Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: It this episode contains a graphic depiction of a violent assault against a woman.
The scene begins at 1 hour, 43 minutes and continues for four minutes.
If you find this kind of content uncomfortable or objectionable, please skip ahead. At that time, you're listening to the all night society, an actual play podcast brought to you by Queens court games.
[00:01:00] Speaker B: Well, friends, here we are. One month since last the coterie was pulled into schemes and plots and machinations.
[00:01:08] Speaker C: All outside their control.
One month since the chill of Chicago.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Fall has given way to the icy.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: Breath of a lake effect winter.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: One month since you were allowed to stop worrying about the court and proceed.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: With your own undead existence.
I hope this time has served you well.
I hope you've been able to spend it pursuing your own objectives, relaxing outside.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: The limelight, enjoying a bit of respite from the constant threats of danger.
Yes, it's been one month since all of those things have passed, but a.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Week since you were given the deadline on when that might all come to an end.
[00:01:55] Speaker B: Six nights prior, a messenger arriving in a familiar car. The same car that always precedes the.
[00:02:02] Speaker C: Arrival of one of Prince Jackson's schools, the same car that always precedes the arrival of another summons. Another bit of news, another task, another challenge.
[00:02:14] Speaker B: Tonight is the night you have an appointment with the prince. Not right now. In a few hours time aplenty to wonder what it is you're about to get yourself into.
To wonder what now does the prince of the crown jewel of the North American Camarilla have in store?
I know what Mr. Jackson has been.
[00:02:34] Speaker C: Up to in this time, but I.
[00:02:36] Speaker B: Am curious, among our coterie mates, what.
[00:02:39] Speaker C: Have you been doing not only in.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: The last 2 hours, but in the last month? How have you been keeping yourself busy?
[00:02:48] Speaker D: Honestly, when I came to Chicago, I didn't expect to be doing so many errands for the cameral and the good prince.
I had many other things that were at the forefront of my mind.
This reprieve has given me some time to kind of get back to those I've been looking for a better haven, because, let's face it, sitting in a shipping container is not ideal.
I'm picky though. It's not like I just find a house and that'll do me fine. I am looking for something very specific and I've been making a lot of friends, doing a lot of favors to try and get this correct.
On the other hand, I have been working with Edith to kind of hone my skills that my clan has given me. I actually consider my training with Edith to be mostly over at this point, but that doesn't mean I'm going to forget about her or never go back to the painted lady. I am quite invested in the location at this point, so hopefully Edith will be happy to see my presence continued there.
[00:03:56] Speaker B: Well, I, of course, am thrilled that you've managed to master a new skill. That's what they tell you in resume school, business, college. Use your downtime in between jobs to find skills that will make you more marketable.
That is a wise decision. I can't say the same thing about your choice to enter the housing market. From what I understand, now is not a good time to be buying real estate.
[00:04:20] Speaker D: I'm not really interested in a house, per se. I'm looking for a very unique phenomenon, which is the convergence of ley lines, which my blood has afforded me the ability to see these things.
I've gotten close. I think I know the perfect spot. And it's not actually a house, but an old rundown theater.
It has been lacking repairs for so many years now, and nobody seems to be willing to kind of pick up that responsibility.
Luckily for myself, I am.
[00:05:01] Speaker B: I might be remembering this incorrectly, but Schmendrick owns a mask, right?
[00:05:08] Speaker D: I actually do.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: Ah, well, you get the theater, you get the mask. You're going to have a real good phantom of the Opera vibe going.
[00:05:16] Speaker D: Definitely on my to do list.
[00:05:19] Speaker B: Well, that speaks to things in the broad terms.
What's on your agenda before this meeting?
[00:05:26] Speaker D: Just the standard sort of make sure you don't go to a meeting hungry, number one.
Other than that, I hope he's not going to give us another annoying job to do because I am kind of hitting a breakthrough with most of my other pursuits.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: Be terrible to have all that effort.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: Directed away from your own desires towards the machinations of cameral elders. But if anything defines vampire existence, it would be that, right?
[00:05:58] Speaker D: That does seem to be what we fledglings are for.
[00:06:04] Speaker B: You've made the critical mistake of becoming indispensable.
[00:06:08] Speaker D: See, they say we're indispensable, but the moment we meet an unfortunate end, they'll just replace us with someone else. For now, we are helpful.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: Excellent point. Not falling for any of that camarilla propaganda, are we?
[00:06:24] Speaker D: Not today.
[00:06:27] Speaker B: Well, on the topic of indispensable, every.
[00:06:30] Speaker C: Coterie needs a witch. Ivy Larue.
[00:06:33] Speaker B: How's the month been treating you?
[00:06:36] Speaker A: I have been beyond happy to have night after night after night to sit with my books and study. I've been training up my thalmaturgical abilities. I've been working on becoming a little more commanding, and I've been practicing all manner of rituals.
I also found a little time to spend with my book club. It's all been such a welcome change.
Oh, and there have been some domestic advances as well. The Ducheski manor was in a very terrible state of disrepair, and I have been spending a not insignificant amount of time telling the ducheski what to do to make it look better. I didn't want you thinking that I was actually putting my own elbow grease into things, because my studies are way more important, obviously, but it's all coming together.
[00:07:31] Speaker B: Well, that sounds quite productive. Well done.
[00:07:34] Speaker E: Thank you. It's amazing what you can do when you're not out running errands for the prince. Or disable.
[00:07:40] Speaker B: They tell you right there on the brochure, become a vampire, you'll have infinite time. You have all of immortality to look forward to. But what they don't tell you is that time is still linear, and so much of it isn't going to belong to you, per se.
[00:07:54] Speaker E: Yeah, that was definitely not the impression that I got when all of this kind of happened 30 od years ago.
[00:08:03] Speaker D: I think the Nosferato brochure is a little different.
[00:08:06] Speaker B: That's true.
[00:08:07] Speaker E: Do you guys have a brochure, or is it just, like, a wadded up tissue with, like, gum in it? Because that's kind of the vibe I get.
[00:08:14] Speaker B: Well, ten years ago, they sent you to a blog on the deep web.
I don't know what they replaced it with since.
Well, let me pin something down, Ivy, you've been working on thalmaturgy rituals. You've been improving your living conditions. So I would like to ask, what is the most interesting bit of thalmaturgical lore you've picked up, and what is the addition or repair you've made to the home that you're most proud of?
[00:08:46] Speaker A: Are you familiar with the ability that some tremere possess to eat from afar?
[00:08:52] Speaker B: I'm familiar, yes.
[00:08:54] Speaker E: Good.
Meanwhile, the Ducheski manor has been quite a project. I've managed to replace a lot of the old furniture. My room is definitely looking much, much nicer, and I am told that I have a new addition on the way.
Specifically an old gilded mirror. I have to find the right place for it. I have a feeling in my room is going to be the winner, but I just have to make sure it fits, you know?
[00:09:24] Speaker B: What's the occasion for so grandiose?
[00:09:26] Speaker E: In addition, it's a housewarming present.
[00:09:30] Speaker B: I didn't realize Schmendrick was the type for ornate gifts?
[00:09:35] Speaker E: Oh, no. Schmendrick sent me a fidget cube.
I don't know.
It sits in the corner of the desk.
It just exists. I don't know what to do with it.
This is from Gabrielle, my sire.
I wrote to her, as one does.
And in the letter, I explained about my new home and she thought that it was a fitting present.
Something to liven up the space.
[00:10:10] Speaker B: And you're not worried at all about having an ensorced mirror in your room?
[00:10:18] Speaker E: Why would I be?
[00:10:20] Speaker B: Just asking.
I can't speak for the relationship between most tramir and their sires. But as someone who is skeptical of the thalmoturgical arts generally if a tremere sent me a mirror it would spend most of its time covered with a sheet in a closet. God only knows what they can see or hear through it. I wouldn't take the risk.
[00:10:44] Speaker E: What do I have to hide from my sire?
Gabrielle and I already have the ability to communicate with one another from afar.
The letter's a formality, of course. We could have these communications whenever we want to.
And to that point, she doesn't need a mirror to communicate with me.
We're in each other's heads. We can be.
[00:11:09] Speaker C: Is that always a two way street?
[00:11:12] Speaker B: Does it require consent?
[00:11:14] Speaker E: It requires a ritual.
[00:11:16] Speaker B: There's a degree of intentionality. Then you're not worried that you might be off causing mischief in the chantry and your sires just peering from behind your eyes, taking notes?
[00:11:28] Speaker E: Oh, goodness, no. It is a 30 minutes ritual to be able to communicate with each other. And it doesn't last for an extended.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: Period of time, one hopes.
It'd be quite embarrassing. The kindred equivalent of leaving your microphone on after the Zoom call.
[00:11:46] Speaker E: I have nothing to hide from Gabrielle.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: I'm sure she finds that quite refreshing.
Well, thank you both for catching me.
[00:11:55] Speaker C: Up on your activities.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: It's good to see that absent prodding from the prince you're still able to.
[00:12:01] Speaker C: Put your time to good use.
But as we've said, tonight is the.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: Night where, at least for now, your time is no longer your own.
You've been in this office a dozen times so far.
I suspect that given a piece of paper, a nice bit of charcoal either one of you could draw the columns, map the wrought iron that decorate the.
[00:12:27] Speaker C: Outside of the prince's home.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: Describe the tile pattern of the finely polished ornate foyer. I'm not sure if either of you realize how unique it is that you've spent this much time in the prince's quarters.
But it matters not.
[00:12:45] Speaker C: You're here, now.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: On time, I assume. Perhaps a bit early.
[00:12:52] Speaker A: Always.
[00:12:54] Speaker E: Though if Schmendrick showed up late, that would be very on brand.
[00:12:59] Speaker D: No, I'm not late. I'm just not too early. I run that cusp of like when you expect to be at the appointment. And when is late? Somewhere in there.
[00:13:13] Speaker B: So ivy shows up 15 minutes early. Schmenjick shows up three minutes early.
[00:13:19] Speaker E: Three?
[00:13:19] Speaker D: Yeah, I want to say three.
[00:13:22] Speaker E: I'm just taken back to when we all met, Damien, that first night you were on the dot. So, no, not late. Not early at all, but not late.
[00:13:33] Speaker B: Seems like Schmendric is stepping on your turf a little bit. As I understand from the fantasy genre, a wizard is the one that arrives.
[00:13:41] Speaker C: Precisely on time, only when he or.
[00:13:44] Speaker D: She is meant to be.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Also not a wizard.
[00:13:49] Speaker D: I'm practically the closest thing to a wizard in this modern.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: Ah, well, that is something that we can certainly debate later. Which of you is more magical, the one who has free reign amongst the universe of the new millennium, or the one who can do actual magic? Thankfully, we won't have to worry about.
[00:14:07] Speaker C: That right this second.
[00:14:10] Speaker E: Actual magic.
[00:14:13] Speaker B: Well, Ivy, since you arrive first, we'll begin with you approaching the door, ringing the doorbell only once, as is protocol, the same shiny headed bald butler answers. An ancient and wizened man, always flat in his affect, but nevertheless welcoming. Polite. He recognizes you by now.
Ah, Miss le Roux. Here for your meeting with the prince?
[00:14:43] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:14:45] Speaker E: I smile and nod and say, joseph. Evening.
[00:14:49] Speaker A: Yes, of course.
[00:14:50] Speaker E: Here to meet with the prince.
[00:14:53] Speaker C: Very well.
[00:14:54] Speaker B: I'll inform him of your arrival. In the meantime, would you be willing to wait in the e salon?
