09:19 <banana>    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lD4sxxoJGkA
09:19 <banana>    -------------------------------------------
09:21 <banana>    The ten minutes it takes to sort out exactly where in the building you are and arrange for independent access to these nonliterally hallowed halls gives Lewis a chance to type up some notes onto a piece of paper which seems too small to contain its cryptic and supernal implications.
09:21 <Crion>     Cleaner will take stewardship of this unless someone else insists.
09:21 <VoxPVoxD>  The project certainly isn't suffering from lack of clerical skill.
09:22 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik only needs to read it once.
09:23 <banana>    With https://atlantisonthemoon.obsidianportal.com/wikis/lewis-org-chart in hand you're able to get out of the cosy but unprofessional breakroom and to the enormous carpark, from where Cynthia has promised a nearby diner. Is everyone going to try and pile into the same car?
09:23 <Crion>     Cleaner's four-door Impala can seat four.
09:23 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik hasn't got a car over here yet, so he's riding with whoever.
09:24 <Crion>     Does it bother him if Cleaner smokes in the car?
09:24 <VoxPVoxD>  It doesn't seem to.
09:24 <Crion>     It won't change Cleaner's behaivor, at least not this time, but Cleaner's interested in the reaction.
09:25 <banana>    The walk through Kennedy Space Center's squarish halls is easier out than in. Since it's now past ten, everyone's in offices and meeting rooms and laboratories. There's a lot of white around - engineers in coats, clerical staff in shirts or dresses. The whole place would look sterile if it wasn't bustling like a petri dish.
09:25 <Crion>     Mmm.
09:26 <Crion>     Do Orient or Cynthia need rides?
09:26 <Nicolae>   Cynthia has her own car, at least.
09:27 <banana>    Hanging suspended in one great hall is a rocket nozzle, decomissioned and fire-scarred - a survivor from the Saturn I, the first rocket the U.S. public was told surpassed Sputnik.
09:27 <Nicolae>   As we walk out of Kennedy Space Center, Cynthia makes some brief small talk in passing with a few scientists she recognizes, with little bursts of Fate magic here and there to try to help keep Apollo earthbound.
09:27 <Quaker>    Orient finds a phone and calls the hotel. (It’s me. We’re getting lunch. Come and join us.) He gives Isaias the address. He’ll ride with Cleaner and the Russian rocket scientist.
09:28 <banana>    Everything around here involves a lot of driving.. but you're hungry. It's only ten minutes to Sambo's.
09:28 <Crion>     To Orient, once they're outside: "How're you with guns?"
09:28 <banana>    Surprisingly good roads on the Cape.
09:29 <Crion>     He's not going to give the Italian the same song and dance he gave the Russian with the Model 27. Circumstances have changed.
09:29 <Quaker>    “As in, am I comfortable with them, or do I have one? Yes, for both.”
09:30 <Crion>     Cleaner: "You have it on you?"
09:30 <Quaker>    “I do not. It doesn’t fit in a pocket.”
09:31 <Nicolae>   Who's left to head to, ah, Sambo's with Cynthia?
09:32 <banana>    There shouldn't be any immediate need to shoot up the diner, if so. The place is a wide low building with a stucco and turquoise roof. A handpainted plaster statue of a tiger sits outside, surrounded by flamingos who don't seem to notice the danger they're in.
09:32 <Crion>     The deputy nods. "Then you ride shotgun. In the glovebox there's a revolver. Loaded, with another six rounds beside it. Just in case."
09:32 <banana>    Cynthia is either left alone in her own car, guiding the others, or has to supply directions from the back seat of Cleaner's. Probably depends on whether she needs an opportunity to take stock and cackle?
09:33 <Crion>     As they reach his Impala: "Either take it with you when you get out, or find something else. From now on, make sure you're carrying."
09:34 <Nicolae>   Cynthia would like the opportunity to take stock and cackle. Also, she's going to leave separately from the diner, because she actually does have a day job to get to.
09:35 <Crion>     Cleaner will be taking Orient and Henrik David to the diner, probably just following Cynthia's car.
09:35 <Quaker>    Orient blinks. Either it’s paranoia, which means working with him will be…a journey…or he’s justified, which means that somehow an enormously important Pyramid installation is also so insecure that its inhabitants can’t drive to a diner nearby without worry.
09:35 <banana>    The sun is already starting to try it on as the four members of Operations Pylon step inside. Florida's swampy air seems to dominate the salt you were previously breathing after even this ten-minute drive to the west - there's still the Indian River to cross before you really get to any towns, but it feels inland.
09:36 <Crion>     Cleaner sees the look. "War in Orlando. Rebels known to be active here."
09:37 <Crion>     Henrik David at least probably has picked up by now that 'rebels' is how Cleaner refers to Pentacle mages without having to use either of those two words.
09:37 <Nicolae>   Cynthia eventually pulls into Sambo's, hitting zero red lights on the way.
09:38 <Quaker>    Orient opens the glove box and puts the gun in his coat pocket. “I see. Is that where you worked, until now?”
09:38 <banana>    Smiling staff offer you ten-cent coffee, biscuits and slabs of chicken, all the Coke you can drink. The breakfast rush is over and you can find a booth that's relatively private, festooned with somewhat archaic murals. There's also table service, and a brown folder on the table marked with a rune in the High Speech - "Scorpion".
09:39 <Crion>     Cleaner pulls in four spaces away. The 1964 navy blue Impala is no one's idea of a plainclothes car, but it's got all the trappings, including the two-way radio. Cleaner hasn't turned it on for either car ride Henrik David's had with him.
09:39 <Crion>     Cleaner: "I was on assignment. You know about vampires?"
09:40 <Quaker>    Orient: “Some of my best friends are vampires.”
09:40 <VoxPVoxD>  For his part, Henrik sits quietly in the back, looking out the window. So much concrete. He'll greet Cynthia as he sits across from her in the booth. "Congratulations on your promotion."
09:40 <Crion>     Cleaner's silent for the barest second. "Then you know what it means when I say Orlando's full up on Sabbat."
09:42 <Crion>     When the deputy reaches their booth, he stares at the folder for the barest second. Does this place have a jukebox?
09:42 <Nicolae>   Cynthia slides into the booth. "Thank you! It's exciting, there's so much work to be done."
09:43 <Quaker>    Orient: “I’ve only ever heard of them through secondhand rumor. So I suppose that I don’t know about these vampires. Oh, by the way, my assistant will be joining us here at some point.” He sits down in the supersized, curving booth. “Black, 5’8’’, wears a tweed jacket.”
09:43 <Crion>     Cleaner: "That's fine."
09:43 <Crion>     "Get him a gun too."
09:43 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "You were on the project originally?"
09:44 <banana>    It does! This early in the day, nothing's playing - but the waitress taking your orders notices the glance and points out little wooden tokens next to each of your napkins. "Y'all can put on whatever you like. Must be another busy day out at NASA," she guesses.
09:45 <Crion>     Cleaner actually gives her an easy smile in return. "Yes ma'am. Have me babysitting again."
09:48 <banana>    The waitress makes appreciative noises at the non-joke and leaves the clearly very important Businessmen-and-woman to their breakfast.
09:48 <Crion>     The deputy doesn't make a big show of walking over to the jukebox and choosing a song, but behind those mirrored aviators he's looking over every other patron and staffer in the diner.
09:48 <Nicolae>   Cynthia smiles. "I was. It was a good time, but they needed someone to handle duties elsewhere in the organization, so I got taken off the rocket science. But now Apollo made it to space, and now I'm back to help fix things."
09:49 <Crion>     He doesn't put much thought into it; he just chooses a song whose title he recognizes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5eoH4-5z4w
09:49 <Nicolae>   The tone of Cynthia's voice suggests, just a bit, that she thinks if she hadn't been taken away from more direct influence on Apollo, those astronauts would never have crossed the stratosphere.
09:49 <Crion>     Then he's headed back over to the booth.
09:50 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik's flipping through the menu. "What do you make of our colleagues in Operations?"
09:50 <banana>    They seemed to like you. Mostly.
09:52 <Crion>     Other than the shotgun over the door to the kitchen, the only guns in the room are his and Orient's. Seems fine.
09:52 <Crion>     He'll take a seat on the outside, probably next to Henrik David if he's looking across the table at Cynthia.
09:52 <banana>    https://i.imgur.com/K3yOH85.jpg The diner seems as concerned with selling merchandise as food, though food they have.
09:55 <Crion>     When there's a lull in the conversation: "Do either of you need a car?" That's to Orient and Henrik David.
09:56 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "I do." He orders the "Chicken-Fried Steak", the "Biscuits & Gravy", and a Coca-Cola. Everybody knows Coca-Cola.
09:57 <Nicolae>   What impressions of Fate and Time did Cynthia get from meeting Operations Pylon? "These guys are destined to be close companions to us"? "Doomed, utterly"? Something else?
09:58 <banana>    It's got to be one of the most smuggled commodities, but even so only the elite back home managed to get access. Henrik didn't even count as elite for that purpose - he was only a powerful member of a secret magical conspiracy, not Inner Party. Soviet soft drinks are fine, of course, of course. But there's something special about the Coke.
09:58 <Quaker>    “Yes.” He orders the steak sandwich, with fries and unsweetened iced tea. Coke’s too sweet. Funny thing is, they like to put sugar in the tea down here, too.
10:00 <Crion>     To the two of them: "They won't be pretty but they'll do. I can look into getting licenses made if you want them."
10:01 <Crion>     He doesn't order anything. "If you don't want them, then make sure you don't get pulled over."
10:01 <VoxPVoxD>  At least, one assumes there's something special about Coke. "Thank you." To the others: "I had asked Cynthia what she thinks of our colleagues at Operations."
10:01 <Crion>     Actually, that's not true. He'll get a coffee, black.
10:01 <banana>    The people in Operations had pretty malleable Fates. Though a couple of them were individually powerful, they looked to Cynthia's eyes like footsoldiers, to be ordered around - frayed threads of destiny recently plucked apart to be rebound to you. After speaking to Scorpion, you're half-expecting to see secret signs in their auras from now on, markers of rank and obedience.
10:02 <Crion>     To Henrik David: "They're gonna be a pain in our ass."
10:03 <Crion>     Has anyone touched the folder yet? If not, Cleaner will bite that bullet.
10:03 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik didn't want to touch it before everyone had settled in and ordered.
10:03 <banana>    The music crackles a bit. How can Cleaner maintain that pessimism in the face of crimson and clover?
10:03 <Crion>     Discipline. And magic.
10:03 <Crion>     He likes the song, though.
10:05 <Nicolae>   Cynthia, re Operations: "Well, they're a strange bunch for sure! But I think they've got potential. I think they'll be very useful for the success of the project."
10:05 <banana>    As the food starts arriving, Orient can see how fresh it is. The kitchen is.. not exactly anything special, but to his eyes, the ties of sympathy on all the ingredients are local. Practically butchered or plucked in the morning and served in the evening.
10:05 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "They were not on the project originally?"
