MR/BE: Safety circle split off

[Chambers]

Continued from MR: Safety circle...

Abyssalstar Thirteen

Just to stop the two plots from tripping over each other figured this made the most sense but all mages in the circle can hear what happens in each, there being no privacy in the public spaces.

Approaching the Arcadian a brief but questioning smile is given. "Is this the kind of problem that needs immediate action or the kind we can exchange pleasantries first?" A little blunt but without knowing if the situation calls for it he hopes that can be forgiven.

Just a reminder I am not allowed to use Chambers actively in plots I ST, he can be called in for assistance or guidance like this but that's about the extent of it.

[Thirteen]

Thirteen had been staring at that email from Millie on her phone when Chambers arrived, debating whether to answer it. As the Hierarch arrived, she set the phone aside. She wasn't smiling, but she was civil. "Aye, hello. Thanks for comin'. I figured all this needed to be... reported. I'm not sure how else to proceed. I..." she paused, then shook her head. "I've spent the last day or so dealin' with Hunters, rogue Mages and now a secrecy breech. It's all kind of gone to shit."

The Acanthus let out a long breath. "Suppose I should start at the beginnin'? I dunno if you seen it, but a few months back there was a viral video online. It was of a turtle at a local city park. Wee thing sprouted wings and flew, before dyin' suddenly. I figured Life magic and Disbelief killed the poor fellow. I went to the park to investigate. Eidolon, but some odd coincidence, was also there for the same reason. Together we poked around. I got a hold of the turtle's remains." She reached into a jacket pocket and produced a small skull. "Say hello to Leonardo. I got the rest of him secured in the Free Council wing. In particular, the winged shell. Can't have that out in the wild."

She set the tiny skull next to her phone, "A little postcog and I got a look at the culprit. Unknown skinny guy. Also saw the girl who filmed the event. A little internet digging, and I tracked her down and contacted her for a talk. I'd hoped she'd have clues about the Mystery Mage. Met her and a friend of hers at a Starbucks yesterday, me with Eidolon in tow. Meeting went well, until Eidolon decided to Scrutinize the two of them to their bloody faces! The bug-eyed staring pissed off the guy, but I managed to get them to sit down again... and the fool Scrutinized them AGAIN!" Her hands balled up into fists, her frustration with the Warlock obvious. "There was no getting them to sit after that." Thirteen let out a breath and her hands uncurled, "Might have been for the best. Didn't realize until afterwards they were two of our local Hunters. Millie Simmons and Tim Rockwell. Well, Rockwell is a guess, but he was a beefy bloke, and a bricklayer is more likely than a computer geek."

"Before you ask, they got no idea who or what we are. They think we were just two cryptid fans visiting from the U.K." The Acanthus frowned, "Though that might change after what happened this mornin'."

Now she paused, in case Chambers, or any of the others, had questions.

Understood!

[Chambers]

What an opening sentence, but rather then jump in Chambers simply places the wooden box on the floor and listens to the details before speaking up. "I'm not big on social media so this one slipped me by, well done for picking this up." Mages being on the ball was certainly a welcome thing. "The evidence is secured that's a significant relief." Without the body it could be played off as any number of special effects. It would make any cover up much easier. "Although we can't rule out they unknown members or fresh recruits." So no commitment to who the beefy bloke would be. "You contacted the one who filmed, Millie?" Mulling that over, was it something that could be used? "Did you open anything she sent you? They have a known computer wizz on their team after all." The Moros himself not entirely sure what viruses were capable of but some kind of tracker of positioning programme seemed possible. "Unknown mage using what seems like life magic to create things that escaped and died due to disbelief." It all fit pretty well. "That's quite the screw up on their part, do we know any more on this mystery mage?" Someone to be on the look out for or tracked down and brought in if they turned out to be dangerous.

This wasn't the first time the warlock had blipped the radar for causing problems. "That was careless of him we will have to hope our local hunters aren't learned enough to know scrutiny when they see it. The information of them was appreciated as well." The enchantress had been the one to post it on the board.

The pause is noticeable as his contemplations cease. "What happened this morning?" Asked calmly but if it as implied had or could blow their cover to hunters who had already shown capable of killing a master of matter it felt like like that was necessary information.

[Thirteen]

"Aye," Thirteen nodded, "Seems the Sleepers already believe Leo was just a drone or a movie prop. It seemed best to let that be." So they were okay on that point, at least.

