WillGM: ------------------------ Game Start ---------------------------- WillGM: Ellis, recall that you had been wanting to ask some questions of the 'Works angels. *** katster is now known as Nicole Ellis: . o O (... Gee, I wanted to ask the 'Works angels some questions.) Ellis: Now what? ;) Fearless: do you remember which questions? :) Ellis: Where are those logs again? Ellis: That'd be my first one ;) WillGM: http://earl.of.sandwich.net/Game_Logs/ WillGM: General questions, I thought it was. WillGM: To get a bit more up to speed on reality. Edward: And Private Inquiries? Edward OOCly runs WillGM: Eh? WillGM: Oh. A pun. Okay. *braingearsclick* Ellis: Okee. Ellis heads over to the Works, then, to see if he can get some more detailed information about How The Universe Works WillGM: Ellis: At any rate, this being evening Sunday the day before Hallowe'en, they mention that there are already two of your acquaintances over at the 'Works, and invite you -- "And Nicole, if she'd like to come" -- to the place. Ellis: "If Nicole wants to come, I can't transport her..." WillGM: Ed and Fearless, let's start with the two of you arriving. It is just about sunset, Sunday October 30, 2001. Ellis: "Could someone pick her up?" WillGM: OOC Wow, is my timing ever exactly off here. Edward arrives and umounts /dev/bike. Fearless arrives as well, having stopped en route to gas up WillGM: Actually, Nicole, you were planning to come anyway, right? Perhaps by bus most of the way? Nicole: Yeah, that'll work. WillGM: Allright. They why don't you choose an opportune time to arrive on your own. Nicole: okee. :) WillGM: Ellis: "Well, it was just a thought. I half-remembered she might have wanted to. Come on over on your own, then." Nicole waits for the moment. That public transportation is murder this time of day. ;) WillGM: Ed, Fearless, you are met on patrol by Len, who nods and waves you in. Edward nods back and rides his bike inside, then umounts and waits for Fearless to exit his car. Fearless stands up, and heads inside with Ed WillGM: Rath, Pete, and Wes (in his Rex Brown Vessel) greet you inside, unlocking the relief room and sitting at the table. WillGM: "What news, investigators?" Edward sits down. "Well, either the Swami - who seems to worship his TV - is like the ancient Buddha and able to exist on air and emanations from the Cosmic All... Or he ain't human." Fearless: "Well, we've been watching the Swami from the True Connectedness for the last few days, and I took the liberties of talking with a few store clerks in the area." Fearless: "Does not buy food, people do not bring him food to eat, and spends hours on that eyesore of a web page or engaging in the fine art of 3-second channel flipping across a digital cable TV connection." Ellis: I'm going to get some food - assume I take some time in transit, get in before Nicole, and take notes on what's going on WillGM: Rath works this out for a moment, then blinks and smiles. "You mean for the past three days you two have watched him continuously enough to determine with certainty that he does not eat?" WillGM: Ellis: check. Fearless: "Yes." WillGM: Pete nods, impressed. "Strength of purpose," he murmurs. Wes agrees. WillGM: "Well done." WillGM: "Media, apparently." WillGM: "Agreed." He turns back to you. "What is he planning, do you know?" Fearless: "He's constantly recruiting people. For what, I'm not sure. I've avoided going back inside." WillGM: *eyebrowcock* "So you went inside once?" Fearless: "Once, when I first started investigating." Edward shrugs. "No clue. We decided against getting close enough to let him read our 'YOU ARE BEING WATCHED' badges." Fearless: remember, a few sessions ago, Fearless and Shyla went in after BA cut his power? WillGM: *to Fearless* "...and?" Edward: Yeah, I remember Fearless: "He's a very persuasive talker, I'll give him that. In the short time I talked to him, and his members, he mixed the right amount of Eastern philosophy and do-it-yourself religion to make it seem palpable to the common person who is seeking something greater than themselves." WillGM: Wes makes a sour face. "Cult." WillGM: Rath leans back and scratches his chin. Fearless: "Terrence Winkle swings by there on weekends, it seems. From what I've seen, he and the Swami often work together for hours on end. How long was it last night, Ed? Two in the morning when he left?" Edward nods. "Something like that. And I thought *I* get by on low amounts of sleep..." WillGM: "Terrence is one of the suspects on