Riverwalk Meeting

[Martha Villiers]

She fiddled with the seat belt and paid attention to rear view mirriors.

As Max spoke, it was clearly a lot to absorb. Martha rubbed at her peg leg and ground her fists into what was left of her thigh. Perhaps from pain, perhaps from anger. It was hard to say.

"Goodness me! Erika has tricked you, sir! I gave only provisional permission for the body to be moved when I spoke to her at Court! It was all a trick. I had no intention of really letting the body go. It was simply a ruse to mollify the witch. In fact, I was about to investigate Erika more closely when... Well, when I fell out of circulation." she pouts and grinds her tiny fists deeper into her amputated thigh.

"The witch has won!"

Martha shakes her head.

It wasn't Max's fault, and her tone clearly absolves him of the error.

"Sorry, sir, my fault. I didn't get time to explain my plan and thinking..." she sighs, adding, "There are so many events now calling for priority!" she shakes her head in dismay. Robbed of any official authority, she wasn't sure what called upon her with greater pull and urgency. It was all very bewildering.

"I have no idea what to say or do now, sir. Khan? Erika? The Society? Aileen's assassin... All need to be stopped, but how...? Through the simple expediency of yet more murder, sir?"

Casting her hands up in the air in raw exasperation, Martha can only look blankly out of the window. Waiting for inspiration, Martha's mind wandered and privately wondered about the feasibility of obtaining an unattended M24 enhanced weapons system. The nifty new ones. With muzzle suppression, improved optics oh, and some flechette AP rounds...

Her peg leg twitched in high tempo.

She looked to Max. Hoping to God he wasn't Erika in disguise.

[Max Heinz]

Max can only shake his head at Martha's words on the body. "It might help me to know exactly whom I delivered to her. Regan explained that it was some sort of elder, smuggled into the city under false pretenses; and that she might be connected to the people that killed Aileen. Were you able to uncover anything else about her that might shed some light on what Brady might want with a torpid elder?"

He listens in silence as Martha expounds on the problems facing the Order and the Domain at large. She seems overwhelmed, and Max can certainly empathize. But they were problems that had to be dealt with, consequences could be dealt with later...

"As I said, myself and others are endeavoring to deal with Khan once and for all. Once she's stopped, perhaps then we can determine if she was the head of the snake or if there is further corruption that must be rooted out. I pray her destruction will put an end to the matter, but I've faced enough challenges over the years to know matters like these are seldom so easy.

I believe the Society of Penelope would be the next in order of priority. They seem to have so far remained quiet within the city, their assault on the Chapter House aside; but if Khan is removed from the picture that may allow them to step up their activities within the city.

Of course, that still leaves Aileen's assassins. I don't know what Bradey is up to, but she links herself in someway with them, it might provide the excuse we need to turn the Domain against her. Meting out Final Death without His Grace's consent should be a charge severe enough to deserve a Blood Hunt."

Max raises a curious eyebrow at the petite Mekhet's words, turning his attention back to the road as he speaks again. "Killing in the name of self-defense is not murder, it is the natural order of things. While I normally abhor violence as a means to solve disputes; there are times when it is the only answer. We were not the first to spill blood in these conflicts, but if we are to endure, we must be the last.

And I must say, I'm surprised at you. As a fellow student of the Kindred condition, I would expect you to understand that we are predestined to be killers. We survive by consuming the life essence of the Kine; we may be able to exercise self-control and limit the damage we cause, but at our core we remain predators. It is only natural that we respond with violence to those that try to turn us into prey."

[Martha Villiers]

The bottom line was that a lot of Kindred were going to have to get killed.

A sullen Martha nodded. It was stark and brutal; "I suggest we recommend to His Grace that we take the Witch into custody. We incarcerate her. Subject her to the powers of Auspex and Dominate and learn her secrets that way. That we can at least try to learn her secrets before the inevitable."

She looks to Max, almost timidly, asking; "Is this the most logical approach? We at least will try to maximize our intelligence gathering that way. Any other course of action threatens to sacrifice opportunities to gather and exploit information."

[Max Heinz]

Max can only shake his head at the idea. "Take her into custody for what? Unauthorized relocation of an Elder? We have no proof of any wrong doing. Believe me, if I had anything concrete I could nail her with, I would have done so long ago.

We also have to consider the very real possibility that Erika has some sort of sway over the Prince and/or the Reeve. When I transported the body, I turned it over not to Brady but to Wooding; but only after calling her to verify he was authorized to take possession. I can only assume that he wasn't there out of the goodness of his heart; if the Reeve is working for Erika,anything we bring to his attention might go directly into her ear.

There's also the Prince to worry about. As far as I know, Brady has been in the city as long as anyone else; Clarke included. Who knows who or what she's compromised over the years. Think about it; the Prince turned over control of the Regencies to the Prisci, yet she remains Regent of Citrus Heights..."

[Martha Villiers]

This was a crushing assessment. Not because he disapproved of her plan, but it raised terrible thoughts. The complete and utter corruption of the Domain. From the core.

Martha blinked.

Rubbed at her peg leg and sat in dispirited silence.

Biting at her bottom lip, she looked to Max as if pleading with him to suggest something positive.

She couldn't believe Asa would be convinced of some evil plan by Erika...

But... What if the Witch has learned and employed powerful magic?

[Chrisie]

While poor old Mykel is recovering, I'd like to press pause on this scene and discount it from my scene tracker, please.