<banana>
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<banana> By chance or Fate, 'Control Pylon' have arrived at the Kennedy Space Centre together.
<banana> It's an imposed name, still; the Prime arcanum reveals the airquotes, someone else's perception of who the four of you are. Or their goal for who you're to become.
<banana> Names matter and identity matters, though in the Iron Pyramid that doesn't mean you get the one you want.
<Crion> Yeah.
<banana> Anyway, the sterile but excited halls of KSC gave way quickly enough to a back corridor - Lewis's anonymous uniformed minions opening doors and leading you through into disused passages - leading up to the Project Aningan breakroom. There's time to present a united front or come up with some sort of game plan, if you don't want to just jump right in there and start Controlling.
<banana> Also, in Port Canaveral, last night:
<Crion> Cleaner's not interested in taking lead here; he'll back whoever's play. Probably Cynthia's, followed by Orient's. Maybe Henrik David's.
<banana> Five hierodules of the Ministry of Paternoster have gathered in a stone-brass cell upstairs to deal with Henrik David. He's getting some combination of welcoming, worrying and wondering.
<banana> Though the architecture of the installation at Our Saviour Daycare is intimidating, its furnishings are a lot more cosy. Four men and a woman, all in those wide sashes - must be a Georgia thing, wasn't a part of the clerical uniform in Stalingrad - have combined their arcane power to offer Henrik tea and biscuits.
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik arrives on time at the Control Pylon meeting. He's wearing a different but nearly identical suit.
<VoxPVoxD> Elsewhere, before, Henrik is bleeding and babbling and grateful for the tea.
<Crion> Cleaner has dressed a bit more appropriately for the situation, in charcoal slacks and a black blazer, his .45 holstered under his arm again.
<Nicolae> An enchanter always arrives precisely when she means to. Cynthia is dressed her usual "Fashionable Secretary On A Budget" sort of outfit, and makes small talk with the Sleepers on the way to the back halls of KSC.
<banana> The tea is sweet, iced and presented with slices of lemon. Half an hour ago this place's emeritus spiritual leader tore out just under half of Henrik's soul with her skeleton hands. A Seer who was introduced while he couldn't exactly take in new information asks him, "Are you sure you're okay?," again. He's been saying something, perhaps repeatedly, but with little idea what it was. The woman with the tea has brown hair and a large golden sigil-earring which is fashioned to lay flat against her left cheek.
<banana> Cynthia heard things on the way in and from her 'colleagues' yesterday afternoon: There's a spacewalk today! The astronauts are going to conduct an extravehicular activity.
<banana> Since all the oxygen is inside the vehicle, this is a bigger deal than the name would imply. Also, it's unclear whether this is a real thing which is occurring or something Laborer's scripted...
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik: "Слава! mastered, cindered and damned,
<Crion> They're certainly not putting off anything on the Control Pylon's account. They'll have to learn on their feet.
<Nicolae> Not a lot of point in faking a closed barn door after the actual horse has gotten out. Maybe Operations Pylon wants to prove they're not all fuckups.
<banana> When the four newcomers meet up it's in the slightly baffling back corridors on the way to the breakroom. You don't think the main building at Kennedy Space Centre has 'secret passages', per se, but there is a lot of infrastructure to maintain with the facility's combination of industrial and clerical work. What kind of greetings and catchup have y'all got?
<banana> Chorasmian, the tall hierodule in the black robe who led the singing earlier: "Mr. David, you saw Mary. None of us has seen Mary in years, we just saw.. you in the dark."
<Crion> Cleaner just nods, and will return any 'Good mornings.' He'll inquire after the cars he procured for Henrik David and Orient, just to the extent of making sure they still drove properly on their first time out of the impound lot in a few months.
<banana> 'Piglet', now out of the catacomb but still looking cadaverous - even with his new vision Henrik can see the twists of air and light about him, Forces gathering - "You were speaking but things were also.. happening. To you. There was so much power, not actually in the tomb but just.. beyond. Going one way, outward."
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik's eyes can't focus. He sees light-shrouded skeletons when he looks at them, the afterimage of something he stared into and forgot. "Sss. Ssssvv." He lies down slowly, letting his eyes drift closed as he focuses on breathing. "Gone."
<Crion> The bulk of Cleaner's energies at the moment are dedicated towards thinking about the rebels operating in and around Port Canaveral, not this launch itself. He's a bit annoyed that they have to hit the ground running on this so quickly without proper time to get the lay of the area or at least secure their hotel rooms.
<Nicolae> Cynthia distributes a few "Good morning"s and "How are you?"s.
<Crion> At the very least this afternoon he wants to check out the 'safehouse' that the locals are running.
<banana> There's another hierodule, with spectacles and a blue sash instead of the others' saffron - Henrik has the sense he's been asking insistent questions, but has now recognised how little they were registering. He reintroduces himself: "Weathervane. James Mackay. Did you experience any fragmentation, any splitting up of the self? There's no sign of it."
