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Val called Saturday afternoon, so I briefly excused myself from my self-imposed servitude to the Glass Walker elder--they drink a /lot/ of caffeine--to rendezvous with the resident corax on the rooftop of the Walkers' apartment complex. We had a good chat, catching up a little bit about what we'd both been up to. She and Thomas have already had a falling out--apparently he finds her haughty. She likes Baukhain, despite her being a cat, and remarked that her coloration is odd--so she's seen the actual Tiger inside. And she's looking to get in on the scouting of the caern, but Thomas apparently cock-blocked her--so I directed her to Lefty so she could bypass all the middle men. I discovered that Val is fairly adept at changing rapidly to and from her raven form. I'd mentioned how her sitting on the edge of the roof made me nervous, and she grinned, leaned back, and fell off the building. In another situation and without preface, I'd have probably flipped out; but this was clearly an intentional act. Our conversation resumed and I have to admit I was half-tempted to throw myself off the roof and land safely below; however, a mage's magic is dynamic, more potent, and (regrettably) less reliable than the static employed so easily and without risk by the shapeshifters. I opted to be discreet and safe: afterall, an intentional and pointless 5-story drop to a cement alleyway would be a rather stupid way for a mage to slip his earthly shackles, no?
About this time, Quin showed up--conveniently excusing myself from attempting any death-defying shenanigans--and we three resumed our discussion about developing a crime lab of sorts. I'm not entirely crystal clear on what it is that Quin wants to do, nor do I have the heart to tell him I can already do pretty much anything the expensive equipment he wants to purchase can do. (Hey, it'll makes my use of magic in the lab exquisitely coincidental.) He gave me a key and passcard to the lab. Looks like I'll be their (very part-time) computer crimes and cryptography specialist. The group eventually disbanded, and I went back downstairs to check on Mouse.
In my absence, Mouse had been healed by someone and transitioned herself to the break room. (It seems it is, literally, the room in which things are to be broken in this particular domicile. Excuse me if I decline to partake.) Lefty was present, so I assume she had finally located a healer; however, there seemed to be some tension in the air between them. I offered a greeting, hoping that my presence might prompt them to be more civil, but I opted to stay out of the way--just in case. I told Lefty I'd pointed Val her way for volunteering for the scouting mission, but Lefty doesn't seem to want Val involved. I'd assumed--and said--that it made sense not to let anything weird into the caern (and Mouse got a wink at that one since I recently rode her piggy-back through the caern. Mouse kept poking at Lefty though, and Lefty finally departed in a huff.
Figuring I might be the next available target for Mouse's frustration, I went to excuse myself. On my way out, she mentioned how she was a terrible fighter and that a metis with a spinal deformity like hers, in another tribe, might be culled outright. Before I knew what I was doing, I told her that effective leadership of a tribe seemed to facilitate the effectiveness of that tribe's ability to wage war; that without her present, the Glass Walkers were falling apart; and that if all the garou--including the Glass Walkers--valued was physical strength and who had the biggest dick to wave about, then I'd picked the wrong tribe to affiliate myself with. THAT seemed to give Mouse a big lift, though I half expected her to come at me from across the room after that last bit alluding to a potential defection left my lips.
We had a sensible and hopefully productive conversation afterwards. How Mouse could build bridges between the Walkers at the safehouse and the Walkers at Terminus by using Terminus' facilities as a place to train Walker cubs and cliaths on hacking, security systems and bypassing them, corporate etiquette, and other skills that would be useful to the Glass Walkers in dealing with people and companies within the city. How Mouse could learn more about the cybernetic research that's rumored to be going on there by seeing about getting them to build her an orthotic spinal support designed to help strengthen her spine and take weight off of it. We discussed a trip to Mount St. Helens to determine where the stolen wasp princess should be deposited, and I offered the use of my Winnebago as a mobile HQ--and my services in an overwatch and scouting capacity. (Mouse thought bringing Salem would be a good idea. I suggested, if he was unavailable, that my second choice would be Emma--providing she didn't fly off the handle emotionally about what I was--followed by Kavi or Nieve. I'm not very close to either of the latter, but figured they'd be relatively open, reliable, and discreet. Mouse, however, thought Kavi would be the best choice if Salem were unable to participate.) Finally, I disclosed to Mouse that Carmen mentioned she had a childhood friend who was a mage, good with computers, and whom she'd introduced to the Glass Walkers in Los Angeles--apparently the sept there is called "Steel Angel." He helped the Walkers out when they became perplexed by certain computer-related issues, and I mentioned that if the local Walkers had any seemingly impossible computer problems, I had some skills in that area.
I spent the evening painting the interior of the van with a rubberizing paint. Blood and whatnot will wash right out, now. I took care to wear a hair net, latex gloves, etc. Leaving no usable genetic materials or fingerprints anywhere inside. Next step will be to vacuum and bleach it from top to bottom, destroying evidence. Although-- Maybe instead of destroying evidence, we should plant red herrings. I wonder if I can get hair sweepings from the trash behind a barber shop. Want to run DNA tests on everyone who had their hair cut at the barber shop that day? That.... might be better than keeping the thing spotless. Or... a hair-bomb. I bet I could rig something with a CO2 cartridge so that rupturing in by hitting a button blows hair trimmings out all over the inside of the vehicle. That... merits looking into. And it'd be relatively inconspicuous--looking like a modified dome light that doesn't work. Hmmm.
