially partitioned office space, on some of which Samantha has placed bits of tape - marking off a meeting area, an office, and a library/vault. Furnishings and a few pieces of occult gear are racked up along the outer wall in the area she hasn't apportioned, except for one large filing cabinet which Sergio's currently toting 14:34 <banana> about under her direction. 14:34 <Crion> Aster: "I can help with that. You know." 14:34 <Crion> Showoff. 14:35 <banana> Blackfin: "Please do. Let's all do, or we'll be here all night!" 14:35 <Crion> He'll get an end, then. 14:35 <banana> "This still feels like too much stuff... I've been following the KonMari method for the last five years. But if I'm going to have clients, and records space that isn't controlled by the government... I guess it's necessary." 14:35 <Crion> Assuming Sergio doesn't decide to just lift it out. 14:36 <Crion> To Sam: "Is that the one about bringing joy?" 14:36 <Crion> "The method, I mean." 14:38 <banana> Willie's experienced Sergio's strength a little bit before. He can do pretty superhuman things in short bursts, but not for the hours on end that Samantha's contemplating... but he is tireless, impossible to fatigue, and tough. Given her developing understanding of vampirism, it's a similar power to that of Carl of Eccles. 14:38 <banana> While the mortals present are able to lift heavy things and stagger around a bit before resting, Sergio applies the same peak level of effort on and on, operating at a strong healthy man's level for as long as he likes. Forever, in theory. 14:38 <VoxPVoxD> Look at him go. 14:39 <banana> Blackfin: "The joy bit is a catchphrase that everyone remembers from TV. What she does is organise things, first cutting out what you don't want and then arranging the rest into the most useful configuration. We're on step two." 14:39 <banana> Simon is trying to keep up in order to show off. It won't last. 14:40 <banana> Blackfin: "It's exciting, scary.. I don't know what I'm going to do here yet, but it might involve nomadic cyborgs. Or just more murder mysteries." 14:42 <Crion> Aster: "Murder mysteries are fine. Very cozy." 14:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Probably the second coziest genre after romance." 14:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie doesn't have a lot of upper body strength but she does have admirable, if mortal, endurance. So she doesn't really tire while arranging the lesser bits. 14:44 <banana> Samantha is packing away the voight-kampff equipment into a cupboard that's been placed behind a temporary partition. "I don't think I'm going to start reading fiction after all these years, but you never know... maybe there won't be any clients at all." 14:44 <Crion> Aster: "If you want clients, they shall appear." 14:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "There is no shortage of work that wants an expert touch in the night-city." 14:46 <Crion> Aster: "The corrolary, of course, is that if you don't want them, they won't." 14:47 <banana> Simon: "Where does.. this table.. which way round..." 14:47 <banana> Sergio: "Both ends are the same, mate." 14:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I... don't know if that holds. People have a way of showing up even if you'd rather they didn't." 14:48 <VoxPVoxD> Reflexively she looks at the door, as if she might have unwittingly given some nebulous watchful arsehole a cue. 14:48 <banana> There's nobody out there tonight. 14:48 <VoxPVoxD> Whew. 14:48 <VoxPVoxD> Operation 'don't think about what you're saying until afterwards' continues apace, undeterred. 14:49 <banana> Blackfin: "All our work used to be reactive, and also remote - people showed up in each others' lives, and we dealt with the consequences." 14:49 <Crion> To Willie: "Oh, I wouldn't be asking them not to." 14:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Like a procedural!" 14:49 <Crion> He will help Sergio and Simon orient the table. 14:50 <VoxPVoxD> "That's why so many television shows are about doctors and detectives. They get to poke their noses into everybody else's stories and then rub them clean after." 14:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Every week is different; every week is the same. In theory, anyway." 14:50 <banana> Blackfin: "I'm not sure whether being a service provider to the specials of this country will meaningfully reduce the number of procedural dramas still going on out there, but it's a direct line into the source.. the sea of troubles from which the tides rise and the waves ripple." 