<banana> Chorasmian: "This isn't a fragment thing I think."
<banana> Weathervane: "The Pattern shards- it's the closest thing we have. Last time she needed something."
<banana> The fifth hierodule says nothing, but takes a biscuit. He's overweight verging on plump, but wearing a really nice suit.
<VoxPVoxD> At the meeting, Henrik is cordial. Car's working fine.
<VoxPVoxD> On the bed, Henrik fights through a wave of vertigo. "No. No. No."
<banana> ??? with tea: "What do you need?"
<banana> Chorasmian: "We've got cots and isolation cells. Piglet's an EMT. No physical injuries- do you need to rest?"
<Nicolae> Cynthia looks at the rest of Project Agingan, as if thinking over something.
<banana> Weathervane: "It's never been an individual before - objects and information. Her sacrifices are getting out of hand."
<banana> Tea Provider: "Shut the fuck up."
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik's voice is gradually strengthening. "She's gone."
<banana> Weathervane: "I won't, this has gone- gone where?"
<VoxPVoxD> "Up the Golden Road."
<banana> The Father's children look at each other and around the room, at the brass which substitutes for gold in the true litany (crass, cold, perfect). Most of them seem to get the implication.
<banana> Piglet says: "Do you mean.. beyond us? She's succeeding?"
<banana> Weathervane: "Impossible."
<banana> Chorasmian: "Could be interesting."
<banana> Here's the good news: because everyone's early to KSC this morning, you get to take part in the team breakfast.
<banana> Most of a team, anyway. You can hear Trajan and Lewis's voices from Lewis' office; the others are sitting around talking about radio.
<banana> Manhunter: "So the equipment works after all?"
<Nicolae> What's the interest in radio, specifically?
<banana> Dirt Cool: "Most convincing way to fake it. We've got the tuner set up at the liason office, or we can go to the studio.."
<banana> Fieldmouse: "Good morning!" The freckled Acanthus doesn't seem to have much to say about radio waves.
<Crion> Cleaner will settle for coffee.
<Nicolae> Cynthia gets herself a pastry, an apple, and some coffee. "I'd like to hear more about your radio setup," she says, gesturing with the apple to signify that "your" means "Operations Pylon".
<banana> The atmosphere has becomes a little uneasy as you arrive.. for some reason. But it only takes a minute to work out what Operations Pylon is talking about: today, they're getting the real radio signals, from the actual lander module up in space.
<banana> Laborer: "Of course. We have a pretty cool setup in tandem with Houston, a ritual spell - there's a reflector mechanism in the atmosphere and we feed coordinates into it. Is that the right term?"
<banana> Manhunter: "Not quite coordinates, it's a signal shape, like a waveform of Space.."
<Crion> So far these people have done a very unconvincing job of selling that they're actually trying to fake anything.
<banana> Laborer: "Basically, we arrange the communications with mission control at Houston from here. Actors, vocal mimicry."
<Crion> Rather than just, doing it for real.
<Crion> But Cleaner continues to listen.
<Crion> Cleaner: "Actors? Where from."
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "Have you tried it yet in an actual scenario?"
<banana> "We're still on that, and the mission profile is going according to plan from NASA's end.." She says it "nay-sa", a surprisingly strong northern accent.
<banana> Dirt Cool: "The United States provides."
<Crion> Evasive.
<Quaker> Orient has been sitting quietly at a desk, staring at nothing and no one. He is very clearly distracted.
<banana> Laborer: "This is an actual scenario. Everything they've heard from Apollo 9 is coming from Kennedy, from the studio."
<banana> Trajan's voice, raised a little, from the office: "There has to be a way!" Lewis is quieter.
<banana> Dirt Cool - Kyle - raises his sunglasses. "What we were just saying, though.. yesterday we started getting real signals. They stopped before we could get setup, nobody really expected to, uh."
<banana> "Anyway, there should be another transmission this morning if they're on schedule."
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "You're faking the transmissions from actual astronauts?" Cynthia leans forward a bit, hands folded around her coffee mug. "Why?"
<banana> Laborer: "Of course that's redirected by the reflector too, so it comes back here."
<Quaker> Abruptly, he stands and walks away towards Lewis’s office
<banana> Manhunter grins at Cynthia like she's an idiot, or he is. "So that NASA thinks the mission is actually occurring. We can't have them *all* burn up on the launchpad."
<Crion> Cleaner: "And yet there is a mission, actually occurring."
<Crion> "Your 'real signals.'"
<Quaker> Abruptly, he stands and walks away towards Lewis’s office. Let the others go over the technical things. He doesn’t care.
<banana> Laborer: "Of course we're not going to let those go to Houston. But should we.. someone has to talk to them. They'll be wondering why nobody responded yesterday."
<banana> Dirt Cool: "I'm wondering why there wasn't anything for the first three days, if they're conducting the actual mission up there. We assumed the equipment wasn't really set up or that something had.. happened."
