21:25 <banana> The radio silence is over. 21:29 <banana> When Aster checks his phone after Willie's scouse, he finds two emails have arrived sundown and now. The first is brief enough to be worth reproducing. 21:29 <Crion> Ah. 21:31 <Crion> Well, let's see how fucked we are. 21:31 <banana> From: savoystar@hotmail.vtr 21:31 <banana> To: aaster@abiologics.htv 21:31 <banana> Subject: Proof of work 21:31 <banana> 21:31 <banana> Mr. Aster, 21:31 <banana> My people say you're dangerous and not easy to scare. That answers the question of why Damani is giving you work. Clan Gangrel's objections will be retracted if you can explain what exactly you are doing and why it falls outside Constabulary FoI. Here are my credentials to ask you this question. 21:32 <Crion> Aster will show Willie the e-mail. 21:32 <Crion> Before commenting on it. 21:35 <banana> My people would ordinarily carry out this kind of work. Some, including Mr. Barrigan, are already credentialed as Constable's deputies. They have been frozen out. 21:35 <banana> Secrets desperate enough to authorise multimillion pound sums don't stay hidden, and nothing stays hidden from Mayor Shaw. 21:35 <banana> I broker the most wide-ranging network of necessary-violence capability in the Wise & Solemn Court. 21:35 <banana> I'm not acting under Mayor Shaw's instructions but I have spoken to her - and she is curious. 21:35 <banana> I'm a committed democrat who will abide by Court rulings viz-a-viz your health and safety. 21:36 <banana> 21:36 <banana> S. Savoy, Executive Operative 21:36 <Crion> Aster: "I'm disinclined to view this e-mail as anything but an extended threat." 21:36 <Crion> "Which. Vampires." 21:36 <Crion> "You get into bed with lice, you end up lousy." 21:37 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "A threat to the Constable, though, as much as us. That's interesting." 21:38 <VoxPVoxD> "If we want to formally disaffiliate from the WASC for this contract, this would be the pretext. We were brought in under false pretences by the Constable. We assumed we were being given contract government work, and not deniable operatives for an official running his own shop." 21:38 <Crion> Aster: "Yes..." 21:40 <banana> The email from Vados, the chief Dracula, is longer and less exciting. It's just a followup to what you've already discussed in advance of tonight's meeting, setting out the details in advance 'for consent and mental preparation'. 21:40 <Crion> Aster: "This from Vados is more explicitly for you. I'll forward it to your Huntr." 21:41 <VoxPVoxD> Anything in particular Willie needs to worry about or prepare for? 21:41 <banana> There are extensive encrypted documents on the tests Willie's to undergo and the down payment in terms of initial blood-modification attempts which the Order intends to give to the Nameless House in return. Notably, she's got a couple hours scheduled in 'an analogue of surgery', which will involve periods of unconsciousness, Aster presumably to monitor. 21:42 <VoxPVoxD> Fun! 21:43 <banana> Lying down unconscious late at night is actually pretty normal, if you think about it. 21:43 <banana> Crime Lake is placid in the face of all this. No 5g-transmitted email nor murderous intention can disturb it; if any monster or afanc sleeps within, they're quiet. 21:44 <VoxPVoxD> There's a lot to recommend it, Willie's finding as she keeps chaining all-nighters and working days. "Splendid. Ready?" 21:45 <Crion> Aster: "Yes. Permit me to change into some real shoes in the car. Assuming I'm driving." 21:47 <VoxPVoxD> Willie finds the mental image of Aaron changing shoes surprisingly amusing. Who is that kindly American telly man who is always changing his shoes? Like the opposite of him. "My ferrier and your own farrier, then." 21:48 <Crion> Indeed. Fred Rogers was a part-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Aaron Aster is a Flyers fan. 21:48 <VoxPVoxD> One would think Penguins and Flyers held dominion over non-overlapping magisteria. 21:49 <Crion> Willie was a New York and California girl in her time in-country, one suspects. 21:49 <VoxPVoxD> How did you guess? 21:49 <Crion> Aster quickly makes the exchange from white cotton socks and hiking boots to black silk socks and more correct footwear. 