"I contacted Millie through a dummy email account. She actually sent me another message this morning. She's still eager to discuss the turtle, and wants to meet me. Alone. I haven't answered yet. Obviously this could be a trap, or an opportunity. Definitely not something I'd go into by myself, though." She shook her head, "I've opened no links or attachments, and she included none. I'm not new to the internet."

It seemed time for the rest of the tale, so she continued her telling. "Right. We were at a bit of a dead end, so I let a little synchronicity lead the way to a clue. Flower Farm Inn. Little boutique hotel in Loomis, about thirty miles outside the city. We went there last night. Eidolon got us rooms. Separate rooms," she emphasized, her eyes narrowed at anyone getting the wrong idea. "This mornin' we rose and split up to cover more ground. I lucked out and found him. I told a wee fib to an Inn employee who pointed me to a cottage our guy was staying in. For months, as it turned out. I contacted Eidolon and told him where, and asked him to keep an eye out for the hotel staff as they were probably lookin' for me. My fib was about a fender bender in the car park, and I knew the employee had picked up his phone when I left him. So I figured the manager or whoever might come lookin' for me."

The Acanthus sighed, "Wish I'd thought of somethin' different. In any case, I was on a clock. So I went to the cottage and knocked. Eventually, Hoodie let me in to talk. It was the right guy." She snorted derisively, then. "I call him Hoodie cause that's what he's wearin', and for lack of any other name. Bastard wouldn't even give me a Shadow Name." She looked at Chambers, clearly concerned, "He's not from around here. He's been conductin' experiments in that cottage. Ripped up the carpet, drawn Atlantean runes on the floorboards. I could make out ones for containment. He might be summonin' shit. He claims Leo was a 'side-effect' of whatever he's doin'. He had a couple more hybrid critters in a fish tank. Some rat/cat thing a a big-arse spider crossed with somethin' else. Apparently Leo got loose and that's how the park incident happened." Thirteen was clearly annoyed by the unnamed man. "Get this: He thought there was no Consilium here. Hoodie called Sacramento the wild west. A perfect spot for his experiments, because no Lex enforcement."

The young Libertine ran her fingers through her hair, "I made it clear he was wrong, and his holiday was over. He seemed to agree, since he was busy trying to cover up the floor. He's buggin' out. Oh, and he has a sponsor. Been paying his hotel bills all this time. I asked if this sponsor was from San Francisco, but he didn't confirm that. Or deny it."

"Then..." the Arcadian Mage paused, and took a long breath before speaking again, "Then I left. Nothing else I could do, not with Sleepers closin' in. And I was right, hotel manager woman was searchin' for me. Eidolon was tryin' to delay her. I... tried to sneak off, but I got spotted. Fortunately, I managed to convince the hag it was all a misunderstandin'. Americans often have trouble with me accent." She smirked at that, but then it faded away into an expression of bafflement and anger. "Then... then Eidolon happened. I had no Mage Sight spell up, so I don't know what he was tryin' to do exactly."

"But I could tell he tried Vulgar magic. In front of the manager and a security guard. The bloody idiot practically exploded with Paradox!" Thirteen shook her head in disbelief. "Fooked up his face. I think it's what we call a Branding? He tried to pass it off as a severe allergic reaction." She took another calming breath. "He signaled me to leave, and with the Sleepers distracted by a medical emergency, I was able to just walk away. I didn't know what else to do. There didn't seem to be any way to help. We'd been playin' as though we didn't know each other. Seemed best to keep it that way. So... I came straight here."

That was... a lot. And it explained why the Warlock was not here.

"I assume he'd be taken to a local hospital. But if the Hunters catch wind of this, he could be in danger."

[Chambers]

Relying on the quintessence was never a good thing, letting the abyss have its way and bury magic just that bit further was the same as conceding ground inch at time but it was the terrible catch they found themselves in. "Its best if we don't actively do anything that might draw attention to it, let the story fade into folk tales and rumours." Putting a spotlight on the event would draw attention that they did not need right now.

Speaking of, eyes narrow as he calculates the risk versus the reward of the meeting. "No I don't think you new to the internet but better safe then sorry." Especially if the enchantress hadn't realised who she was dealing with at first. "You've met her so have more insight then me, do you think there's anything to be gained from meeting with her? or setting up a trap of our own?" Because they had that option.