10:06 <Quaker>    The bell over the entrance door rings when Isaias opens it. He sees Claudio sitting in the booth, between a stocky man in a black turtleneck and a bland man in a bland suit. There’s also a woman in officewear with them - a secretary? No - he sees from the way they’re sitting that she’s of the same rank as them. Claudio waves him over.
10:06 <Crion>     The deputy is sitting where he can see the door. It's only been four years since segregation ended in Florida. If any of the locals don't take kindly to a black man coming through that door, especially one dressed like he's got some schooling, Cleaner wants to be on top of that.
10:06 <Nicolae>   Cynthia ordered... something. Coffee and some kind of pastry, probably. Maybe an egg.
10:06 <banana>    Twenty cents! Now that's a price better than you'd get in the big city.
10:06 <Crion>     When Orient's man arrives, Cleaner will stand up and let him take the deputy's seat, looking around the diner.
10:07 <Quaker>    (Care for something? They have as much as you can eat, for next to nothing.) “This is Isaias Biagi, my assistant and researcher. He doesn’t speak English, unfortunately.” Isaias sits down.
10:08 <Crion>     Cleaner just nods at the assistant and motions for him to sit down next to Henrik David. Assuming the other patrons and the staff leave it at dirty looks, Cleaner will too.
10:09 <Crion>     Then he'll drag a chair from one of the tables over and sit down at the end of the booth.
10:11 <banana>    When Cleaner goes through the folder he doesn't find anything with printed material - just hotel room keys, BankAmericards and lapel pins with little identifying symbols for the safehouse people down at the port.
10:11 <banana>    There's four of each, so either there really was someone else expected or the Tetrarch didn't know Cynthia very well.
10:11 <Crion>     Have they at least been labelled?
10:12 <Crion>     You know. So he knows who is checked in to which room.
10:12 <Crion>     And he's not handing Orient the keys to Henrik David's room.
10:12 <banana>    Not at all!
10:13 <banana>    Maybe they're all identical anyway.
10:13 <Crion>     Jesus Christ.
10:13 <banana>    Not everything has to be about subtle distinctions of power and influence -some Pentacle propagandist you heard of once
10:15 <banana>    Good news: Henrik's steak comes with biscuits and his biscuits come with fries. He's got two plates loaded with.. food material, basically. It smells fantastic and a little confusing.
10:15 <Nicolae>   Cynthia: "Lewis was involved originally, but you know that. Let me think... Dirt Cool was on it, Manhunter took my old position -- I think he works here -- and... Laborer. I know Laborer, but she hadn't Awakened yet. Sleepwalker. The rest are from... elsewhere, I guess."
10:15 <VoxPVoxD>  Why is everything covered in the same sauce.
10:15 <banana>    Also, that sauce is arguably cheese.
10:16 <Quaker>    In Italian, quietly: (Fruit and coffee is fine.) (Still on the vegetarian thing?) (It settles my stomach.) (I’ve got a gun and a car for you, courtesy of the man in the turtleneck.) (Good. Cat’s well, by the way. Are they friendly?) (They’re fine. Oh, this one in the suit is Russian. He’s a technical specialist with the rockets, I think.) In English, Claudio orders berries, a glass of orange juice, and a coffee.
10:17 <banana>    Isaias didn't really draw odd looks - despite its slightly outdated styling the diner is some Western chain which never had segregated seating in the first place. Orient's order, though - when the waitress brings him just blackberries and alarmingly healthy juice she does give him an odd look, is this foreign man ok? Has he lost his appetite?
10:18 <banana>    They managed to provide an enormous bowl of cream at least. For dipping.
10:18 <Crion>     Never segregated?
10:18 <Crion>     Cleaner admires the balls.
10:18 <Crion>     Klan probably broke the windows here more than a couple times.
10:18 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik will look up, perhaps by coincidence, when Claudio mentions him. "How many people were taken off the project?"
10:19 <Nicolae>   I'm gonna leave that one to the ST and pretend Cynthia said it.
10:20 <Crion>     Or it's just brand new, which is what a glance at the building with Matter informs Cleaner.
10:22 <banana>    As far as Cynthia's aware the turnover was normal-ish. Apart from her own departure, the only irregularity about it has been the consistent lack of anyone of real rank or experience.
10:22 <Crion>     Odd, given how important this project appears to be.
10:23 <banana>    Likely a major reason for the problems, right? Lewis is the only Panopticon Seer there who's really anybody.
10:23 <Crion>     But then per the revelations in Lewis's office, the importance of it might be a new thing.
10:25 <Crion>     He's only half-listening. The rest of his attention is on the keys, cards, and lapel pins, which he lays out in front of him on the table. If anyone reaches over and tries to pick something up or examine it, he'll first say "No" and then slap their hand away. He's concentrating on patterns -- connections. Meanings inside of meanings. Innate truths.
10:25 <Crion>     He's not good at this sort of thing.
10:25 <Crion>     But eventually the symbols of the world above and beneath the world reveal themselves.
10:26 <Nicolae>   Cynthia talks about her background with Apollo, both recent and further back, in between bites of danish and sips of coffee.
10:26 <banana>    Each triplet of pin-card-key is a set, of course. Perhaps a more considerate boss would have provided labels. But he didn't need to; things are what they are, labelled or otherwise. Cleaner, for example, has been allocated room 69.
10:26 <Crion>     Asshole.
10:28 <Quaker>    Claudio barely touches his food. “Why was there no failsafe on the rocket? It seems like it would be trivially easy to alter it slightly, so that it’s destruction could just be attributed to a mistake. It seems odd that they were so unconcerned about a successful launch. But then, perhaps I don’t understand the operation itself. How do you simultaneously fund a rocket program, and then make sure that there’s never a
10:28 <Quaker>    successful launch? How many excuses can you make? How many explosions before people start to suspect something, or just cancel it?”
10:28 <banana>    The jukebox clicks over to Dusty Springfield. One wooden token is good for a song, so you've got three more between you.
10:28 <Crion>     Soon he's separated them into four distinct pin-card-key sets, and hands one set to each of the pylon's principals.
10:29 <Crion>     Orient's assistant is either gonna have to bunk with him or find other lodging.
10:29 <Crion>     But then...
10:30 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Each of you has a card, a key, and a pin. The cards are new. They're linked to bank accounts, and have...some amount of money on them."
10:30 <Crion>     Could he tell by looking at them what the account balance was?
10:30 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Not a lot of places take them yet. You'll want to use them mostly at banks to take out cash."
10:31 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Hotel keys, that's self explanatory."
10:32 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Pins, you'll need them for the safehouse. Wear them on your lapel; if you wear a jacket, pin them on the inside, so you can display them on demand without having them visible all the time."
10:32 <banana>    The bank cards are actually a new thing, Americard - they let you draw on line of credit arrangements without even needing a specific balance. If the Pyramid's done its job the usual way, you have access to "as much money as you want, but people will ask questions eventually".
10:33 <Nicolae>   Cynthia: "Too many explosions builds up public sympathy and draws a lot of inquiry. Just look at what happened after Apollo 1. Those poor, nosy men. Terrible what happened to them." She sips her drink. "At some point, the public has to believe there was a successful launch. It's just preferable if there isn't actually one."
10:33 <banana>    Money is as much of a Lie as anything, but double-entry bookkeeping has defeated the Seers' best attempts to render themselves literally above it.
10:34 <Crion>     Once everything's been handed out, he leans in. "Safehouses and hotel rooms and bankcards are fine, as far as they go. Be smart about how you use them, and they'll work for you. But it would be a mistake to rely on them."
10:35 <Quaker>    Claudio: “But how do you fool NASA itself? What was the plan for the technicians, the astronauts, the engineers?”
10:35 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "You don't fool them. It is not a fake program. Everything that is being done is practical and functional."
10:36 <banana>    Cynthia's been out of touch for a year or two but there's one part of it she still works well, since the computers she does admin for are involved in it - there's some sort of radio faking programme, where the messages ground control send and receive are actually coming from Kennedy, not space.
10:36 <banana>    *one part of it she still knows well
10:37 <VoxPVoxD>  "They simply either do not see the entire picture of the project, only the small part they are working on, or the proceeds of their project are redirected after they are finished."
10:37 <banana>    None of the computers are actually seers, but part of her job is keeping them unaware of why exactly they're doing computations about bouncing radio frequencies off the atmosphere and precise wavelengths and origin points along a rocket's trajectory.
10:37 <Nicolae>   Cynthia nods. "Astronauts can have their memories altered; they only go up three at a time, after all. Once they're 'in space', the only contact they have with NASA is the radio telemetry, and that can be faked in any number of ways with a few Obrimoi about."
10:37 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "The simplest practice is simply to execute one launch and announce it as another."
10:39 <banana>    A time-honoured technique: do something but lie about it.
10:39 <banana>    Isn't it incredible how the Sleepers can't even see whether things are fundamentally true or false by looking at the Prime meaning of statements themselves? Very convenient.
10:40 <Crion>     Cleaner lets the conversation proceed, and pays attention to all of it. None of this is his bag, but it needs to become his bag. That's the job.
10:41 <Crion>     He does have one last housekeeping note, as it were, when the group is ready for it.
10:41 <banana>    After all, you wouldn't want to stay in hotels forever.
10:41 <Quaker>    Claudio: “The staff at Operations must be overworked, then. I don’t know how you could make sure all those details are attended to with only five or six people.”
10:41 <VoxPVoxD>  "We send up unmanned rockets, guided by computers, carrying satellites or testing new payload devices. Meanwhile, fabulists prepare newsreel and documentation. In the Soviet Union this is a large, prestigious project. Every Ministry links arms to work on it. The average rank is much higher. I think the military implications."
10:42 <banana>    Port Canaveral, where the Marriot is, is not that convenient; it might be better to live in Titusville or even near the air force base..
10:43 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik's steadily working through his fat and carbohydrate as he talks. He seems to enjoy the food, though he rarely touches the Coca-Cola. "Meanwhile here we find a sort of dumping ground for low-ranking and disorganized staff who are not fully dedicated to the success of the project. We find the manager of the project struggling with his superior, and we find him cut off from the other
10:43 <VoxPVoxD>  half of the project as a result."
10:43 <Crion>     And, more relevantly: "Word from the Praetorians is, safehouse is compromised."
10:44 <VoxPVoxD>  "The idea that Underoracle Lewis would not be allowed to talk to the program in Houston..."
10:44 <Crion>     Cleaner: "That means the hotel rooms might be too. Who knows; maybe even the bankcards. Those are the safest."
10:44 <VoxPVoxD>  "Compromised by...?"
10:44 <Crion>     "The Invisible Order."
10:44 <Crion>     "Local rebel cabal."
10:45 <Nicolae>   Cynthia nods. "Well, all those details *weren't* attended to, which is why James and company actually went up, instead of being replaced at the last moment and spending a week and a half in a warehouse hallucinating that they're talking to Houston from the command module."
10:45 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Put these names to memory: Wildchurch. Cortex. Semiramus. Fixer. Rockstar."
10:47 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "Rockstar?"
10:47 <VoxPVoxD>  "What is a rockstar?"
10:48 <Quaker>    Orient: “Like a famous rock and roll singer. Elvis.”
10:48 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "Ah."
