Talk on the Roof

[hazlogs]

11/15/2015

Currently in Saint Claire, it is partly sunny. The temperature is 42 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the south at 7 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.74 and rising, and the relative humidity is 89 percent. The dewpoint is 39 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius.) For more detail, see: http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=98501

Currently the moon is in the waxing Crescent (Theurge) Moon phase (27% full).

Maxwell Tower: Roof

The imaginative or observant mind might notice that the large, flat roof of Maxwell Tower used to be used for something more than sightseeing. A small fountain still burbles near the heavy security door that leads inside, with the water running down an artificial concrete stream bed--and several tiny waterfalls--before trickling endlessly into a small concrete pond that sits right next to the roof's most decorative remaining feature; a glass rotunda positioned right in the middle of the open space like a decorative jewel of some bygone, more luxurious era. Small, simple round lights follow the path of the stream and light up the pond and rotunda at night. The rest of the roof is bare, with a three-barred railing sitting a little higher than average waist height around the perimeter to prevent accidental falls. A few potted plants, including several young trees, have been set neatly in one corner. The view is spectacular; this building towers above any others in the immediate area, providing both a good measure of privacy as well as a thorough look at most of St. Claire's east and southern side, including the Columbia river and its distant eastern bank, as well as all of Harbor Park and the bridge. The west side of the roof is taken up partially by the second floor of the penthouse, with a second, smaller roof on top of that containing a myriad number of satellite dishes, various antennae, and a small spire with blinking warning lights for low flying aircraft.

Nicodemus spreads his gloved hands apologetically. "I don't know. It sounds like maybe the fae did something to you and Salem both, but whether it was intentional or not? That's a question I certainly can't answer. Maybe a Fianna could? Or perhaps give some insights on what to do, at least. If anything."

Ghost goes quiet, allowing the two Walkers to discuss Kavi's condition. For her part, she's listening with clear interest.

Kavi stands with the others in the cool of the mid-morning. He seems well, if a little under-slept, and he gives the kin another nod. "Something," he says. "I... Talking to Stag, asking a favor... it's what caused all of this. Maybe... Maybe this is just the cost."

Salem comes out of the penthouse, zipping up his hoodie, fishing out a pack of cigarettes. He looks surprised to see the others out here, but not displeased, and limps over to join them.

Nicodemus seems to dismiss Kavi's assumption with ease. "I heard this was about learning a gift? Garou learn gifts all the time and this sort of thing never happens. There's something else afoot here and...." He trails off as he notices the tweenaged Salem pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "Wow. That is so wrong."

"Morning M...Salem," Ghost says, clearly catching herself. She doesn't seem bothered by the cigarettes, but then, she's seen him do that already.

Kavi looks over his shoulder as Salem emerges and nods in greeting. Like Ghost, he doesn't seem to find the cigarettes concerning.

Salem looks puzzled for a moment, then snorts. "I /am/ trying to quit, I assure you," he says, just before lighting up.

"Well," Nick says, and then just leaves that word hanging there, all alone, as he shakes his head, mildly amused, and takes a walk that consists of a few steps away from the group to look out over the city.

Ghost's mouth turns up briefly into a faint but noticeable grin, but she doesn't comment directly. "Feeling better," she tells Salem. "Haven't checked Umbraside yet, but uh, just some weird dreams since."

Kavi's brow furrows at Ghost's comment to the new arrival, and he looks back and forth between them.

"What sort of weird?" Salem asks Ghost.

Nicodemus stands apart slightly from the restof the group gathere on the roof. He's only a few feet away, but his back is to them as he looks out over the city's skyline.

Ghost's lips purse. "For one thing, I don't think uh, I don't think I could call them nightmares, exactly. But it's like I'm looking for something, or maybe just trying to get somewhere, and it's urgent. Everything's dark though, so I keep stumbling around and not getting to wherever I'm trying to go."

Kavi's brow remains furrowed as he listens to the description, and he glances again at the young philodox. He doesn't seem to have anything to offer, but he's invested in understanding.

