06:53 <banana> "I'd rather learn now than never," says Mari from the bathroom. She's rummaging around in the medicine cabinet. 06:53 <banana> "But last night would have been better, baby. We could both have got more sleep." 06:54 <tom> Bob is lying face down on the bed. Into the pillow: "Yeah." 06:55 <tom> "You can throw the vial away. I remember the cocktail." 06:55 <banana> "What? No, I'm not making more meth. This is mirtazapine." 06:56 <banana> "It'll suppress withdrawal for quite a while. Should help you taper. But it won't give you.. whatever the army drug was giving you." 06:56 <tom> "S'fine." He thumps his head down on the pillow. 06:57 <banana> Mari: "It's not fine for you to feel like shit. I mean it's normal, this is 2021, but it's not fine." 07:00 <tom> "Thanks, hun." He'll try to fall back asleep. What time is it? 07:02 <tom> He springs out of bed. Oh shit! He's supposed to be scouting Inchcape! 07:03 <banana> It's past lunchtime, so Bob's technically had plenty of sleep.. he just doesn't feel like it. That's withdrawal for you. 07:05 <tom> He'll take a quick cold shower, apologizing to Mari as he rushes his routine. The stubble can wait for a shave. It's not like they'll be seeing it under the mask. Fuck. He's going to look like he's trying to kidnap a governor. 07:07 <banana> Mari's got the drug ready in a tisane. Bob, in her opinion, can slow down a bit. "What's on today?" 07:08 <tom> "Scouting for a job." He gives her a knowing look, holds up a hand with the index and middle finger wiggling like a pair of fangs. 07:09 <tom> He's starting to look a little concerned, though: "Now you were careful, getting that, yeah?" 07:09 <banana> "Are you doing something involving the Vampires? As in the Night Mayor's court?" 07:09 <tom> "Yes and no," Respectively. 07:11 <banana> Mari: "That's probably good. I can't say it would be wrong, to hunt vampires," And she can't even say it wouldn't be cool. "But the Court is supposedly very powerful." 07:11 <banana> Bob didn't even know she knew it existed. 07:12 <tom> Figures, though, doesn't it? How can any true former fanfic writer not want the juicy vampire deets? 07:12 <tom> Writer, reader, whatever. Bob's not here to quibble. 07:13 <tom> "Yeah I'm not planning on tangling with 'em. We're gonna see what the job is about." 07:13 <banana> Willie doesn't need to dress yet. Midnight is many hours away, and this is just an expedition to a public park. Somewhere in Salford, near enough to the address, open enough to fly a kite... 07:14 <banana> Is she picking up Bob, or are they travelling separately? 07:15 <VoxPVoxD> Noon is the latest she's woken up since the pandemic started. She feels well and truly hollowed out, even though that comes later. She's hiding behind shawls, sweats, and sunglasses. She offered to pick Bob up, dreading the response. What did he say? 07:16 <tom> He's in his street clothes, same snug jacket, stupid sunglasses. He's got the drone on his back, wings popped out and folded at its side, wrapped up in duct tape. 07:16 <tom> <sure> 07:17 <banana> The drugged tea is taking away some of Bob's fuzz. Mari said, "More than 48 hours of this stuff would have side effects. That's not a medical opinion, but.. a little bird told me." After that he'll have to find an alternative or do some more sweating. 07:19 <VoxPVoxD> Then the green Volvo is outside Bob's place at the appointed time. 07:22 <tom> He slings the fuselage off his back and slides it into the backseat of the volvo. It's clearly a commercial model, just spray-painted over in matte black. A large cut has been made into the bottom of the 'cockpit', where now dwells a plexiglass dome containing a camera on a free-spinning gimbal that jitters with each bump on the road. 07:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "...how are you doing?" 07:23 <VoxPVoxD> It's a sheepish question, asked after several minutes of silence. 07:23 <tom> He pops the door and sits down next to Willie. Beaming: "Great! Missed getting to fuck around with this thing." 07:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks at Bob, blinking rapidly behind her big dark glasses, and then smiles. "I cannot tell you how deeply I am in your debt." 07:25 <tom> "Oh, don't thank me until we're driving outta Inchcape with a bill of sale or whatever." 07:25 <tom> "Still need to see if I can get this thing working with Huntr." 07:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Do you think Richard told the others?" 07:25 <VoxPVoxD> "I didn't get any messages." 07:26 <tom> He'll gesture over the seat back at the pile of equipment in the backseat. "You really think he wants to throw a live grenade onto the floor before he's even gotten his second paycheck? I don't think so." 07:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "He might if he thought it was the difference between him getting a second paycheck or not." 07:28 <banana> The ride's not long; Bob lives much closer to the chosen park than Willie does. After ten minutes of a no-traffic afternoon you reach a green space a few hundred metres from The Close. 07:28 <VoxPVoxD> "And he was very hurt by how I spoke to you. So he'd have been within his reason to do it for that reason alone." 07:28 <VoxPVoxD> "Here we are." 07:29 <tom> "Pfff," Bob waves the idea away. "Ha, well he shouldn't be. I mean, hell," He breathes in sharply. "I'm sorry- I keep forgetting it's not FORT anymore." 07:29 <VoxPVoxD> Reason to reason. Christ. Get it together, Minnie. The fierce and the foul won't be impressed by elocution like that. 07:29 <tom> "I am not trained for cross-cultural diplomacy." 07:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We have a lot to learn." 07:30 <VoxPVoxD> "All of us do, but... perhaps you and I especially." 07:30 <VoxPVoxD> "So how does this thing work?" 07:31 <VoxPVoxD> "It's not... do other things broadcast on this frequency? Is there any risk of knocking signals down?" 07:32 <tom> "Oh, it's no trick. There's just a little motor and and a radio linked to the flaps and the cameras." 07:32 <tom> "Got an arduino, a wifi hub.." 07:33 <tom> He's talking as he's ripping rubber bands away, slotting the wings into the holes along the fuselage. 07:34 <tom> The little engine whines shittily. 07:35 <banana> Does Bob have a monitor, or will he have to show Willie the place through his glasses? 07:35 <tom> He hucks the damn thing straight up. It stalls, falls, swoops, and baaarely makes it out from the bushes and shrubs to climb fatly airborne. 07:36 <tom> "Here, there's a streaming app you can just get quick." 07:37 <tom> "Eventually I wanna put the whole thing through Huntr but we're on the clock here." 07:37 <tom> Willie's phone recognizes a new wifi device: "SWEEPER" 07:38 <tom> It's nice! Bob just looks like another yuppie playing with his new toy. Which in a way is completely accurate. 07:38 <VoxPVoxD> Which, one supposes, makes Willie look like his faintly amused girlfriend. 07:39 <tom> He finally answers her question: "Yeah I mean, someone could uh, jam it up." 07:39 <tom> "But I'm not really worried about them having AWAC support at this juncture." 07:39 <tom> "We can always encrypt it if I can get my hands on a bigger radio set." 07:39 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods. The app's done downloading, so she looks on with her phone. 07:40 <banana> Once it's in the air, the drone doesn't have far to fly. It can stay high above Salford and cross to a little valley, another green space full of trees - but this one's not a public park. It's an estate right in the city, with a large compact manor-house and a few outbuildings. 07:41 <tom> "Here, it's just coming on now.." Bob angrily taps his visor, and the buffering block of nothing filling most of his left eye resolves into a dull green box containing buildings, trees, and pedestrians. 