your list?" Edward nods again, looking like he went by on less sleep than usual even for him lately. Fearless nods. "He was the one who indirectly introduced me to the Swami, so to speak. Both of them have a gift of gab with seemingly too-high persuasiveness." WillGM: Rath taps his fingers. "Hmm. To be honest, I can't see anything to get worked up about. He may be a demon, but, well, religion is religion unless it's devil-worship or something, I'd think. Still, we should probably pay him a visit." Ellis: back Fearless: "I'm just afraid of getting sucked in. Odd, for a reporter, but I investigate the truth. But in places like that, the view of the truth can get skewed." Edward shrugs. "Personally I consider that webpage a direct violation of the Geneva Convention and the Crimes Against Humanity Act, but I see your point." Ellis takes this opportunity to drive up, put away the bike, and walk in on the conversation. "Hello, everyone." WillGM: Rath looks up. "Hello, Ellis." Edward: "Ay, Coach." Fearless nods to Ellis Ellis: "Did I miss anything important?" WillGM: Wes addresses Rath. "I believe I have an idea whereby we may address the possible problem of the cult without forcing matters with the demon, Vassal." Fearless cocks an eyebrow. WillGM: *to Ellis* "We are discussing the finding of these two," he nods to Ed and Fearless, "that the head of this True Connectedness Society is apparently a demon." Ellis echoes Fearless' eyebrow Ellis gets swiftly caught up on the stuff Fearless and Ed found Ellis: "Hmm. Interesting, to say the least. So if he's a demon, or working with them, what level of threat does he represent?" Fearless shrugs. "Probably the same level of threat Xav did." Edward: "Maybe a bit more - Xav didn't seem like the type to go into wholesale as an MO." Fearless: "Thing is, Xav was a public figure... the Swami moreso. Xav's ... 'disappearance' didn't go unnoticed. The Swami disappearing will definitely be noticed." Edward: "Point." WillGM: "In point of fact, Exavenos was specifically trying to work on you all. This seems to be a more generalized net, and I think easier to break. I propose that the lot of us, in work clothes" -- at this point, Pete and Rath start chuckling -- "do our blue-collar bit. Barge into a meeting and start poking around. Not a lot of lies stand up to blunt horse sense." WillGM: "That way, we avoid the problems inherent in attacking the Swami, and break up the results of his efforts." Fearless: "Remind me to be there when it happens. That would be worthy of an article." *grin* WillGM: Wes nods to Fearless. "Oh yeah. Bring your camera, it should be fun." WillGM: "When do they meet? Tomorrow'd be good." Fearless gives the times he's observed the general meetings. WillGM: "Tomorrow evening it is, then." He looks at Ellis. "If I recall correctly, that will also put us a short distance from the Kappa Beta Lambda house, where you and Nicole will be." Ellis: "Mmm, yes..." Edward looks up at that, then goes back to contemplating the deeper mysteries of his cup of coffee. Ellis: "That might or might not be a bad thing. If you get chased into the party with a pack of cultists on your tail, Bad Things may occur." WillGM: Wes chuckles. "If they actually try to attack the four of us, I think they may be shocked at the result." He sobers. "Though I hope that doesn't happen. The point of the exercise is to address the problem without ripping any tears in the social fabric." Nicole picks this moment to roll in, if all is acceptable for this. WillGM: Pete protests. "Four?!" WillGM: "Zeke, not you." "Oh." *settles* WillGM: "Hey, Nicole." Fearless: "Hey, Nic." Ellis: "Hi, Nicole." Nicole waves. "Well, it could be interesting to see what happens when we mix Cult A with Cult B and shake liberally..." Nicole grins. :) Ellis smiles, then shakes his head. "Too risky, though it does present a certain entertainment value." Fearless: "In this day of do-it-yourself religions, that happens every day." Edward grins "That's what Nobel thought, I'm sure." Nicole: "Yeah. I know. Hi, Rath, Pete, Wes. Hi Fearless, hi Greg..." *blinks a moment* "...hi Ed." Edward waves, with slightly less control than usual over his movements. "Ey 'cole." Nicole shakes her head once more to clear it. "Okay, so what's up?" Edward: "Been investigating the TCS. Looks like the head grand poombah master is a demon." Nicole: "Ahhh, too many of the damned things around." Fearless: "Yeah." WillGM: "It has just been decided that we will do a bit of poking around