13:37 <banana> Bob's seen the Carthian Council in action, and their Ventrue member didn't seem like the most respected of the bunch. Despite being something like a war hero, Killer Clive is also an occasional dogsbody. So it's not too surprising to get a last minute call from him moving the meeting place. 13:37 <tom> What the hell is a 'dogsbody'? 13:38 <banana> "Mr. Goreman," says the vampire on the phone, his tone a little less sharp than usual. "I'm still up for the interview, but we'll need to meet at Strategos." 13:39 <banana> "Letty has me on guard duty. It shouldn't come to anything while you're there, but if it does... that will be a useful lesson." 13:40 <tom> Bob takes a long pull on, well, something, audible over the phone. "Sure man, no problem." To say we've got a common interest here is an understatement, so he doesn't state it. 13:40 <tom> Where's Strategos? The word makes Bob think of a certain board game. 13:42 <tom> Oh christ it's a fucking board game store isn't it. 13:43 <banana> That's the right line of thought to cudgel his memory into action: Strategos is a "Friendly Local Game Shop", one of the city's biggest if you're into that sort of thing. He's never been, but both friends and lovers have - it's located in the Gay Village, underneath a narrow open-air arcade. 13:44 <tom> This fucking country, lmao. 13:44 <banana> Clive: "If she's at the counter you'll get directions, otherwise- message me." He rings off. 13:44 <tom> Bob, sincere, tranquil, steadfast: "I will meet you at Gay Village." 13:46 <tom> He dunks the whippet into the trashcan at the greybox and stretches before returning to his task, bolting weapon lockers to the long wall of his workshop. It's an Armory, now. An advanced one, even. 13:50 <tom> The lockers stand in a disciplined phalanx along the grey concrete wall where Bob's been hard at work, grinding down the protruding masonry to make space for the load of equipment. Haldane's got the keycards. 13:50 <banana> A safe pair of hands, since he never wants to use them. 13:50 <banana> (Also: he worked for the Human Office, clerical rather than field, but he knows how the categorisation works.) 13:52 <banana> Strategos is on - or under - Barcourt, an narrow street in one of the oldest parts of Manchester. There are tall brick buildings running the length of it, giving it the feel of an alleyway; each side has has luxury shopfronts and a bunch of brass-on-black plates indicating some barrister's chambers, some watchmaker's practice et cetera. 13:52 <tom> There's a single ODIN visor disassembled on Bob's workbench next to a pair of frames Wellesley- the good one- picked out to accomodate a stripped-down trackcheck module. He can finish that one off later. It's just a simple solder job. 13:54 <banana> At the end of the street is.. a portcullis, where, the buildings join to form a clock tower; you can go underneath, out another portcullis, and you'd be back on main roads. 13:54 <banana> But if you don't, beneath the clock, there's a tobacco shop on one side.. and a stairwell on the other, old stone leading straight down under the gatehouse, with a gargoyle head above it. One last brass plaque adornes the leering statuette: STRATEGOS. 13:55 <tom> Bob's there after dark, though he's riding the Free Bus tonight. This time he's carrying, because bad shit always seems to go down whenever he's unarmed. C'mon now dude, don't get paranoid about this shit now- well it's true! 13:56 <tom> It never even occured to him that the dastardly brits would Medieval Times themselves. 13:57 <banana> They don't even have to pay for plaster battlements. 13:57 <tom> The snub-nosed SMG rests 'comfortably' against the small of his back under his jacket. God, it's cold; also, he doesn't care. Three whippets deep will do that to a man. 14:00 <tom> Well, even so, he heads in, unshaven and only slightly unkempt under his visor. Probably doesn't even stand out, an asshole in sunglasses with shitty stubble wandering into a Gamer shop after sundown. 14:00 <banana> The sunglasses might - it's dark down here - if it weren't for the fashion sense of the people he immediately encounters. 14:01 <banana> At the bottom of the stairwell is a brick-walled room with three short rows of tables; they're seating four a side for a total of 24 men and children in the room, focusing intensely on a card game tournament. 14:02 <banana> The walls are covered in posters advertising movies and games, as well as "players wanted" stuff. Far corner of the playing room has a closed door and an open one, the latter leading into the retail area. 14:03 <tom> Bob won't even bother glancing unless they ping weird on the temperature scan. 14:03 <banana> The nearest player - not speaking to Bob - says: "Island, go." 14:03 <tom> ...Okay, that's a lie. What are they playing? 14:03 <banana> Magic: the Gathering, if he knows it. There are a bunch of torn-open card packs in little piles on the tables. 