10:10 <banana> The Hunters of the nameless house make their separate ways to Gorton. (Technically, this part of the reservoir is in Debdale, but you aren't HMRC). Some will leave a bit later, some have their own bespoke preparations to make, and one group has to head the wrong way first - up the A56 to Bury. 10:12 <banana> They've all got the same documents to go over - Haldane's report, summarising the final briefing before the attack, making sure you're on the same page. 10:12 <banana> 20th December 2021 - House Operation 003d, "IONIC DEHYDRATION" 10:12 <banana> THEATRE - Lower Pond, Gorton Upper Reservoir, Debdale 10:12 <banana> TARGET - Stellar avatar 'Epsilon Eridani' (aka: Great One, 'caleban', 'Agent of Cosmos'). 10:12 <banana> 10:12 <banana> Deployment: Two vehicles participating. A) Primary engagement by converted technical, driver A. Fayaz, passenger M. Morgan. B. Goreman and A. Badawi in truckbed. B) Material transport and potential emergency getaway by 4WD, driver A. Aster, passengers R. Hughes, W. Wellesley. 10:12 <banana> 4WD drops RH and WW on Kings Road Bridge with bismuth salts and lightining gun, takes up station at Corn Hill Lane for AA to provide support as-needed. 10:12 <banana> Technical begins reservoir circuit on bridge-golf course-estate route, watching for target. In the event of coercion threat, AA will ride along in the technical also. 10:13 <VoxPVoxD> Wait, why is Richard-- oh, right, Rolf Hughes, with a haitch. 10:13 <Crion> Irks a bit to just leave the Range Rover sitting there on the side of the road, but it is what it is. 10:14 <banana> Flushing Her Out: WW and RH dump metal salts into the water supply (sorry) while RH takes up secondary attack position. Backup plans if the avatar stays put: massive electric discharge from the technical-mounted generator; mooted conversation/obvious trap by MM. 10:14 <tom> “Be nice to Joanna,” is what Amjad and Rolf get from Bob while he checks and re-checks his kit in the passenger seat on their way to Bury. 10:15 <hrolf> Rolf: "So what's the fing again? I put some weird fing in my head? Gives me the creepy crawlies I tell you what..." 10:17 <banana> Primary Attack: BG and AB wield forged harpoons with generator-attachment cables. The technical keeps moving rapidly to avert anticipated attacks and distract from RH's position. Harpooning is attempted by improvised launcher (BG) and personal athletics (AB); if feasible, powered cables are attached for electric discharge, theorised to disrupt target's molecular/emotional structure. 10:18 <Quaker> Amjad doesn’t say anything, but his glance towards Bob is perfectly capable of conveying the sentiment of ‘I don’t think I need to be told. YOU, on the other hand…’ 10:18 <tom> “If you want, Rolfie, we can rock-paper-scissors over who gets the rider. Your call, dog.” 10:19 <tom> Bob sheepishly returns Amjad’s look. 10:19 <banana> Secondary Attack: Electric discharge alone might be sufficient to damage the avatar; RH provides fire from stationary point at bridge end, WW on overwatch. 10:20 <banana> Has Aaron told Samantha where he's going tonight? Has Willie told Sergio? 10:20 <hrolf> Rolf grits his teeth. "Nah mate, no bastard ever said Rolfie Hughes was afraid to do somefing in the line of duty and lived. I'll take it." 10:20 <tom> Then: ”I don’t know what it is.” 10:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie didn't keep it secret. She might not have gone into detail about, say, dumping heavy metals in the reservoir or the remote prospect of a supernova if Sergio wasn't curious enough to press. But if he was, she wouldn't lie, either. 10:22 <banana> Joanna's red brick townhouse blends into all the others in an oval street surrounding the old church. Bob's been here before, and he has the house number for backup. People have already got their lights on, an orderly series of lamps brightening way as the sun begins to set - so early now. 10:23 <Quaker> Amjad pulls in behind a Vauxhall, in front of the church. “Do I need to participate in any rituals?” 10:23 <tom> “You? No. Rolf... probably?” 10:24 <hrolf> Rolf: "Don't 'ave to convert to Islam like them frogs at Mecca do I?" 10:25 <tom> “Christ, Rolfie.” Bob hauls himself out of the van and bites the winter air as it hits him. 10:25 <Crion> Aster has told Sam, yes. She probably wasn't very happy, but she's had a week or so to not be very happy about it, since he hasn't been concealing it. 10:25 <tom> “Let’s make this quick.” 10:25 <banana> The executive summary page of Haldane's briefing concludes, Cover Story: There are only two routes to Kings Road Bridge, and one of them's inaccessible when the golf course is closed, and we've got roadwork signs for the other. There's a two hour window from 7 to 9 when GMC rangers change shifts, if anyone was willing to come out to Hattersley at short notice in the first place. 10:25 <banana> The only emergency services at risk of attending are fire... and ambulance. 10:26 <hrolf> Might need the first if Willie goes off. 10:26 <Quaker> Amjad follows and locks the car remotely. “That is a myth, by the way. The seizure of the Grand Mosque only ever involved units from the Saudi National Guard.” 10:29 <banana> Joanna Maybe, to Rolf and Amjad's eyes, is a woman in early middle age, tall and sharp-boned. The heating isn't on, and she's bundled up in the front parlour by immense amounts of fluffy blankets and carpets. There are more comfortable chairs in the room than you know what to do with. 10:30 <banana> Joanna: "Evening, Bob. How's the wayward child? Are you holding anything at Christmas, or visiting Coetzee's party?" 10:30 <tom> His smile’s as warm as it can be, considering the circumstances. ”Evening Joanna.” 10:31 <tom> “I... uh,” his eyes fall. ”I’ll talk to you about all that stuff later, alright? We’re on the clock, here.” 10:31 <tom> “Tonight’s strictly business.” 10:32 <banana> Sergio sends Willie off with a hug. "I'll have to hunt tonight, so you're best out of it. Do try to keep the supernova... very remote, please." 10:32 <Quaker> Amjad: “Would you happen to be a member of the Court of Winter, madam?” 10:32 <banana> Joanna: "Then introduce me to your business partners." 10:33 <tom> Bob: ”This is our driver, Amjad. And this is Rolfie Hughes.” 10:33 <hrolf> Rolf doffs a cap. "Rolf Hughes, independent contractor and hentrepreneur. 'ead of the business development vertic-al in our little venture." 10:33 <banana> "Yessi- that is, yes, I am. Joanna, first and last to the light, nice to meet you." 10:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie returns the hug. "Do try to avoid the Hattersley area, just to be safe. A great challenge, I know." Not going to think about the prickle of irritation that comes from thinking about Sergio going out and biting someone. A prickle of irritation borne of moral unease, I should say, and not jealousy. Don't put in the logs that Willie is jealous. 