I debated popping over to the umbra at the cabin, but decided against it: Mouse might want to pull up stakes and go on a road trip at any time, and I'll need my talisman in ready-to-use condition. Instead, I thought about potential applications of Mind magick. I can affect someone's perceptions to turn myself invisible (to one viewer, at least), and I imagine I can give someone the migraine to end all migraines if I wanted to. But.... You know the whole thing about witches turning people into frogs and newts? Could I alter someone's perceptions enough to make them believe they'd been turned into a newt? I bet it'd be tricky, and I'd need a base reference point--some experience poking around in a newt's head to feel what it is they normally sense. But I bet I could pull it off if I had some time to do some ritual magic--or blew some tass and got lucky. For pre-newt/frog practice, I observed and mentally "rode" LOLCat for a bit. Unfortunately, all he wanted to do was lay around like a lazy house cat. I broke the link right before he decided to start licking his crotch. Ew, gross.
About this time, Quin showed up--conveniently excusing myself from attempting any death-defying shenanigans--and we three resumed our discussion about developing a crime lab of sorts. I'm not entirely crystal clear on what it is that Quin wants to do, nor do I have the heart to tell him I can already do pretty much anything the expensive equipment he wants to purchase can do. (Hey, it'll makes my use of magic in the lab exquisitely coincidental.) He gave me a key and passcard to the lab. Looks like I'll be their (very part-time) computer crimes and cryptography specialist. The group eventually disbanded, and I went back downstairs to check on Mouse.
In my absence, Mouse had been healed by someone and transitioned herself to the break room. (It seems it is, literally, the room in which things are to be broken in this particular domicile. Excuse me if I decline to partake.) Lefty was present, so I assume she had finally located a healer; however, there seemed to be some tension in the air between them. I offered a greeting, hoping that my presence might prompt them to be more civil, but I opted to stay out of the way--just in case. I told Lefty I'd pointed Val her way for volunteering for the scouting mission, but Lefty doesn't seem to want Val involved. I'd assumed--and said--that it made sense not to let anything weird into the caern (and Mouse got a wink at that one since I recently rode her piggy-back through the caern. Mouse kept poking at Lefty though, and Lefty finally departed in a huff.
Figuring I might be the next available target for Mouse's frustration, I went to excuse myself. On my way out, she mentioned how she was a terrible fighter and that a metis with a spinal deformity like hers, in another tribe, might be culled outright. Before I knew what I was doing, I told her that effective leadership of a tribe seemed to facilitate the effectiveness of that tribe's ability to wage war; that without her present, the Glass Walkers were falling apart; and that if all the garou--including the Glass Walkers--valued was physical strength and who had the biggest dick to wave about, then I'd picked the wrong tribe to affiliate myself with. THAT seemed to give Mouse a big lift, though I half expected her to come at me from across the room after that last bit alluding to a potential defection left my lips.
We had a sensible and hopefully productive conversation afterwards. How Mouse could build bridges between the Walkers at the safehouse and the Walkers at Terminus by using Terminus' facilities as a place to train Walker cubs and cliaths on hacking, security systems and bypassing them, corporate etiquette, and other skills that would be useful to the Glass Walkers in dealing with people and companies within the city. How Mouse could learn more about the cybernetic research that's rumored to be going on there by seeing about getting them to build her an orthotic spinal support designed to help strengthen her spine and take weight off of it. We discussed a trip to Mount St. Helens to determine where the stolen wasp princess should be deposited, and I offered the use of my Winnebago as a mobile HQ--and my services in an overwatch and scouting capacity. (Mouse thought bringing Salem would be a good idea. I suggested, if he was unavailable, that my second choice would be Emma--providing she didn't fly off the handle emotionally about what I was--followed by Kavi or Nieve. I'm not very close to either of the latter, but figured they'd be relatively open, reliable, and discreet. Mouse, however, thought Kavi would be the best choice if Salem were unable to participate.) Finally, I disclosed to Mouse that Carmen mentioned she had a childhood friend who was a mage, good with computers, and whom she'd introduced to the Glass Walkers in Los Angeles--apparently the sept there is called "Steel Angel." He helped the Walkers out when they became perplexed by certain computer-related issues, and I mentioned that if the local Walkers had any seemingly impossible computer problems, I had some skills in that area.
I spent the evening painting the interior of the van with a rubberizing paint. Blood and whatnot will wash right out, now. I took care to wear a hair net, latex gloves, etc. Leaving no usable genetic materials or fingerprints anywhere inside. Next step will be to vacuum and bleach it from top to bottom, destroying evidence. Although-- Maybe instead of destroying evidence, we should plant red herrings. I wonder if I can get hair sweepings from the trash behind a barber shop. Want to run DNA tests on everyone who had their hair cut at the barber shop that day? That.... might be better than keeping the thing spotless. Or... a hair-bomb. I bet I could rig something with a CO2 cartridge so that rupturing in by hitting a button blows hair trimmings out all over the inside of the vehicle. That... merits looking into. And it'd be relatively inconspicuous--looking like a modified dome light that doesn't work. Hmmm.
I debated popping over to the umbra at the cabin, but decided against it: Mouse might want to pull up stakes and go on a road trip at any time, and I'll need my talisman in ready-to-use condition. Instead, I thought about potential applications of Mind magick. I can affect someone's perceptions to turn myself invisible (to one viewer, at least), and I imagine I can give someone the migraine to end all migraines if I wanted to. But.... You know the whole thing about witches turning people into frogs and newts? Could I alter someone's perceptions enough to make them believe they'd been turned into a newt? I bet it'd be tricky, and I'd need a base reference point--some experience poking around in a newt's head to feel what it is they normally sense. But I bet I could pull it off if I had some time to do some ritual magic--or blew some tass and got lucky. For pre-newt/frog practice, I observed and mentally "rode" LOLCat for a bit. Unfortunately, all he wanted to do was lay around like a lazy house cat. I broke the link right before he decided to start licking his crotch. Ew, gross.