<banana> Lots of ominous pauses today.
<banana> Orient steps into Lewis's office just as Trajan is turning away, her movements radiating theatrical disgust. He sees-
<Crion> Once again Cleaner is given to annoyance at the clear inability of Operations Pylon to stop trying to have it both ways.
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "Start at the beginning. Those three are actually up in space, correct?"
<banana> Lewis nods, welcoming him in. "Yes, you'd better avoid her face for now. Memory skips and glitches."
<banana> Trajan: "It should only be a few days. But we can't just let them both expire.."
<banana> Lewis: "Enough."
<banana> Laborer: "Yes, they are. It's inconvenient. We're going to have to reconcile stories or overwrite their experiences."
<Crion> Cleaner: "Why do you continue to send people up."
<banana> The others are silent. They seem to realise better than Laborer does - she's the least inexperienced, right? - how big a problem there is, here.
<banana> Kyle: "This is largely my fuckup."
<banana> Fieldmouse: "No, I-"
<banana> Dirt Cool keeps speaking over him.
<Quaker> It’s clear from his body language that Orient expects the Praetorian to accept the directive and leave. He sits in a chair opposite the Master. “I need to speak with you.”
<Crion> Cleaner suppresses a sigh.
<banana> "See, the way it works is that we have interests shared with the State. It's just as important to the USA that these people appear to get to the moon as it is to us."
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik pauses, collecting himself. "There won't be another of either of them."
<banana> "For a while now we've been riding the edge of failure, collecting budget in exchange for the possibility of success while making sure to account for failure. So the government people have been.. holding out hope."
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "Why not just let the astronauts talk themselves? You don't have to fake messages from actual astronauts. The damage has been done! No stories to fake because Houston and the astronauts are really talking!"
<banana> Manhunter: "Are you fucking nuts? We don't know what they're seeing up there!"
<banana> Kyle: "Just a sec please. This is important: basically, my people went behind our back."
<banana> "Every mission for a while - since they started calling it Apollo - we've had people on standby, 'just in case it's really possible', then every time we agree the risks are too high and run the studio instead. This time, the government changed it up at the last minute."
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "That's..." She pauses. "That's not a bad point."
<banana> Manhunter: "Ok."
<banana> Kyle: "9 was gonna be just like all the others, and we'd - in the Agency - we'd agreed to move on as usual, start the recordings and put an empty rocket up there, maybe next time, etc etc."
<banana> "Then at the last minute.. someone went over my head. There was a decision made to put the guys in the rocket."
<Crion> Cleaner: "What I am hearing is that we do not have control over the Sleeper government."
<banana> "By the time we found out - the real 'we', here - the goddamn thing was out of the Ionosphere and beyond what Lewis could finagle without it being in camera."
<Crion> Cleaner: "That, to my mind, is the real problem here."
<Crion> "The real embarrassment."
<banana> Trajan slinks out of Lewis's office. It's impossible to actually remember her expressions right now but Orient is nonetheless left with an impression of a pout.
<banana> Lewis: "Alright. About yesterday, or today, or.. everything?" He looks harassed. Everyone does.
<Crion> He sips his coffee. "And that goes beyond just one Company man's miscalculation."
<banana> Kyle: "You're right. Regaining that level of access has to be a priority."
<banana> Trajan joins the conversation, but spins a stool around and turns to face away from everyone else. You can't quite remember why she did that, but there was a good reason- something about her face. "Not that we don't love throwing blame around."
<Crion> Cleaner: "It would seem imperative to me that we determine the chain of orders through which those astrounauts found their way onboard that vehicle."
<Crion> "And then we start breaking that chain."
<banana> Manhunter: "Sounds good, actually."
<Crion> "Because I think we can all agree: this does not happen again."
<banana> Laborer: "There's still the active mission though. We need to handle whatever is really going on."
<Crion> Cleaner nods. "I would advise doing and saying whatever is necessary to recover the crew, with a minimum of fuss and publicity."
<Crion> "Once they are back on the ground, we can make arrangements regarding their futures."
<banana> Trajan mumbles something.
<banana> Kyle: "Shall we get you introductions to the agency people?"
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "Interrogation and memory replacement, it might not be worth the attention to get rid of them."
<Crion> Cleaner shrugs. "People die all the time in America."
<banana> Last night, as Henrik collects himself, everyone pays attention.
<Crion> "And the highways get lonely at night."
<banana> Chorasmian: "Why won't there be another?"
<Quaker> Orient: “Not any of those.” He thinks for a moment. The effects of the spell he only barely managed to deflect are still with his memory, or at least still making irritating moments of forgetfulness more common than they should be. Then: “It’s probably best to move past the embarassment of their failures. My colleagues will do what they have to do to regain control of the situation, I’m sure.”
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "Most people don't make the front page."
<Crion> Cleaner: "No. They don't."
<Crion> "For now, we'll handle it as Cynthia says. But we have crossed a clear red line."
