09:01 <Crion> Well. You've got ten minutes to yourselves before your presence is request-demanded at the former yacht club in the port district for richie-riches and air force base bums at Cape Canaveral. The mage named "Manowar," calling himself "Team Leader Taggart," advised you dress in your best PPE. This is flak jacket and plate carrier event. 09:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's got his gun and, after some rooting around, the kevlar, which only cost a bit more than the linen dress shirt he's wearing underneath it. Ah fuck. Ah Christ. Ah shit. 09:05 <Crion> Lauren: "Do you want me to come or...?" 09:05 <Crion> "I could like. Be on comms." 09:05 <Crion> "But if you want me to come, I'll come." 09:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I don't feel good about you sitting back here alone. That just seems like a setup for something horrible to happen to you or to me and all we can do is listen." 09:07 <Crion> She nods. "Then I guess I'll...lock Chup in the Belowdecks, leave out some food. Hope we're not gone too long." 09:07 <Crion> "They'll be fine, right?" 09:07 <dammitwho> Maggie's got her kevlar and Zveroboi, and will see if the wizard troops offer her a flak jacket instead. They'd know if the difference were a big deal. 09:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, trying to be reassuring after what he just said: "Worse comes to worst, we come back to a buddy comedy." 09:08 <Crion> Lauren nods, then nods again to herself. 09:08 <VoxPVoxD> Go team. 09:11 <CBN> Tony pockets a few small pebbles and a match, but otherwise plans to go unarmored until he has an idea just what they're up against---no use putting on a game face for the wrong arena. He'll be wearing his hat and bringing his gun just the same. Accessorizing is important (he learned this from Prom). 09:11 <Crion> When everyone makes it to the empty yacht club, you find the rest of the special ops team -- Project NIGHT CRY or whatever -- has been dismissed. It's just Manowar and Orr, standing in the middle of a big, oddly ornate and purpose-built map table depicting the greater Orlando area, while all the chairs and tables in the main hall around it have been pushed to the wall save a stack of chairs 09:11 <Crion> and a rack of body armor. 09:12 <VoxPVoxD> ...okay. 09:13 <banana> Melanie hasn't got any body armour per se. Up until this point she's relied on the promises of guilty seasons, having been made into an armoured thing, etc. They were on a boat! And wasn't this skull caper meant to be like.. a casino or something? 09:13 <banana> She's quiet as the crew steps into the empty hall, but she'll go and pick up some of the actual military armour to look at. 09:15 <Crion> The military armor is actually military body armor, the kind with a plate carrier in front and armored plates slotted into the side that you replace when they're hit with shrapnel or, if you're truly unlucky, direct weapons fire from something bigger than a handgun. Pretty bulky, but with protection to match. 09:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So, uh..." 09:15 <VoxPVoxD> "...what happened?" 09:15 <trenchfoot> Nels has a kevlar vest and a revolver, and that's gotten her this far already. Plus, well, contracts. Those've come in handy. 09:15 <Crion> Orr: "Yeah! Hey. Right." 09:15 <Crion> "Take a seat, you can just pull down one of those chairs there if you want." 09:15 <Crion> Crossing his arms and smiling. "So which one if you is Nels." 09:16 <VoxPVoxD> Oh fuck. 09:16 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart gets chairs for Lauren, Maggie, Tony, and Nels. 09:16 <dammitwho> Welp. 09:16 <banana> He probably wants an autograph. 09:16 <Crion> Lauren sort of glances over at Nels, but doesn't betray her trust. 09:16 <trenchfoot> Nels stiffens immediately, then thumps down heavily in the seat Stewart grabs. "That's me." 09:17 <Crion> Orr: "Excellent. So I'm not sure whether we should be arresting you or pinning a medal on you, or both. Probably neither, come to think of it. But we're not in this precise situation, if not for you." 09:17 <CBN> Tony gives the body armor a long look and takes a seat. 09:17 <Crion> "We're instead in a different situation, one that's already resolved. That could be much better! It could also be much worse." 09:18 <banana> Melanie: "We don't know who you are or what right you have to give out medals or blame anyone for anything." 09:18 <Crion> Orr pulls out a federal law enforcement BOLO. "As you may have guessed I've spent a brief but illuminating time talking with federal fugitive Peter Montgomery." 09:19 <Crion> It is in fact Peter. He looks a bit...older? in the pic. Maybe in disposition, not in age. It's hard to tell where they got the photo. It doesn't seem to be a standard mugshot... 09:20 <VoxPVoxD> Could it be Peter's fetch? 09:23 <Crion> Might be, but that's not what's weird about it. The BOLO itself has some sort of arcane or eldritch residue on it; Stewart is fairly certain that is not a photograph of Peter Montgomery taken from a camera, and if he pressed the matter, he is less but still somewhat certain he'd get word salad squid ink about algorithmic facial reconstruction analysis. 09:23 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "In person or like through a scrying window?" 09:24 <Crion> "You know, a little of this, a little of that..." Orr will notice Stewart looking and take a look himself. "Ah. Hasn't shaved in a few days." 09:24 <banana> Melanie guesses we're admitting we know what scrying windows are. Actually, she doesn't (but these guys are probably mages, right). 