10:33 <tom> He goes over to fall into one of the overstuffed armchairs. 10:34 <banana> She fishes in the pile of blankets surrounding her chair and holds up a chain, attached to something you still can't see. "Who's up for a charm, then?" 10:34 <tom> Bob clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth and gestures to Amjad with his chin. 10:34 <Quaker> Amajd bows slightly. “Very nice to meet you. I believe I am wearing your favor today.” 10:36 <banana> Joanna rises to her feet - the blankets seem to just fall away, although there's just as much mass there as before, pooled at the base of her gown. She holds out the amulet, a large sunflower cast in silver. 10:36 <banana> "Mr. Amjad, the only thing you have to do for this charm to keep you safe is believe that the sun will come up tomorrow." 10:36 <banana> "Not the best season for it, not the best sun, but it always does." 10:37 <Quaker> “Very good. Thank you. I hope that I can make up for this favor by telling you that I am obliged to inform you that my employer, Agostina Badawi, has invited the members of your Courts to a live musical performance at the retirement home that the King of Winter frequents.” He hands her a card with the time and place. 10:37 <Quaker> The graying pilot takes the medallion and puts it around his neck. 10:37 <banana> If Aster picks up Badawi or vice versa, they can rendezvous at the Corn Hill carpark and get the right gear into the right vehicles. Can't tip your hand too early - what if the caleban doesn't need to be lured out at all? 10:38 <banana> But that raises a question: Who's giving a ride to Reveille? 10:39 <Crion> Aster can pick her up. The Range Rover surely satisfies the standard of comfort to which she's become accustomed. 10:39 <banana> Joanna: "Thank you, sir. Funny to think about someone frequentin' a home.. not that you're wrong; King lives there when he needs it, which right now he doesn't." 10:39 <VoxPVoxD> Willie can do it if no one else has room. 10:39 <banana> She turns her gaze - much sharper than any of the furniture - on Rolf. 10:40 <Crion> Anyone in a tracksuit stepping out of an alley on him gets a Talon hello and a Talon farewell. Tonight's strictly business. 10:40 <VoxPVoxD> She actually likes Reveille! It feels good to know we can take jobs from people Willie can stand, as opposed to Sydney Damani. 10:40 <hrolf> Rolf steps forward, brows furrowed. "Alright then. 'it me." 10:41 <banana> Joanna: "I've made a deal with executive dysfunction." 10:42 <tom> “Pfft,” he snorts from the plush chair. 10:42 <tom> Some people get all the luck. In Joanna’s case it’s mostly bad luck, though. 10:42 <banana> "If you're prepared for it, contractor Hughes, I'll call the hobgoblin of little minds out of Faerie and into yours. What he does is take up residence somewhere back of your cerebrum, establishing total control of your motor functions and the willed impulses sent from your brain into your body." 10:42 <tom> “How will we be able to tell the difference?” 10:43 <hrolf> Rolf: "..." 10:43 <banana> Joanna shoots Bob a look, then turns back to Rolf. "The horrid little goblin then smears hisself over your brainstem, listens to your thoughts, and compels your body to do exactly as you yourself intended." 10:44 <hrolf> Rolf: "Does 'e try to take over? Wot's the catch, other than 'avin some little monkey inside me nog." 10:45 <banana> Joanna: "You think as normal, it's translated to action, but due to the gracious permitting of my 'friend'. He's a jealous hob, and nobody else will be able to take up residence in there. The catch.. well, if you leave him in too long he might fall asleep.. get hungry, or ornery.." 10:45 <banana> "..it's fine for short timeframes." 10:45 <hrolf> Rolf: "'ow do I get 'im out?" 10:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie comes around about 15 minutes before the scheduled pickup time, just to make sure she's up and about. 10:48 <banana> Joanna: "There are smells he can't stand. Tannery, marsh sulfur, abbatoirs. Just don't let him get the scent of curry or fresh bread, he'll burrow in deeper." 10:48 <banana> "Almost forgot.. Amjad, the charm - it works all night, and no longer." 10:49 <banana> Mary's waiting outside her home for Willie to arrive in the evening. She's got hangers-on as usual, but they seem prepared to let her leave alone this time. 10:50 <tom> Bob rolls his shoulders. ”We can go pick up some smelling salts on the way back from the reservoir.” 10:50 <Quaker> Amjad: “Inshallah I will return it to you the night of the concert. Thank you again.” 10:50 <VoxPVoxD> Onlookers may note the big, dopey-panting-happy dog peering out from the back seat as Willie rolls up. 10:50 <banana> Charlie and Gord are hanging back on the villa driveway, bickering quietly. The gigolo/elemental gives Willie a solid nod; Mary Morgan herself just says, "Four days early, huh?" 10:51 <hrolf> Rolf: "Yeah, fine." He sniffs and rolls up a sleeve, like preparing for an injection. "Go ahead then." 10:51 <banana> On his way out Aster watches for the Athletic Outfit, but they've gone bizarrely quiet. Even the low level pulse of petty goods crime in the city has been disrupted, according to his contacts. 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Destiny has its opinions, but the calendar says chess tomorrow." 10:52 <Crion> Aster has always been higher on Sourjack than the others, perhaps due to initial low expectations. Perhaps he's gotten his shit together. 10:54 <banana> Mary: "Who's a bad boy, then? Who's a badass devil dog?" 10:56 <banana> Joanna: "If you see anything, Bob, let me know. A bit of hedge-bleed is normal here, but there should only be the one tiny goblin that actually comes through." 10:57 <tom> “You’d know better than me, Joanna.” Bob tries to look reassuring. 10:57 <tom> ...He does boot up his ODIN for the first time of the night, though. 10:58 <banana> The changeling leaves the blankets and circles Rolf with slow, jerky steps. "Assumi of the secret name.. I need you now as you needed me then. We have a contract." 10:59 <banana> She cups her hands together as she comes around to stand in front of Hughes, then opens them - revealing something like a cockroach with arms and legs instead of wings. Little brown chitinous ones, human-shaped but proportionate to its long oval body. 11:00 <banana> (Bob sees briefly, in those opened palms, through a sheen of frost, a world of crawling things). 