Lies far from ideal but that was a personal and order view point, many mages employed them and it was hardly the worst sin in the world. "Well if we know where he was then we can get to him later. Book someone else into that cottage if we can." Look for hairs, scrutiny, postcognition and all the rest of the investigative tools. "Someone the staff don't know on site." Why take the risk if they didn't have to. "Not giving a shadow name is suspicious." Made it harder to seek information in the wider community. "Summoning? Well that's no simple feat." And these creatures were side effects not the intended or main result. "Well up till the first of April he wasn't wrong about that, officially we didn't have a Consilium." Not until they had their ducks in a row and papers in order. "But not to get side tracked. A sponsor. So someone wanted him to do what do the experiments, summoning or research away from their own back garden?" If it was risky it sort of made sense but why not just do it in a secured sanctum if hoodie was powerful to handle the magic alone? "That doesn't add up to me, here are safer ways to do what you describe then book a country cottage." So why here?

As the story continues the hierarch looks up sharply. "Well that's bad. How server was the branding? Describe it to me." Because the quintessence sure wasn't going to cover that. "First we need to get him here." Minimise the exposure. "Then we have opportunity to show that the Lex is indeed enforced within Sacramento." Casting vulgar magic in front of sleepers being an outlined breach of secrecy.

At mention of hospital he looks over to Asclepius across the room, an idea forming. "I think we might be able to do something about that." Raising his voice just loud enough to be heard. " Asclepius could I borrow you briefly, your expertise might be very necessary." Both arrows and the guardian clearly here together and not by chance at this point but maybe they could help each other out.

[Thirteen]

Thirteen thought a moment before answering, "At this point, no. I only contacted her to begin with to try and find Hoodie. I found him without her help. I don't need her for anythin' like that now." Her brown eyes casually looked about the courtyard, watching the other three Mages nearby. "I kind of liked her. She seemed like she's genuinely curious and enthusiastic about cryptids. Unlike Rockwell, there was never any sense of hostility from her. And I get the feelin' she may not be working with the other Hunters by choice. Not entirely. Her email spoke of having to wait until she was alone to answer me, like she might get caught. I think Rockwell keeps a tight leash on her." She shook her head and sighed, "But that could all be a ruse, and none of it changes the fact she's a servant of the Lie. We might be able to learn a lot about Rockwell and Grentheme if we caught her. Though I gotta admit I don't know how to go about doin' anythin' like that."

The Enchantress nodded at the idea of infiltrating the Flower Farm Inn, "Aye, gettin' someone else in there would be good. Get a better look at those runes under the carpet, too. I'm not goin' anywhere near that hotel anytime soon, obviously. Oh, he was stayin' in Buttercup Cottage." She chewed on her bottom lip a moment, thinking. "My only guess is whatever he was doin' would be a big no-no in any reasonable Consilium. A big Lex violation."

As for Eidolon's Branding, she described it as best she could, the birthmark-like shapes on his face. Not that she wanted to rat the Warlock out for what he did, but the situation left him in danger and he was going to need help. Plus, Thirteen didn't want to be lying and covering up a Lex violation. It was still difficult to not feel like a snitch, though. "Aye, the manager lady was calling for an ambulance when I left. If he sticks with his allergy story, he'll have to ride along to the hospital. He seemed to still have his wits about him, so we could trying callin' or textin' him , too." She glanced at her phone, then shook her head, "Shouldn't be me. I'd just be screamin' at the dumb bastard."

She looked up as Asclepius was called over, and waited to see what the Hierarch wanted the Arrow to do.

[Chambers]

That would check with events as he was aware of them. "If it was Rockwell he was recently set up for a false drug charge it makes sense he's paranoid." And beyond that. "They recently had a possessed individual that was liberated by mages which cost them one of theirs." Now had that made them more paranoid or aggressive? "No, Kidnapping is not a simple task and beyond that we would need to put her somewhere." Shaking his head. "I don't think we have the resources or infrastructure for that." As useful as the information would be.

A mental note is made. "Buttercup cottage, got it. I can use post cognition if necessary. Though having a second present to keep aware of the situation while I review what's what will be needed." So who did he trust for that? A shame he cant do it sympathetically yet. "Can you give me any precise times that would be good to look at?" Worth asking after all.