[00:15:00] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:15:01] Speaker E: I wait for him to direct me there. I wouldn't dare just walk in.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: Of course.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: It's only polite. Even though you know this room rather intimately, if not by virtue of time spent there, then certainly by how deeply events have been seared into your brain.
This is the room with the history of the popes. This is the room where you saw the return of Joshua, where you awaited the Newberry verdict.
[00:15:28] Speaker C: If you tilt your head just right and hold your ear up to the.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Room, you can hear the sound of violence, of verdicts, of punishments echoing through.
[00:15:42] Speaker C: Memory down the hallway.
[00:15:46] Speaker A: Weirdly enough, it was surprisingly easy to put all of that out of my memory.
I disappeared into my books, my rituals, my studies.
So to be back here and have all those memories return, it ups my anxiety level.
I'm not sure I'm prepared to be back in this place.
And as I wait for the prince to call me in. I try and distract myself by looking at all the books on the shelves. They're old, yes, but relatively uninteresting. Not that I expect a venture library to be terribly fascinating anyway, but I don't want to give off an air of anxiousness, so I take a seat in one of the tufted leather chairs and I start performing a discrete exercise to channel any anxiety I have in this moment.
It was originally a finger drill that helped build up dexterity for playing the violin, but it just became something that I would do to kill time. While I was waiting for any number.
[00:16:54] Speaker E: Of things with my left hand, I.
[00:16:57] Speaker A: Touched my fingers to my thumb, starting with the pointer finger, then the middle, then the ring finger, and finally the pinky, and then back again.
And I will keep doing that as I let my mind speculate about the meeting and wander back through my memories.
[00:17:16] Speaker B: Well, Schmendrick, you arrive and that is what you see.
How long has it been since you and Ivy were in contact? Have you spoken since that last meeting?
[00:17:29] Speaker D: Yeah, me and Ivy haven't been contact since the whole fall of Newberry thing. I send her memes from time to time and she kind of responds, know a smiley or something. I think she gets it.
[00:17:45] Speaker E: Ivy, do you get them? Some of them are, like, really niche, and my concern is that if I ask, she's going to tell me, oh.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: You don't want that.
[00:17:59] Speaker E: No, but a good number of them I do get.
[00:18:06] Speaker B: Schmendric. What was the last one you sent that you think really landed?
[00:18:10] Speaker D: Let's see, the last meme I sent Ivy, I think was one of those ones where you can take like a news article heading and basically sing that to the tune of campdown ladies or something like that. Just how ridiculous it can be.
I always like those ones.
[00:18:28] Speaker B: Ivy does have a certain musical background. If I were going to pick a meme to send to her, I would start with something that at least sits in a ven diagram with her interests.
[00:18:36] Speaker C: That's a good choice.
[00:18:38] Speaker D: Probably the only choice, considering the rest of her repertoire is usually just study.
[00:18:44] Speaker E: The problem is, the article that I looked up after she sent me this had something to do with the burning of the library of Alexandria and lessons about that. And then I just made myself sad.
[00:18:56] Speaker D: See, you got to go and make things unfunny, given that we have such a close relationship based primarily on memes. I walk into the room, see her with her thumb and index finger together, and just go, what are you doing?
[00:19:13] Speaker E: I get this. I understand this reference, and I quickly flash. Like, rotate my hand to show the okay symbol with my hand and I say, you lost the game.
[00:19:30] Speaker D: Oh, wow. I'm absolutely stunned and I just belt it. Oh my God.
What?
[00:19:38] Speaker B: You didn't think she'd get you, did you?
[00:19:41] Speaker D: I didn't. Wow, this is a bad start to my day. I'm going to have to up my game.
[00:19:46] Speaker E: I give a nice warm smile as Schmendrick stands there in shock and I stand up and walk over to her.
A hug feels like a thing that we should do, but I'm a little.
[00:20:04] Speaker D: Apprehensive because stowe that apprehension because the moment you walk over, I wrap an arm around you and I go, I have taught you well.
[00:20:15] Speaker A: What can I say? I'm a quick learner.
[00:20:18] Speaker D: That's what I've heard about you.
So since we're both here, do you have any idea why we're here? What could he possibly want at this point?
[00:20:32] Speaker E: Oh, God, I have no possible way of knowing how to answer this.
Mean it's just you and me, right? Like gesture to the room. Josh isn't here.
[00:20:48] Speaker B: The lasambra are already in the city. So far as you know. The obviously insane, murdering primogen have been dealt with. What other possible tasks could he have for you?
[00:20:57] Speaker D: Hopefully it's something easy like petting puppies or something like that. I would appreciate a little bit of cute animal distraction. It would certainly be more welcoming than having to work with some more murderous.
[00:21:11] Speaker B: Kindred and significantly smaller chance of being set on fire while you do it.
[00:21:16] Speaker D: Oh, that's the greatest thing about pets. They don't tend to set you on fire.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: Well, for better or for worse, you won't have to wait that much longer. Joseph. You remember Joseph, right? The butler? He arrives.
Miss Schmendrick, Miss le Roux, the prince.
[00:21:33] Speaker C: Is ready to see you.
[00:21:34] Speaker B: This way.
[00:21:35] Speaker D: Please follow without question. And I think I will give him a fist bump for good measure.
[00:21:43] Speaker B: Sure. Joseph doesn't fist Bump everybody, but you've trained him well enough on your past visits.
It's cute the two of you have a little thing.
[00:21:53] Speaker D: He's a hard worker. He deserves a little fist bump for his efforts.
[00:21:57] Speaker B: As a treat.
[00:21:59] Speaker E: As a treat?
[00:22:01] Speaker B: Well, it's not like you require his services.
[00:22:04] Speaker C: In this moment.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: You know where you're supposed to go. Into the foyer with the grand stairway across the polished floor, still smelling faintly of wax, up the ornate stairs, fingers trailing across the gold laid banister.
Turn right at the landing, down the hallway to the door at the end.
Joseph knocks only once you hear Prince Kevin Jackson, on the other side, beckon you.
Yes. Yes, I'm ready for them. Come on in.
The door opens to reveal the desk. The same desk the prince was sitting behind the first time.
[00:22:41] Speaker C: You got your assignment. Ah, this takes you back.
[00:22:45] Speaker B: He's not alone. There is another guest, another familiar face.
A woman, halfway between five and 6ft tall. Long, thin black hair, perfect japanese features.
[00:23:02] Speaker E: Oh, no.
[00:23:04] Speaker B: Something the matter?
[00:23:08] Speaker E: I. You just.
You know how when you see somebody and it kind of elicits a reaction, right? Obviously that happens to all of us. Every single time I see Sierra van Burris, bad things happen shortly thereafter. So definitely not excited to see her here in the prince's office at a time where we are called to meet with him.
Just not happy.
[00:23:41] Speaker D: Ivy's generally pretty good about hiding her emotion, but I'd like to think I've been around her long enough that I can see this subtle disappointment. And my face kind of echoes it because I'm not super excited about helping the Lasambra again anytime soon. I know they're part of the Camarilla, but it just always leads to trouble, in my opinion.
[00:24:04] Speaker B: I'm curious. How well do you hide that reaction? Will the both of you roll resolve in composure?
[00:24:11] Speaker E: For me, three successes and I come.
[00:24:16] Speaker D: Up with four successes.
[00:24:18] Speaker C: You've got this.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: You've managed to avoid embarrassing yourselves. It would be the height of impoliteness.
[00:24:24] Speaker C: To see someone in a room and.
[00:24:26] Speaker B: Then immediately take on the pallet of someone about to vomit.
[00:24:31] Speaker E: The reaction is subtle, but Ashmendrick said, we've been around each other long enough to kind of pick up on the little subtle things. So it may be just a little shoulder shrug or pulling back of my left shoulder and a wiggle of my head to kind of set my hair in the right place.
Just those little things that Schmendrick knows.
[00:24:52] Speaker B: The prince, for his part, either doesn't seem to notice or doesn't seem to care.
[00:24:57] Speaker D: Just the way I like it.
[00:24:58] Speaker B: You've seen this face on him before.
Kevin Jackson carries himself a certain way when he's excited.
Not excited like a football team is about to win, or excited like you're opening a Christmas present, but excited when there's a plan coming to fruition. When he feels like he's making forward progress on his Chicago dreams. He bids you both towards the desk, please come have a seat. Something I'd love to share with you.
You remember Sierra van Burs, Miss van Burris?
[00:25:31] Speaker C: Of course.
[00:25:32] Speaker B: No need for introductions.
[00:25:34] Speaker E: I smile and take a seat, preferably the one the farthest away from Sierra. Give Schmendrick the one in between us.
[00:25:43] Speaker D: I'm not terribly picky about where I'll be. That buffer between Sierra and Ivy.
[00:25:51] Speaker C: The prince continues.
[00:25:53] Speaker B: Now, I already know what you're thinking. The only time you ever come to this office is when I have something for you to do, so let me just get it out of the way. This isn't a task. This isn't a requirement. There's nothing you need to be worrying about on that front. I just wanted to give you some advanced notice of things that will be changing in the city, since you're involved.
[00:26:12] Speaker A: My expression flashes with concerned confusion before I even realize it's happening, and hopefully I catch it quick enough so it goes unnoticed.
Composing myself, I say, well, Prince Jackson, while I appreciate the idea of a heads up, and I truly do, I'm just. Well, frankly, a little surprised by this. Information like this isn't usually afforded to kindred at our.
[00:26:39] Speaker B: Oh, no, quite the contrary. And you'll understand here in a moment. Also, don't worry. I've already told your boss about things. It's not like you're getting insider information before more important people in the city come about it. It's just that, well, this involves Miss Van Burs, who you are intimate with, and the, shall we say, events of the last few months, which you are both, in some ways responsible for. So it only felt polite to inform you of things that might complicate or affect generally your nights to come.
[00:27:12] Speaker A: Right.
[00:27:13] Speaker D: Of course.
[00:27:14] Speaker E: Well, thank you, sir.
[00:27:17] Speaker B: Don't thank me quite yet.
As you know, Mr. Newberry is no longer with us. His seat on the Brimmingen council has been temporarily assigned to the second most senior Malkavian in the city. Bronwyn will be taking that role in an acting capacity until such a time as either Mr. Newberry is rehabilitated or otherwise dealt with.
However, there are no two kindred in this city who understand better the trials and tribulations that Miss Vam Burris and her clan have been forced to undergo on their arrival and integration into the city.
Which is why, in part at her request, and in part because I recognize the value and stable governance of this city. In an elysium to come, I will be elevating Sierra van Burris to the primaging council as representative for Clan la Sombra.
[00:28:11] Speaker D: I'm rather stunned as well, and my gaze will kind of shift between everyone present before stating what I would assume to be the obvious.
I mean no disrespect by this decision, but isn't it a little soon.
[00:28:29] Speaker B: The prince smiles. Can't tell if it's a smile derived from your insolence or your insight, but he doesn't appear to anger, so maybe that's a clue. You're not the first person to raise that concern. Several on the primaging council did as well. But we all recognize the importance of this project.
The project of Chicago, the project of the Camarilla. And those of us possessed of more even faculties, less concerned with tradition, ancient grudges, and lingering mistrust. We are ready to move forward.
Chicago has not been kind to the lasambra. The future of our relationship requires their active participation in governance.
You don't need to look that far. You can see out of the corner of your eye how incredibly satisfied Sierra is hearing these words come out of the prince's mouth.
