09:59 <Quaker> “I have an action plan for the graveyard,” says Badawi. 10:09 <Crion> Aster, drinking coffee: "Let's hear it." 10:09 <banana> It’s the afternoon of Sunday, October 17. For once, it’s not raining. 10:09 <tom> Bob's at his workstation, fiddling with a circuitboard, but he'll come out to join the conversation while his soldering iron slowly bleeds its heat in a wisp of smoke. 10:09 <banana> That means the ‘Nightingale Society’ will be out, this evening, at Gorton Ceremony. Vampires hate them. 10:10 <Quaker> “Well, two, actually. Are we still just planning on running these teens out with a few threats, or something more elaborate?” 10:11 <tom> "I was kinda hoping we wouldn't have to threaten any kids." 10:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't think we need to get terribly fancy, but there's some remote chance they're magicians or something." 10:12 <Crion> Aster: "I have no issue threatening teens. Frankly I have no issue making an example out of one, provided it doesn't get out of control. But these are theater kids. They shouldn't require hands-on persuasion." 10:12 <Quaker> “Mr. Aster said something about a fake health shuttering. We can get a van and some jumpsuits, if you’d prefer that.” 10:12 <Crion> "Frankly, I'm mostly concerned we should find them another place to goof off so their parents don't start look around for hunters to hire and make this truly a farce." 10:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Was the implication that we would keep them from coming back indefinitely? Was there a specific window they needed the cemetery unoccupied for?" 10:16 <Crion> Aster: "Barrigan didn't say. Which is on him." 10:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If we want to work-to-rule then a ruse to shove them off the land would be okay... what are they odds they keep stringing you along if they're unsatisfied?" 10:18 <tom> "They only said they needed them outta the one part." 10:18 <banana> Richard Haldane has been working away in the briefing room, humming. The Scot enters the room now to present... printouts. 10:18 <Crion> Aster: "High. But there is external pressure I can apply if suddenly we seem to be on free retainer to Leticia and Barrigan." 10:19 <Crion> "Anyhow, they did imply they want a long-term solution. They were simply thoughtless or intentionally unhelpful as to what that timetable was." 10:19 <Crion> "I like my fake medical scare idea, but I'm open to brute force or other ideas." 10:19 <banana> Richard waits for a conversational pause. “Good afternoon. While you contemplate brutes and forces, I’ve done a bit of collating.” 10:20 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "In that case we might actually need to convince them to move elsewhere instead of just scaring them off." 10:20 <VoxPVoxD> "Oh! Richard. Thank you!" 10:20 <tom> "Hey man." 10:20 <banana> To Willie: “Well, don’t thank me too much.. these first two handouts are just mildly-laminated versions of the pictures from your phone conversation.” 10:21 <banana> He gives out copies of the encrypted painting scans which Willie was sent: 10:21 <banana> https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/Alex_Gardener.png 10:21 <banana> https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/ruth_henning_Gardener.jpg 10:21 <Crion> Aster: "Ah, yes. The other work." 10:21 <banana> Richard: “That’s the question, isn’t it? So I’ve put together a timeline.” 10:22 <banana> “This is certainly incomplete. We’ve got the tidbits you found in the Council records yesterday as well as information from the one undead being who’s consented to provide an autobiography.” 10:22 <Quaker> “I think we should mock up the van to look like we belong to some kind of municipal body, and try the non-threatening version first. We can always escalate if necessary.” 10:22 <Crion> Aster, gesturing to the maps in front of them of the cemetary: "Richard. What's your take on the teen situation?" 10:22 <banana> Richard hands around the third handout. https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/gardener-timeline.png 10:23 <VoxPVoxD> The excavations line up with Sergio's reappearance that closely? Willie hadn't noticed this before. 10:23 <banana> “My ‘take’.. I think they’re probably related to the Gardener work somehow. It also strikes me that given the area, they’re going to be either the subjects or victims of youth violence.” 10:23 <hrolf> Rolf shuffles into the common area, and waves at all and sundry. “Allo allo. When’re we ‘eadin out?” 10:24 <Quaker> “In either scenario, we should decide who is doing what. My initial suggestion is for myself to be providing overwatch from a high place that oversees the cemetary. Binoculars, radio. Ms. Wellesley can go with Mr. Goreman and Mr. Hughes to make the pitch. Mr. Aster can stay with the van to drive and coordinate us. ? 10:24 <Quaker> coordinate us.”* 10:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks around at the others. "That sounds agreeable." 10:25 <banana> Richard’s frowning a little, but it’s not his place to comment on fieldwork. 10:25 <Crion> Aster: "That would track." He sighs. "Here is the nut of the issue. I want to bring it up first and foremost because it involves money. Are we, and I can't believe I'm saying this, willing to chip in to rent a place out for these teens to gather safely, as an alternate site? As much as I'd love to cause a public health crisis, I think that might involve larger scrutiny than simply 10:25 <Crion> paying a small fee once a month to some open-air space for the children to congregate in." 10:26 <tom> "Sure, sure... when you say 'overwatch', you aren't going to be racking 7.62 for teens, right?" Right? 10:26 <Crion> "Maybe we can write it off on our taxes." 10:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I've been casting about for a local charitable donation anyway." 10:26 <VoxPVoxD> "I'd be happy to finance this." 10:26 <tom> "Yeah sure, whatever. It'll pay for itself if we get work." 10:27 <hrolf> "Local coppers ain't going to look too fondly on shot up kids, mate." 10:27 <Quaker> “I’ll have a weapon with me. I’m not going to point it at anyone unless we decide it’s absolutely necessary.” 10:27 <Crion> Aster: "Excellent!" He's especially happy at the notion of just Willie paying for it. "The Talon module wasn't designed for deployment in situations like this anyway." 10:27 <hrolf> "'specially if they ain't chavs an' are posh lads, like." 10:27 <tom> Bob, who has been on the receiving end: "...Is it safe to use on kids?" 10:27 <Crion> "Haldane, can you research alternate prospective sites? That trend towards the macabre?" 10:28 <Crion> To Bob: "It's not safe to use on anyone. It's less-than-lethal, not non-lethal." 10:28 <banana> Richard: “I’ll undertake the hauntology.” 10:28 <banana> He’ll leave the room to begin doing that, but of course he won’t be far away. 10:29 <tom> "...Then let's not throw that at children, if we can avoid it." 10:29 <Crion> Aster: "Yes, this is why I suggested a fully funded playdate site." 10:29 <Crion> "We can combine this with the medical scare." 10:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Any situation where we're seriously contemplating force is one very different from the one we're currently expecting." 10:30 <Crion> "Have to evict you for the public health, but there's been a requisition for so and so." 10:30 <tom> "We can rent some fumigator tanks and just fill 'em with CO2, spray the kids a bit. Have some fun." 10:30 <tom> "I'll get a hazmat suit I guess?" 10:31 <Crion> Aster can probably have legitimately sourced them over the course of the week from his vendors. 10:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "The more elaborate a deception we concoct, the easier it's going to be to poke holes in and the stupider we'll look if it fails." 10:31 <banana> Rolf twigs something. Ain’t they chavs? Gorton Cemetery.. on the map you’ve got spread out, it’s in a massive council housing estate. 10:31 <Quaker> “Alright. We can get the jumpsuits, hazmats, whatever, easily. Somebody will probably want to stencil the van’s side with something generic.” Somebody meaning…not her. 10:31 <banana> You’re not going to find rich kids there unless they’re very stupid. 10:32 <tom> "...I can handle van decals. You want a wizard smoking a bong?" 10:32 <tom> "Kidding." No he wasn't. 10:32 <hrolf> "...on the other 'and, its near the estates innit? Someone said they were goths or the like and I figured they were poshos but...no poshos going be anywhere near the estate lands, hey? If they're nobodies we could use firearms wif the coppers not carin much like." 10:32 <tom> "Estates?" 10:33 <hrolf> "Aye, council flats." 10:33 <tom> At that last bit: "I will not be shooting random british civilians, thanks." 10:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Public housing, Bob." 10:33 <tom> "Shit." 10:33 <Quaker> “Public housing. Tenements.” 10:33 <Crion> Aster: "Them being poor kids should mainly indicate a modulation in our tone, not our rules of engagement." 10:33 <Crion> "Maybe Rolf does much of the talking." 10:34 <hrolf> "Ought to 'ave been sold of to enterprisin' real estate entrepreneurs years ago. Fackin moochers." 10:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "If they're out on a council estate at night, being aggressive might backfire." 10:35 <VoxPVoxD> "I'd prefer not to start that way." 10:35 <banana> Willie hadn’t realised it was that part of Manchester... but a dim memory returns: Hattersley & Wythenshaw, the mega-estates in the southeast. That’s the area so Unfortunate that they wrote about it in the New York Times. 10:36 <Crion> Aster smirks and shakes his head. The group realized the income bracket of the area and now violence is back on the table. They ARE becoming cops. 10:36 <banana> But really, it’s not like you need to engage with the area other than by driving through it to Gorton. 10:36 <Crion> Fine by him. 10:36 <Quaker> “We’ll take things easy. If anybody brings a weapon, it’ll have to be on safety first. And absolutely no shooting or drawing without consultation first. Let them decide how they want to respond.” 10:36 <Quaker> “Alright. We good to get things in motion?” 