21:14 <Crion> Shopping was fun! And it's been an uneventful (generally speaking; Stewart might disagree) couple of days since then as you get all your goodies back to the Wherehouse and installed and so on. The Pigs seem to have fully retreated from the Hedge, so while it's not 'safe' -- the Hedge is never safe -- the hobs trundling about are fully back to normal. Steve has been about, though the main way 21:14 <Crion> he's interacted with you all in the past few days is triumphally killing a final Watermelon Boy who slipped away in the confusion of the Walking Man's arrival, and leaving its delicious carcass in the Hedge-street outside. 21:15 <trenchfoot> Good Steve. 21:16 <VoxPVoxD> Hopefully Steve didn't swallow the seeds. The childhood myth about them growing in your stomach might literally be true in the Hedge. 21:16 <Crion> As for the Loyalists, they've been strangely absent from this part of the Hedge recently, possibly still licking their wounds in their own Hollow...except for Loser, who apparently is spotted sneaking about between the Hollow and various Hedge portals on an infrequent basis. Whatever she's doing, she seems to be steering well clear of you -- or of exploration in general. 21:17 <Crion> The conventional wisdom would state that eventually that'll change, though. Either because the Wherehouse acts on its orders, or because enough time passes that they feel confident poking their heads out again. Before this was your territory, after all, it was theirs. To the extent that this ever-changing maze has set territories. 21:24 <CBN> Tony's been putting off interacting with his Court for as long as possible, because he's also been putting off committing actual murder for as long as possible. 21:24 <trenchfoot> ...suddenly glad Nels is in Spring. 21:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's doing a lot better since he talked with Maggie. He stops at the Wherehouse (often with Lauren) every day to drop stuff off or help out around the place or just to hang out. The presence of the loyalists continues to chew at the corner of his mind. "So like... what's the plan? With the guys." 21:26 <Crion> The Winter Court has been...very hands-off, and pretty much always is as a rule. There are a lot of social events for Spring and Summer that the motley has standing invitations to -- usually shows at the Sidereal -- and if Nels and Maggie haven't been mingling with Samaritan, Smitten, and etcetera, it's not for a lack of trying on the Court's part. Stewart's aware of what Autumn's like. 21:26 <Crion> Winter, however, has just been...silent. 21:27 <Crion> Lauren's around fairly often, but not today -- actual work to do, something involving a house call (vault call?) for the Young Street. 21:28 <trenchfoot> Nels has been in and out of the Sidereal, though usually outside of regular hours. Still acclimating to crowds again. Maybe she'll play a set someday, but not yet. To Stewart: "I assume waiting for them to show up again and then shooting at them to free whoever they're stealing is a little too hands-off." 21:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "How would we know the next time we see them is the first time they've poked their head back out?" 21:35 <trenchfoot> Nels: "...shoot. Um. Give me a minute? I - mean, an actual minute. I'll need to see one of them for it." 21:39 <trenchfoot> "...we could go looking for them. And I could - make sure of it." 21:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We gotta do something." 21:39 <VoxPVoxD> "We can't just keep sitting around waiting for them to make a move." 21:40 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Well. I can ensure we find them. And if we stay hidden see what they want to do next, or we could do something more drastic." 21:40 <banana> Melanie's typing in her library as usual, but she's got pretty good hearing. Apparently you don't need ears for that. Once the conversation's taken this turn, she'll be a vaguely looming presence in the doorway, surrounded by beads. 21:41 <banana> "I have a plan, but it's pretty simple. Two parts." 21:41 <banana> "One, wait until you guys feel ready. Two, we go and kill them." 21:42 <banana> Maybe it's time to move on to the next step? 21:43 <trenchfoot> Nels blanches, but recovers quickly. "Or something more drastic, I guess." 21:43 <CBN> Tony: "Ready as I'll ever be, but if we can avoid another Watermelon Boys and The Big Pigs situation I'd like that. Less chance of us getting shot." 21:44 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Lauren was talking about, we could probably safely oathbind at least a few of them. To leave and never come back. Proctor's-- we've got to deal with Proctor permanently, though." 21:44 <VoxPVoxD> More quietly: "One way or another." 21:44 <trenchfoot> Nels exhales. 