07:41 <banana> On the approach, you can tell Manchester's out there somewhere: https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/inchcape-sky.jpg 07:41 <tom> "Cool." He switches the view to thermal and back. 07:41 <banana> Close-up shots give the impression of being out in the countryside, at a stately home: https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/inchcape-day.jpg 07:42 <tom> It's not like he expects to see a lot of vampires outside just after noon. 07:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie can practically hear the organ music. 07:42 <tom> "You getting it?" 07:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Looks quite isolated." 07:42 <tom> There's a little square box at the center of the screen. Bob manipulates the visor and the camera zoooms on in. 07:43 <banana> You can't see any people around. There might be a bit of movement around the left wing- in what kind of spectrum does the drone see? 07:44 <tom> Bob will look for the obvious- powerlines (frustratingly, a lot of electricity infrastructure in this country seems to be underground. Which complicates sabotage), backup generators, security structures. 07:44 <tom> It's not an advanced FLIR pod- it can see in visible light and infrared, with reduced visual acuity. The best he can hope to get is a peek at heat sources or a flicker of movement through a window. 07:45 <banana> There's definitely piping running from the back building to the main manor - white PVC stuff that probably carries cables. 07:46 <banana> In the woods around the manor are a few odd heat sources. Clusters of security cameras on poles, and patches of earth that are *too* cold - probably underground structures. 07:46 <tom> Good to know if he was planning an assault, certainly. But the plan's to play this nicely. 07:46 <tom> "Woods out back are camm'd up." 07:46 <tom> "Some sort of underground stuff out there too. I don't think they want us poking around there, though." 07:46 <banana> You can at least write down the routes out of the place to the carpark, but... there don't seem to be any side or back doors. 07:46 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If they take us underground, will you use connection to the drone? Will it fall from the sky?" 07:48 <tom> "Might lose connection. S'no biggie, it's set up to swing around in a big ole circle overhead," he helpfully illustrates, his hand describing a wide loop in the air. 07:48 <tom> "It'll run out of fuel after about a half hour but it weighs like two pounds. It'll just glide into some bushes. I can just go fish it out of some dude's lawn." 07:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "As long as there won't be an incriminating crash." 07:49 <tom> "It's just a model airplane," he grins. 07:49 <tom> "One thing," he mutters. "Looks like there's only one way in and out." 07:49 <tom> "They've bricked out all the side exits." 07:50 <tom> "That place is not OSHA compliant." 07:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie nods. Her mouth is set in a flat, grim line. 07:50 <banana> The sun is starting to set real early up here. By the time Bob needs to bring in the drone for refuelling, a few lights are starting to come on in the manor building. https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/inchcape-evening.jpg 07:50 <banana> But midnight is still six hours away. 07:51 <banana> Nobody's come outside or moved on the grounds. The sun is still up. 07:52 <tom> Bob will be happy to be dropped off at the flat to suit up. He'll agonize over his choice of mask, before finally settling on the cheap plastic rebreather, so he looks like a cosplayer instead of an active shooter. 07:53 <tom> It takes him more time than he'd like to set up the vocoder, and ends up just kinda roughly jamming the thing onto the inside of the rebreather and lashing it in place with more greytape. 07:54 <tom> It's one of the big stupid ones, with the drum filters. 07:54 <tom> But if he's supposed to go all-out... he'll bring the flack jacket. 07:54 <VoxPVoxD> Willie has to go home to get dressed. In the shower she briefly entertained the idea of calling up the coronet, and was briefly entertained by the thought. The gown needed air, and the box the box the jewellery box is in is in was wedged all the way under the bed. 07:55 <tom> Baseball cap. Polo. Gas mask. Aviators. Bluejeans. Aw yeah, that's a 'fit. 07:56 <tom> For the sake of not lighting up every god damn policebox in Eccles, he'll have all this shit in a big duffel bag that he'll haul into the back seat of the Volvo as Willie pulls up. 07:57 <banana> Mari texts. <Still feeling okay? I'm here for the long haul. We've got a study group doing flashcards for tomorrow and it's just swot, swot, swot.> 07:58 <tom> <yeah actually. got to go to the park and get some rc time in. nice.> 07:58 <banana> Sergio doesn't. But he told Willie: Inchcape, midnight, that he'd meet her on the drive (and you know where that is now, another country-style touch). 07:58 <tom> <gotta turn the phone off though, ill text u later o.k.?> 07:59 <banana> <I'm sealing that. (Oath joke.)> 07:59 <tom> <pact sealed> He turns his phone off. 07:59 <VoxPVoxD> Couple of hours on hair, an hour on makeup. Lucky the gown is backless, so she can get dressed alone. The most preposterous thing in the world is seeing this stunning woman in fox-fur stole and silver silk, glittering with diamonds in the dark like the final thoughts of a dying android, driving a 40 year old car. Her gloves alone are worth more than the vehicle. 08:00 <VoxPVoxD> She doesn't look Bob in the eye as he gets in. Not that she even can, in that mask. 08:01 <tom> Of course, the moment he's in: "H-holy shit. Oh wait-" He fiddles with the vocodor. Click: "Holy shit." 08:01 <tom> The voice comes through in a kind of fuzzy, inhuman synth. 08:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles just a bit at that. 08:02 <tom> He'll get in and start putting on his shit, apologizing profusely in that deeply unsettling synthetic tone. 08:02 <VoxPVoxD> "Ready?" she asks. The drive is short. 08:03 <tom> Click: "Hundred percent." 08:03 <tom> He doesn't have a helmet, so the baseball cap will do. That, the glasses, the mask, there's barely any skin showing. 08:04 <VoxPVoxD> Von zeit zu zeit seh ich den Alten gern, und huete mich mit ihm zu brechen... 08:04 <VoxPVoxD> The Volvo glides off into the night. 08:05 <tom> He fiddles with his gun while she drives. Click: "What, no music?" 08:05 <tom> "You have five seconds to put something on before I play trash." 08:06 <VoxPVoxD> "Fine." 08:06 <VoxPVoxD> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt8VYOfr8To 08:07 <tom> Willie's seen the gun before, just not this close. Lord, it is an ugly thing, all pipes and ugly welds, the exact same matte black as the drone. There's a square suppressor can on the end- is that an old oil can? 08:07 <banana> Inchcape by night. Most of the lights are out again, but there's movement now. Cars in the tastefully hidden parking lot, small groups of shadowed figures in the gardens. The main drive presents a vision that's inviting, but... https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/inchcape-night.jpg 08:08 <tom> He twists the barrel, and the shotgun comes apart. He tucks the two pieces under each arm. 08:09 <banana> Other cars are arriving, even though it's very late at night. Most of them are many times as expensive as Willie's, and they disgorge well-dressed figures, who make their way to the sole entrance ahead of you. Quiet noises drift on the chill midnight air - there's laughter as well as solemnity. 08:10 <tom> He's just vibing in the passenger seat, bobbing his head to the music. 08:12 <banana> Sergio Bonasera - the man in the photograph - is waiting by one of the patio lights. He has something in his hands and he's looking off into the woods, which are dark apart from the little red LEDs of cameras. But unless Bob's going to act as a valet, Willie will have to continue past the manor to the carpark. 