10:49 <banana>    As for how much to trust your own resources.. the Praetorians are paranoid, of course, and they like to claim that no other Ministry has operational security. Cleaner was quite specifically told that the Port Canaveral safehouse's location had become known to Pentacle 'mages', though, and he has no reason to believe that was an exaggeration.
10:50 <Nicolae>   Cynthia already has the name Semiramus committed to memory, and winces at the name. "Semiramus. Ugh. He was one of us, for about a week."
10:50 <Crion>     "Like Eduard Khil," Cleaner said to Henrik David, "but an asshole."
10:51 <banana>    It's true. Not on Project Aningan, but an initiate into the Georgian Tetrarchy shortly after Awakening. Unfortunately, Semiramus was one of those "cause" types who jumps ship as soon as they find out there's a rebellion to join.
10:51 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "I think Orient is correct. I know very little still but the undermanning and disorganization of the project suggests the consequences of political infighting. Our superior sees Lewis as a rival. The project may have been deliberately weakened and isolated as a result."
10:51 <banana>    Cynthia met the young Traveller briefly, so.. that's one Atlantean who knows her face at least.
10:52 <VoxPVoxD>  "Or Lewis may deliberately mismanage the project to undermine his superior."
10:52 <Crion>     Cleaner: "The disposition of this pylon towards the rebels has been left to my discretion." True, if only technically true. "At this moment, it's best we don't stir up the swamp. Avoid them, drive them off should they for you -- but no capturing, and if you can swing it, no killing."
10:52 <Crion>     *should they come for
10:52 <Nicolae>   Cynthia shakes her head. "It's shameful, really. They've lost sight of the bigger picture! The injunction against humans in space comes from the Iron Seals themselves..."
10:53 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Best thing we can do as far as they're concerned is make alternative plans."
10:53 <Crion>     "I'm looking into setting up a new safehouse already."
10:55 <Crion>     Cleaner: "We remain unsure the extent to which any Ministry asset in Port Canaveral is compromised."
10:56 <banana>    The discussion at Sambo's has been useful, but mostly business. The new pylon are just starting to pick up who each of the others is; tastes in food and music and the way you hold yourselves and talk about others. What sort of impression does each mage give to people they don't know well but may come to?
10:57 <banana>    Or for that matter to a guy who doesn't speak English but can consume plenty of leftover food.
10:57 <Crion>     Cleaner's taciturn bordering very often on short, but far less rough around the edges than his beard and his gun might imply. He prides himself on professional courtesy and competence, along with being easy to work with.
10:58 <Nicolae>   Cynthia scowls. "Maybe there was some influence up from Atlanta, which is why the project failed. It wouldn't have taken much to disrupt things..." Referring to people "from Atlanta" is sort of a slang term here at NASA among the Seers who work here and don't want to raise eyebrows at the mention of ancient city-states Plato discussed.
10:58 <Crion>     He is almost overtly disinterested in the actual mission they've been assigned to do, but that's not because he doesn't care for it; it's because he trusts the three of them to handle it, while he watches the corners, the door, and their backs.
10:59 <Crion>     ...And he's still getting over the news from Lewis, that the Cold War is real.
11:04 <Nicolae>   Most of her coworkers at NASA see Cynthia as outgoing, pleasant, fun, and dedicated to her work. And she is, although the work she's dedicated to isn't quite what the NASA folks think it is.
11:05 <Quaker>    The people all seem competent and professional. The mystery here is not whether their skills are sufficient to the task, but why them, and why now? And why not before? It’s not as if this kind of failure is some small-time flub you can sweep under the rug. Claudio thinks about it as he chews the steak. He tries to understand how the pieces fit together before starting to look at what kind of people the pieces are, if he can help it
11:05 <Quaker>   
11:05 <banana>    A passing waitress, here to pick up plates: "You boys have a healthy appetite. It's a shame you missed the BBQ menu- starts at twelve noon. Any chance of coming back for it another day?"
11:06 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik seems dull and perhaps obsessive, but also deeply patient and scrupulous. Manhunter wasn't far wrong to call him out as having the manner of a bureaucrat. He betrays very little of his reactions to events but there's a slightly uncanny nature to his behavior which mostly comes across as intercultural awkwardness. He cleans his plates and only then drinks his Coke. He likes all his
11:06 <VoxPVoxD>  colleagues well-enough, though he has some small worry about tension between Control and Operations, as well as between Lewis and Scorpion. Disharmony within the organization is what kills projects. Incompetence can be worked around. Feuds can't.
11:06 <Crion>     Cleaner, smiling: "I do expect so, ma'am."
11:08 <Crion>     He'll put some coins on the table for his coffee and excuse himself to the payphone. It's the Brevard County Sheriff who runs seizures and impounds up here, and he knows some of those boys.
11:09 <Crion>     Ten minutes on the phone with Georgie, and then five more minutes on the phone with Chuck, and he's got the in.
11:10 <Quaker>    Orient: “Of course, ma’am. Everything was excellent. I’m sure you’ll see us often while we work here.” After she leaves, to Cynthia: “Is this place considered safe enough? It was good, and it would be pleasant to have a regular place to eat near the base.”
11:10 <Crion>     Rather than take the two foreigners to the impound lot, what he'll do is drive over, pick out two cars, and he and Chuck will drive them back to the diner. Chuck gets two dollars and a promise from Deputy Wayne Barrett to stop by his poker game some time.
11:12 <Crion>     Georgie, who was following in a patrol car, gets no such promises. He wanted Wayne to sign shit. He drives both deputies back to the impound lot, and soon Cleaner has returned in his Impala.
11:12 <Nicolae>   Cynthia: "I've never had problems with it, though I suppose Cleaner will want to double-check it out."
11:13 <Crion>     He walks back in hands each man a key.
11:13 <VoxPVoxD>  Once Henrik has paid up he'll excuse himself for a few minutes.
11:14 <banana>    For what it's worth, none of you can see hostile magic of any kind around Sambo's. Hang on. Now that I mention it.
11:14 <Crion>     Cleaner to Orient and Henrik David: "Don't do stupid shit with these cars. And if you do stupid shit with these cars, let them arrest you."
11:14 <banana>    Out the window- is that the shimmer of a nimbus, some sort of speck of slowly approaching power?
11:14 <Crion>     "Easy to fix an arrest. Harder to fix a dead cop."
11:18 <Crion>     "Hold up."
11:19 <banana>    This kind of magic is Cynthia's purview- and she half-expected this kind of thing. Up in the air above the parking lot is a tiny dark bruise in the air, fading pain- Trajan's nimbus. It's attached to a spell cast some minutes ago and making its way on literal air currents - floating down to you, like a guided rocket.
11:19 <banana>    There's a paper plane enchanted to seek Control Pylon. Looks like it's going to smack into the window glass in a minute.
11:20 <Crion>     For the love of...
11:20 <banana>    Following the path with her mind's eye.. looks like it was thrown off the top of KSC. More than five miles on wings of paper; not a bad unpowered flight.
11:20 <Crion>     Cleaner gets enough of what's going on to keep his hand from going to his gun.
11:21 <Nicolae>   Cynthia takes her napkin off her lap and steps outside, snatching the paper plane out of the air just an inch from crumpling its nose into the glass.
11:21 <Crion>     Might be best if they take this whole conversation outside. They've paid and tipped by now.
11:21 <banana>    https://atlantisonthemoon.obsidianportal.com/wikis/trajan-org-chart It's what Oriente requested.
11:22 <Quaker>    Claudio: “Is this summoning us? Or spying on us?” He’ll wait for Henrik to come back before going outside.
11:22 <Crion>     Cleaner commits all the names to memory. 'Kyle Papermaster?' This is what the CIA's got?
11:23 <Nicolae>   Cynthia is unfolding the plane as the rest of the Pylon comes out. "It's from the roof of Kennedy. Nice throw."
11:23 <banana>    There are actually a couple of outside tables by the carpark, with sun-umbrellas and everything. Sambo's sits on the eastern side of the wide Indian River, its carpark stretching up to the highway - on the other side are auto parts shops, a strip club and a rundown chapel.
11:24 <Crion>     The sheriff's deputy doesn't shake his head.
11:24 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik returns, and sees them all looking at a new folded piece of paper.
11:26 <Quaker>    When they’re wrapped up inside, Claudio and Isaias join in at the looking. He’ll need something more detailed later on, but…something bothers him. What’s that faint symbol, there? It’s faded…
11:26 <Crion>     Cleaner will move aside and walk back over to his car. A key in the ignition later and he's splitting his attention between the dispatch chatter and his pylon. 'Throwing a paper airplane really far' shouldn't cause any kind of consternation whatsoever, but it's still too flashy for his tastes -- and besides, he likes checking in every now and again.
11:28 <Quaker>    Orient: “What is this. Why is this there.”
11:28 <Crion>     Cleaner reaches through the window and turns the radio off.
11:30 <Crion>     He walks over. "Why is what--"
11:30 <Crion>     He doesn't need help seeing it.
11:31 <Quaker>    Claudio feels odd. Was he sweating before? It’s hot out, after all.
11:32 <Crion>     Cleaner is silent for almost twenty seconds, staring down at the paper. Then to Cynthia: "You said this came from Kennedy. Which one of them threw it?"
11:32 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik squints. "According to the chart, the chart was drawn by Trajan."
11:32 <Crion>     "Which one of them. Threw it."
11:34 <banana>    Also Trajan. Cynthia saw the nimbus, which is quite similar to the paradox effect which covers her eyes.
11:34 <Nicolae>   Cynthia: "It was Trajan."
11:34 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Trajan. Okay."
11:34 <Nicolae>   "Her nimbus is distinctive."
11:34 <Nicolae>   Cynthia makes a face as she looks at the strange rune on the paper, but it's not clear what kind of emotion it's supposed to express.
11:34 <Crion>     To Cynthia: "Does that symbol mean anything to you?" To Orient: "To you?" Henrik David: "You?"
11:35 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik shrugs.
11:35 <banana>    Honestly, the rune Orient pointed out is barely there. It could be something left by a different drawing on the same pad of paper, or a set of accidental pencil scratchings.
11:35 <Crion>     Uh huh.
11:36 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "This looks very different from Lewis's diagram."
11:37 <banana>    Well, it's about Project Aningan rather than the Tetrarchy, and the Praetorian seer doesn't have a typewriter.
11:38 <Quaker>    Claudio: “I drew it, once, in an idle moment. I knew that I had seen it somewhere, but…” He shrugs. “I could never find any mention of it, anywhere. I thought it was just a daydreamed thing, meaningless.”
11:39 <Quaker>    “I was going to begin by interviewing everyone in Operations, to start working on the leaks. I suppose I’ll start with Trajan.”
11:40 <Nicolae>   Cynthia: "It... looks vaguely familiar. It reminds me of a dream I had years ago."
11:41 <banana>    There's no power to the alleged rune, no arcane resonance. The sunlight is still warm and pancake-smells drift out of the unfortunately named diner.
11:42 <Crion>     Cleaner: "That symbol's the mudra I use when I need to shoot someone through a wall. Or through tree cover. Or when I'm just using a rifle scope as a monocular, and examining something very far away. Or when I'm taking a picture."