21:45 <CBN> Tony siiiiighs. "Yeah, but I gotta kill Proctor and the Cambridge guy, Winter said so." 21:45 <CBN> Tony: "Also, they were the worst ones. Other than the other ones who were also bad." 21:45 <banana> Melanie: "What class of oaths are you thinking about?" 21:47 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Well, wonderful, okay. Glad we've established premeditation to our murders." Not often you get to re-use a word from a quiz so abruptly, but hey. 21:48 <CBN> sTony shrugs. "I dunno, probably better than doing it by accident? It's all shitty and none of us want to do it, but that's how you know it's work." 21:49 <banana> Melanie looks worried. "This is what I mean about being ready. Are we in a place to get rid of this problem without being damaged by it? To treat them as pests and monsters, not as a gateway into dehumanisation?" 21:49 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Kid Kid Kid is straight up alt right, too." 21:50 <VoxPVoxD> Quickly: "That's, uh, like, a Nazi who spends all day on the internet." 21:50 <trenchfoot> Nels: "What's a nazi?" 21:50 <Crion> Hoo. 21:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Oh jeez." 21:50 <banana> Ah. 21:50 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Ah, cripes. That's right, you missed a whole world war." 21:50 <CBN> Tony: "How long do we have? Very bad." 21:51 <trenchfoot> Nels: "No, there was - they had another one. I haven't gotten there yet but I saw the chapter title." 21:51 <banana> "So bad that they became a synonym for 'bad'." 21:51 <banana> "Politics today is mostly like.. a rhetorical dispute about who gets to claim the other side are Nazis..." 21:52 <trenchfoot> Nels just looks blank. 21:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Look, the specifics of what Nazis are isn't germane to our problem. We can cover it later. The point is, obviously, they're all really bad people." 21:55 <banana> Melanie: "Maybe it's relevant. We're, like, struggling with a question here, right? 'Are there circumstances under which it's ok to plan to go out and kill someone.'" 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Well we were ordered to- fuck that's a Nazi thing too isn't it." 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Shit!" 21:55 <VoxPVoxD> "This is so much easier when they're trying to kill you and you don't have time to think about it." 21:56 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I'm gonna be really upset when I get to that chapter, aren't I." 21:56 <banana> "It was a really long time ago. Just remember that like.. nobody in Japan or Germany now was even born back then." 21:57 <banana> Changelings and vampires possibly excepted? 21:57 <trenchfoot> Dryly: "I will take your word for it." 21:57 <CBN> Tony: "Listen. I'm going to feel bad about doing this, I'd feel bad about not doing this the next time I heard about some fresh escapees getting harassed over here, I'd feel bad if you all did it without me. There's no not-feeling-bad here, but at least one of them doesn't get me yelled at for awhile, and also does a little to keep our neighborhood a little safer, for awhile." 21:58 <CBN> Tony: "Here's to feeling bad all the time." And with that he finishes the beer no one notices he even had, or had started. 21:58 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Seems to me that if somebody's flitting about dragging people off to the Sunlit Lands, it's okay, y'know, morally, to use violence as needed to make 'em stop. Can't say that will make it any easier when we're staring 'em down, and maybe if they say 'Stop! We give up!' we have to rethink what we plan on doing." 21:59 <dammitwho> "But that's an 'if and when' problem. Just how I feel." 21:59 <VoxPVoxD> Maggie's surprisingly down with violence for such a sweet old lady. 22:00 <banana> Melanie nods with a rattle. "Yeah, we've got to do this. They're monsters because their actions are monstrous - it's not about receiving an order. That's the Courts confirming what we should - from each of their perspectives - be thinking already." 22:01 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I don't want anyone else taken like those kids. And who knows what they're up to now. If there's only one way..." Another heavy exhale. 22:01 <CBN> Tony: "Well plus they shot Nels and that's pretty shitty." 22:01 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I got better." 22:01 <banana> Melanie's looking at Stewart again. Not as worried as before though. 22:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart still wants to argue, and it shows, but he clearly doesn't have a better idea. 22:02 <CBN> Tony: "This time. And sometimes people don't get better and then you have to dig a grave, and then I have to fill it up. So I want there to not be a next time." 22:02 <dammitwho> "I tell you, though. Tony's right, there's no getting out of this feeling good." 22:04 <banana> Melanie: "Don't try and talk yourselves into false equivalency. Once we stop Proctor from kidnapping and torturing people, we've done a good thing. It's good for his victims and it's good for him, the twisted old bastard got turned into this too. It costs us, but it achieves something." 