10:36 <VoxPVoxD> Willie makes a face. "Yes, Hattersley is severely deprived. Even the police only walk about in groups of 4 or more. So I also favour a gentler initial approach." 10:36 <VoxPVoxD> She nods to Badawi. 10:37 <Crion> Aster: "Sounds good to me." 10:37 <tom> "See you guys there." 10:37 <Crion> "Again, I think we should go in force." 10:37 <Crion> "So no." 10:37 <Crion> "You will see us here, and we will all travel there." 10:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yes, we should go together, in a couple of cars." 10:37 <VoxPVoxD> "Or a van." 10:38 <tom> "Yeah, alright." 10:38 <Quaker> Badawi: “Agreed. Let’s take the van and one other. Easier to keep a headcount that way.” 10:38 <Crion> To Badawi: "Let's get that van? I have hazmat suits I ordered during the week for. Other reasons. That we can use as props." 10:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "My car's quite old. Who needs a ride?" 10:38 <Crion> It will just require a quick swing by the lab. 10:38 <hrolf> "I could come along." 10:38 <tom> "...Do you guys want me to take some time on that thing, get us some up-armor, maybe fit some tech in there." 10:39 <Crion> We should take as much time as we have until the meeting. Which might be a couple hours, or much less. 10:39 <tom> "Sooner or later we're gonna want something for Rapid Response, y'know..." 10:42 <Crion> Aster: "Well if we don't have the time to convincingly put it together, we could just roll in there straight and bribe them with the new location." 10:42 <Crion> "I don't know if they'll respect that more or less. I'm not an anthropologist." 10:43 <banana> So, the cell’s heading to Gorton with hazmat gear and cash bribes. Are any special preparations required? 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't think we gain anything by trying to trick them. We're not actors, and they're not stupid." 10:43 <tom> Bob returns to his work for a little while longer. He'll drop off a duffel bag full of equipment in the back of the van "just in case". 10:44 <hrolf> "They're chavs. 'course they're stupid." 10:44 <Crion> Aster: "Then we throw out the public health plan and just go with the straight offer." 10:44 <Quaker> “And if it doesn’t work, we’ll just kill them.” 10:44 <tom> "Haha! Great joke." 10:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You really sound like you mean that." 10:44 <tom> "Hooooooo." 10:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie thinks that's impressive...? 10:45 <hrolf> Makes sense to Rolf. 10:45 <Crion> Aster just ignores the comment. 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> But yes, I think we're ready to go. 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> ...do we have a direct private digital link to contact Richard? 10:45 <Crion> We should still probably steal a van. Just so it's not our personal vehicles they take phone footage of. 10:45 <banana> He’s on Huntr like the rest of you. In the group chat, everyone’s represented by a pair of initials. 10:46 <Quaker> Not everyone!!! 10:46 <banana> Badawi has an account if she ever wants it :( 10:46 <banana> RH: <I’ve found a local community theatre with low occupancy, but you’d need to evaluate whether that’s what they’re interested in. I’m searching for spookier options.> 10:46 <VoxPVoxD> Huntr's just IRC, right? Does it support DMs? 10:48 <banana> Sort of accidentally. It’s just a web wrapper around a chat server, but Willie manages to poke at the interface until it does something Richard probably wasn’t expecting and brings up multiple tabs in the page. 10:49 <tom> BG: <:pog:> 10:50 <banana> It just says colon p o g colon. 10:50 <tom> BG: <rh help it aint working> 10:51 <banana> RH: <Fie! Get thee to a twitchery!> 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> The little displased face Richard made reminded her of the thing they deliberately withheld from the public documents they handed to Haldane to collate, and Willie can only really lie on autopilot. So she's sitting in the driver's seat of her car, waiting for Rolf to load in, letting it eat at her. That's why she's picking at Huntr like a scab. <richard; there was a Document we didn't put 10:51 <VoxPVoxD> in the dump with the others; a forged birth certificate> 10:53 <banana> To Willie: <Interesting. More vampire intrigue?> 10:54 <VoxPVoxD> <no. it's in your name> 10:55 <banana> When Badawi turns up to the carpark rendezvous at Aster Biologics, she’s driving, on the outside, a van. 10:55 <banana> The interior looks like this: https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/luxury-van.jpg 10:55 <hrolf> Rolf opens the passenger side door and slides in with not a little discomfort. He finds it a little cramped and fiddles with a lever on the side to slide his seat back a bit. He looks at Willie apologetically. "Always 'ad a bit of trouble fillin in to some of those old cars. It's a beaut though, from a different time. Better one too." 10:56 <Crion> Aster: "..." 10:56 <banana> RH, in DM: <I beg your pardon?> 10:56 <banana> <Has somebody stolen my identity? This is concerning.> 10:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie looks up from her phone. "Kind of you to say so, Mr. Hughes! I'm very fond of her. She was in much worse condition when I got her.> 10:56 <VoxPVoxD> To her phone: <I'm Unsure of its significance> 10:57 <Crion> Aster: "Badawi, who did you steal this from? Is he going to miss it badly enough to hire a tactical team to get it back?" 10:57 <tom> Bob is overawed by the interior and rides mostly in silence, tapping his hand on the armrest while sipping some sort of... truly despicable zero calorie carbonated drink Mari recommended. 10:57 <Quaker> Badawi looks pleased with herself. “Found this outside the Pakistani consulate. Maybe the teens will accept it in payment. Or we could just sell it to a chop shop.” Either way, her ass is riding in style, on leather cushions. 10:57 <banana> Richard to Willie: <Did you take a copy of the forgery? I’ve got a scan of the real thing in my files. Give me a few minutes and we can compare them.> 10:57 <VoxPVoxD> Willie has it on her camera roll. Does the app support that? 10:58 <Crion> Aster: "I think the teens will divine that we're trying to stick them with stolen goods, frankly." 10:58 <hrolf> To Willie: "That so? Did you fix it up yourself, then?" 10:58 <banana> Yes, but it’s annoying to use. You have to tap a little [Upload file] webpage button and then there’s a reload. 10:58 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Yeah. It was a gift from my father. Total wreck." 10:59 <Quaker> “It’s swept. No bugs or trackers, and I swapped the plates. And it’s teens - I don’t think they’ll think too hard about where it comes from.” 10:59 <VoxPVoxD> "A character-building exercise." 10:59 <Crion> Aster: "They might not. But not thinking too hard doesn't break towards acceptance. Especially not with two American accents, your accent, and Willie's." 10:59 <hrolf> "'ard man, your dad?" 11:00 <Quaker> “I’ll let you figure it out. Meanwhile, I’ll be up somewhere above.” 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "...in his way." 11:00 <tom> Bob pulls the hood of his jacket up over his face and... just goes completely inert for the duration of the ride. Is he sleeping? 11:00 <Crion> Aster shakes his head and...gets in the driver's seat? 11:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie uploads the file and then gets on the road. 11:01 <hrolf> "Me dad was too, in his own way. Didn't do much of character building though, 'e didn't 'ave much of one imself. In and out of the cacky, on and off the dole. Type of yobbo that flourished in this land before Thatcher went an fixed it." 11:02 <Quaker> Badawi’s got her climbing equipment, radio, binoculars, and folded rifle in her duffel. Her satchel is filled with two cans of energy drinks, a tin of tobacco, and a vape pen. 11:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You think it's fixed? Hattersley's not exactly Belgravia." 11:05 <banana> It really isn’t. Ten miles outside the city centre and it’s a combination of rural and menacing. 11:05 <VoxPVoxD> She can't ignore Rolf when they're alone in the car. So she's gotta engage. 11:06 <banana> Tens of thousands of people live in these alternately cramped and spread-out streets, with perfunctory and unkept commons around them; many of them from families who’ve never had formal work. 11:06 <Crion> Aster thinks they should have Willie and Rolf as lead car, with Rolf mean-mugging, and the van in back, with Bob taking up the...this rich boy flotilla doesn't really let him aim out the rear, does it? 11:06 <Crion> What a useless piece of-- 11:06 <hrolf> "Ahh. Well as fixed as it can be, you know? Some places back in the day, they were near warzones, like. Couldn't tell the difference between tottenham and lebanon." He frowns. "Course, some places you still can't. The sharia zones and the like. But it was worse, believe you me." 11:07 <banana> There are people just hanging out all over the place, since most of them don’t have anywhere to be; the expensive van and vintage(?) car get a lot of stares. You have to avoid streets which have been blocked off by impromptu barricades, or in one case police tape. 11:07 <Crion> Aster, muttering: "You couldn't have just stolen a normal van." 11:08 <Crion> "This thing isn't even automatic. It's manual. You're lucky I can drive stick." 11:08 <banana> The Nightingale Society meets at dusk - 7pm. Are you going to arrive at the cemetery before them, or do you want them to be in place so you can check things out? 11:09 <banana> Eventually, Willie hears back from Richard. <Please excuse me, Willie. I’m experiencing a moment of paranoia.> 11:10 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't know, Mr. Hughes. I think we can do better." 11:10 <banana> He attaches a birth certificate image, the details of which correspond with the ones you’ve got, although it’s certified in Scotland rather than England. <I know I took these scans when I left home, some years ago, but the timestamp on the files is 2020.> 11:10 <Quaker> Badawi finds a switch which turns her passenger’s seat into a recliner, complete with built-in ottoman. “Oh, wow. Look how far it goes back.” 11:10 <banana> <What’s going on?