14:50 <Crion> Aster: "There's a reason doctors and detectives hate watching those." 14:51 <banana> Sergio: "It's because they imply you can't make progress?" 14:53 <Crion> Aster: "Because they lack verisimilitude." 14:54 <Crion> "One portion of which is that any case or client ends neatly in a week." 14:54 <banana> Samantha: "Afthentikótita." 14:55 <banana> "In Greek dramas, the quality of authenticity. When playwrights wrote about things they hadn't experienced themselves, they got insulted and sometimes exiled or made to serve as admirals." 14:56 <Crion> Aster: "I think they quite like being made to serve as admirals in this country." 14:56 <banana> She nods to Aster. "The Human Office as we've known it ends this week. I'll never know whether the new regime did something about the Brighton Copycattee." 14:56 <Crion> "America as well, given the McCains." 14:56 <Crion> Aster: "Do you want to?" 14:56 <banana> "Well, for ancient Greeks it was usually a death sentence." 14:56 <VoxPVoxD> To Samantha: "Realistically, the Human Office ended in the seventies." 14:57 <VoxPVoxD> "It's just had a very protracted, expensive death rattle." 14:57 <Crion> To Samantha: "Do you want to do something about that killer?" 14:58 <banana> Sergio's listening to this discussion without saying much. So's Simon, but with less comprehension. Samantha: "Victim. She gets killed in the same way as historical victims, possibly past selves... presumably making people into murderers." 14:58 <banana> She sighs. "I'd like to know at least." 14:58 <banana> She sighs. "I'd like to know at least." 14:58 <Crion> Aster: "Then it's on the agenda." 14:58 <Crion> He plainly does not care whether either of the S Boys follow the conversation. 14:59 <banana> "'The things you can control', huh?" 15:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "More than the money, being our own boss and setting our own agenda is what makes this kind of work worthwhile." 15:00 <Crion> Aster: "I do what I can." 15:00 <VoxPVoxD> "Sometimes that means being able to turn down an unsavoury job. But sometimes it means being able to solve a mystery just to know the answer." 15:00 <VoxPVoxD> "Not something Scotland Yard encourages, I think?" 15:01 <Crion> Aster: "Fuck Scotland Yard. Fuck the Met." 15:01 <Crion> "They weren't even good at their jobs." 15:01 <Crion> "Sergio, Simon, help me get this over here--" 15:01 <banana> Samantha: "They don't. That's a very appealing take." She addresses Sergio between shelving units. "What even are we doing, from your point of view?" 15:01 <banana> Sergio holds up a finger and helps out Aster first, seemingly contemplating. 15:02 <banana> He returns after a moment. "Hōkime." 15:03 <banana> "Raking a Zen garden. Smoothing out the whorls and disruptions that come from all these sub-surface eructations and colliding plates." 15:03 <Crion> When they get it over, to Simon: "Alright, kid. You can stay or go, depending on whether you find this interesting enough to continue lifting. We made an agreement, and you can check your computer over it." 15:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Kaga's still in the car, Shall I leave him?" 15:05 <banana> Simon thanks Aster for the 'brass' and says he'll leave. "There are things that maybe I shouldn't know... boss. Though I've had a nice time, like." 15:05 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Have a good night, Simon!" 15:05 <banana> Samantha: "Thank you for contributing horsepower." 15:06 <Crion> Aster: "Good night and good luck. Willie, I've no problem with you bringing it indoors or even up here." 15:07 <banana> Just after Simon's gone, it's Dr. Blackfin who asks, "Does the demon have gender?" 15:07 <Crion> He surveys the room. "Alright, Sergio. Let's try not to embarass ourselves in front of the ladies and the fucking demon." 15:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Kagemenauch is extremely masculine." 15:08 <Crion> "It doesn't fuck to make another one of itself. It just smiles and lies." 15:08 <VoxPVoxD> "I'd prefer 'they' to 'it' if you must. He is still a person, and not a toaster." 15:08 <banana> Sergio laughs. "As long as he keeps you safe... and he doesn't have a choice, does he?" 15:08 <Crion> Aster actually hisses. 15:09 <Crion> "Would be better if they were." 15:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, if the TrackCheck is to be believed..."