Make Sacramento Great Again

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Kenneth stood in front of the Nox looking out of place. His arms were full with a couple binders. As shirt couldn't seem sit properly on his shuddering shoulders. His clothes in general looked like a poor attempt to look either classy or hip and failing at either. People who saw him sneered in disgust, which seemed to make him cringe. They'd mutter in low angry voices about how they'd come here for the atmosphere or fun and this guy was totally killing the vibe.

Gilroy ignored it as he always did. As much as he could. The whispers were never quite soft enough that he couldn't hear them, even without supernatural ability. He always heard them when he came to the Nox though. Every time he went to court he had to listen to people wonder what someone like him was doing at a place like this. However, he had more important things to do. Like prepare himself to face two other Beasts in close quarters.

He shuffled his folders around to get a look at his watch. They'd be here soon. He forcefully breathed in through his nose.

[Victoria Stamford]

Victoria arrived before the appointed time and was a little surprised to find both parties waiting out front of the club. She felt the wasp buzz in furious rage at Katya's presence demanding that she be broken now while her weakness was on display for all to see. The Ventrue closed her eyes for a heartbeat and took a deep breath. She gave a quizzical look to both kindred as she felt the wave of revulsion from the slimy little creature.

She wore a pair of dark, close-fitting, tailored slacks and a purple blouse under a well cut jacket that accentuated her figure. Her shoes were practical enough to give her good footing. Finally, there was a gimp masked servant in a suit that trailed behind her unobtrusively. She smiled to the two K's.

"Good evening Mister Gilroy, Miss Harding." Victoria looked around her pointedly. "Is there some reason that we are outside this evening, or could you just not wait a moment longer than necessary to see me?" She finished with a charming smile.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

Run! That one simple thought threatened to overwhelm all his thoughts but he forced the lesser mind’s encouragement back as the two women appeared. Instead, he gave a closed lipped smile. Fleeing at this point would only encourage them to give chase.

“Miss Harding, Miss Stamford. I’m glad you could make.” The first test done' he held out binders for the both of them. The servant was ignored. As much as it could. Was it a ghoul? Was he mortal? Kenneth couldn’t asked specifics right now but that was what the second test was for. He had an idea from the night of the Summer solstice but he needed confirmation. With deliberate effort, the worm averted his gaze from the ‘lesser' amongst them. He expected less but the full extent of Victoria’s trust in her servants was about to be put to the test.

“If you’ll follow me,” he said holding out the binders for each of them “Please read the first page of the binders. If you have any questions, please ask.”

“Can your man be trusted to drive shift?” he asked the Ventrue as casually as he could. He’d thought about renting a limo but cursory research had revealed just how useless privacy partitions were. Without a ghould himself, Kenneth had assumed the Reeve would come with her own driver. If not, the worm would undertake the task to ensure their privacy.

After they’d each taken his briefing material, he would start walking away from the Nox to one of dark parking lots nearby. If not… he’d wait until they did.

This wasn’t the time for many questions. They ought to realize that given the environment. Yet, if they had questions on why he was leading them away from the ‘impenetrable stronghold’ of the Elysium, he’d say what he could to assuage their doubts. Not that he expected a circumspect explanation to provide too much detail. At some point they’d have to trust him.

Binder

The binder appears to contain an itinerary of what Kenneth wants to talk about. Expectations,Elysium, Threats, Raging Wire, The Brood, Poachers, Task Force Valkyrie, Deputies, Clans. They each had their own tab.

The first page was what had been the instruction. On that was a simple message. ‘Elysium are compromised by Domain enemies. Full extent is unknown. Refrain from sensitive topics till we are moving.”

[Victoria Stamford]

"Of course," She said with a smile regarding her attendance.

When Gilroy asked them to follow him she raised an eyebrow and took a binder. She opened to the first page as instructed, but opening it a crack vertically so no one could see in but her. She didn't react physically to the news and instead kept the smile on her face. The fact that he printed out such material and was carrying it around in the open was worrying enough.

What is he thinking? she thought to herself. The magnitude of shit-storm that could come of this on top of the already dire bullet points was incalculable.

She closed the binder and grasped it firmly in her left hand, keeping her right hand free.

"Oh, him?" She asked bored. "He isn't even worth mentioning a concern over. He can handle something like that." She couldn't come right out and say what Gilroy was asking and figured he would understand her well enough. "Has the vehicle had its maintenance inspections?"

"Also are you sure this was such a good idea?" Victoria asked eying the binder pointedly as she followed him to the parking lot. She didn't know if he had a car ready and if he did what precautions he took to ensure it was secure if the domain was this compromised.

[Kenneth Gilroy]

"Not recently inspected," he lied. He'd started checking his car for tampering more recently since Court in case a bomb happened to find its way onto the station wagon without his knowledge "But I'll make sure the tire pressure and oil is good before we head out."

