(Mystic Chapter) Getting Back

[Yumyumcrow]

"An Enemy," Little John grunted. Lina could detect the capitalisation even in the giant's monotone voice. "Dealt with."

Tess frowned and looked over her shoulder at Little John.

"Finish it," the giant replied tersely to her unspoken question.

Back in the room, Aaron takes his sample and finds himself retching violently. Nothing had ever afflicted him in such an extreme way; not even hurling up food and drink during his early Nights. Whatever the substance was, it was not blood. It was foul; rotten; inhuman. And his Beast hissed its displeasure.

Little John's attention turned to the Lord as he joined them on the landing. "Great. We will need... Everything. And once the task is done we shall go."

Tess returned to the burned room, leaving the giant to treat with their... allies.

If the Kindred dared to look, they would have seen a variety of electrical equipment, monitors, and ritual paraphernalia set up in the blackened and scorched space.

Yes Dark Passenger Aaron van Valen - the same surge of aggression.

Lina Moretti Cross also has it now as well.

Both Kindred suffer a -1 penalty to Frenzy because their Beasts are unhinged. For the next calendar month. Mechanic's a bit clunky but this way I can manage scenes more easily. Feel free to throw in a Glimpse as they cope with their newly aggressive Beast

[Aaron van Valen]

'Fff... what is this'? Aaron hisses softly, before he coughs. Then he realizes it is too late already. After a second the flavor takes a real hold in his undead body and he reacts to it heavier than he would ever expect. He shivers.

Why do I really always need to try all the blood I see? Why...

He attempts to spit out whatever is left of the substance in his mouth, but his dry tongue and lips make it hard. Not counterfeiting life brings serious disadvantages with it. But after closing his eyes and taking a moment to relax, the Lord manages to regain his full composure. Or so he tells himself, but something is still itching in the back of his mind. Like it has been for a while now.

They are here to help, after all. Sort of. Since the two seem to welcome their aid, he makes his way upstairs.

He is definitely here to take a look at what they're doing. 'Do tell, please. Is the Fire here, in this room? Last time I sensed it downstairs.' Aaron puts his bags down just outside of the burned room. He grabs the Kirlian camera first, together with the several tools that come with it.

'Do you need help communing with it?'

[Yumyumcrow]

The two Kindred move into the room before Little John can put up much of a protest. Their Beast's shiver once they are in the room.

The strange duo have set up a bizarre convergence of science and the occult. The burn marks have been outlined in chalk and further marked out with paint, dividing the blackened, scorched, area into rough triangles with each 'point' marked by an alchemical symbol. The walls have been ripped out to get at the electrical veins of the building; wires and leads festoon the space, all being drawn back to a series of monitors, speakers, and a battered looking laptop. It all looks terribly half hazard and quite insane.

In one corner a tripod has been rigged: it has its own alchemical markings on the floor and a line is drawn connecting it to the burn marks. Sitting on the tripod is large ball made up of interconnecting metal plates; it looks terribly corroded and thick with dust.

"We are almost ready," Tess explained as she began duct-taping some of the wires and leads together.

"The Fire is in this room. But I suppose it also moves around the building as its like an invisible liquid really. Just like electricity. Like is drawn to like... So I'll set a Fire off in here and it will be drawn here by attraction. Hopefully enough of it will pass through the wires and cables to power this small computer device here. And we can capture what it says as it flows through. Maybe even talk to it."

Tess gave a satisfied sigh.

"Do you have a portable power source?" Little John grunted. His one eye was glaring at the Kindred suspiciously.

[Aaron van Valen]

Aaron could not be more thrilled. Worried to his core that this is all a huge mistake, but positively thrilled.

'You'll set a Fire?' Ok. So that is possible. It brings new options to the table. He needs to overthink this all. Little John's one question makes Aaron smile.

Of course I thought of that.

'I was hoping to find out whether it was capable of communicating in a more simple way, actually. Well, I don't know what device you have there.' He is unfortunately quite behind on understanding technology on a deeper level.