21:49 <banana> Aster knows the way to Malmin Bloodwork by now. 21:50 <banana> It isn't the only or, he might suspect, the primary way into to the Order's lair. The elevator and shored-up passages have the feel of an inconvenient and defensible alternate entrance. 21:52 <VoxPVoxD> Very atmospheric, though. Captures the mood of all this quite nicely. 21:53 <Crion> And familiar. 21:53 <Crion> Better to have a routine, so that when it is inevitably disturbed, you're aware. 21:53 <banana> The clean but empty clinic; the automated doors and cameras; the waiting apprentice. Casaubon the vampire, hooded as usual, conducts you down another tunnel toward the presence of the Masters. 21:54 <Crion> Casaubon gets whatever the proper amount of respect is. Probably a hello without name recognition. 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie smiles warmly in the hooded figure's direction, and says "Good evening, Apprentice," in a low voice as she passes. 21:56 <banana> "There's a question I should ask you," says that hunched and unworthy figure. Unworked stone above you is incongruous with the eco-friendly light panels set into the ceiling, providing a dim but clear view of the passage ahead. 21:56 <Crion> Aster: "Go ahead." 21:56 <banana> Casaubon: "I don't know what it is." 21:56 <Crion> Aster: "Well. We'll be by on a schedule. For when you do." 21:56 <VoxPVoxD> "Then who says you should ask it?" 21:57 <banana> You pass a series of medieval-looking cell doors - wood, heavy locks, barred grilles at the top. Through the openings you can see small but personalised living chambers. 21:57 <Crion> Aster will linger on the very periphery of politeness, if Willie requires an answer here and will not move until she gets it. 21:58 <VoxPVoxD> She's not going to wait more than a beat or two. No need to put an already-uncertain man in another spotlight. 21:58 <Crion> The correct instinct. Let's be off. 21:59 <Crion> Aster doesn't attempt to see into the cells. 22:00 <banana> Casaubon's uncertain, but since he's leading you to wherever you're going, he does eventually answer. "...Master Pentacaust. I'm to figure out which of you two.. fine people.. is going to be important to my, er, task." 22:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Perhaps observation will suggest a question." 22:01 <Crion> Aster: "Be sure in the asking that it's one you want answered." 22:02 <banana> Casaubon: "Yeah, perhaps." You come to a tunnel-fork with much larger grilles - floor to ceiling - which has modern security, a card reader and machinery in the walls. Casaubon extracts a lanyard from within his habit, swipes one of them and gestures within, bowing. 22:03 <VoxPVoxD> Exciting! 22:05 <banana> There's another one of those places where the stone gives way to a door. It opens into something like a dental surgery, although the big scary chair is covered in a white cloth. You're alone for just a moment, but both Aaron and Willie can hear voices and footsteps coming toward one of the surgical theatre's other doors. 22:06 <Crion> Aster: "Grim. I will remain in the theater." 22:07 <banana> There are no other chairs, but they must have some around. 22:08 <banana> There is: a sink, an autoclave, several chained cabinets, a curtained booth just big enough to stand up inside of, an old computer on a corner table and the covered hair. 22:08 <VoxPVoxD> Willie takes off her coat and either hangs it up or drapes it over her arm. 22:09 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm very keen to see them in action. Their dark arts and red sciences." 22:09 <banana> Ultim Vados opens the door, two others behind him. The Illuminus is hands-on as always, or polite enough to greet you in person. "Mr. Aster, Ms. Lightbringer, it's a pleasure once again." 22:09 <Crion> Not having chairs is an intentional choice. Aster will flaut it unless they're placed into one of those 'now we'll need you to strip down into a medical gown' conversations. 22:09 <banana> (Not that it's surprising, but Willie can tell by smell-analogue that the other two are also vampires.) 22:10 <VoxPVoxD> Willie grins at the appellation. "Good evening, Illuminus." 22:10 <Crion> Aster: "Good ev-- Yes." 22:13 <banana> Vados in his thick soft voice: "Good evening." He waves the others forward; Sarhos Sari and, their leader introduces, "Abraham Butcher. Former Initiate of the Fourth Darkness." 22:13 <banana> Butcher is a scant man wearing an apron that matches his name. No knife, fortunately. 