Salem takes a drag on his freshly-lit cigarette and exhales smoke, far more practiced at that act than any thirteen-year-old should be. "Are you alone in the dream?"

Heading up to the roof is Briari. She is dressed in a wind breaker with a bright blue puffer vest, and a simple pair of low-riding denim upon her hips. As she spies the crowd, her grin widens on her face and and she ambles over to catch up on the conversation.

"Yeah, I--" Ghost stops, but it doesn't seem to be because of Briari. She does, however, give the newest Walker an acknowledging glance. "...I don't know, actually. Uh, it's not like I saw anyone or anything, but there were noises. Things moving maybe."

Kavi also gives Briari a glance, but his attention is focused on the conversation between Salem and Ghost, listening intently without interjecting.

"Things moving. Hm." Salem glances over at Briari and gives her a nod hello before turning back to Ghost. "I still haven't entirely worked out your connection to all of this. /Why/ you're connected to all of this."

Briari gives a nod of her head in return as she stands next to the group, giving a curious glance to Ghost, then slips her phone out of her pocket to tap away at a text message that dings through.

Nicodemus keeps staring out over the city, but he remains silent--content to merely listen for now.

Ghost stuffs her hands into her pockets, with her jacket and overshirt still draped over one arm. "I bet it makes even less sense to me than it does you. It's all...sorry. It's all bullshit, Mr. Salem. I wish I could help you with it."

"What are you connected to?" Kavi asks, glancing back and forth between Ghost and Salem again. "If... If you don't mind?"

Salem takes another drag off his cigarette. "Somehow, Ghost has gotten mixed up in all of this mess with the Nothing and the... other, the thing out in the mountains that's been causing the earthquakes and stirring up the Wyld. I went out that way last evening with Silvertip and," there's the slightest of slight pauses, "one of her allies, to check out the source of the latest earthquake."

"Oh? What's going on there?" Briari asks quickly as her brows lift up over the thin rim of her glasses.

Nicodemus studiously continues looking out over the skyline, lost in his own thoughts instead of engaged in the inner circle with the garou talking shop.

Ghost's attention ticks to Salem, and her frown only deepens. "Other? There's something else?"

Kavi listens still, some confusion in his expression. "The-- The earthquake is connected-- It's our responsibility?"

Nicodemus decides to turn around to observe the proceedings at this point, but he stays a few steps back from the group and stays silent so as to not get in the way.

Salem takes in another lungful of smoke. "It's something we have to deal with, though not, for once, a fire that we started." He shifts his weight to his good leg, frowning. "All right, story time." He taps ash on the ground and gets ready for a long bit of talking.

"Well, I do love a good story." Briari shfits her weight and folds her arms over her chest as she gives the tween her attention.

Ghost quiets as well, clearly intent on listening.

Kavi takes a step back, the better to watch Salem, to listen to his tale.

Nicodemus moves closer, leaning against a convenient piece of building, but still keeps a few steps back away from the group.

"Several years ago," Salem begins, "around the time when the Wyld took over the Bawn and the wasps had the caern, maybe a bit before it, a couple of spirits made themselves known to the Sept. City spirits, vying for the position of City Father-slash-Mother. One was Claire, whose focus was on the future, progress, that sort of thing. The other, Jeb Regan, represented the area's history, as he had the form of one of the first settlers and founders. Jeb contacted the Garou first, but Claire was more favored, so Jeb... decided to give himself a little boost." He takes another drag before continuing.

Ghost's eyebrows draw closer together as her forehead wrinkles. "I've heard of that," she says. "The City Father thing. I was told it was pretty rare, or uh, at least, rare for us to know about one."