09:24 <VoxPVoxD> He's got that apocalypse stubble. 09:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What'd he have to say?" 09:25 <Crion> Manowar, to Melanie: "So far as central Florida remains the United States of America, we are the legitimate and highest law enforcement authority in the land. To the extent that it does not...the seccessionists are your folk." 09:25 <Crion> "If we're putting our cards down on the table." 09:25 <trenchfoot> Ughhhhh. 09:26 <Crion> Orr: "Mainly that your friend Nels here fucked everything up. Without crown, 'it' didn't work. Some girl is now dead or worse. He was really quite beside himself." 09:26 <trenchfoot> Nels: "What?" 09:26 <VoxPVoxD> "The girl have a name?" 09:26 <banana> To Manowar: "Small-town families of Appalachian stock who moved toward the coast when they came into money and got really into church as a way to fit in?" 09:26 <Crion> Orr: "He said he has a plan to 'fix everything,' of course, but, when has that ever worked out?" 09:26 <banana> To Manowar: "Small-town families of Appalachian stock who moved toward the coast when they came into money and got really into church as a way to fit in?" 09:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's completely focused on detail now. 09:26 <CBN> Tony squints and lifts up his hat to scratch his head. Maybe this'll all come together and someone else will give the easier-to-follow one later at the boat. 09:27 <Crion> "Faerie folk," Manowar rumbles. 09:27 <banana> That's an unpopular misunderstanding. 09:28 <dammitwho> Sounds like Peter Montgomery should have thought about all this shit a little harder before he sold out not just his immediate community but arguably the entire human race. 09:28 <banana> Melanie's not going to get in the way of Stewart extracting information here. As long as it's flowing in the right direction. 09:28 <Crion> Orr: "Murderhobo gangs of Florida Men, SWAT teams with mouse ears, and the odd, terrifying mascot now roam the streets. The Princesses have divided up territory, and squabble. It's all quite silly, but also quite definitely lethal." 09:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Tell me about the girl. Friend? Lover?" 09:29 <Crion> To Stewart: "He wasn't in the mood for two-way communication. Oddly, it sounded like there might be more than one." 09:30 <Crion> "That, or he's just, completely lost his mind." 09:30 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Gemma, maybe? She was there with him..." 09:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So Peter Montgomery and one or more women tried to do something and, lacking a skull, didn't stick the landing. Now we have a Magic Kingdom on earth." 09:30 <Crion> Manowar: "Additionally, the 'Cinderella Castle' has grown in size and compound complexity such that it is now half a mile tall and sprawls over most of the original Disney World complex." 09:31 <Crion> Orr lifts a finger. "Lacking a crown. They had the skull, it seems." 09:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Right." 09:31 <trenchfoot> Tiredly: "Right." 09:31 <VoxPVoxD> "But there's no indication what they were trying to do." 09:31 <Crion> Orr: "Crowns seem...very important here. Narratively." 09:31 <Crion> Orr: "He said he wanted to turn the princess back into a real girl." 09:32 <banana> Melanie: "That absolutely cannot happen." 09:32 <Crion> "Sorry, that's a quote. He said he 'wants to turn the princess back into a real girl. It can be done. It can be done.' And here the crazy eyes started." 09:32 <banana> And she never was... right? 09:32 <VoxPVoxD> Ahhhh fuck. 09:33 <CBN> Tony: "And what happened to all the people?" 09:33 <banana> *floridians 09:33 <trenchfoot> Nels: "It... can't, no. But they thought it could. If we believe what we were told at the time." 09:34 <Crion> Manowar: "It's been like this for a week or two now. We've put an XD-notice on the entire metropolitan area and we're bringing in hardware, but while they're not pushing to expand, we're having trouble pushing their boundaries as well." 09:34 <Crion> Orr: "Well, Tony, right? What's the worst thing that could happen if a kid got their wish and every day was a day at Disney World?" 09:34 <Crion> "That's what's happening to all the people." 09:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "How many dead?" 09:35 <Crion> Manowar: "We've killed some 20; ones that wouldn't go down to less-than-lethal rounds. We have no body count deeper in." 09:35 <banana> Melanie wants to complain that they shouldn't know our names. And if they do they shouldn't use them to be casually manipulative. Whatever. 09:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "But they're not exterminating civilians en masse inside?" 09:36 <VoxPVoxD> "Are people on the streets at all? Like, two weeks. People gotta eat, people gotta get medicine. What's going on?" 09:37 <Crion> Orr: "If anyone's doing the exterminating, it's the civilians themselves. We've done some drone flyovers, though. With a few gory exceptions they...mostly seem to be doing grotesque playacting of normal life." 09:37 <Crion> Orr: "You know how at like, Epcot, they hire people to pretend to be German or something?" 09:37 <CBN> Tony is looking increasingly, inarticuately upset about this, muttering. "This's bad, this's bad, oh fuck man, no." 09:37 <trenchfoot> "Fuck." 09:38 <CBN> He shakes his head. "No you guys don't get it, none of you get it." He points to his hat. "Badge of office. Of the office of 'this shit right here does not happen.' " 09:38 <dammitwho> "See, this is what I was saying about the Rat. Shoulda burnt this place years ago." 09:38 <Crion> Manowar: "If nothing else, there's a level of situational stasis." 