<Nicolae> Cynthia puts down an apple core, she's been munching in between sentences. "Let me have a look at this."
<Crion> "And it's not just the astronauts who might have to pay that price." To Dirt Cool: "Yes. I'll meet your Agency boys."
<Nicolae> She closes her eyes, sighs, and begins tearing up a napkin. Little pieces flutter onto the table. You can divine with anything if you put a little soul into it.
<banana> Lewis: "That'll be a relief. Despite Scorpion's fumblings, I really am pleased to have some help on board."
<banana> In the mind's eye of the mage who calls herself Cynthia Munroe the past becomes present and she seizes the why of it.
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik sits up on the bed. A moment later Henrik folds the now damp and red-streaked little towel onto the end table. "There's nothing left to sacrifice, and no one left to ask it. She has risked everything on a promise of salvation, and she has been vindicated or proved stupider than the miranye. It's done."
<banana> Sound, smell, taste, touch, vision: WHY did the astronauts board the rocket? There they were, assembled in their futuristic spacesuits, waiting for a call that would probably never come - Scott goes to the phone when it rings, puts it down with delight written on his face. "Green light, fellows."
<banana> Deeper, earlier, first: WHY did the phone ring? There's a woman surrounded by telephones, not an exchange operator but a power-suited type at a desk covered in handsets and bases and files. She's far enough away that the light is different to the Cape - clouds in the sky, but the same time of day.
<Quaker> Orient: “I want to discuss the problem of the Hegemonic Ministry.”
<banana> She's going to make the call, but it's at another man's direction- he's just leaving. Flat and puffy hair, horn rimmed spectacles.. it's a familiar face, maybe one Cynthia has seen in the papers.
<banana> The Seer Who Brought The Tea: "Miranye?"
<banana> Piglet: "Wow. Woww."
<banana> Chorasmian: "Is it- ascension. We, we were promised."
<banana> Weathervane: "Bullshit."
<Nicolae> Cynthia opens her eyes slowly, and looks down at the mess of napkin shreds in front of her. She contemplates them for a moment, and then scoops them into a little pile and dumps them into her empty coffee cup. "How many of you are familiar with the name Henry Kissinger?"
<banana> Chorasmian: "Ascension."
<Crion> Cleaner: "I am not."
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik reaches for the English word. "The Sleeper laity."
<banana> Lewis: "Yes, the Hegemon. Assholes, right? So're we, but we need to assert some control over the process of assholery."
<banana> "Think there's something to this idea of a... mole?"
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "He is the National Security Advisor to the President, and a few days ago he set in motion the call to put the astronauts on the rocket."
<banana> Dirt Cool: "Christ, no wonder I got overruled. Kissinger. I haven't met him yet. Been stuck down here.."
<Crion> Cleaner: "That is unfortunate."
<banana> Manhunter: "Isn't he one of us? I assumed."
<Crion> "Who took that call?"
<banana> Dirt Cool: "Not as far as I know.."
<banana> Laborer to Cleaner: "It would have been James or David. Rusty doesn't do politics."
<Crion> Cleaner: "I see."
<banana> Fieldmouse asks Cynthia: "What kind of spell was that? That's useful."
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "It was Scott. David. Kissinger gave the order to a woman I don't recognize."
<Crion> "Correct me if I am wrong, but 'National Security Advisor' does not sound like a position with formal authority over NASA project directors. Or anyone on-site here."
<banana> Dirt Cool: "No, but he'd have advisory authority over the Agency, and it's the Agency who makes the call to keep the thing fake."
<banana> "Or doesn't, as the case may have been."
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "This felt super off-the-books."
<Quaker> Orient: “It depends. It might be surveillance that you have not caught. I’ll find out. When did you first become aware of the leaks?”
<banana> Tea-Bearing Seer: "Right. Them. But, golly.. is she gone bodily?"
<Crion> Cleaner: "Then our new goal, it seems, is to stop this David Scott from answering anymore phone calls. And then we see how Kissinger responds."
<banana> Chorasmian: "No, bones all still here. A.. crown appeared, though."
<Nicolae> Cynthia sighs. We might have to kill an astronaut after all.
<Crion> So it goes.
<Nicolae> To Fieldmouse: "Fate and Time, an apprentice of either could do it."
<banana> Fieldmous: "Well, that's me, but I've learned different kinds of magic.. I'll try out the idea next time.
<banana> "
<banana> Lewis: "It must have been going on right from the start, since their submission to the Tetrarchy included a potted history of the project.. the first time we knew something was up was last year, when someone at Houston got a call asking too-informed questions."
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "First things first, the Agency does not make the call to keep the thing fake. The Archigenitor of Panopticon makes the call to keep things fake. We need to disconnect them from this project."
<banana> Lewis: "The hegemons are not subtle. not down here. They want to exert control and they want you to know it. I'm amazed they have an agent - if they have an agent - who hasn't given himself or herself away."
<banana> Trajan: "Agreed." She's agreeing with Cynthia, presumably.