22:13 <Crion> Aster will give him a grave nod. 22:15 <VoxPVoxD> Of the Fourth Darkness? What does that mean? "How do you do. Willie Wellesley." 22:20 <banana> Butcher: "Ah, could be worse. This experiment we're in together - it's a really interesting opportunity." 22:21 <banana> Vados stands to the side as the others unpadlock cabinets and set down gear they brought in. "Now- we won't be asking you for anything as crude as blood tonight. Our finest taster has already completed a preliminary analysis." 22:22 <banana> "Either of you can view it on the PC, but I'll note that the USB ports have been epoxied shut. We have to keep some cards close, eh?" 22:23 <Crion> Aster will let Willie view it first. It is her blood. 22:23 <VoxPVoxD> Willie will immediately go look at the report unless it's clear they meant 'at some point' rather than 'right now'. 22:23 <banana> Vados is happy to keep talking as she does so. He'll just turn to face Aster rather than looking roughly between them. 22:25 <banana> "The plan for our first session, you have already seen. We want to start with this question of the Other within Willie's blood - a sin, a presence a mere gene? Our Curse has a mind of its own. We would like to determine the relative sapience of the evil that lurks in womens' hearts." 22:25 <Crion> Aster: "In anticipation, I declined to bring a USB key. So fair is fair." 22:26 <banana> Sari: "Abraham and I will be your guides through this short dark night of the soul. We have two different approaches in mind, and we'll try one if the other doesn't look promising." 22:27 <banana> The man with the sideburns, 'Master of Pain', sounds a little more impatient than Ultim - but he's still making an effort to be polite 22:29 <Crion> That's good. He should be making an effort to be polite. 22:30 <banana> The arcane bloodwork PDF is prominently present on the desktop - very large icon, centre of the screen. There are other files with intriguing names - specimen-exports.docx, stage3.xlsx, obvious-trap.docx, etc. 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> They all have such great names. Getting to pick your own nom de sang is presumably part of the process, as it is for the dragon mages. 22:31 <banana> Vados: "Before I leave you to my colleagues' ministrations, is there anything you need tonight?" 22:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie thinks it over for a moment before turning to face Vados as she speaks to him. "'Need' is a strong word. I have some topics of interest, scientifically and administratively, but nothing so urgent as to demand your immediate attention, Illuminus." 22:33 <Crion> Aster: "If we're all party to the understanding that my legal shield extends to my...scientific ward, in terms of consent, then I think we're good to go. Thank you, Illuminus." 22:35 <banana> Vados: "It does, it does. We apply Court law within all the Castellan's domain. But I understand why you ask- your friend is the one that fills you with hay, yes? We'll build trust the usual way." 22:36 <banana> Butcher: "I have no idea what that means, Illuminus." 22:36 <banana> Sari: "Proverb. Untranslatable." 22:36 <banana> Abraham is the first Order vampire Willie's met who doesn't have a turkish accent, although Casaubon's is barely perceptible. 22:37 <Crion> Vados gets a slight bow, even though Aster honestly can't make up or down of that idiom either. 22:38 <VoxPVoxD> ...alright, then. 22:38 <banana> Willie's no medic, but the report she's reading isn't exactly medicine. 22:39 <banana> With her general study skills and a few minute of focused skimming, she extracts the key points: to vampire palates, she's clearly half-human at most. Genetically, no problem. Right number of chromosomes and so on. But one of them isn't a mortal X. 22:40 <banana> That is to say - it has the same bases as you'd expect for homo sapiens, but each of those individual proteins within the acid is, itself, alien. Not in a way which would show up on a computer. 22:40 <VoxPVoxD> Not something to tell the MumsNet set. 22:44 <banana> As for the causes and meanings of all this... the author of the report ("Dr. Sebastian, Crimson Scribe") theorises an equivalent of recessive genes, expressed rarely, but not determined by combinatorial heredity; instead, they speculate, there is a kind of fixed countdown clock built into the gametes. An oddly mechanical setup. 