09:38 <banana> "What do you mean, Tony? Are they like.. human hobs?" 09:38 <CBN> Tony: "That's even worse! That means everything's always fucked and broken and no one's where they should be and nothing's staying on its side of the road." 09:39 <Crion> Orr: "Well, clearly we're not the experts in this. And Peter, as insane as he might currently be, did tell us you all were coming. Except for the redhead." 09:39 <Crion> Lauren narrows her eyes, and pointedly does not give a name. 09:40 <CBN> Tony: "Doesn't matter what they are Mel, it matters what they're doing. And if it's anything to do with hobs and humans interacting and killing each other in either direction that means I have to step in." 09:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, quietly: "Tony. We're here now. We're not leaving. Okay? We got this." 09:41 <banana> Melanie: "Look, this is a terrible situation, and we kind of are the experts, but I'm not sure.. what we can do. This is kind of like the worst has already happened. Even what Peter's Mistress claims to want is insane, and what they've actually done.. do we all live in Arcadia now? God, could you even fix this with nuclear weapons?" 09:41 <CBN> Tony: "I need you to understand that, all of you. If people are out there killing hobs. I am, fuck man. " He thinks for a second about how to phrase this. "Listen if you're a cop, just ignore this part. Anybody who fucked with hobs is probably gonna have to die out there, or else I'm probably losing this hat, and my head with it." 09:41 <CBN> Tony: "Anybody. Who didn't stay on their side of the street." 09:41 <Crion> Orr: "Peter's what now?" 09:42 <banana> Melanie: "We'll do whatever we can Tony. Probably die trying I guess." 09:42 <banana> Melanie: "We'll do whatever we can Tony. Probably die trying I guess." 09:42 <CBN> Tony: "Melanie if they nuked an open Hedge gate, I'm going to end up in DC and we're going to probably have a really really really bad time there. I cannot stress this enough." 09:43 <Crion> Manowar: "Nuclear weapons are not currently on the table." 09:43 <Crion> Orr makes a 'ehhh' face. 09:43 <banana> "Are we talking like.. Congressional hearings? National scandal, why is the Barony failing in its duties?" 09:44 <VoxPVoxD> We're obviously talking a Grandma's-Peach-Tea situation. 09:45 <trenchfoot> Nels: "His -- no, probably don't do that. The nuclear weapons thing." 09:45 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Well, not now." 09:45 <CBN> Tony: "Wearing that hat means it's my job to do the stuff the wearer of the hat is supposed to do. And if I don't, someone else is gonna come get it. And we don't retire." 09:46 <VoxPVoxD> Breathe in; breathe out. "Look, we need to focus. None of us is going anywhere until this is settled. None of us has a complete picture." 09:46 <VoxPVoxD> "If we go off half-cocked and act on impulse it's just going to get worse." 09:47 <VoxPVoxD> Nels. 09:47 <trenchfoot> ... 09:47 <banana> Melanie wasn't seriously suggesting nuclear bombs, but her attention's caught and her somewhat precarious filter is disengaged: "The thing is like.. what kind of supernatural force could fix this. We've got Titles brawling in the streets. Innocent(?) hobgoblins at risk of exposure to lethal levels of normality." 09:47 <Crion> Orr: "Now this kid's talking sense." 09:48 <VoxPVoxD> How old does Orr look? 09:49 <CBN> Tony rubs his neck under the helmet. "Hey uhh, Orr right? There's something about half a mile, feels west of us, right? Is that where it starts?" 09:50 <Crion> Early forties. Maybe a rough 38. 09:50 <Crion> Orr glances at Manowar, sucks in a breath. "Yeah. Yeah that's about where the line is." 09:50 <VoxPVoxD> That's right on the borderline, but you figure magic's gotta be rounding that down if it's moving the dial at all. Fine. He can call Stewart a kid. 09:51 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks like 22, 23 tops, which doesn't help. 09:51 <VoxPVoxD> "So we're in the Hedge right now?" 09:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Or just outside it." 09:52 <CBN> Tony: "Outside it." 09:52 <CBN> He points to the hat. "Perk of the gig." 09:52 <Crion> Orr, somewhat insincerely: "Well, I'm just a talented amateur in these fields." 09:53 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So on the other side of that line, after two weeks, what kind of deformation are we looking at, Tony? Are the streetlights getting up and dancing? Are the streets still going where they're supposed to?" 09:58 <CBN> Tony: "If there's still a Florida on the other side of the line, it's probably better than it could be, honestly." 09:58 <banana> Melanie: "Ughhh. A gate this size has to be like.. let's assume it isn't self-sustaining. Because if it is the world has effectively already been destroyed and humanity is now a slave-race, with no fundamental barrier between nightmare and waking?" 09:58 <banana> "So if that's not the case, it can't be a matter of power per se. There's no oath or will or spirit that can run up the numbers and produce a Very Big Spell. The anchor has to be... narrative." 09:58 <Crion> Orr: "I was thinking along the same lines." 09:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So good by Hedge standards, slightly below average by Florida standards." 09:59 <Crion> "And about the Very Big Castle." 