08:12 <tom> "There's ya boy." 08:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's already asking Bob to risk his life. She can't in good conscience make him drive. 08:13 <tom> Click: "One-sixty, twenty meters." 08:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie lets herself glance in Sergio's direction as she passes, and Bob can see a smile creep over her face. 08:14 <banana> Somewhere above Inchcape, the drone circles. It sees lights, cars and catches the end of the music. 08:14 <banana> There are half a dozen people at the doors or making their way inside and none of them emits body heat. 08:15 <VoxPVoxD> Then she parks, checks her hair and jewels in the rearview mirror, and gives herself a futile three breaths to still her frantic heart. 08:15 <VoxPVoxD> Then... it's time. 08:16 <tom> Bob's tapping his visor idly, flipping the drone's camera between visible to infrared and back. He'll order the thing into a tight circuit overhead, keeping an eye on the carpark for new arrivals. 08:16 <tom> Bob turns to Willie for instruction. 08:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Stay at my shoulder. Whichever shoulder gives you a clearer firing line. Don't speak unless spoken to. I will introduce you as Bob. I'll say, 'say hello, Bob', and you can make whatever sound you deem appropriate." 08:19 <tom> He nods and follows her out of the car. 08:21 <VoxPVoxD> How's Sergio dressed? 08:21 <tom> He'll shadow her out into the pack of vampires with the confidence only a man with a shotgun hidden in his jacket can have. 08:28 <banana> Sergio's wearing a white flower at his breast and golden cufflinks. He smells faintly of rose-water. He steps out into the shadow of the manor's left wing as you approach, rounding the corner - so that instead of on the patio, you're meeting by the airconditioners. Alone, temporarily. 08:28 <banana> He nods a little at Bob but his gaze is fixed on Willie. "I'm so glad you came." 08:28 <tom> Sergio sees his blurred reflection in the man's sunglasses. His features are hidden beneath the rebreather, but he's a wiry dude. A bit twitchy, tonight, too. But he's got a ballistic vest on under his coat, and more besides. 08:28 <tom> He'll return the nod. Bro code. 08:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie takes him in, takes a step towards him... and stops herself. "What's the protocol?" 08:29 <banana> Sergio doesn't even notice it, because as Willie gets closer he does a double-take. That's a lot of diamonds, and they go so well with her skin in the moonlight... 08:30 <tom> Bob isn't offended. 08:30 <banana> Sergio: "I can tell you most things now that you're here, but we have to be quick. Lingering too long will raise questions." 08:30 <banana> "The first thing you need to know is about porphyric haemophilia." 08:32 <tom> Bob scans the crowd. Is there anyone, by chance, wearing a cape? 08:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie feigns confusion. She approaches something like the look of gentle incredulity you find on great television news interlocutors, like Paxman or that dough-faced dullard from American news that everyone's always mad at on Twitter. 08:33 <VoxPVoxD> "Are you ill?" 08:33 <VoxPVoxD> "You hide it very well." 08:34 <banana> He has to use the drone feed to do it - you're out of sight of the others for now. They're dressed well, in current styles, not like caped stereotypes. It looks like a high-society party that's starting even later than is fashionable. 08:34 <tom> Damn. There's gotta be... 08:34 <tom> Ah well. 08:35 <tom> Is there anyone on the drone feed showing up particularly grainy? 08:35 <banana> Sergio: "It's a society of vampires, Willie. Maybe you've heard hints, at events, from your family... maybe not. That's the truth." 08:35 <tom> Some vampires have it harder than others. It's hard to say if it really means anything... but it is visually interesting. 08:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie stares at Sergio in silence. 08:36 <tom> Obviously facial recognition is right out. But the Pentagon spent a lot of money on this system, so knowing which is which isn't as hard as you might think. 08:37 <banana> Bob watches people as they come in, on the glasses, and Sergio with his eyes. Some of the vampires arrive with others who aren't like them, but there's at least one of the undead in each group that comes. He's not seeing extra-graininess anywhere, actually. Maybe they aren't super strong vampires? 08:37 <tom> It's possible. It could just be different over here. Who knows? 08:37 <banana> Sergio: "I'm thirty-five, but I stopped properly aging several years ago. Like in the myths, our blood is deficient and the rest of us is strong." 08:38 <tom> In what shape are the humans showing up with their hosts? Is anyone visibly showing signs of distress? It might be hard to get a read on that from above... 08:39 <VoxPVoxD> After another silence that feels lengthier than it is: "I don't quite know how to take that. But focus: what happens now? Am I here as your companion? Shall I call you Sergio? Do you hold rank in this covenant? You and I will have far more time to... reach an understanding, than we and they." 08:43 <tom> Bob looks outwardly bored. Of course, you can't see his eyes, which are fixed directly on Sergio as he talks. 08:44 <banana> Sergio holds out a hand to Willie, palm up. There's a little pin in it, metal worked into a pen-and-lens design and covered in mother-of-pearl. 08:44 <banana> "Please call me Sergio. We're vampires, not cultists. My blood isn't particularly strong, but I'm respected for my art and for my ties to Simpson, who is an important man." 08:44 <banana> "That's an important point. There are only four people who matter, and only one of them really matters - the aristocrats. You know the joke with the fixed punchline? They're not like that." 08:45 <tom> Bob scratches his nose, taps the buttons on the visor's frame. The drone's camera locks on target, zooms in. 08:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie will let Sergio put the pin on her, if that's what it's for. She leans in close. "What are they like, then?" 08:46 <VoxPVoxD> "And what don't they like?" 08:46 <tom> Bob seems to relax. 08:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie feels Bob relax behind it, and Sergio sees her relax too. 08:47 <VoxPVoxD> *behind her 08:48 <banana> Sergio: "Ancient. So far beyond proper that they've wrapped around to informality. They're holding court today, making decisions and granting boons.. so I'm asking for one: allowing you our secrets." 08:48 <banana> "They don't like popular things. Mass culture, lowbrow appeal, tasteless or insulting people. Apart from that they're all different. Simpson's a visionary who wants to have control of other people and will willingly pay a cost to do so." 08:49 <banana> He's speeding up a little, running out of time. 08:49 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's keeping pace. 08:49 <tom> Then Bob should keep quiet. 08:49 <banana> The flow of cars has stopped, he notices. 08:51 <tom> Then Bob notices it too. The drone continues its lazy course overhead, invisible against the overcast night sky. 08:53 <VoxPVoxD> She will stop him just short of disrespectfully close to others. When he turns, she puts one hand on the back of his cold neck and pulls him down to her level for a deep kiss. Her forehead touches his as she whispers, "Whatever happens from this point on, know this: I have not regretted one moment of our time together." 08:54 <tom> Aww, that's cute. 08:55 <tom> Well, they both... seem earnest enough... 08:55 <banana> Sergio puts his face in Willie's neck and kisses a particular spot. "Good." 08:55 <VoxPVoxD> She shudders. 