tomorrow evening -- which should put us close by your own event." Nicole: "Right. In which Greg is coming with me." Ellis: "Hence the former discussion." Ellis: "Yes." Nicole: "And maybe a third person, if we can find a good Elrond." WillGM: Rath blinks. "A what?" WillGM: Pete laughs. Fearless: "Well, I do have a set of Spock ears left over." WillGM: *to Fearless* "You're gonna be busy, hopefully." Edward: "Mental note. Buy Rath a copy of _Lord of the Rings_ for his next birthday." Nicole: "Elrond. One of the three holders of the Elven rings in JRR Tolkien's _Lord of the Rings_. Gandalf and Galadriel are the other two, and that's what Greg and I are going as." Fearless: "All too true, but I can loan them out." Ellis: "Too bad you're going to be at the TCS meeting, taking pictures." Fearless: "Well, how about it, Ed? Use my ears and go as Elrond?" Nicole: "Ed, the movie's coming out in December, we could drag him to that, too..." WillGM: Rath stiffens. "I prefer not to go to movies." Fearless starts snickering at the thought of the angels sitting through the movies... Nicole: "Oh. Sorry. Just thinking." WillGM: Pete shakes his head. "You're not gonna drag Rath to a movie. Ellis can tell you we don't even own a television. I can buy the books, though...." Edward: "Pity. From what I've seen and heard, this one's going to be epic." WillGM: Rath relaxes. Nicole: "Yeah. And they got McKellen to do Gandalf...it's going to be great." Fearless: "BA will probably complain through the entire movie because they'll take poetic license with it in places... Purists..." *shakes head* Edward: "... Although if Elrond's going to say 'Welcome to Rivendell, Mister Baggins' I'm going to have to fly to NZ to personally beat the scriptwriters with a wiffle bat." WillGM: Rath takes on a peacefully glazed look. Nicole laughs, and then looks serious. "Sorry, Rath. Just letting you know we had all the bases covered." WillGM: "At any rate," he says gently, "did you two have more pressing reasons for coming?" Nicole looks at Ellis. Nicole: "Other than pink poodles, not really." Ellis shrugs "I'd just like more information about what we're going up against. In general. I got some information when I was staying over after Carver hit my house, but..." Fearless blinks cartoonishly. "Pink... poodles...?" Edward blinks. "Carver did *what* ?" Ellis: "Ah. Yes. Carver came to my house and committed messy suicide on my carpet." Ellis looks slightly gray around the edges as he says this Fearless: "Oy vey..." Nicole nods to Fearless and lets Greg talk. Edward: "... Crap." WillGM: Run with each other for a bit, while the NPCs listen; if DS hasn't shown up in a few minutes, we'll save yesterday for the future and move to the big scenes tomorrow. Edward: "Guess he figured out his role was busted so he might as well use it to get back at the one that he thought wrecked it." Ellis: "Indeed." Ellis: "His body wasn't found by the police, but the blood and the fingerprints were." Fearless: "Sloppy." Nicole: "Ugh." Ellis: "Well, there wasn't much I could do--he'd called 911 and the police were on their way. Ellis: "All I could do was act surprised." WillGM: "Just to interject for a moment, the policeman investigating the case called and said he wanted to speak to us. I don't know when he will come by, though. Please continue." Ellis: "Right." Edward: "That's going to be fun to explain." Fearless: "I'd love to read the police report for that one." Ellis: "Wes helped make the body vanish, but.." Edward: "Vanish? ... On second thought, maybe I don't want to know.." WillGM: "Softstone chipper. Then soap and water, and a quiet night with the ravens in the park." Ellis: "Well. I'm just hoping they'll come to a better conclusion than 'The owner of the apartment stabbed him to death.'" Edward looks slightly greenish. "I hate being right." Fearless lights the filter by accident, coughs. Nicole shivers. Fearless: *rip off filter*relight* Ellis shakes his head, mutters a quick 'Our Father' under his breath WillGM: Okay, things seem to have slowed down. Rath and company will willingly answer questions -- Ed, they're more open about things like Dissonance, Discord, and Falling than the Lightning database was. Ellis asks questions, then Edward nods. "So essentially you incur damage when you do something that's fundamentally against your nature - or fail to act according your fundamental nature?