22:45 <VoxPVoxD> Perhaps every seven generations or so. 22:45 <banana> Sari sets up his laptop alongside the computer as Butcher undoes the ties on the cloth and sweeps it away, revealing the barbers' - or dentists' - chair. Sarhos: "So, colleagues - would you rather we start by cajoling the presence of sin, or by provoking it?" 22:47 <VoxPVoxD> "What's the difference here?" 22:49 <banana> "Well, both of them will involve you relaxing in the chair with a tincture of scopolamine. Medical quantity, not enough to knock out an adult. Abraham here is then going to monitor you, with instruments and his augmented perceptions, while you and I talk." 22:50 <banana> Sari: "The question is the nature of that conversation. Hostile or pleasantly manipulative." 22:50 <Crion> Aster settles back against...a wall. 22:50 <Crion> Perhaps he has leave to look over the documents now with a bit more time. 22:51 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "What do you think, Mr. Aster?" 22:55 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'll leave it to your discretion, Master of Pain." 22:57 <Crion> Aster reviews the documents...not quite forcefully, but with intent. And without a nosebleed, thankfully. Just a splitting headache after. 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> At uni it took Willie a crushed Adderall *and* three Red Bulls to get there. 23:00 <banana> Sari: "Then let's keep things subtle for the moment. One thing I will warn you - it's not my intention to probe your secrets; that's a means, not an end. I'm using drugs, trigger phrases, physical and conversational patterns we have discovered to be loopholes in the psyche or the laws of physics, and the usual blood magic." 23:00 <banana> "The end goal of this process is to surface influences on your present or your history. Surface-level suggestibility is a side effect, which will endure no longer than eight hours." 23:00 <banana> He pauses. "You didn't disclose a history of bowel disease or glaucoma..." 23:00 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I have none." 23:01 <banana> "Then the side effects will last for eight hours or fewer." 23:01 <banana> Butcher: "We're ready over here. No straps or drills in this thing, just the chair and some movable lenses." 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Willie gets into the chair then. Aaron's very intent on that printout... hopefully he doesn't learn something interesting and then keep it secret... 23:02 <banana> They're really trying to minimise how ominous this is. Traditionally, you get points for trying. 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Honestly this is less scary to Willie than a regular dentist visit. 23:03 <VoxPVoxD> That says quite bad things about her, doesn't it... 23:04 <banana> For one thing, Sarhos Sari doesn't have gloves and a mask, and although there is a light he could shine in her face, he's not using it. Just standing there by her side, strapping on a pair of goggles as Abraham Butcher plunges a syringe into an ampoule that he's set out on the left-side arm tray. 23:04 <Crion> Aster puts the documents aside and resumes his wall-looming after reading them all. Including obvious-trap.docx or whatever. 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Scopolamine isn't a narcotic, right?" 23:05 <Crion> Aster: "Alkaloid anticholinergic." 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Right. Flying ointment." 23:06 <banana> Butcher: "No, it- as the man says. It's closer to a psychoactive, although we get to the calming effect of narcotics by other means here." 23:06 <Crion> Aster: "Also known as 'Devil's Breath.'" 23:06 <banana> Butcher: "In larger quantities, certainly." 23:07 <banana> Sari laughs. 23:07 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Alright." 23:07 <banana> The Master of Pain: "Feel free to feel fear. The work is what matters, and the vows that protect you from real harm." 23:08 <banana> The thing Willie didn't have the time or, frankly, the modules to pick out was between the lines. But the impression it left on Carol Sebastian was obvious to an investigator whose analysis is as much psychic as it is academic. 