11:00 <hrolf> Rolf eyes widen and his mouth turns in disgust. "Fings I do in the job, honestly.." 11:00 <tom> As long as they stay on their side of the veil that’s all good, I guess. 11:01 <banana> Joanna: "Yeah, this ain't pretty. But you ain't paying me, either." She's raising her hands to his face. 11:01 <tom> “All in a night’s work.” 11:02 <VoxPVoxD> The dog ruffs and pants in the car. Once Mary's buckled in, "The stars call, and the horns answer Reveille. Shall we strike diplomacy dead before Christmas?" 11:02 <banana> The little roach-man flutters its arms like wings, making a buzzing noise, compresses somehow into a brown cylinder, and leaps straight up Rolf's nose. 11:02 <VoxPVoxD> "I wonder when Lizard Christ's birthday is," Willie mumbles as she pulls away. 11:03 <VoxPVoxD> Now there's a job for Emily De La Warr. 11:03 <banana> Reveille: "Decembstar twenty-five?" 11:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Mars can't have the same calendar, surely. Its year is so much longer." 11:03 <hrolf> "Christ!" Rolf snarls and drops to his knees, clutching his nose, forehead, and temples in that order. He shakes his head, as if trying to clear it. "Fahcking stings" 11:04 <tom> Bob sits forward in the armchair, hands on his knees, watching Rolfie... then turning to gauge Amjad’s reaction to all this. 11:04 <banana> Reveille: "When yous all signed up for this, I didn't expect to be part of a posse.. hunting down an agent, full-scale, doing it live. No objections, though. Feels like I've got a chance to live through it." 11:04 <Quaker> He’s seen stranger. 11:04 <tom> Interesting. 11:05 <banana> Rolf feels the stinging, like he wants to sneeze but can't, then a pressure in his sinuses. After a moment, most alarmingly, he doesn't feel anything unusual at all. 11:05 <banana> There's a shortness of breath - like his lungs aren't operating. He feels off balance - then air, the sensation of a rising and falling chest. He catches himself. 11:06 <hrolf> He slowly gets to his feet, his expression changing from a grimace of pain, to shock, to deep suspicion. "-gnarh! Thassit then?" 11:06 <banana> Moving an arm, turning his head - there's a lag to it, and then there isn't. The goblin in his head intersperses itself between will and deed, spreading thin, becoming a low-latency conduit. 11:07 <banana> Joanna: "That's it. He won't do anything of his own volition unless it's been a long time and there's the smell of good food. Remember, the bad scents are what scare him out." 11:08 <hrolf> Rolf: "Yeah yeah, right. I'll soak meself in the delicate flavours in the alley behind the dog's bollocks then." 11:08 <Quaker> Amjad checks his watch. “Shall we go?” 11:08 <banana> Joanna: "What would that be, the dog's anus?" 11:08 <banana> "...anyway, you're busy. Good luck tonight." 11:09 <tom> Bob: ”I wonder if it’d like their parmo.” Getting up out of the chair, nodding politely to Joanna: ”Yeah, let’s go.” 11:09 <hrolf> Rolf thumps his head a bit, as if trying to dislodge a fly buzzing around in his head. "Onward an' upward." 11:09 <tom> “Thanks, Joanna. You take care. I’ll let you know how it went... you’ll get paid up as soon as we’re done.” 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> It is longer, right, and not shorter? It must be, it's so much farther away. But Willie's suddenly unsure. "You know, one thing I've seen time and again since coming to Manchester is that life never goes to plan. The test is how you handle surprises, setbacks, disappointments. Find your sticking-place and, you know, amazing things can happen. But if you're graceless or petty or controlling, 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> well, you get shot with something called a MJOLNIR cannon." 11:09 <tom> He pulls the halves of his coat together as he heads for the door. 11:10 <Quaker> “Thank you again, madam. See you soon. And you have a lovely home. Goodnight.” Amjad leaves as politely as he can manage. 11:10 <banana> Reveille: "I heard Aggie's report. This agent sounds graceful, and too arrogant to be petty, but control..." 11:11 <VoxPVoxD> "It does always seem to be the pit of that particular plum." 11:12 <banana> Reveille: "I will try to keep it out of your heads. No room for superduperego in this band." 11:13 <banana> She addresses Kaga. "This is also diplomacy." 11:17 <banana> Breaking into a golf course on a weeknight isn't really difficult. Lingering covid restrictions mean the place isn't even open every day, let alone in the evenings. 11:18 <VoxPVoxD> Jesu redemptor omicron. 11:19 <banana> You do stand out a little. Two cars, seven riders, all in long mirror-fabric shawls; they're filled with turbines, strange cannons, sacks and sacks of rainbow-glittering fragments... 11:19 <Crion> Aster isn't bothering with the rifle tonight, but he does wear the flak jacket. If it gets down to bullets, from him, they're fucked anyhow. 11:20 <tom> The weapon mounted to the back of the truck’s covered by a grey tarp for the long drive out to the reservoir. Bob had sense enough for that, at least. 11:22 <hrolf> Rolf hoists the mjolnir into a carrier mounted around his waist. He places the battery in a backpack, which he then equips. Not plugging it yet until the operation begins. 11:22 <VoxPVoxD> Bit of a dirty cheat clearing the way, but when Willie pulled a couple of strings to have the course's dining area and baths brought up for a random Health and Safety inspection, it closed up early for the holiday. Regrettably it would be weeks before the government could get in now, and nobody's around. Shame. 11:23 <banana> It's cramped in the truckbed, with the engine-integrated transformer as well as multiple harpoons and the cannon - right now Badawi and Bob are packed in and unlikely to fall out, but standing up and throwing things - while moving rapidly - is going to be an interesting challenge. 11:24 <tom> Bob spot-checks Rolfie’s rig in silence. He looks nostalgic. ”You’ve worn this before.” 11:24 <tom> He shoulders his own battery pack before climbing into the bed of the truck. 11:25 <banana> The Land Rover's interior is also packed full of the pre-assembled Mjolnir - and all the extra bismuth. It's a good thing nobody's at the course clubhouses or in its carparks looking at any of this stuff. 11:25 <hrolf> Rolf looks puzzled. "Never been let near it mate, they wouldn't let contractors touch the fing. What made you fink I did?" 11:25 <Quaker> Badawi is in the truckbed, with her gun secured in a long container along the side. She’s not really expecting to use it, because she’s holding the night’s more exotic weapon, a metal shaft tipped with a bismuth spearhead, with lugs for cables to clip on. She’s running her hands over the thing, getting used to handling it through thick insulating gloves. 