² Fearless sits back and listens, taking mental notes WillGM: Let's pause for a bit, assuming this runs for a while, and see if DS shows up by quarter 'til. If not, we'll move on to tomorrow. Let me know if people want to do things between now and when the two groups meet. Ellis: Okee. And nothing specific, no Nicole: nothing really, 'cept a short convo with Ed, but he looks pretty tired atm. Edward: Not so much tired as having gone past his normal sleep tolerance levels. WillGM: Which reminds me -- did Ed eventually get convinced to be Elrond? Edward *is* awake enough for conversation. Edward: Not quite, but he's thinking about it. Nicole: Okay. Granted, it'd come after all this convo, but... Edward will be convinced, actually. Can we do that convo? Nicole: yeah. WillGM: Sure. Fearless 's player oocly retroactively celebrates his 30th birthday. On the Left Coast, I'm a Halloween Baby. :) WillGM: Fearless, Wes, Pete and Rath are discussing broad strategy and timing for tomorrow evening. Nicole rolls up quietly behind Ed as the meeting is breaking up. "Ed?" Edward turns. "Mmmm?" Nicole: "You're you, right?" Fearless: *to others* "I think it best if I bring you in as 'friends who heard about the Society'. They know my face there, but not the name. In there, only refer to me as Johnny, okay?" Edward blinks. Looks down at himself. Takes out his wallet and looks at the driver's license. Then puts his wallet away again. "Yeah, I think so." Nicole: "Okay, good. 'Cause I got burned once by somebody else convincingly being you." Nicole: "Granted, it involved BA and flying killer poodles, so..." Edward is quite obviously completely lost now. Edward .... blinks.... Fearless turns to Nicole. "I *still* want to hear that story!" and turns back to Rath & co Nicole: "There is one thing I've learned of late. Sometimes a dream is just a dream...and sometimes it isn't." Edward looks at his coffee. Nicole: "Sorry. Short of it is that I'm now in debt to some random demon because I thought she was you. So, if you're willing to do the Elrond thing, at least I can't get retricked like that." Nicole: "Sorta. Or something. It's confusing." Edward nods. "Yeah, it is. And it'll be hard finding a decent coronet on short notice, but I can try. Sure, sounds fun." Edward: Did I tell the 'works folks about the flyer and what Fulmeniel found out about it? Nicole: "Okay. Cool." WillGM: Yeah, I think that was a while back. Nicole smiles. "Yeah. I guess dreams are real. Keep that in mind next time you're dreaming." :) Edward: "I've never been at ground zero when a demon fired up a dark ritual before. Could be interesting..." Nicole: "Now, we don't know they're demons." Nicole: "They just might be. Or they might be people with exceedingly weird beliefs. Either way it should be interesting." Edward: "Whoever or whatever they are, they're serious about that ritual. Remember?" Nicole nods. Nicole: "So are most Catholics." Nicole: "Ritual's powerful." Edward reluctantly nods. "Yeah, it *could* be totally innocent. Even with all the other activity flying around and at least one member of that house working with or for demons..." Nicole: "Eh?" Edward: "Bill was working with Lieder, and he seemed to know about her." Edward: That *was* Bill, right? The one that was with Lieder when we came to escort her out and mentioned "oh, crap" ? WillGM: Yup. Nicole: "Oh dear." Nicole: "Bill's a good guy. At least, the bit of him I've seen around my math classes." Edward: "Which means he might recognize me. Then again, I don't *think* either of them saw me as anything more sinister than an overzealous administrator that wouldn't leave well enough alone and was - from their perspective - in the wrong place at the wrong time." Nicole: "Yeah. Besides, you're my friend." Edward nods. Nicole: "When you're not luring me to the dark side." *wink* Fearless: yeah, you're supposed to tell her you're her father before luring her over. :) Edward looks positively Cherubic. "What, seducing innocent maidens to the Dark Arts? Moi?" Fearless snickers as he overhears this. WillGM: Zeke comes in, sporting a couple of bruises. "The Dark Arts are not something to be spoken of lightly, my friend." Nicole waves to Zeke. Edward: "I was referring to the ancient and obscure secrets of the Systems Administrators, actual- Whoa, what happened?" Nicole looks again and blinks. WillGM: He settles down gingerly and sets down a basic first aid kit he's carrying, pulling out a couple of antiseptic wipes. "Nothing big. Tried to break up a fight between a couple of kids in the neighborhood. Largely succeeded -- the boys made me their target