22:05 <trenchfoot> Nels: "It's good to stop him. It's - less good that it has to be this way." 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...no, Melanie's right. So are Maggie and Tony. Doing good and feeling good aren't the same thing." 22:10 <dammitwho> "Hoorm. Life'd be a lot easier if it were." 22:19 <banana> Melanie leaves the doorway to come and stand by the dining table. "Okay. Concretely, we know where they are. We know how to focus on stopping people with dangerous weapons from attacking first, and we've got enough small oaths to do this thing; the concession we should make to safety is that they have strong defenses on their home ground. So if we find significant traps or preparations 22:19 <banana> we should be in a position to withdraw." 22:31 <CBN> Tony: "How much do we need to worry about their bosses, realistically? I feel like some of you know way more about how stuff works around here." 22:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Realistically, we have no idea." 22:32 <banana> Firmly: "None at all." 22:33 <VoxPVoxD> "But I feel like if they had a Keeper on call, the Keeper wouldn't need the loyalists in the first place." 22:36 <CBN> Tony: "That's a good point." 22:43 <trenchfoot> Nels: "How sure are we?" 22:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We aren't. But I don't think there's any evidence to suggest there's anything scarier than Proctor and company at direct work this very moment." 22:45 <banana> Melanie's trying to keep momentum. The zeitgeist of the motley is for action, and she feels superstitiously like it shouldn't be wasted - a thought to interrogate. Later. "Let's head back to their place and find a way to conceal ourselves. We watch, we see them leave - without anyone like that in tow - and we intercept them before they actually go somewhere." 22:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...sounds good. Don't forget your body armor, guys." 22:48 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Hang on. Let me - try something. I haven't done it before, but, well, I need ten minutes to guarantee I can see their future." Wow, her life is insane now. 22:48 <Crion> The stuff the freehold lent via Jackie on your way in has been taken back, but you've had more than enough time to get whatever you want and can afford, and it is not difficult to get a gun or body armor in Baltimore even before the Winter Court's connections. 22:48 <Crion> Let alone Summer's. 22:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods like this is the most natural thing in the world. 22:51 <dammitwho> A nice jacket, a kevlar vest, and inside a few small bags of sand. 22:52 <dammitwho> A small container with a living spider... hmm. She should start farming these things. It takes forever to find a new one each time. 22:52 <trenchfoot> Please keep it out of view. 22:53 <trenchfoot> A needle and a drop of blood later, plus some good old fashioned effort, and Nels is back in the main Wherehouse. "I'm going to need a minute when we see them. Just to - see what they're going to do. If we don't stop them." 22:55 <Crion> So the plan is to lie in wait outside the Roof Cavass Wagon and variably ambush/follow/spy on those who come out? 22:56 <trenchfoot> "...anyone happen to have a picture? Just out of curiosity." 22:57 <Crion> *Canvas 22:58 <VoxPVoxD> "A picture of... them?" 22:58 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Yeah. If not, I'll make do, but." 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shakes his head. 23:00 <banana> Melanie hasn't worn armour before. It's hard to make it fit, and she's tougher than p- than ordinary people. But when Stewart's been meaningfully leaving kevlar vests in all sizes around the place.. she'll at least try it on. 23:01 <CBN> Tony just pockets a couple pennies, some small pebbles. His usual. 23:01 <trenchfoot> Just do whatever common people do. 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's got his vest, the lucky jacket (not actually magically lucky) that Gerald gave him, and the body armor, also from Gerald. That pewter wand is visible sticking out of the gap between his armor and his jacket. 23:03 <trenchfoot> Nels has a bulletproof vest and a gun drawn. She's still extremely nervous and definitely not upset. Can't prove otherwise. 23:07 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Making do." She pulls out a notepad from her pocket - god, they have pockets now, amazing - and starts drawing with the attached pencil. 23:08 <trenchfoot> "Picture. Doesn't say what kind. Gonna try it out," she says, before tucking her tongue to the side of her mouth as she concentrates. 