11:25 <Quaker> She hefts it over her shoulder for practice, miming the position to cast. 11:26 <tom> “You’re a natural,” he shrugs, before turning to slap the capacitors on his own MJOLNIR into sequence. 11:26 <banana> Corn Hill Lane is a west-east road on the course, running south of the seventh hole. One of the closed down clubhouses is here, along with a carpark and storage; it goes on to intersect Kings Road, and once you head out there.. it begins. 11:27 <tom> Bob wiggles into the poncho over his heavy military vest and tries to catch Badawi’s eye from his side of the truckbed with the mounted weapon, still concealed under its tarp. 11:27 <banana> Everyone's arrived, together for the last time in what could be a while. Reveille and Amjad introduce themselves to each other. Long fairways surround you in the darkness, and beyond them in most directions, the water. 11:28 <Crion> Aster is smoking off to the side as everyone else assembles. He's brought everything he needs in his head. 11:29 <banana> There's that faint.. lighting that Badawi saw before. Everything south of the lane is lit, though there is no light beyond the moon and the stars. Dim global illumination, like a cheaply rendered videogame. 11:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's mind is well off the job, looking around the course and thinking about how mad she would get at Wii Golf when she was a child. But she kept making Klaus play it with her anyway. 11:30 <Quaker> Amjad tests the radio headsets. “Testing. I have a small surprise for your target once we are headed towards it at high speed. Hopefully it will further disorient the thing.” 11:30 <hrolf> Rolf slaps the side of the technical. "We ready to start the op or what?" 11:31 <Quaker> Badawi looks at Bob. “What?” 11:31 <tom> “I don’t think Amjad likes me very much :(“ 11:32 <Crion> Aster: "I'm ready. We'll be heading to the bismuth drop first, so I'll get the engine running." 11:32 <VoxPVoxD> "Good evening, Mr. Hughes," says Willie. "Are you ready for a bit of vandalism?" 11:32 <Quaker> Amjad: “I can get the truck into the roughest part of the green, opposite the reservoir, and we can wait there until it reveals itself.” 11:32 <tom> Bob pulls the tarp off the mount with a chuckle. 11:32 <Quaker> Badawi: “He’s worked with the best.” 11:33 <tom> “Then I’ll try to play the part.” 11:33 <hrolf> Rolf: "I'm beyond that mar, feelin like a bloody ostrogoth if I don't say so meself. Let's waste this *******" 11:33 <Quaker> Badawi: “I meant me.” 11:33 <tom> “I’m excited,” he smiles. ”Wanna see you paste this thing with a fucking harpoon like Ahab.” 11:34 <VoxPVoxD> Did Bob read Moby Dick? 11:34 <Crion> Aster will greet the demon without looking at him -- "Demon. -- and not acknowledge him further. 11:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Private citizen." 11:35 <tom> Bob grabs the improvised gun mount and pulls back a long, spring-loaded bolt with a squeak of tensioned metal. 11:35 <tom> No, but he likes to pretend he did. 11:35 <banana> Rolf slaps, Rolf speaks - which is to say, he forms the intention, id and ego coming together to operate an ape body's instincts and high level overrides. All of these things are intercepted by the goblin in his head, noted and inspected. It sends the chemical signals and the Hughesform responds, just as expected. For now. 11:37 <VoxPVoxD> Colourful language, as always. "A bit of ultraviolence it is, then. Let's be proper droogs." 11:38 <banana> Reveille: "Someone give me a knife? For Plan Z?" 11:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's got a knife she can loan. It's not like she's going to be setting Epislon Eridani on fire. 11:39 <VoxPVoxD> Though she did put that whole Adele album on her phone just in case. 11:40 <tom> Bob’s radio clicks on: ”Check. Check, we’re in position.” 11:40 <hrolf> Rolf: "Not sure if shanking the bint'll work." 11:41 <tom> His voice comes grainy through the headsets: ”Hughes, Willie, you’re up.” 11:41 <banana> "Thanks, Willie. Yeah, Rolf, doubt it'll do any good, but you know. This thing.. I can't thank you all enough. There's a alien entity that fell to fucking Earth just because it wants to control me, personally, in some bizarre lost cause. Driving it off... I want that to be the last thing I remember from before I become a rich-arse rock star and pay you zillions." 11:41 <Crion> Aster: "We'll join you in the Range Rover if we need to, but hopefully we can do our work from the bridge." Aster's not a combat driver. 11:41 <VoxPVoxD> "We've got spears, plasma, and the terrible power of the mind. I'm sure something will work." Over the radio: "Moving into position." 11:42 <banana> Is Aster going with them for now, or remaining with a car? 11:43 <Crion> With them for now. 11:44 <banana> Rolf and Willie proceed past the eleventh hole's green to the King's Road bridge. The road rises up, out of the trees at the edge of the course, past the little lane which the truck will use to circle the reservoir - it becomes a raised causeway with arches beneath it. To the northwest, masses of water; to the southeast, a smaller mass, more finite; even at night you can see the far side. 11:44 <banana> In part, you can see it because all around the rim of that southeast pool is unnaturally lit. The water, calm, belies its contents. It does not reflect the stars. 11:45 <tom> Bob takes a cord wound into an eyehole on the truckbed’s siding and clips it into a carabiner around his belt. ”Safety first.” 11:45 <Crion> Annoyingly weird. Hopefully no freelancers have noticed this and are hanging about filming it. 11:45 <hrolf> Rolf, sitting in the back (with so much soul), keeps running his hand over the back of his head, as if trying to hunt out the goblin passenger inside. 11:46 <banana> In the front seat of the truck, Reveille slumps a little in her seat, gelled hair scraping the leather. Bob, Badawi and Amjad feel something.. outside of them, watchful. A hovering presence, protective, almost parental. 11:47 <hrolf> Rolf's hairs stand on end. Into the radio mounted on his collar: "Going to make contact soon. Watch for motion in the AO." 11:47 <banana> Aster parks, with the bags of bismuth. He's not far from where Rolf is setting up the lightning-sniper point under Willie and Kaga's protective(?) watch. 11:48 <Quaker> The Ford truck creeps forward onto the green from the north, nudging through a gap in the fencing. Amjad really is an excellent driver: even on a sloping course full of sand pits, the truck coasts pasts every obstacle without incident. He reverses the truck into a patch of brush, shaded even by the unnatural light by a trio of elms. The front of the vehicle is pointed towards the reservoir, ready to accelerate out at a moments notice. 