'I wanted to plug my theremin here to the building somewhere, any place the Fire could connect through it. I would "play" it, then, but have the Fire power it whenever it sees fit.' Aaron takes the theremin out of its bag and shows it to the other. On the horizontal wooden base the whole alphabet has been written, plus some basic words like "yes" and "no". It is practically a musical ouija board. 'I brought the power bank just in case that doesn't work and I need to experiment with other options.'

Enthusiastically, he shows two more things from his bags. A roughly shaped blue and a yellow crystal. 'Alternatively, last time I managed to connect my inner self to it, and it reacted. It was just violent in some way. I thought of channeling the Fire through Kyanite, the blue one, maybe Citrine, the yellow one. As far as I know the two minerals on this planet that neither accumulate nor retain negative energy. Kyanite is perfect for bridging gaps in all communication efforts. So if all mechanical efforts fail us... there's this: Connect on a spiritual level. I should be able to locate it more precisely with this camera.'

If his theories are correct. But this time he has actually given the whole situation a lot of thought. He has hope, and he will definitely endure.

[Yumyumcrow]

Tess and Little John both stare as the Kindred bring out their... gifts.

The doll-like woman and the giant almost square off over the portable power pack.

"There are other ways..."

The giant lets the diminutive doll take the pack, which she straps into her mass of wires with duct and plugs.

Gasping with glee and wonder, Tess also takes Aaron's crystals and Theremin. The device ends up hooked up to the laptop... somehow... and the crystals wind up attached to the tripod.

"They will be to best effect there. The ball is an alchemical device but its damaged. Your crystals will help stabilise it when it used to draw off the excess impurities of the Fire. There. I think we are all set."

  

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-14 22:05:56		Tess to do stuff rolls 6 to Intelligence + Craft + Speciality (10 Again)		2, 2, 3, 1, 4, 6		failure
2018-08-14 22:05:55		Tess to do stuff rolls 6 to Intelligence + Craft + Speciality (10 Again)		5, 3, 3, 7, 4, 5		failure
2018-08-14 22:05:15		Tess to know stuff rolls 6 to Intelligence + Occult + Speciality (10 Again)		4, 2, 10, 9, 10, 1, 3, 6		3 successes

She cast a glance back at her giant companion but he was simply silent and watchful.

"You should not be here. This operation will be dangerous." Still, Little John made no move to help or to hinder. There was even a thread of curiosity in his voice.

ST NOTE - Don't know how I ended up with three rolls there. I have included them all for transparency.

[Aaron van Valen]

'Well...' Aaron begins his protest as his stuff is taken away from him. He tries not to be offended, but something stirs inside of him. However, what is he going to do really? If there had been room for doubt last time, the body downstairs now makes it clear there's no messing with these two. Sigh. 'I would like them back.'

He watches Tess work, it all seems like a big mess to him. But then again, he heard of similarly crazy stuff done by Dragons that all worked out fine in the end. They in fact appear to have been making progress.

Whether it is towards completion or towards complete destruction is unclear at this point.

Aaron replies to Little John with a nod. They should definitely not be here. Then he turns to Lina. 'If it was only Fear, I would not hesitate for a second.' No, this thing is called Fire. He fist bumps the Grand Wyrm, apparently she really wants that to become a thing. It gives him some courage however.

We cannot let this place go to waste.

'Let me just document what you have set up here, for future reference. In case we need to have more attempts.' Before he even finished his sentence, Aaron produces his phone from a pocket and starts taking some pictures of the alchemical symbols. He does the job quite thoroughly and lengthy, only to give himself some more time to think.

Then he takes the decision.

'Mind if I try to connect through electricity first? Before you call it with Fire. I'd like to give it one try - before I hand all my equipment to you.' With those words he heads over to the power source...

  4 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2018-08-15 03:07:10		Aaron van Valen rolls 9 to Recognizing symbols (Int + Occult) (10 Again)		2, 4, 6, 10, 9, 7, 8, 8, 6, 2		4 successes

Don't want to narrate further, in case they want to react.
If Tess seems to "activate" anything, he'd like to go straight for the exit :P Fortitude or not hehe.
Anything he can recognize from the symbols, that would give him some sort of guidance?