2021-01-12

INVOLVED PARTIES

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INCIDENT REPORT

Deep in the Big Woods Preserve...

• Aradia drives a couple of hours outside of the city to recharge in the comfort of the Airstream travel trailer she has parked in the forests of Long Island. She brings band-mate Kira and a small coven of otherwise solitary practitioners with her to help in a ritual to draw down the Moon. Along with Keanu — a ghouled park ranger — the group participates in a night of passion, resulting in Aradia entering a trance.

• In trance, Aradia witnesses a culmination of past visions — flashes from a forgotten Hollywood, and lingering scenes of a manor overlooking a chilly lake. A hand, gently placed upon her shoulder, comforts her. She turns to see whom the hand is attached to — her gaze met by an aloof bald man in some sort of ceremonial garb. He smiles faintly and states "Ordinary morality is for ordinary people" before the scene shifts to the burning wreckage of a storefront — the incident that took her husband and daughter. She picks up a locket, once belonging to her daughter Lavinia, as shadowy tendrils begin to distort the corners of her vision, before everything fades to black.

• Aradia drives back into the city the following night, hoping to confront Camilla. However, she finds the apartment empty and takes the opportunity to once again search for the vial of Leah's blood. But before she can finish, Camilla returns, catching her in the act. Camilla is clearly still wound up from having just fed, and can't help but seethe in displeasure. Aradia demands to know the location of and intent with Leah's blood, but Camilla merely brushes the questions off, responding that it is insignificant leverage against a sitting Sheriff. Besides, it was apt payment for bringing Leah out of torpor — blood for blood.

• Aradia presses, asking about Lavinia's locket, which she had previously found in Camilla's dresser. Camilla claims to not know what it is, locking eyes with Aradia. Before she can even guess at what is happening, Aradia's focus begins to slip. Her train of thought derails, and the memories she had called on to pursue these questions begin to fade. It's an oddly familiar sense, but just as quickly as that tinge of déjà vu appeared, so to is it forgotten. Aradia recalls very little of her suspicions surrounding Camilla — what's more, she now believes that she has always possessed Lavinia's locket, having found it in the ashes so many years ago. Smiling, Camilla asks Aradia how her trip to the woods went...

A Night Out at the Gilded Lion...

• Kalliste catches up with Anneand the rest of her "kids" at the Gilded Lion. Unexpectedly, Hannah — from the Sunrise Cafe support group — shows up. Kalliste did invite her, after all. She's down on her luck, having been kicked out of her parents house after a feeding gone awry, and is looking for a place to crash. Kalliste agrees to set her up with a room, but stresses that she isn't to feed from anyone else residing there, nor bring prey back.

• For her part, Hannah is pretty green in regards to the Kindred experience. Her uncertainty is palpable, and after a brief Q&A, Kalliste decides to simply take her out for a bit — and to show her the ropes, so to speak. The two depart the hotel, spending the next few hours dancing from club to club.

• They eventually land at a rather exclusive private party, with attendees seemingly fueled by little more than cocaine. It's fertile ground for feeding, and though Kalliste does stress the importance of consent, she takes the lead in sharing a meal with Hannah...

Backstage at the Mosh Pit...

• Leah is at the Mosh Pit playing a set with her band, Irish Wolfhound, when she notices a woman enter. She finds a path along the edge of the crowd, feeling her way via the sweeping motion of a white cane. Leah motions a bouncer over to help, bringing the woman to the side of the stage, near an amp. The woman is grateful, and spends the remainder of the set tapping to the drums and swaying to the bass.

• After several songs, the band vacates the stage and Leah hops down to chat with the woman. Apparently, the woman didn't intend to attend the show. She was simply walking home to Van Dale Terrace and heard — rather, felt — the bassline. The two continue to chat, with Leah giving a brief history of her band and of the club itself.

• Eventually Leah leads the woman to the VIP lounge, and introduces her to Archer, who is head of security. Leah stresses that Archer is capable of helping her with whatever she may need while she's here. Once alone, the two women become more physically intimate, with Leah also feeding. Afterward, Leah realizes that she doesn't even know this woman's name. As she drifts to sleep, the woman introduces herself as Phoebe...

After-hours at the Center for Thanatology...

• Josi receives a call at her work number — it's Marcel. He has it on good authority that a big-time player in Clan Lasombra left the port of Southampton aboard the Queen Elizabeth 2, and is bound for for New York Harbor. It's already a couple of days into its voyage, and has about five left. Unfortunately, with the Teamsters local now under RICO trusteeship, Marcel has little access to the ship. Though he knows that since it is too large for berth, passengers will instead be ferried to Ellis Island.

• Josi dials Chad Turner, as indicated by a scribbled note announcing the previous missed call. As requested, Chad tracked down the routing number that Khalid had original provided Josi with. It follows a series of payments made by Eugenio Estavez to something called the Orpheus Group — a seemingly defunct insurance collective. The money is simply sitting in the account, seemingly abandoned. Unfortunately, it's too complicated and too much capital for Chad to move without drawing attention. He guesses that it'd require a Telnet client with access to an internet backbone.