for a while. I can take it a lot better than they can. They stopped and broke up." WillGM: "This is what you might call our day job. You see us when great events happen in your own lives -- what Ezekiel was doing today is the legwork of our presence on Earth." Edward nods WillGM: Zeke looks up at you all. "I'll be fine, don't worry. Won't even be a visible bruise by a couple of days." He grins. Nicole grins at Zeke. *** Bruce (nemesis@64-252-69-62.adsl.snet.net) has joined channel #gurps WillGM: Yay! Fearless: oi, Bruce Bruce: le sigh *** Mode change "+o Bruce" on #gurps by Fearless Nicole: DEEE EESSSSS! Edward: Impbossperson! Edward: We're all at the works. Drop in, whydoncha? :) Ellis: Yay! Izza DS! WillGM: Okay, Bruce. The reports you asked for from the crime scene: there are four sets of prints. Yours, of course, and Carver's. Also a partial set that a rookie doing legwork has confirmed was the campus officer's who was with you. The desk, closet, and bed also sport a partial set from a fourth person. WillGM: Test for drug residue reveal a mild hallucinogen, organic, probably edible. (Nothing in the smoke detector that comes in all campus dorms.) Lab suggests morning glory seeds. Bruce: Well, that's certainly convenient. ;) Edward: Morning glory seeds? Sounds like an ex post facto contraceptive. WillGM: Morning glory seeds contain... blast, which is it? Either psilocybin or a cousin of LSD, I forget which. Ellis: BRB WillGM: Bruce: this information comes back to you on Sunday; I've had an NPC declare in channel that you had called the 'Works to come over some time soon, and right now it's an hour or so after sunset Sunday, with most of the PCs there. Bruce: Equally convenient. :) WillGM blushes. It's either magic-wand convenience or pointless extra RP time. :^) Bruce: Well, if it hasn't already been done as a matter of procedure, I have the fourth set of prints run for a match. While they're being run I'ma gonna hop in the Brucemobile and chug on over to the 'Works, following what few leads I have. WillGM: It was done, and no match came up. Bruce: Figured. The latter action is still done, though. Vroom. Ellis: B WillGM: Outside the 'Works, you encounter someone waiting at the gate, sitting on a chunk of stone and carving a small bit of something with a knife. He looks up, and stands, looking in the driver's window. "Can I help you?" Bruce produces his badge. "Detective Whitechurch. I called earlier? I'd like to speak to the owners, if they're available." WillGM: "Ah, yes. I was told to expect you. The general manager is inside with some friends." He conducts you inside to an office. "One moment." WillGM: Downstairs, Len comes in and addresses Rath. "The officer has arrived, sir. Bruce Whitechurch." WillGM: Ellis: You recognize the name. Bruce waits patiently in the office, hands shoved in his coat pocket. He inspects the decor with a disinterested eye. Ellis looks up. "The one from Carver's investigation?" Nicole: fetching some dinner, brb. Fearless thinks, trying to place the name to a face, and trying to remember if he's run across a "Whitechurch" in the police force before. WillGM: "Bring him down here and then return to patrol." WillGM: Len nods and heads back up. "Officer Whitechurch, please follow me." He leads you down to a lower level and into a back room. Surrounding a low Japanese table made from some dark stone are Coach Ellis, several other people including a girl in a wheelchair, and a standing man, bald as an egg but heavily muscled. Nicole: b. WillGM: In the back of the room is a bas-relief covering an entire wall: a delicately detailed rendition of many complex scenes. Ellis smiles faintly. "We meet again." Edward: Lots of scenes involving a blond barechested guy with a hammer. Must be Thor. WillGM: The standing man addresses you as your guide returns upstairs. "Officer Whitechurch, I am Charles Rathwaite, part-owner and general manager of the Erath Stone and Tile Works. Please, be seated. Can I offer you some oolong tea?" Bruce follows Len into the room, and his eye is drawn to the carvings, but more importantly his eye is drawn to Coach Ellis. Ah, the plot thickens. "Thanks, but no, Mr. Rathwaite. And I think I'll stand." He paces around the table, and stands behind one on the chairs, leaning on the back of it. "So," he says, squinting at Ellis, "should I ask the obvious question?" Ellis: "Which obvious question? I'm here because Charles and I are friends. I can think of a few others." Bruce grins mirthlessly. "That'd