08:55 <tom> That puts him on guard a bit. 08:55 <banana> "The pitch is this: She's capable, beautiful and noble. They care a lot about noble. Trust... should follow." 08:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I will do my best. This is Bob, by the way. Say hello, Bob." 08:57 <tom> That's his cue. Click: "Sir." 08:58 <tom> He shifts his stance, sliding his hands down to his sides, where the jacket seems to bulge just so. 08:58 <VoxPVoxD> And away we go. 08:59 <banana> Sergio takes his hands off Willie's shoulders and turns to smile at the masked man. It's a pretty winning smile, actually, and he has that trick of making eye contact so you can see how sincere it is. 08:59 <tom> You watch your ass, pal. 08:59 <banana> "Nice to meet you, and I apologise for my distraction. Keep her safe, Bob." 08:59 <tom> His reticle lights up. 09:00 <banana> The visor chimes. The standard warning, covering half his vision. DO NOT DO WHAT THE ENE SAYS, etc, acknowledge receipt of this alert... 09:00 <tom> Try it, my dude. 09:04 <tom> bClick: "Sir." 09:04 <tom> Click 09:05 <banana> The three of you come around the corner just in time to make it look natural. Late arrivals, a greeting in the carpark. 09:06 <banana> There's still a greeter at the entrance - no body temperature - but she follows you in and the grand doors of Inchcape shut. 09:07 <tom> She's probably cute or whatever, but Bob's got a mission. 09:08 <tom> Later this kind of thinking will seem suspicious. 09:09 <tom> If there is a later. 09:09 <banana> Immediately inside the manor is an old stone foyer with cases full of false books and a dead fireplace. Sergio gestures toward the three exits. "The studio's that way. Once we've time, I'd like to show you some of the work we do." 09:10 <banana> "To the right is the Burglary School, but we're heading.. this way." Ahead, and through another fairly serious set of doors. Bob's starting to spot security systems everywhere. 09:11 <tom> The visor was blinking something earlier but he wasn't really paying much attention. Oh well. 09:11 <tom> Now he's back on, quietly tagging cameras with the interface. 09:11 <banana> The Inchcape interior aesthetic is luxury wood panelling, but there are cameras tucked discreetly into corners, things that look like sprinklers but aren't.. the walls are thick and the doors have biometrics. 09:12 <banana> Sergio's leading you downstairs, pointing Willie to paintings and joking about their provenance (this place was never, he says, a real family manor). The stairs are also heavy-duty. If someone dropped a bomb on the building, you could survive it. 09:14 <banana> Bonasera: "There are going to be a series of brief petitions - approaches to the throne. We're not the highest priority tonight." 09:15 <VoxPVoxD> Something changes on Willie's face as she crosses that threshold. It's like the pressure's changed. She looks up at him, eyes tracing the full lips over which has passed how much of her blood? And how much more to come? 09:15 <banana> Could this be... a bad idea? 09:15 <VoxPVoxD> "Of course," she says demurely. 09:16 <tom> He follows. 09:16 <tom> The reticle is boxing targets. He ignores it. 09:17 <banana> There are corridors, wooden doors and metal bars, thick carpets. This place goes places. For the most part you just plow straight ahead, coming to more security doors, guarded by people Bob pings as human. They're dressed in livery, with swords. 09:17 <tom> Fuck yes. 09:18 <tom> Hell yes! 09:18 <banana> Guard: "Who would enter the presence of Emily?" 09:19 <banana> "Sergio Bonasera of Clan Ventrue. Artist to the court." 09:19 <VoxPVoxD> Ahahaaha. She just got it. They turned him because they photograph so poorly. 09:19 <tom> He can't help look amused. Hopefully it doesn't show under the mask and aviators. 09:19 <tom> 'Emily', huh. 09:20 <VoxPVoxD> Is Willie introducing herself? 09:20 <VoxPVoxD> Or does Sergio's stand? 09:20 <banana> Sergio offers her his arm. "Tell them anything true." 09:20 <banana> It's not the most imposing name. Makes Bob think of a little girl or a beat poet. 09:23 <tom> That nervous twitch from before is barely a memory. Man, Bob is just having a great time. 09:23 <VoxPVoxD> She takes it with confidence. "Wilhelmine Dorothy Charlotte Wellesley, Marchioness Douro. Seventh child to the seventh generation of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke Wellington." 09:23 <tom> Later this will also be suspicious. 09:25 <banana> Sergio grins: "You might as well own it." 09:25 <banana> One guard bows, the other opens the doors. 09:27 <banana> There is a great hall with no windows. Pillars keep it up and provide convenient shadows in which to skulk. There are a large number of servants moving around the room - guards, like less bespoke Bobs, and handservants fetching and carrying. Refreshments are being provided. Some of the vampires are disappearing into side rooms, where there is music. Others line up, silent and pale, in a queue 09:27 <banana> down the centre of the room. 09:29 <banana> They all look very wealthy. Jewels adorn foreheads and necks and wrists. The servants carry silver platters. The hall is lit with long-life fluorescent strips, and those things are expensive. 09:29 <tom> About how many people is Bob's visor tagging in the room? And what rough percent are human? 09:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, sotto voce: "Fluorescents? No torches? No candles? Not even gaslamps?" 09:30 <banana> Right now there are nine vampires in the queue - and Sergio. Humans, or at least people with body temperature, outnumber them two to one. 09:30 <banana> At the end of the hall is a throne. 09:30 <tom> Nice. 09:30 <banana> It's large, somewhat ostentatious. Velvet and crystal and oak. 09:32 <banana> The whole thing is quite far away and you can't see well yet, but there are four people up there - one of them in the throne and the others at the sides or seated below it. Vampires slowly approach and make their offers and demands. Sergio beckons Willie forward (and by presumption, Bob). 09:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie follows. 09:32 <tom> He's sticking close. 09:32 <tom> He's kinda forgotten about the drone, but the pane is still up in his visor. 09:33 <tom> No ominous vans pulling up just outside of the manor's cams, right? 09:34 <banana> The petitioner up the front is asking: "..of the Cave and Spear, but they don't respect the edict. Emily, are we in a position to make demands yet? To show those damn low-church priests their understanding of fear is inadequate?" 09:34 <banana> Outside of Inchcape is quiet once again. Most of the exterior lights have been put out, and there's little sign that a gathering is now taking place indoors. 09:35 <banana> The rest of the line murmurs quietly. Sergio's about to point someone out, then he notices something: the man by the right side of the throne, leaning on it, is lit by a phone he's using. He's the only person in the room with a phone out, which is kind of unusual these days. 09:35 <tom> Then Bob will continue to stand in silence, keeping a respectful distance. 09:35 <banana> "Ah, yes." Sergio takes his own device out of a pocket to flick the toggle on the side of it. "You'll want silent mode." 09:36 <banana> "It took me years to work out how that thing operates.. cinema sins." 09:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie follows his eyes. Her phone is already on silent, in the little bag on the arm Sergio isn't holding. 09:38 <banana> Willie recognises two of the people up there, and one of them is the man with the phone. Simpson Kirkpatrick. 09:38 <VoxPVoxD> From where? 09:38 <banana> He's pretty forgettable, if tall, but he wears a dramatic frock coat and is doing a good job of acting a bored semi-authority. You've seen him... it probably was at Balmoral, or similar parties. In an exalted set. 09:40 <VoxPVoxD> And the other? 