"There's an entity out there that's connected to the Ooze, the Nothing," Salem says. "Not part of it, not partners to it, but more like... it's opposite. Yin and yang, ne? It makes and remakes things. It's not the Wyld, at least I don't think so, but the Wyld fucking loves it. Its nature is probably why our caern's always remaking itself, or so Jeb suggested. It's the mountains, the trees, the land, pretty much everything in the area. It's ancient and it's sleeping. What Jeb did was disturb its sleep. It's not awake yet, but it's stirring, and these earthquakes are symptoms of that. If it does wake, it'll be..." He pauses to find the right word. "Cataclysmic. And the Nothing, the reason /that/ shit is here and not still lurking underneath Hanford as it has for /years/, is because of this other thing waking up." He takes another drag and nods to Ghost. "I never considered St. Claire to be, well, large and interesting enough to warrent a City Father or Mother, but." He shrugs.

Briari rubs the back of her neck as she listens. "Wow. That sounds pretty epic. So, do we have a solution in place?"

"So it... All of this?" Kavi starts, though he spares a glance for Ghost again. "All of the earthquakes, and the... the Nothing? It's because we rejected the spirit of the past?"

"Two major dangers," Ghost summarizes. "That's. Oh. That's just great."

Salem sighs. "We didn't reject him, but he felt he was losing the contest, which is why he did what he did. He seems quite contrite and regretful, aware that what he did was wrong, and willing to help us however he can, though neither he nor Claire are fighters." Briari and Ghost get a shrug. "The Nothing and the thing in the mountains, call it the Maker, are connected. If we can put the Maker back to sleep, full sleep, the Nothing may also go back to being dormant. Though even just by existing, it's corruptive to reality. There's a fucking mass underneath the Hilliard site and that's a big damn problem. If we can somehow get rid of the Nothing, clear it from the area so that it's back to just being in Hanford, the Maker may stop stirring. /All/ of which is only partially connected to the Queen's Tower issue, and only that because Her Majesty up there is /not/ partnered with the Nothing and has been trying to get rid of it, according to Jeb. But it's still in her walls, apparently."

Briari shifts her jaws in thought as she gives a few clicks of her tongue along her teeth. "Is there a way to lead the Nothing back to Hanford? Tempt it with something? Does it want something more than anything that we could give it over at Hanford?"

Briari glances down at her phone, then subtly gives a glance about the room to see if anyone else has a phone in their hand.

Ghost falls quiet again, but it's obvious that she's as interested in the answers to Briari's questions as the other Ragabash. She looks to Salem again.

Kavi shakes his head as though trying to clear it. "What did the spirit do to wake the... the Maker? To disturb it? Maybe... If it were asleep, and the Nothing were... less active? Maybe then...?"

Briari pages: Text: Hey, hey, hey. Do not make eye contact. Weird shit is going down. I think Claire is talking to me.

Salem rubs the side of his neck with his free hand, the one missing a finger and a half. "It... it's dangerous to think of either of these things in an anthropomorphic way. They're more like forces of nature. But there are things the Nothing is--" His pocket makes a noise like a 2400 baud modem, interrupting him. He frowns and pulls his phone out of his pocket, gives the lock screen an eyeball before swiping to erase the incoming message from it. "Things the Nothing is drawn to," he continues, silencing the phone's ringer and stuffing it back into his pocket.

Briari stumbles to one side with a loud noise in her throat as she stares at her phone. She jerks her head upwards for a moment, then starts to furiously type away as she turns the phone sideways.

Ghost continues to frown, but she's not interrupting now.

Briari pages: Text: Screen shot: Unknown #: Jeb made SUCH a mess. Now we all have to clean it up. #idiot | Briari: I know, right? What a dick. Got any ideas?'. | Unknown Number: We're working on it. At least he knows some things. | Briari: Yeah? Who is we if I can ask and how can I help you out?'. | Unknown #: Silly. Don't be coy. You just said to the other guy. ;) | Briari: Is this Clare? (Claire?)*'. | Unknown #: Text message: Yes

Briari pages: Text: Screen shot: Cool beans. It's great to meet you! :D So, are you and Jeb currently working together?'. | Claire (Programmed it as Claire): Going to have to now #sigh. Let that old guy know when he's done, he was asking. Email works. My name in the address line. | Briari: Cool. My email address is: BombshellRoach@Wasson.net. It's secure. So, this is pretty cool. I am chatting with a legendary spirit through my iPhone. Is there any other information you can supply me with to help us be successful?'.