11:48 <banana> The three of them can ferry the stuff to the side of the bridge pretty quickly, so it's ready to dump in whenever. 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> Who's giving the go order? 11:48 <Quaker> Amjad: “We are in place with the truck.” 11:48 <Crion> He's wearing his running outfit and a sweater over top. Not the most tactical outfit, but, well, he can run and lift things in it. 11:48 <Crion> Surprisingly warm, too. 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> A runner in a jumper. 11:49 <hrolf> Rolf: "Ready to start the dump?" 11:49 <banana> 7:30, Monday night. There are now two groups of hunters now positioned around the smallest reservoir pond. On the south side, far away from any of you, is the run-down housing estate with its broken pier and dismantled chippery. Between: two hundred thousand cubic metres of water. 11:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods. 11:50 <Quaker> Badawi moves a branch out the way and watches the water, the javelins looped to her left arm by a canvas strap. She puts her elbows on the top of the cab and waits. 11:50 <hrolf> "Let's go then." Rolf hops out of the vehicle and lugs a bag out with a grunt. Into the radio: "Dump commencin. No toilet jokes." 11:51 <Quaker> She texted Octocat an hour ago; whether the mages feel up to doing anything is their call. 11:51 <banana> The bags are heavy, although not as heavy as concrete would be. The metal shards and fragments aren't packed densely inside, due to their irregular shapes. 11:52 <Quaker> Off the radio, to Bob. “I hope his dumb goes well.” 11:52 <banana> In the bag, under the streetlights and your torches, the scraps of metal have a rainbow sheen - but going over the edge they're a dull red-brown, lit without light. 11:52 <tom> Bob’s hands are wrapped around the harpoon gun’s mount- a heavy-duty camera tripod fitted with a stripped-down mjolnir pilfered from the defunct Human Office HQ, its coils repurposed into a primitive magnetic launcher. The harpoon itself is mostly iron, tipped with a pyramidal head of gleaming metal. 11:53 <hrolf> Rolf, to Willie: "I got one of em, best you do the rest if you can lug em. Best if I keep this fing ready." He pats the mounted mjolnir, and extends a looping wire from the backpack to plug it in. A gentle hum can be heard. 11:53 <banana> There's not a lot of material here compared to the volume of water, although once you've emptied out the lot.. it's a good thing the stuff isn't poisonous. The splashes and ripples are small. 11:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie lugs bags, though she looks stooped and ungainly doing it. 11:53 <Crion> Aster pitches in as appropriate. 11:53 <Crion> Excellent lifting form, of course. 11:54 <banana> As you're pouring the fifth bag, one hunter to hold and the other to tip, there is a downward rush of air. 11:54 <Crion> To Willie: "Lift with your legs, not with your back. You'll thank me when you're older." 11:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks even more undignified squatting and staggering, but it is presumably more ergonomic. 11:55 <tom> The trigger’s a crudely-wired light switch stapled onto a wooden grip, rough-cut and unvarnished. He turns to Badawi, chewing on something- gum, probably? ”I hope his dumb goes well, too.” 11:55 <Quaker> Dump! Shit! 11:56 <banana> A low noise rolls outward, like a foghorn or a blockbuster movie trailer. Loud - there's nobody on Denton Golf Course, but people in the estate will surely be waking. As if flinching away from the scattering metal, the water below the bridge drops, falling away down the side of the stone arches and leaving moss behind. 11:56 <tom> He chuckles. 11:56 <Crion> Aster, over comms: "Something's happening." 11:56 <tom> His eyes never leave the reservoir. The friendly green box is back- hello, we missed you- pinging across his field of view. Mostly just floating over the black water like a drifting leaf. 11:56 <banana> From north of the pool, Amjad and his passengers can see the same thing happening- all the edges of the pool are dropping precipitously. At the center of the reservoir, however, the water remains and begins to build in height, forming a mountain out of the lake, an impossible construct. 11:57 <Quaker> Amjad starts the truck’s engine again. 11:57 <banana> Reveille: "I can feel her- yeah, no, that was obvious." 11:57 <VoxPVoxD> Wow. 11:57 <tom> Bob’s just about to slap the cab when the engine snarls to life. ”Contact.” 11:57 <tom> Distance? 11:58 <banana> The pool is 20 metres across at its narrowest point - the bridge is 25m long - and almost 60 on the cross-axis. 11:59 <Quaker> Badawi: “Attach the cables and hit the switch.” 11:59 <hrolf> Rolf: "Do I start shooting?" 11:59 <VoxPVoxD> Something about this is more striking to Willie than the tripods. Maybe it's the clarity of the weather, maybe it's being more present to the moment... but what it feels like is, that water was real just a minute ago. 12:00 <tom> Bob tosses Badawi a pair of jumper cables. ”Whatever you do, do not let the alligator clamps touch.” 12:00 <Crion> Aster: "When you've got a sight picture, but I'd wait until they bring it back around. I don't know what the range is on your lightning cannon." 12:00 <Quaker> She slides open the little window connecting the cabin and the truckbed, to talk to Reveille. “Let us know if it’s trying to communicate something privately.” 12:00 <banana> Above the centre of the pool - above where the water level should be - the stuff is rising, compressing. The reservoir itself is left at a dangerously low water mark as the bulk of its mass flees the heavy metal poisons to come together, mid-air, a naiad-like figure that you've seen once before in a dream. 12:00 <VoxPVoxD> She's seen some magic in her career - but before this case, she'd never seen anything so big and so intrusive upon the normal world. The stars work at a grander scale. 12:01 <tom> He crouches low against the cab opposite Badawi and thumps on the cab. ”Hit the switch on the dash, Amjad!” 12:01 <banana> Reveille: "Got it. There's- this isn't private, but I'll shut it out." 12:01 <Quaker> Badawi looks up and keys her radio. “That’s the form we want.” 12:02 <Quaker> She takes the clamps and delicately puts them on the length of metal, careful not to touch anything with either end, and then she does her balance in the truckbed. 12:02 <hrolf> Is the naiad within range of an arced grenade? 