14:05 <tom> Of course he knows it. Will he admit it to literally anyone? No. What kinda deck is the lil shithead running? 14:06 <banana> Looks like a draft of some new set... they're still making them. Bob doesn't recognise most of the cards, knight-and-castle stuff as well as fairies. The teen playing draw-go, though, his hand is full of counterspells and combat tricks. War never changes. 14:07 <banana> The little corner door leads into a much larger space, a pretty vast underground shop packed full with shelves and tables of merchandise. There are boxed games, figurines, locked glass cabinets full of card boxes, walls of hardback books... several nerds move about slowly, browsing or trying to juggle their purchases. 14:08 <banana> It's a place you could easily get lost in, but the shelves do come to a central point - a bar-like counter displaying card singles that runs in a rectangle along the wall that backs on to the tournament area - and behind the till is Letitia Barrowsmith, wearing jeans and a tank top. Her weird scraggly hair is tied back enough to look basically normal. 14:08 <tom> He gives the kid a solemn salute before pivoting on his heel and proceeding into the depths of the nerd lair. 14:08 <tom> "Ma'am." 14:09 <tom> The councilwoman doesn't get a salute, but he does nod and gesture vaguely. 14:10 <tom> "...Shoulda figured you'd be running a black deck." 14:11 <banana> Letitia pauses her cataloguing and looks about a bit to see whether anyone's in earshot. For a moment, she just seems like a thirty-something game shop manager, dressed in nerd-casual exactly one step above the customers (who ogle her covertly as they pass between aisles). 14:11 <banana> Then: "Bob. Don't do anything stupid, because I will come back to check on you." 14:11 <banana> "...I have four copies of Necropotence." 14:13 <tom> As is becoming something of a catchphrase: "Yeah, yeah..." Bob keeps his hands out of his pockets. 14:14 <banana> Letitia: "How did you talk Clive into giving you-" she lowers her voice even further; it takes on an unnatural burr, making Bob think of how many spiders the dark corners of the ancient walls could hide. "Hunting tips?" 14:15 <banana> There weren't any obvious heat-signature tells on the way in, but the Odin has other ways to mark tentative targets, and Bob's getting used to picking out the realistic ones. Maybe one of the players outside was a vampire, maybe one of the women up one end of the shop with the figurines is too... both of them share a certain indefinable something with Barrowsmith, an air of menace and wrongness. 14:16 <tom> "I have no idea. I was huffing gas." 14:16 <tom> He shrugs. If it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid. 14:17 <tom> "Anyway, raise your hand if you fought a Nosferatu elder to a draw." He does so. 14:18 <tom> "That earns you some cred I guess." 14:18 <banana> Letitia raises her hand. 14:18 <banana> She puts it down. "Yeah, maybe you'd get along. I could see it." 14:18 <tom> Trap sprung! Bob goes for a hi-five. 14:18 <banana> Augh! 14:19 <banana> Letitia doesn't move all that fast, particularly not for Kindred. She gets the hands. 14:19 <tom> Bob's grin is wide enough to swallow the sun. 14:20 <tom> "...Sorry." 14:20 <tom> He chokes it back with effort. 14:21 <banana> Letitia looks at her hand like she wants to wipe it, using her other arm to pick up a key from under the counter and hand it over. "Clive's in the back, watching- he's here in case of an attack on the guy we're protecting. From Inchcape. So you might get practical lessons..." 14:23 <tom> "Damn, and here I didn't bring any incendiaries out of politeness. I'll go for the eyes I guess," Bob makes an 'aw shucks' gesture. 14:24 <banana> The FLGS manager shrugs. "Best status effect is dead." 14:24 <tom> "Finally, someone who gets it." 14:25 <banana> Letitia: "As long as you're going after our enemies, I'm happy to have you rampaging around the place." 14:25 <tom> Bob draws himself up into the most professional posture he can manage in the circumstances. But it's pretty hard to hide the- very slight- slurring of his words. "These days I try not to use explosive so much. Messy. Collateral damage." 14:26 <tom> "Makes it really hard to deal with you guys, no offense. Best approach is to nuke it from orbit, same as always." 14:26 <tom> "Just please, God, tell me that fire still works on Carl." 14:26 <banana> "Now, you must be aware, if you tried to call down a strike on this place there would be massive civilian casualties. Perhaps you'd burn us out, but could you live with yourself afterward?" 14:27 <banana> Letitia: "We get some of the most dangerous hunters by their own hand and bullet to the brain." 14:27 <banana> A couple of middle aged men walk up to the counter, one of them carrying a pile of RPG manuals. 14:28 <tom> Letty gets finger guns. "That's a smart lady. I figure even the Inchcape crew is smart enough to pack all their installations with tons of civvie human shields. It's the smart thing to do." 14:28 <banana> Barrowsmith: "..hey, is that all today? Have you got a membership?" 