> 11:11 <Crion> Aster is in favor of arriving on time. There's not going to be any element of surprise. 11:11 <Crion> They were made the moment they drove in. 11:11 <hrolf> "Damn right we can. And Boris is the lad to do it." 11:12 <VoxPVoxD> The fact that she answers Richard while driving is why she doesn't seem to make Aster's job any easier on the road. <I don't know, Mr. Haldane. But we'll work it out together.> 11:12 <VoxPVoxD> She scoffs at Rolf. "Ugh. Boris Johnson. The Eton Mess." 11:13 <banana> Gorton Cemetery is a barricaded outpost of officialdom amid the estate. It’s large and it’s old. Maintained, but most of the people buried in this place don’t have immediate family alive, so visiting hours are short, and you’re outside them. 11:13 <Crion> If the gate's locked, then we're stuck out here idling until someone pops the lock. Badawi? 11:13 <banana> The complex takes up an irregular city block, with iron-stake fences and low walls running all the way around it. The main gateway into the drives leads to a carpark and chapel - but indeed it is shut and locked. 11:14 <hrolf> "'e's a mad lad, but he gets it done. We were faffin about with brexit for years. Years! Me and the lads 'ad almost given up 'hope, thought there'd be a new referendum with the fix in an' all that - and 'e only goes and blows that IRA-lover corbyn out of the water! An' gets brexit done." If he had a hat, he'd be lowering it out of respect. "A modern day statesman. One of a few." 11:14 <Quaker> She’s fiddling with the radio before she gets out of the van. Oh, great! Satellite radio! Do they have…they do! She puts it to her station, and then opens the door. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So_lgRH0Yps 11:15 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Before we march into what may be a cunningly-laid deathtrap, Mr. Hughes, I think I owe it to you to say: I voted Remain." 11:15 <Crion> Aster brought his Glock and has it on a hip holster. Mentioning that for no particular reason as this song blasts down the road. 11:16 <Quaker> It’s not *blasting*, she’s not crazy. 11:16 <banana> Badawi has no trouble with the gate... but she can tell it hasn’t been pried open before. The residents of Hattersley largely avoid the cemetery, despite it having no security to speak of. The kids must have got in some other way. 11:16 <Crion> Heartening. 11:17 <hrolf> "Well, we all make mistakes eh? When this country's back where it used to be I'm sure all the remoaners will come around." 11:17 <Quaker> As she gets back in: “The teenagers don’t use the front gate, looks like. Probably some hole in the fence they climb through.” 11:17 <tom> Bob is rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Is it raining as he staggers out of the preposterously luxurious van? 11:17 <banana> It is not. The evening is peaceful and only mildly chilly. 11:17 <Crion> Aster: "All thirty of them? Well, I suppose this was always going to be creepy." He'll drive in; they might as well leave the gate open. 11:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "We'll find out together, that much is certain." 11:18 <banana> There’s an ancient stone chapel, all locked up and unlit, and on the other side of the carpark a more-modern but disused crematorium. Wide paths head straight ahead into the grounds and turn at intervals puncutuated by generations of graves. 11:18 <banana> It’s dark out there. 11:19 <Crion> Let's drive up as far as we can get. 11:19 <VoxPVoxD> Sounds good. 11:19 <Quaker> Badawi points out a towering oak to Aster. “I can get up one of those.” 11:19 <tom> He gets up in the seat, checks out the window. Not a good look, to be in this thing, here. Ah well. Can't be helped. 11:20 <Crion> Aster: "Noted." He hands her an earpiece from the same radio setup they used on their first mission together. "Report when your gun's up." 11:20 <Crion> The earpieces will be swiftly handed out. 11:20 <banana> RH to WW: <My saved bank statements and employment summaries from 2019 and earlier are hastily-taken photographs of physical documents. They look thoroughly real and it would take quite some expertise to fake the layout, print it, et cetera. However, all the serial numbers are the same.> 11:20 <Quaker> Badawi 11:20 <tom> Bob pops in his own ODIN earpiece. 11:20 <tom> Click: "Check, check." 11:21 <banana> RH in Huntr: <I need to sign off for a while. Please assure the children that we can find them a location if necessary, even if it takes a couple of days.> 11:21 <Quaker> Badawi exits out the back of the van, tapping Bob on the shoulder with her duffel as she passes. “Look alive, Yankee. Keep the rest safe and sound and I’ll see you in a bit.” 11:21 <Crion> To Willie when they're out of the car: "Did Haldane find a location?" 11:21 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Not yet." 11:21 <Crion> Aster: "Well, hopefully he'll get one in the next fifteen to thirty minutes." 11:22 <VoxPVoxD> "We might be going in without a location to pitch." 11:22 <Crion> Aster exhales in something a lot like a hiss. 11:22 <Crion> "Not helpful." 11:22 <tom> "Ghuh," He pops his neck, stretches, smirks at Agostina as she passes. 11:22 <VoxPVoxD> "I'll keep my phone active just in case." 11:23 <tom> Bob boots up his ODIN. 11:23 <banana> There are low trees, uneven terrain and thousands of graves. The grounds are maintained but few of them have flowers and some are old enough to be worn almost smooth. 11:23 <Crion> Are there any lights at all towards the plot where Barrigan and Leticia indicated? 11:23 <VoxPVoxD> This is quite atmospheric. 11:24 <banana> Northeast, up the other end of the cemetery, is the rotunda they talked about - a war memorial. It’s far off but you can see lights and hear music in the distance. 11:25 <banana> The western side of the cemetery has major tombs and family crypts - the rest is just regulation plots for the dead masses. 11:25 <VoxPVoxD> She can see the appeal! Willie never really entertained the notion of gothdom... maybe there's room to integrate just a touch. Something to think about later. Having a vampire boyfriend probably qualifies you for a permanent resident visa in the goth world. 11:26 <Crion> Walking into an illegal rave without an actual tactical team at his back does strike Aster as one of the stupider things he's done in a while. 11:26 <tom> Bob has his hands in his jacket pockets. He'll naturally fall in behind the others. By the time they see any teens, he's ten replies deep into a /k/ argument. Guys are posting their 'boogout' builds and he's busily trying to convince the fucking prick who posted a vintage Sturmgewehr 44 that he can find good value 8mm ammo from Turkey before too long. 11:27 <Quaker> Badawi picks out an oak that’s got a canopy slightly higher than the rest. She takes out her climbing equipment - ropes, a looped vest, carabiners, and an ultra-light pulley. Still, it’s a tree and not a building with flat surfaces. She bumps and scrapes her way into the top branches, finding a broad one to lean against. The view gives her a good view of the surrounding graveyard, though she can’t see that deep into the 11:27 <Quaker> built-up areas of the estate. 11:27 <Quaker> Carefully, she takes out her rifle and binoculars, and clips both to her vest. 11:28 <hrolf> Rolf has his brass knuckles ready and stowed in a coat pocket. Frankly the idea of chav goth teens sounds bizarre - they’d be laughed off and bullied into normalcy by puberty usually. Still, even a bunch of wannabe fancy dan chavs are still chavs, and this will probably come down to violence, or at least the threat of it. 11:28 <Quaker> Her rifle is very purposefully left on Safety, but she’ll look through the NVG scope until she picks something up to look at more closely with the binoculars. 11:31 <banana> With her powered sights and zoom, Badawi gets a bead on the targets before anyone else. There are a dozen kids up the north end of Gorton Cemetery, some sitting around irreverently on gravestones, others kicking a so- a football. Most of them are watching one by the lit war memorial, who has.. a microphone? 11:31 <banana> Then, her attention’s drawn. 11:32 <Crion> Aster, over comms: "How many subjects do you have eyes on, Overwatch?" 11:32 <banana> She can’t see anyone. But there are dents in the grass, shifting as someone hidden moves on their feet. Wisps of evening mist curl around someone who can’t be seen. Someone else is watching the kids, standing quite near them by the eastern walls of the cemetery. 11:32 <Quaker> Badawi has her radio just set to Aster - no need for distractions from the others, and he’s handling coordination. She keys the bead: “I’ve got twelve youths at the war memorial. Don’t know we’re here yet.” 11:33 <Quaker> “They look as relaxed as we could hope they’d be. Just kids hanging around.” 11:33 <Crion> Aster: "Excellent." 11:33 <banana> Aster, Willie and Bob approach quietly. They’re just coming out from behind a grove of trees. Once they do, they might be spotted. 11:33 <Quaker> “Something else, though. Hold back a moment.” 11:33 <Crion> Aster holds a hand up. Everyone hopefully stops. 11:34 <VoxPVoxD> Willie stops. 11:34 <banana> Rolf catches up with the others. Everyone but Badawi is close enough to hear, now. 11:34 <tom> Say the line, Bob: "My ODIN's got nothin'." 11:34 <Quaker> “There’s something or someone near them. I can’t quite make them out. But they’re observing the kids. By the east wall. Looks like they’re stealthed out. Careful.” 11:35 <Crion> To Bob: "East wall. Close to the kids. Give the ODIN another try when we walk into view." 11:35 <banana> The kids are dressed in dark clothing and little scraps of punk stuff - leather, spikes, etc. Looks cheap. The one who’s the center of attention is a little better-off-looking, and she’s performing by a boombox. 11:35 <banana> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mRDSW9-i_E 11:35 <tom> "Affirmative." 11:35 <banana> “Hatred, hatred- the crucifix is your bed-” 11:36 <VoxPVoxD> Omg. 11:36 <hrolf> This music is shite. 11:36 <tom> Click: "Do we have a Trackcheck-free situation?" 11:36 <Crion> This music is a specific vibe. 11:37 <tom> It kinda slaps. 