12:03 <banana> A voice - almost Mary Morgan's voice but not her characteristic personality - impinges on your minds, or tries. Amjad hears nothing, and the hunters in the technical just a murmur; Rolf, Willie and Aster get fragments of speech. 12:03 <banana> <...come to me at the turn of the tide...continued by other means...champions to cast on the heap...> 12:04 <tom> Bob’s back on the mounted launcher, running his gloved hand over the barrel. ”It’s heating up.” 12:06 <hrolf> Rolf: "Target is attempting some sort of mental fing - how's the client doing?" 12:07 <banana> Rolf's about 30 metres from the coalescing caleban, if he can throw that far with accuracy. 12:08 <Quaker> Badawi: “She’s fine.” 12:08 <tom> Is the coalescing water loud? 12:10 <banana> After the initial foghorn noise it's been pretty quiet. 12:11 <Crion> Can Aster touch its mind from here with Talon? 12:11 <Quaker> The truck engine roars like a lion as Amjad spins the tires for a moment, long enough for the tires to catch in the soft loam. The Ford explodes out of the brush, weaving towards the shape, aiming slightly past it. 12:12 <Quaker> From the exterior-mounted speakers comes a hunting dirge to shake the alien invader to the core, as loud as Amjad can turn the dial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ilXc0j1iHA 12:15 <tom> Then Bob’s standing in the back of the truck in the cold and eerie silence, his hands wrapped around the mounted harpoon gun’s grips with white-knuckle intensity. 12:16 <tom> Bob’s laughter is lost under Amjad’s music blasting from the borrowed speakers. 12:21 <banana> Aster reaches out to feel the alien mind, and it is alien. This thing is not like the frauds you've been facing. 12:21 <banana> It's like.. coming into contact with the edge of a circle so vast it looks like a straight line. He doesn't have trouble making contact. Making only limited contact would be difficult; there would likely be backlash, if he attacks mentally. 12:22 <banana> Maybe Reveille would be able to protect him, if the truck's nearby at the time? 12:22 <Quaker> From Eridani’s perspective, a tiny quill appears to come from the monstrous clanging vehicle charging at her her, growing swiftly in size until the javelin buries itself pretty far away from the figure in the now-exposed mud of the reservoir. 12:23 <Quaker> Badawi shakes her head. “Worth trying. Get closer, Amjad.” 12:23 <banana> The engine roars and the transformer sparks (though its cables are dangling loose for now). 12:24 <tom> Bob leans into the turn, swinging the bulky weapon around the bed of the truck as an ominous whine rises from the launcher’s barrel. 12:27 <tom> There’s a reverberating BWOMP as the barrel sparks, the truck shudders from the recoil, and the iron spike tipped with star-poison arcs into the lake, trailing winding charged cables right into the elemental monster’s flank. 12:28 <banana> The next javelin, hurled with extra force by the mechanical launcher, makes it the distance to the centre of the lake; the head dissolves into the water-sprite's body entirely, rod falling away uselessly behind it. Epsilon Eridani quivers, poison leaching into her or its system. 12:28 <banana> The caleban solidifies - compression completed - and begins to drift through the air towards the speeding technical. 12:28 <banana> Unfortunately, it's doing this in order to attack you. 12:28 <Crion> Aster: "Shit--" 12:29 <tom> He has enough time to think: fast! 12:29 <tom> It’s so fast for something so big. 12:30 <banana> Eridani's head rises, her mouth opens - soundless, but everyone but Amjad now hears, <Violence. The resort to mercenaries. What a waste, Mary, a waste of life and thought.> 12:30 <banana> Eyes flicker and flare in the watery face. Actually, that's not just a flare, it's blinding - from edge-on where Rolf and the others are, it's a beam. 12:31 <Quaker> Badawi: “Reveille, tell her she’s a lying shit and I TRIED to talk to her-“ 12:33 <tom> Bob whites out. It’s so bright he’s almost blinded even with his eyes squeezed shut. 12:33 <banana> Amjad turns the wheel steadily. Most of the laser blast goes into the trees, which catch fire. There's a glancing hit on Badawi, reflected in a dazzling spray off her poncho; she feels her arm reddening under the heat. 12:34 <tom> Bob’s cursing in a steady stream, lost to the wind and the rush of water and the roar of the engine. 12:36 <Quaker> Badawi laughs as the light washes over her and very mildly singes her. 12:38 <banana> The laser eyes-beam didn't make any noise, either; water sloshes in the pool as it finds its new low level, and the south golf course trees begin to crackle, but you're mostly hearing your own yells and the roar of the truck's engine. 12:45 <tom> Is the truck still blaring string-and-drums hip-hop? 12:45 <Crion> Alright. Let's see here. Aster opens Huntr on the watch, then the secure tunnel to Bob's headset -- tag, you're it, I'm in. Now he's right up next to the client, and acting via proxy; two-stage protection. It's from here that Aster launches his psychic assault on this frankly dauntingly vast expanse of mind. 12:45 <Quaker> It is, it’s only been about a minute since the truck leapt forward. 12:46 <Crion> ...But he's got a lot of heat to funnel through the connection and out into the void. 12:48 <hrolf> Rolf rummages in his backpack, and pulls out a particularly bizarre looking grenade. There's a switch on it, and as he flicks it on it begins flashing, colors running down over the surface. He pulls a pin out with his teeth, steps forward...and hurls it at the coalescing naiad in the lake. 12:49 <Crion> To the others: "I've got a stable proxy but I don't know how many times I want to poke this thing with my brain." 12:49 <banana> The Wintergreen Process is reproducible. 12:50 <banana> Is your subject some projected portion of a vast extraterrestial intelligence? It can still be gouged and torn. The form of the naiad which had been coming for the truck stops, midair, fighting a new mental battle. It lashes out, blasting power back at Aster in a form he doesn't understand as well, but Reveille does something - says "ow!" - and it's gone. 12:56 <tom> Speaking of gone. Bob’s eyes are dull behind his visor, crouched low in the back of the truck to keep the launcher angled up at the furious standing wave- literally standing, threatening to crest the truck and crash down upon them with lethal force. His hands are working, pulling up the next harpoon and slamming it into the muzzle of the mounted gun with practiced speed. 12:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie focuses on the bag. She can't set the lake on fire... but bismuth burns. The scrap metal inside the split-open sack starts to glow faintly blue. 12:56 <tom> Gunner, tank, HEAT! 12:57 <Quaker> Amjad takes his foot off the petal for a moment, letting the truck’s speed lower by ten or so miles per hour, and then he swings the wheel around - letting the truckbed swing around broadside for a clear shot, much closer this time, at Eridani. 