14:28 <banana> Bob's remarks go unremarked. Didn't sound out of place in this place, but obviously she's not going to follow up with customers around. 14:29 <tom> He's in an uncharacteristically good mood even so. 14:29 <banana> "The back" is the other door out of the lobby/tournament room, or so you're left to assume. 14:30 <tom> Letitia hasn't officiall given him sanction to head on out just yet, and he's not about to proceed without verbal confirmation she won't judo-chop his ass. He remembers her grip at Samhain. 14:30 <banana> Does it count when she glares at him like, why are you still here? 14:31 <tom> Hehe. He heads in. 14:33 <banana> There's a corridor, the first two rooms off which are filled with trash - broken up furniture and piles of empty boxes. Alarmingly, they also seem to be the bathrooms, with a single toilet in each one. 14:33 <tom> At least she didn't hit him with more brainworms. Honestly they're kinda cute after you remember it's all in your head. 14:34 <tom> Nerds?? Not respecting basic sanitation?? 14:34 <tom> I mean yeah, it helps if you don't have to take a shit anymore. Still, Bob makes a note not to drink too much water while he's here. Hell, is his mouth feeling dry, now? 14:35 <banana> After that you come to a much more maintained-looking door, which opens into another large playing space - this one has big tables for wargames. One of them's set up with fantastical sci-fi armies facing off in an elaborate landscape. 14:35 <banana> Doesn't look like it's open to the public, though; the only person in here is Killer Clive, and rather than sitting in any of the comfy chairs by the game tables he's cross-legged by one of the several doors out, looking vaguely meditative. 14:36 <tom> Bob nods politely such that the Carthian can see his eyes above the rims of the dipping visor. Sunken, resting upon purple bags. I ain't scared of you, brainfuckler. 14:36 <banana> Aster would recognise the largely WWII-based games given pride of place on the shelving in here. One copy of each, much-loved, but it's the fantasy stuff that's actually out and being used. 14:37 <banana> Clive does not look tired. He looks.. smooth, sort of - like a guy who had something of a rough life but then learned to dress and groom well, and was frozen in time. 14:38 <banana> When he opens his eyes there are little red pinpricks glowing at the center of each, but they vanish as he looks over at Bob Goreman and waves, leaning back against the wall. 14:41 <tom> Bob chews thoughtfully on his mint gum- it helps wash out the smell of liquor- before he speaks. "So did Letitia get in on the nerd bullshit before or after getting a dose of bad blood?" 14:42 <tom> "Sorry. The idea of someone tooling around for hundreds of years- and then, being like, yeah, okay, let's play Axis and Allies-" he doesn't finish his thought, really. 14:42 <tom> "I mean I guess it's like, what else do you do?" 14:43 <banana> Clive stands up, stretching - his back doesn't make any cracking noises, but it looks like it should. "I don't think she's that old, but I know what would happen if I asked." 14:44 <tom> "It's chill. I don't believe we've been formally introduced." Bob steps forward, carefully, sure not to make a sudden move here, extending a hand. "Corporal William Goreman. Task Force: Valkyrie. Call me Bob, or don't. I'm not a cop." 14:45 <tom> Clive's been officially introduced, but Willie wasn't expecting the whole shebang with Seele after the Gardener Job, and Bob was distracted. 14:46 <banana> Killer Clive shakes with no obvious reluctance. He's dressed in street clothes with an obvious (to Bob) Kevlar insert under his buttoned -up shirt. "Right. I got your referral, and I know your reputation, but-" He blinks, those red dots flashing again. "Who is William Goreman? Why do you want to do something as dangerous as squaring up against the Invictus?" 14:47 <tom> "The idea of Kirkpatrick standing over my best friend while she's sleeping puts me in a mood for Ultra-Violence." 14:50 <banana> Clive: "It would. I've got things to say about that. Let's come through here, or.. hmm. Do you want a second source of tips, a man controversial and perhaps condemned and yet expert in these very ways?" 14:50 <banana> His voice takes on an ironic tone at the end there. 14:51 <tom> "It never hurts to just talk to people. Well, I mean- you know-" he shrugs. "I got enough enemies." 14:51 <banana> Clive nods, then knocks - on the door behind him. "It's the mooted guest. No need to hide, 'Constable'." 14:52 <banana> Slightly worrying: none of Bob's senses or sensors picked up a hint of anyone being behind the door. That's vampires for you, though. Sydney Damani looks as slick as ever but when he opens the bedroom door he's totally still, pale, unmoving and breathing, etc. 14:52 <tom> Ah, Damani. 