(Grimoire Hunt) Let the Record Show

[Abacus]

Get some distance. The streetcorner. Two blocks.

"That could've gone better. But Pixel's a talker. That'll either turn it around and give us a little more to work with or make it ten times worse."

He looked to Kaze. "What did you find?"

[Kaze]

"The message board, right outside the door to the shop." Kaze explains. "It was in code. I saw a bunch of things...one of them seemed to be saying that they should report anyone from the Sacramento Corporation who showed up to this city's Corporate Legal and Security departments."

Kaze pauses, glancing back. "I showed it to...our friend, and he read it the same way. He sent a text, said we were all meeting down the street, and then...he got a call and just left, in a hurry." He shrugs, "Which actually seems like the smart thing to do anyway. Do you want to read the message board for yourself? Do you think that whatever or whoever led you up here, could have been a trap?" They young apostate asks.

[Pixel]

"I only arrived in January, but I'll tell you what I know and what I've been able to observe."

He takes a deep breath as he wrack his brain for what he knew. It was a terrible idea, given they refused to answer the question that gave them the chance to say they weren't going to hand him over to The Man in San Fran. If options weren't so scarce he might have thought twice.

"Over all it's been pretty standard. We did a few judgments for some lex offenders. Oh! A Guardian cheated at a duel arcane and tried to pass himself off as some kind of wise martyr. I almost spat at him I was so fed up. Oh, and I know that stuff first hand because I'm the Councilor for the Path of Scourging."

He paused for a second and raised his arms to do some unenthusiastic jazz hands.

"Surpriiiiiiise."

He shoved his hands back into his pockets as he slowly started to move towards the counter.

"Other then that? They're pretty suspicious, but again, standard for mages. I honestly don't know anything about the history beyond the Time clock. Being a councilor with Veil breaches and a new mage looking for people he could get along with for a cabal is kind of time consuming. I haven't really seen a chance to delve into the details about the history, even if I were inclined to do that. I can mention that a cabal went missing trying to reach us though and try to see if it rings a bell with anyone. Anything you can tell me about that to help get you your answers?"

Finally he settles in front of the counter, pulling out his wallet and looking at the goods Abacus left behind.

"How much?"

The Warlock maybe broke, a cursory glance at his wallet said that rather plainly, but he isn't rude.

Spells- Third Eye, Untouchable
Equipment-Messenger bag containing sketch book, pencils, two water bottles, box of cookies, small stack of cliff bars, and a school book or two for downtime studying.

[Yumyumcrow]

Even Satyricon, tense as he is, is entranced by Pixel's words.

"Time Clock?" Harmony croaks, struggling to regain her earlier accent and poise.

The pause stretches out.

Striga Mortis forces herself to relax, her mouth working as thoughts clearly race through her head.

"Oh. That. That will be plenty." Striga said at last. She cast an eye toward Satyricon as the bald man let out a careful breath. He met the Libertine's gaze but did not add anything further.

"Don't worry about paying. Just take them and go. And seriously... I would just let your hunt for Dark Revolution drop." Striga licked her lips carefully. "A Scelesti called Roland has it. He's been building a cult following for some time and Hierarch Venois is finally moving against him."

[Abacus]

Putnam...? Really?

Why did that surprise him? It shouldn't have. Nothing should. Ever. He is the goddamned Quantum Logician. But what is Kaze's wrong? What if they're lines were being reeling along some other dimension. Some other matrix. William fucking Putnam was completely unremarkable.

As far as you know. All it takes is one mote, Holden. One mote.

"I trust your eyes." He shouldn't.

"Let's go get a coffee, while our little Despereaux sweet talks his way out of that store."

Pixel was smart. Savvy. Blunt as a neolithic stone. But still, useful. And maybe when this was all said and done, he could address why it felt so wrong to think of him that way.

[Kaze]

Kaze nods at Abacus, acknowledging his words, apparently letting go of the thought of storming the store and dragging Pixel out to speed away from the city.

"Your call." Kaze says, glancing around alertly.