be the one." WillGM: Rath thinks a moment, then deliberately seats himself. Ellis nods. "And you're here about Carver." He sighs, looks down at his hands. "Who didn't show up for class." WillGM: Rath says, quietly but clearly, "Why here?" Ellis looks over at Rath Fearless leans back, and blows a smoke ring Bruce glances over at Fearless, and with a little relief he straightens up and begins fishing out his own cigarettes. "Seems Carver wasn't expecting to show up for anything anymore. We found his last will and a number of signed checks in his dorm, along with a list which brought me here. Ironic that Mr. Ellis would be here as well." Fearless shifts into reporter mode. "What kind of list, detective?" Ellis: "Meaning I'm on his list as well?" *glance at Ed* Fearless: "If you don't mind me asking." Edward raises Ye People's Eyebrow. WillGM: Bruce: A fellow with a shiner starting up and a first aid kit in front of him gives you a keen look as Fearless asks his question. For that matter, the short guy with the close-cropped brown hair is also giving you the eyedrill. Nicole blinks a bit. Bruce gives Fearless a look of vague recollection, the sort of look that says 'oh, it's /you/' complete with disgust. "I do mind, actually." He lights up a cigarette. "Actually, Mr. Ellis, you weren't. Still, it's funny that I follow an apparently random lead, and there you are." Ellis: "Oh." Edward can't help himself. Edward: "Must be Divine Providence." Edward manages to get this out with a straight face. Ellis can't help himself, either, as he shoots Ed a look. Nicole giggles quietly. WillGM: The short guy, who has been sitting stock-still, says, "It was brave of you to return to that room. Most men wouldn't, after having seen a Habbalite in celestial form." Fearless starts chuckling until the term "Habbalite" comes up. WillGM: Rath, Zeke, and Pete stare at Wes, who has a mixture of respect and amusement on his face. Edward blinks. Nicole joins in the stares at Wes. Ellis blinks Nicole also stops giggling. Fearless looks at Wes, then at Bruce, then back at Wes. "Say what?" WillGM: *to Wes* "Are you certain?" Bruce tucks the pack back into his pocket, raising an eyebrow at the short guy. "A hubblawhat?" WillGM: Wes nods. "His police career has not been stellar for some while. But recently, his honor impelled him to continue in a very frightening situation." Edward: "... Waitaminute. 'saw' ? From what I read, humans can't see celestial forms unless they're.... *looks at Bruce* ... Aware. Ah." WillGM: "Yes." Nicole: "So we'd all be too, since we were able to see Zeke the one time?" WillGM: Zeke shakes his head, smiling. "Special Song. Mercurians only. We used to call it the 'Fear Not!' Song." Fearless: "Not really, Nicole, from what I've found out. Zeke 'allowed' us to see him, from what I could gather." Ellis catches Bruce's eye. "You might want to sit down." Edward: "You also might want to take Rath up on the offer of oolong tea." Nicole nods. "So he's really special." Bruce shuffles backward a bit from the table, giving everyone a suspicious eye. "Actually, I'm more and more certain I'd rather stand. I also wanna know what the hell you're bantering about, and why shortstuff knows anything about my career, let alone what I was doing yesterday." Ellis: *quietly* "They're angels, Officer Whitechurch." Nicole nods in assent to Ellis' statement. Fearless: "Or at least beings so powerful as to have that the only applicable label." WillGM: The guy with the bruise smiles and says, "You're too hard on yourself about the last few years. The younger ones look up to veterans who haven't fallen prey to corruption and malaise." Ellis gives Fearless a Look. Ellis doesn't expect it to do any good, though Fearless shrugs at Ellis's Look; he's made his own skepticism known, and knows the angels accept it for now. Nicole shakes her head at the sky. "It's gotta be hard to be God, you bring 'em a miracle and they still refuse to believe." WillGM: "Now. If we're angels, I'll give you one guess what the thing you saw yesterday was, Officer Whitechurch." Fearless leans over to Nicole. "I read a lot of comics as a kid and in college, my mind's more open to other possibilities and other whacked-out-yet-semi-plausible explanations for stuff. But I know which Side I'm on, and which one they're on, so it works out that we're on the same Side, eh?" Bruce shakes his head and rubs his temple. "Traces of whatever Steele was last doing in his room for kicks. Look, what's all this angel