11:37 <Crion> To the group: "Check your weapons unless you're sure it works on ghosts. And check your weapon until that ghost attacks." 11:37 <VoxPVoxD> It's very appropriate to the moment. 11:38 <banana> Most of the teenagers look about that same age bracket, middle-school. Some of them don’t look like they go to school, although there’s a bit of a vibe... Willie will recognise them as her area of focus, nerds. 11:38 <banana> No visible weapons. 11:38 <VoxPVoxD> Aha. 11:38 <banana> The war memorial is lit, little round lights buried in the gravel within the semicircular wall; a bunch of them also have powerful flashlights and green lasers. 11:38 <banana> They’re making a little rave, cheering and calling for someone else to sing next. 11:39 <Quaker> Meanwhile, Badawi loads the rifle and racks the bolt. It’s still on safety, of course. 11:39 <VoxPVoxD> This is cute! 11:39 <banana> Well, not a rave. Nobody’s dancing. It’s more like a twilight glee club. 11:39 <VoxPVoxD> Nerds would never allow their music to be marred by the savage iniquity of dance. 11:40 <Quaker> She’ll keep her scope on the not-person (?) hiding near the wall. 11:40 <Crion> These children are literally twelve to fifteen years old. 11:40 <Crion> Aster is so fucking angry at Barrigan right now. 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie is so fucking relieved right now. 11:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie glances at Aster, waiting for the go-ahead. 11:41 <hrolf> Should be easy to scare these tykes off. 11:42 <VoxPVoxD> Christ. She could've solved this herself with a basket of tarts. 11:42 <banana> The invisible figure Badawi’s tracking shifts a bit. The mist is growing thick, particularly beyond the range of the Nightingale Society’s flashlights, and it curls fairly obviously about a body that’s turned - maybe to face her group coming up the path? 11:43 <tom> Bob is extremely glad that he's not carrying any weapons, but now starting to worry about what could happen if someone finds his Thirty-five-year-old ass hanging out in the bushes by a bunch of fourteen year-olds. 11:43 <tom> Wait! Shit! He reaches into his pocket. 11:44 <banana> A bigger kid comes out to sing, clapping the girl on the shoulder as she skips back toward the group smugly. Some of them seem very enthused by her performance, others not so much. 11:44 <tom> He uncorks the red sharpie. https://i.imgur.com/NtiIcux.jpg 11:44 <tom> So close... 11:45 <banana> This boy is in a full tracksuit, and has an athlete’s muscles. He reaches down to fiddle with the boombox and change its backing track (they’ve burned a CD). 11:45 <Crion> He's what, fourteen? Athlete's muscles. Please. 11:46 <banana> The music is great, but the kid doesn’t have the voice to back it up. At least he’s on-time, with real emotion in his face. 11:47 <banana> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlHWq7w2Buc “I’ve got the ways and means- to New Orleans-” 11:47 <VoxPVoxD> They have athletics in middle school, don't they? Archery and Riding and so on. 11:47 <banana> Looks like they have no idea you’re here, and they’re just going to keep on with their club activities. 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie's still waiting for a signal from Aster. 11:48 <Quaker> The others might be taken aback by encountering Literal children, but Badawi is positively cheerful as she rests against the tree amidst the shuffling leaves. It’s nice to get back to work. 11:48 <Crion> They're just...not going to look over and see the adults? 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> They're in their own little world. 11:48 <banana> Not unless you do something like turn a light on. 11:48 <Crion> Do they seem unable to see the adults? 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie envies them a bit. 11:48 <tom> "What's the hold up?" Comes over the radio. 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles in the dark at Bob's voice. 11:48 <Crion> Aster: "The hold up is I'm waiting for this boy to finish his song. Then we walk out into the light." 11:49 <hrolf> Only one way to deal with these types. Rolf cups his hands and yells out: "Oi! You!" 11:49 <VoxPVoxD> Oh right. 11:49 <VoxPVoxD> He's here. 11:50 <Crion> Aster: "If you ever fucking pull this shit again on a mission there'll be words between us and they'll be more than fucking words." 11:50 <Crion> Then he'll step forward. 11:50 <banana> Singer: “and baby I’m the walking dead- huh?” 11:50 <tom> Bob's hand hangs over the bingo card in his pocket like he's about to quick-draw a six shooter. 11:50 <Crion> "Good evening, Nightengale...Society." 11:51 <Quaker> Very, very slowly, Badawi slips something out of her coat pocket. 11:51 <banana> A whole bunch of kids turn to face you, mostly shifting their stances rather than actually bothering to move. One of them swivels in place on top of a much-abused grave. Their faces range from blank to unfriendly, with one or two curious. 11:51 <hrolf> "Pull what? We're here to yell at this lot innit? Not exactly a stealth mission." 11:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie steps into view a bit behind and between the two men, looking on beatifically. 11:51 <Quaker> The paper wrap has kept the Wigan kebab warm. Nice. 11:51 <Crion> Aster ignores Rolf. 11:51 <VoxPVoxD> She's trying to project: this is the most natural thing in the world to be doing. 11:51 <banana> Badawi sees the two kicking the ball stop doing so; one of them withdraws a folding knife from his pocket and them palms it. 11:52 <tom> A thirty-five-year-old with the first peppering of grey hair and aviators nervously stares down the horde of teenagers. 11:52 <tom> This doesn't look good, certainly. But it could be worse. 11:52 <VoxPVoxD> Teenagers is an awfully misleading word. 11:52 <Crion> Aster: "We'll be quick, then you can get back to doing what you're doing." 11:52 <VoxPVoxD> They're children. 11:52 <Crion> He glances over to Willie. Does she want to take lead here? 11:52 <Crion> Aster's terrible with kids. 11:52 <Crion> Not as bad as Rolf, clearly. But. 11:53 <banana> The girl who was singing when you arrived steps out in front of the rest, though another girl clutches at her sleeve to try and discourage it. Something about her face looks oddly familiar. 11:53 <tom> Don't make me do it bro. 11:53 <Quaker> Ah shit. Aster might pick up a slight chewing noise when she radios: “Just a warning that there’s at least one knife out. The one with the football.” 11:53 <banana> Girl: “So are you pedos or out for a bit of late-night troop-respecting?” 11:53 <Crion> Aster: "Noted." 11:53 <banana> One of the boys says “Lol.” 11:53 <tom> Bob can already see the headlines. Council Estate Man Kicks Paedophile American In The Balls After Catching Him Watching His Daughter From Bushes. 11:54 <banana> ..you think a couple of them have just started filming you with their phones. 11:55 <tom> Oh, that's great. 11:55 <Crion> Aster is very much tempted to just Talon the ringleader. But he's supposed to be nice. 11:56 <tom> He'll fiddle with his ODIN, shrug, and give Willie a helpless expression. 11:56 <banana> The guy who was singing Concrete Blonde has dropped his mic to hurry over. It makes a ‘clunk’ through the speakers they’ve got set up on either side of the rotunda. 11:56 <VoxPVoxD> Willie steps forward. "It is a nice memorial, isn't it? Very atmospheric. My name is Willie Wellesley, and I've come to make an offer to the Nightengale Society." 11:56 <Quaker> Has the shadow-man moved at all since Badawi’s been watching it? 11:57 <banana> The invisible person has backed off a little. They’re probably watching what’s going on, it seems without any intent to intervene. 11:57 <Quaker> And has Willie considered challenging them to a sing-off…? Badawi has enough time and distance to idly consider sub-sub-sub-plans. Maybe she could tell Aster to be like, ‘See that stone angel’s head?’, and then she could shoot it? 11:57 <banana> Concrete Blonde guy: “We don’t know-” 11:57 <banana> Anthrax Girl speaks over him. “We don’t need any, fanks.” 11:58 <Quaker> Badawi clicks on the radio for a moment: “The shadowed figure is holding back for the moment.” 11:59 <banana> The bigger kid looks irritated, but he’s maintaining teen solidarity for the moment. 11:59 <Crion> Aster: "You're going to listen to her proposal, and then you're gonna laugh at it and talk some shit, and then you're gonna listen to mine. And you're gonna realize hers is really pretty good." 12:00 <tom> "Hey c'mon, we don't need to do the whole good cop, bad cop thing on kids," He'll mutter. 12:00 <banana> The kids are drawing closer together. Some of them aren’t very big, and some of you are; Rolf looks like an asshole and Aster sounds like one. They’re not entirely sanguine. 12:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Will you hear me out before you decide?" 12:00 <VoxPVoxD> "Please?" 12:00 <Crion> Aster, to Bob: "Yes we fucking do." 12:01 <banana> Anthrax Girl: “Let nobody say t’ Nightingales of Gorton are not magnanimous in our court.” 12:01 <VoxPVoxD> See? It's like.... quarter-Inchcape. 12:01 <hrolf> "Jesus christ on a stick." 12:02 <banana> A kid to another: “The fuck are they here? They look like a pack of mismatched celebs.” 12:04 <hrolf> "Yeah and you look like a smear on the fackin pavement if you don't shut ye twat. Listen to the nice lady." 12:04 <banana> Kid: “You listen to my bollocks.” 12:04 <hrolf> "They drop yet?" 12:05 <tom> Click: "Destroyed." 12:05 <Crion> Maybe we don't need this many bad cops. 12:05 <banana> He shuts up. 12:06 <banana> The ringleader, or at least the best singer, is still listening to Willie. She seems more enthused than most of them by whatever’s going on, despite having no greater idea what it is. 12:06 <VoxPVoxD> She steps further into the light. "Right. I'm here for two reasons: first, I'm a civil servant. The local council's plans for Hattersley... they're not good. Law and order, of the kind my colleagues represent. We believe there are better solutions, but the council refuses to support us. So I've decided to take matters into my own hands. For public safety, and your own use, I'd like to 12:06 <VoxPVoxD> arrange for a community venue where you can meet safely." 