11:43 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "Strange."
11:43 <Crion>     Cleaner: "I thought I invented it."
11:43 <Nicolae>   Cynthia: "Did you see it somewhere and start using it that way?"
11:45 <Crion>     His voice has stayed level throughout. "The answer to that question should be 'no.'"
11:47 <Nicolae>   Cynthia looks at the paper, then at the party, and then back to the paper, and then off into the distance, as if trying to comprehend something.
11:47 <Crion>     He glances at Orient. "Is this Mind magic? What is this?"
11:48 <VoxPVoxD>  "You should ask Trajan when we get back."
11:49 <Quaker>    Orient: “There’s no sign of it. This specific symbol, this piece of paper, is not dangerous to anyone.”
11:50 <Crion>     To Henrik David: "That's a bad idea."
11:50 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "You think?"
11:50 <banana>    The Iron Pyramid teaches that anomalies should be investigated, recorded, and brought to heel.
11:51 <banana>    Of course the Iron Pyramid also teaches that there are something things you should fucking know better than to mess with and what they are is above your clearance.
11:51 <Crion>     And that's what will happen.
11:51 <banana>    *some things
11:52 <Quaker>    Claudio: “Could I hold on to this for now? Isaias has considerable archival resources regarding occult symbology. Perhaps a second pass will turn up something substantial.”
11:52 <Nicolae>   Cynthia looks at the paper one last time and passes it to Claudio.
11:52 <Nicolae>   That's probably a yes.
11:52 <banana>    Anyway, he did commission the org chart.
11:53 <Crion>     To Henrik: "Trajan is a subordinate. And one that's sent us a document with a secret, embedded rune. Caution is appropriate, and we owe her no explanations."
11:54 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "Perhaps you're right."
11:54 <Crion>     To Orient: "Is it sympathetically connected to us? Any of us?"
11:55 <Crion>     For all his pretensions, when he has to, Cleaner can talk shop.
11:57 <banana>    The Space Coast is quiet apart from the noise of the highway nearby. Trajan included the basic movements and contact information of her team members; she herself is the only one who doesn't really have a fixed work site.
11:57 <banana>    (Instead, she checks in regularly with each of them on a sort of patrol route)
11:57 <Quaker>    Claudio turns the piece of paper over for several moments. “No. Trajan is proud of it. That’s all.”
11:58 <banana>    Looks like today's most complex task is the radio thing involving Manhunter and Laborer - they're still working on getting fake mission reports to Houston, despite the real mission in progress.
11:58 <Crion>     Cleaner nods. "Okay. That's good."
11:59 <VoxPVoxD>  Does Cynthia seem to be interested in this at all? Maybe Henrik can ride to work with her while Cleaner and Orient look at the note some more.
11:59 <Crion>     "I've got the most severe attachment to the symbol. I shouldn't hold it. One of you three keep it in your hotel room. Or your car."
12:00 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "I believe Orient requested it."
12:00 <Nicolae>   Cynthia's interested in it, but not the sort of interest that requires her to be physically present with it. Or to talk about it with others. She's happy to give Henrik a lift.
12:00 <Crion>     The deputy nods again. "All yours, then. Don't bring it the safehouse."
12:01 <Quaker>    Orient folds the piece of paper up and puts it in his pocket. “I’m going to head back to the center and start interviewing Operations. I’ll send typed reports to you all as each member is evaluated.”
12:01 <Crion>     *it to
12:02 <Crion>     Cleaner: "I'll be in touch. Might swing by the hotel later. Got some other things to take care of."
12:03 <banana>    Everyone's got things to take care of, actually! Cynthia needs to wrangle her job schedule about and get back in touch with active missions, Henrik needs more permanent accomodation and contacts with his home Ministry, Orient has this staffing situation to compassionately learn and dispassionately judge..
12:08 <Quaker>    Orient and Isaias drive back to the base. Has Lewis given them an office somewhere?
12:08 <Crion>     The deputy takes two steps back to his car, then turns. "Henrik. You're sure that symbol doesn't mean anything to you."
12:09 <Crion>     There's no accusation in the tone. If anything, this is the closest Cleaner has ever come to genuinely asking for help.
12:09 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "It looks a bit like something I sketched out when I was designing a psychological exam. It doesn't mean anything to me."
12:10 <VoxPVoxD>  "Or to anyone, for that manner. That symbol has been scoured."
12:12 <Crion>     Cleaner nods and smiles. "Yeah, that's what's fucking me up."
12:12 <Crion>     "I'll see y'all tomorrow."
12:14 <banana>    There are a few different sites at KSC building used by Project Aningan; Orient's free to pick whichever he finds simpatico.
12:14 <banana>    There's the breakroom, attached to Lewis' own office; it's off a main thoroughfare and has secure storage but not really any extra office space. Laborer's studio is in a side building, attached to the adjacent Cape Kennedy AFB; it's a larger complex where recording and other preparations are done, not accessible to ordinary NASA personnel. Finally, back in the main Launch Operations Centre there's a facility used by the CIA sister project, MKWOMBAT - that has the most convenient office space but it's a government black site; merely warded by Seers, rather than exclusive to them.
12:15 <Crion>     From here, Cleaner's going to go pick up the keys for the house he's renting out in the post-war construction suburbs. Off any books. From a friend of a friend, who won't even be there in person. He's supposed to find them taped under the mailbox.
12:16 <banana>    Actually, there are sometimes government people in the recording studio, too - so either way the pylons spend most of the day around people who aren't fully part of their plot.
12:17 <Quaker>    Ah, the CIA. Incompetents with too much money. They won’t miss an office when he comandeers it. He’ll walk over to the site and pick one, if no one stops him.
12:19 <banana>    Not with the lapel pin he's got, they don't. A few women and one man in an outer office besignaged "ROOM K/Services" look up, then quickly down; none object when he takes one of the largely-empty rooms. There's a horrid little metal filing cabinet, no window, a bakelite phone...
12:20 <Quaker>    Orient picks it up, dials a number, gets Fieldmouse. Tells Fieldmouse that when Trajan arrives, he’s to tell her to head over immediately, an order from Control. The rest in their fixed locations get the same message.
12:21 <Quaker>    Isaias returns with two more chairs. One gets placed to the side, one on the other side of the desk.
12:22 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik takes his enormous, rickety American car to the hotel. That was the kind of meal you need a shower after. After that, doesn't he have some sort of meeting?
12:23 <Quaker>    Claudio pulls Trajan’s drawing out and shows it to him. His finger rests on the faded rune. (You were wrong, it seems. Or the four of us have shared the same dream. Could you check again?)
12:24 <Quaker>    Isaias looks at it. (Sure. Anything strange about it?) (No. Purposefully so. It’s been wiped clean.) (Odd.) (Yes. But the whole thing’s odd.)
12:25 <Crion>     The drive takes him out to Titusville. Right back where he'd just come from, in fact; he passes by the sheriff's office and the impound lot. Then he turns west and heads towards I-95.
12:28 <banana>    This is the first time Henrik's been to Port Canaveral; he may be struck by how different it is to the suburbs of Titusville and Orlando, the wide fat areas on on the actual cape itself. The town is a mix of old adobe buildings, Spanish colonial vintage, and then toward the tip of the peninsula an incredible mass of new construction. Piers and quays and jetties and groynes are being serviced and widened and constructed; huge ships waddle down the coast and around into the harbour, to be attended by huge cranes. It looks like a hundred-tonne-a-day facility rapidly upgraded to thousand-tonne-a-day through the use of concrete.
12:29 <Crion>     South Street -- State Road 405 -- doesn't ever actually meet up with the interstate; you have to turn onto Cheney Highway to do that. It runs in a big looping arc connecting two parts of Route 1: NASA Causeway in the south, and downtown Titusville in the north. And if you drive west from Titusville, just as the road starts to curve, you'll find Swan Lake Road.
12:30 <banana>    It's not too long before Trajan steps into Orient's makeshift office. She shakes a beanie off her head - worn low to reveal the paradox bruise - and tosses it onto a filing cabinet before seating herself on a chair stolen from the agents outside. The Moros smiles, with the half of her face you can see, and says: "Sir."
12:31 <banana>    *to conceal the paradox bruise
12:31 <Crion>     There are four houses on Swan Lake Road; two near the turn itself (8212 and 8250), one just up next to them (8262), and one a ways back, all the way at the end. 8300 Swan Lake Road. This last one is where Cleaner is headed.
12:32 <banana>    To a Sleeper, it probably looks like she has a veil over her eyes or something - discomfiting, hard to remember. But it's better not to show them at all.
12:32 <banana>    Is Isaias still there?
12:32 <Quaker>    “Hi. Water?” Isaias stole a pitcher and some glasses, too. Orient has been drinking glasses since he sat down. At least the air conditioning is working.
12:33 <Quaker>    He is.
12:33 <Crion>     It doesn't have a garage, but it does have a covered place to park at the end of the drive. Like an open-air gazebo for a car. Cleaner parks, gets out, and pulls a canvas car tarp from his trunk. The Impala covers up nicely.
12:33 <Crion>     Then he ambles down to the mailbox and plucks the key from where it's taped out of sight.
12:34 <Crion>     He pulls up the tarp again long enough to remove a big duffel bag, a carton of cigarettes, and a case of beer from the trunk. Then he makes his way inside.
12:34 <banana>    Henrik's hotel is inbetween the industry of the port and the old public buildings, on what was once a market square. After his shower he's got to meet the Ministry of Paternoster, but it's on his own time - the Church of Our Saviour of Cocoa Beach doesn't close, except at Easter.
12:35 <Crion>     Long driveway, he notes during the walk. Good sightlines. It's not a notably defensible house -- no post-war suburban construction is -- but if they're stupid enough to come from the road instead of the trees, he's got good lines on them from the front windows.
12:36 <Crion>     Inside, the house is sparsely furnished. No television. Maybe one couch or table per room; nothing on the walls.
12:37 <banana>    Trajan - one of the agents in the outer office called her Mrs. Rae on the way in - "Thanks, it's a hot day. We haven't met!"
12:37 <banana>    This latest to Isaias.
12:38 <Crion>     There's a fridge and an oven, though, and both of them work. Beer goes in the fridge; smokes go on top of it. Door to the backyard is in the kitchen, and there's a screen.
12:38 <Crion>     Three bedrooms upstairs. A queen-size bed in the master, a twin in each of the other two. Two bathrooms, one off the master, one off the main upstairs hallway. Dresser in each room is the only other furniture. He puts his duffel down and begins unpacking.
12:38 <banana>    Honestly, this might be the most spacious place Davis has had to himself since he joined the Seers.
12:38 <Crion>     Ten minutes later he's done.
12:38 <Crion>     The house is very quiet.
12:39 <Crion>     After five minutes of sitting still, he goes back outside, pulls the tarp off the Impala, and drives into Titusville to buy a gun.
12:40 <VoxPVoxD>  Such industry! There's something very satisfying about big construction projects. And seeing new construction encroach on and overwhelm the old... He spends about half an hour after his shower making notes, sitting on the bed and perching his pad on the end-table beside the phone. Notes about his colleagues and the project. After a while he carefully rips up every sheet he wrote on, chews
12:40 <VoxPVoxD>  and swallows the paper, and finishes dressing. How long's the ride to the church?