14:53 <tom> "You know, I tried to tell Councilor Cutsworth to give you a heads-up about that prophecy." 14:53 <tom> "Guess it didn't take." 14:53 <tom> Bob's tone is nonchalant. He doesn't seem to want to dwell on it. 14:53 <banana> The (former?) Carthian Constable strides out and then takes one of the comfy chairs by the 40k game-in-progress. "Yes, well.. I was trying to do something about it. Actually, I tried to pay you to do something about it." 14:54 <tom> He shrugs. "Blame Barrigan." 14:54 <tom> "By the time we got the lowdown we already had actionable intel from another party." 14:54 <banana> Clive: "Upskilling will benefit us all. You do remember how to hold an axe, Damani?" 14:55 <banana> Sydney: "Yes.. and they've probably got some in here. Medieval kind of place. But he's here to talk, isn't he? Come on, both of you take a seat." 14:55 <tom> Bob pulls back a chair, careful not to scuff up the floor. 14:55 <banana> Clive: "Damani's technically slain more old bastards than I ever did - as long as you count executions." 14:56 <tom> "I do. You get points for style." 14:56 <banana> He'll sit on a corner of the table, just barely avoiding damage to the scenery. 14:56 <tom> "Only question worth asking, ever: did they earn it?" 14:56 <banana> Sydney: "Thanks. They did. You were talking about... Simpson Kirkpatrick, I assume? He was one of the better Lords." 14:57 <banana> "The old ones of that clan were iron-willed and had trained themselves to totally disregard humanity. They could not, would not see any lesser being as more than a tool to utilise, physically and mentally." 14:57 <tom> "I've seen what their idea of better looks like. Hard pass." 14:58 <tom> "I don't mind being a tool. Just don't shit on us too hard, here. Not unreasonable," He makes a sad little pouty face. 14:58 <banana> Sydney: "I'm with you there. Regaining an understanding of people, of their own emotions, makes them more dangerous, that's all." 14:59 <tom> "...So far, none of you guys've sent my friends fruit-based threats, soooooo-" 14:59 <banana> Clive: "Be careful about volunteering for tool-dom. Let's make this the first lesson actually." 14:59 <tom> "Volunteer? Hell, I get a choice?" That gets a chuckle. 14:59 <banana> Clive: "You've got equipment, right, and tricks of training? When it comes to keeping your will or your mind your own - how reliable is it?" 15:00 <tom> "Try me, if you wanna find out." Bob smiles, thrusting up his chin so that Clive gets only a blurry reflection of himself in the visor's reflective lenses. "Cutsworth couldn't crack it. Gimme your best shot." 15:02 <banana> Clive: "..you seriously shouldn't be volunteering for this. Okay, for training purposes." 15:03 <tom> Bob sets his jaw and smiles. 15:03 <tom> "It'd be cheating to close my eyes, yeah." 15:03 <banana> He looks Bob right in the glasses. "Here's how it starts. An ordinary conversation. This is something I can do all night, and you might not even notice it. 15:03 <banana> " 15:07 <banana> Clive: "Kirkpatrick is so fucking old now. He's also brilliant, better at this than I am. You need to know that you won't just be able to resist him. Take that space marine figure and huck it." 15:07 <tom> Bob thinks about Mari's thighs and tries to force his mind shut like a trap. 15:09 <tom> There's a pause. The two men are just staring at each other. A bead of sweat. Haha, fucker- I got you now! There's none of you fuckers what stand a chance. The pewter figure bounces off the wall and clatters to the floor. 15:09 <tom> "...Made you earn it." 15:10 <banana> Clive: "Again, doesn't cost me anything. It gets worse though if I'm willing to put effort in. How are you feeling? This is a safe environment to learn, because I've got a thing against pointlessly hurting people, but let's check in first." 15:10 <banana> Damani: "That's basic ethics, Killer, not some psychological hangup of yours." 15:11 <tom> "I'm just warming up." Bob rolls his shoulders. "If you really wanna go gloves off-" 15:11 <tom> "I can literally just close my eyes." 15:12 <tom> How is cyberbullying even real- 15:12 <banana> Clive: "Try it." 15:12 <tom> He does so, hands behind his back. 15:14 <banana> Clive: "The problem here is that now you can't see." 15:14 <tom> "Oh, and you think that's a problem for me?" 15:14 <tom> "Guy who literally just revealed his location by talking?" 15:15 <tom> The gun is in his hand. 15:16 <tom> He takes the stubby smg and flips it over his outstretched arm, catching it sightlessly in his free hand and detaching the magazine before pocketing both. 15:16 <tom> "If it's stupid and it works, it ain't stupid." 15:20 <banana> Clive doesn't say anything, but you can hear him shifting a little in place, and- the air! Behind you! 15:20 <tom> The nose of the SMG pushes right into the man's solar plexus. Bob grins. 