  2 successes

Date		Action		Roll		Result
2020-04-12 19:56:48		Kaze rolls 6 to perception with Supernal Vision active (Wits 3 +Composure 3) (10 Again)		6, 1, 8, 9, 2, 4		2 successes

Kaze moves towards the coffee shop, following Abacus direction but taking the point.

[Pixel]

"Yeah, Time Clock." He picks up the bag of stuff. "Some imbued item some masters put together. Never seen it used but I assume it's some 'strangle baby you so you don't mess with us' kinda shtick."

Once he has the stuff he smiles to Harmony like they were talking about the weather or some other banality before looking back over to Striga.

"So where can we find this Roland? I'll relay the danger part but we're here with a former Arrow and Abacus and I are pretty good about risk assessment."

Or at least Pixel was. He didn't really know Abacus very well now that he thought of it. This lead seemed pretty safe, so he could only assume that Abacus was not digging him into a hole. Plus Time was the ultimate prepper arcanum.

[Yumyumcrow]

Satyricon and Striga Mortis watch as Pixel collect's the goods.

Satyricon sighs heavily and visibly deflates.

"We don't know where Roland keeps his Sanctum. But he holds court in Hunters Point, near the old shipyards. There's an old industrial bunker out that way. He's been gathering allies... So if he is anywhere... its most likely there."

Satyricon is trying hard to avoid looking at the young Mastigos. Striga Mortis is not: open curiosity is on her face now.

Kaze see's no danger as he and Abacus head to the coffee shop. The area might be downtrodden and full of vagrants, and the economy might be limping along at best, but there are no obvious Supernal dangers here.

[Abacus]

He sits in the café with his fingers rubbing his temples. His foot taps impatiently. He felt...fidgety. And he hadn't felt that way since the first six hours after he had Awakened. If graphite could stain one fingers like nicotine, what would his hands look like? If magick could mark you like needle point scars, what would his arms look like?

He needed his fix. And no sign of Pixel made it itch worse. Weigh the odds. You need to be certain.

But he couldn't do that here. Kaze was a lesson. The last thing he needed was to open himself up to the dangers of a Veil Breach. But to Seize the Moment was no act of vulgarity. Merely an assessment. Have you no faith? Numbers don't lie. They can't fail. People can. They're very good at it. But Pixel isn't just any old person. See past the Fallen and take his power into account. Faith was for Obrimoi. He had knowledge.For fuck's sake, Holden. Talk to him.

"The Legal team is building a case to prosecute. But who are they chasing? If it was one of our own, surely we would have heard about it."

Guardians loved their bounty hunts. And their presence here potentially made them soon-to-be marked men, if they weren't already.

"Did you want anything?"

[Kaze]

"Well, I don't know much, really anything about the local branch here." Kaze says. "I just saw that announcement, and it seemed like something that could be a problem, if there was a misunderstanding or something." Kaze looks up at the menu in chalk on the board by the register. "Okay. Thanks. How about the bubble tea, green?" He asks.

When the tea is obtained and secured, Kaze sips it and sighs. He really, really had tried to get someone, anyone to read the coded messages for themselves so they could compare notes rather than depend soley on his take for intelligence in potentially hostile territory. But nope. So....

"Okay." Kaze says, "So. From what I read, there was kind of a bunch of updates on who was coming and going in the local branch here."

He pauses, remembering, "The shop was mentioned as being in a particular work group's area. The work group was kind of an inter-departmental work group with people from the um, Analysis Department and the Social Committee working together." Kaze says thoughtfully, laboriously piecing together the appropriate, corporate language.

He remembers the warning about Scelesti, and remembers Winter mentioning something about Scelesti last year which represents about all he knows, and he doubts there's any connection. "There was also a warning, against, like group of corporate raiders, planning a hostile takeover. And an authorization for a work group from the local internal security to do whatever to handle it. I don't see how it connects, but I remember our local internal security guy talking about a group of the same kind of people back in our local area last year."

Kaze looks at Abacus, "And then the last thing I saw was a notice telling everyone in the local branch to report anyone they saw from the Sacramento branch to the local corporate Legal Policy department or the Internal Security department." He says. "That's when I got our friend to look at it and he texted you to meet here. And then he left."