At Victoria's question he shook his head. "No, but I view as on par with hand delivering a letter."

She was right. Writing things down was dangerous, but records and notes were necessary for planning and retention of information. Continuity between changes in officials. However, the fact was that the letters they had exchanged were just as damning in there own way and with the binders he didn't have to speak to relay information, which lowered the chance that a Kindred with heightened hearing would overhear. He doubted she would have have even asked if he'd presented the binders in the Elysium, despite the fact that he would have had to travel through the club to get there. So, that she was asking was good since it showed she was getting into the right security frame of mind. She might disagree with him that it was sufficient reward and convenience for the risk but that was why they were meeting now. To hash out their plan of action going forward. How much security were they willing to impose on themselves?

True to his word, arriving at his car he unlocked it and let them chose where they wanted to sit. While doing that, he opened the hood to 'check the oil' and then the tires to make nothing was stuck to the undercarriage. Once that was done, he took whatever seat remained and they started off.

[Victoria Stamford]

Victoria followed in silence as she considered his words and their situation. Things were far worse off than she could imagine if the Elysiums are compromised. Which means if they are watching Gilroy, she was now a target marked for suspicion for meeting with him here.

Fuck, she thought to herself. Thanks for potentially making me marked...

She activated her heightened senses and when she reached the car looked around the immediate vicinity for anyone in parked cars or lingering in the area. She would have to keep an eye out for tails when they left the parking lot. Once that was finished Victoria entered the vehicle. If Gilroy is expecting it her servant will take the driver's seat so they all can talk. Otherwise he will relinquish the seat to Gilroy if he wishes.

Once they were all inside she spoke up.

"This isn't fool proof, it will make it harder, but they can laser point the car for a listening device if we have a tail. If they do not have something planted that is. We'll have to keep our eyes open."

[Kenneth Gilroy]

“I’m aware this isn’t full proof,” Gilroy retorted whimpered.

He let the gimp take the driver’s seat and instead took passenger.

“Vary speed as much as you can, while being safe,” he instructed the servant. A ghoul? He hoped so. He didn’t like the idea of the man’s mind being wiped because of their conversation. Yet he couldn’t worry about that now. He pushed the thought down with the rest of his instincts as they started moving through the dead streets of late night Sacramento. He waited two blocks before continuing.

“I wasn’t given specifics on how we were compromised but even if we had a faraday cage to block listening devices, I suspect there is another element involved.” He looked to Harding for confirmation. She probably knew better than him how far gone the Elysiums had been breached from Regan. The Mehket had their discipline for information gathering after all.

“Still, at this point, we’ve taken all the precautions I could think of to protect our conversation without undue inconvenience. If you have any expedient suggestions, I welcome them. Otherwise, let’s continue as if no one was listening.” Because otherwise the meeting would be completely useless for anything other than informing Stamford that they couldn’t talk without risk of being overheard. An important message to be sure, but delays wouldn’t fix that problem.

“Let’s start with the least sensitive subject. Expectations. I was told you could answer that question best,” he said to Katya. By the Prince himself, he added silently. Kenneth didn’t state that out loud just yet. He’d organized topics so that the least important came first. Mentioning Clarke by name would negate that precaution.

Of course in many ways it was the most important. What Asa wanted the Seneschal to do and by extension what the Reeve needed to do. Right now all had Kenneth had to go on was don’t Breech the Masquerade and perform his duties perfectly. What those duties were, were apparently up to him until said otherwise. As such until contradicted, he had his own plan. As laid out in the binder.

Binder Details

Expectations: I was told to consult previous holder of my position.

Elysium: Compromised. Exact nature unclear but likely to be supernatural in nature. With the revelation of new threats (Task Force), this in called into question. In order to allow smooth functioning of society, these vulnerabilities must be addressed. If not, a standard work around must be put into place.

Threats: See below for details.

Raging Wire: Breech occurred during recovery of information, requiring the aborting of recovery mission against data center. Aforementioned information includes details for a hemotoxin capable of destroying ‘vital’ fluids to the detriment of society at large. Horizon was the company response able to creating the assumed protein. The exact nature and delivery of said toxin is unknown. Short term viral infection or airborne delivery cannot be discounted.

The Brood – The recent attack against the Circle’s Farm has raised concerns that the Brood may be active in the area. I’ve so far been unable to verify. A Satanic cult is just as likely barring further confirmation.

Poachers – Previous meeting have demonstrated that these are still present and a threat to the domain. An efficient dragnet must be established to eliminate further illegal intrusion.

Task Force Valkyrie – I have only recently become aware of this group. They appear to be government sponsored, highly equipped, and already know how to danse. Enough so that they plant tracers on suspect cars. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to talk with my POC that I’ve heard this information from. The savage one Josephine was talking to right before she left.

Deputies – A discussion on the best candidates for the position.

Clans – I plan to begin asking leaders what their plans for their families are and how I can help accomplish those goals.