15:21 <banana> Damani: "..got me. Now, I wasn't doing anything special to be quiet, but he did catch me." 15:21 <tom> "Hooo.." 15:22 <banana> Clive: "Yeah, you're good." You hear him step back a little. "It might be viable for you to go up against a Lord, one on one. I'd still recommend the way I do it, which is essentially based on, don't fucking let them know you're coming." 15:22 <tom> Bob: "Don't worry, just hollow points. No incendiaries. I'm trying to be nice thesenights." 15:22 <banana> Clive: "You can open your eyes, although if you do, I'll immediately try and jump through 'em to your mind." 15:23 <tom> Bob turns to the direction of the voice and blinks. "I made my point. Do your worst." 15:23 <banana> Damani: "I guess your point is to show him the consequences?" 15:24 <banana> Bob catches Clive's eye for just a moment... 15:28 <banana> ...he's in one of the trash-filled bathrooms. Holding a book by Dan Abnett, something off the shop shelves. Bob's thirsty, and one of his arms is sore. 15:28 <banana> It's quiet outside; no more noise of cards on felt. The tournament must be over. 15:29 <tom> He looks around. Sighing: "Alright, who'd I have to blow." 15:30 <tom> "You guys'll learn real quick there's not much left to scramble at this point." 15:30 <banana> Bob remembers.. impossible things. He flew, through the ceiling and up onto the roof, darted about the sky like a sprite. Then he was in a place he doesn't know, a boxing ring somewhere, facing off against impossibly large men and dancing about them.. 15:30 <banana> It makes no sense, but it's not like a dream; these are fragments of nonsense, disconnected, but they feel real. He has the sense memories of height and sweat. 15:31 <tom> Huh, weird. That's no normal brainfucklering. 15:31 <tom> "You guys didn't make me beat up any kids, right?" He draws his weapon and checks the magazine. Any rounds expended? 15:32 <tom> "I'm just saying that'd be a super bummer." 15:32 <tom> "Also, not to make too big a deal of it, but I'm thinking of requesting Court Citizenship, if you guys are still offering those to normies after you gave one to Mr. Aster." 15:33 <tom> Is he really alone in here? 15:33 <banana> He racks his brains. There's another memory- Clive! They were in a bed together, although not nude. "This is an implanted command," the vampire explained. "I'm demonstrating that I can give you ideas that aren't your own, that they stick, forever. In fact, I've left at trigger which will give me control of your body again some other time if I want it. Should last a couple of months." 15:33 <banana> "Anyway, when you wake up, we're where you left us." 15:33 <banana> Bob's shot two bullets at some point between when he loaded the gun, on the way out, and now. 15:34 <tom> "Coool." 15:34 <tom> Bob steps out of the bathroom. "You guys can hear me anyway. So please do me the courtesy of telling me where those two rounds ended up, and you better not say 'in a person' or I'm going to look like a real asshole in the debrief." 15:35 <banana> There's a voice from down the hall- "That you, Mr. Goreman?" Sounds like Damani. 15:35 <tom> "Even worse than when I tell the others I let another Councilor stick their cock between the hemispheres of my brain and thrust a few times." 15:35 <banana> A vampire with super-hearing probably could hear him, but if not, he's just talking to himself in an empty corridor. 15:36 <tom> "Well, I mean, she didn't have- whatever." Bob heads back into the room. "Cool." 15:36 <tom> "Alright so this puppy is suppressed but I really gotta ask where those bullets went." 15:37 <banana> There are three of them in the game room now - Letty, Clive and Sydney. The Nosferatu is packing away some game pieces and the Mekhet is watching TV on his phone, looking glum. 15:37 <banana> Clive's coming to greet you, though. 15:37 <banana> "Hi, Bob. I won't tell you that, since that's the point of this demonstration - you need to know just how easy it is for us, how awful the consequence are. I want to impress on you that the only good way to go after an elder like Kirkpatrick is to take him in sleep or by surprise." 15:38 <banana> "No grandstanding! No braggado! What you do is, you figure out where he's going to be, then you don't be there; you set a bomb, or a lynch mob." 15:38 <banana> *consequences 15:38 <tom> "Great. I'm just gonna make an ass outta myself then." 15:39 <banana> Barrowsmith's changed her clothes at some point - she has her usual coat on. 15:39 <banana> Clive: "Why's that the way it has to be? I have tips on all these people, you know. We've been watching them for forty years." 15:40 <banana> "If you're not pissed off enough to go home right now, let's go over their habits and vulnerabilities. You can get to them, just don't do it through their front doors." 15:40 <tom> Bob stows his weapon in his jacket. "Councilor. Look, I'm gonna be real with you guys for a second-" he makes a T with his palms, the universal (?) sign for a time-out. "Right now I'm going to have to go back to the crew and tell them I let you rape my brain and discharge my weapon for the low low price of telling me I should hit my target unawares. Thanks, real cool." 15:41 <tom> "So if you have something actually useful to tell me, well, I'd be just, so happy." 