It was not as bad as it could have been. "At least he didn't grow a crown or horns or a tail." That would have been much worse. "Okay once I talk with Asclepius I'll give him a call. I want to see if our EMT can be the one sent and then write it off as something that could be handled at the roadside." All the better if Eidolon never made it to the hospital. "Then drop him back here." Not something he looked forward to but it came with the job and had to be done, to stop exactly these situations and worse.

[Thirteen]

"Ah, right. Witch's frame job. That'd make sense. Eidolon's creepy starin' would set him off, and it did." She nodded to herself, then looked at her phone. "She's waitin' for a reply. Guess she's not gettin' one, then."

A red eyebrow raised in that sea of freckles. She hadn't expected the Moros to be versed in Time magic. "Precise times? Well, Hoodie's been livin' there for some months. I'm not too sure about when would be a good time to..." Thirteen paused, thinking, "You know, it occurs to me that Leo managed to make it over 30 miles. How the hell did this turtle managed to get from Loomis to the city park unnoticed? If he flew, Disbelief would of killed him long before it finally did." She looked at the skull, "Unless Hoodie had a place in the city at the time of the video? The time just before then might be good to look at. If Leo was a side-effect, Hoodie might have been doing one of his experiments. Maybe you can see what that was, exactly?" She provided the Hierarch with the date and time of the TikTok video. "Simmons seems to have posted the vid immediately, as my own postcog was right on the money."

"You definitely should have someone watchin' your back. If the Hunters go sniffin' around the Inn... well, here's what they look like..." and she proceeded to describe Millie and 'Thuggo' who was maybe Rockwell.

"Aye," she had to agree, "could have been worse." She nodded along with Chambers' plan for rescuing Eidolon, having no objections. Though it left her with nothing to do now. "Guess I'll just wait, then."

[Chambers]

It was a shame there was a lead there but they had to be realistic. "For the best, the gain versus risk for us just doesn't seem worthwhile. Not if the hunters are already susipoiuous of you and Eidolon." More deaths would be avoided if at all possible.

Now this was a curious puzzle. "It would depend if the flying was seen by sleepers but yes I agree that does seem very unlikely." But it raised more concerns. "So the mage might have bolt holes or other staging areas?" They might not be done with this if that was the case. "I wouldn't know where to look for that but I can look at this time in the cottage certainly." Tapping his chin in thought. "She was posting as it happened? That seems like a big coincidence, do you think the hunters had any hand in getting the creature into the public like that?" For what reason the Moros could not fathom but without prior knowledge how could the hunter have known to have a video recording?

Paying careful attention to the descriptions. "Right. Thanks. Given we've lost mages to them already I'll ask the arrows if they would be willing to watch my back while I work." Much preferred it didn't come to violence but having some who could fight just seemed like a decent idea on this one.

The call from Asclepius was both understandable and frustrating. "This is rather time sensitive. I or." A look to Thirteen. "Maybe We can step into help with what you've got going on but we've got a veil breach to cover up and hunters on the prowl." Said loud enough for all the room to hear to try and way lay any arguments. Turning back to the enchantress. "Well If I'm commandeering the arrow how do you feel about helping Skye and Witch in his stead?" Try and solve a few problems at once wit ha little rejiggling of who is doing what.

[Thirteen]

"Right. No need for the high risk if there's no reward," nodded the Acanthus. "I'll keep monitoring Millie's paranormal podcasts. She did an episode about Leonardo. If her group gets on Eidolon's trail, she may do one about the Inn incident."

"If this sponsor was payin' for the Inn, they'd probably be payin' for anywhere else Hoodie was hidin' around here. Not that we have the payment info." Thirteen's computer skills were pretty basic. She was no hacker. "Still, he knows both us and the Hunters are on his tail now. I made sure of that. He'd be a moron to stick around. My knock on his door definitely spooked him."

She picked up the turtle's skull, gave a fond little pat, and then handed it to Chambers. "Here. For the temporal sympathy to zero in on when we was created. Leo will help. He was a good lad. Loved dandelions. And pizza, I presume, bein' a mutant turtle and all."

The Libertine looked back and forth between the Hierarch and the group of three, then gave a combination shrug and nod. "Aye, swappin' teams is fine with me. If Witch and Skye want to brief me on what they're doin', I'll try to fill in for Asclepius."