12:07 <VoxPVoxD> "I can do this for the second reason I am here: I'm quite rich. Too rich, really. I don't have problems money can solve." 12:09 <banana> Anthrax Girl: “Well that’s fucking great for you.” She doesn’t pronounce the ‘t’ or ‘g’ at all, though the accent basically vanished when she was singing. 12:09 <Crion> Aster frowns. "You have family named Simon?" 12:09 <banana> Everyone looks at her. 12:09 <banana> “How do you know that?!” 12:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie glances in Aster's direction, to better follow his play. 12:10 <Crion> Aster: "Small city." 12:10 <banana> Concrete Blonde Boy: “Simon’s right common name. Half the city is a Simon.” 12:10 <Crion> "Last name Kingfisher." 12:10 <banana> Some kid: “Sounds like a bad thing to call summat. A Simon.” 12:11 <VoxPVoxD> On the one hand, we might be hitting dissonant chords too hard to make a real impact. On the other hand, these kids were singing Anthrax. 12:11 <banana> Badawi sees the invisible figure on the move. It’s quite difficult to keep track of them, because they’re invisible. 12:11 <banana> But they’ve gone in the general direction of the group of hunters. 12:12 <Quaker> As soon as it moves, she keys the radio: “Watch out, shadowed figure is moving towards you. On your right.” 12:12 <tom> Bob rolls his shoulders. Click: "Permission to intercept?" 12:12 <Crion> Aster: "You have a friend out there in the grass?" 12:13 <banana> Girl: “Listen, you- you’ve come here making threats and saying peoples’ names. I, I, we’ll call the cops if you don’t give one good reason why you’ve not fucked off right now, or alternatively, if you do fuck right off.” 12:14 <Crion> Aster: "You're not supposed to even be here, and the cops don't care." 12:14 <tom> Click: "Viscon, twenty, ten." 12:15 <Crion> Aster: "But I think we're finally about to get some answers--" 12:15 <hrolf> Rolf reaches into his coat and pulls out a pair of extremely doofy looking glasses. If any of the tweens laugh they're getting a knock to the head. He puts them on - does he see anything? 12:16 <tom> "You can come out, bro. I don't give a shit." 12:16 <banana> Abruptly, the ODIN visor begins to hum. Bob sees woman in a tank top, hot pants and a fake fur stole about one metre to his right. She catches his eye and looks extremely surprised. 12:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "None of us wants the police here. Come on. We can guarantee you a place to meet. We'll have an address for you within days. Safe, secure. It'll be warm in the winter. And you won't end up in some antisocial headcracking campaign to bolster some Tory prig's poll numbers." 12:16 <tom> "Sorry. Ma'am." 12:17 <Crion> Aster, to the kids, somewhat distracted: "Our money's good." 12:17 <banana> Some kids are starting to say stuff, like, “what are you talking about” to Aster; others are listening to Willie. 12:17 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Boys, why don't you deal with the other creeper and let me handle the Nightingales?" 12:17 <tom> "Affirmative." 12:17 <Crion> To Willie: "That sounds good." 12:18 <Crion> He doesn't quite know where they are, but to the space where Bob's looking: "We should walk out a bit. Talk." 12:18 <banana> None of them can see the young lady(??); in fact, only Bob can. She glances about, attempting to ascertain this- then lunges for Bob with an outstretched hand. 12:19 <tom> Bob sorta stumbles in place. "C-C'mon!" 12:19 <VoxPVoxD> See, this is much better. Having these variably-afflicted masculinities stepping on each other like we were taking turns in a board game really muddied our message. 12:21 <banana> Something extremely weird is happening back in the grove of trees, but Willie holds some of their attention, at least. 12:21 <tom> "Fuck, c'mon!" 12:21 <Crion> Why did he try to grab her?? 12:21 <tom> Bob goes down on the slick grass. 12:22 <tom> "Look, kid-Gwah!" An invisible palm smacks him on the cheek. 12:22 <banana> Anthrax Girl: “You don’t know what you’re talking about, lady. Social authorities rolling in here don’t do anyone good.. and it’s not like we want to be ‘social’ with the shitheads who live in this place neither.” 12:22 <tom> He has her by the wrist, but she sweeped his legs. A total embarassment. 12:23 <tom> Are they really just gonna let me eat shit?? 12:24 <Crion> Aster: "Idiot, don't grab them, we can't even see them--" 12:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't care if you share it. I want to safeguard this. Just not here." 12:25 <banana> Aster and Rolf can’t tell what the hell is happening here. Bob has fallen over in a really unnatural way and is kind of grappling with the air - a voice comes from it- “Let go, arsehole. I know who you are.” 12:25 <hrolf> Rolf raises a boot and launches an aimless kick around Bob somewhere. His foot hits empty air, and dangles stupidly. 12:25 <Crion> We clearly know what is going on here. We just can't do much about it. 12:26 <tom> "Okay, okay! Jeez." His wrist unclasps the empty cylinder of air he was holding and he backs off, hands up. "We're talking, we're talking." 12:26 <Crion> Aster: "For fuck's-- hello, Suzie." 12:26 <Crion> "Bob, stop fucking around." 12:26 <Quaker> Badawi watches Bob fall over and Rolf launch a roundhouse kick into empty air. Really…? 12:26 <tom> "Sorry, Ma'am." 12:26 <Crion> To Badawi: "We're fine here." 12:26 <Crion> "For the time being." 12:26 <VoxPVoxD> Willie is projecting completely forward, letting the bizarre tableau unfold behind her. 12:27 <banana> If Bob lets go of the vampire, she’ll let go of him. He sees her glance at Willie and the teens in their pool of light, just twenty metres away. Quietly: “Move over t’ west, far enough we can talk.” 12:27 <Crion> Aster will do so. 12:27 <tom> He sighs, shakes his head, follows. 12:28 <banana> Anthrax Girl: “Why not here?” 12:28 <banana> Concrete Blonde Boy: “More important, how much?” 12:28 <tom> He'll have the presence of mind to thumb the radio. "Hemophage, civilian." 12:29 <banana> Badawi hasn’t had to shoot anyone yet. Hopefully that keeps up, because she’s now tracking two separate groups as some of the hunters take themselves further from the teen action, to which the disc player on the ground is still putting out a soundtrack. 12:30 <Crion> To Badawi: "Keep an eye on Willie. I don't think we're going to have a fight here." 12:31 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "It's council land. The public, as the government sees it, wants to see bobbies cracking yobbo skulls. Now, I know and you know that that's not what's going on here... but it looks awfully similar to the men who make these decisions." 12:31 <banana> There’s a tomb-plinth covered in dust and dew. Aster and Rolf see it get brushed off, mysteriously; Bob actually sees, except in his peripheral vision, Suzie Cutsworth wipe the thing with her jacket and then sit on it, legs too wide apart for gentility. 12:31 <tom> Bob boxes the woman- awooga, by the way- in his visor, checks her temperature, boots up Huntr and the Trackcheck. 12:31 <banana> Invisible vampire: “Gentlemen.” 12:32 <Quaker> Uh huh. Badawi dutifully pans over to Willie and the Teens. “Received.” 12:32 <banana> She has no body heat, but you didn’t expect it. 12:32 <tom> He'll blush, look slighty askew. 12:32 <Crion> Aster: "Suzie Cutsworth, this is Rolf, the man you wrestled with is Bob." 12:32 <Crion> "You know me." 12:32 <banana> Suzie: “I do. Nice t’ meet you both. I’m sorry for interrupting your tryst with the Nightingales, only- I kinda got called out!” 12:33 <tom> "You tried to- I don't know, hand of death me!" 12:33 <Crion> Aster: "That was on me. To be fair, whatever it is you're...still...using doesn't exactly give us a positive ID." 12:34 <banana> Suzie sighs dramatically. “I was only gonna vanish you, Bob.” 12:34 <tom> "Nice?" 12:34 <banana> “So are you fine people dealing with our theatrical interlopers?” 12:34 <Crion> "We're here because Barrigan has us running his errands and holding access to the council hostage until we do. So I didn't expect someone else from your court to be here." 12:36 <banana> Girl: “Wellesley, was it? I’m Cameron.” 12:36 <banana> “We are yobbos. Born yob, die yob. That’s how it works.” 12:36 <tom> He'll muster his dignity as best as he can: "Corporal Bob Goreman. Nice to meet you, miss Cutesworth." 12:36 <tom> "Cutsworth." 12:37 <Crion> Cutsworth. Cutsworth. 12:37 <hrolf> "Rolf. Call me Rolfie. I'd shake 'ands, but-" 12:37 <banana> Suzie: “We’ll get on fine without it.” There’s a chirp in her voice to take out any sting. 12:38 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "A pleasure to meet you, Cameron. Yes, I understand. But you're not hurting anybody. And if it were up to me this is exactly what graveyard memorials like this should be for. But the best I can do is give you a place of your own, where you'll be able to spend your time safely and comfortably." 12:38 <Crion> Aster: "So what's your interest here, Suzie? Anthrax fan?" 12:39 <Crion> He's left the line open here for Badawi to listen in. 12:39 <banana> Suzie: “I’m sure Brutus Barrigan has good reason for what he’s done. So you should keep on with that, but if you need access to the Carthian Council... I’m here, aren’t I? Ask away.” 12:39 <banana> She didn’t say why she’s here. 12:39 <Quaker> Badawi is listening. 12:39 <tom> Bob taps his visor, grimaces, taps it again. Still a lot of work to do before he can set up the drone stream. 12:40 <Crion> Aster: "We were informed they had a job on offer. Apparently we got some wires crossed up our chain. Barrigan and Leticia invited us out to the art gallery to talk about how the primacy of the dead blood and knowing our place and espionage and a bunch of other boring, insulting shit." 12:41 <Quaker> But also, without broadcasting anything, she occasionally makes quiet little grunts. She noticed like two years ago that she can approximate *several* different animals to something like 98% fidelity…maybe this will come in handy one day. Best to keep sharp and practicing. She has pig down. 12:43 <banana> Cameron: “You got anything else wivin walkin distance where the local fascists will leave us alone?” 12:43 <tom> "I thought they were fine." 12:43 <tom> "Not too happy about the Teen saga, though." 