09:59 <CBN> Tony: "And if the line's holding, and these guys've heard that people are still there, and doing...I dunno, people stuff, over there, it's probably still too normal for too much weird hob shit to have bled through just yet. Meaning we probably don't have to worry about...you know. New Pig variants." 09:59 <CBN> Tony: "I hope." 09:59 <banana> "Oh, is it moving at all?" 09:59 <Crion> Manowar: "What?" 09:59 <Crion> Orr: "What's this about pigs?" 09:59 <Crion> To Manowar: "No offense." 09:59 <Crion> Manowar: "I'm not a cop, you idiot." 09:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Hob cops." 10:00 <Crion> Orr: "Hmm. Well we got some mockery of law enforcement running around over there, but they mostly look like, well, Florida cops." 10:01 <VoxPVoxD> "Well. That's maybe a little mean on the Hedge's part, but it might just be a sign of the relative stability of the breach." 10:01 <banana> Pigs aren't really a mockery, just a sort of Impressionist portryal. Gets at the essence. 10:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "But like Melanie was getting at, if we're locked into some kind of steady-state or equilibrium then it's clearly primed and waiting for some kind of outside instigator or catalyst. And like she said it's obviously not just a question of power. The air's already humid with it." 10:02 <VoxPVoxD> "On top of the actual humidity." 10:02 <banana> Melanie: "Yeah, the stability is another point in favour of the idea that there's some sort of anchor. Some fairytale scenario sitting like an unexploded bomb." 10:06 <Crion> Orr: "Well! Seems like you've all talked yourselves into it, so we don't have to." 10:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We didn't come down to sightsee." 10:07 <VoxPVoxD> "We might've come faster if not for the total information blackout." 10:07 <Crion> Orr: "Well, there's some once-in-a-lifetime sights out there right now, let me tell you." 10:07 <trenchfoot> Nels just grimaces. 10:08 <Crion> Manowar: "Consequence of the policy. Whole country can't know every time a city gets eaten by the faeries, or the werewolves, or a gang of Frankensteins." Orr opens his mouth-- "I mean the doctors." 10:08 <Crion> Orr: "Right. Tucson." 10:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Be that as it may, you had prophecy, you had our names. What was the plan? Sit tight and hope we showed up in the nick of time?" 10:09 <VoxPVoxD> "Are you guys in charge here?" 10:09 <Crion> Orr: "There's some other people we could call." 10:09 <Crion> Manowar: "The cost of activating those contingencies is quite high." 10:10 <Crion> Orr: "We figured, why not? Let's see what the catspaw drags in." 10:10 <Crion> "No offense." 10:11 <Crion> Orr: "Ideally we don't start fucking with the fundamental nature of Space and Time themselves until we absolutely have to." 10:11 <Crion> "Especially not on a metropolitan scale." 10:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You know, I gotta say, that sounds risky. But I respect that in this situation everything sounds risky. Shit is febrile." 10:11 <banana> Melanie: "So does that mean that from your point of view, space and time and so on are normal, it's just that someone's put weird crap in them?" 10:11 <Crion> Manowar: "The good news is that we have reason to believe your people are still in force somewhere in there, in Orlando." 10:12 <VoxPVoxD> "What about, like, the supernatural people who were already here? Vampires, other willworkers, werewolves, whatever." 10:12 <Crion> Orr: "Well, Peter had reason to believe it." 10:12 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Peter believes a lot of things." 10:14 <Crion> Orr: "There's a big ol' sign about a quarter-mile inland, and it's presiding over a bunch of furniture that's been smashed up and burned. Furniture that high-leverage geosynchronous spy satellite footage tells us was cavorting around terrorizing the townfolk up until recently." 10:14 <Crion> "That sign says, 'What is a princess to the Neverending Queen?'" 10:14 <banana> Melanie: "As long as it's not a pig and a ram." 10:15 <Crion> Manowar: "We were worried about that." 10:15 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Don't like that, nosirree." 10:16 <Crion> Orr: "We were. But apparently the Neverending Queen is a local bar. Or was; got bought out by guess who and shut down a couple years back as part of an aggressive real estate expansion." 10:16 <VoxPVoxD> That's pretty jokerfied for a bartender. 10:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Okay. Did you hear any other names? Like, Lysander, Clevinger, Karon?" 10:19 <Crion> Orr: "Can't say I did." 10:20 <Crion> Manowar: "We have a Clevinger over in 2nd Tactical." 10:20 <VoxPVoxD> "Okay! What about vampires or wizards. Are you guys, uh... just US government? Do you hold rank in other orgs?" 10:20 <Crion> Orr: "No, no, that's Clevanger. An 'aaah' sound." 10:20 <VoxPVoxD> "Like, dragon or pyramid-based orgs." 10:21 <Crion> Manowar just stares back at him. Orr smiles. "Well now that's a bit of a touchier subject." 10:22 <banana> Melanie: "Some of our best friends are Atlantean-Americans." 10:22 <Crion> "So are most of my enemies." Orr leans back in his seat. "Maybe we can have that conversation the next time we have this conversation." 10:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart laughs, a little hollowly. "Well, in that spirit of... bipartisanship... what do you need? What do you got? Us, we need eyes. We need more information, we need first-hand information; we need to go in." 10:25 <CBN> Tony: "So hey this is great and all, but what do you need from us, or for us, before we just head on in and get this thing sorted out? I wanna hit the road before I have to make an example out of some burb dad who castle-doctrine'd a hob who was rooting through his trash." 10:26 <Crion> Orr: "All we need from you is an after-action report, or at least some kinda heads-up, once you're done doing your thing in there. I figure we'll give you a few weeks and if we haven't heard from you or the situation changes...well, then the situation's changed." 10:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "And you don't have any other contacts on the inside?" 10:27 <VoxPVoxD> "Not even, like, contacts you've lost contact with." 10:27 <Crion> Orr: "Nope. We're not locals." 10:28 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Okay. You got iron? Hand-worked iron?" 10:28 <Crion> "There was a Task Force listening outpost set up around the Walmart in Cocoa Commons, but that's gone silent." 10:28 <Crion> Orr looks up at Manowar. "Has that come in yet?" 10:28 <Crion> Manowar: "Only small arms ammunition." 10:29 <Crion> Orr: "What calibers you need?" 10:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'm on a Glock 17, so 9 by whatever. Nels here is on a .38, Tony's got a 12 gauge." 10:30 <dammitwho> Maggie taps the wrapped handle of Zveroboi smugly. 10:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Obviously, brass jackets or whatever, not iron you have to touch to load." 10:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Would be ideal." 10:30 <dammitwho> The wrench's name should have been italicised, but honestly... 10:31 <Crion> Orr: "Yeah, only the payload's got the juice. We can release a couple boxes of each. That stuff's more or less fungible now that we've gotten the authorization to use it." 10:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Right. One other thing. We need permission to phone home. For research, for reportage." 10:32 <VoxPVoxD> "None of us are calling reporters. No one we call is calling a reporter." 10:32 <VoxPVoxD> "But we're not here for you." 10:33 <banana> Melanie: "Except insofar as you can help us help you. We do need resources.. the bullets, yeah, but just like, logistics supplies? Rations, water, money if they're still using it. We can fight this kind of enemy but we aren't numerous or inexhaustible, and who knows what's between here, the bar, the castle..." 10:34 <Crion> Orr: "To be honest, I'm gonna guess you're better adapted to survival in there than any food we could give you would be." 10:35 <banana> "It's not adaptation." 10:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Money's a good thought, though. I assume credit cards are out. Are they still trading in cash? Disney Dollars? Gift cards? Fuckin... shillings and sixpence?" 10:35 <VoxPVoxD> Does each princess have her own currency system? 10:37 <Crion> Orr blinks, then sighs. "Yeah, they're using their own special scrip now." To Manowar: "See if you can find me some Disney bucks." To Stewart: "I'll get to work counterfeiting." 10:37 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Nice." 10:38 <banana> Melanie: "That's good. We can get a long way by playing along.. they won't be hostile if you follow their narrative." 10:38 <VoxPVoxD> "We need a bit to talk and then you can show us a point of... ingress, or whatever." He's clearly not a military guy, or even a plays-a-lot-of-military-video-games guy. 10:38 <CBN> Tony: "Do you have any people on the inside you've lost contact with? I just wanna know if we're gonna run into people geared up by you guys who went magic-kingdom-native in there." 10:38 <CBN> Tony, to Stewart: "Oh I already know where we can get in, if we need it." 10:38 <Crion> Manowar: "If they're still there, they're holding out at the Walmart in Cocoa Commons." 10:38 <Crion> Orr: "We're not optimistic." 10:39 <VoxPVoxD> "I imagine that goes with the job." 10:39 <VoxPVoxD> "Luckily, making dreams reality is what we do." 10:39 <dammitwho> Maggie: "'Cocoa Commons'. Piss and ass." 10:39 <Crion> Orr: "That's what I like to hear. Sometimes. Contextually." 10:39 <trenchfoot> Nels: "It really depends." 10:39 <trenchfoot> "Like. Really depends." 10:40 <VoxPVoxD> Cocoa Commons is a Mario Kart track, Stewart's like 65% sure. 10:40 <Crion> Orr: "Oh, this map is a real detailed map. It doesn't like, magically update, but it's mostly correct for now. Feel free to use it as a reference. We'll be back in a few with your bullets." 10:40 <Crion> "And your bucks." 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> "Cool. Thanks." 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart turns to the others. "Sooooo." 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> "Uh. Fuck." 10:41 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Cheers." 10:41 <VoxPVoxD> "How are you guys doing?" 10:41 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Bad." 10:42 <dammitwho> To Stewart and the others: "Better than you'd think. Y'know how therapists were saying that all their depressed patients were doing way better after the pandemic started, because they were like 'finally!'." 10:42 <banana> Melanie: "It's not in any way your fault that these delusional monsters tried to continue their plan after you stopped them from stealing Macguffin Two." 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart laughs at Maggie, and gives Nels kind of a one-armed hug. 10:43 <banana> "Also, if they had it, this would probably be twice as bad." 