[00:29:26] Speaker D: Oh, she's trained him well.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: I mention this to you now, of course, your reputation is already tied up greatly with La Sambra and also this court. Try as I might to ensure the city that the decision is mine and the Primjan council's alone, and that kindred of your status had no impact or effect on the matter, there will be those who blame.
[00:29:53] Speaker D: Course.
[00:29:54] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:29:56] Speaker B: Then consider this a forewarning. The rest of the city will learn within a week. My plan ends for the council.
I'm giving you advance now so you can prepare yourself, make arrangements, shore up your alliances, keep an eye on your enemies. That kind of thing. Normal kindred business.
[00:30:14] Speaker D: Well, you'll get no argument from me about the Lasamre getting a raw deal since they've been here.
It's nice to see them getting something for all of that. But at the same time, and I'll look at Sierra at this point and say you are relatively new to the Camarilla. Is this a responsibility that is not best left until later?
[00:30:41] Speaker B: Sierra stiffens a moment.
It's clear between the two of them. She appreciates your bluntness a bit less than Prince Jackson, but she's still polite when she responds.
[00:30:55] Speaker C: Oh, my dear.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: The Lasambra have been leading kindred for millennia at this point, not within the Camarilla. But of course, the Sabbat still needs its masters, still needs its generals and its counselors.
And despite the ideological differences between our sects over the years, we also recognize the importance of cooperation when it is required.
We intend to provide the full spectrum of Lusambra support for the Camarilla. But in order to be useful to this organization, we have to have a stake. We have to be in the meetings where important and delicate matters are being discussed. Prince Jackson understands you do as well. In time, the rest of the city will come to agree as well.
[00:31:43] Speaker D: I can't really argue she is correct. They are suitable for the job. It's just. It's like those couples that have been dating three weeks and decide to get married straight away.
Actually, it's quite literally nearly that.
[00:31:59] Speaker B: Sierra van Burris, freshly divorced from the Sabat, looking to move on, falls into the lap of the first sex she meets. I've seen this movie. I think Sandra Bullock played the lead.
[00:32:10] Speaker D: Well, after Sierra gives me her little spiel, I just sort of nod like, I cannot say anything against it, and I will trust their judgment on this.
[00:32:22] Speaker E: Well, I'm glad that Schmendric feels that way. It's not about trusting the judgment.
That's up to the prince. I'm concerned about other political ramifications of this move. Personally.
[00:32:36] Speaker B: From the perspective of the Camarilla or from the perspective of Ivy Larue?
[00:32:42] Speaker E: Yes.
You see, I've been pretty quiet thinking to myself as Schmendrick has been questioning Sierra. And once there's a lull in the conversation, I look at Prince Jackson.
Wait, so Sierra is going to be elevated to the level of primagen?
You still intend to replace Newberry?
Excuse me for speaking out of turn.
The numbers don't concern you, Miss le Roux.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: I understand your concern, but rest assured, the prince has already considered the concerns you are raising, and they'll be dealt with in time.
[00:33:25] Speaker E: I look back to Prince Jackson when Sierra finishes speaking. It's really funny for me to have this ventru prince be spoken for by Sierra. I'd never say this, of course, but internally, it just like a dog on.
[00:33:44] Speaker A: A leash, you know?
[00:33:47] Speaker D: That was the impression I was getting, too. But that's internal thoughts.
[00:33:51] Speaker E: Yeah. Glad we're not alone.
[00:33:53] Speaker B: There's something to be said for diplomacy.
It's entirely possible he's just giving her a bit of Runway to assert dominance. It's not like it changes anything, right? They both agree. And if letting her spout off on his behalf smooths the conversation makes her feel powerful, it's a win at no cost.
[00:34:16] Speaker A: As a kindred, the wins are hardly at no cost.
[00:34:19] Speaker E: But I nod and quiet down.
[00:34:24] Speaker B: Once again, the prince still smiling. In any case, Schmendrick, regardless of your concerns, those are a bit above your pay grade. The primjan council will handle it. Your job is merely to continue existing as you do. This is a courtesy call. I'm warning you in advance that certain people in the city might take issue with your involvement in the process and use this as an opportunity to voice their grievances.
[00:34:52] Speaker E: I nod. Thank you, Prince Jackson. It's better to know and be prepared.
[00:34:59] Speaker C: Of course, the both of you have.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: Been dutiful and loyal servants. The camarilla. Cause it's only right for me to ensure that nothing too terrible happens because of your involvement. What kind of prince would I be if I threw my favorite coterie under.
[00:35:13] Speaker C: The bus in a moment like this?
[00:35:16] Speaker E: I smile as he calls us his favorite coterie. And I'm sure it's just blowing smoke, but little bit of pride as he says it.
[00:35:26] Speaker D: While Ivy focused on that little bit of pride, I can't help but look between myself and then to ivy as our small coterie. What remains of it is just sitting in this office listening to this.
[00:35:39] Speaker E: Hey, you know, survival of the fittest, Mendrick. We're the fittest.
[00:35:44] Speaker B: I think Joshua would take great offense to that statement.
[00:35:48] Speaker E: Well, Josh is off being a hound.
That's not my problem.
[00:35:54] Speaker D: I like the idea that we're the fittest. Let's just go with.
[00:35:57] Speaker F: Mm hmm.
[00:35:59] Speaker B: Well, ladies, now that the message has been delivered, you've had the chance to give your say, it is time for me to get back to the rest of the city.
Thank you for attending on such short notice. But if you'll excuse me.
[00:36:14] Speaker D: Of course. And I will stand to my feet. And without much, really, pomp or circumstance, I am going to head out.
[00:36:23] Speaker B: The two of you depart the office, but not before Sierra raises a finger. A moment of your time, please.
She intends to follow you outside for a conversation a little bit further away from the prince's earshot.
[00:36:38] Speaker E: I smile.
If you looked behind the smile, it's forced. There's a little bit of a grimace behind. Because who? Boy, I cannot imagine what's coming next.
I don't expect it's going to be anything good.
[00:36:57] Speaker D: What can we do for you, Sierra?
[00:36:59] Speaker B: She gives you a polite and patient Smile, walking down the hallway towards an emptier room, one of the small offices or libraries off this main corridor.
It pleases me greatly that the prince has given you the courtesy of forewarning. Although I do believe we're all in agreement. He might be understating the danger.
[00:37:21] Speaker E: Oh, completely.
[00:37:23] Speaker C: Of course.
[00:37:24] Speaker B: My brother and I were in this city for less than a few hours before some of your colleagues in the Camarilla saw fit to attack us. And while myself and my clan deeply appreciate your commitment to seeing the Lasambra integrated and ingratiated into the Camarilla, we also understand this puts you at great risk.
I wanted to let you know that while the prince absolutely has your back in this moment moving forward, myself and the clan are also on your side. Shall we say? Prince Jackson isn't the only one who's capable of showing gratitude.
[00:38:04] Speaker E: The surprises just keep coming today.
Like pleasant surprises.
Good surprises.
[00:38:14] Speaker D: Yeah. I have to say, I was not expecting this turn of events. Support from the Lasambra does strike me as something I had never really anticipated.
[00:38:26] Speaker E: But the value of the support cannot be understated.
Friends close, enemies closer.
If they view us as a friend, though, all the better.
[00:38:36] Speaker B: What's that phrase?
[00:38:37] Speaker G: Maya?
[00:38:37] Speaker B: Be careful what you wish for.
[00:38:42] Speaker F: Ivy schmendy.
[00:38:46] Speaker B: The voice is real, appearing from the.
[00:38:49] Speaker C: Shadow behind you in the corner of the room that Sierra has led you to.
[00:38:56] Speaker D: I can't help but crack a smile at Maya.
You missed one heck of a trial.
Pity you weren't there for it.
[00:39:06] Speaker F: I heard. I had some meetings to attend to.
[00:39:10] Speaker B: Miss Lugossi keeps an interesting schedule and very interesting company.
But she'll be remaining in Chicago for the time being. And seeing how the three of you cooperated so well in the past, I only saw it as fitting that in the nights to come, you reacquaint yourself around common objectives. Of course, but don't let me ruin a reunion. I'm sure the three of you have much to talk about, and I'm a very, very busy primogen to be.
Of course, she offers no further excuses or words, merely nodding Politely in that way that rich people do, and excuses.
[00:39:51] Speaker C: Herself from the room.
[00:39:54] Speaker E: Maya, did you miss me?
[00:39:57] Speaker A: That's a word for it.
[00:39:59] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:40:00] Speaker E: It certainly has been quieter without you around.
[00:40:03] Speaker F: Well, I'm glad you could have that moment of Zen. Did you get my presents?
[00:40:10] Speaker E: Yes, I did.
[00:40:13] Speaker F: Oh, good. I was worried about my new assistant.
I thought it would be very helpful for you, considering your little MLM situation.
[00:40:24] Speaker A: I bet you did.
[00:40:25] Speaker E: I bet you did.
[00:40:27] Speaker F: How is the pyramid scheme?
[00:40:30] Speaker A: Oh, it's great.
[00:40:31] Speaker E: Thank you. I haven't recruited anybody below me yet, but the supply lines are working, so. Thanks.
[00:40:42] Speaker F: You'll get there one day, and I'm sure they'll give you a shiny pink cadillac.
[00:40:47] Speaker B: Ivy, I have to know. Have you read any of the book?
[00:40:52] Speaker E: Yes, I have the title and what she wrote inside when she signed it herself, but that's it.
[00:41:03] Speaker F: You know, I was a New York Times bestseller.
[00:41:07] Speaker E: Oh, yes, and I'm sure the mortals just ate your books up. Sadly, I have just been so busy reading books of import.
[00:41:18] Speaker F: Well, maybe when you get the time to read it, it'll help you with some things. It's all about power posing.
[00:41:26] Speaker C: I hear chapter six is a real doozy.
[00:41:29] Speaker B: There's some good nuggets in there. Schmendric. Your gift was, I hesitate to say, more useful. That would be disparaging against Maya's written.
[00:41:41] Speaker D: Hmm. My gift is certainly a lot more dangerous. Though I can't say as though I am happy being gifted an arsonist. But I am happy that at least one of them was able to get out of that situation and not by my power. This was all Maya's doing. And for that, I do have to thank her.
At the mention of the gift, I crack a smile and I go. Not exactly the safest of gifts I've ever received, but I do appreciate the effort you put in to help that individual.
[00:42:18] Speaker E: Hold on. What do you mean, individual?
[00:42:21] Speaker D: Oh, you remember the trio that tried to light us on fire when we first brought the Lusombra into the city?
[00:42:29] Speaker E: Yeah.
[00:42:30] Speaker D: Well, I have one working for me now.
[00:42:33] Speaker E: Excuse me?
[00:42:36] Speaker F: Schmendric asked. She received.
[00:42:39] Speaker E: I give Maya a look of absolute incredulity.
You gave Schmendrick a person, and you gave me a copy of a book you wrote, and then you signed it. I look at Schmendrick and I just say, you understand how these two things are not comparable, right?
[00:43:05] Speaker D: I do understand what you're getting at, but your book is not going to light you on fire when you go to sleep for the day.
[00:43:13] Speaker F: Excuse me. I thought I was leaving town. And I left you both with what I thought you needed the most. Despite her better judgment, Schmendrick did ask for this person's life back.
And, Ivy, I've seen what you've been up to. You needed the push. And besides, now it's a collector's edition.
[00:43:33] Speaker E: I stare blankly at Maya and then turn and look at Schmendrick and say.
[00:43:39] Speaker A: Well, if your guy ever needs a fire starter, let me know. I have about 700 pages he could use.