12:44 <Crion> Aster: "You thought Leticia was fine." 12:44 <Quaker> Maybe she should get a cat. 12:44 <banana> Suzie: “Aye, assuming by ‘they’ you mean ‘we’. And by ‘we’ you mean the Constable. Council just votes on shit.” 12:44 <banana> The TrackCheck comes through around now. 12:44 <banana> SUZIE CUTSWORTH, CARTHIAN DELEGATE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPW5A_JyXCY 12:44 <banana> “We need a recognisable hook here -- turns up like a bad penny -- and if she offers you one, it will be.” 12:44 <tom> "Tt-No," he retorts, stupidly. 12:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I will. If I have to buy something and fix it up I will. If you can find someplace suitable for sale or rent I'll take a look. I didn't want to come here with something prepared but unsuitable." 12:44 <Crion> Aster: "All I was given was an e-mail address. I was displeased to get introduced to who was on the other end of it." 12:45 <Crion> Aster: "Anyway. We were interested because we were made aware that the Constable had some people he needed put down." 12:45 <Crion> "'Rogues.'" 12:45 <Crion> "Presumably not these children." 12:46 <banana> Cameron’s rival tries to nudge his way back into the conversation. “So- you’re saying you’ll buy us, um, buy us a place. A clubroom or summat to hang out, as long as it’s not here. Because.. the cops are mad, and you care about that?” 12:46 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, the *Council* is mad. The Constable just doesn't want to do his job, and if he has to, he's going to take it out on you." 12:46 <VoxPVoxD> "And I care about *that*." 12:49 <banana> Suzie’s voice drifts from thin air toward Aster. “Yeah, I’ve heard a bit about that. It is indeed a sensitive affair, owing to which I don’t know details. Want me to set you up a meeting with Sydney once you’re done here?” 12:49 <Crion> Aster: "That would be appreciated, Suzie. Thank you." 12:50 <banana> Cameron: “How exactly are we gonna stay in touch with you, Mrs. Wellesley. So you can let us know where and when we’re allowed to hang out.” 12:50 <Crion> Could do it through Simon. 12:50 <Crion> Aster's just an earpiece away. 12:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Are you the leader?" 12:50 <banana> Willie really has a feeling these kids don’t like her. But it’s not like they liked the others better. 12:50 <tom> "...Okay, Sorry, I gotta ask. 'Vanish me'?" 12:50 <banana> Cameron: “Yes.” 12:51 <banana> Several others: “Nah!” 12:51 <banana> Suzie grins sweetly at Bob and holds out a hand. Her nails are painted green and pink. 12:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie won't pretend she's not hurt that they don't like her. But one must soldier on. "Would you take a business card?" 12:51 <tom> He'll wince, then reach out and take it. 12:51 <banana> The kid who had a knife: “We’d take a phone.” 12:51 <Crion> Aster shakes his head. 12:52 <banana> Bob vanishes completely from sight. 12:52 <banana> No, wait. He’s there, just.. it doesn’t matter. 12:52 <VoxPVoxD> Plus ca change. 12:52 <tom> Does it feel like anything? Can he still see himself? 12:52 <banana> The moment you look away you forget. He’s not present as Bob, just an irrelevancy. Eyes slide off. 12:52 <hrolf> Rolf mutters under his breath, barely intelligible. Something about in bed with and bloodsuckers. 12:53 <banana> None of this applies to Bob himself, and he can now see Suzie without the goggles! 12:53 <tom> "Oh, sick." 12:53 <banana> Suzie: “’s a good way to have a quiet chat.” 12:53 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'll give you my card, Cameron. Is that satisfactory?" 12:53 <tom> "I'll say. You guys can still hear me right? I'm not about to get my life slayed out?" 12:54 <Crion> Well, can they? 12:54 <tom> He chuckles. It'd be pretty funny if she just killed him. 12:54 <VoxPVoxD> No it wouldn't. 12:54 <hrolf> It would. 12:54 <banana> Aster and Rolf can recognise Bob’s voice while he’s actively talking to them.. and then the moment he’s done, that fact makes no impression on their minds for the purpose of recognising that he’s actually present. 12:55 <banana> As far as they’re consciously aware, Suzie obliterated him entirely. 12:55 <tom> "Wow." 12:56 <Crion> Aster: "Well, that's it for Bob, then." 12:56 <tom> "So you guys have stealth too. That's neat." 12:56 <banana> Suzie: “Ahaha.” 12:57 <Quaker> Badawi glances at the rest of the estate through her binoculars. Anything else going on while the rest have their chats? 12:57 <banana> “Aster, you’ll get a call. Should be one in the morning too, a thanks for doing this thing. You want your friend back?” 12:57 <Crion> Aster: "Willie will be mad if I say no." 12:57 <Crion> "So yes, please." 12:58 <VoxPVoxD> That's right. 12:58 <tom> He realizes he's still holding her cold hand and lets go. "This will wear off, right?" 12:58 <tom> "Right?" 12:59 <banana> Cameron: “Sa’isfactory? Not really, nah.” Other teens mutter similar things. “We’re not hurtin anyone here. Which is fuckin difficult in Hattersley. You’ve come in being nebulously yet convincingly well-upholstered, made vague allusions to the constabulary, and told us to.. fuck off forever? In exchange for a business card?” 13:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What would you find satisfactory?" 13:00 <banana> “Utilising which I assume we are to call you on-” she puts on a BBC accent- “the telephone, and then get some sort of financial slash space-utilisation agreement, rather than allowing us as free people to hang around wherever we like because this is still a free country.” 13:00 <banana> “Utilising which I assume we are to call you on-” she puts on a BBC accent- “the telephone, and then get some sort of financial slash space-utilisation agreement, rather than allowing us as free people to hang around wherever we like because this is still a free country.” 13:01 <banana> Suzie, to Bob: “Once I get far enough away.” He realises from the lack of others reaction that he’s the only one who heard that. 13:01 <tom> "Too spooky for me, miss." 13:01 <banana> The vampire shoves herself off the plinth and starts jogging away past the rows of graves. 13:02 <banana> As promised, once she vanishes into the mist, Bob ceases to have done so. 13:02 <tom> "Well, bye, I guess!" 13:02 <tom> He wipes some sweat off his brow. "This was fun." 13:02 <banana> Badawi scans the whole place. 13:02 <hrolf> "What'd the bint look like?" 13:02 <tom> He whistles. 13:03 <banana> She’s aware that Suzie went off somewhere, and can *probably* track her with effort. Nobody else is moving throughout the graveyard, although there’s something fascinating about the stones themselves. They seem to line up in series, rows placed in concordant styles then giving way to headstones of a different character. 13:04 <Crion> Aster: "Let's stay on mission, please." 13:04 <tom> "Uh, I guess, she was cute." 13:04 <Crion> He'll start heading back to the kids. 13:04 <Quaker> Badawi *will* try to track her. 13:05 <tom> "So, I mean, that's terrifying though, isn't it? Like they're invisible, now you're invisible and everyone's forgotten you exist, and you're alone with a vampire-" 13:05 <banana> Suzie behaves a little oddly on her way to a new hiding spot. She stops at a headstone, pauses a little; moves to the next, looks closely, and does this several times more. Eventually, she stops looking(?) at graves and goes to skulk in a corner of the north wall - resuming her watch on the war memorial. 13:06 <Quaker> Badawi takes a little notepad out of her coat and marks down which graves the vampire is stopping at. 13:06 <tom> "I guess we'll add it to the Wiki." 13:07 <Crion> Aster: "Sure. Let's give Willie some space." 13:07 <Crion> "Try not to loom over them." 13:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You know, that's a good point." 13:09 <VoxPVoxD> "You don't need space, exactly. This is your home. It's all your space. So how about something else: I could give you grants for your creative projects." 13:09 <banana> A kid wearing a jacket with the collar dyed pink and cut up with scissors: “Uh-huh.” 13:09 <VoxPVoxD> "Money. To do art, make music, put on plays, rent your own damn venues." 13:09 <VoxPVoxD> "Give the Nightingales a budget." 13:10 <VoxPVoxD> Devolution in action! 13:10 <tom> Hey, that's nice. 13:10 <Quaker> Badawi will change her frequency to Willie’s radio. 13:10 <banana> Cameron: “T’ Court of Nightingales does accept grants.” 13:10 <Quaker> Click. “How’s it going.” 13:10 <VoxPVoxD> "Splendid!" says Willie out of both sides of her mouth. 13:11 <Crion> And if a couple months later we circle back around and find out we're funding the newest drug gang in whatever this shithole neighborhood is called, well, we can deal with it then. 13:12 <banana> It’s just a matter of negotiation from here. If you’re offering the kids money.. they’ll take it, and they’re used to having to do things for it. It would be nice to seal the deal with some sort of gesture, or some show of trustworthiness or force. Have the returned others got any way to help, or is this still best left to Willie? 13:12 <Quaker> Click: “Have you challenged them to a singing competition?” 13:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Now I don't have cash on me, so we will still need to be in contact. But I feel like we should do something to cement the deal. Something to please the court. A handshake, a poetry recital." She gestures at the musical setup. "A song." 13:14 <VoxPVoxD> "What would be appropriate, do you think?" 13:15 <banana> One of the kids laughs like a horse. “You sing, aye? Which of you c- which of you adults even knows good music?” 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Well, you're the judge of what's good or not. How am I to know if you'll like the song I pick?" 13:16 <VoxPVoxD> "I'd have to sing it." 13:17 <banana> Cameron: “Guess the rest of ya are the boy band.” 13:17 <Crion> To Bob: "A note. On tonight's performance. Don't just, take a vampire's hand like that? Blink out of existence?" 13:17 <Crion> "She could have bit you and there's nothing we could have done." 13:17 <tom> "Yeah! T.I.L." 13:18 <Crion> Aster looks at him. Did you, though? 