15:41 <tom> "Should I re-route the drone armed with thermite I've got hovering overhead to go ditch in the Irwell, or?" 15:41 <banana> Letitia looks up. "Clive didn't do anything in your body that you wouldn't be able to live with, and he can't read your mind. But you have no proof of that, is the point." 15:42 <tom> "Sure, I trust you. Because I'm dumb as dogshit." 15:42 <tom> He... seems to be telling the truth? 15:42 <tom> "You guys have no reason to fuck me that hard. And, hell, things are falling apart for me right on schedule." 15:43 <tom> "I got Cutsworth on speed-dial if I need to die in a hurry. This ain't an audition for blood slavery just yet." 15:43 <banana> The guy they call Killer looks a little frustrated. "It's a little past midnight now, so we aren't out of time." (...and the drone has probably had to make an emergency landing.) 15:43 <banana> "I have these dossiers, which I would like to go through with you, but if that isn't useful- what kind of information are you looking for?" 15:43 <tom> Clive doesn't need to know that the drone's only got a two-hour battery just yet. 15:44 <tom> "Fire. That'll still work on the good Baron from Eccles, yeah?" 15:44 <tom> "Just give me his home address or something." 15:44 <banana> Clive: "Fire works, just less well than on the rest of us. He's good at dodging and very, very tough. It's still better than bullets." 15:44 <tom> He takes his seat back, unless it's occupied. To Letitia: "Do they make you dress as nerd-bait, or is that just a strat." 15:45 <banana> Clive: "I do have addresses here somewhere.." He picks up a file 15:45 <banana> Letty: "It's good for business." 15:45 <banana> "I used to be in a cult you know. Have you ever seen The Love Witch?" 15:47 <tom> Bob taps his Odin. "2016? I was busy that year." 15:47 <tom> "Urash's gang, yeah?" 15:48 <tom> As for good business: "Hell, Suzie could just ask and I bet guys'd line up to have their blood drawn." 15:48 <banana> Letty: "No, actually, this came first. It was Thelema stuff, but also pretty much what's in the film. I went from there to the wilds, but I'm used to, how did you put it, bait." 15:51 <tom> The Valkyrie man is silent for a little while. He looks drained. "God, I'm sorry." 15:52 <banana> Damani looks up and winks. "It's not just guys it works for. We catch more flies with honey.." 15:52 <banana> Letitia: "All well and good until we have to take you out supervised to feed because of all the people you've pissed off." 15:53 <banana> Clive: "...Look, this business sucks sometimes, but- here. Known haunts of Eccles, Agecroft and Emily. Not that she goes out in a timescale measured in months." 15:54 <tom> "...Gimme Fortunato while we're at it and I'll call it even for you fucking my brains out. I already know Inchcape is the Gardeners' baby." 15:54 <banana> Sydney: "'Emily'? Are we calling her that now, like her cultists?" 15:54 <tom> "...Tell me about Alex, too. He's dead, so it should cost nothing. 15:54 <tom> " 15:54 <banana> Clive: "She doesn't get a title and it's better than a triple-barrelled surname." 15:55 <banana> "Chop harder next time if you don't like it." 15:55 <banana> Sydney: "Strength of arm wasn't the issue." 15:56 <tom> "Yeah that one's got me worried. I thought beheading was a one-and-done on you guys. Most guys, really." 15:56 <banana> Letitia: "They're trying to apologise to you by giving away all our secrets." 15:56 <tom> "...Did she like," Bob gestures by wiggling his fingers down his body. "Like, regrow from the neck down like a cut branch?" 15:57 <banana> Sydney Damani: "The Prince's head came off clean. She simply didn't die." 15:57 <banana> "Head and torso, they're still out there as far as I know, acting under the direction of one horrible will." 15:58 <tom> "She definitely has a torso. What a torso." He whistles. That's not weird! Weirder than the rest of tonight. 16:00 <tom> "Now Ruth, there's the wildcard. Not really that wild, since she mostly seems mad at you guys." 16:00 <banana> Clive goes through his dossier. "Alex Gardener was supposed to be dead because I dropped a building on him. In the end, I guess he was, but this arsehole-" he indicates Damani- "had his people collect the bits as a trophy and to do war crimes on." 16:00 <banana> Sydney: "That's not accurate. Not quite what they did, and I didn't know they'd done it. But I accept that I was in a position of responsibility, and ought to have known." 16:00 <tom> "What did they do to them?" 16:01 <banana> Damani: "Interrogation. Experiments. Barbara's still out, but we believe she.. found them in torpor, kept them in a hideaway until they woke up, and then they - my deputies - had this facility built. You could charitably call it a prison." 16:02 <tom> "Around Seveneaves, then, yeah? Or inside." 