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> "We got this." 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> This is a yacht club, right? Is there a bar? 10:43 <dammitwho> "Anyway, yeah, I'm leaning toward 'Nels saved Florida from being eaten'. So, good job, gal." 10:43 <VoxPVoxD> "If she didn't yet, she will have by the time we're done." 10:44 <Crion> There is a bar, and it is shockingly unransacked. 10:44 <CBN> Tony: "Not great man. Not great!" Tony lets out a long sigh. 10:44 <Crion> What kind of military ARE these guys? 10:45 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Their plan was awful and it's awful that we couldn't just... stop it wholesale." 10:45 <CBN> Tony: "I really...I really don't wanna have to come down on the side of hobs against random people who didn't know any better, guys. But it's gonna happen and you're gonna get mad at me when it does." 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "If they've got Jesuit's guys and Society's guys linking arms, then shit is real." 10:45 <VoxPVoxD> "It's our job to make sure that doesn't happen. We'll just be mad at ourselves." 10:46 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hopefully we can move fast enough that we can skip all that." 10:46 <VoxPVoxD> Time for some bourbon. Ooh, they've got this nice big clear directionally-frozen single rocks. 10:46 <banana> "Tony, how can we help? Do you need us to like, separate any hobs we see and try to squish them back over to their side, make sure they aren't in the way of the Men?" 10:46 <VoxPVoxD> How's Lauren doing? 10:47 <Crion> Kind of shellshocked. Definitely wants a drink. 10:47 <VoxPVoxD> Come on down. 10:47 <CBN> Tony: "Stewart, you wanna double beer me? I don't wanna get up just yet." To Melanie: "Point anybody my way, they'll recognize the authority of the hat enough to at least listen when I tell them what not to do." He pauses for a second. "...and that's why I'm more worried about the people being the ones who fuck up here." 10:48 <Crion> There's no cans or bottles, but the taps still work just fine. 10:48 <CBN> Tony: "Hobs got hob logic, they won't freak out and start shooting because someone parked too close to their driveway." 10:48 <trenchfoot> Glumly: "And it's Florida." 10:49 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So I think we've got two options. One is to look for the Neverending Queen, which is the title the Winter Regent claims. The other is to follow up on the Night Skys in Cocoa Commons." While crossing the room to Tony, double Miller Lites in hand ready for claiming: "Basically a decision between two high-risk uncertain-reward situations." 10:49 <CBN> Tony: "People, especially people who're going to Disney World already, or living near it, or yeah, it's Florida. I wouldn't trust Baltimore not to fuck this up if a gate popped open in the middle of town. Down here, fuck, man. We're gonna be nostalgic about only getting chased by Nazi skeletons." 10:49 <VoxPVoxD> "Come on, you just know as soon as we head back up, bam. Like Ultros." 10:50 <CBN> Tony takes them, holding one between his knees while he drains the other in a single long toss back. And then he's onto the other, but a little more regular-like at least. "I don't know what that is." 10:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Like a rude, horny octopus that shows up just often enough to be annoying but not often enough to be dangerous." 10:52 <dammitwho> "What?" 10:52 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Why?" 10:52 <VoxPVoxD> By way of explanation: "Japan." 10:52 <trenchfoot> She still looks baffled, but isn't going to press further. 10:53 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I think if there's any of our people still in there, we owe it to them to investigate." 10:53 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That also gives us the best platform for figuring out the hob situation." 10:53 <VoxPVoxD> "They're also less likely to immediately need our help, is the catch." 10:55 <CBN> Tony: "But they can probably help us help more people, unless they like things being all fucked up in there." 10:55 <CBN> Tony: "In which case they were gonna be a problem anyway." 10:56 <CBN> He's trying not to pat Slayer-of-Empties with his free hand while he's saying this. Trying and failing. 10:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods, thoughtfully, behind his second bourbon. The glass is nice and frosty, like you're supposed to stay in situations like this. "Sounds like the weight of opinion pushes us toward the Freeholders." 11:00 <Crion> Lauren, from the map table. "He said Cocoa Commons, right?" 11:00 <trenchfoot> Nels: "He did..." 11:00 <Crion> "That's right on the A1A into town. Well, towards Orlando. Right where it turns into the Martin Anderson Beachline Expressway." 11:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Oh! Well, we can do both, then. Good looking out." 11:01 <VoxPVoxD> "We're gonna need a car, or something, also." 11:02 <Crion> If you're bringing Lauren, that makes six. 11:03 <Crion> For seating concerns. 11:03 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That might be tricky..." 