13:18 <tom> "You knew her, though, right? So she wouldn't, like, just murder me, y-yeah?" 13:18 <Quaker> Click: “Hello…did you…” 13:18 <VoxPVoxD> "So, shall I sing then?" 13:18 <Crion> Aster: "That's not how it works." 13:19 <tom> "Shit, it's not??" 13:19 <Crion> "Do you think a vampire is just not going to hurt people because I know them?" 13:19 <VoxPVoxD> If they're mean to her she's going to cry in the car. But a win's a win. 13:19 <tom> "I mean, I hope?" 13:20 <banana> Cameron: “Fetch the track list, Nightingales.” It takes Willie a moment to realise she’s referring to the club’s burned CDs, not to Huntr. 13:20 <tom> Anyway, Bob's turning his attention to Willie now that it's clear some Disney shit is happening. 13:20 <banana> While that’s happening: “What are they talking about over there?” 13:20 <Quaker> Click: “I can try to sing too.” 13:20 <banana> You could bring in a Mysterious Radio Voice. 13:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I honestly haven't the foggiest. Guy stuff." 13:26 <VoxPVoxD> She scans the markered track list until "Oh! Mitski!" 13:26 <VoxPVoxD> "I love that song." 13:27 <tom> Bob will hang back by Rolf and Aster. He rubs his neck, produces a packet of cigarettes, lights one. 13:28 <banana> There’s a new message on Huntr. 13:28 <banana> RH: <When someone’s next available, I’d like to be relieved at the Greybox for a while to take care of some chores! No rush.> 13:29 <tom> BG: <i got it. working on some fun tech from the armory, gotta put the hours in anyway> 13:30 <tom> <oh can you add that some vampires can just disappear you in the middle of a crowd & eat you? learning a lot today> 13:30 <hrolf> RH: <we wll be thr soon the ldy wellelesy is doing a comcert> 13:31 <tom> <sure thing richard> 13:31 <Quaker> Click: “Hey do you want some advice” 13:31 <Quaker> Click: “For singing” 13:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie, quietly: "Please." 13:33 <Quaker> Click: “Okay but you have to let me sing a song too” 13:33 <VoxPVoxD> "Done." 13:33 <banana> While the men hang back, unsinging, they have the opportunity to study the lit-up area and the war memorial. It’s Bob who picks out the oddity first. 13:35 <tom> He's fucking around with his visor, trying to zoom in on the writing on the plinths for a date, or a title, or something that would give it some context. Hm, what's that? 13:36 <banana> https://limits.thomascastiglione.com/media/cwgc.jpg It’s inscribed “Commonwealth War Graves Commission” and seems to commemorate victims of the First World War. Plausible. But you haven’t seen any other graves in this place from the 20th century.. and the memorial looks years old, not decades. 13:37 <Quaker> Click: “They like it when you sing earnestly. Not ironically. You have to make a genuine effort to be vulnerable. Emotionally.” 13:37 <Quaker> Click: “I’ll go after you.” 13:38 <banana> If Badawi doesn’t actually come down there at some point it’s going to be something of a surprise. 13:38 <tom> Weird. 13:38 <VoxPVoxD> Badawi can make her entrance. 13:39 <tom> "Not sure if it's important. Memorial's out of step with the graveyard." 13:39 <hrolf> "Which 'un?" 13:39 <Crion> Aster: "I assume it is important." 13:39 <Crion> "I don't know how important it is to us, though." 13:39 <tom> Bob points to the well-lit plinths. 13:39 <Crion> "Obviously the vampires want this place for a reason." 13:39 <tom> "Any guess if there's a connection?" 13:40 <tom> "Maybe they built, like, a bogus memorial over someone they didn't like?" 13:40 <tom> "I've been watching this fucked-up British murder-show where they drown a dude in concrete." 13:41 <hrolf> Rolf squints and his eyes widen. He flushes red angrily. "They built a fake memorial to our solider lads? That's fackin sacrilege.: 13:41 <tom> "I mean I dunno." 13:41 <tom> Gangs of London was Mari's idea. 13:42 <hrolf> Rolf: "Take a closer look then?" 13:42 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Alright, so, bear with me. I'm not a great singer and this one is a bit personal." 13:42 <tom> "Aw, she's about to sing. Don't wanna miss this." 13:43 <Crion> Aster: "I'll take a look, then." 13:44 <tom> Bob is visible at the edge of the field as a pinprick of cherry-red as he puffs on the cigarette. 13:46 <VoxPVoxD> Willie takes a deep breath, hits play on the boombox, and takes another deep breath as the track leads in. Her eyes scan the crowd, and the shadows... and fixate on Bob's cigarette in the dark. Her voice isn't bad, exactly, but it comes out so diamond-hard that it's difficult to listen to. "I get mean when I'm nervous, like a bad dog..." 13:46 <VoxPVoxD> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etKhIIJr0HM 13:46 <tom> Holy shit. Bob smokes. 13:47 <VoxPVoxD> I miss riding horses, I miss running fast~ 13:47 <Quaker> Badawi will slowly make her way down from the tree, putting her rifle and equipment away in her bag. 13:47 <banana> Teens perch on headstones, sprawl on graves, or stand in wide stances watching in an arc. They’re drawn in, particularly the boys. 13:48 <VoxPVoxD> I pretended you were mine; it made me calm, babe. 13:48 <Crion> Aster takes the opportunity for a walk amongst the headstones. Or whatever that movie was called. 13:48 <Crion> Pretty voice, though. 13:50 <VoxPVoxD> "And I will never die~ I will never die~ I will never die~ I will never die~" 13:50 <banana> With careful glances and a little unsuspicious examination of the grass behind the memorial wall... Aster realises there’s been way too much foot traffic recently leading up to a solid stone edifice. 13:50 <Crion> He's not looking at the plinths or the memorial now, though. He's looking at the dirt. Lots of foot traffic here. 13:50 <Crion> Of course. 13:50 <Crion> Predictable. 13:53 <VoxPVoxD> After "So I will burn this movie theatre, hey~" Willie looks wiped out. She lets herself coast on the music. Very cathartic, this. She really can see the appeal. 13:53 <Crion> They've got a clubhouse. 13:53 <tom> When she's done, he purses his lips to steady his cigarette and claps his hands. Just standing there alone in a fucking field, clapping. 13:54 <banana> There’s silence, then scattered applause. They liked it a lot, but they’re still teens. Cameron steps up: “Great projection there, lady. You’ve got what it takes, though you could use some choreography. Really helps to drive home how we’re giving up this atmosphere,” 13:54 <banana> Kids laugh, but it doesn’t sound mean. They’re not going back on the deal. 13:54 <VoxPVoxD> She doesn't look up to see the clapping. But there's really only one man who'd applaud at that. She smiles a bit. "You're very kind. Thank you for indulging me!" 13:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Now my friend insists--" 13:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Forgive her, she's terribly shy." 13:56 <banana> Concrete Blonde guy looks at Rolf, Aster and Bob, now strung out around the memorial area, surprised. “Which one of you’s a girl?” 13:56 <Quaker> Badawi will trudge forward into the clearing. “Hello.” 13:56 <banana> Bob’s the only one who can hear Suzie clearly stating, “Who the heck.” 13:57 <banana> Boy: “Oh!” 13:57 <tom> "...Have you just been watching us from the bushes this whole time?" 13:58 <banana> If Bob looks around, he’ll eventually spy her well behind him, up against the north railing-wall of Gorton Cemetery. Everyone else is further away, but that’s not why he’s the sole listener - he’s also the only one who got incorporated in the blood magic. 13:58 <tom> Oh. Hm. 13:58 <tom> That's not going in the report. 13:59 <Crion> Aster gave the shithead blonde a withering look a couple seconds ago. 13:59 <banana> Aster can’t see her! 14:00 <banana> Or wait, does he mean the teen. 14:00 <Quaker> She’s still wearing her scarf around her face, so she’s not concerned about being recorded. She will take the microphone, though. 14:00 <VoxPVoxD> Phew. Willie needs a cigarette after that. She trudges back up near Bob, lighting up as she goes. 14:01 <Crion> He means the teen. 14:01 <banana> Cutsworth, at a distance: “So there’s five of you. Fair’s fair. ” Willie cannot hear this. 14:01 <tom> He's chuckling, and his head dips low enough as she approaches that she can see his eyes twinkling under the glasses. "Crushed it. Crushed!" 14:01 <tom> "Tell your bosses they can find out just how cool we are for a cool one million." 14:02 <VoxPVoxD> "Flatterer," says Willie with faux-dismissiveness. "I'm really curious what she's going to sing. What was the lurker?" 14:02 <tom> "Was? Is." 14:02 <Crion> Aster: "Suzie Cutsworth." 14:02 <Crion> "We now have an actual line to the Constable. Around Barrigan." 14:02 <tom> "G-Oh hey man." 14:02 <banana> Suzie: “I am the bosses. Mr. Damani, who you’ll meet, is an appointed civil servant. Don’t call him that, he’ll kick your ass and mine.” 14:03 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Oh, from the Carthian Council?" 14:03 <tom> "Oh yeah, that guy. Does he know about the whole Prophecy thing?" 14:03 <Crion> Aster: "Yes." 14:03 <VoxPVoxD> "I hope she doesn't disapprove of our strategy of publcly embarrassing ourselves." 14:03 <Crion> To Bob: "What?" 14:04 <tom> "I'm talking to Joker's girlfriend bro, one second." 14:04 <Crion> Aster: "Fucking what?" 14:04 <tom> "Hush." 14:04 <banana> Suzie just laughs at the confusion among them. 14:04 <VoxPVoxD> The cherry of Willie's cigarette flares. "Let him work." 14:04 <Quaker> Badawi climbs aboard a little marble tomb and sits cross-legged on the flat platform. She starts humming, warming her voice up. “Ahhh…Ohhh….” 14:05 <banana> Teens turn to watch her obligingly. They don’t know her? As she just barged in?? But it’s her turn. 14:05 <Crion> Aster: "Tell her to stop fucking around. Wait, she can probably hear me: Suzie, stop fucking around." He turns back to Willie: "There's some other shit going on here. Tell you later." 14:05 <tom> "Yeah and I don't wanna be rude to Ago-stina." 14:05 <tom> Nailed it. 14:05 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Got it. Fancy a f- want a cigarette?" 14:05 <Quaker> And she takes a brown lozenge from her Altoids tin, and swallows it. 14:06 <banana> Suzie: “Bob, tell him I’m doing my job. Which is to watch all of you in case of fucking around in the cemetery.” 