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• Josi receives a call from Alter. Apparently someone contacted him in regards to the whereabouts of Tom Riley. They can get the Betamax tape from the Rant, but insist on delivering to the coterie personally — to the Sheriff specifically. Josi agrees, telling Alter to arrange for the meeting at Grand Central Station.

• Josi has Alter pass the telephone to Emily, explaining what Chad had told her earlier. To her credit, Emily thinks that she should be able to help Chad repatriate the money sitting in the Orpheus Group account. But first she's going to need some "wetware" to ensure everyone's safety. Rumors around the 'net are that a group of technomancers working out of Barnard College are prototyping some sort of analog/vitae couple, capable of translating a vampire's innate Disciplines into an acoustic signal for the internet.

• Emily also offers to configure Josi's office computer with a secure connection to the Nosferatu's nascent SchreckNet. She stresses the value of discretion — should the Prince ever discover (or more importantly, grasp) the implications of the BBS, the Nosferatu will have much to answer for. She suggests "AbraCadaver" as a handle, joking that despite his Luddite tendencies, she already assigned "4LT3RC4TI0N" to Alter.

Midnight at Grand Central Station...

• Alter picks Josi up, and the two head to Grand Central Station to rendezvous with the rest of the coterie. Everyone spreads out, trying to appear nonchalant, as Leah stands front and center for the drop. Alter and Josi "pretend" to be making out on a bench, but are actually totally making out.

• Several minutes pass when Leah hears a woman say "so you came" from behind. The voice is familiar, and as the woman drops her Obfuscate, it's apparent why — she's Juniper, Leah's sire. The two hug, happy to meet again after all this time, and briefly discuss their regrets with how things ended. Eventually it becomes clear that Juniper is the contact. She calls everyone out of hiding and exchanges introductions. However, Josi and Alter remain busy amongst themselves... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

• Juniper hands over the Betamax tape, but before departing, Leah asks if she'd like to come by the Mosh Pit sometime. She apolgizes for how she left Juniper and their band at the time. Juniper agrees, finding the idea amicable, and promises to visit before she leaves the station.

Be Kind, Rewind...

• Returning to Josi's office, the coterie use her Betamax player to finally view the long sought after tape. It begins in the middle of an episode of The Day I Died, before cutting to an ongoing sequence of the Rant, presumably from Tom's handheld viewpoint.

• He approaches the gates of Van Cortlandt Park, follows the blaring sound of thrash metal to the amphitheater, and eventually begins to hold mock interviews with various attendees. The coterie is even shown, as they refuse to be interviewed, and can even be overheard convincing someone to break Tom's camera as he walks away. The camera elicits a similar reaction as it interrupts a conversation between Jezebel, Vixen, Kalliste, and Cassidy. At some point, the camera pans across an unexpected face in the crowd — Dr. Margaret Crowley! She's gone by the time the camera pans back her way though.

• He zooms in and focuses on the stage as Sage begins to speak. He quickly pans back and forth to the crowd as they erupt into cheers with her statements. This continues as the main attraction takes to the stage — Rudi Robinson. During the speech, Tom notices the red dot pinpointing Rudi, and uses his camera to follow the trail of the laser back to it's point of origin. It's a silhouetted figure with a large rifle. Shots ring out, streaking the night sky with blazing tracer rounds. Tom swings the camera around to see Rudi fall to the stage, fire erupting from his wounds. When he pans back to the shooter's position, he finds the figure leaving, but is able to keep his zoom steady enough to clearly capture a face — Nero Rivera!

• Tom returns to filming the central carnage as the wooden stage turns into a raging inferno. He briefly rolls as Josi and Aradia try to reach Rudi, despite the danger. Then the entire area lights up in the spotlight of a police helicopter and the film cuts out...

Thank You for Shopping at RadioShack...

• The coterie decides to meet up at the RadioShack in Flushing so that Dave can make a copy of the tape. But when they get there, Dave becomes extremely upset that his master — Tom Riley — has given up the tape yet still refuses to leave hiding. Dave is tired of being a slave to the whims of another, and demands that a member of the coterie Embraces him in exchange for all he has done and will do for them.

• Leah and Kalliste are unsucessful in their attempts to dissuade Dave in his desire. Aradia steps up however, and agrees to Embrace him. As the rest of the coterie locks the door, flips over the OPEN/CLOSED sign, and stands watch, Aradia beings the process. She slowly drains Dave of his blood, leaving him at the precipice of death. Then, after precisely cutting her own wrist, allows Dave to drink of her Kindred vitae. The change begins, as Dave dies and is reborn. Aradia is now his Sire.

• Josi puts on her best John Wayne impersonation and uses the phone behind the counter to call Johnny Five, who was — along with the rest of the Mach-Men — also looking for the tape. He agrees to a meeting at the Cheesus Crust Pizzeria in Little Italy.

• Dave is safely deposited at the Mosh Pit on their way to meet Johnny...