Salem eyes Briari sidelong, then takes another drag and recollects his thoughts. "Things the Nothing is drawn to. One is energy, anything from gnosis and magic to electricity and radiation. Spirits are afraid of it because spirits are energy and /ideas/, and the Nothing apparently loves that kind of thing. The other thing it's drawn to are places where reality is weakened, even scarred. The hospital site's been like that for a long damn time -- I'm sure the years that the goddamn Nexus Crawler took up shop there didn't help. The Queen's Tower is another. Jeb called the Queen's Tower a beacon, and I gather it's fortunate that we have that fucking place, along with the Hilliard site, because it's distracting the Nothing from other places, like the Harbor Park glade or the caern." The very perceptive might catch a faint buzzing from Salem's pocket as he speaks, but the young Philodox is ignoring it for now.

Briari pages: Text: Screenshot: Claire: I know. No information right now, this is Jeb's thing. #Later | Briari: Okay. Keep in touch with me. It was good hearing from you. '

Briari looks to be chewing on a knuckle as she texts with one hand now, eyes as wide as saucers.

Ghost also eyes Briari, looking mildly confused, before she looks back to Salem. "So that, uh, that explains some things, I guess."

Salem drags fingers back through his hair and takes a last drag off his cigarette before crushing it out with the sole of one sneaker. The butt gets stowed in an Altoids tin. "It does. It doesn't give us all the answers, but it does illuminate some things, ne?"

"I WAS JUST TEXTING WITH CLARE!" Briari blurts out after pulling her hand away from her mouth, then goes back to staring at her phone. "She uses emoticons."

Ghost actually jumps in place at that outburst, and this time she gives Briari a look as though the other Ragabash has gone completely insane.

Salem twitches, jaw clenching. Thank goodness for small moons. "Yes, you told me," he says tightly. He takes his phone back out and looks through the screenshots Bri sent him while he was talking.

"She was listening in on us the entire time. We traded emails. I feel like I just got a follow-back from Kanye." Briari says as she slides her finger along the screen to re-read the conversation.

"Who's, uh..." Ghost hesitates, but finishes her question. "Who's Kanye?"

"Celebrity," Salem tells Ghost, then sighs. "Well, at least it'll be easier to discuss things with her than with Jeb."

"He sings that song, Gold Digger." Briari says as she gives a glance about the room, then back to Salem with a wide grin on her face. "You gotta admit, /that/ is pretty cool."

"Oh." Ghost doesn't look any more enlightened when Briari brings up one of his songs, however. "Right."

Salem exhales a breath. "Very cool, yes," he says dryly. "And I'm glad to see Claire's willing to work with Jeb. History /and/ progress." He glances at his phone again, then shoves it once more back into his pocket.

"By the way, I have schedules and rotation shifts for the guards and cleaning crews in the tower. I have an idea if you are curious." Briari says as she gives a nod of her head.

Ghost goes quiet again, listening once more.

Salem shoves both hands into his hoodie pockets and rocks back on his heels. "Do tell."

"Well, I am gathering as much intel as possible on the occupants of the tower. I got enough data to write a thesis. You will be surprised what you can find on LinkedIn. I want to take out one of their IT guys. You know... knock him out, kidnap him, tie him up for whatever and let the coyotes entertain him for a weekend. I'll take his keycard and use Otter's gifts to impersonate him. Roll in on a Sunday and gain access to their security. I'll see about making myself a keycard that can gain access to the higher floors. On the day we strike, I will use one of Nick's ideas and set off fire alarms, use some smoke balls in the elevator shafts. Something to clear the place out. Best time to do it would be a weekend. I will reach out to daddy and see if he can loan me a hacker to re-route the firealarm across the city so that way the feds will show up at a different place. By then, with the place cleared, we storm through the Umbra. So, this could be part two to our mission we were talking about earlier. First team clears the banes to gain access to the tower from the Umbra. I flip the alarm, clear the building, you guys run in like the Seahawk's and flatten them."