[00:43:46] Speaker D: I'm sure he will appreciate that.
[00:43:50] Speaker E: A person.
[00:43:53] Speaker C: A person.
[00:43:54] Speaker D: Listen, it's not exactly like I wanted him to be my charge or anything. I just wanted him to not be a bag of meat to siphon blood out of for the rest of his existence, arsonist or no.
[00:44:10] Speaker B: In fairness, Ivy, the book doesn't have to be fed or watered and isn't a walking threat to the masquerade.
[00:44:16] Speaker F: What did Sierra just say? Be careful what you wish for.
[00:44:20] Speaker E: What part of you thinks that I ever wished for this?
[00:44:23] Speaker C: Maya.
[00:44:23] Speaker F: Oh, not you.
[00:44:27] Speaker D: Yep, definitely. Be careful what you wish for. Now I have to deal with this individual. Speaking of, what happened to the other one?
[00:44:39] Speaker F: I just shrug. I can't be held responsible for everyone. You're lucky you got the one.
[00:44:45] Speaker D: No, that's fair. I've asked him as well where his partner in crime went, and he's not sure either, so that's where we're at. There.
[00:44:55] Speaker F: You're welcome. And I give Schmendrich the most beautiful smile.
[00:45:01] Speaker B: I cannot believe that all the effort and thought and energy that you put into these gifts, I'm not detecting what I would consider an appropriate amount of gratitude.
[00:45:12] Speaker F: I'm honestly not either, but nobody's perfect.
[00:45:18] Speaker D: My gift scares me on so many levels.
[00:45:21] Speaker B: Well, it's good to see friends getting back together, isn't it?
[00:45:26] Speaker D: Where he means us.
[00:45:28] Speaker B: Oh, come on now, Ivy. You can play nice. Maya saved your life in the past.
[00:45:35] Speaker F: Well, I missed you.
[00:45:38] Speaker E: Yeah, well, and then she fucked off, and then apparently stays in Chicago and doesn't say anything until just. I don't know, it just hurts, is all.
[00:45:54] Speaker B: Is that a sticking point you'd like to address with her?
[00:45:57] Speaker E: It is a point that I would like to bring up with Maya eventually, but here is not the place.
There's too many ears for my liking.
Look, I'm sure you have plenty to tell us about where exactly you've been the last month since you definitely haven't been communicating with us, but let's not do it here. And I gesture with a little finger.
[00:46:28] Speaker F: Oh, by all means.
[00:46:31] Speaker E: With that, I start to leave. I don't need Schmendrick to agree. I know that she will be on the same exact page with me. And I have Maya's confirmation, so. Great. I start to leave. I know my way out.
[00:46:44] Speaker D: As do I. And I don't want to stay in the prince's house any longer than I need to. So off we go.
[00:46:51] Speaker C: So our three ladies depart the prince's quarters, heading out onto the street.
Boots. Because I assume you're wearing boots given the weather crunching into the snow as you arrive upon the sidewalk.
[00:47:08] Speaker B: It's a bad time of year to be kindred. At least in Chicago, nothing gives you away quite as quickly as the lack of steamy breath coming out of your mouth as you walk around.
I wonder.
[00:47:20] Speaker C: And I've written down a bet here on my storyteller notes. I wonder which of you chooses to break the silence.
[00:47:30] Speaker F: If you challenge me and Ivy, we're never going to speak.
[00:47:34] Speaker A: She's right.
[00:47:36] Speaker B: Just the two of you standing there.
[00:47:38] Speaker C: Like two people at the same bus stop desperately avoiding eye contact.
[00:47:43] Speaker D: It's at this point that I just sort of roll my eyes and say, listen, I know everything was tense in there, but there's no need to clam up, act all uptight about it.
[00:47:58] Speaker F: Was it tense? I hadn't noticed.
Have you thought about what you're going to do with your new buddy?
[00:48:10] Speaker D: Right now, the plan is to avoid that as much as possible. Not that I don't appreciate your gift, Maya. It's just that I am very afraid of the arsonist that nearly set me on fire once before.
Thank you.
But also thank you.
[00:48:30] Speaker F: If it makes you feel any better, I don't think he's going to be doing anything anytime soon. Ever.
[00:48:38] Speaker D: Yeah, from what I saw, he's not in great shape. Which is really par for the course, given where he was hidden for so long.
[00:48:48] Speaker A: If you're really that upset about the person, I'll trade you for a book.
[00:48:54] Speaker D: Let's put it this way, Ivy. I know you'll take far better care of a book you don't like than a person.
[00:49:03] Speaker A: Okay, but I could find a use for the human is all I'm saying right now.
[00:49:08] Speaker E: The book is a doorstop at best.
[00:49:12] Speaker D: Ouch.
[00:49:14] Speaker F: If you read it, I think you would find that it's very useful. A lot of people do.
[00:49:19] Speaker A: If I read it, assume that my mind has been ripped from my body.
[00:49:24] Speaker F: I'm sure we could find someone to help you with that.
[00:49:27] Speaker A: I'm sure you could.
[00:49:30] Speaker D: So I'm kind of shuffling on the street, watching these two kind of banter back and forth and just go, I love our caddy. Little talks together.
[00:49:41] Speaker A: My face is starting to hurt from this saccharine smile that I've adopted during this conversation. So I clap my hands together and looking to end it and excuse myself, I say, well, as fun as this has been, ladies, I'm sure we all have better places to be. Other things to take care of tonight, right?
[00:50:03] Speaker F: Oh, yeah. So what are we doing? And I give the signature, apparently Maya mischievous smile.
[00:50:14] Speaker A: My eyes dart to Maya. That same saccharine look on my face.
Yes, well, I personally had planned to stop off at the bookstore and pick up the newest release for my book club.
[00:50:28] Speaker F: Oh, so you're a fan of my work?
I'm kidding. However, I would like to see your little book club.
[00:50:39] Speaker A: Oh, I don't know about that. I don't think my occult book club is really your scene.
[00:50:47] Speaker F: I could branch out. Besides, we had so much fun the last time we indulged in some cult shit.
I assume your book club is a lot of sad, witchy ladies who are trying to embrace their inner goddess.
[00:51:03] Speaker A: No, definitely not. But thanks for being very condescending.
[00:51:08] Speaker F: You're welcome.
[00:51:11] Speaker D: And nothing is better for an occult book club meeting than an osferatu. I should show up as well.
[00:51:19] Speaker F: Oh, yes, it would make their day.
[00:51:22] Speaker A: My head snaps to Schmendrick, you're not exactly dressed for the occasion.
[00:51:32] Speaker D: I think that's the nicest thing you've said to me, is dis on my clothing.
[00:51:38] Speaker E: You do care about some things.
[00:51:42] Speaker D: Yes, well, I'm not able to make anything tonight anyways. I've been extraordinarily busy the last couple days.
[00:51:50] Speaker A: What have you got going?
[00:51:52] Speaker D: Oh, crime mostly. I've been casing a joint to rob it.
[00:51:58] Speaker A: I put my hand up. I'm sorry, Schmendrick. Indulging in crime.
[00:52:05] Speaker D: The sad little part of that is that I've always indulged in crime and I can't seem to escape it, especially my means of getting food.
[00:52:17] Speaker F: I was wondering about that. I assumed it was some sort of subscription service.
[00:52:23] Speaker D: Yeah, subscription service, but more deep web, black market variety.
[00:52:29] Speaker A: Besides, Maya. And no offense, Schmendrick, but I don't.
[00:52:34] Speaker E: Think Schmendrick has the capital to partake.
[00:52:36] Speaker A: In the circulatory system.
[00:52:39] Speaker D: Excuse you. I was invited to one of their fancy tasting things, and I have to say the process of it all left it tasting rather bitter. But yes, capital aside, I hated literally everything about it. But if you ladies are interested, I could use an extra set of hands.
Up to you.
[00:53:06] Speaker A: When is this crime taking place, exactly?
[00:53:10] Speaker D: It's happening a couple of nights from now. Plenty of time to plan.
[00:53:16] Speaker F: Interesting.
Let me know if you need any help with that. That sounds fun.
[00:53:22] Speaker C: Are we back to broadening our skill set?
[00:53:24] Speaker B: Maya, have you committed a lot of larceny in the past?
[00:53:28] Speaker F: It's different when it comes down to changing numbers on a spreadsheet, as it.
[00:53:33] Speaker D: Seems like we're all kind of winding down for the evening. I go to my car, pop open the front door, and say, by the way, have either of you been to the University of Chicago? Medicine? And I just kind of let that hang.
[00:53:48] Speaker A: I squint my eyes a little bit. I know the area very, very well, given its proximity to the chantry.
Why?
[00:53:59] Speaker D: Oh, it's where I was going to do my shopping.
[00:54:03] Speaker A: My eyes flutter closed and I bring my hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose.
Of all the places Schmendrich, it has to be there.
[00:54:13] Speaker D: As far as I can tell it's the only place that's relatively.
How to put this?
Not controlled.
[00:54:24] Speaker F: As in they don't keep very good records?
[00:54:28] Speaker D: No, as in other shoppers do not frequent it as.
[00:54:34] Speaker A: Ah, well, there's a very good reason for that, Schmendric.
[00:54:41] Speaker D: There also may have been a very good reason as to why I gave you a heads up about it.
[00:54:47] Speaker F: Of all the gin joints in all the world, Schmendrick had to steal from yours.
[00:54:52] Speaker A: Without turning to look at Maya, I just say, no, not mine.
Disables.
[00:55:01] Speaker F: Ooh, that sounds far more complicated.
[00:55:05] Speaker A: Yes. So you can only imagine what I must be feeling right now.
[00:55:11] Speaker F: I do preach radical empathy. Oh, well, sounds like a good time to be your own boss.
[00:55:18] Speaker A: I bring my hands together in front of my face, shifting my weight from 1ft to the other as I decide how to approach this topic with Schmendrick. The pause is just a little too long to be comfortable, but I finally break the silence.
Okay.
[00:55:37] Speaker E: Look, before I get into it, what do you know about this place that you're hitting?
I'm not insinuating that you didn't do your research.
I would just like to know what you know going into this.
[00:55:52] Speaker C: That's a little clever way to protect your secrets. Yes. Sneaky little tremere.
[00:55:57] Speaker A: You don't survive this long without knowing how to keep yourself safe.
[00:56:03] Speaker C: That's what they tell me.
[00:56:06] Speaker D: I find this to be such an interesting question, and I just sort of tilt my head for a moment before nodding a couple times.
In regards to tramir stuff, not a whole lot. I can tell you the names of the employees, how their security system works. I just actually got done rigging that tonight and I kind of give Ivy this look, and when it looks like I haven't provided enough information to her, I'll start reciting names of the people that work there.
[00:56:41] Speaker C: Ivy, how do you distinguish between. She's not giving me enough information in just the general way you look at people, and she's not giving me enough information. Specifically right now, in this moment.
[00:56:56] Speaker E: There's the little head movements as she's telling me. I've got one arm across my waist and the other one kind of resting on my chin, listening to her intently.
And when she says, oh, yeah, I don't know much about this or that or the other thing. You do a little bit of a squint, not quite a glower, but still looking interested in what she has to say.
It's the subtle differences.
[00:57:27] Speaker C: Always is.
So Ashmendrick finishes her list and you've been coaliting in your brain, I assume, your own list of important factoids.
What's missing? How do you bring it up?
[00:57:45] Speaker E: Well, she does start naming employees, and I'm listening for one specific employee, namely the lead phlebotomist.