09:40 <banana> There's another guy Willie's seen at those kinds of events or maybe on television, lounging on the *floor* beneath the throne. He looks up adoringly at the woman who's sitting on it, paying no attention to the petitioners. She'd better appreciate it, because this man is effortlessly sexy. Catwalk model easily. 09:40 <VoxPVoxD> A slightly arch whisper to Sergio: "I am not dressed for that." 09:41 <banana> Standing to the left of the throne is an enormous man - all of these people are vampires, obviously, Bob can see that and Willie can guess - who is just best characterised as HUGE. Larger than professional wrestlers, taller than humans usually get. He has a sword too, on his back; it's about nine feet long. 09:41 <banana> Petitioner: "..yes, Emily. I will do it immediately." 09:42 <tom> Bob is in awe at the dude with the Berserk Sword. 09:42 <VoxPVoxD> Bob must be ecstatic at the sight of that behemoth. 09:43 <VoxPVoxD> Does she mean the sword or the guy? She's honestly not sure. 09:43 <banana> You advance in the queue and get a better look at the woman on the throne. She's shorter than any of her lounging lackeys, but she'd never be swallowed up in it; she exudes too much presence. She lounges, too, constantly shifting positions, almost flowing from one to another. She wears some sort of figure-tight lizardskin and a blood-red choker, with a circlet of the same colour on her brow. 09:43 <banana> Her eyes are green, including the pupils. It's not enchanting (and the visor doesn't chime). This is a fever-green, the kind of emeralds paid for in blood. 09:44 <tom> Sick. 09:44 <banana> Sergio: "You look better than everyone here." 09:45 <banana> Bob's not the only personal guard present and the others are curious about him. There's this woman with opera glasses around her neck and what looks like an MP5 by her side who keeps glancing back, checking out the gear. 09:47 <tom> Queen. I want one. 09:47 <tom> Bob, ashamed, will tuck his hands in his pockets and bring the coat together to hide his ugly weapon. 09:48 <tom> Bob clicks his visor. 09:49 <tom> Alright, Haldane. Let's see what your toy can do. 09:49 <banana> People come into the hall occasionally from side rooms. You catch a glimpse of dancing. Sergio's quiet as you progress; after a while he tells Willie, "I'm actually looking forward to this. The covenant has a lot to offer, and some people you'll like." 09:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I hope they see me in the same light." 09:50 <banana> As you get close, Bob scans the major players. It'll take a bit of time for all the tracks to be recorded and loaded up. 09:50 <tom> We've got time. 09:50 <banana> Sergio takes her hand for a moment and squeezes. "Should do. You're looking at more than two thousand years' combined judgment of character." 09:51 <tom> He switches over his visor's filters so it'll stop boxing vampires. I get it, bro. Settle down. 09:51 <banana> "One thousand? I'm not totally sure." 09:51 <banana> More people have joined the queue behind you - some of them were doing things in other rooms while the first few urgent questioners got their licks in. 09:53 <banana> There's just one pair of vampires in front of you now, who are asking: "..and so we should return the significant pieces? What if that doesn't take the heat off?" 09:55 <banana> The woman on the throne has a ringing voice with an archaic accent. "Then we will assert our rights in a way which is not so short-sighted. Hold your courage. All these spoils of theft were but a bonus." 09:55 <banana> Willie notices Sergio breathing out to centre himself.. or at least, his chest lowers and his nostrils flare. There's no actual corresponding puff of air. 09:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's completely unable to settle her heart down. But she hopes they will view her terror as a bonus. 09:56 <banana> Guard with an MP5, to Bob, quietly: "What's that under the jacket?" 09:56 <tom> Bob's pretty confident he could take most of these guys, the mooks, the hangers-on, even the ghouls. Anything more than that would be a big ask, with commensurate equipment. 09:57 <tom> Click:"Twenty gauge." 09:57 <banana> MP5 Girl: "Incendiaries?" 09:58 <tom> He nods. 09:58 <banana> "Nice. Keep it locked down though. I once lit a cig in front of the boss and he kicked it out of my hand, broke every bone." 09:58 <banana> There's suddenly nobody inbetween Willie and the throne. 09:59 <tom> Click: "Ma'am." 10:00 <VoxPVoxD> She stays even with Sergio by instinct, glancing in his direction to see if that's not intended. 10:00 <banana> He's stepping up, and if Willie stays on his arm, so is she. 10:00 <VoxPVoxD> Then it is, indeed, time to step up. 10:01 <banana> A green-eyed gaze falls on her, and the stare of the monster with the blade. The others watch, but they know who she is. 10:01 <banana> Sergio: "Emily, sire, lords. I'm back with something far more precious than last time." 10:02 <tom> The actual elders, no way Bob could take 'em. Not even a question. It'd be funny to see the kill cams, though. 10:02 <banana> The man with the phone and the frock coat says, "So introduce us before the lady's forced to take etiquette into her own hands." 10:02 <tom> He might get one shot off. 10:03 <banana> Sergio: "Of course-" 10:03 <banana> Simpson: "Actually, I know who I am. Simpson, Baron Weaste." 10:04 <tom> Destroyed. 10:04 <VoxPVoxD> A suburban barony? 10:04 <banana> Simpson, Baron Weaste, Primogen of Clan Ventrue 10:05 <banana> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqnkBdExjws 10:05 <banana> “He does what he can, and it’s starting to get results.” 10:06 <banana> Willie remembers where she's seen the man at the foot of the throne. He's dressed down from his model looks, in a classic but simple timber shirt, jeans and Converse. Last time, he was on the arm of the Dowager K_______ - a scandal for weeks. 10:06 <banana> "Fortunato," he says to her. "Baron Agecroft. Primogen of Clan Daeva." 10:07 <banana> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoCyRSWCP2s 10:07 <banana> “You can fool some the people all of the time.” 10:07 <banana> Sergio pauses to make sure they're done. 10:08 <banana> The green-eyed monster in the throne puts her chin on one fist. She has close-cropped blonde hair and, right now, a rakish grin. 10:09 <banana> Sergio: "Thanks, my lords. This is Wilhelmine Dorothy Charlotte Wellesley. She's going to go far." He glances at Willie - does she want to speak for herself? 10:09 <tom> Bob starts paying attention. 10:10 <banana> He's got text scrolling over one eye and a growing music selection. 10:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie lets go of Sergio's arm so she can curtsy deeply, as appropriate. "My esteemed lords. My incomparable lady." 10:11 <banana> Baron Weaste smiles encouragingly. Baron Agecroft is always smiling. 10:11 <tom> Should he bow? The fuck? 10:12 <tom> Whatever. Bob hangs back. 10:12 <banana> Enormous Swordsman: "And your man here?" 10:12 <banana> They didn't ask about anyone else's servants! 10:13 <tom> The man in the glasses turns to Willie for orders. 10:13 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "This is my man, Bob. Bob?" 10:14 <tom> Click, a chuckle: "Ladies, Gentlemen." He crooks an arm, bows. 10:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Sergio has told me so little about you all. And it is all so..." Deep breath. She looks around the room. Is there anyone in line behind her? "Alluring." 10:14 <banana> Sergio wets his lips. Apparently they can do that much. 10:15 <tom> The inhuman synth chuckle is eerie, but can't quite mask his nervousness. 10:15 <banana> There was a line. They've kind of.. dispersed a bit. Hanging back. 10:16 <banana> Swordsman: "You'll want to watch out for that. A lure's a lure." 10:16 <banana> Belatedly: "Carl, Baron Eccles." He grins... at Bob. 10:16 <banana> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlLKVYPblos 10:16 <banana> “Interchangeable. Attenuated. Effective.” 