11:04 <dammitwho> Maggie: "We might could get a truck, or something. Sit a few of us in the back." 11:05 <VoxPVoxD> That's worth bringing up. "So, uh. Obviously the stuff I said before is still true. But this is bad. This is real bad. Do you wanna hang back?" 11:07 <banana> To Maggie: "A van, or.. two cars? That would let us split up if there are consequential events in different areas of the gate." 11:08 <Crion> Lauren: "I don't want to be a distraction. The whole...hero thing isn't really what I do. I'm the IT person. Plus, someone's going to have to tell Baltimore what's going on..." 11:08 <Crion> "But if you want me to come, I'll come." 11:08 <CBN> Tony: "We could get one of those big trucks and have somebody ride in the back. Maybe even get one and mount a machine gun on it if we needed to, one of those, whaddya call them, techniques?" 11:09 <banana> "Lauren, did Stewart tell you about what the regents said when they mushed us together like gelatin?" 11:09 <Crion> Lauren: "I don't...think so?" 11:10 <banana> Well. Lauren's her friend too, so she can say it if she wants: "They had some kind of prophecy, the need for a motley who could handle upcoming.. bad things. Vague but extremely serious things." 11:11 <banana> "So the Autumn king and the others were like ok, we'll motivate them with acceptance, give them special Hedge-access, before they really know what's going on they'll end up being like a cross-court team that can do what Summer does without the overweening focus..." 11:11 <trenchfoot> This probably counts as at least one of those vague but seriously bad things. 11:12 <Crion> Stewart can tell what Lauren is really worried about here: The plan for her cat is to shove it in a hollow with a hob goose with some food for ??? length of time and just hope they come back before they eat each other or get morphed by the Hedge. 11:12 <Crion> But that's kind of inconsiderate to say aloud, given that the stakes are "life and death of Central Florida." 11:12 <banana> "They didn't know what was coming. We probably do now lol. But nobody meant to catch you up in all of it. We'll totally keep Stewart alive even if you hang back here." 11:12 <dammitwho> Maggie clicks her tongue. "I'm with Melanie. I think we've got this, and maybe it'd be best if Lauren held down the home front. Or the boat front." 11:12 <VoxPVoxD> Ahh we shoulda left the cat with the Winter Court guy whose name Stewart can't remember two and a half bourbons in. Geocity? Lauren's ex. 11:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart sighs heavily, having been outvoted before a vote was called. "Alright. So then we need to work out one other thing: what are we telling the Freehold?" 11:16 <CBN> Tony: "I trust Lauren's judgment on that since if it's a lie it's one she's gonna have to tell them whenever they ask about us. If she's hanging back, I mean." 11:16 <VoxPVoxD> "The important thing about agreeing a line ahead of time is making sure we don't slip up later." 11:16 <CBN> Tony: "But as little as possible is where I land." 11:17 <CBN> Tony: "Christ can you imagine anybody back home getting wind of any of this. The smart ones would stop returning our calls and the stupid ones would be here tomorrow. Like us." 11:18 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Tell 'em too much and our next job will be getting the whole Winter court out from being stuck underneath the couch. Like Chup that one time." 11:18 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "The problem is, the Book's back there, and we're gonna need Rose to help us out." 11:18 <VoxPVoxD> To Maggie: "Well, we did that once already." 11:18 <banana> Melanie: "There are people in Summer who'd feel bad about not leaving everything behind to rush down here and get stuck into it. There's no need to make them feel bad, or make Street lay down the law." 11:19 <VoxPVoxD> "I'm not worried about hurting their feelings. They should've thought of that before they had catastrophic security failures three seasons in a row and then exiled us about it." 11:19 <Crion> Lauren: "Kingsley and Gerald are old enough hands at this to know not to ask too many questions if I'm presenting information in a certain way...but if the Queen gets on the line..." 11:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Alright. Here's what we do. Don't talk about the military situation. Don't talk about the war. Don't talk about cats and dogs living together. Tell them, narrowly, what we know or have heard about Peter, Gemma, and the Mistress, and ask for research inquiries about them and the Orlando Freehold, Orlando Court, Orlando Consilium, whatever." 11:21 <banana> Freehold security should have taken care of Peter and Gemma. That's partly Melanie's failure specifically. But there's no way they could have anticipated the Devil of the Details, she doesn't retort. 11:21 <VoxPVoxD> The Devil of the Details doesn't show up at all if they didn't catastrophically fail in the first place. 11:22 <banana> More importantly, defending seasonal honour doesn't take priority over Nels. 11:22 <VoxPVoxD> "That's all useful to know even if everything is normal here. Don't lie, but, don't give the impression that more is going on than they already know." 11:24 <CBN> Tony gives Maggie a look at the couch comment: "Not all of us!" 11:26 <Crion> Lauren nods. 11:26 <VoxPVoxD> "And keep in touch. Like, constantly. Like it would be awkward if we weren't all in mortal danger constantly. If I don't hear from you I'm gonna worry." 11:27 <VoxPVoxD> Three drinks is probably... nah, one more. 11:28 <Crion> Lauren just watches him pour another. 11:29 <VoxPVoxD> What else would she do? It's not like it's weird. 11:31 <dammitwho> "Eh, maybe ease off a little there, slugger. We've got a long way to go." 11:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Did you just call me 'slugger'?" 11:32 <Crion> Lauren giggles. 