<Quaker> Orient: “Could you name all their agents in the state?”
<Quaker> “Their public ones, anyway.”
<banana> Lewis: "Only the big names. I've been.. out of touch for a while."
<banana> "I can give you a couple of layers down from Mantis, though."
<banana> Laborer: "That's important, but it can't be 'first'. We've got this call coming in about fifty minutes."
<Crion> This is to Dirt Cool: "We can either disconnect them Cynthia's way, your way, or my way. You will not like my way. I do not like my way. I would prefer to try the other ways first."
<Quaker> Orient repeats his question. “When did you become aware of the leaks?”
<banana> Dirt Cool: "It isn't easy to cut the Agency out of something, but we've got a couple of months."
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik, to the other hierodules: "I should go."
<banana> Lewis: "As I said.. last year. Marit Lage over at Houston got a call from someone in Hegemonic asking stuff they ought not to have known. Some of it must have come from this team."
<banana> "We used to have a few sleepwalkers helping out - we thought it was one of them back then and got rid of two of the three. Guess that was unnecessary."
<Crion> To Laborer: "I think we should do everything in our power to bring the astronauts home safely. I do not think we should worry about what they suspect in their conversation with you -- because upon their return planetside we are, I think we can all agree, going to immediately quarantine them pending a debriefing and the manipulation of their memories."
<Crion> "We can blame it on space radiation."
<banana> The fat hierodule speaks up at last: "You can leave if you need to. Sure you don't want to rest, though? No questions to ask us? This is beyond one man, Mary's.. beyond most men."
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik: "Is there anything you want to tell me?"
<Nicolae> Cynthia to Lewis: "What did the Hegemon know that they shouldn't've?"
<banana> "Amparo." Is that his shadowname? "Frankly, it sounds like you've been through hell. Just wanted to tell you we'll be here and happy to listen or help."
<Crion> If Cleaner had his way they'd scrounge up a Life adept to give the astronauts a particularly aggressive form of cancer and sadly declare a moritorium on manned spaceflight for the time being, but those sorts of mages are hard to find on order.
<banana> Bringer of Tea: "In the name of the Father."
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik: "What do you do here?"
<banana> Chorasmian: "In the name of the Father, who gives us nothing, for we deserve nothing."
<banana> Laborer: "Radiation sounds good. I know just how to work that in.."
<banana> Cynthia's walked over to Lewis's office, I assume? He looks up to answer her: "Our techniques, specific magic for rocket control, contacts with the Russian counterparts. They were most interested in that, trying to pick apart Panopticon's contacts through the Curtain."
<Quaker> Orient: “I didn’t mean ‘you’ in the general sense. Who informed you of the call made to Houston, and when?”
<Nicolae> Cynthia turns, and looks from Lewis's office back into the knuckleheads in the breakroom. Any one of them could be the leak.
<banana> Amparo explains Our Saviour to Henrik: "We run a kindergarten. More usefully, this was once and formally still is one of the Five Sanctuaries.. during the Conciliation we were a regional base of operations, lots of pilgrims and planning for the synthesis. Now we're more of an.. outpost. The Ministry doesn't need much out of central Florida specifically, but sleeper faith is big here, so we mostly manage that for the panhandle down.. there's also a big Panopticon project nearby, so we help out with random logistics pieces."
<banana> Most of the other hierodules look confused and bored, like: why is he talking about all this right now? What does this have to do with the Fenestriarch? Henrik can see their frustration.
<Crion> Cleaner hasn't heard news of the mole yet.
<Crion> Orient and Cynthia can probably imagine what his response will be, however.
<banana> Lewis: "I was informed by Scorpion's secretary, his.. creature. That was the start of the blackout on direct comms between here and the Space Center. It would've been a bit more than a year ago, February 1968."
<Quaker> Orient: “Did you ever discover evidence of leaks besides being informed through this channel?”
<banana> Trajan turns around.
<banana> Something happens.
<banana> Trajan turns away. "Sorry, forgot. How are we going to deal with the radio thing? In light of Mister Kissinger, we'd better take it to the studio."
<banana> Manhunter: "I should go and make sure the transmission gear's running, then."
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik: "Thank you." To the others: "You want more?"
<banana> Lewis: "Actually, no. You think he could've been fucking us?
<banana> Tea Seer: "We always want more."
<banana> Chorasmian: "It doesn't have to be tonight. The, um, the road is long."
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "Who? Kissinger?"
<banana> Lewis: "Scorpion."
<Crion> Of course he could have been.
<banana> Lewis: "..I can't see him doing it in a way which promote Hegemonic, though. He hates Rattler more than he hates me."
<Crion> He's Scorpion.
<banana> Lewis: "..I can't see him doing it in a way which promote Hegemonic, though. He hates Mantis more than he hates me."
<banana> Weathervane, the most skeptical one, is pacing the small cell. Abruptly, he opens the door. "I'm going to look over the aftermath."