23:09 <banana> Melanie: "Hey, that's a good caricature. You could do a political cartoon." 23:10 <trenchfoot> Nels: "If you see a Lena Colter in the papers, you'll know." It really is a pretty good likeness, though. 23:14 <banana> "We do actually still have papers. They were saying we wouldn't, but when I came back they were still going strong, just.. weirder. Like, there's fake news and tweeting." 23:15 <trenchfoot> Still drawing: "We had lying newspapers already. I don't think I'm ready to know what tweeting is." 23:17 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Load of garbage, is what it is." 23:17 <Crion> When the motley's ready, they head out, Tony in the lead... 23:18 <CBN> While Nels draws, Tony eats a penny, does a little juggling trick with a pebble, and stands in some shadows. What emerges isn't really there, but if it were, it would have a rusted, metallic flaking to its dirt-surface, and particularly gnarly hooks on its knuckles. And he leads the way, while not necessarily projecting Leadership. 23:22 <banana> Melanie lurks where Tony leads. In the alleys across from Proctor's home, she takes root in some indefinable sense and also literally; the cracked pavement around her twists further as ominous and thorned fragments of white wood surface. The sun burns high overhead, watching. 23:25 <Crion> It takes some time -- not a huge amount of time, but some -- and the motley settles into their positions. It's odd; the Hedge still moves around them, somewhat, so when you look back down the street after focusing on the building with the wagon atop it for too long, maybe there's a stoplight there that wasn't before. You know, normal Hedge things. The place seems deserted... 23:25 <Crion> But then -- movement! 23:25 <Crion> That's Loser, slipping down the fire escape, which also seems fully functional, then dropping down to the street. 23:25 <Crion> She's alone, and looks furtively about... 23:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart feels like he should have something in his hands, but even holding the wand feels too aggressive. 23:27 <banana> Melanie whispers in her friends' ears from several different directions. There's a heat to it, a bloom of warmth on the eardrum. "Loser, alone. She's our way in." 23:33 <trenchfoot> Harsh whisper: "She's telling them about us--" 23:33 <Crion> Loser appears to see nothing, and begins sneaking down the street.. 23:33 <Crion> . 23:33 <CBN> Tony:"Ffffff."Under his breath. Not surprising but pretty bad, to hear that! 23:35 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Wait, no, shit -- sorry - she's. I don't know what she's doing." 23:36 <trenchfoot> "Sorry. I was supposed to." Fuck. Shit. 23:37 <dammitwho> Maggie lets out a long breath. Let's hope that the only things that go wrong turn out to even out to neutral. 23:44 <VoxPVoxD> From his vantage point, Stewart studies Loser... and his eyes widen. Almost despite himself he hisses "Hey! Loser!" 23:44 <VoxPVoxD> Man that sounds mean out loud. 23:45 <Crion> She swings around, eyes wide, mouth open...and then sees Stewart. Her eyes light up...just for a minute. Then she takes a step towards an alley mouth while nodding signficantly with her head, and sprints down it. 23:46 <banana> ?! 23:46 <trenchfoot> ...????? 23:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart gestures at everyone who can see him, and so on until the message percolates throughout the motley. "Follow her. It's safe." 23:46 <VoxPVoxD> Well, not safe, but. 23:46 <trenchfoot> Nothing's safe for us. 23:47 <Crion> The alley's short and terminates quickly -- these aren't actual buildings, so there's no actual reason for sidedoors. But still, when the motley arrives running full tilt, Loser is pacing back and forth at the end of the alley, waiting. 23:47 <VoxPVoxD> Putting his money where his mouth is, Stewart will head down the alley after her. 23:48 <dammitwho> Maggie will follow. Stewart's a wizard's apprentice, so she trusts his sagely wisdom. 23:49 <CBN> Tony's gotta follow, since if this gets messy, he'll probably be cleaning it up, one way or another. So he follows. 23:49 <banana> Melanie hesitates, she really does. They had a perfect position; they could grab this woman with the depressing name, get her keys, information.. maybe she doesn't like the rest of the loyalists, but she still helps them. She's still the enemy. 23:49 <banana> ...what it comes down to is trusting Stewart. Not even as Stewart per se but as one of them, one of the group. When one of them has an idea, takes initiative.. the others should back them up. That's the way Melanie wants it to be. 23:50 <Crion> Her greeting is angry, but her face is relieved: "Where the fuck have you people been?! I was promised extraction!" 