12:58 <tom> “GIMME SOME JUICE! BADAWI!” 12:59 <Quaker> Badawi grabs the wires with her gloves and wraps them around the javelin in Bob’s launcher, and then she puts the alligator clamps on and hits the switch - the generator has enough current so that the clamps spark where attached. “It’s live!” 13:00 <tom> “NOWNOWNOW-” BRWONK 13:00 <banana> The lowered reservoir pool below ripples from the force of the physical and mental projectiles passing over it. On the far side, southwest of the battle, there are lights, a couple of people out in the streets - still quite some way away. 13:01 <Quaker> By the time the javelin goes sailing out the launcher, Badawi slams another live one home, rear-end first, and then she picks up a sparking spear for herself. “Amjad, keep us close!” 13:02 <Quaker> The assault playlist ticks over, and the speakers are playing another song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOHlbysYcFc 13:03 <VoxPVoxD> Between the music and the flashing lights, there's quite a festival atmosphere to this. As office christmas parties go, she's been to worse. 13:05 <tom> The mounted gun tears itself apart with the final shot, the improvised coilgun peeling itself back like Elmer Fudd’s now-defunct shotgun after Bugs’ spiked the dang thing with a carrot. Bob’s swearing, but he doesn’t have time to beat the burning flakes of metal from his hair; he’s already raising his cut-down Mjolnir, the back of his poncho whipping with the burst of compressed 13:05 <tom> steam screaming from the battery rig. 13:06 <VoxPVoxD> Oh! While she's waiting for the bismuth to cook, Willie pulls out her phone. She might not get another chance with non-molten hands. 13:07 <tom> The back of the truck flares brilliant indigo blue. Those in the know will cover their ears. 13:07 <Quaker> Badawi scrambles to close the little window to the cabin. 13:07 <banana> Another bismuth javelinhead sinks into the watery form and explodes, electrified by the truck engine. By the time Bob fires, bloody red lines are forming and dissipating in the water, a hex-based network of pain as it struggles to hold together. 13:07 <tom> Lightning strikes at the Gorton reservoir; a concentrated molecule-wide beam of incandescent destruction cuts through the black water. 13:08 <tom> Even with the earpro, Bob’s ears will ring for days. 13:12 <banana> The being of water raises its arms to the night sky. Its face, mirroring Reveille's (if somewhat drippier), is contorted in what looks initially to be anguish but solidifies into resolve. A constellation begins to flash on and off, neon billboard to the stars. 13:14 <banana> Northwest of the truck's route, where the laser hit, a burning tree splits and comes apart. Crawling out of it comes an alien plant-form, a tentacled vorloth, sly cunning in its rubbery face. "Great One," the fauna-entity bellows. "It seems you need our aid after all!" 13:14 <Quaker> Badawi slaps her head to clear the ringing in her ears, and opens the window yet again. “Hey! It’s summoning more aliens - can you get them to fuck off? They hate that thing out there as much as we do!” 13:14 <banana> The vorloth waves several tentacles magnanimously. Reveille says, "Metabiotics." 13:17 <banana> Water ripples on the caleban's surface. Its structure stabilises, somewhat- the poisonous metal dissolved in there is still inhibiting it, and flickers of electricity spark up now and then. 13:18 <Crion> Aster: "Bob turn your head slightly right, please. Yes, I see it now." 13:18 <Crion> 13:18 <Crion> His mind lances out at this much smaller, much weaker target. 13:19 <banana> The initial reaction from the slightly-alien mind is amusement. <But you're not even-> 13:19 <banana> <under the conceptual reality behind this reality you must want these waves to drag you away> 13:20 <banana> It thrashes, all sense leaving it, struggling to even remain intact. 13:22 <banana> Reveille to Amjad: "It's actually working. They're actually hurting her, killing her." 13:22 <banana> Willie's phone beeps. 13:22 <hrolf> Rolf grunts as he swings the big fahcking gun around towards the primary target. It's not hard to hit. Beams of electricity arc out, plasma streams of pure white slashing through the air. 13:22 <VoxPVoxD> Aha! 13:23 <VoxPVoxD> Let's see what the man in Calais has to say. 13:24 <banana> ε Eridani, Gliese 144 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsbwAGZHybA - Get this streaker off the field. This is a professional set, not a tourist attraction. 13:25 <Quaker> Amjad grunts as he spins the truck around to keep the bulk of the cabin between his boss and the floating thing. “Keep concentrating miss, please, thank you-“ 13:25 <VoxPVoxD> That's two Muse tracks, both for starpeople. Interesting. 13:29 <tom> “KEEP IT FUCKING STEADY!!” Bob shrieks from the back of the truck as the carabiner tethering him to the truckbed snaps taut from the force of the truck’s turn. 13:35 <Quaker> Badawi braces her foot on the edge of the bed as the truck finishes its turn and speeds away at an angle, and casts. 13:35 <Quaker> The length of metal is vaulted through the air, passing through Eridani’s head. 13:35 <banana> The truck is leaving the caleban behind a little, moving rapidly toward Rolf's assault position. It flashes past the vorloth, which just.. burbles. It's shaking and spewing out sap; conscious, but Aster destroyed its ability to think. 13:37 <tom> The coolant vents on the battery pack have melted right through the back of Bob’s mirrored poncho. Burning hot liquid plastic is rolling down Bob’s back, through the gaps in the kevlar jacket, stinging his skin. Doesn’t care. 13:38 <tom> The MJOLNIR hits with a clap of thunder, briefly shrouding the Caleban in gouts of steam that quickly turn to frost in the winter night. 13:49 <Quaker> Amid the chaos, the truck’s assault playlist ticks over to the last track (3/3): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjRi-S7J70Y 13:50 <Quaker> Badawi hammers on the cab’s roof - “Closer! It’s running!” - before a bizarre and unsettling feeling washes over her. 13:51 <banana> Wracked by poisons and blasts of electricity, the avatar of Epsilon Eridani howls soundlessly. It raises the mental volume to a level that only Amjad and Rolf's protections can fully block out. <Your minds are made things! You are smaller than angels! Raise you spears to your own neck!> 13:52 <Crion> Aster screws up his face as he takes this one fully on the chin, but his reponse, in his brain, echoing in that other brain, is calm: <Fuck you.