Risk Assessment

[Cosmo]

"You said attacked publicly, so I was asking for witnesses of the veil breach who weren't in this room. It's clear however, that substance is something that needs to be gouged from the resilient to get past the general doomsaying that I got before this meeting. So as I said, if you want to let it rest then you can drop it."

Even the information he was getting was barely consistent between the two he was speaking to. Phoenyx seemed under the impression they didn't have a body, but Winter was happy to let him play mortician implying he had the body. One dismissed the orders while the other extolled their rolls.

"When I get nothing but vague enemy-wants-us-dead nonsense at Concilium, I really don't feel like I'm the one trying to live in the fantasy world of past actions. I also don't agree that being vague and acting so condescending about attempts to learn is in any way adding anything useful to the conversation. And while yes, we do wear clothes and use technology, my impala can't be asked to log Spark's time at the Circle. Nor can my clothes. That was the point I was trying to move away from with the talk of philosophy before being dragged back to it."

His attention then returns to the Arrow.

"Which brings us once again back to the Circle and your notion that any change is a good change. You don't seem willing to say that surveillance technology is unnecessary or intrusive, and you seem to have missed that I'm objecting to surveillance and not reinforcing entry points, arming individual mages who are willing, or anything else actually related to security. I don't view being recorded because what? Three people back in the day wanted to add cameras? Because they thought it was necessary." His eyes shift back to Winter. "And as Phoenyx said, the closest to authority in the area right now isn't you. it's whether Campanella wants the cameras or not that matters right now. So I'd remember that next time you tell him not to be a problem."

He went to sip on his glass, the sound of the straw sucking air billowing out in the sound bubble.

[Winter]

He rolls his eyes at the Hierarch, then he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Jesus Christ", he says, "I'm too old for this shit".
If Cosmos kept acting like a pestering child, then he'd be treated like one. A Mastigos he was not. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

"Alright, let's simplify things", the Guardian says aloud, his arm stretches toward the napkins dispenser. One, two, three, four. Crumpled stretches of paper are laid bare at the center of the table, right by the dispenser.
With a swift motion of his hand the Guardian moves his cup toward the center, rough fingers dip inside the brown liquid to pluck the lemon slice from within.
"The dispenser is the neighborhood. Right now you see a bunch of cranes and building sites, last year those were inhabited buildings" , his index points at the cup then at the napkins, "this is our HQ, those are the evil guys. The fourth napkin is a mobile surveillance van", he looks at Cosmo, perhaps he can follow now.

"Napkin A, B and C, go all pew pew on the dispenser. A lot of people die. You can go and check there if you wish, if you don't have a playback device, I can do it for you and live broadcast the results", then he takes up the slice, splitting it in half and advancing the left end toward the dispenser, "This is team medic the left slice, they run inside the central building and are tricked into helping. It is a trap, what they find instead is some kind of monstrosity allegedly powered by... uhm, let's just say that there is a body and there isn't. Pieces really... They capture a prisoner though", he clinches his jaw and looks at the Hierarch, did the man feel responsible for the macabre outcome of the duel?

The Guardian's voice is monotonous, his coldness speaks of somebody mentally distanced from the events.
"The right slice patrols the area. As it turns, the entire street had been mined with semtex, a military explosive. Chaos ensues, flesh and gore is sent flying for dozens of meters, people panic and amid the confusion they trample each other. In the confusion one of the killers manages to get the drop over one of our Arrows. One that is at least an Adept, mind you. The First Talon too gets severely hurt as he's ran over by their surveillance van. Nevertheless, the threat is neutralized and I recover one of the hard drives from the carcass of the van. The police arrives and as we flee, we cover our traces. Three killers are dead at this point. As for the storage device, you can peruse its contents if you wish. This is Sentinel and not Guardian business", he taps his index against the right slice.