12:42 <Quaker>    Isaias raises a hand in greeting. “That’s Isaias Biagi, my assistant. You don’t speak Italian, do you? Or French, or Russian, or Arabic? He doesn’t speak English.”
12:45 <Crion>     It takes some wrangling and a couple of phone calls to get these purchases covered -- it's been almost a year since the last time he tried this, but the Dade County Department of Public Safety is starting to actually pay attention to these expenditures, and he has to have a long conversation with the Chief Deputy before the man sighs and gives it his approval.
12:46 <banana>    Cocoa Beach is just a few minutes south of the harbour - a long thin grid of residential streets where the workers live for the resorts and the port and the military bases. That's where the church is, because that's where the people are. Our Saviour was the parish of William Borders, now Bishop of Orlando; as the Church moved out, the True Church moved in, occupying a colonnaded building which was once the diocesan office.
12:49 <banana>    The name Henrik has been given is Mary Flanders, though he's unsure whether he'll get an audience with the Perfectus Hierodule herself.
12:49 <Crion>     But soon he's got a Remington 870 Mark 1 pump-action shotgun, two boxes of 20-gauge ammunition, and a Smith & Wesson Model 30 revolver with 12 rounds of .32 long ammunition.
12:49 <Crion>     The revolver and its ammunition go in the glovebox.
12:49 <banana>    Trajan: "Я могу говорить по-русски плохо, как плохо плохо.". It's atrocious Russian, if Isaias is any judge, but would serve for pidgin communication.
12:50 <banana>    "Did you get my aerogram?"
12:50 <Quaker>    “I did.”
12:51 <banana>    Another smile. "OK, what else do you need to know?"
12:51 <VoxPVoxD>  The strangest part of this town is the trees. So few leaves and branches. They look like overambitious flowers. Henrik, who has abandoned his gray suit and tie for a gray vest and tie, will enter as he was told to enter and give the signs he was told to give. Assuming he was given such direction.
12:51 <Crion>     Then he loads the shotgun with the eight cartridges its underbarrel tube magazine would take and lays it flat on top of the kitchen cabinets.
12:52 <Crion>     The house is still very quiet.
12:52 <Crion>     There's a washer and a dryer in the basement, as he was promised.
12:53 <banana>    What's Cleaner even going to do with the hotel key?
12:53 <Crion>     He goes upstairs, strips out of his uniform, and showers. His M1911 sits holstered on the sink, and he leaves the bathroom door open.
12:53 <Crion>     He'll use it, eventually.
12:54 <Crion>     Maybe he'll even drive back down tonight to check it out. A Marriott, wasn't it.
12:56 <Quaker>    Orient opens his suitcase and takes out a notebook and pen. “I need to start my work here by interviewing every member of Project Aningan. There are errors that our superiors want corrected, and I need the broadest base of knowledge possible. I decided to start with you.” He looks up from his notes. “No special reason. And I don’t mean for this to be adversarial or anything like that.”
12:58 <banana>    Henrik enters an office by the church well-lit from the east, where children's fingerpaintings hang up on the walls and a woman behind a reception desk greets him. He passes through to an empty kindergarten or daycare, just recently abandoned with the smell of chalk still in the air and strange hooks on the walls from which hang brass ornaments. A daycare worker indicates a closet-looking door which leads him into an inner courtyard, twisted brass columns holding up skylights and festooned with banners which would seem out of place to most eyes; this room or space is empty, but it's obvious where to go next, jagged stairs that descend straight into the earth.
12:59 <VoxPVoxD>  After taking a moment to absorb the courtyard, Henrik descends.
13:00 <Crion>     Once he's done with the shower he'll throw on a bathrobe, and grab a roll of double-strength duct tape from his duffel. Cleaner heads back downstairs, setting the handgun down on a sidetable next to the couch in the living room. He walks into the kitchen and takes the Remington down again.
13:00 <banana>    The stairs are utterly dark - but Nikolai passes through the curtain of blackness into a hall lit by incandescent globes and orbs of thaumaturgically suspended flame, a nave filled with pews and thuribles. Cell doors line the hall, some voices quiet and some lowered further in prayer.
13:01 <Crion>     While he was showering, he remembered that the knife block in the kitchen had been full.
13:01 <Crion>     And the Mark 1 was made to take a bayonet.
13:02 <Crion>     Five minutes later, the knife block is down one soldier, and the Remington is back up on top of the cabinets.
13:02 <banana>    At the end of the underground chapel is a three-throned altar, block of hewn basalt draped in cloth before the Seat of the Whole Truth, the Seat of the Truth and the Seat of the Sole Truth.
13:03 <Quaker>    “So get comfortable. We’ll be talking for a while.”
13:03 <Crion>     He's finally ready to take advantage of 8300 Swan Lake Road's best feature:
13:04 <Crion>     A heavy, freestanding handset with a long wall-line for its residential telephone, instead of one of those wall units.
13:04 <banana>    Only the left or right thrones are ever occupied, at least by human beings. Sitting at the left hand of (theoretically) the Father is a priest in a dark robe and a wide sash, fist propped beneath his chin as he watches Henrik David approach. There are no other mages or others visible.
13:05 <Crion>     Cleaner takes the telephone with him out to the living room, sets it down on the sidetable next to the couch, and slumps down.
13:05 <Crion>     Finally, finally, with a gun still within reach, Davis Ford relaxes.
13:05 <banana>    Trajan: "Oh, I can rest anywhere. Hit me, then."
13:05 <Crion>     He closes his eyes and releases the Mantle of Serenity.
13:06 <Crion>     Then he takes the receiver off the hook and dials a familiar number.
13:06 <banana>    One of the pews Henrik passes has a little idol on it - some indian thing, face turned carelessly to the cloth, with a backpack beside it. The tools of some hierodule's exterior work.
13:07 <Quaker>    Orient: “How long have you been working for the Project?” What’s her mind like? Does she have any spells shielding her thoughts?
13:10 <banana>    There's one, but she didn't cast it. Shielding Trajan's mind is a spell with a nimbus of coils and loops, whorls and dizzying rotations.
13:11 <banana>    "I came on in '67. Previously, I worked for the Moiety of Cotton, as an assassin! Basically my entire career has been outplacements from the Ministry."
13:12 <banana>    Shrugging: "Someone in the caturixy doesn't want me nearby."
13:13 <banana>    Caveat answers immediately. She'd never say so, but Cleaner knows - maybe hopes - she was waiting for the call.
13:13 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik walks forward, mumbling to himself as he sits on his knees before the center throne. "Под руководством трех тронов. Скованные одной цепью."
13:13 <banana>    Caveat: "I was waiting for you to call."
13:14 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Yeah."
13:14 <Crion>     "Hi."
13:14 <Quaker>    Orient: “What’s the difference between the Moiety of Cotton and the Moiety of Iron?” Does the spell seem strong?
13:14 <Crion>     There's more emotion in that 'hi' than he's allowed himself all day. And there's still not much.
13:14 <Quaker>    Powder*
13:15 <Crion>     Cleaner: "I would've called last night, but I didn't trust the phone."
13:15 <Crion>     "Still don't trust this one yet."
13:15 <Crion>     He smiles. "So keep it cool, boss."
13:16 <banana>    Caveat: "You've got to learn that phones don't hate you. But this is good. It's like when I first went to Orlando and- we can talk more easily like this, when nobody cares to check."
13:16 <Crion>     Cleaner: "Yeah."
13:16 <Crion>     He leans back and closes his eyes. "Speaking of Orlando..."
13:17 <Crion>     "How's Flint Jugulo doing?"
13:18 <Crion>     He knows that's not the shithead's name, but changing up syllables is a good way to avoid magic dragnets.
13:18 <Crion>     And Davis finds it funny.
13:18 <banana>    Trajan: "Right, you're not from Georgia. Powder deals with monsters - weres, vampires, indigo children, Diamond and Council. Cotton deals with the Sleepers. We get what they've got and get them to make sure they don't get it."
13:19 <Quaker>    Orient: “Indigo children?”
13:20 <banana>    Trajan: "Demons from Arcadia kidnap people when we don't manage to stop 'em in time. Sometimes, they get sent back. They're like refugees with stolen bits of fey magic - damaged, brilliant."
13:21 <banana>    Caveat: "Who cares..? How are you doing. What do you actually have to do over there? They aren't going to make you go up in a rocket."
13:22 <banana>    The priest underneath Our Saviour watches Henrik with curiosity. "Your faith seems true, friend, if incomprehensible. Cuban?"
13:23 <VoxPVoxD>  When Henrik is done he will rise and stand before the figure on the left throne. In a low voice: "I am Henrik David. I come from ash and orogeny."
13:24 <Crion>     Cleaner: "You know me. Went to the space center before breakfast; by lunch, I'd given the Italian the Model 27; it's almost dinnertime and I just finished taping a goddamn kitchen knife to a shotgun and stashing it over the sink."
13:24 <banana>    Caveat: "We both know it isn't necessary until it is."
13:25 <Quaker>    Orient: “Oh. We call them something else.” He writes in his notebook. “How long have you been with the Praetorian Ministry?”
13:25 <Crion>     He chuckles. "But it's a hell of a trip so far." This is code between the two of them, one they change every few months; right now 'hell of a trip' means there are things he can't tell her over a possibly-dirty line that he thinks she needs to know.
13:26 <banana>    Trajan: "Eleven years. Since my awakening."
13:27 <Crion>     Before she gets time to dwell on it, though: "Met Scorpion today. Kind of."
13:27 <Quaker>    Orient: “Do you like the work?”
13:28 <banana>    Paternoster priest: "Chorasmian. Around here we mostly come from blood and soil."
13:28 <banana>    "Welcome home."
13:30 <banana>    Trajan bounces in her seat. "Yes! It's more downtime than anything, but I'm good at monitoring danger and- okay. When we spoke earlier, you seemed fairly.. normal. That is, you're not really a killer, right?"
13:32 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "Thank you. Were you told to expect me?"
13:32 <Quaker>    Orient: “I’ve killed people. I didn’t enjoy doing it. I hope to not have to kill anyone for the rest of my life.”
13:33 <banana>    Trajan: "Then I won't dwell on it much because I know people get weirded out but I am, it's basically my favourite thing, and there's a really interesting mix of challenges in this work. Ordinary people and subtlety, supernaturals and danger. Each one's like a little puzzle. The General doesn't choose most of us and that's probably good for the world, right? But She chose well in me, I think."
13:34 <Crion>     Cleaner stands up and walks with the phone base in one hand and the receiver pressed between his ear and his shoulder over to the fridge. The beer should be cold by now.
13:34 <Crion>     Cleaner stands up and walks with the phone base in one hand and the receiver pressed between his ear and his shoulder over to the fridge. The beer should be cold by now.
13:34 <Quaker>    Orient: “Your favorite thing is killing things? People?”
13:34 <Crion>     ...Close enough.
13:35 <banana>    Caveat: "Well, that sucks. Unless he's better than they say.. you ok?"