<Quaker> Orient: “I have no idea. Who is his secretary?”
<Crion> To Dirt Cool: "How do you plan to handle the Agency's request to sit in on the astronauts' debriefing? Because they will make one. This was their mission."
<banana> Lewis: "A thing named Yakub. Not human, a construct - he adopted it from somewhere. It's.. upsetting to deal with."
<Quaker> Orient: “Why?”
<Quaker> I hate the way people here speak, he thinks.
<banana> Dirt Cool strokes his goatee. "Humm.. locally, I've got the authority here. I'll just pick a couple of weak-minded agents, ones whose senses can be kept blank throughout the meeting."
<Crion> Cleaner nods. "Good thinking." That will do for now.
<banana> Lewis, at least, seems like he's starting to get it, opening up to Orient as he becomes familiar with the level of detail he's asking for. "Yakub acts like a person, but is not one. He or it was constructed by some mad scientist in the form of a human, made out of fabric and wood. Think Gepetto. It isn't right, it's constantly offensive, but very.. well-meaning. Which just makes it worse."
<banana> "Scorpion keeps it around out of what I call cruelty - both to the Yakub creature itself, giving it the illusion of socialisation and belonging, and to the people who have to interact with it."
<Quaker> Orient: “Is Scorpion this antagonistic to the rest of the Ministry?”
<banana> Laborer, Fieldmouse and Dirt Cool discuss the logistics a little futher with Cleaner and Cynthia, but they're all going to have to leave to get the radio thing going. (It's too much of a risk for Trajan to come in her condition, but she doesn't complain too much). Is talking to the astronauts something they'd like to leave to Operations?
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik sips his tea and watches him go. "I don't know much more. I'm sorry."
<Crion> Cleaner has no interest in participating in that. It'll just make things more complicated if they have to do things his way later.
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik wants to go to the radio.
<Crion> He'll sit in on the debriefing/quarantine, for sure, but he's entrenching himself in the bad cop role, and the bad cop doesn't help talk the astronauts down.
<banana> Lewis leans back in his chair. "Surely not. The Tetrarch is arrogant, but there's bad blood between he and I which I won't go into. That said- to reach his position, you make many enemies."
<Nicolae> Cynthia will go to listen in.
<banana> With some reluctance, last night, they let Henrik go. Most of his questions aren't ones the local Hierodules can answer.. things have changed, but which? How much of his life is a lie? He's certainly more than he was, as well as less..
<banana> The sky over Port Canaveral was a little dirty at night, due to the smokestacks, but he could still see the stars. Back at the hotel, his letters fom home sat, newly unopened, readdressed.
<Quaker> Orient: “How often did you receive reports of leaks like this? Was there ever any interruption?”
<VoxPVoxD> The letters are different?
<banana> Does Cleaner want to go work with Orient and Lewis, then?
<Crion> Seems reasonable.
<banana> The farewell from Ministry colleagues is mostly the same, but there are small changes. Nobody made reference to Epiphany's 'demeanour' anymore, his 'commendable stoicism'. They no longer mention his wife, which could mean... anything.
<banana> The other letter is no longer a cryptic missive referencing the recent doings of White Chain. It is from White Chain, and it is sealed, magically, against some password or sign which Nikolai does not know.
<VoxPVoxD> What kind of magic?
<banana> A little Prime and a little Matter, the sort of spell which is meant to destroy the contents if carelessly opened. They use it for official instructions, among other things.
<banana> Henrik, Cynthia and the others depart- this will be the first time Henrik's seen most of the KSC headquarters. It's more familiar to Cynthia, but she still gets the tour.
<banana> Fieldmouse points out the enormous VAB - the Vehicle Assembly Building in which engines and rockets are fitted together before travelling on rails and gantries to the launchpads. He's got a tourist's appreciation of the industry and activity going on here.
<banana> Kyle is more quiet, worried and planning, and Laborer's mostly interested in where they're going. "Do you think it's true what they tell us," she asks.
<banana> "The celestial spheres, the armillary facade - is there really no there out there?"
<Nicolae> Cynthia: "If the Exarchs will that we find out, we will."
<VoxPVoxD> In the hotel, Henrik unpicks the magic holding the envelope closed before reading what's inside.
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik, at NASA: "Did you ever hear the joke about Yuri Gagarin and the Pope?"
<banana> Laborer: "Nope!"
<banana> You're on the way from the VAB to the studio, passing through an open area (fenced by chickenwire, but it's still a good time to be telling clean jokes instead of evil-wizard jokes).
<banana> Lewis sorts through the files on his shelves for a few minutes in order to answer Orient's question.
<banana> "There have been a few specific incidents and the 'summary' they gave after Apollo 9 went up. All came down the pyramid to us, so yes, it could still be a head fake by Scorpion. As for the timing.. it's even. Like someone was sending regular reports, perhaps quarterly."
<Quaker> Orient: “If you had to identify a mole, who would it be?”