23:50 <banana> She slips roots and limbs free of the pavement/earth, moves after the others as quickly as she's able. 23:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We've been getting mixed signals and not a lot of guidance. We didn't know how to approach safely." 23:51 <Crion> "FUCKING Autumn Court!" 23:51 <Crion> Glancing at Stewart. "Sorry. It's not your fault. Probably." 23:51 <dammitwho> Maggie makes a quiet Bronx cheer. Oh, for goodness' sake. 23:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shrugs. He can't really disagree. "Sorry for leaving you hanging." 23:52 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I have no idea what's going on." 23:52 <Crion> Looking around at the various armors and weapons. "Yeah, well. No big deal. Just have to continue pretending to be friends with a bunch of fucking psychopaths." 23:52 <Crion> "Y'all came loaded for bear." 23:52 <trenchfoot> Deadpan: "Bears are way easier." 23:52 <banana> Melanie is so confused. She doesn't want to say anything because it will probably be the wrong thing. 23:53 <Crion> To Stewart: "...Do any of you have a fucking clue what's going on?" 23:54 <Crion> Closer up, you can tell that Loser's mien, while outwardly Courtless, flickers a little bit. It gets more intense when she speaks with clear, actual passion. 23:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "All we know is Proctor's in town and we've got to get him out." 23:55 <CBN> Tony: "Uhh...why pretend? You can just stay out of the way until we're done with whatever we do here, then you should be good, right?" 23:55 <VoxPVoxD> "Like I said, we are not thoroughly briefed." 23:55 <Crion> "Fucking AUTUMN Court!" 23:55 <Crion> This time she doesn't apologize. 23:55 <dammitwho> Maggie: "They did say 'get Loser out', though not why. If that helps." 23:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shrugs again, more apologetically. 23:56 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I tried to see what was going to happen but got nothing. Sorry." 23:56 <trenchfoot> She genuinely sounds contrite. 23:57 <Crion> "Yes, well, that's because I've been embedded with Proctor for 20 months now and it's time to pull the plug on this whole operation." She straightens. "Since you're the hitters, you deserve to know the providence of your intel. And frankly, I'm too angry to care anymore about opsec." 23:57 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Twenty m- they made you--" 23:57 <VoxPVoxD> So she's a for-real spy. Or at the very least acts like one, and talks like one, which now that Stewart follows the thought to its conclusion is what being a spy means. So. 23:58 <banana> Melanie: "They didn't- is she really a spy? L didn't say anything about it. He just said 'So Loser's back?' and that we should.. that there were no bunks for loyalists." 23:58 <Crion> "I'm codename Loser, e eu sou um cavaleiro de Ordem dos Cavaleiros Matadors de Dragão. I am a Knight of the Dragonslayer." 23:59 <VoxPVoxD> Badass. 23:59 <trenchfoot> Nels: "If they left you there I am going to have words." 23:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Let's get mad after we're done." 23:59 <CBN> Tony: "I have no idea what any of that means." 23:59 <Crion> To Nels: "It's my job. But my job was supposed to end with us rolling them up before they started getting serious about trafficking back through the Hedge again." 00:00 <Crion> To Tony: "Portuguese. And it means I'm a deep-cover spy." 00:00 <Crion> "Ugh, I'm going to have to change my whole look after this. That's fine." 00:00 <Crion> She looks around: "I've got Hollow access. Are you ready to hit them?" 00:00 <VoxPVoxD> That's... kind of a shame, Stewart thinks but absolutely does not say. 00:00 <VoxPVoxD> What he does say is, "Ready as we'll ever be." 00:01 <Crion> "Good. Because I'm not gonna be party to another fox-hunt." 00:01 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Stewart. I will get mad when I want to. Knight - I'm not going to call you Loser." She draws her gun. "Thanks for not shooting me that last time." 00:01 <VoxPVoxD> "Have they gone for anyone since the two we picked up a couple weeks ago?" 00:01 <Crion> Loser shakes her head. 00:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart is visibly relieved. 00:01 <Crion> "They're talking about it though. Let's get up there." 00:02 <Crion> "They're all on-site, but I think K.I.L.L.'s asleep." 00:02 <banana> Melanie: "Do we believe this?" To Loser: "Look, I'm really sorry if you're for real, if you've been left verklempft in a den of vipers and then the only people sent to get you back weren't even given that truth. But you could be a spy from the Autumn Court, or you could just be intelligent." 00:02 <Crion> Striding out of the alley. "Then shoot me in the back." 00:03 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Don't do that." 00:03 <banana> "Stop. You can't rush trust." 00:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I saw her heart's desire. Common Spring, the Whitaker and Wexley standard name is Cupid's Arrow. Her desire for extraction is legit, and the only thing stopping us from extracting her was our own lack of knowledge." 00:03 <Crion> Loser whirls. "I am not going back there." 00:03 <Crion> "Not without guns." 00:03 <trenchfoot> Nels holds up her revolver. 00:04 <Crion> Loser looks visibly offput by that from Stewart for a second, but hides it well enough. 00:04 <VoxPVoxD> To Melanie: "We haven't done a lot to earn each other's trust, but on this specific thing, I'm certain we're all on the same side." 00:04 <banana> Melanie: "Of course you're not. Either you're an agent who has no need to go back in or you're a prisoner." 00:04 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Tell the Autumn Court to tell us next time." 00:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Man it's not the Court of Telling The Fucking Truth. What do you want from me?" 00:05 <trenchfoot> "I am going to have words." 00:06 <trenchfoot> "We could have shot her. Nobody told us!" 00:06 <Crion> Three stories up -- from the roof -- there's a deafening thunderclap...followed by some happy trumpets...? 00:06 <Crion> Loser starts. "What the fuck was that." 00:06 <trenchfoot> Exits. Where are they. We're getting the fuck out. 00:06 <banana> Melanie: "I want to do this in a way which doesn't put, um, Loser at our backs. And which doesn't ask more from her than she's been giving since most likely you're right, Stewart." To the maybe spy: "Can you give us a way in that doesn't need you there?" 00:08 <Crion> Staring up at the roof, Loser says: "I don't think I need to." 00:08 <trenchfoot> Nels stiffens, then forcefully relaxes: "Back to base. Right now. Something just happened and I don't know what but I hate it." 00:09 <CBN> Tony siiiiiighs. "God damn it." 00:09 <banana> "Alright, let's get out of here. There's too much power around, too much we don't know." 00:10 <Crion> Loser's shoulders sag. "I can't do that." 00:10 <Crion> "I swore an Oath." 00:10 <Crion> "I can't extract until Proctor is confirmed resolved." 00:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Is whatever just broke in up there on their side?" 00:10 <Crion> "...So I'm going upstairs." 00:10 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I. Am going. To have words." 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart studies Loser for a moment. 00:11 <Crion> She looks back at Stewart, and she looks terrified. "Proctor proofed that place like a vault. He wasn't the most powerful guy there is, but...well." 00:11 <Crion> "What can crack that nut?" 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Fuck." 00:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks at the others. "We've gotta follow her." 00:12 <banana> Melanie: "If we get you close enough to see what's going on, and if it.. resolves the situation- will that fulfil your oath?" 00:12 <Crion> Loser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRJdVTXkdGI Well go get your shovel, and we'll dig a deep hole to bury the castle; to bury the castle. 00:12 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Aw, horsefeathers. Alright gang, looks like we're going in." 00:12 <Crion> Loser nods. "I need eyes-on." 00:12 <CBN> Tony: "We're already here and it's not getting any better today." 00:13 <banana> Sure it's bound up with being a knight of the whatever, but what a shitty freaking Oath. 00:13 <Crion> Loser: "No one else needs to go up with me." She pulls out an ornate keyring. "But I'm going up." 00:14 <trenchfoot> Nels: "No one goes alone," she says, entirely sure. 00:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We can't just assume whatever-that-is is going to deal with them." 00:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Nels is right." 00:15 <banana> Melanie: "Can you give us any kind of indication whatsoever that you're telling the truth. Stop rushing us. Any kind of token!" 00:15 <Crion> Loser doesn't quite glare at Melanie. "I promise not to lie to you about this operation or my participation in it until I'm extracted. Fucking seal it." 00:16 <banana> The Wyrd lights up in triumph, adding to the occult atmosphere. A promise hangs in the air. Melanie: "Okay, thanks. Now: you're not a loyalist, you're set to deal with them, by the Autumn Court of Baltimore?" 00:18 <Crion> "I am not a loyalist, I am tasked with infiltrating and reporting on them, and I serve the Autumn Court of Philadelphia. I'm on retainer here." 00:18 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Condolences. What are we doing." 00:18 <Crion> "I'm going upstairs to stick my head into that Hollow. I expect that what we'll find will be a Huntsman, or something worse than a Huntsman." 00:19 <Crion> Loser pulls open the door. "To the extent that there's good news, it's this: whatever's up there could have cut us down in the street." 