[00:57:57] Speaker D: Well, the nighttime staff is pretty sparse considering that the building is not even open. Around in the nighttime. There's a couple of people that come in and out, namely the janitor, who's. I think her name is Vanessa. There's the nightguard, who is this real blowhard, Robert. And Robert has this really romantic interest with the lead phlebotomist, Annika. At least I think that's her name.
[00:58:27] Speaker E: It is.
And I smile.
[00:58:32] Speaker D: Oh, so you're acquainted, then.
[00:58:35] Speaker E: I drop my arm. So now both of them are crossed in front of me? Yes, you could say that Annika and I are acquainted.
Schmendrick, I don't know how to put this.
Annika is important not just because of.
[00:58:53] Speaker A: Her role at this facility, but because.
[00:58:57] Speaker E: She'S one of disabled's ghouls.
[00:59:01] Speaker D: I have kind of one of those moments where it looks like a light bulb is going off in my head, but a physical expression on my face.
I just nod at that revelation and go, oh, that makes so much sense, doesn't it?
[00:59:18] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:59:19] Speaker E: I've had dealings with Annika before. She's a wonderfully lovely woman. I could not tell you anything about her personal relationships. That feels like a very interesting bit of information for you to have found out, anyway.
[00:59:34] Speaker D: Oh, it's not reciprocated.
Just putting that out there. I've been watching. I may not know who is who in the ghoul world, but there's definitely some tension in the workplace.
[00:59:49] Speaker C: Schmendrick knows how to spot an incel. Oh, my God.
[00:59:55] Speaker E: I've dealt with Annika before because disable constantly has work going in and out of this facility.
I've run errands there. I've picked up things from her. I've talked to her quite extensively. And not for nothing, I get to use the facility sometimes myself. If I'm looking for something very particular, try not to make a habit of it because it is disabled turf. But there's an understanding with the chantry.
[01:00:29] Speaker D: Right?
Wouldn't want to go stepping on anyone's toes.
[01:00:36] Speaker A: Exactly.
So you can see why this situation.
[01:00:42] Speaker E: Has kind of put me in a.
[01:00:43] Speaker A: Little bit of a predicament.
[01:00:46] Speaker D: At this point. I just sort of rub my chin a little as I think, tapping idly.
I understand your predicament, but I think there are ways to get around these little problems.
For starters, I was going to make a concerted effort at hiding our tracks.
Something I'm not telling Ivy, though, is I find it very interesting that du Sable is using this blood bank for personal means. Perhaps she gave me a little more information than she meant to. But if I end up in hot water, if I can figure out what du Sable was doing and kind of present that to him as like, hey, you ignore what I did and I won't tell anyone what you're doing sort of situation, I'm going to keep that in my pocket.
[01:01:42] Speaker C: Now, that is a classic nosferato impulse, isn't it, ye little secret monger.
[01:01:50] Speaker D: I occasionally have good ideas. And you know what? The Nosferatu have the whole secret mongering, right? I think because it gets them out of so many tight situations and gets people ingratiated when they might otherwise not be interested.
[01:02:08] Speaker C: Shmendrick swears up and down she's the most human of all of you, but she's got more vampire in her than she thinks.
Comes and it goes, Ivy, are you satisfied with the levels of precaution that Schmendrick has taken? Has she quenched your worries?
[01:02:27] Speaker E: Oh, goodness, no. Absolutely not.
She needed to know what she was walking into.
But that does not calm my nerves at all.
I'm glad that she's going in there informed, but there's still a lot of work that has to be done. And we're still going into disabled turf.
[01:02:48] Speaker A: And we are just days away, apparently.
[01:02:51] Speaker E: From ripping blood bags out from underneath.
[01:02:53] Speaker A: The regent school's nose.
[01:02:56] Speaker C: I like that.
[01:02:57] Speaker B: You've already kind of admitted you're going to be a part of it.
[01:03:02] Speaker A: Here's the thing. I can't let Schmendrick go alone because it's disables. I'm not going to let Maya anywhere near it without me because it's disables. And if either of them mess it up and their names get out, who are they connected to?
[01:03:20] Speaker C: Well, that sitters on a question that I've been simmering on for a little bit. Now, if you'll indulge me.
Why are you going along with this?
[01:03:30] Speaker A: Because everybody else will do it wrong.
Schmendrick is capable. She's very smart. That doesn't mean that I trust her.
[01:03:39] Speaker E: When it comes to anything having to.
[01:03:40] Speaker A: Do with the tramir and its affairs. And if this is the place that she has her heart set on, she's done all the recon. This is the place that she's most prepared for. Fine. She's still walking into the lion's den.
But also, I don't know all that's in there. I don't know what there is to find, what there is to see. What Schmendrick's little nosferatu fingers could uncover.
If I'm there, perhaps I can keep it away from her.
[01:04:15] Speaker C: There it is. Can't ever get too far away from that motivation, can you?
[01:04:21] Speaker D: I would have a field day in tremere secrets.
[01:04:26] Speaker E: Which is precisely why you're not allowed to have them.
[01:04:31] Speaker D: Before anyone else has a chance to really respond to me, I just go anyways. I'm heading off. You all have a lovely evening and see you in a couple of days. I'll get in my orange beetle and drive off safely.
[01:04:48] Speaker A: Something tells me that there is a lot of work that we're going to have to do in the next couple of days to make sure that our names manage to stay clean through.
[01:04:58] Speaker C: All of this.
Well, I hope that news isn't going to detract you from the rest of the evening's plans.
[01:05:06] Speaker A: It can't.
I have a face to put on a Persona.
[01:05:13] Speaker B: That's weird. Did you just notice that thing that just happened?
[01:05:18] Speaker A: I can't possibly imagine what you're referencing.
[01:05:23] Speaker C: Oh, no, just for a second, you sounded a lot like your mother.
[01:05:26] Speaker A: I think I'm done talking to you now.
[01:05:29] Speaker C: It's entirely fair.
Well, elsewhere in the city, another kind of kindred is getting into another kind of trouble.
Although it's not entirely fair to call it trouble when it's your job.
The periphery of Chicago is an underpopulated wasteland, which makes it perfect for the kind of people who don't want to be found.
Chicago's periphery is not the kind of place respectable kindred spend much time.
This is the domain of wayward anarchs and kindred who exist outside the law.
[01:06:10] Speaker B: Either because they were denied the prince's.
[01:06:13] Speaker C: Permission to exist within Chicago's borders, or they just decided not to seek it in the first place.
Unlike other great american ports, the port of Chicago does not bustle into the early hours of the morning. Which means, as Joshua crozier travels across the city with this destination in mind, he's going for specific purpose.
What is it, Joshua? Is there a lead, a hunch? A gut feeling?
What is it that has you driving through Chicago's dead industrial zones this evening?
[01:06:51] Speaker H: You don't need hunches or feelings when you have in front of you cold, hard facts.
When the victims turn up in an easily identifiable shotgun spread from the port of Chicago. Well, it's not exactly difficult to tell where the source is.
[01:07:13] Speaker C: Is it basic epidemiology at that point? Channeling John Snow of old?
Do you know who the criminals are this evening? Or is it sufficient that they exist?
[01:07:27] Speaker H: It's the latter. I don't need to know who they are. I just know what they're doing and where it's coming from. That's all I need.
[01:07:40] Speaker C: Of course, no operation exists with perfect information, such as the nature of police work, such as the nature of war.
And as you stake out the location, keeping watch over the field of still machinery and containers waiting to be shipped this way and that.
Where have you perched? How are you spending your time?
[01:08:06] Speaker H: I'm perched on the top of one of the tall concrete walls that kind of rings in this sunken area.
I just squat and watch.
I have a feeling that things will be obvious once they're presented to me.
[01:08:27] Speaker C: Well, it doesn't take much to draw your attention when the place is so quiet and so still. So even though the white box fan that enters through the front gate doesn't have its headlights on, the soft rumble of tires on concrete and that little hint of movement is enough to attract your attention. As this vehicle navigates along the yellow painted lines in between stacks of awaiting cargo, it arrives adjacent to an otherwise unmarked, unremarkable shipping container. 30ft long, 10ft tall, 10ft wide, stamped with some foreign brand and an internally long number showing its place of origin.
Two figures exit the vehicle, at first glance, the same age. But if these are who you think they are, those looks can be deceiving.
And after giving a cautious look to their surroundings, not so cautious that they detect the Banu hakim waiting in ambush.
The first of them, the more senior of the two, based on their posture, approaches the container and pops open the lock.
From this angle, it's going to be difficult to see exactly what it is they're up to.
But I don't imagine you're waiting to find out.
[01:09:51] Speaker H: Not even somewhat.
The instant they exit the van and I can get a bead on where they're headed, I've already slipped on the coat of obfuscate and begun to move.
[01:10:07] Speaker C: A careful and efficient predator. You were born that way, made that way on one tragic night.
And in the months that have intervened since, you've only grown more accustomed to that cloak of shadow, to being unseen until the very moment you decide to exact your vengeance.
The same cannot be said for another visitor. For not everything that moves on this dock does so with nefarious intent. And the young gentleman, in his late 20s, his early 30s, who will soon find himself wrapped up in these circumstances, will be just as surprised to see you as you are to see him.
Alex, this isn't the kind of place where I would expect to find someone like you. So why is it a gentleman of your upbringing, of your lifestyle, is sharing this space with the prince's hound and his two potential victims?
[01:11:10] Speaker I: I find myself on a nice night run.
I'm trying to better myself.
[01:11:17] Speaker G: I'm trying to grow as a person.
I'm trying to grow as a person. And as I do that, I can't.
[01:11:28] Speaker I: Help but see something. The night. Something very unusual. And it's not right. It shouldn't be happening.
And every instinct in my body is telling me it's not my business and I should walk away.
But for this one moment by these unusual gentlemen, I feel like it's my duty to do something.
And as I swallow down every single fear and instinct, I charge after them with questions.
As someone who is trying to be a security guard and maybe even a guardian of people, I should do this. It's my duty.
But I have no idea what I'm doing.
Every step I realize I'm in way over my head.
[01:12:26] Speaker C: The first thing they teach you in any job, don't be a big damn hero. It's not your money. It's the company's money, and especially in Chicago, of all places. But I understand why that conventional wisdom might be cast aside.
As in that moment before you make the decision to intervene. You're peering between the stacks, and you can see inside the container.
Maybe you would have left them to their own devices if it was televisions, cars, money, just things.
But the cargo inside this particular package is ambulatory.
It breathes. The senior most of these two figures has entered the container to retrieve a long chain of tired, scared, emaciated human beings.
All of them women. From what you can see, the oldest of them, maybe 19 or 20.
Maybe that's enough to spur you into action. Maybe you wait just a moment longer, and it's the cruel disinterest with which this figure handles his cargo that pushes you over the edge. How close do you get before you say something? Do you say something?
Does it ever cross your mind that the right move is just to call the police and let professionals handle this? Why are you such a big damn hero?
[01:14:00] Speaker I: Because all my life, I was told that I could be whatever I wanted. And as I grew up, I realized none of that was true. And maybe in just one moment, I can finally be something greater than myself.
Maybe that's a big damn hero. This might be your chance, Alex. This might be it.
And I know that as I get closer, I try to make myself seem big, and I get very loud, hoping that when they realize someone is watching them, they'll run away and that nothing bad will have to happen tonight. So as I approach, I'll be yelling at them, I guess a battle cry or something.
[01:14:42] Speaker C: And this figure, he looks shaggy, homeless. This isn't a burly mafia goon. This isn't a russian enforcer.