10:17 <tom> Oh. Oh, that's... bad. 10:17 <tom> Ever feel seen, folks? 10:18 <banana> Emily: "Sergio has done what he must, with an admirable wilfulness. He doesn't even know who you really are." 10:18 <banana> "I am Emily De La Warr. Parles-tu la langue Normande?" 10:22 <VoxPVoxD> That makes Willie feel less pressure, which may or may not have been the intent. <When spoken to.> 10:22 <banana> Sergio: "May we continue in English?" 10:22 <banana> Emily: <Non.> 10:22 <banana> Fortunato isn't capable of shitting himself laughing but he does a good impression of it. 10:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie reaches out to squeeze Sergio's hand comfortingly. 10:23 <banana> Nobody else is anywhere near the throne now. Weaste looks kind of pissed, but Eccles is impassive. 10:24 <banana> Bob.. cannot understand what they are talking about. But there's something on his visor. 10:24 <tom> Please, God, don't make me fight The Mountain today. 10:24 <banana> Emily De La Warr 10:24 <banana> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALcx7isf35w 10:24 <banana> “Leave them in doubt — Are we talking about the city? About the boy?” 10:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: <Forgive me, but I direly wish to avoid impertinence. The others have referred to you as simply Emily. Should I? It feels inadequate to the moment.> 10:26 <banana> Emily: <My name is what I have left, Lady Wellesley. It will do.> 10:26 <banana> <Apart from the tainted blood, we were given a night and a half to research you. Barely enough. To what extent are you humouring Bonasera's limerence?> 10:27 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: <I really am very fond of him. Past the hypnosis, past the mooning, evaporated like bad air off the Irk now... he is a man of wit, passion, and ability. He doesn't know that I have always known.> 10:28 <banana> Emily: <Well. There's nothing wrong with the lad now that we have Italians running around everywhere.> 10:28 <VoxPVoxD> <Not a thing.> 10:29 <VoxPVoxD> <I'm here to petition for access and integration, and I intend to do so. But I also have a proposal for you. For yours. If you would hear it.> 10:29 <banana> You're not sure how many of the aristocrats are following the conversation. Fortunato looks bored and begins to tap on the crystal parts of throne - it becomes music, somehow. 10:30 <banana> Emily: <I am here to listen to petitions. I haven't granted very many tonight, but you are brave.> 10:30 <banana> She switches to English. 10:31 <banana> "So you have a proposal. I'd like to hear that first. Carl, ready yourself in case of impertinence." 10:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Thank you, ma'am. First, a question: do you know of the Wolf-Mourners?" 10:31 <tom> Bob, who does not speak Norman French, is keeping one eye on the drone feed while they talk. 10:32 <banana> Sergio was already kind of pale, compared to how Willie's seen him in the past. He remains that way, and watches her with pleading eyes. For various reasons, he doesn't say anything. 10:32 <tom> He'll snap back to attention as they return to English, though. 10:32 <banana> De La Warr: "I do." 10:32 <tom> If the mood in the room starts to shift, he'll be the first to sense it. He feels like's on the top of his game tonight. 10:33 <tom> Sergio, at least, seems worried for her. Which means Bob probably should be too. 10:35 <tom> He's debating the hypothetical best first move if things go south. A flare at Fortunado, take that guy out of the fight? He looks like he might be a speedy guy. Or maybe he has mind control? Doesn't matter, both are priority one. He does not, at present, have any solution to the question posed by Eccles, however. 10:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Then you may know they had a spot of bother a fortnight back, when the blood moon wore thin the veil between Here and There. And there... bled through. The Mourners are few, even as the necessity of their work increases. And they reached out for helping hands. Our helping hands." 10:36 <tom> He'll eventually admit his best bet would probably be to shoot a flare in his eye and gun it. 10:36 <tom> Not a good bet, mind. But the best. 10:37 <banana> Emily: "That makes a modicum of sense.. hell's-daughter, foreign soldiers. You'd be able to do the work." 10:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We have a team. Specialists of diverse skills and backgrounds, cast off or moved-on from old roles set in opposition to the night-city, but with a new mandate. To serve it." 10:37 <banana> She gestures irritably to Bob, a come-hither that's as sexy as it is threatening. "Get up here man, you're involved in this." 10:38 <VoxPVoxD> "I believe we can be of great use to one another. And I believe you will respect our work." 10:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks back and nods at Bob. 10:38 <VoxPVoxD> She's still holding Sergio's hand. 10:39 <banana> Emily makes a rude noise with her lips. "Respect?" 10:39 <banana> Sergio, sadly: "Work?" 10:39 <tom> He moves instantly. 10:40 <tom> Bob is starting to get a pit in his stomach. 10:40 <banana> Weaste is still on his phone, but he's paying close attention to everything. So is Eccles, probably. 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We've had scarcely more time to look into you. We know that you're missing people. We believe we can find them. I want to forge a positive connection here tonight. I want you to hire us." 10:42 <tom> Well, that's that. Bob taps his interface as the drone ditches into the shrubs with an empty tank near the Volvo. 10:42 <tom> He closes out the stream. 10:42 <banana> Weaste: "'We', she says. Resourceful. Emily, if they can do it that's really all the qualification we'd need." 10:43 <banana> Emily frowns a little. "Have your lands run so dry that you're working as..." she looks at Bob. 10:44 <banana> "Well, describe it yourself." 10:44 <banana> Agecroft: "Euphemisms unwelcome." 10:44 <tom> He furrows his eyebrows and glances over to Willie. 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We are hunters. Hunters-for. Hunters-on-behalf. We believe the night-city needs us. And we believe — I believe — that we have a unique opportunity to be of service." 10:45 <tom> Turns back. There's really no way to intimidate these people. The voice doesn't sound cool.. it sounds cheap. 10:46 <tom> Well, here we go. Click: "Hired gun, good RV. Simple as." 10:46 <banana> Emily stretches her neck back and forth. It looks unnatural, but relaxing. "These are not the nights of old." 10:47 <banana> Weaste: "They'ren't." 10:48 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm not here on my family's behalf. My colleagues are called, by love or money. And I by the Blood. I live or die by one mandate, the only one by which I can be judged to succeed or fail, that can measure my merit and my worth, to my Blood or yours: I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul." 10:48 <banana> Emily: "It makes some sense for people doing what you do to be out in the world. For you, Lady Wellesley, it makes less sense, and you could come in from the cold... were it not for the Blood." 10:49 <banana> Agecroft: "The Turk could do something about that." 10:49 <banana> Emily: "She also doesn't want to." 10:49 <banana> Agecroft: "Ah, well. It's literally impossible to do something you don't want to do." 10:49 <VoxPVoxD> "I quite agree, Lord Agecroft." 10:49 <banana> He laughs, which sounds a little like a waterfall. 10:50 <banana> Weaste: "I don't, but I would dearly like to find the Gardeners." 10:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Our base rate is one million sterling." 10:51 <tom> Bob's got his eye on Sergio. How's the dude taking this? 