"This is act one. Meanwhile the left slice has been interrogating the prisoner beneath the Circle. Alastor regroups with team medic and alongside Langdon an interrogation is conducted. As they would later report - and I have no reason to doubt their testimony - they compelled the prisoner into sharing the truth. It turns out, they were from a special section of the local chapter of the Fucking Bunch of Idiots. In act two, we discover that they can track and detect what they were never supposed to do", he sips on his tea, before going back to business."Through the Interlude however, the girl you're currently disrespecting and her colleague put their life on the line to recover the body - not so body, of one of our own, you will understand what I'm saying once you see it. The one that was used to power up the thing, remember? They also defeat a... creature?", he looks at Phoenyx, "part human part whatever, something that shouldn't exist at all. Both of those "remains" you can see, even right now. I'm not exactly into that kind of stuff anyway. If anything, the investigation has stalled despite my insistence and constant request of assistance", sip Gulp. "Apparently I'm the only person who seems to care enough", he frowns at the Hierarch, it wasn't his fault, Master Aurora was the one supposed who promised assistance . "I mean, she probably has a family somewhere", he empties his cup, then he stacks it with the crumpled napkins.
"Then the grand finale, because not only your charge, the Moron, decides to go Banzai and reveal the capital M thing in front of a bunch of people, civilians and FBI cutthroats alike, thus confirming their thesis that the capital m thing is really a thing and putting the whole Organization in jeopardy; remember they know exactly where our HQ is, with his bullshit he finally dotted the Is and crossed their Ts. Really funny, because yours truly had to get myself arrested to check whether his cover was fucked. Worse, he doesn't even know about that, and yet you lapped his bullshit like it was the Gospel. Now, you're familiar with how the Tetragrammaton handles this particular breach of the veil. The fact that I hadn't pushed the issue to its logical conclusions should put the nail in the coffin of the theory that I'm somehow unfairly biased against him. But logic might not be your strong point.
And then everything takes a nosedive, the Circle gets invaded, the capital S guys pour straight into our living room. But this is a story that Phoenyx will have to tell you, I was gone to 5 centuries ago", he sighs.
"And this is why I'm paranoid, it has worked wonderfully so far. Now, I'm kinda tired of your bullshit. Had you asked nicely, you would have been presented the evidence you requested from the get-go, because I'm not exactly a Censor and those are matter of public security. But rather than come straight to me and air your dissent in private like any gentleman would have done, or voice your concern in a respectful albeit public manner, your first decision was to imply negligence on my part. Which is funny, because the question that has been occupying the thoughts of whoever is sitting with you at this table most likely is: What has this guy exactly done for the Community? And the answer is: nothing, zero, zilch, nada. Meanwhile, there wouldn't even be a HQ without us. Are we done now?", he addresses Campanella,"Prompted by your request, I agreed to be the Muscle of this Organization, I anticipated a certain number of headaches, but what I didn't expect was that the Board would soon delve into an Assembly. A place where any newcomer can just walk up to Management, levy a bunch of outlandish and immeritorious accusations against a well regarded member of the community and have his words still be taken seriously. Merit and only merit guides my judgement. And unless somebody is willing to accuse me of not having the best interest of this Community at heart, I'd have to assume that my competence is being questioned. I've already spoken too much, when I shouldn't have spoken at all", from his pocket the Guardian produces a sealed envelope, it contains enough cash to cover for their tab. "I bear you no grudge, young man. Let it be known. I distrust your judgement, that is the case. But I feel no enmity toward your person. If anything, I'm fond of people who question everything. Hope you understand this", And with that, he prepares for his departure.

[Phoenyx]

Phoenyx watches, confused. "What you call doomsaying is actually the truth. You are content to believe the Hierarch's words when reporting on events when it suits, but not mine, when it does not. My history is not a fantasy. I have fought hunters and Seers for this Concillium. You can believe me in this and use my experience as other have, or be mistaken."

She smiles. He was finally making some sense. "I never said any change was good change. I said you want change when it suits, and want stagnation when it suits. I do not believe the action taken is invasive - it does not affect your life outside the public reaches of the Circle, which is all of it bar the times you choose. Should an enemy breach the focus of this Concillium's power, there is a simple method of identifying them. The Hierarch has already said he has faith in Winter's judgement as Sentinel. Now, if you are offering to spend time being an armed guard of the Circle, I would happily have your assistance. I cannot observe the entire Circle alone and at all times. But there are methods to observe what we cannot, until the Arcarna can supplant them. No more or less invasive than someone scrying the area at will." She inclines her head to Campenella at the last line.

Then Winter..... well. First the Concillium and now this? Winter was positively chatty lately.

The Arrow stops, and watches as he regurgitates all the information that lead to the present. It was an impressive array of memory.

She sips her iced tea. Still much too sweet.

[Cosmo]

If Campanella's mystery man turned out to be an Exarch and struck Cosmo down at this very moment, he would return to the Aether with the satisfaction of knowing he got Winter to say 'pew pew'. The information was useful, though the delivery was condescending. No less condescending then Cosmo might be, but self awareness was always easier in hindsight.

"Thanks for the information." He watched the Sentinel begin to leave, and the envelope of money. "And the tab."

No argument, no bidding war. He was specific enough and offered opportunities to learn for himself, something no one else had done.

"I have no idea where you get stagnation from. Just because someone doesn't agree with the changes you made doesn't mean they want selective change or stagnation. I also didn't say your account didn't have value, I only asked for specifics because I've wondered the city for months without incident and disagree that a constant vigil is necessary as you continue to assert. It's clear we can't agree, so why don't we just leave it here for now?"

Sometimes the best decision is recognizing that a circular conversation isn't going to break new ground. Plus it was getting late and he figured people wanted to get back to babysitting their empty houses or something.

This seems a good place to wrap. Anybody want to do anything else before we close out?

[Campanella]

Campanella breathed and made a last abortive effort to drain his coffee.

The food he left on his plate.

"It would seem so," he murmured quietly.

Seems like a good spot and we do need to bring this into Continuity.