This person looks like they belong in a rehab clinic, not a crime syndicate.
But there's no fear, no surprise, as he looks over you and begins to size you up.
So indulge me a moment. If I am this gentleman deciding the right way to handle a new interloper, who do I see?
Describe for me this person who has arrived to interrupt my evening as I decide whether or not he needs to be dealt with or merely scared off.
[01:15:25] Speaker I: Alex Scott, as I go by, as my name is, stands about five foot eleven, but he'll lie and tell you he's about six foot, maybe six foot one on his dating profile.
Dark hair, kept short, gelled over on the side, a very trendy look that doesn't match his face at all. His beard that he has grown is one that has been honed after years of trying to have a viking beard or something more intense. But tragically, it's not him.
His childlike demeanor, his boyish charm is one that couldn't stoke intimidation, even if it was already ablaze or on flame.
His body is a combination of hard work at the gym and hard work at the bars, drinking a little bit of muscle and a lot of fat.
And though maybe with a lucky punch, he could get a victory off, nothing about him is intimidating.
[01:16:36] Speaker C: Then it shouldn't be surprised when this criminal, hardened by a life that you can't even begin to comprehend, scoffs as he sees you.
This is bigger than you, kid.
I understand you want to be brave, but you don't want to get into what's going here.
So how about you just put those earbuds back in and fuck off to wherever it is you were going?
[01:17:03] Speaker I: Okay, yeah, I could do that, but I'm not going to do that.
I'm going to call the police unless you guys leave right now. So I would really weigh your options. Okay? Do you really want me to call the police and get these people out of here? Or do you just want to leave and not be at all indicted with this crime? Okay, it's your choice. Your necks or your ass.
[01:17:32] Speaker C: It's now that the second of them speaks up.
Even without understanding the dynamic of this particular crime duo, you can tell he's the flunky. It's the way that he carries himself.
The fact that he's a little doughy, a little squat, his nose twisted at an angle that suggests he doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut around people with short tempers and big egos.
He grunts, quite full of himself, the way a bully does when he senses a victim that he can finally deal with. I don't think we gotta worry about that, do we? And he starts to approach you, because I think Mr. Tough guy here isn't that tough at all.
I think I can take a piece out of him.
I tell you what, little man, let's play a game. You reach in your pocket for your phone, and I'll see if I can deal with you before you manage to dial.
It might be a trick of the light, Alex.
The way that those incisors look longer than they should. Of course, you've seen on the Internet people who file themselves, who tattoo themselves in strange ways. Body modification has been around for a while.
But why would this criminal look like that? Why would he have those contacts in that give him an animalistic glint in his eyes?
And why would his fingers look so long, so sharp, when they're caught in the occasional glint of the night sky?
[01:19:05] Speaker I: I can't help but find myself, even in this moment, extending some humanity to this individual.
Maybe this is just their thing. Maybe this is how they like to present themselves. To be intimidating, to be scary, to be dangerous to others. I find myself making excuses for him even now as my life is in danger. But I take him up on his offer, and I know the smart thing I can do is not to stand and fight, but be a little more tricksy. I reach into my pocket for my phone.
I hesitate to actually plot out by press the right button combination on my smartphone to activate the emergency signal so that someone will come to this.
Maybe Alex budy, maybe you don't get to leave this one alive, but hopefully someone will come and save these people.
[01:20:07] Speaker C: It's an astoundingly brave outlook to have. But there is good news. Someone is arriving in a matter of speaking.
Because, Joshua, this is the scene you find yourself slinking up on.
There will be an explosive moment at which things change.
But in those few seconds, the 15 or 20 critical moments that you have to assess the situation and decide how you're going to handle it.
What's going through your head?
[01:20:41] Speaker H: Things were so simple when I first drew on that cloak of shadows. I would just slink on up, see whatever it was I needed to see, and deal with these guys in my way.
But as usual, things have become more complicated.
A human is here. He's talking to them. I can tell from his stance, from the stench of barely concealed fear rolling off of him, that he's trying to play the hero.
He's trying to play the hero even though he doesn't understand what the villain is, and he's too stupid to understand yet that everything he's saying is futile. So things have become significantly more complicated, and there's not much I can do but break into a full sprint, just hoping, praying that I can reach these assholes before they give this guy what's coming to him.
[01:21:47] Speaker C: Unfortunately, you are not so lucky, and Alex is not so lucky because as Joshua breaks into a sprint, so does the pudgy assailant Alex. The speed at which this man moves is obviously unnatural.
He doesn't so much sprint as he becomes a blur of motion in one moment, a few dozen feet away the next at your throat.
You manage to push that button, and that's about it. Before the weight of a shoulder slams into your chest like a freight train, sending you sprawling backwards. Will you roll dexterity in athletics to see if you can stay on your feet?
[01:22:33] Speaker I: I rolled two normal successes.
[01:22:38] Speaker C: It must be the surprise of it all. You're a fit man. You've done a little bit of fighting in your day, but no one moves this fast, and you've barely managed to level yourself into a stance that might give you. I don't actually know how to describe this like a bracing stance.
[01:22:55] Speaker B: What would you actually do if you were fighting?
[01:22:58] Speaker I: So if the shoulder tackle is coming at me dead on to my sternum or center in the middle of the pain, I have to keep things simple and overextend myself forward over my center body line, so that all my weight is now being divided between my upper body and my ass.
And hopefully, with this new dispersion, I don't go completely ass over tea kettle. Instead, I'll just be doubled over but still standing.
[01:23:28] Speaker C: And that might work if your assailant was moving at something approximating a normal speed. But, God, he's so fast.
His body moves faster than you can think, and you've barely managed to square your feet up to get into the rest of that position. When you feel him collide with you like a freight train.
Two successes isn't enough. You go sprawling backwards like a Hollywood stunt, skidding across the ground. And before you've even had a chance to process the pain, to think about the way that your hands have been skinned or the way that the jolt of bone on concrete is now starting to ache through your body, he is upon you. Not with a reign of fists, not with hands around your throat, not with a clever MMA grab, or even just a nice bare knuckle, street fight ass beating. He tears at your chest with not fingers. They weren't fingers, Alex. Those were claws, like an animal. And you can hear the fabric tearing. You can hear the skin tearing as he launches into your assault, like he's trying to claw his way underneath your ribcage.
Josh, from your perspective, this kid never stood a chance. And as fast as you are, he's faster.
You know solarity when you see it now, you understand exactly what you're dealing with. You thought these were ghouls? If you thought they were thugs working for somebody else, that illusion has been shattered. And as fast as you run, you're not going to make it there in time to stop Alex from being knocked flat. You're not going to make it in time to stop Alex from being flinced might be the word that comes to mind.
And you're not going to make it in time to see the other vampire because you know they're vampires. Run over screaming but, God, you fucking.
[01:25:21] Speaker B: Idiot, what do you do? We could have just. Jesus.
[01:25:25] Speaker C: There's a clear shock on his face. You can see him registering the level of violence. This wasn't the way the plan was supposed to go. Why would you call attention to this kind of crime scene, this kind of trouble? God.
Jesus. The frustration boiling off of him, sublimating.
And you being a calm, collected, rational man, you would never make the kind of mistake that comes next. When you started sprinting, your primary concern was keeping this young gentleman, this Alex Scott, from death.
In the moment that follows, as you see that lead vampire crouch over him, you see him raise his wrist to his mouth to bite sharply and thrust it down over the mouth of this victim.
Now you realize you have an entirely different kind of problem.
[01:26:17] Speaker H: You know, there was a moment during my run when the fight, as charitable as it is to call it a fight, when that started, my attitude was one of begrudging acceptance.
It isn't what I wanted to happen, but it's what happened. And, well, things happen. But as soon as I smell the vite in the air, as soon as I see what he's doing, and it registers.
If I had a heart, it would skip a beat. If I had a functioning nervous system, my stomach would drop. But as it is, all I can do is grit my teeth, throw myself at these two good old fashioned vampire.
[01:27:09] Speaker C: Violence, hand to hand.
[01:27:12] Speaker H: Yeah, there's not time to draw a gun. I can't really afford the attention of gunfire. And either way, these guys deserve the absolute worst that I can give them.
And just to be sure, I call on the blood, give myself a little extra something.
[01:27:34] Speaker C: All righty. Well, first of all, make that rouse check I succeed.
Of course you do, because why would the beast make additional demands when you're satisfying its need to dominate, its need to enact violence?
Every kindred has that urge inside of them. And worse, you're a banu, Hakeem.
You were built for this moment to dispense justice. It's literally in your blood and the generations of blood that came before you.
And why would the beast punish you for following the orders of your forebearers as such?
So, hands out, claws extended, which one of them are you taking on first?
[01:28:15] Speaker H: The flunky.
I can feel the thirst for violence rolling off of him, if only because it's familiar.
That's the dangerous one. The other is an idiot.
But idiots are useful in their own way.
[01:28:35] Speaker C: Will you roll strength and brawl for me with your two dice bonus from your blood surge?
[01:28:42] Speaker H: That is two successes.
[01:28:45] Speaker C: He will get a chance to defend himself, and he manages four successes in doing so. Of course, it's not like you miss. That's not how this kind of grisly hand to hand vampire combat works. It's a flurry of strikes deflected by a forearm glancing off a shoulder blade. It's animalistic. It's carnage, Alex. If you can even manage to keep your eyes open at this point, as a searing kind of pain that you have never experienced introduces itself to every single inch of your nervous system and lights it up like a Christmas tree. Like the city you call home fire. On every extremity, you can feel the heat of your blood on the outside and the corresponding chill on the inside.
Up until this point, I imagine it would be difficult for you to articulate what it feels like to die.
But in these moments, you finally understand you're not a doctor. And even if you were, your brain is a bit frazzled at the moment, so you don't know that you really only have seconds left to enjoy the life you cherished. So through those bleary eyes, at this moment, driven only by adrenaline, by the brain's basic desire to keep itself functioning.
What do you make of the scene playing out in front of you?
Those are claws.
There's nothing human about what's happening here. Not the speed, not the intensity, not the violence, not the wounds.
And what emotion is at the fore of your brain before your brain stops being capable of feeling emotion at all.
[01:30:29] Speaker I: Looking at the violence in front of me, at two beast men tear into one another, I can only feel confusion.
[01:30:41] Speaker G: The kind of confusion that spirals in and out of fear.
I want, with all of my power.
[01:30:52] Speaker I: To stand up to either join the fight or run away, or just stand up to prove that I can.
[01:30:59] Speaker G: But as I lay there, I can.
[01:31:03] Speaker I: Feel my head spinning.
[01:31:05] Speaker G: As my stomach grows cold and my skin sticky with blood and on fire from it, I question, am I in hell?
Are these demons or devils that I see before me?
Is this where my eternity lies?
And that confusion keeps spiraling until I feel my own mind leave my body.
And then somehow, I become aware of.
[01:31:40] Speaker I: My own slowly twitching corpse.
[01:31:46] Speaker C: I can't begin to imagine the terror when you become acutely aware of your heart and the way its beats become further and further apart, like a watch in those last minutes before you're forced to wind it again.
At first 1 second between beats and then two, and then three, and then nothing.
Joshua. Of course you have no way of knowing that the gentleman at your feet has just passed from beyond this earth. And even if you did, you have slightly bigger problems to deal with. You can see the beast raging in the flunky's eyes. You have challenged his authority, and this solitary predator will not let that stand.
And he hurls himself at you, his claws still stained, glistening with the icker of the young man at your feet. He musters three successes as he launches his attack while you roll. Dexterity and athletics.