horsecrap?" Nicole: "If you insist." WillGM: Wes looks over at Rath. "You think Isaiah will keep off our back if I do it just once?" Fearless snickers. "Better sit down, detective. That stone floor's hard to land on." WillGM: Rath winces and nods. WillGM: Wes stands. He closes his eyes and lifts his head. WillGM: To most of you, he disappears. WillGM: Bruce, where Rex was standing is now a rather larger Black man, wearing archaic armor and bright golden chains about his wrists and arms. Unfolding from his back are feathery wings with a spread large enough to reach across the room, black as obsidian. WillGM: He is... translucent, sort of. WillGM: He seems to be less a visible thing than to be a visible manifestation of the same sound you heard back at the apartment, which is even now echoing around the room. Bruce 's reaction is rather anti-climactic. "Oh, okay. I see," he says, with a certain amount of detachment. He sighs, and lowers himself into a chair as he fishes out a bottle of aspirin for the migraine that is coming on. "Alright, maybe I'd better sit." WillGM: The door bursts open with a bang. Len ducks-and-rolls into the room, coming up with a sword at the ready, glancing about tensely. He sees Wes, and sighs. "*Another* one, Boss?" WillGM: Rath's mouth twitches upward. "This one was already awake. Go back to patrol." Len nods and leaves. Edward eyes the aspirin, wonders if it'd be bad form to ask if he can have one as well. WillGM: Rath turns to Wes. "Stay there until the echoes die down. It'll be quieter. Go help Len." Wes nods, and leaves the room, floating upward through the ceiling to ground level. Fearless looks to where Wes disappeared. "Why do I have the feeling he's the equivalent of a juvinile delinquent back home, with him pulling stunts like that?" Nicole shakes her head quietly and watches Bruce's reactions. Bruce tosses back a couple aspirin and swallows 'em dry. "Okay, so now I bet you people are gonna tell me that I didn't just suffer another hallucination, right?" WillGM: *to Fearless* "He is *not*. He asked my permission and I gave it." Ellis: "Right." WillGM: *to Bruce* "I know it's freaky the first couple of times. I'm human too, I'm there with you on this." Bruce nods, slowly. "And I did, in fact, just see that guy turn into what could be construed as an angel." WillGM: "Yep." Bruce nods again. "So, you're sayin', then, that that... thing... in Steele's dorm was... a demon?" Fearless pulls out his laptop, and opens up "What Happened to Xav - The Real Story.doc" Ellis: "Steele *himself* was a demon." Edward: "Did it look like a zombie with a penchant for body art?" WillGM: *to Bruce* "Yes. Although, I'm sorry to confuse the situation even more, if you asked him he'd say he was an angel. Quite batty." Fearless slides the laptop over to Ellis. "Think he'd believe us more if he read this?" Ellis: "I don't know, but I think the more we keep it to need-to-know-immediately, the less headaches we'll all have." Fearless: "Right." *closes the file for now, and clears the Recent Documents folder* Bruce takes a long drag from his cigarette and exhales the smoke with a sigh. "Well, it all makes a lot more sense," he says. "Except... WHAT THE F*CK?" he cries, strung to his wit's end. Edward finishes pouring oolong tea into a new cup and offers it. "Told you you might want some." Zibblsnrt: [*laugh*] Fearless: "Its a lot to take in. We know, because we've been there." Ellis smiles sympathetically. "Sorry." WillGM: Zeke winces at Bruce's cry, and puts a hand on his shoulder. "You'll get used to it," he says. "Think of it this way -- there are a lot more crimes than you ever imagined, but there's a lot bigger police force and one really righteous Judge." Nicole nods. Bruce glares maliciously at the offered cup. "That's really great, y'know? But I sort've got my own crime to solve, and turns out there's demons and angels involved. Heh, I can just IMAGINE how that's gonna fly in my report." WillGM: "Well, there's good news in that respect. The crime really was a suicide." Fearless: "Certain things can't be reported. We faced down one demon already, and I had to write the newpaper article about it without mentioning angels or demons. It's hard to filter what to write, and what to keep secret." Fearless: "And I know what the Chief would say if I brought in the *real* article about what happened to said demon." Edward: "Or explaining to your superiors." Bruce snatches up the cup of tea and drains it. "That's great and all, but I