Briari pauses in her babble for a moment to tick off a few things on her fingers, then says, "And with me having higher access privileges, I can lock those elevators so no assholes can try and sneak out."

"What are you going to to about the Garou she has in there?" Salem asks. "Or the mage in her pocket?"

"Seahawks are the football team," Ghost says, sounding very uncertain. "If you're going to kidnap someone and do that, though, why keep him alive after? He's uh, he's going to go to the police." She looks at Salem as he asks his questions, and her lips purse again.

"Me? Oh, nothing. I can't do shit about a mage. All I can do is lock the elevators and cross my fingers that you guys come through on the Umbra side with pretty much enough firepower to deal with them on the high floors. Nick also says that assholes like this 'may' try and blow the place up, which if that is the case, I have the gift of power surge to try and knock out all the power in the entire building once the battle starts. That way, hopefully, I knock out their contingency plan. Either way, by doing the math, the highest rate of success is to do this in one blow, on the same night and to catch them off guard." Briari says as her head continues to bob. "Which is why I have created a 3D blueprint of the tower to look at how it is built structurally, so that /if/ there is bombs wired, while you guys are saving the world, I can sneak about and remove them soon as my gift hits. Pending I got enough time to do so."

Ghost falls quiet, but her frown has deepened considerably.

Salem takes out his pack of cigarettes and taps it idly against leg, not yet getting out another cancer stick. His expression's troubled. "...Too many ifs, too many variables, too many complex parts. Plus, I'm going to have to give you a big goddamn /no/ in terms of kidnapping a civilian. Not only because of the torture issue, but because Ghost is right, he or she won't be able to be kept alive." He shakes out a cigarette, sticks it between his lips. "Send me the blueprints and the other scouting intel you have."

Sliding her finger along the phone, Briari taps a few times and says, "It's sent. Password is roaches." She chews the inside of her cheek, then says, "So, what is the plan then? Call of Duty style from within the Umbra?"

Ghost says, slowly, "If locked doors are the biggest problem, there are ways around that, even if, uh, even if the mage is involved. Do we know what's actually up there?"

"No, and that's also a problem." Salem lights up his second cigarette of the evening, looking grim. "No plan yet, because I'm not going to pull one right out of my ass here and now. I need to think about this." He limps over toward the railing.

"What if, instead of killing one of those guys, we just make them forget they even had a keycard in the first place? I can learn the Taking gift from a mouse spirit. That way, at least we have some type of way 'in', which is a baby step. From there, we can form a bigger plan. First step should be to gain access." Briari says as she tucks her phone into her back pocket.

"We can get in," Ghost says. She still sounds slow and a little hesitant. "I mean, uh, I could. So I bet plenty of people in your Sept could do it the same way."

Salem leans against the railing, smoking. "Open Seal, yes."

".. yes.. I have that gift too. I suppose we could use that. Though I was pre-emptively thinking that /if/ they are taking it to a ten, they'd ward the doors against our gifts, thus the keycard may be the easiest." Briari says as she lets out a breath. "Have you figured out they worked on the elevators?"

Ghost shakes her head slowly. "I don't know. I uh, guess it would depend on the set up. The Gift will work on most locks. It's harder when magic is involved, but still possible. Would a mage be able to sense that though?"

"Probably," Salem says. "The mage might also be too busy to worry about the use of a Garou gift or two. Remember that there /are/ Dancers in there. You could also get in with the cleaning staff, get around and go under the radar that way." He shakes his head. "We need more information," he says, and starts limping for the door back into the penthouse.

"I am way too good looking to sneak in as a cleaner. I'll send Kevin. That was my original plan about.. four months ago." Briari says as she rubs her nose a bit, then watches him head off as she looks to Ghost.

Ghost gives Salem a sharp nod as he heads off, then frowns at Briari. "I don't think it really matters what you look like. Humans don't pay a lot of attention to janitors as long as they aren't doing something suspicious."