11:36 <CBN> Tony gets up and paces around, eyeing the body armor, checking behind the bar, generally just burning off nervous energy. 11:38 <banana> Oh yeah, that stuff. "Could somebody help me get this on? I haven't worn anything like it since I played lacrosse." 11:39 <CBN> Tony raises a hand, after finishing the beer it was holding. "Got you." 11:39 <banana> Melanie: "Thank." This stuff looks like it really could stop bullets.. and it will probably have to. 11:39 <VoxPVoxD> Just stand somewhere they aren't shooting. It's not hard. 11:40 <trenchfoot> It's incredibly hard. 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> Slugger. Where do you get off— 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> Whatever. Whatever. Tempers are high. 11:40 <dammitwho> What? What's the problem? 11:40 <VoxPVoxD> Hard to say, champ. Hard to say. 11:41 <dammitwho> If Stewart didn't want this to happen he shouldn't have been like twenty-three. 11:42 <VoxPVoxD> I'm fucking 30! I have a stock portfolio. 11:42 <VoxPVoxD> Christ. 11:43 <VoxPVoxD> After finishing his drink, Stewart says, to the air, "We're done, you know, if you were listening in or if the skeins of Fate are just going to telegraph when you can come back." 11:43 <Crion> Orr walks back in around that moment. "Sounds good. Alright, two boxes of 9x19, two boxes of .38, two boxes of 12 Gauge, two shrink-wrapped bundles of Disney Cash." 11:44 <VoxPVoxD> "Score. You got any vehicles? We've got 5 on it." 11:44 <VoxPVoxD> "The redhead's on comms." 11:44 <Crion> He sets it down on the table. The cash particularly looks like it was just stolen from the mint or something, which is odd, considering it's at best company scrip and at worst the full Looney Tunes. 11:45 <Crion> Orr: "Right. Right. We've got a tactical van you can use around here, unless you don't like slate gray no markings. If that's the case, you can just, steal whatever the hell's in the parking lots." 11:45 <Crion> To Lauren: "Nice to meet ya. You got food on your boat or should we set aside rations?" 11:45 <Crion> Lauren: "I'll be fine." 11:45 <Crion> Orr: "Well don't be a stranger. Unless that's necessary for you to, you know, do your thing." 11:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Cool. Cool cool cool. Let's, uh, rock and/or roll." 11:50 <Crion> Orr: "Oh! One more thing. Actual headsets and communications equipment, in case the cell towers go down, or are broadcasting merry melodies. They're in the van, but you can move 'em around." 11:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Sick." 11:50 <banana> Melanie: "Do we need any codes or radio frequencies?" 11:50 <Crion> Lauren will give Stewart a rather long kiss, considering what he currently tastes like, and then it's back to get the comms gear set up on the deck of the Wild Goose. 11:51 <VoxPVoxD> Mmmm. Maybe he can follow her back and catch up. Maybe they can just leave, the two of them. Cuba's not far. Do they take defectors? 11:51 <Crion> Orr: "There's a guide in lamination on the side. The rig has a dedicated private stream that no one can listen in on." Orr shrugs. "Like obviously, that's a lie, but it's pretty difficult." 11:51 <VoxPVoxD> Ahh fuck. This sucks so bad lmao. 11:52 <trenchfoot> It's really not ideal. 11:52 <dammitwho> Could be wwwwww-haha. Nice try, Rat. But yeah, this isn't great. 11:55 <CBN> It's gonna suck so bad and we're gonna end up driving a technical through an apocalyptic Magic Kingdom and it's still gonna suck to be there. That's how bad it's gonna suck. 11:55 <VoxPVoxD> Alright. Stewart's not gonna grab anything for the road since Maggie's decided to be a buzzkill. 11:59 <Crion> Does the motley go with the provided van or try to find something a little more their speed? 11:59 <VoxPVoxD> A clown car's a little much to ask for. 12:00 <CBN> The shittiness will just make it easier to abandon later when we confront the grim meathook reality of the Magic Kingdom. 12:00 <dammitwho> Nothing wrong with a van. 12:02 <banana> Splitting up would probably turn out to be a problem anyway. 12:02 <banana> Let's make sure this thing has plenty of gas, take a phone photo of the surprisingly detailed map, everyone go to the bathroom.. it's going to be a long and magical ride. 12:03 <VoxPVoxD> The Magical Misery Tour is waiting to take you away... 12:05 <Crion> The van drives smooth and turns well; at the very least, the military boys have been taking care of it. They wave you through the front checkpoint out onto A1A, heading inland towards the empire. 12:06 <Crion> You're clearing the bridge onto the second small island between the cape port and the mainland when you see it on your right: The Last Chance Cafe, Mart & Bait. 12:06 <Crion> A silly pink little two-storey with a roof terrace. 12:06 <Crion> And as soon as you're on land again, you can feel it. 12:06 <Crion> You're in the Hedge. 12:06 <Crion> The Hedge is here. 12:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "How fucked up is it that I miss Florida?" 12:09 <trenchfoot> Nels: "It's pretty fucked up." 12:09 <Crion> And here, there are fireworks above the bloated, massive, evil Magical Kingdom all day and all night. 12:10 <CBN> Tony whistles at the fireworks for a long moment. "...damn but that's gonna get old after a few days. I miss my boat." 12:11 <VoxPVoxD> "We'll see her soon." 12:12 <CBN> Tony: "I hope so, buddy. I hope so." 12:13 <banana> Melanie: "I hope this is the narrative-anchor thing and not the death of all science." 12:16 <VoxPVoxD> Sing-song: "The recruiting sergeant marched away from the inn near town at the break of day..."