23:09 <banana> Her occult bloodwork - Aster may note the Malmin logo on the document template - is decidedly not occult. While the Draculas have already begun to quantify the effect of Satan's blood, they don't think it's magic. Perfectly natural, standard biology, twisted to its limits and forced through unusual edge cases. 23:10 <Crion> Very interesting. 23:10 <banana> There's a note it would have been easy to miss about how fundamental a distinction this is from (conventionally) God's curse upon the Kindred. 23:14 <banana> The former Initiate gives Willie another jab. This one is not sanctioned by the NHS, although they give off the impression of knowing what they're doing. 23:14 <banana> They would. 23:14 <VoxPVoxD> Probably not a sufficient dose to hallucinate. And not exactly relapse material. 23:15 <VoxPVoxD> We're fine. We're great. We're cushty. 23:15 <banana> Sari: "You may feel congested, or your mouth might feel dry. We'll bring you water if you like. The effects aren't immediate, so I'll ask you a little about yourself to start." 23:16 <banana> "How old are you exactly? Counting time spent alive as well as within dreamscapes, oubliettes or under the effects of sympathy." 23:17 <banana> Abraham's setting up a series of lenses and a ECG pad to place on Willie's forehead. He glances at Aster. Is the detective still going through the rest of the documents on the computer? 23:18 <Crion> No. He has efficiently dispensed with that task. 23:18 <banana> Butcher just nods. If Aaron's going to stand quietly around, so will he, with most of his attention on Willie. 23:19 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I was born on the first of May, in 1995. That means I am exactly 26 years and 6 months old. I have never, to my knowledge, experienced time dilation in excess of a twelve hours." 23:21 <banana> Sarhos Sari: "That sounds like a story... or a series of short stories. Please tell me about the schools you attended, or any educational institutions with a class size above four." 23:22 <banana> The questions go on like this for a while. Biography from a decidedly odd point of view, but not pressing on any supernatural points. Familiar to Aster as calibration, or akin to... well. 23:24 <banana> Willie's eyes are becoming sore. They feel overpressured, like a mild and localised headache - but it doesn't feel like something that will spread; there's no accompanying nausea. 23:28 <Crion> He intentionally does not surface what it's akin to. Thank you. 23:28 <VoxPVoxD> Willie lets her eyes drift closed. "I was tutored at home until age 11. I attended Wycombe Abbey School, and then Trinity College, Cambridge. I spent a year at the Lucifuge in Milan." 23:30 <banana> The first question Sari asks that isn't purely biographical: "You've come to us hoping that we can make your blood more palatable to your natural predators. Why is that something you want?" 23:32 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I suppose I have two reasons, which are tributaries to the primary reason, which is that I am in love with a vampire." 23:32 <banana> Sarhos: "Does he or she feel the same way?" 23:33 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't know." 23:33 <VoxPVoxD> "You never really know, do you?" 23:34 <banana> Sarhos: "It's difficult. For a real connection we have to open ourselves up, which means taking a leap of faith." 23:35 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "That's always been my experience. I can say that I am not bewitched, bewildered, or bound." 23:36 <banana> Sarhos: "Which increases the faith required, as well as the potential rewards. Some people have faith in themselves, in their partner, in humanity - surprisingly often, in a general orderliness of the world. The idea that the good will be rewarded." 23:39 <banana> One of Butcher's machines beeps softly. He flicks a switch on it and swivels the screen to face him, reading the output carefully. 23:40 <VoxPVoxD> Willie laughs a bit, mostly under her breath. "Maybe." 23:41 <banana> Sarhos: "Do you see yourself as driven by rewards?" 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "No." 23:41 <banana> Sarhos: "Posterity?" 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "No." 23:42 <banana> Sarhos: "Doing what's right?" 23:45 <Crion> Aster is more interested in Sarhos at the moment than Willie. 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I don't have the wisdom to see the good. For now, I've been settling for not doing evil. Eliminating the wrong answer." 