Dead mage. Walkers and guns. Emma is back!

[nick_garou]

On Thursday, I got a semi-cryptic e-mail from Val suggesting that I contact her ASAP to have a face-to-face discussion. (Discussing the kind of things we discuss over the phone or over e-mail is just asking for trouble via the Technocracy.) I went to Val's new apartment over her cafe and she told me that a mage (a Howard Smith from Oregon) had had an encounter out in the woods with Val and a garou--and he was now dead. Except he supposedly died in a car wreck shortly after the encounter, not at the hands of a garou. Val claimed she believed he'd been with the Sons of Ether because he had three gadgets: (1) some kind of computer tablet device that was in the garou's possession, (2) a very dangerous ray gun that can vaporize flesh and is currently possessed by Val and stashed in a safe place somewhere, and (3) a destroyed train-track car of some sort that the police have in impound.

If they're lucky, it was a Son of Ether who  died. And he died alone and with no one who'll be coming into the area and tracking things down.

If they're unlucky, more mages might show up.

If they're super unlucky, he was a forward scout or explorer with the Technocracy, in which case they're probably screwed.

I got a little annoyed that Val'd invited me over to tell me this and had the ray gun hidden in some other location. (Plus she'd used that damn stormcrow spirit sidekick of hers to recover the gun from the evidence room. I really do not trust that thing at all. Anything with ties to the Shadow Lords is best avoided completely. That thing is going to bite her one day. Hard. Just wait.) If that ray gun a talisman, it should NOT be possessed by a Corax--just like I'd turn a fetish over to the garou if I found what was obviously a garou or corax fetish. As Val was talking about having hidden it elsewhere and busying herself with making dinner for her and another raven that was present, I.... You know, she just came across as being smug. Maybe I'm misreading her? Maybe not. 

I had this impulse to use some Mind magick and then just ask her if the hiding spot she'd chosen for the gun was safe, then just rip the location from her surface thoughts without her knowing about it. I could go get the damn thing myself. I didn't act on that impulse, but it was weird and disconcerting that I simply had that kind of an aggressive thought at all. Why the hell would that thought even pop into my head? I might need to do some soul-searching and introspection, because, seriously. WTF? You don't do that to a friend. Even if they are being a smug asshole.

One of the garou has the tablet, which could be good even more dangerous than the gun--and might also be a talisman. If the garou that has it (and Val didn't mention any name here) did something like taking the tablet to the caern, and if the tablet has a tracking device, then it's entirely possible that whatever route she took was logged, compiled, and communicated back to a repository. If she took it to a caern or a safehouse or other place where garou congregate.... Hell, that could be handing location data on the caern straight to the Technocracy. And they'd be lucky if all that was being relayed was GPS positioning over time.

After I left Val's place, I drove out to the police impound lot and parked my car two blocks away. It didn't take much scrying to find the "train track car" Val mentioned, although her description of it was extremely misleading. I was looking for something that'd ride on railroad tracks, not the heavily modified 4-wheeler that'd been smashed to bits. Hell, I might have completely overlooked it had I not been sweeping the area for signs of stored quintessence. I used a little Time and Mind magick to get a feel for what the vehicle used to look like and its purpose. It was basically just a run-silent electric 4-wheeler with a specialized battery pack that could hold far more of a charge than any normal battery pack. (Neat idea. Elon Musk would kill for that kind of technology/magick.) It didn't have the "scent" of maliciousness about it or its design. I think it was just designed as transportation. It wasn't a talisman, which both sucks (because I'd have certainly looked into recovering it for my own use/study) and brings relief (because if the electro-4-wheeler is not a powerful and dangerous talisman, then perhaps the other two artifacts are equally non-dangerous. I debated sucking the last bit of tass out of the vehicle, but I decided against it on the off chance that if it is Technocracy-related and they come looking, they might see the drained tass, try and track me down, and then come after me.

Coming back to the apartment, and taking the stairs, I heard a scuffle--and growls and panicked whines--on a different level. Two garou. I listened but stayed out of it. Eventually it ended. Clarice and Rhys having an argument. Sounded like Rhys did not want to be shot, but Clarice insisted that he be shot. I've heard that Walker cubs get put through that at one point, but I half-believed it was a joke. I guess it isn't? I backed out of the stairwell and opted to use the elevator to get to my room, bypassing that entire scene. My sympathies, Rhys. :/

I was up most of the night dwelling on what I'd learned. And thinking about where the hell I'd gotten that "rape Val's mind and take what is not hers!!!" impulse from. So I wasn't entirely functional on Friday morning. I went to the park to keep an eye on things and, honestly, more importantly, to just sit and meditate and center myself at the node there. That didn't happen. On the way into the park, I spotted an abandoned bag on a park bench. As I got closer, I saw it had NICK written on it in large letters. First though through my head? "It's a trap!" (Insert Admiral Ackbar voice here.) I kept on walking. That prompted one hoodie-wearing figure to move to intercept me. Casual intercept, not a charge. CRAP! A scrolling list of people--and things--who might be after me went through the back of my mind as I reached out with some sensory magick to determine who or what was coming towards me. I got absolutely no reading at all off the figure. And I loaned my concealed carry pistol to Rhys to help him overcome his fear of guns. I had a couple pen tasers and a stungun cell phone on me, so I had electricity at my immediate disposal if.... And then she spoke and I recognized her voice: Emma! (Jesus H. Christ. Am I paranoid or what?)

We caught up. The bag held a belated Christmas gift (and not a bomb): a nice charcoal grey longcoat. I told her I'd gotten her something as well, but it was at the Tenement in my apartment. (It's a nice surround sound system for her, Zoey, and her mom to better enjoy movies together, because Emma seems to really enjoy her family time when she can get it.) Emma's back because her athro challenge didn't actually get off the ground. The missing pack she was supposed to find? Not as missing as people thought earlier. So Emma gets a do-over at some point in the near future. We ended up back at her basement apartment (man, that place is a little creepy), chatting about whatnot and soforth while takeout was delivered, then we ate, crashed on the couch, and watched a movie. Well, Emma mostly got to watch the movie. I zonked out about midway through--stayed up too late the night before.

Emma continues to be a snuggler, but I'm not complaining. And she gave me a key to her place. I should probably reciprocate--and check on the policy of non-Walkers being allowed access to the Walker-only top floor. Oh, man. Overdue talk with Clarice. Gah. Maybe a key to the cabin instead? Why does this have to be complicated?