can't just sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen. I won't /lie/." He shoves the cup away and looks over at Rath. "Suicide? Great, so where's the body?" WillGM: Rath coughs. WillGM: Pete looks a little embarassed. Bruce buries his face in his hands. Fearless mumbles something under his breath... "Disposed of is the best way to put it..." Edward: "*mumblemumblereddermumble*" "What?" *mumblethroughashreddermumble* "Speak up, I can't hear you." "I SAID WE STUFFED IT THROUGH A SHREDDER!" Nicole just shakes her head. WillGM: "You see, we thought Ellis might be in some considerable danger from this particular demonic plot..." Edward looks really longingly at where the aspirin went, but the cop'll need it more. WillGM: "...so I'm rather afraid we ran it through a stone chipper and fed it to the city's bird population." Fearless opens his briefcase, and tosses a bottle of generic extra-strength ibuprofin gelcaps to Ed. Edward takes one, then offers the bottle to Bruce. Bruce looks very, very, VERY torn. The sort of torn-ness one exhibits when one is trying to decide whether upholding his sworn duty is worth trying to arrest an /angel/, of all things. He takes the bottle and pops the top. "You destroyed the body. Jesus Christ. It'd be so much simpler if you hadn't." WillGM: "Perhaphs we were hasty. But he was, after all, trying to frame someone for murder, whom we are duty-bound to protect." Rath thinks. "I suppose... a body could be provided. We could match any prints and photos easily. I have enough rank to request one of the Archangel, and the services of a Malakite for a few hours." Nicole smiles as Rath says something similiar to what she was thinking. WillGM: "It wouldn't be Carver's... but then, Carver is not really a bodied thing anyway. I suppose it depends on how honest you really are." Bruce pops a couple of the gelcaps, muttering, "Tampering with evidence..." Fearless nods. "If you want, I can write a small article about how a body was found wherever you want whenever you want, as yet unidentified, and the police are looking into how..." WillGM: "Yes. Tampering with evidence. It's something we do very often. Think about it -- we must leave evidence of our War behind often. And unless you want the whole world to be feeling the agony of a deeper reality, surely you must see that it is, on the whole, a better thing to do." Bruce gives Rath a defeated look. "Must I?" WillGM: "Well... no, in fact. The only thing you must do is make your own decision on the matter." WillGM: Rath blinks. WillGM: "Perhaps we do have another alternative." Fearless: "The world's not black and white, detective. You know that as well as I do. There are a lot of shades of grey, and as a police officer and an investigative reporter we tend to live among those shades of grey most of our lives." He lights up another cigarette. "Another one, Rath?" WillGM: "With no body... perhaps Mr. Steele survived his self-inflicted injuries. He could... turn up. Safely out of Philadelphia, even. With only a breaking-and-entering offense to deal with." WillGM: Pete addresses Bruce. "Bodies are kind of like clothes to these guys, y'see." Fearless: "Rath, I love the way you thing." Fearless pummels a typoist into oblivion with a Fallout-esque super-sledge. Fearless: "Rath, I love the way you think." Ellis shrugs "If that's the case, I wouldn't have to press charges." WillGM: Rath nods at Ellis. "Even better." Bruce stubs his cigarette out on the tabletop, sighing nasally. "I'll be honest with you... every fiber of my being is crying out to bust you all on tampering and conspiracy charges, but..." Nicole nods. Fearless waits for Bruce to finish that thought... Bruce detects the stifling silence. "I won't. Do what you have to do to clean this up." WillGM: Rath sighs with relief. "I will need to travel to the nearest Tether to reliably contact the Archangel. The trip and the favor I ask will take about a day. And..." he looks at Bruce... "I will need a photograph and a copy of Mr. Steele's fingerprints." Bruce sighs. "I'll swing by tomorrow with the casefile." He rubs at his left eyebrow. "Why do I feel like I'm gonna burn for this?" Ellis: "More the opposite, I'd say." WillGM: "Thank you for the aid you render us. We are in your debt. Remember -- you are in a larger world now. It will take time to assimilate, but we will be the rock beneath your feet." WillGM: Seems like a good place to call it. Ellis: Yeah. WillGM: ------------------- Session End --------------------