[01:32:49] Speaker H: For me, that's one success.
[01:32:53] Speaker C: Fortunately, your dead skin reacts differently to the onslaught. There's no blood.
Frankly, there's not even real pain. Only the psychosomatic leftovers from a human body now animated by foul magics.
But that doesn't mean you don't feel the cleave, as broad chunks of your flesh are ripped away as fresh gashes are torn into the dead, waxy skin that you call the body.
You are driven at this point to retaliate. You are locked in combat, but not so unaware that you can't see the elder of the gentleman already having fled.
Whatever he came here to do, he's apparently more willing to face his employers than he is you.
Or who knows? Maybe he just has really strong feelings about the masquerade and what's going to happen.
Those are questions we can answer after the fact. Right now, I want to know what you're going to do with this flunky.
The way he's coming at you. It seems like one of you has to die tonight.
[01:33:59] Speaker H: One of us has to die tonight.
And it is not going to be me.
He's throwing himself at me like an animal.
Mindless tearing and clawing and an animal he is.
Such lack of respect for the law, such lack of respect for conventions and what was handed down to us.
Animal isn't the right word.
Bug is.
So I simply want to reach out, dig my fingers into his neck and tear out the largest fistful I can manage.
[01:34:46] Speaker C: As you like.
Strength and brawl, please.
[01:34:51] Speaker H: That is a critical this time.
[01:34:53] Speaker B: That's five successes.
[01:34:55] Speaker C: It'll be a tall measure for his defense to match. But let's give the man the chance, shall we?
Your enemy has rolled. Zero successes. So what is it about this piece of the assault? What is it about this specific attack that manages to pierce his guard and.
[01:35:17] Speaker B: Lay forth the full fury of your.
[01:35:19] Speaker C: Vampiric power on that pudgy, greasy throat?
[01:35:25] Speaker H: It's easy, really. He's still using the beast the way it wants to be used.
Mindless slashing and blind fury.
It has its place, but the best results come when one can use the fury and the bloodlust in more of a finesse than an attack. He expected me to respond in kind, to start flailing my arms until one of us dropped dead. But I've learned well enough at this point that the last thing someone like this expects is something smart.
[01:36:09] Speaker C: Alex, honestly, the same could be said for you.
Where would you be now if we'd expected something smart? If we'd expected someone who knew better than to inject himself into business, obviously beyond his capacity to deal with.
And maybe that was something you considered for half a second.
You didn't have a terribly long time in between living and dying, and you wouldn't want to waste all of that thinking about this one specific failure.
And as Josh struggles for dominance above struggles for his own life, so do you.
Josh just has better odds.
Are you a religious man, Alex?
[01:36:58] Speaker I: I was raised in the church.
It's a part of me, but not something that I take seriously.
[01:37:07] Speaker C: But you stayed in the room long enough to hear the story about what happens when you die. Are you expecting a light on the tunnel? Prayerly gates?
Jolly bearded fellow?
[01:37:18] Speaker I: Something like that, yeah, I'm half expecting to see St. Peter with his big book. I am not looking forward to the riot act and the list of sins I'm about to hear from St. Peter.
[01:37:32] Speaker C: Well, I have good news for you on that front, because there's no one waiting for you on the other side. In fact, there is no other side.
There are two feelings that are going to overwhelm you in the same moment. The first is the mind shattering revelation of not being dead because you can't comprehend what's actually happened to you. At the very least, vampires aren't real. And even if you understood that they existed, the mechanics of what has happened to you, the actual magic or curse or biology, however this transformation works, it's so far beyond the realm of your wildest conception.
But you felt yourself die, and now you feel yourself live. And I expect that might cause any number of emotions to come to the surface. Confusion, fear, elation, perhaps.
But whatever emotion you pick from that list, that's not what you find.
Your reawakening, your glorious rebirth, is met only with hunger, deep and rich and roiling, overpowering in your stomach. Even when you imagine what it's like to be starving in a past life, when you speak of it euphemistically, that concept is offensive in the face of what you feel right now, not only in your stomach, but in your chest, sticking to your ribs, in that little tiny cluster of neurons in the very bottom, reptile part of your brain.
Whatever you have wanted at any point in your life before or your life after, there will never be anything you want more right now than to feed.
And that urge is alien, because it's not a hunger for a cheeseburger or a milkshake or a pitcher of dime beer at your favorite dive.
The metaphor of consumption connects, but the particular substance that you require to quench that urge is instinctual, that comes from somewhere else, that something simultaneously outside of you, but also in.
It's too early for you to understand the nature of the creature that now nests inside your soul, but it understands you perfectly.
And as your shoulders rise up from the cold concrete still stained with what remains of your life's essence, it's driving your eyes to survey the situation. Not to the two kindred fighting above you, but to the container. And in a way you've never experienced before. Even at this distance, even given the sounds of combat, your eyes can trace the individual veins and arteries in the exposed skin, and you can hear on the wind, like an owl or a bat might the threadbeare rapid pulse.
At this point, your body and your mind are not entirely your own, Alex.
You will feed.
And even if you don't understand what that means, even if you don't understand the consequences that it will soon bring, you know it's going to be violent.
And you know you can't say no.
In fact, the only choice you have as this situation unfolds is probably one you don't want to make.
Because this beast, this creature, this demon, has afforded you only one little piece of input in what's about to happen.
And that's which of these women you're going to use to satiate that urge.
Now, what I need you to understand, Alex, is that the choice you make right now is going to follow you for the rest of your life.
When you close your eyes to greet the day sleep, this is the face that will follow you when you reflect in the centuries to come about the monstrous things that being kindred makes you do, this will be the original sin. You will give her a name. You will see her in your dreams.
When a face like this drifts across the crowd, it will bring you crashing down from whatever moment you exist in and remind you that you are a predator.
You are vile. You are profane. Your existence is an affront to the universe.
So with whatever shred of honest dignity, with whatever sentimental attachment you have to a particular hair color, a particular eye color, the shape of someone's legs, even their cup size, tell me who you pick and why you picked her instead of somebody else.
[01:42:55] Speaker G: Looking around.
[01:42:58] Speaker I: I begin my hunt, preying.
[01:43:02] Speaker G: On the fear of each woman's weakness.
[01:43:08] Speaker I: Until I find one that seems either.
[01:43:13] Speaker G: Immobilized by fear or challenging me. Emboldened by it.
I lock eyes with her, my mouth agape. I'm breathing heavy, if it's even breathing, I start to stalk up to her.
A little part of me is still there, is begging me not to do this. But my entire body is on fire.
And my stomach, like a second mouth, bears its fangs and gnashes and pain and hunger.
She looks to me, her blue eyes, as they challenge me. They are so sad.
She is so terrified. And she's so angry at me. And she has every right to be.
Her freckles dot her skin like a garden.
Little imperfect roses right across her nose and cheeks. And I can see it go down her neck.
Her thin, ivory neck be speckled as it is.
Her hair, a deep red, almost. Almost like copper or blood. Just a bright red.
Her body.
Maybe she was a dancer.
Maybe she was a poet, an artist. Or just someone who enjoyed the little things in life.
As she raises a hand, I take her by the wrist.
She's trying to fight, but she is not strong enough. I am enthralled by the challenge. My hunger grows as I feel my teeth ache and itch for her skin.
I put my other hand on her throat and I shove her against the.
[01:45:24] Speaker I: Back of this cold metal cell.
[01:45:27] Speaker G: And some part of me sees both her challenge and her weakness. And because of that, I feel that.
[01:45:33] Speaker I: I am allowed to just take it.
[01:45:35] Speaker G: My teeth dive into her flesh, and.
[01:45:42] Speaker I: As I can feel her hands pummel.
[01:45:44] Speaker G: Me and pelt me, trying to fight me off, I can't.
She doesn't want me to do this. I don't want me to be doing this. But everything about me screaming, yes. In this moment, I'm feeding myself a meal for the first time, like I'm drinking water. As simple as that.
My hand is punching the steel wall with anger and rage and joy and pleasure as my teeth just tear until it's not even there anymore.
She's not even there anymore.
Her whole body has gone limp. And I just keep chewing and biting and tearing like a dog. Like a goddamn dog. I'm just yanking and mauling at this point. I don't even know what's there anymore.
[01:46:44] Speaker C: Where does the thirst stop? Where does the anger begin?
How much of this is you in a confused moment?
How much of it is this new creature that makes demands of you? Is this someone you always were and never knew?
Is the Alex Scott, who tears into this woman like meat?
Who looks at another human being the way that a predator looks at a scared deer or a wounded animal?
Is that you?
[01:47:20] Speaker G: No, it can't be. I try so hard. I try so fucking hard to make people feel safe around me. I try so fucking hard to be a protector, to be a good man. I try so fucking hard so that people don't have to feel like they just live in a dangerous world.
And now I'm being that. I'm being the danger. I'm being the thing. I don't want to be that society has always told me that I am.
But it feels good.
How good it feels.
[01:48:00] Speaker C: Oh, I don't believe you, Alex. Because a good person wouldn't do what you just did.
It doesn't matter what kind of moral code you ascribe to what kind of upbringing you had, what religious tradition you've been indoctrinated into, the fact that you did it is horrible. The fact that you enjoyed it, reprehensible.
You took pleasure in this. You will continue to take pleasure in this.
And you can feel guilty about it all you want.
But that doesn't change the fact that as you drain her, as you feel her heart stop, the way your heart stopped, as you make the connection between what has happened to you and what has happened to her, as you come to the realization that you have ended a life, your first thought is being upset there wasn't more to drink down.
I'm going to let you simmer with that for a minute, because you're not the only person who has things to deal with right now.
And, Joshua, from the corner of your eye, you might see Alex charging off towards the shipping container, but you've been in this kindred business long enough to know what that means.
It's not like you have to spend any of your own attention to double check.
[01:49:22] Speaker B: Your last attack has staggered your victim.
[01:49:26] Speaker C: Maybe it's the surprise of having being bested or the special fury of your blows, but he's off balance now, his posture having shifted from offensive to defensive, reaching up with reflexive human instinct to guard the wounded parts of his body.
But just as Alex has made a decision on impulse, driven by a creature who doesn't care much for his humanity or the rules of polite behavior, so, too, are you.
And that animal, that violent predator with its red eyes and insatiable hunger makes a similar demand.
Alex feeds because he is hungry, and it is his nature.
But your thirst isn't for blood. Not right now. It's for justice.
And your progenitor makes a very special demand in moments like these, doesn't he?
[01:50:19] Speaker H: The blood of Hakeem, even now, screams for what I always knew I was going to do.
We're out here, just him and me.
He's an outlaw.
I don't think anybody would be comfortable with what I always intended to do to this man. But neither will anybody object.
Neither would anybody object.
[01:50:51] Speaker C: The perks of the office.
[01:50:54] Speaker H: So I do what I was always going to do, what I intended to do from the moment I saw this filth.
[01:51:06] Speaker C: Two monsters and two victims.
Two matching crimes.
Two jaws and two necks.
Two hearts that stop beating.
Two otherwise innocent people who, in lives past and lives present, consider them a beacon of light in what is otherwise a dark world.
A police officer whose only desires to see criminals brought to justice, and a young chicagoan who only wanted to step up and do the right thing.
When the night began, the two of you were so far apart, existing in two entirely separate worlds. And now, like an eclipse, your paths have crossed.
Two acts of violence brought to culmination by desires that you don't understand and can't control.