23:45 <banana> The vampire is moving around a lot - shuffling his feet, jerking his limbs. It's all totally silent, and his head is staying in the same place, so Willie with her eyes closed might not have noticed. 23:45 <Crion> Is there any pattern analysis to be done here? 23:46 <VoxPVoxD> "Righteousness, success, happiness, humiliation, approbation, scorn... fungible outcomes at the end of passed tests." 23:47 <banana> Sarhos: "One person with your talents can make a difference, but there's too much to be done for it to be all of society passing judgement. How do you score your tests?" 23:47 <banana> Willie's sleepy. Too many late nights and not enough blood. 23:48 <banana> There are patterns in the odd movement - ritual, perhaps, but what would it call upon? Unless the man had St. Vitus' Dance when he died, Aster's at a loss for the specifics. 23:50 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I search my conscience. I wait for consequences. I pray, and listen to the thunder. I think about the day when I will be called to make an account of myself." 23:57 <banana> Sarhos Sari: "That day has come. We need to know whether whether what you're doing falls on the right side of the scales. Did the little exposes on your blog justify the petty crimes that brought them about? Is the danger you're putting people in here, now, worth what anyone might gain from it?" 00:00 <banana> It feels a little like sleep paralysis - the conversation's going to keep going and there's nothing that can be done about it. She has to address this, or her voice won't be heard at all. 00:01 <VoxPVoxD> Willie finds this line of questioning bothersome. She doesn't like feeling stuck. "My night work in London was petty, perhaps insignificant, but it was never wrong. We were judicious in our targets, we were disciplined with our sources. If we had a failing it was an undue deference to the equilibrium our predecessors had established. An unwillingness to take risks. A lack of ambition." 00:02 <banana> Sarhos Sari: "That's why you quit? You needed to do riskier and even-less evil things?" 00:03 <VoxPVoxD> "Tonight — thesenights — I can't answer. This is a larger, less orderly thing. Its stakes are higher. Its rewards are greater. But I have not failed yet." 00:03 <VoxPVoxD> "I didn't quit. I was promoted." 00:04 <banana> Sarhos Sari: "You're putting off the question indefinitely. What happens if you are never judged?" 00:04 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "I'm being judged right now." 00:06 <VoxPVoxD> "You are imagining a freedom beyond judgment. A freedom from the concerns that compel people to be furtive, sly, and cowardly. A freedom not quite so fatal to frankness, to clarity, to true courage." 00:06 <VoxPVoxD> "The freedom you imagine is death." 00:06 <Crion> Aster occasionally takes notes. One of the more substantive ones is after this exchange. 00:07 <banana> Sari: "If judgement is constant and inevitable, how is it meaningful? What you really want is to be sovereign over yourself." 00:10 <banana> There's something.. Willie's finding it hard to keep track of going on, but is she being provoked on purpose? Wasn't that not the plan? She still can't help herself responding, like a metaphysical hook has been baited and cast into her psyche - or her soul. 00:10 <banana> She feels ripples in there, a tug, like something catches and then slips away. 00:12 <VoxPVoxD> Fiercely: "No it isn't. Sovereign over myself is what I am. That is what you are. People are compelled to behave by the force of violence beyond their tolerance. But we are accountable only to ourselves, and to our own conscious submission." 00:13 <banana> Sari: "There!" 00:13 <banana> A machine beeps, softly. 00:13 <banana> Sari: "Something.. I have it... no, I don't. Parallel responses. Too much in agreement to call it other with certainty." 00:14 <banana> Abraham: "There's something, alright, but anyone with blood like that and their dander up would-" 00:14 <banana> Sarhos: "Not through the burandanga." 00:15 <banana> To Willie: "How do we tell the difference between a bone-deep opinion and one that actually originates from your bones?" 00:16 <VoxPVoxD> Willie: "Hurt me." 00:16 <banana> He sighs. "Yes, but only under anaesthesia. Let's see if we've got time for the second procedure."