<banana> Lewis: "We're all spies here. The only ones I'd rule out.. Laborer, because she didn't have that kind of access initially, and Trajan because she's not smart enough."
<banana> "Sounds sexist, doesn't it? What would Germaine say? 'Of course women can be conniving double-agents!'"
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik tells the joke. It's clean, there's no swearing or magic in it.
<Quaker> Orient: “Have you or any project member ever been targeted by Time or Mind magic from a non-Atlantean, non-project source while carrying out your duties here?”
<banana> Kyle laughs, Fieldmouse laughs ("call me Ambrose, the staff in the studio will"). Laborer looks worried. "But which was it, really?"
<VoxPVoxD> Henrik: "If you like, we'll send you up next."
<banana> Comrade (if we are still that),
<banana> I don't hear much about the old country anymore, but the grapevine told me about a rocket builder who was in trouble in Baikonur, accused of forbidden dealings. If they have you sent to the True Siberia I will mourn a man who once existed.
<banana> You should have got out. I'm sorry for leaving. I had to leave and I couldn't wait, couldn't bear any longer the delusions of the communists and the death priests and the rationalisations and everything to be the same forever.
<banana> If you are born again you should make it New Orleans.
<banana> ..White Chain, &c
<banana> Cynthia gets a small surprise when they reach the studio.
<banana> There are a few staff people here, Sleepers working for the Seers or the CIA unknowingly, and among them is one of her acquaintances from the HQ building, at her day job.
<banana> She hadnt known Susan Eckert was involved in this sort of thing - she's a computer, one of the staff of mathematical (mostly) women who run through all the calculations for NASA's work and prepare tables and formulae for the engineers. Most of your admin work involves working with the computers, the enormous reams of paper that go into and out of their offices.
<banana> Susan: "Oh, Ms. Munroe. Is there something..?"
<Nicolae> Cynthia tries not to look surprised. "Susan! I didn't know you were working back here."
<banana> The recording studio is basically a couple of low prefab buildings mashed together and built into the side of the air force base. This outer one has a prep room and various technical gear, then further in there's a sound stage and an editing room. Eckert indicates a standing microphone and a control panel with a bunch of dials: "I'm plugging in the frequency guides for Mr. Chun. This is where we deal with the way radio waves curve off the atmosphere, for talking to the astronauts." She greets Henrik- he looks nice and safe, right?
<VoxPVoxD> The accent's a bit alarming, maybe. "You received how many transmissions?"
<banana> Manhunter's here, fiddling with antenna cables. "Nothing for the first three days, then yesterday's on what was hypothetically the schedule.. signals we didn't have the setup to actually decode or talk back to, since nobody expected it. They should be calling again in ten minutes."
<banana> Lewis: "Non-Atlantean non-project? A banisher..? No, though it puts me in mind of Trajan's nonsense earlier. Now if you'd said Atlantean, there's a nasty piece of work with the Pentacle who does that sort of thing."
<Quaker> Orient: “Who?”
<banana> Lewis: "'Cortex' of the Mysterium. He's not local, but turns up too often.. part of a cabal who'd just love to infiltrate what we're doing here, and they came close once. That'd be the only foreign mind magic we've experienced."
<banana> "He tried to scry us out; we spotted it and sent Trajan in. She hurt him badly enough that he hasn't come back."
<banana> Laborer comes back from the soundstage where she was giving instructions to a guy with bigger sideburns than even Cleaner.
<banana> "I'm going to prepare a list of questions. Any inputs? All I've got so far 'Did you see Heaven and the Iron Seals who have torn it down and erected Thrones in its place?'"
<Quaker> Orient writes it all down. His pen stops after the x in Cortex. What a stupid thing he’s been sent to. What a stupid, pointless way to live. What a bore. What a waste. His pen begins again.
<Quaker> “The CIA liasion is also responsible for mind-shielding the rest of Operations pylon?”
<banana> Lewis: "Kyle's the best at Mind here apart from, I would say, you. Said he was a Disciple on the forms but I think he's reached Adeptness. Occasionally we see off routine scryings and prophecies, but only that cabal have performed targetted attacks. We think they think we're sabotaging the space program."
<Quaker> Orient: “Well. You were supposed to.”
<banana> Lewis: "No, I mean- ah, fuck it. You're not wrong."
<banana> "Before I forget."
<banana> "Whether or not you're here to tame a bunch of fuckups, it helps to get to know people. Today there are moles and messages from orbit. Tonight, in east Orlando. There's wrestling. Most of us go- do your people want in?"
<banana> "Dory Funk Junior, the local boy made good. He's going up against the Connecticut Bastard to keep the title..." Has Oriente even heard of American professional wrestling?
<Quaker> Orient shrugs. “Ask Cleaner. I was under the impression that travel to Orlando requires some extra precautions.” He has. The Mexicans do it better. But live theater was never his greatest interest.
<banana> Lewis raises an eyebrow. "Not for a Master of Forces it doesn't."