00:19 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I hate that you're right." 00:19 <banana> "Lead the way, if your oath requires it." 00:20 <Crion> Now she does glare. "If my oath requires--bitch, fuck you." 00:20 <Crion> "Follow or don't." 00:20 <Crion> Loser heads upstairs. 00:20 <trenchfoot> Nels follows. 00:20 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart makes the :I face at Melanie before following. 00:22 <banana> Loser must be under an immense amount of pressure, and Melanie's not good at communicating. She doesn't blame the woman for her attitude or her terrible hair. 00:22 <Crion> At the top, the door of the wagon has been torn completely off. It's a wound in the Hedge, letting you see into the dank hallway that extends through it, going down much farther than the apparent length of the wagon. It ends in a great metal door...that's also been torn away. 00:22 <Crion> Loser still has to touch the threshold to open it and let you in. 00:23 <Crion> As she does, the sound of a man screaming rips down the hall, from further in. 00:23 <banana> "We can't be lucky enough for that to be Proctor." 00:24 <trenchfoot> Nels, gun drawn: "Not sure it matters." 00:25 <Crion> Loser will lead you down the hall apprehensively. The door will open into a larger ante-chamber, with two exits -- one to a reinforced door ("That's to the outside, but it's in Mexico City," mumbles Loser. "Don't ask."), and one to a normal wooden door that seems to have just, exploded. 00:26 <Crion> And through the ruins of that door... 00:26 <CBN> Tony: "Lucky would be not being here." 00:26 <Crion> There are...three trees. 00:26 <Crion> Two contain corpses. 00:26 <banana> Melanie's still swathed in inexplicable shadow through which lance beams of sunlight that burn away patches of darkness, revealing writing white roots, so in effect she's also gun-drawn. 00:26 <dammitwho> The corpses of...? 00:27 <Crion> The trees look like they've grown up and THROUGH Cambridge Son and Kid Kid Kid. 00:27 <VoxPVoxD> Ah. 00:27 <Crion> Between them, Proctor is still clinging to life as the branches rise, and rise, and dig through his flesh, into his mouth, and -- you'll want to look away. 00:27 <Crion> Proctor dies gurgled. 00:27 <Crion> Gurgling. 00:28 <Crion> But, having gurgled. 00:28 <banana> "Horrific. Convenient. Let's run." 00:28 <dammitwho> "Think we gots to be gone a skosh." 00:29 <Crion> And before those three trees stands a woman, blonde and beautiful, and when she spins to face you her eyes flash with manic green fire and her smile eats the whole of her face and a hideous, beatific power exudes from every part of her. And then she claps her hands together in delight. 00:29 <Crion> "You must be Peter's friends!" 00:30 <Crion> Loser takes two or three steps back. "M-mistress." 00:31 <Crion> The woman's baleful eye turns on Loser. "Well. Not you. But I suppose you're with Peter's friends." 00:31 <trenchfoot> It takes almost every fiber in her being to avoid asking Who's Peter? Still:"Um. Hi." What is happening. 00:31 <CBN> Tony knows enough to not talk to them. He stopped trying to talk to his after the first few years, and it didn't make things easier, but it kept them from getting more difficult. So he's just standing here. 00:32 <Crion> There's a ragged, angry, pained cry, and the sound of a chainsaw revving, and K.I.L.L. runs out from the side room -- 00:32 <Crion> The woman waves a hand and branches ensconce the loyalist. 00:32 <Crion> "I don't like chainsaws." 00:32 <banana> Any distraction will do. Melanie will grab the hands of whoever's nearest to her, Loser included, and at the very least try to get away. 00:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart is transfixed. 00:33 <trenchfoot> Nels isn't moving. 00:33 <dammitwho> Maggie is taking steps backwards. 00:33 <CBN> Tony's also standing there staring. Force of habit. 00:33 <Crion> The Mistress of the High House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwf7P2GNAVw The whole school is rolling fake dice; you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. 00:40 <Crion> Her eyes snap and explode, and she's more beautiful than should be possible as her grin widens -- then it's back to a smile. "Please don't run," she says to you, who now cannot. "I'm not here to hurt anyone..." 00:40 <Crion> "...who wasn't hunting..." 00:40 <Crion> The branches crackle up K.I.L.L.'s thighs. 00:40 <Crion> "...my Peter." 00:41 <trenchfoot> Terror awful bad fear 00:41 <banana> Melanie grabs Tony's hand, Nels' hand, spins and... drops to her knees with an awful creak. She won't/can't look back. 00:42 <Crion> Loser chokes and sobs, even though she's smiling dazedly. 00:46 <Crion> "In fact," the Mistress says pleasantly, "I want your help." 00:46 <Crion> Then she blinks as if remembering something. "Oh! Yes! You're the heroes. You care about people." 