The timing of it doesn't matter so much. It's going to take Alex an eternity to process what he's just done. Joshua, I'm sure your conscience is better prepared to handle it. But regardless, there's a fog to this moment. The bliss of the first feed and the satisfaction of justice delivered.
Joshua, you rise from your victim to find the first having disappeared.
No worries.
You are a hunter. You excel at this kind of thing. And the fact that he escaped only gives you something to look forward to.
But you are a logical man. You pride yourself on your ability to.
[01:52:40] Speaker B: Keep handle of the situation right?
[01:52:44] Speaker C: So how long does it take you to recover from the joy of having consumed a soul and turn your attention to the animal currently wreaking havoc among the already downtrodden victims?
[01:52:58] Speaker H: It doesn't take long.
If anything, I somewhat resent not having more of a chance to revel in the feeling of this one's soul entering me. The feeling of ridding the world of yet another kindred. Who would do this to the kind?
Maybe I'd even allow myself a victorious predator's howl. But there's not time for that now.
So with a shudder, with a slow blink, I regain control of my faculties and turn towards this new one.
[01:53:42] Speaker C: What does he find? Alex, the hunger inside of you has been temporarily satiated.
You feel more full than you ever have in your life before.
That doesn't change the haunting terror that lurks just beyond the horizon. The knowledge, instinctually, that even having eaten your fill, that desire will return soon enough.
[01:54:12] Speaker G: Inside the metal container, I'm on my knees, clutching this woman's body close to me. Rocking with it.
I don't know if I can say rocking with her anymore.
Rocking with her body.
Cradling it and looking into her eyes in horror. My eyebrows are arched, begging for forgiveness as I trace her face with my hand, weeping, if I can even muster the tears. And I just keep saying over and over again, the only words I can find myself to say.
I'm so sorry. You didn't deserve this. I'm so sorry. I just wanted to be helpful. That you didn't deserve this. I'm so sorry.
You didn't deserve this. I am so sorry. Just wanted to be helpful. You didn't deserve this.
And then he woke up. Something. A presence.
I don't know who you are, Mr.
My name is Alex. Alex Scott. And I think I committed a murder.
And I don't know. I don't know what I'm doing anymore.
[01:55:33] Speaker C: You know what you have to do, Joshua.
The society you live in only works because there are rules. The list is short, so it's easy to remember.
[01:55:45] Speaker H: I know what I have to do, but unlike what I just have done, there's no joy in it. There's nothing to be satisfied.
He hasn't done anything wrong. He's just the rabid dog, the bit of kid, and well, the prince entrusts me to put those down.
[01:56:11] Speaker C: It's that simple.
There's nothing in those eyes you don't see. The weakness, the remorse.
There honestly no part of you that has sympathy for his circumstances?
[01:56:25] Speaker H: Of course I sympathize with him. In a time long since dead, I was Mr. Alex here I was kneeling on the floor before someone unguesably stronger than me.
I was clutching the body of someone I had just drunk dry. So of course I sympathize with them. Of course I wish there was a different solution to this, but there simply isn't.
[01:56:55] Speaker C: No, you're a creature of the law.
And if there's one thing we've learned tonight, it's the power that our natures have over us.
[01:57:06] Speaker G: I look at this tall new stranger standing in front of me.
I'm shaking.
Hello there, Mr. My name is Alex Scott.
If you've come to enact more violence, you should be aware that I have activated the emergency system of my phone. The emergency system of my phone and the police should be on their way.
So please do the right thing, okay? For love of God, someone do the right thing tonight, okay? And just go away.
[01:57:48] Speaker H: I pause, relax. My clenched hand.
You what?
[01:57:58] Speaker G: I notified the police through the emergency system of my cell phone.
[01:58:04] Speaker H: I let out an irritated huff.
I don't know why I bother making plans tonight, because each and every one of them has been fucked.
I'm not going to have time to deal with this guy before the police arrive. I mean, he must have done before he was attacked and given response times in Boston. I can guess that. Well, Chicago PD is on their way here.
[01:58:32] Speaker C: You have minutes to decide.
[01:58:37] Speaker H: It doesn't take me that long.
It's easy enough. Just take him to my car, drive him somewhere else and do it there doesn't matter where it is. I mean, all it's going to be there is a pile of ash anyway.
I look down at this man, reach a hand down to him.
Come with me, Alex.
I'm gonna take you somewhere.
[01:59:03] Speaker G: Yeah, okay.
I can feel my head nodding like.
[01:59:09] Speaker I: A child being told that everything's going to be okay.
[01:59:14] Speaker G: And like a child.
[01:59:17] Speaker I: I take the wondrous and amazing thing I broke and leave it behind.
[01:59:23] Speaker G: And I can't help her anymore.
[01:59:26] Speaker I: And scolded into my very being.
[01:59:30] Speaker G: I just hang my head low and.
[01:59:32] Speaker I: Follow this man wherever he intends to take me.
[01:59:37] Speaker C: Joshua, it wasn't that long ago that you were a father.
And as I recall, you took a certain amount of pride in your ability to guide a wounded spirit back to solid ground. Now, a lot's changed for you since the embrace, and since you arrived in Chicago.
But fuck, Josh, don't tell me you've lost that part of yourself.
Don't tell me you've given that up to the beast.
[02:00:03] Speaker H: I have never stopped being Isaac's father. And I will never stop being Isaac's father.
Even the simple way this one takes my hand follows along.
[02:00:20] Speaker G: Fuck.
[02:00:23] Speaker H: I never even got to see Isaac as a toddler.
But just the way this one walks produces a reaction I couldn't have expected.
But also one that I can't pay attention to. I say nothing as I lead him back to the Oldsmobile, guide him into the front passenger seat, shut the door behind him, then walk around, climb behind the wheel, and start it up.
[02:00:56] Speaker C: Where are we going?
[02:00:58] Speaker H: There's one place I know for certain. Someone can deal with a vampire that needs killing. The park. We killed Melenkov. Hell, that was a whole party.
[02:01:09] Speaker C: No one around for miles.
[02:01:12] Speaker H: So I start heading there. It'll be easy. Just take him as close to the center of the place as I can get him. Go behind a bush and do what I need to.
[02:01:23] Speaker C: Alex, I understand you're not possessed of the full spectrum of your faculties. This moment been a bit of a night for you. But as your brain tries to piece together the circumstances, tries to make sense of what has happened, what's ratling around in your skull.
Stranger's taking you somewhere. He's promised you safety, but you recognize in him the same thing you recognized in the man who attacked you. The same thing you recognized in yourself not too long ago.
Josh was not a safe person.
And yet, here you are.
[02:01:58] Speaker G: I feel very numb, very exhausted.
Emotionally, I feel cold and drained.
[02:02:11] Speaker I: My brain is considering that this may be a danger. That maybe this man plans to harm me or kill me.
And while there's a voice in my head that tells me to fight, to rise up, to break this man and ruin this car and flee, another part of me just wants to sit there and recover in the car, I think I have one fist balled up and the other limply laying in my lap.
And I guess I'm just going to have to see where this goes.
[02:02:54] Speaker C: The drive is uncomfortable enough, but the silence is going to make it agonizing.
[02:03:00] Speaker H: Not just the silence.
I know enough by now to recognize a kindred who is struggling with the beast.
I mean, seeing John Thickett's driving me somewhere unknown, the same way I'm doing to Alex now, it's not an expression you easily forget.
And this one doesn't know how to tame the beast yet.
He's brand new.
The chance is too good that he gives in. The beast takes over, and, well, we're going to have a much bigger problem.
So I do the only thing I really can do. I clear my throat, turn to him, say, so, what's your story?
[02:03:58] Speaker G: I was just trying to improve myself.
My name is Alex.
[02:04:04] Speaker I: I'm a security guard.
[02:04:10] Speaker G: Dual patrols, that kind of thing.
Yeah?
[02:04:21] Speaker H: Improve yourself how?
[02:04:23] Speaker G: Oh, gosh, it's kind of embarrassing.
[02:04:30] Speaker I: I always wanted to do something great with my life, and I thought being a security guard would be a good way to help people and protect them. And it's not. It's mostly just guard dog duty. And so I started taking mixed martial arts classes and doing cardio and running and studying law and, I don't know, philosophy. And I was just out running tonight, and that's when I saw everything.
[02:05:05] Speaker C: Wait a minute.
That sounds familiar.
Where have I heard that before?
[02:05:12] Speaker H: Josh, it hasn't gone unnoticed.
It's the stupid idiot thing to do, but I keep pressing.
Well, where are you from?
Got a family or on your.
[02:05:29] Speaker G: Uh.
[02:05:31] Speaker I: Yeah. No, I live here. Just off the irish sector. I have a roommate, Ricky J. I've been good friends since college. High school, actually. But we became really good friends in college. My mom and dad, they moved out to Missouri. I haven't seen him since.
They wanted to get the quiet country life, and I just love the hustle.
[02:05:55] Speaker G: And bustle of the city too much.
[02:05:57] Speaker H: You got a wife? Girlfriend, whatever?
[02:06:00] Speaker I: No, on both counts.
Been single and awkward for quite some time. But it'll be worth it. It'll all be worth it when I find her. Somewhere out there, there's that one in a billion. You know what I mean? The soul mate. I don't know. It sounds naive, but I can't help but feel like she's out there.
[02:06:24] Speaker G: I guess.
[02:06:27] Speaker I: If I can meet her.
[02:06:28] Speaker G: One day, though, that's going to be, I think, the happiest day of my life.
[02:06:33] Speaker H: Under my breath, I say, yeah, she was out there.
And for the first time, I look at Alex. Not just look down at him, but really look.
And it strikes me that he can't be that far from where I was when I met Rachel. And yet, he'll never meet that one.
He'll never get to.
Because there is no love in our world.
There's only manipulation and domineering.
[02:07:12] Speaker C: We're talking around a little bit, Josh, but I gotta know, are you gonna be able to do this or not?
[02:07:18] Speaker H: I look at him again, really take him in. This scared kid who just wanted to do better for himself, to help other people the best way he could, who just wants to find the one. And I realize he's been robbed of all of those things.
But maybe, just maybe, he could be a lot more.
[02:07:44] Speaker B: Now.
[02:07:47] Speaker H: Before I can even begin to talk myself out of it, I jerk the wheel, pull into an illegal u turn, and start speeding the other direction.
[02:07:58] Speaker C: Whoa.
[02:07:59] Speaker G: Fuck. Jesus, what was that?
[02:08:02] Speaker I: Where are we going?
[02:08:03] Speaker H: I wouldn't worry about it. Without another word, another glance. I drive deep into his chest. What? I've had my fingers curled around the whole time.
[02:08:16] Speaker C: The spear of sharpened wood cleaves your flesh, Alex.
Is it the second time tonight that you're going to die?
You wish.
The very moment that first barest splinter of oak pierces your heart, you feel your body go rigid, frozen in time, in whatever position you were holding in the moment, whatever confused look on your face now, rendered immortal. You're a statue, barely capable of moving. Your eyes.
You can hear, you can see.
You know, biologically, this should kill you. And yet you are only unmoving. Rigid in a way that we thought Joshua's moral code was ridged in a way that his attachment to humanity turned out to be.
I don't know where we're going, Josh, but I have an inkling as for what you're going to say when you get there. That's a story for another night.
[02:09:20] Speaker A: You've been listening to the all night society, an actual play podcast brought to you by Queen's court games. If you've enjoyed your stay, consider supporting us on Patreon for access to exclusive art, audio, and private fan only games. For more content, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok at Queens court games or on Twitter at Queens court Rpg.