> 13:53 <banana> Mary: "God damn! Aaaaaaag. This is, it's fucking metal, but OW." Only her seatbelt stops her from pitching into the windscreen or Amjad. The blanket of telepathy shrouds all your minds, helping to ward away the massive blow... in part. 13:53 <banana> The caleban's coercive power overwhelms and drains people, driving Aster almost to his knees, making Badawi feel ways she hasn't in years.. but you're all okay. 13:53 <Quaker> She’s felt dissasociation before, but this is slightly different. It’s like her eyes are a pair of heavy venetian blinds, being opened and closed rapidly so that the world comes through in a stuttering strobe. A moment passes, and she opens her eyes again, and she’s drawing the blade of her spear across her palm, deep enough to leave a very minor cut. 13:53 <tom> Bob doesn’t feel much different. 13:54 <hrolf> Rolf, on comms: "Wot's going on? Check in if you still 'ave functionin brain cells." 13:54 <Crion> He can feel the power gather again in the space behind his eyes. <But while I have you here:> 13:54 <tom> Bob: ”YEAh yeah I hear ya.” 13:54 <VoxPVoxD> Eridani's wails crash against an unmoved Willie. "The hell I am!" 13:54 <Quaker> Badawi: “Psychic attack, we’re fine-“ 13:55 <Crion> This Talon is the one that breaks the dam, freeing the waters beyond, unleashing a deluge of...nothing. Behind the last of the thing's mental defenses is some kind of great, occluded superstructure. 13:56 <banana> The bright light in the caleban's eyes flares again, more laser blasts screaming silently into the sky - and then goes out. 13:57 <banana> The shape of water, frozen in place by the resonant frequencies of the Human Office grenade, falls onto the bridge, some way out of the path of the truck. It doesn't clunk, or bounce, or splash. 13:57 <banana> 100,000 cubic metres of water remain, for now, compressed into the form of a liquid statue. 13:58 <Crion> Aster collapses against the railing. "It's gone. I think it's done." 13:58 <tom> Bob thumps the cab of the truck. 13:58 <VoxPVoxD> "YES!!!!" 13:58 <VoxPVoxD> Who's closest? Rolf is closest. Willie gives Rolf a big hug. 13:58 <banana> Reveille's presence has vanished from your minds too, but she's still there physically, yanking on the doorhandle as Amjad slows. 13:58 <Crion> Aster: "We need to get the...corpse?...into the water. For when it loses form." 13:59 <hrolf> Rolf, surprised, pats Willie on the back awkwardly. 13:59 <Crion> Can we even move the thing? 13:59 <banana> Aster can go over and shove at it. But on his way, he'll notice it's already starting to sink into the ground. 14:00 <Quaker> Amjad drives onto the bridge, opposite Aster’s 4WD. 14:00 <banana> Not, like, dissolving; the tarmac is deforming beneath the immense weight. 14:00 <Crion> Ah, fuck. 14:00 <Crion> "We need to get away from here." 14:00 <Crion> "When that thing loses shape, it's gonna do so explosively." 14:00 <hrolf> Rolf: "Into the getaways, clear the AO. Move move move!" 14:00 <Quaker> Badawi doesn’t even need to use the radio since everyone’s right there: “Let’s get the fuck out of here! Drive back to the Box!” 14:01 <hrolf> He follows his own instructions, hoping into the back of the 4WD. 14:01 <Crion> Aster's getting behind the wheel already. 14:01 <banana> Reveille: "Ah christ, okay." Halfway out, she gets back in. 14:01 <tom> Bob slumps down into the back of the truck behind the cab, one arm dangling over the side. 14:01 <tom> His job’s done. 14:01 <Quaker> Amjad scoots between the bridge’s guardrails and Aster’s ride, already gaining speed and heading towards the expressway towards the city. 14:02 <Quaker> Badawi sits down in the truckbed, feeling the wind on her face, and throws her earplug out onto the road. 14:02 <banana> Bob runs the numbers in his head. The volume of missing water, gravitationally compressed just so.. the dent forming in the road... mm, looks like about a hundred tonnes? 14:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie runs to her car. 14:02 <tom> Okay so, let’s calculate the pressure differential. 14:03 <Crion> When he's got everyone he's responsible for, Aster will make for the main road, and upon reaching it, eventually begin fastidiously following local road ordinances. 14:04 <Quaker> Badawi texts Octocat: <Caleban is dead, expect minor flooding in area> 14:04 <tom> His headset clicks on: ”Ground zero’s gonna be a fifty-yard radius, ish.” 14:04 <banana> Reveille to Amjad: "May I use this radio?" 14:04 <tom> A meter is basically a yard. Right. Right? Right. 14:05 <Quaker> Amjad: “Be my guest. Is it dead for good?” 14:05 <Quaker> He’s lowered the obnoxiously loud music and unplugged the exterior speakers. 14:05 <banana> Reveille: "There was no mind there at all. Just a total snuff job by the boy from Boston. All that power, attached to this fragile form.. until it wasn't." 14:06 <Quaker> Amjad: “Mr. Aster is from Philadelphia.” He knows because Badawi asked him to go and pick up one half of the christmas gift list with her card. 14:07 <hrolf> Rolf feels the wind through his hair as they speed through the night. It'd feel a lot better without that itch on the back of his head. "Job well done lads...err, can someone drop me off at a garbage dump or somefink?" 14:08 <banana> Reveille flicks on the radio, speaking to everyone. "Thank you. A weird sci fi monster that wanted to kill or fuck or brainwash me.. is gone, and everyone lived. Now you get rich." 14:08 <Quaker> Badawi has made her way to the floor of the truckbed, on her back and looking up at the sky, feet braced so she doesn’t slide back. 14:08 <banana> "We've got 700k saved and borrowed, that goes out immediately to the escrow account you gave Lindsay; then, album pre-sales start when we head out on tour. Goes anything like we hoped and I'll give you another million pounds.. each. Should be late Jan"BLORP 14:08 <banana> The last bit of her speech is interrupted by the noise of a lot of water moving very, very fast, quite a long way behind you. 14:08 <tom> Scientific progress goes blorp 14:09 <banana> The causeway will be gone entirely, when someone manages to inspect it, but the reservoir's basically intact, and you were on the golf side of the pool so the housing estate dwellers are fine. You can't say the same for the 11th through 13th holes. 14:10 <VoxPVoxD> Ahahahahaha! Ahahahahaha!!!! 14:10 <Crion> Acceptable casualties. 14:13 <banana> Eventually, someone will find the vorloth. 14:13 <banana> That's a story for another time. 14:14 <Crion> It got its mind back as soon as Aster left. He didn't finish it off. 14:14 <Crion> Hopefully that wasn't a mistake.