13:36 <banana>    Chorasmian: "I'm afraid I've no idea who you are. This is the dead shift for us, between night services and the kindergarten - I haven't kept up on the latest prophecies." He smiles, a little crooked. "But it's clear you're a man on a mission. Are you here looking for some mortal in particular?"
13:37 <banana>    Trajan: "Oh, definitely people but- look. It's not a topic most people enjoy, so you shouldn't get me started. Shall I give you the ten second version?"
13:37 <Crion>     Davis laughs. "Yes, boss, I'm fine. It's my first beer of the night. Promise."
13:38 <Crion>     He flops back down on the couch, setting the base back on the sidetable. "There are just more dimensions to this job than I thought there would be."
13:38 <Quaker>    Orient: “You can get started, if you like. I’m here to listen to you.”
13:39 <Crion>     "You know the rebels operating up here, right? The Invisible Kids or whatever."
13:40 <banana>    Trajan: "If I was a Sleeper there would be something 'wrong' with me, a monstrous twist, courts and institutions. But I'm not. So it's fine."
13:41 <banana>    "Next question?"
13:43 <Quaker>    Orient: “I’ve seen much worse than someone who enjoys killing others, Trajan.” He scribbles in his notebook for a bit. “Who put that shielding spell on your thoughts?”
13:43 <banana>    Caveat: "I heard from Cataract. That's who 'Fixer' is.." she laughs.
13:44 <Crion>     Davis's smile dies real quick. "You're shitting me."
13:44 <Crion>     He sounds awestruck more than angry.
13:46 <banana>    Trajan: "Kyle's work. He wards us and the facilities - it's standard to have someone fix thoughts in your heads on a project like this."
13:46 <Crion>     *rewinding noises*
13:47 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "I've been resettled from overseas. I was given only this address, and the name Mary Flanders."
13:47 <Quaker>    Orient checks Trajan’s drawings. “Oh…’Dirt Cool’?”
13:47 <Crion>     Davis shakes his head. "Crazy, right? They're causing a ruckus up here. Not a Bishop Juggles-grade ruckus, but enough that the place we were supposed to stay is a no-go. Ynkman told me I had discretion in how to handle them, and neither Scorpion nor Lewis countermanded that, and the other three don't seem to give a fuck, so I guess I've got my discretion."
13:48 <Crion>     Cataract, huh. He doesn't take the bait.
13:48 <banana>    Chorasmian's eyebrows go up like they've been winched. He rises from the throne, revealing himself to be almost six feet tall. "Alright; Let's go and visit the Fenestriarch."
13:49 <banana>    "This way." The hierodule gestures at one of the side doors, half-open into a corridor of stone slabs and inset brass strips. "May I ask where you're from, Henrik, if it isn't Cuba?"
13:50 <Crion>     Davis: "So until I hear otherwise, I'm gonna exercise it."
13:51 <banana>    Caveat: "Oh, yeah. Your new pylon." She doesn't sound thrilled by the 'other three'.
13:51 <banana>    Trajan grimaces. "That's the name he gives, but.."
13:52 <Quaker>    Orient: “Yes?”
13:52 <Crion>     Davis: "They're not so bad. They think I'm an insane asshole, I'm pretty sure, but I cultivate that to an extent. They care a lot more about rockets than I do, that's for sure."
13:52 <banana>    Trajan: "Well I guess you're not a native speaker either. It is a bad name."
13:52 <banana>    "Verging on, I would estimate, very bad."
13:53 <banana>    "Nice guy though. He gets a lot done."
13:53 <Quaker>    Orient: “It seemed pretty ridiculous. You get along with Kyle, then?”
13:54 <Crion>     Davis: "And they're better than who we had on site."
13:54 <banana>    Trajan: "As long as we don't have to talk pop culture. He's from a generation where the Depression meant they couldn't afford to read books or have fun or something. Your wine was probably lost on Kyle, but at least he likes bad beer. Same as me!"
13:54 <Crion>     He kills his beer and tosses it into a wastebin. He brought two more over with him.
13:56 <banana>    Caveat: "Tell me more. I like to hear you describe people."
13:56 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "I flew in from Almaty. Do you know Kazakhstan?"
13:57 <Quaker>    Orient: “I’ve never understood the people who only like one or another. We’ll all have to go to a happy hour sometime soon and adjust to each other.” He makes a few notes. “Is there anyone in the Project you don’t get along with?”
13:57 <banana>    Chorasmian: "From maps.." He opens a door, then another door with a little key from under his sash. It's another downward flight of stairs and another black barrier. Henrik's pretty sure these would smite him if he wasn't who he is.
13:59 <banana>    Trajan: "I try to avoid making enemies, except briefly. The only one I've heard- nah."
13:59 <Crion>     Davis smiles at that. "So I wore my deputy outfit to the space center. Badge, mirrored shades, the hat, whole ensemble." This word is said in some vague approximation of the French. "We met a guy responsible for launch-critical calculations and standards. He was wearing short-shorts and a vest -- no shirt underneath, just the damn vest, as you please -- and my dude went around the
13:59 <Crion>     room making fun of how all of US were dressed. And we had an Italian with us. Guy was clean."
13:59 <Crion>     "That's Manhunter."
13:59 <banana>    Trajan: "You probably don't need me to repeat gossip from before I even arrived. Primary sources."
14:00 <Quaker>    Orient: “It’s alright. Go ahead and gossip.”
14:02 <banana>    Trajan looks at Orient and then at Isaias, skeptically. "Only because he wouldn't mind. Manhunter's fine, really, but security before me was a guy named Oxford- apparently made his life hell. Some sort of prejudice."
14:02 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik is who he is, which hasn't destroyed him yet.
14:02 <banana>    She clarifies: "That is, Manhunter treated Oxford like shit. Nobody cares about the other stuff."
14:02 <Crion>     Davis: "Now, you know how Hitler kept his moustache? Imagine that, but for a beard. Just a shitty little patch of hair. Guy like that is going by the name Dirt Cool, and says he's working for the CIA. And hell, I says, who isn't? Strange days. Anyway, his cover name is 'Kyle Papermaster.' That's what he's going with. I haven't decided if it's a Paternoster joke yet. It's probably just
14:02 <Crion>     stupid."
14:03 <Quaker>    Orient: “Why? And I care.”
14:03 <banana>    Caveat: "Jesus, CIA and their 'paper' stuff."
14:03 <banana>    Trajan: "Do you? Do you even know what I'm talking about?"
14:04 <banana>    "Okay, you probably do given how blatantly he was hitting on you in particular. Pretty funny."
14:05 <Quaker>    Orient: “I’m married, but flattered. Why did Manhunter treat Oxford so badly?”
14:06 <banana>    Chorasmian leads Henrik past a dark barrier into a catacomb lit only by flaming orbs. There's another man going around refilling(?) them from a censer, which is itself full of multihued fire - only the flames of the appropriate colour pour out into each orb, altering the censer's own mix and making the lights shift about the tomb-like space. American 'disco'?
14:06 <banana>    Trajan: "Apparently because he was British. Understandable, but maybe not, actually."
14:07 <Crion>     Davis: "Next guy's either from central Europe or fuckin' Arkansas. He's got one of those unplaceable accents -- could be French, could be German after fifteen years overseas, could be some Flanders shit. Goes by Fieldmouse. Accurate as hell; he either had coke shivers at 9 AM or he's just always keeping it moving. Laughed at Manhunter's shitty jokes. Probably a dickhead."
14:07 <banana>    Other Priest: "Protection from falsehood, brothers."
14:07 <Crion>     "If he's faking the accent, it might be the most interesting thing about him. But then you never can tell with the Fate guys."
14:09 <banana>    Caveat: "So you've said, but I still think there's something to it. The tie between events and things - for that to be part of the fallen world isn't obvious, and it matters that it's nonepiphenomenal." An old argument.
14:09 <Quaker>    Orient: “Who do you think is most likely to be leaking details of the Project to the Hegemonic Ministry?” He doesn’t alter his tone of voice. It’s delivered with the same casualness as the rest.
14:10 <Crion>     Davis: "Then there's Laborer. I don't actually have a problem with Laborer. They've got her doing all the work. Manhunter's the science guy, and he thinks that makes him big shit, but Laborer's doing the scripts. She's telling the story. Manhunter thinks he's hot shit because he's on the science, and fair's fair as far as it goes, but Laborer's the one that's gotta close the circuit. Not
14:10 <Crion>     that dumbass."
14:10 <Crion>     "She's new, too. Really new. Rough job."
14:10 <banana>    Trajan says nothing for a moment, then she leans forward. "Hegemonic? Is that really happening?"
14:11 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik clutches his chest briefly, somewhere between a hand-over-heart salute and the way an old lady might pantomime 'that is so sweet!'. "These are wonderful facilities."
14:11 <Quaker>    Orient: “Apparently.”
14:13 <banana>    Trajan, musing. "You've got to let me in on this. You've gotta. Whoever this fucker is will go down fighting, and trust me, you want me in on that. Who could it be..?"
14:14 <banana>    "How recent are the reports? What do we know? I'd pick Laborer if the espionage was historical and then stopped in the last few months- lot of changes for her. Otherwise I'd go with Fieldmouse, because- he's cute but he's done a great job of keeping his past from the rest of us."
14:14 <banana>    "I don't have the kind of evidence we'd want. This is new."
14:15 <Crion>     Davis: "You know how I feel about it. I'm not still not sure we can judge any example of casuality from inside the system in which the cause and effect occured. You're never going to stop being baffled by Fate and Time. Isn't there some new science about this? Quantum something."
14:15 <Quaker>    Orient: “It could be you, of course.”
14:16 <banana>    Trajan: "It's a possibility, but I honestly think I'd know. If I was creating a cover personality for me, I'm hardly who I'd pretend to be."
14:16 <banana>    "I'll put me on the list, though." She sounds completely serious.
14:17 <Crion>     Davis: "Anyway the last one from the Operations Pylon is Trajan. She's also the only Praetorian. I'm pretty sure she's a fourteen-year-old girl who got converted into radio static by an archmaster and then spat back out again."
14:17 <Quaker>    Orient: “It could be no-one, too. A method of surveillance that’s been overlooked.”
14:17 <banana>    "We need options to take out each of us.. should be easy in most cases. But only once there's more information to go on. Is Control taking the lead on this?"
14:19 <Quaker>    Orient: “I couldn’t tell you, honestly. I think that we’re all in the information gathering stage.”
14:19 <banana>    Chorasmian: "Thank you, Henrik. Piglet, we have a visitor from our brother in the East - he's been referred to Mary."
14:19 <Crion>     He doesn't mention the paper airplane, or the symbol on it. There's still work to be done on that investigation.
14:20 <banana>    Piglet, the mage in a similar sash but without the cool black robe: "Oh, it's been a while. Alright." He sets down the censer on a recently swept shelf.
14:20 <Crion>     Davis: "You ever heard of any of these people?"
14:20 <banana>    Piglet: "Let me just go and get the mannequin."
14:22 <banana>    Caveat: "I've heard of 'Lewis', of course - he was right under the Tetrarchs some time back. Name mentioned in the same breath, you know. I guess that went wrong. 'Trajan' rings a bell but I don't remember why.. 'Cynthia' I do remember. Isn't she the one who got demoted, scandal about unauthorised acts?"