16:02 <banana> Letitia: "Inchcape propaganda calls it a starvation-torture complex, with audience viewing sessions." 16:02 <tom> Curtly: "That wrong?" 16:03 <banana> "We're still trying to figure out what our people did, how much they're stretching the truth. This all comes from the telling of a madwoman who.. none of us really knew well in the old days. Except Barbara." 16:03 <tom> Bob has some loose .22LR in his pockets (don't ask). He's got the stick mag out, slotting a pair of fresh rounds into the feed lips before pocketing it. 16:03 <banana> Sydney: "...who, along with her co-conspirators, is sleeping out the pandemic in a well-protected vault." 16:05 <tom> "I hope you guys- and ma'am- don't fret that I'm not taking sides in this one. We aren't, to clarify." 16:05 <banana> Clive hands over more addresses and known movement patterns. "Are you sure about that? I was just about to ask." 16:05 <tom> "Gardener seemed like a real fucker and I'm glad he's dead. But his girl... that seems like a fucked thing to do to a person." 16:05 <tom> "Forgive me on this one, I know there's bad blood, but like, she wasa vinicuck until he bit it." 16:06 <banana> Damani: "I could think of defenses, good reasons Barbara may have had to do what she did. I did think, and tried to keep it quiet. This was not the right thing to do." 16:06 <tom> "No shit." 16:07 <banana> "Now I'm under guard until the Council decides whether there's to be some sort of trial, investigation, show thing to placate, or whether to double down.. maybe I go free and take up the axe again. But nobody wants to go to war." He shrugs and smiles really wide. 16:07 <banana> Clive: "You didn't ask for a pow-wow on whether to kill elders. Think of it as a bonus." 16:07 <tom> "So here's our thinking." Bob spreads his hands. "You guys could stomp us out, yeah? Same for Ruth's crew. But you can't step on us without taking losses- that neither can afford. You'd be easy prey. Easier, at least. Not worth it." 16:09 <tom> "Nobody at the Trade-Hall wants a war," Bob clarifies. "The balance of power has shifted, yeah? That's on us. We took the penalty." 16:09 <tom> "Now we're just hoping it doesn't break out under our watch." 16:10 <banana> Letitia: "I get it, but then why are you here? I think you're kidding yourselves, Bob. Mr. Aster works with us, for us.. your Lost friends rely on me to maintain their spells... Ms. Wellesley's researching with the Dragons." 16:10 <banana> "It doesn't really matter whether you declare neutrality, if the war happens - and we're all working to ensure it won't - you're targets. For them." 16:10 <tom> "I think it's pretty clear which side we'd come down on if we really had to," he mutters. "I know." 16:11 <tom> "You folks just make sure they don't get to the Trade Hall," and therefore, say, anyone's apartments nearby- "and we can talk." 16:12 <banana> Clive: "Well, that's why I don't mind teaching you how to track a Kindred to his lair and penetrate its defenses." 16:12 <tom> "We're trying to put out some other fires here. You've seen the news." 16:12 <banana> Letitia: "..I kind of mind it.." 16:12 <banana> Clive: "We can do it in a different room. I've got a report from the people who tried to put down Fortunato at the big escape, how he fights and everything." 16:13 <banana> "...at least, how he fights while in the process of going irretrievably insane." 16:13 <tom> "Hell yes, now that's paper." 16:14 <tom> He coughs. "Also, s'long as I'm here, I feel like now's the good time to ask for real if you fine folks are allowed to brainfuckler someone who signed all your paperwork. If you're accepting applications." 16:15 <tom> "...Don't misunderstand me, since my life's falling apart, Suzie can destroy my brain all night long, but I'd like some guard rails, yeah?" 16:16 <banana> Sydney: "It is the appointed hour. I don't see any of your minions tonight, Councillor Barrows." 16:16 <banana> Letitia: "Barrowsmith. Go get ready, but I'll deal with this first." 16:16 <banana> "Bob, we do have such a rule. The Wise & Solemn Court prohibits all its members from hurting each other, conducting grudges beyond trivial means, controlling lives and other invasive things." 16:17 <banana> "That applies to our allies... which you are statedly not. Do you want to change it if it means going against your team's imitation of the Swiss?" 16:17 <tom> "Cool. Do I gotta whistle past someone just straight up tearing up civilians, if I dot all my i's and cross my t's?" 16:17 <banana> Clive: "We don't allow killing the living either, so no. But you can't interfere with someone's feeding if it's not rising to that level." 16:18 <tom> His expression brightens. "Wow, you guys are real humanitarians." 16:19 <tom> "Will I get in trub-bubs if I talk to, you know, certain proscribed members of the kindred. Not a dealbreaker, just, letting you know, we have informants from all sources. Or did, at least." 