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> Is he still letting Willie hold his hand? 10:51 <banana> Either Emily's a little taller than she was, or her bones have moved about. She puts one scale-gloved hand on each arm of the throne; Weaste and Eccles each reach out to touch her arms briefly. 10:52 <banana> On the other side of the conversation/situation, Sergio's hand is still in Willie's, but it's limp: he's concentrating, trying to work things out. Trying not to miss a word. 10:52 <VoxPVoxD> "Base, I know. But the canny know too: these are not the nights of old." 10:53 <VoxPVoxD> It's amazing how much more in control Willie feels when she's not trying to hold in a secret. 10:53 <banana> Emily: "I'd have Count Salford back for a million pounds. This is his home, you know. We have borrowed it." 10:53 <VoxPVoxD> Why does anyone ever lie? How can they stand it? 10:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "He will be grateful to have it back, I should think." 10:54 <VoxPVoxD> "Assuming that's your intention." 10:54 <tom> Bob can't help but feel smug at Sergio's expense. 10:55 <banana> The untitled elder addresses both Willie and Bob. "If you can find our missing friends, we can pay you... and we won't have to consider whether your Hunt is a threat." 10:55 <VoxPVoxD> She looks over at him. "What do you say, Bob?" 10:57 <tom> There's that crackling synthetic laugh again. "I like her offer better." 10:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "How can we be in contact? We'll need every scrap of information you can stand to spare." 10:58 <VoxPVoxD> "Perhaps through Sergio." 10:58 <banana> Emily: "Simpson, take them upstairs. Give them the basics and some sort of technology." 10:58 <tom> Bob will go where he's told, like a good soldier. 10:59 <banana> She smiles. It looks mean. "Sergio needs to answer a few questions for me. He can flirt after that, on his own time." 10:59 <tom> Click: "I bet he does." 10:59 <banana> Sergio: "Et tu, Bob?" 10:59 <banana> "Willie, I'll see you soon. Okay?" 10:59 <tom> Bob laughs and shakes his head. 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks adoringly up at Sergio. "I insist, darling." 11:00 <tom> Bob will shrug at Sergio. What can ya do? 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Lead on, Lord Weaste." 11:01 <banana> Petitioners, freed from their invisible conspiracy, start to form an orderly line once again. Emily De La Warr watches the hunters as they go, fiddling with the blood-red choker at her neck. Everything changes, eventually. 11:06 <banana> 'Upstairs' turns out to be the roof. Simpson Kirkpatrick watches his charges very carefully as they walk through Inchcape's halls, which are somewhat baffling; there are a lot of them, all furnished the same, and they twist back on each other. You see servants and other vampires doing god-knows-what. Most of them bow to Simpson.. and then one woman says, "oh", as if remembering something. 11:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie still feels phenomenally foolish, but Holy Hell what a rush. This is all the fun of a tractor explosion and none of the mess. 11:07 <banana> The Baron nods approvingly. "One moment." He leaves you where you are, technically allowing you to make mischief, as he opens a door and steps through it, taking the other vampire with him. 11:07 <VoxPVoxD> To Bob: "They knew about Satan. Everything sort of fell into place from there." 11:08 <VoxPVoxD> "Well, Emily did. No one told Sergio..." 11:08 <VoxPVoxD> "I hope he's not terribly hurt." 11:08 <tom> Bob pops off the vocoder mask and inhales sharply. "Oh wow I should have gotten new filters." 11:08 <tom> He hacks. 11:08 <tom> "Oh yeah that's cool. Did you see my neighborhood has a fucking Conan?" 11:09 <banana> There are four new entries in Willie's app. And everyone else's app, so as soon as someone takes a look at Huntr they're going to ask questions. 11:09 <banana> On the other hand, it's past midnight. Should be fine for now! 11:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie will have answers for them. "Ah, result," she says, thumbing through Huntr. "Quick thinking, Robert." 11:10 <tom> Good news, unless they're being led to their deaths right now, they'll have an official job. A real one, with a promise of pay. The others will be happy. Specifically, Aster. 11:10 <tom> He snorts. "Need to work up the courage to ask the misses." 11:10 <VoxPVoxD> Well, they'll be happier than they would be if Willie had been a fool who ruined everything, instead of just a fool. 11:12 <banana> The door opens. Baron Weaste closes it behind him, looking flushed. 11:13 <banana> It's weird to see one of the covenant's aristocrats without the other three. They all looked so comfortable around that throne, resting in their long-accustomed positions. 11:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I swear we've met, Lord Weaste. Perhaps I was less memorable than you are." 11:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Balmoral, perhaps?" 11:14 <banana> He leads you one more stair - and you're on the roofs of Inchcape, a stone platform between turrets with arched doorways. 11:14 <banana> "We have met, Lady Wellesley. Not formally. I'm not in the Peerage of England, of course." 11:15 <VoxPVoxD> "A clan is a clan, I suppose." 11:15 <tom> Bob squints, blinks repeatedly. He feels like he's coming down off something. Mari's tea? 11:15 <tom> Whatever, gotta focus. We're almost outta here. 11:17 <banana> The elder vampire walks to a battlement and turns, putting his arms out to lean on them. He faces you from almost a reclining position. "This is a damn strange thing to be doing. I won't look it in the mouth, but you've come in here and offered us something we can't resist. After all, the risk is yours." 11:17 <tom> So fucking cool. 11:17 <banana> "Did you know Alex Gardener? You seem so young." 11:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Alas, no." 11:18 <tom> We're getting Castlevania speeches on castle ramparts. This rips. 11:18 <banana> Weaste: "And how old are you, Mr. Goreman?" 11:18 <tom> Bob isn't really paying attention, of course. 11:18 <tom> "Thirty-five, sir." 11:18 <banana> "Alex and Ruth have been missing for thirty-seven years." 11:19 <tom> "Uh... I'm sorry? For your loss." 11:19 <banana> Weaste: "Naturally we assumed they'd died." 11:19 <banana> "However." 11:20 <banana> "There was never proof of it, and just in the last year or two.. their blood calls out once again. Childer of the Gardeners report visions and growths. There are omens in the family plot. Moles, digging in Latin mottoes." 11:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Psychic communion?" 11:24 <banana> Weaste: "Blood will tell." 11:24 <banana> "I've no idea how much you know of the Underground by now. Are you familiar with '84? The wars?" 11:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm afraid that this is not my area of specialty. Would you believe, back in London, the other hunters kept me away from you and yours?" 11:26 <VoxPVoxD> "But I am an eager study." 11:27 <banana> "...yes, yes I would. Perhaps they knew something.. your Curse and ours attract each other, but it's codependent. There are risks." 11:27 <banana> Kirkpatrick doesn't seem to mind telling you vampire history... or at least abbreviated parts of it, from his point of view. "In 1984 there was an uprising. Not just here." 11:29 <banana> "Kindred against Kindred. We had old practices at which the younger generations chafed. The Invictus, lords among Kindred, became-" he glances at Bob- "KoS." 11:29 <tom> He winces. 11:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Hence the WASC." 11:30 <banana> Weaste: "They cut Emily's head off, you know. Terrible goddamn idea. It woke her up and my God was that a sight to see." 11:30 <tom> "Like, what, all the- Okay." 11:30 <tom> "That's sick as hell." 11:30 <tom> "Sir." 11:31 <banana> Weaste: "None taken." 11:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I can imagine. You can feel the power roiling within her." 11:31 <banana> "Avoid feeling any such thing, that's my advice." 11:31 <banana> "Anyway." 11:32 <banana> "Most of us were killed. It was a numbers game, and we were dependent on the ancilla for.. well, everything. Which is to say blood." 11:33 <banana> "Alex Gardener and Ruth Henning Gardener disappeared during this time. They were well-liked, but they were not fighters, and the inference was obvious." 11:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "And wherever they are now, their blood calls out?" 11:34 <banana> Weaste: "It is a cry of anguish. We'd like to see our old friends again, yes we would... but there are also neonates suffering from this. Something is wrong with the bloodline." 11:34 <banana> "They can't be too far away, for that reason and due to logistics. Somewhere in the city. But who'd know where? The people who hate us, or the mortal bureaucrats they control." 11:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Which departments?" 11:38 <banana> "The police or statisticians would be a good start. Assaults.. there weren't many people out on the streets. Records from closed-circuit television, which is now prevalent. You could also look for attempts to retrieve their old assets, financial, safe-deposit boxes. I'll give you a list of those." 11:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Excellent, thank you." 11:39 <banana> Weaste: "Listen, Lady Wellesley, you're in the service of the Victus Indomitus. Our strength is far more than it was in those long-knived nights. We could do this, one way or another... but you might be able to do it faster, more safely. Without tipping our hand." 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That is the hope." 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> "And that is what we are selling." 11:40 <banana> "It's a fine trade." 11:41 <tom> Bob checks his flares for the fiftieth time. 11:41 <banana> "Taboos against which we have discarded. What good are traditions that get your family slaughtered?" 11:41 <tom> Still there. 11:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "The watchword in modern management is agility." 11:42 <banana> The Baron's eyes narrow. "I'll have to Google that." 11:43 <tom> So cool! 11:43 <banana> "You've reminded me. Signal? Telegram?" 11:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Signal. Far from perfect, but Telegram is for coke dealers." 11:45 <banana> "Useful people to know," he rejoins. 11:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm not turning my nose up. Merely drawing a distinction." 11:45 <banana> You share contacts. "I'll message you the old bank accounts. What Emily would call a Technology." Simpson smiles. 11:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Splendid. You have been a great help, Lord Weaste. You have set the bar high." 11:48 <banana> "What the night gives to us should be reciprocated. You've gambled and won." 11:48 <banana> He smiles again, friendly. "This time." 11:48 <banana> The vampire kicks off the wall and saunters to one of the turret doors; it opens to reveal... an elevator. 11:49 <VoxPVoxD> Delicious. 11:50 <VoxPVoxD> Every inch of her skin is tingling. It worked!! It all worked!! Willie Wellesley lives to fight another day, and she can face her team bloodied, but unbowed. 11:50 <tom> Bob's shoulders sag in relief. He feels light in the head, almost dizzy. 11:50 <banana> Weaste: "The doors to Inchcape do not open again before dawn, and it's forbidden to be here after dawn. However, the lift will take you to the woods-side gardens." 11:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie curtsies again. 11:51 <tom> Bob will simply nod. Less is expected of the unruly American. 11:51 <banana> He doesn't make any ostentatious displays of strength or dominance as you go. People believe or they don't. 11:51 <tom> He'll follow her on the lift. 11:53 <tom> She'll notice he's frowning and scrolling something on his visor while the machine rumbles. 11:53 <VoxPVoxD> She won't, actually, because once the door shuts, Willie throws her arms around Bob's neck and gives him the fiercest hug. "You absolute legend." 11:53 <banana> It's not that there aren't horrors within Inchcape, sights and powers best left hidden, but you have left them hidden. 11:54 <tom> Bob starts? "You did literally ninety-five percent of the talking. Ballsiest thing I ever saw. God damn." 11:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie pokes Bob in his armored chest. "You were flawless. I won't hear a word of argument. You've saved my life. Again." 11:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Now I have but one more favour to ask." 11:55 <tom> "Ha." 11:55 <tom> "Yeah?" 11:55 <banana> According to the visor records, there were at least nineteen different ENEs in that building, and the tracking which Bob silenced before reaching the throne has the elders logged as THREAT LEVEL OVERFLOW. 11:55 <tom> That sounds about right. 11:56 <tom> He just kinda slumps onto the railing on the lift. 11:56 <VoxPVoxD> "When the time comes to explain this to the team, we will share in the glory... but you must let me take the blame. Every crooked step that took us off the path of sanity was mine. Resist any urge to fall on swords or come to my defence." 11:57 <tom> "kkHahaha." He laughs phlegm, coughs. "Sorry, yeah. Uh, don't you worry, I'll let you take the blame for getting us an actual job instead of squirrely chase-our-tail bullshit." 11:58 <VoxPVoxD> God, she feels so... if it were Sergio in this elevator instead of Bob she'd have hit the stop button. 11:58 <VoxPVoxD> Then the night becomes them. 11:58 <tom> Bob reaches into his pocket, pulls out a crumpled card, sighs, uncorks the red pen with his mouth: https://i.imgur.com/qsphOrb.jpg 12:01 <tom> "Your boy Sergio got my ass good." 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> She composes a text before getting back in the car, assuming he's not waiting for her. <you have a standing invitation to discuss tonight at whatever remove you feel comfortable. good night darling ❤️❤️❤️> 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> Her thumb hovers over the send button when Bob speaks. 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> "What did he do?" 12:02 <tom> He shakes his head against the wall of the elevator. "He told me to keep you safe." 12:02 <tom> He goes for the packet of cigarettes. 12:02 <VoxPVoxD> "Did he tell you? Or did he tell you?" 12:03 <tom> Bob taps on the fresh red X on the Bingo Card and taps the card against his visor. 12:03 <tom> "He told me to keep you safe," he repeats, with conviction. 12:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie scoffs. "Men." 12:04 <VoxPVoxD> "If he does that again you have my permission to light him up." 12:04 <tom> Bob shrugs, lights his cigarette. After a few puffs, he'll offer it over. 12:04 <tom> "Oh, we'll have a talk about I imagine." 12:04 <VoxPVoxD> She takes an eager drag. 12:04 <tom> it* 12:05 <tom> "He seems like he's keeping it real." 12:06 <VoxPVoxD> She sighs, looks down at the text, and sends it with two heart emojis, rather than three. "We've got to have a conversation. He never knew about my Blood. Just my blood. I hope..." 12:07 <VoxPVoxD> She sighs. "You must think I'm an idiot. But I still want to see him." 12:08 <tom> Bob is already texting Mari to tell her that yes, he's fine, no, he didn't get eaten alive, screaming. "I know I'm an idiot." 12:08 <tom> "Honestly, you're making me feel like maybe I made the right call." 12:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Took the words right out of my mouth, Goreman." 12:08 <VoxPVoxD> "Right out of my mouth." 12:09 <tom> The stress just bleeds right off: "Hahahaaa... do you think they're chewing out your boy?"