14:22 <Crion>     Davis: "It would explain a lot about why she's where she is right now, instead of somewhere better."
14:23 <banana>    Caveat: "I heard it was a massacre, actually. And something about a tug of war between powerful patrons on either side."
14:23 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik waits patiently. He's as curious as they are.
14:23 <banana>    "Of course that could describe most of our fucking dramas."
14:24 <Crion>     "And yeah, there's some politics going on with Lewis. The Colonel made that clear." 'The Colonel' is said with scorn; Davis is mocking Scorpion's accent.
14:24 <banana>    Piglet departs, while Chorasmian switches on a flashlight and wanders deeper into the catacomb. "Help me with the slab, Henrik? It's best not to do too much magic down here."
14:24 <banana>    He's referring to an actual sarcophagus.
14:25 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "...certainly."
14:25 <Crion>     That makes Davis sit up a bit straighter. "Inside the Ministry? Or between the Eye and..." Who else could even have a secret war with Panopticon right now?
14:25 <Crion>     That makes Davis sit up a bit straighter. "Inside the Ministry? Or between the Eye and..." Who else could even have a secret war with Panopticon right now?
14:25 <Quaker>    Orient looks at his notes for a while. He looks up, eventually. “Would you object to having your memories examined for pertinent information?”
14:41 <banana>    Chorasmian heaves at the sarcophagus lid, slides it enough that Henrik can get his fingers underneath. "It's amazing what you get used to in this role."
14:41 <banana>    "God tests us enough that I've sometimes thought it might lead to gullibility. But no, the world really is full of miracles, some of which are of course ugly garbage things."
14:43 <banana>    Caveat: "Within, I believe. Don't quote me. You know who'd know more, though? Augur Essos."
14:45 <Crion>     Davis: "Oh yeah, let me just call him up."
14:45 <banana>    Caveat: "You can do it if you need to. It's need-to-know, not just-don't-know."
14:46 <banana>    Trajan: "Yep.
14:46 <banana>    "
14:47 <Crion>     Davis: "I know. I'm just not sure it's necessary yet. And Essos will probably want the personal touch. I'd have to drive down."
14:47 <Quaker>    Orient makes a note. “Why is that?”
14:47 <banana>    The lid comes up fairly easily, though there's a bit of a scramble to set it down again. Footsteps behind you in the dark. Chorasmian says, "I should explain that Mary Perfectus is not dead."
14:47 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "We are filth. We consume filth. We emerge from filth and to filth we return." Each clause punctuates a physical exertion as Henrik works the stone.
14:47 <VoxPVoxD>  "I had hoped not. I'm not initiated."
14:47 <Crion>     He's quiet for a moment. "Speaking of which. Once I'm settled in here, and everything's going smooth, I'd like to. I dunno. Come down for a weekend or something."
14:47 <Crion>     "We can go Jogurt hunting."
14:48 <Crion>     Davis is quite clearly suggesting they do something other than hunt down a Sabbat bishop.
14:48 <banana>    Trajan: "I believe I've rendered service enough to the Pyramid to keep my mind my own - and gained power enough to back that up! Haha. But seriously, yeah, no, sorry."
14:49 <Crion>     Though hey, he's not opposed.
14:49 <banana>    Piglet emerges from the dark, carrying something like a coatrack.
14:51 <banana>    It's actually a mannequin on a stand - just a woman's torso and head, featureless, with no limbs or adornment. The whole thing is smaller than usual, like it was made for child-size clothing, but the actual reason becomes apparent momentarily.
14:53 <Quaker>    Orient: “Okay.” He makes another note. “How do you get along with Lewis? And Scorpion?”
14:54 <banana>    With a muttered prayer (keep us from heaven, keep us from the abyss, keep us in your name and we keep you in our heart) the acolyte Chorasmian scoops a skull and a ribcage out of the sarcophagus. He fastens each onto the mannequin, spine and collarbones trailing through the air after them, attached by magic or invisible cord.
14:56 <banana>    Piglet: "I'll take tenor?"
14:56 <banana>    Chorasmian: "I can't really do anything above baritone. Pity we don't have the girls in today."
14:58 <banana>    Caveat: "As soon as you can get away. I'm already bored by walt disney world and disney-ass vampires and Endless Complaints. I'll be getting antsy."
14:58 <Crion>     Davis: "Is that dumbass still levitating his coffee?"
14:59 <banana>    Trajan: "Scorpion of Georgia? I haven't had the. Honor? Haven't had the opportunity. Interesting thought, though."
15:00 <banana>    "Lewis is better than I expected. Heard from some people before I got here he was a pretty demanding taskmaster but that hasn't really been the case."
15:00 <banana>    The hierodules Chorasmian and Piglet position themselves on either side of the hanging skeleton of Mary Flanders. They adjust their golden sashes and begin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6tV679wXIU
15:01 <Quaker>    Orient: “The workload is less than you’d been expecting?”
15:02 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik restrains himself from humming along.
15:03 <banana>    Trajan: "My job is stretches of boredom punctuated by delight. I've had to fight the Diamond, see off an indigo child, destroy some sort of ghoul from the future which came back to prevent its own defeat.. not much of that is up to Lewis. But I'd heard he tends to commandeer people for his own private study, and that hasn't happened to me or anyone else I've asked."
15:06 <banana>    The hymn calls across worlds. Angels of God are listening, among them Mary Flanders. Henrik sees the air around the Perfectus' skeleton smooth out and turn to gold, which tilts; a path forms, stretching from the catacomb into infinity through nowhere. On the other side of infinity are stars and mist.
15:06 <banana>    The path is new, of course, but so is the mist.
15:07 <Quaker>    Orient: “Is that how you acquired that Paradox? In one of the periods of delight?”
15:07 <banana>    There's a Supernal soul out there amid vast and arching forces; called by the song, she returns to her abandoned body. What happens if you travel in spirit, fasting until your flesh withers to dust, but you've learned enough of Life and Death to ignore such base motivations?
15:08 <banana>    The song continues, unbroken, possibly forever. Mary stands, mannequin inside her, with one foot still on a golden path.
15:09 <banana>    She says - she speaks physically, making soundwaves in the air, just without the constraint of a lips or teeth - she says, "Progress is slow, children. If we discard too much of ourselves then we are shaped as well as shaping."
15:10 <banana>    Trajan: "You've a gift for making anything sound arch. I had this before I came to Canaveral, though."
15:12 <banana>    The other hierodules can't respond - they're chanting.
15:13 <banana>    It occurs to Henrik that the bones are old, with no rot, and that the Ministry's records of the West aren't that out of date.
15:14 <Quaker>    Orient: “What do you think is the gravest security threat to the Project, currently?”
15:14 <banana>    Caveat: "He hasn't changed since yesterday, no. Maybe one of the bloodsuckers will slip something in it."
15:15 <banana>    Trajan: "There are three things I know of. First is reports of a cabal being smuggled into Port Canaveral, guy at a time- they might be planning to attack your safehouse."
15:16 <Crion>     Davis: "If they did, he'd be at risk of learning. And we can't have that."
15:17 <banana>    Trajan: "I'm on this project, and it's a ministry project asset, so I'm with you if that happens. Next up is that ghoul guy or whatever. Still got to beat him the first time. At least it's inevitable."
15:17 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik, wet-eyed: "Blinded in a light unfathomable."
15:18 <Crion>     After a moment of silence. "I really hope I don't have to kill anyone over this shit."
15:18 <banana>    "The biggest security threat- is this project failing? Because if an important project starts failing, it draws the desperate and the damned. The Seers of the Throne, collectively, are a danger to ourselves. Opportunists and blamemongers and saboteurs. Why is hegemonic not satisfied with getting reports like everyone else?"
15:19 <banana>    Mary Flanders, Perfectus: "The light is failing. Epiphany? Walk with me."
15:19 <VoxPVoxD>  Epiphany follows where the Perfectus leads.
15:19 <banana>    The undying Master-or-more holds out a skeleton hand. The mannequin stand doesn't seem to impede her movement.
15:20 <VoxPVoxD>  He takes the hand without hesitation.
15:20 <banana>    She leads you down a golden path. This is impossible. You can't be here. Nothing on either side of you is- you can't make sense of it.
15:20 <Quaker>    Orient: “The cabal you mentioned: The Invisible Order? Wildchurch, Rockstar, etc.?”
15:20 <Crion>     Davis: "We get older, you know, but one out of every three times some rebel comes at us that kid's the same age they've always been. Can't even vote."
15:21 <banana>    Trajan: "Yes, though Rockstar doesn't fight. I've left a shard of poison in Cortex's thigh and injured Fixer's pattern, but those were one-on-one. They're coming back, according to the General, and He'd know."
15:22 <Quaker>    Orient: “What do you know about Wildchurch?”
15:22 <Crion>     "Vampires, werewolves, hell, the Vietcong and the French Foreign Legion, I can deal with that. I just want to finish this job without having to put bullets in a kid."
15:22 <banana>    "Wears a mask. Adept of Death. But so am I. We haven't met."
15:23 <banana>    Mary Flanders: "There's maybe another year in this thing. In me. Have you ever failed God, child?"
15:24 <Crion>     Davis: "And now they're running around with names like fucking Rockstar."
15:25 <Crion>     Davis: "Christ, I hope Rockstar's 45 and pathetic."
15:25 <banana>    She leads you past through and under the stars. You remember the Aether. This is not that. Underneath is fire, mud, lead, inaudible wailing.
15:25 <banana>    Caveat: "If- if it helps.."
15:25 <VoxPVoxD>  It is a lie. This is a lie. The line between something and nothing is a lie. "Constantly," he lies.
15:26 <Quaker>    Orient: “Hopefully you won’t have to.” He taps his pen against the desk. “Hm.”
15:26 <Crion>     Davis listens.
15:26 <banana>    Caveat: "Remember, they're not just children. They're children who hate us, and themselves, and the whole world. They want to destroy everythingto make it more convenient for themselves, for their own whims. The sort of person who'd honestly and in full knowledge give themselves to the Atlantean Pentacle.. they can't be saved. They aren't just hippies. They're rebels against reality. Self-destructive."
15:28 <banana>    "They can't hurt you, not really. You know right from wrong, and obviously it's wrong to kill people when we don't have to.. but the world is as it was made and we live in the real world. There's no threat from a fake Atlantis."
15:28 <Crion>     Davis: "It'd be a lot easier if 'self-destructive' meant they killed themselves."
15:28 <Crion>     Davis: "But you're right."
15:28 <Crion>     "And the job's the job. And I do the job."
15:29 <banana>    Mary Flanders is not a skeleton, here, but also is not anything describable. It's linguistically inconvenient. Henrik still has something by the hand, or he'd be in pieces - everything here is coming apart, in many places at the same time, and of many minds. It can't hear itself think.
15:29 <Quaker>    Claudio motions with his hand. “Come here.”
15:30 <banana>    Flanders gestures and there is a space. A deck like the one outside Our Savior, with a couple of plastic chairs. She sits, presumably - you still can't tell what she is, let alone what exactly she's doing.