16:20 <banana> Clive: "Look, we know what we are, but we're not stupid or bound by tradition. We live under a society and we have the best chance of remaining alive if we remember how much we have in common with it, how close to human we are. For our own sakes, and yours, we bind ourselves not to go beyond acceptable limits." 16:20 <tom> Bob scowls behind his visor. "Our main source sorta burned us- well, we almost burned her-" it's not important. 16:21 <banana> Letitia: "If you want to join the Court you have to be Introduced to Prince Shaw, and only Seele can set that kind of condition." 16:22 <tom> He angles his head, pops another mint gum into his mouth, chews. "Seems reasonable." 16:22 <banana> "If you were joining us because you've decided to recognise reality, I don't think she'd want to limit your ability to gather information." 16:23 <banana> "And if you're doing it to go after her sire..." Letitia smiles, her mouth filled with black insects. "Seele is a very rational person. Left-brained. I'm sure she'd be compelled by logic to support your efforts against that God-damn monster." 16:23 <tom> "What did he do." 16:23 <tom> Bob sits up straight. 16:26 <tom> "Details help. Gotta work up that battle-rage." 16:28 <banana> Clive's about to say something, but Letitia goes on. "Baron Agecroft, Primogen of Daeva.. he was the ancien regime's master of politics. Kine politics. His childer and ghouls controlled this city through charisma and connections. They were rewarded according to a pyramid structure, but even the least of them were rewarded." 16:28 <banana> "They just weren't free. It was all to one end, one's benefit, his beloved Prince of Roses. And for a manipulator of crowds, he was emotionally dumb as shit." 16:29 <banana> "His favourite childe betrayed him to lead the revolution. His beautiful mistress betrayed him to save her own skin. He went from this guy who thought he was on top of the social heap to a master of only bonds, and the rest of his childer... were suddenly threats." 16:31 <banana> "He rounded up the clan, demanded to know who had Carthian sympathies. The ones who admitted it were put down - they thought there were enough of them to beat the loyalists - then he turned on the last couple for lying." 16:31 <tom> "Christ." 16:32 <banana> Clive: "When we got to him he was half-dead already and easy to take in. But we didn't realise what he'd just done, so we didn't realise how strong he really was... it was a time of chaos." 16:32 <tom> "A lot going on," Bob adds, grim. 16:33 <banana> He hands Bob another printout, a transcript of witness testimony. "How fast, more like. He could practically outrun the sun.. the exhausted and dispirited neonates we had as individual guards, when the breakout happened, they didn't stand a chance." 16:34 <tom> "Well don't you fret, I've been working on a special something that could give him a real run for his money if it comes down to it, and I've got my team with me." 16:34 <tom> He taps his temple. "No spoiling." 16:35 <banana> The latest document is an affidavit from "DUNLOP C, Gangrel", apparently the sole survivor of Fortunato's breakout, describing how nobody could keep track of the elder's movements - he'd be standing by one wall, then across the room with claws(!) in someone's throat, then at the door, then holding it twisted and torn off the hinges over his head. A horror story written by a vampire. 16:35 <tom> "...We've received threats. More specifically, exactly who you'd expect he'd go after. Man just can't keep it in his pants." 16:36 <tom> "Guy's about to run right into the fucking wall if he thinks that shit flies with us." 16:40 <banana> Damani comes out of his room, changed into a suit. Letitia nods to him. "We'll leave you with Clive's memories. Do listen, Bob.. his tactics work. Four titled lords were down before they even knew there was a terror cell in the city." 16:40 <banana> Damani: "Runaway vans in St. Peter's square. Their own ghouls walking up to them with a razor for the evening's shave, or talking about the man at the door who instructed them to bring in this package. It was quite inspiring" 16:40 <tom> "No doubt." 16:41 <banana> Clive: "Just necessity, and not something *I* could repeat. But a group of mortals with teamwork, modern tech and declared neutrality? You deserve a chance." 16:41 <tom> "We used a special mix back at OPFORT. Fifty-fifty mix of white phosphorus and thermite. Boys called it 'Shake N' Bake'." 16:42 <tom> Helpfully: "You know the Black Acts are going down." 16:44 <banana> Two of the vampires, themselves elders or near to it, leave Bob with their retired terrorist. For more tips, and to seduce him to their cause. 16:44 <banana> Before they resume, Clive says: "Yeah, that won't help. There are Invictus everywhere in the south, you know, and some of them in Europe.. they'll start linking up again. Our local pests have some contacts left. One way or another, things come to a head." 16:44 <tom> "Right about that, you are."