14:06 <Crion> Aster: "Please. I forgot mine." 14:06 <tom> "Yeah I'll tell him. Suzie says you're being mean." 14:06 <Crion> Aster: "That's my job." 14:09 <VoxPVoxD> Willie offers him one of her cigarettes - the menacing packet says BENSON AND HEDGES - and her silver lighter, etched with a horse at full gallop. 14:10 <Crion> Aster will cup the cig and take the light, rather than reach for the lighter himself. 14:10 <tom> Bob's onto his second of the evening as Badawi takes up the microphone. 14:10 <Crion> Americans at least get particular about taking their expensive Zippos. 14:11 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm going to give them grants that'd cost a twentieth of what I was prepared to spend on a location. I think they like me better for it, and they'll get more use out of it." 14:11 <VoxPVoxD> She's not possessive of the lighter, it's just a thing. But she will readily light Aster's cigarette for him. 14:12 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I wish I could present on this to the minister." 14:12 <Quaker> The small woman clears her mind. She pictures the harps besides her, slowly plucking in accompaniment. In the mist and quiet, her voice carries forward in an odd, glancing way. The song is comforting, warm, even…but there’s something in there, a core of longing and disquiet in her words. It is unlikely they speak the language, either, which may make the thing even stranger. 14:12 <Quaker> She begins. The words come out slowly. 14:13 <Crion> Aster takes a deep pull. "I doubt your minister would approve." 14:13 <Crion> "Well. I suppose they are white enough." 14:13 <Quaker> <Swings are swinging in the garden….while you have erased the memory of me….> 14:13 <banana> You can’t just throw money at the problem. 14:14 <Quaker> <I have not forgotten you, but you have forgotten all about us…> 14:14 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Probably not, but it'd still be a paper trail of being clever and correct. I can build on it, or it'll bury me. But there's no other way to do the job." 14:14 <VoxPVoxD> Then Badawi starts singing and Willie's sucked in. 14:14 <Quaker> <My heart is without hope, and I worry it will bring me shame…> 14:15 <Quaker> <Swings are swinging in the garden….while you have forgotten….> 14:15 <Quaker> <It is the month of monsoons….> 14:16 <Quaker> <Living without clouds is no way to live….> 14:16 <Quaker> https://open.spotify.com/track/67Gi1F7EIXqh19ZOEIWkk0?si=3f9e4f6f05994132 14:17 <banana> A couple of the kids look bored or irritated by not understanding the words. The ones who know anything about music are drawn in, letting themselves be transported to some imagined time and place; the guy who sang Bloodletting is tapping on his phone rapidly, taking notes. 14:17 <banana> Suzie's approached a little closer, so she doesn't have to yell at Bob. “She’s really good. I’ve been rostered to watch the kids four times now, and only a couple of them really have a future- I mean, would have, if they could get out of this shithole. Most of them are just here to make out and forget things. Your masked friend could be on X Factor." 14:18 <tom> "Man. We're all really fucked, aren't we. Suzie approves, by the way." 14:19 <Quaker> Badawi lets her voice fade after the last stanza, then stands up and hands the microphone off to whichever of the kids wants it. “Alright? You’ll all take off for the new housing?” 14:19 <Crion> Aster: "No? No, we're not all 'really fucked.' Tonight's been a success." 14:19 <tom> "C'mon, man..." 14:19 <tom> He'll nod back toward Suzie. 14:19 <Crion> Aster: "I! Can't hear! What she's saying!" 14:20 <tom> "Look, maybe I can pick it up on the ODIN." 14:20 <banana> Cameron will beat everyone else to the microphone. “What was that? Um, it was very good. Thanks.” 14:20 <banana> “Havin some guest stars now and then isn’t so bad.” 14:20 <tom> Bob will clap, of course, and he'll nudge Aster to join him. 14:20 <Quaker> “If you move to a safer place I can teach it to you. And other songs.” 14:21 <Crion> Aster will clap for Badawi, sure. 14:21 <banana> Suzie: “Yeah, that widget’s not doing anything for you unless it’s got crystallised hag-blood in it or something. Nice try though.” 14:21 <tom> We're almost a fuckin' team. 14:22 <VoxPVoxD> Willie doesn't applaud. She's somewhere else entirely. 14:22 <tom> "Can't blame a man for trying, ma'am. But yeah, I think we deserve a second look, maybe talk some numbers. We are very good at our jobs." 14:23 <banana> Cutsworth: “You’ve got it. ‘S long as nobody comes back here.” 14:24 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gives Bob a gentle clap on the back. "Good work today, Goreman." 14:24 <tom> The bags under his eyes droop well below the rims of the sunglasses, but the shitty grin painted to his face lasts a long while. 14:25 <tom> "Again, I literally didn't do a single thing, haha." 14:25 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "You're our main point of contact with the local authorities." 14:25 <tom> "Oh yeah, almost got et again." 14:25 <VoxPVoxD> "You are indispensable." 14:26 <Crion> Aster: "You keep trying to get 'et'." 14:26 <tom> "Haha, nah. Nah, I have a girlfriend. Just having some fun." 14:26 <tom> "Been a while since I got that." 14:27 <tom> "After a while the weirdness is the only thing worth it." 14:27 <VoxPVoxD> "Having fun and getting et aren't always incompatible," Willie points out. 14:27 <tom> Is Badawi coming back to join the group? 14:27 <Quaker> Badawi leaves the others to go check on the graves Cutsworth was stopping by. 14:28 <Quaker> Who do they belong to? 14:28 <Quaker> She has some feelings to process privately before she rejoins the little squad. 14:28 <tom> Bob grinds out his cigarette. "Man." 14:29 <banana> Suzie, Bob can tell, has backed off again to just watch. Maybe she respects his already having a girlfriend. (No. Later, he’ll find a bit of paper in his pocket reading ‘Feeling high blood pressure? Hit me up some time,’ with a phone number and the address of a nightclub.) 14:29 <tom> "I'm getting really good at hanging out with sad people." He points at Agostina- she's turned away and receding down the row of gravestones. "That is a sad woman." 14:29 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "She's got sadness in her. It's not all she is." 14:30 <tom> "I just wanna-" His face briefly twists under the visor. He doesn't finish what he was saying. 14:30 <banana> The teens are packing up, although they keep rolling their eyes about it. 14:30 <tom> "Well, that's done, at least." 14:30 <VoxPVoxD> Willie wants to check out the Gardener's graves. 14:30 <VoxPVoxD> *Gardeners' 14:31 <banana> Badawi inspects the graves as she walks. Most of them are like, SAMUEL POTTER d. 1881 ANNO DOMINI ~ LOVING HUSBAND AND WIDOW. 14:31 <banana> Then there’s the one that reads, WELL THAT WAS INTERESTING. GOOD 14:33 <banana> Alex Gardener and Ruth Henning Gardener were buried in 1745, in a once- expensive family plot. Their crypt is just a stone box with two sarcophagi; you can see them through ancient, rusted iron bars. Nobody’s been here in a very, very, very long time. 14:34 <Quaker> Huh. Does the grave look…normal? 14:34 <banana> The grave itself is just flat earth with sparse grass. 14:35 <banana> The next headstone she comes to is engraved WORK TONIGHT. YOU’LL HAVE TO ACCEPT 14:35 <Quaker> Oh, god damnit. 14:35 <VoxPVoxD> It doesn't yield or give or open at all, does it? 14:36 <banana> Headstone: MY APOLOGIES FOR THE UNPROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATIONS. 14:37 <Quaker> Uh huh. 14:37 <banana> Headstone: I HAVE FOLLOWED UP ON THE W&SC SUSPICION ASPECT AND 14:37 <banana> Headstone: IN ORDER TO ‘DEFANG’ THEIR CONCERNS, YOU MAY STATE 14:39 <banana> Headstone: THE FOLLOWING: EXSANGUINATING FERAL-ANIMAL ATTACKS 14:39 <banana> Headstone: REPORTED IN MILES PLATTING. 14:41 <banana> Willie pulls on the bars. They weren’t designed to open, and they’re heavily rusted anyway. You’d need to force your way in here.. or turn into a bat or something. 14:41 <Quaker> Badawi wasn’t paying attention at all to the vampire stuff, so she has no idea what that means. Still, she’ll copy it down for the others. Is that it from Jack? 14:41 <banana> Fortunately. 14:41 <Quaker> Hm. She’ll have to ask Octocat about this. 14:41 <VoxPVoxD> Yeah, well. No texts from Sergio or the mysterious prophet tonight, yeah? She checks Huntr. "Shit." 14:42 <tom> "What's up?" 14:42 <Quaker> When she rejoins the others: “New message from Jack.” She’ll hand the scrap of paper to Aster. 14:43 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Let's get back to the offsite." 14:43 <tom> At the trees and bushes: "Ma'am." 14:44 <tom> He heads back for the van. 14:44 <Crion> Aster: "We get to keep the van." 14:44 <Crion> "Didn't expect that." 14:44 <tom> "What's soyjack up to?" 14:44 <banana> Giving those kids an expensive luxury vehicle wouldn’t help them. 14:44 <VoxPVoxD> Willie takes Rolf back to the Greybox, unless he's finding his own way home. 14:45 <Crion> Aster just expected it to be stolen as soon as it wasn't being directly perceived. 14:45 <banana> Local superstition wins out again! 14:47 <banana> The next morning, Aster has two emails. One’s from the Carthian Council setting up a meeting with Constable Sydney Damani; the other is from Greater Manchester Police procurement, requesting a meeting with Aster Biologics regarding a long-term contract for overflow forensics services. 14:49 <Crion> He will handle them in turn, setting up both meetings. 14:49 <Crion> Politely and efficaciously. 14:50 <Crion> In the e-mail to the Council he will make mention of bringing the 'rest of the workgroup' -- this won't be new nomenclature if Barrigan or Letitia have been even slightly honest about their interactions. 14:50 <tom> Bob returns home and collapses into her arms on the couch, where she'll find the note in his pocket. 14:51 <Crion> Honestly, he's not optimistic. 14:51 <tom> On the one hand, catastrophic. On the other hand, he knows her eyes- the real ones- glow when she gets heated. So he can take another talking to. 14:52 <banana> Handling this without upsetting Bob may take some effort, but Mari’s up to the task.