15:31 <Crion>     Davis: "I just hope it turns out to be someone else's work this time."
15:31 <banana>    "Retreat within a retreat. I've been driven all from one tower to the next.. they won't let us through. So we, or at least I, fail God."
15:31 <Crion>     Davis: "It's fucked up to shoot kids in the head and then have to tell yourself they deserved it."
15:32 <banana>    Trajan gives Orient a curious look and stands. She approaches, walking around his side of the table. This close- well, her perfume is nice, but the main feeling you get is a strong urge to not do any vulgar magic.
15:32 <Crion>     "Doesn't matter whether or not it's true."
15:33 <Crion>     He sighs. "Maybe they'll all be senior citizens with big beards who run around in bathrobes. That'd be a nice change."
15:33 <banana>    Caveat: "It has to matter. If they didn't, it would be- 'the job's the job' isn't enough for that."
15:34 <Quaker>    Orient smooths out her drawing on the top of the desk and uses the blunt end of his pen to point. First, the eye with lightning bolts. “What’s that?”
15:34 <banana>    "But it does matter and they are dangerous. Think of the enemy as an idea given to shock and test us."
15:34 <VoxPVoxD>  Language is a prison like fear or gravity. Henrik can't 'see' or 'hear'. The concepts fail to cohere. He imagines imagining this, sitting and speaking in a refracted metaphor. "How are you called to atone?" He imagines imagining himself asking. "Are you still?"
15:35 <banana>    Trajan: "Ministry of Panopticon. I'm pretty sure you know that."
15:36 <Quaker>    The crossed swords. “Praetorians, right?”
15:36 <banana>    Trajan: "Correct!"
15:37 <Quaker>    The end of the pen rests on the central letter of the rune. “What is this?”
15:37 <banana>    Pandemonium boils, except in this circle of packed mud and wooden decking. Mary Flanders: "At some point you have to do the calling yourself, you know."
15:37 <Crion>     Davis shakes his head, even though he knows she can't see it. "We've had this talk before. The Fallen World refuses, as a point of pride, to make an act the same as the symbol of the act. I learned that when I learned Prime. Meaning is attached to a thing; it doesn't become the thing. A servant of the Thrones kills a rebel in full righteousness may also be a grown man executing a sixteen-year-old
15:37 <Crion>     in the street, and the former might be more important than the latter, but the former cannot erase the latter."
15:38 <Crion>     *killing
15:38 <banana>    "It's a good thing you made it this quickly, Epiphany. The light hasn't gone entirely out. We have two paths forward, and I- are you anointee or sacrifice?"
15:38 <Crion>     "Some things you just have live with."
15:43 <Crion>     Davis: "And some things should be painful."
15:43 <banana>    Caveat: "I don't want you in any more pain."
15:45 <Crion>     Davis: "I know."
15:46 <Crion>     But they both know that's not a decision either of them are permitted to make.
15:47 <Crion>     He sighs again and tries to sound peppy. "This is why I liked Orlando. Hard to feel bad about vampires."
15:48 <VoxPVoxD>  Epiphany is staggered, vertiginous, and contradictory. "Sacrifice anoints me."
15:48 <banana>    Mary: "That's true; I think you're falling back on cliches, but it's true."
15:49 <banana>    She points - indicates? - into the distance. "To break through I need to get past that. This place's arcana.. I didn't master either as thoroughly as I should. And I've already given up more than enough. If I'm to be of any help to God when I get through."
15:49 <banana>    What Mary's pointing at is the one solid, recognisable, human thing in this mad place.
15:50 <Crion>     He's halfway through the third beer. "I'm going to go now. I need to prepare the house."
15:50 <Crion>     He's halfway through the third beer. "I'm going to go now. I need to prepare the house."
15:50 <VoxPVoxD>  "A cliche is a truth that all the meaning has been ground out of by simple human effort. Cliche is sacramental."
15:50 <VoxPVoxD>  What is Mary pointing at?
15:50 <banana>    It looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/OBWUATr.jpg
15:50 <Crion>     Davis: "I'll call back later tonight, and we can talk about literally anything besides work."
15:51 <banana>    Caveat: "I'll check out how the Gators are doing."
15:52 <VoxPVoxD>  Henrik: "Can the dam break?"
15:52 <banana>    Mary: "Well, not in the last ten thousand years - but individuals do get past, or so we tell ourselves, and so we are told. God has no reason to lie to us here."
15:54 <Crion>     He grins. "I'll see if I can scrounge up a television, or at least a radio. I think they're playing West Virginia tonight."
15:55 <Crion>     Davis considers saying 'I love you.' Instead, he says: "Talk to you soon, boss."
15:58 <banana>    Orient asks his question, and- Trajan's leaving, the interview over. No, she's still here, strange ripples forming over her face. But she's moving and speaking like a film run too fast through its projector, flickering images - so is Orient himself. He can't tell what he's saying. They appear to argue, briefly; to reconcile; someone laughs, Trajan leaves. He can remember the conversation they've just had, but he didn't experience it.
15:59 <banana>    She left with a shimmering cover over her whole face, a mask of forgetfulness added to the sense of a bruise.
16:00 <VoxPVoxD>  Epiphany focuses on the structure. "It was impossible to climb the first time, too."
16:01 <banana>    Trajan said: It was a mistake, drawn earlier and pressed down into the sheet of paper underneath. Orient pressed her, details, what did it mean? Why the drawing? She was reticent, then combative. Eventually it came out that it was personal, for her; a symbol once used by a dead man, eleven years dead. She'd loved him. They both knew the unusual coincidence would have to be discussed further later on, but there was the paradox to attend to, and she's left to minimise its disruption.
16:01 <banana>    Caveat: "I'm glad you're still calling me 'boss'."
16:02 <Crion>     Davis: "Memories of better times. Talk to you soon."
16:03 <banana>    Mary Flanders leans back, plastic chair creaking as her bones rattle against each other. "There's a reason we don't call them 'lighthouses'."
16:04 <Quaker>    Orient sees himself sit there as she leaves. He sees himself there - and then the partition in his mind falls, and he’s sitting at the desk, coughing up blood onto the wood, gasping, remembering how time stopped as he realized what was happening. In a milisecond, he saw the spell come at him, and recited the mudra in his head, the words.
16:05 <banana>    If only he'd been there when it hit- he might actually know who cast the damn thing.
16:05 <banana>    Unfortunately, skipping over that little detail was part of the spell's effect. He's pretty sure it wasn't Trajan, though.
16:05 <Crion>     He puts the receiver back down on the phone's base, sets the beer can down next to it, and straightens on the couch. Davis closes his eyes, breathes in, and exhales...
16:06 <Crion>     Cleaner stands and picks up the beer can, walks over to the sink, and pours the rest of it down the drain.
16:07 <Crion>     Then he goes upstairs to dress himself in casualwear for the work ahead of him tonight.
16:07 <banana>    Mary Perfectus: "Epiphany of Sverdlovsk- I need your knowing of Hell. Here is my offer: the chapters of your past reopened, and your satisfaction in aiding me to fight to the side of our Father, who is besieged."
16:07 <Quaker>    He wipes his mouth, but he already knows from the copper taste that it’s hurt him. Christ. Isaias has bolted upright, of course. Orient waves him off (Fine. I’m fine. Go get some more water.) He picks up the phone, and dials the deputy’s number.
16:08 <Crion>     He's fully dressed in charcoal and white and about to walk out the door when the phone starts ringing.
16:08 <VoxPVoxD>  Epiphany: "I don't understand."
16:08 <Crion>     Cleaner picks up. "8300 Swan Lake."
16:09 <VoxPVoxD>  This is a lie. But to understand something here is to make it true.
16:11 <Quaker>    Claudio: “It’s Orient. Please come immediately to the base. I’m in the MKWOMBAT offices, Room K. There’s been an attack, but it’s over now. No-one is aware that it took place except me. I’m fine, as far as I can tell. It was that image we all knew. Please don’t speak to anyone outside Control about this.”
16:12 <Crion>     Without missing a beat: "On my way."
16:12 <Crion>     Then he hangs up the phone.
16:12 <banana>    She draws it out of him, activates parts of his brain like an engineer pushing buttons on a machine. Mind and Space - you see Pandemonium, suddenly, and know it. Even this meager understanding is hard-won, the knowledge of an Apprentice - just enough to tweak, to fix, to improve. It is not merely a realm of chaos but the Kingdom of Nightmares and Abode of Demons. The realm is a fist, clenched, fragmenting what it clutches- shifting pathways, caves and mountains, packs of screeching thinking things.
16:12 <banana>    Mary: "This."
16:13 <banana>    "I would use you to burn a hole through this place and climb back into Heaven, to reforge my Golden Path."
16:16 <VoxPVoxD>  Epiphany: "We are bound by one chain. Let my sacrifice anoint us both."
16:17 <banana>    The screeching of metal and minds goes still for a moment as the skeleton before you says, in the same calm tone: "And yet you're the only one of us who hasn't been found wanting."
16:18 <banana>    Then she removes her hand from yours, leaving you adrift for a dizzying instant, and reaches in to grasp instead your soul.
16:19 <banana>    Methodically, like a baker kneading wads of dough, Mary Flanders tears the knowledge of Mind and Space from Henrik David, hurling them like missiles against the fabric of the Realms Supernal. Pandemonium shudders and its Watchtower keens.
16:20 <banana>    With each projected slipping-away piece of mastery tears form, visions not of the ( ) behind you but of the stars on the other side. Even as the world becomes incomprehensible again you see fragments of a shattered ladder, spinning away and replaced by golden stones.
16:21 <banana>    While still holding Henrik's soul with one hand, Mary stands and begins to walk away, leaving him to fall backwards, faster and faster, toward - let's just say it. That was the Abyss back there. You don't know that, because you can't know the Abyss, but come on. Abyssal as h- well right now, yes, it's exact as abyssal as Hell, because Hell is fracturing also.
16:22 <banana>    No control of the world, no knowledge over sympathy- Henrik ceases to understand his own mind but he can see it laid before him, his thoughts re: thoughts in a great skeleton hand, shaped into a sword and used to break down a shining wall. The chanting ceases.
16:23 <VoxPVoxD>  Epiphany grieves in agony. He feels as pure and free as he did after bathing away the filth he ate. We are instructed: suffer without despair, and be exalted.
16:23 <banana>    In one crazy movement at the edge of vision you see pandemonium, ragged tear, abyssal chaos, ragged tear, the darkness of the tomb- the path vanishes. Mary is gone, onward and upward.
16:25 <banana>    Something happened. Happens. Happened.
16:25 <banana>    In the instant before Flanders vanished, she did something - the world is different now. Was. Things were different in Henrik's life. He isn't sure how. It's hard enough to be sure how to be conscious.
16:27 <banana>    Chorasmian says, "Jesus Christ", before kind of covering his mouth in shame at how inappropriate an expostulation that is. It's extremely unclear how much the hierodules know of what happened. It's extremely unclear what happened.
16:31 <VoxPVoxD>  For the first time in seven years, Nikolai laughs. There's blood in his eyes and mouth as he drinks in the sweetest breath he ever took.