<Quaker> “You would know better than I do, then. One last thing. I’m going to have Kyle get rid of his pylon’s mind-shielding and investigate their memories. I’d like to have your approval before I do it. Nothing altered or damaged, of course.”
<banana> Lewis: "You have my permission to try. But they'll fight you, and I won't order them to stand down. That's not how we do things here."
<Quaker> Orient closes his notebook and reattaches the top of his fountain pen. He sits in silence for a while. “I understand that you all have your pride. That you’ve suffered to be where you are now.”
<banana> The temperature in the room is a little colder than it was when Orient came in. Lewis: "In turn, I believe I understand what the Eye requires of you. Don't expect anyone who's still mortal to like it."
<Quaker> “I was vacationing with my wife in a tropical paradise when I was ordered here. Imagine which of us is more annoyed by my presence in this place.”
<banana> Lewis: "Man, our only fuckup was being born. We'll make the best of it." There's no animosity here. If it was later in the day he'd probably be offering you a drink. But the mindreading thing is clearly going to be An Issue.
<banana> Who watches the Watchers? You, apparently.
<Quaker> “I know it’s an extreme thing to ask. And that I am a stranger. But you’ve heard how the Tetrarch spoke of me. I am not burning with some ambition to rise to power at your expense. From what I’ve seen, I would rather deal with you than Scorpion ever again, in fact. So think hard about what might happen if we do things this way, and what might happen if we don’t. I would like to save us all a great deal of trouble and find out if there is a
<Quaker> mole in Operations pylon. I don’t have any interest in touching anyone’s mind beyond this basic objective. I don’t care about your power struggle. If there is a mole, then we can deal with them gently. On the other hand, you and the others may try to resist this. You may succeed. And then I will be replaced, and you’ll deal with someone else wh may not share my impartiality and understanding.”
<Quaker> “I am reaching out to you in friendship and goodwill. I share your distaste of cartoon villainy. I suppose you can either accept this as a stroke of good luck, or gamble on my replacement being even kinder and stupider.”
<banana> Lewis sits up and listens. He's not a bad listener, but probably hasn't had a lot of practice recently, what with being the unquestioned authority on a remote project.
<banana> The other Seer makes a gesture and all sound from outside the office cuts off. "You really should come to the NWA event, Kapic."
<banana> "Look. Of course your plan would work. But how about we familiarise you with the consequences first?"
<banana> "I know one of them's the mole. I know that. That's the problem."
<banana> "What does Scorpion do to infiltrates from the hated Hegemon? Jesus, what does Mantis do to failed double agents?"
<banana> *infiltrators
<Quaker> Claudio listens.
<Quaker> “You’re asking rhetorically. I don’t know, though.”
<banana> Lewis hesitates for a moment and then visibly decides, fuck it. "I'll smooth over your access to my friends' minds if we can arrange how it goes afterward. Maybe get him or her out under a pretext."
<banana> "It might be someone essential, though. There might not be any good way to use that information."
<Quaker> “That’s fine with me. I’ll agree to place whatever information I find in your hands and no one else’s if you grant me access. I’m not looking to recommend punishment for anyone.”
<Quaker> He thinks it over for a moment. “Trajan could probably benefit from some serious reconstructive work, though. I’m sure her ways of channeling her impulses are helpful for her Ministry. I can’t imagine they’re healthy in any other way.”
<banana> Lewis: "Done."
<banana> "You don't like figures of speech, do you? Here's what Scorpion would do: cause them great pain for an extended period of time, probably culminating in death." Pretty much what anyone of Lewis's own rank is supposed to do with traitors. But you're only human.
<banana> "Mantis would simply give them to Hisil."
<Quaker> “I wouldn’t want either to happen. And…”
<Quaker> “It’s not that I don’t enjoy small talk. But it is an irritant when people indulge in it past the point of usefulness. We’re in a rather fraught situation. I hate to see people smile and convince themselves that they’re not, and avoid facing their problems.”
<banana> It's still not clear how old Lewis is, since he's enough of an arcanist to control his own appearance. But he looks a bit tired - Oriente recognises the stress of attempting trust. "We'll have to disagree on that point. The world is Fallen, and while we are promised Ascension, the path is.. not one most of us will travel. Instead there's solace, escape. Not every problem has an answer, not every answer is within reach. I will concede that these specific problems must, at this time, be faced."
<banana> A clearer case of burnout you have not seen and it happened when he'd achieved a position which can't simply be discarded. No wonder Scorpion hates the man.
<Quaker> “Speaking frankly, I would consider it an enormous problem if I still harbored any desire to Ascend or rise higher in the hierarchy of our organization after having seen all that I’ve seen.” Orient puts his notes away and stands. “Let me know what else I can do to lessen your burdens while I’m here. I’ll accept carrying out my assigned task. I will be happy if I can do that without seeing anyone thrown to the wolves or indulging a
<Quaker> local petty tyrant’s sadism.”