00:46 <Crion> She gestures to K.I.L.L. "What should be done with her?" 00:49 <banana> Melanie's totally shut down. With her mouth and eyes closed, her lower legs bent under her, her trunk/torso turned away - she's immobile, inanimate, vegetable. She wouldn't answer if she could. Maybe falling over the Hedge was just a dream. 00:49 <CBN> Tony: "She was going to kill us with a chainsaw. You can put her in the ground." 00:52 <Crion> Loser: "...Let her live. Please. Mistress." 00:54 <Crion> "Mmmmmmm," the Mistress of the High House says. "Tied." 00:57 <trenchfoot> Nels: "...nobody dies." She's not very confident. The Devil of the Details' favor is hot in her hand. 00:57 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I... she's a real piece of work," She says we're the heroes she says we care about people she says she says she says she says "But she doesn't deserve to die like that. Please let her live." 00:58 <Crion> The Mistress nods, arching an eyebrow at Stewart and Melanie. "It's only possible to tie, now. But I suppose Loser's vote should count less." 00:58 <Crion> "So a tie goes to the tree." 00:58 <trenchfoot> More forcefully: "Nobody dies." 00:59 <Crion> The Mistress smiles. "That is the dream." 00:59 <VoxPVoxD> He's in an apron and a white hat. The air is hot and wet and dense. People are running every which way, shouting, screaming, giving orders. The sound of cleavers clacking in a steady, even rhythm against stone cutting-boards. Stewart reaches into the oven, arms shackled to the floor behinnd him, to pull out a beautiful roast, tender meat practically falling off a human thighbone. 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> He can't see, he can't hear -- Commit to something, you little shit. -- but he feels her eyes on him like the heat from the oven. "Let her go," he says limply. 01:01 <Crion> The Mistress nods firmly, and gestures. The branches pull out from K.I.L.L.'s limbs, as they spirit away her chainsaw. She might have a broken ankle, but she's not bleeding out. 01:02 <Crion> The Mistress, to K.I.L.L.: "You'll want to stay down, dear." 01:02 <Crion> Then she blinks and surveys the room. "Oh, bother. I've done it again." 01:03 <Crion> "I really do need to talk to you about Peter. Especially with these reprobates looking for him. I need you to tell him I forgive him, and I want him to come home. If that's what he wants." 01:03 <Crion> Icily: "You are absolutely forbidden from coercing him." 01:04 <Crion> She softens a bit. "I respect why he left. I just want him to know I miss him." 01:05 <Crion> She shakes her head. "Ah! This is embarrassing. And I really do apologize for the mess, and the...well, I couldn't just let you leave without delivering the message." 01:05 <trenchfoot> Nels, definitely not shaking: "And?" 01:08 <Crion> "And! I look forward to hearing from Peter." She pauses. "Oh, for the next time we meet...can we agree to no contracts? Would that make you...more comfortable?" 01:08 <trenchfoot> I don't think any restrictions could make Nels feel more comfortable with such a meeting. 01:09 <trenchfoot> She says nothing, waiting for the others. 01:09 <CBN> Tony: "No contracts that affect one another, between us, and you?" 01:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks up wordlessly. His black eyes flare the orange of embers flying from a harvest bonfire. The pact is sealed. 01:11 <Crion> She nods pleasantly. "Indeed." Her voice grows quiet, and her face drawn. "I don't like doing this, you know." 01:11 <Crion> Then the smile returns. "But now I must go. Ta!" 01:11 <Crion> And she strides out. There's a rush of wind, and she's gone. 01:11 <Crion> K.I.L.L. moans. 01:12 <Crion> Loser: "Fuck. Fuck me." 01:12 <trenchfoot> That is maybe worse than a fight. No, definitely worse. "No. But - SHIT." 01:12 <CBN> Tony looks at the bodies. They still in trees, that're still there? 01:12 <banana> Melanie lets go of the hands she was grabbing, tries to curl up, can't. She stands instead, shakily. 01:13 <Crion> They are. 01:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart falls immediately to his hands and knees, gasping for breath. 01:13 <Crion> K.I.L.L.: "I don't wanna do this anymore. I don't wanna...I don't..." She begins crying. 01:14 <banana> Melanie will process the Mistress. Later. At length. She wobbles just a little as she wanders over to K.I.L.L. 01:14 <banana> "Okay. We won't let you, anyway." 01:15 <banana> "Do you want to die? Is there something we could do to keep you out of this thing, if you don't want to die?" 01:15 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Let's try and - we've all just been through a lot." 01:15 <dammitwho> Maggie leans heavily on the wall and moans. "Cheese and rice..." 01:15 <Crion> Numbly, the pink-haired woman says: "All of them that held my Oaths are dead now." 01:15 <CBN> Tony: "Are you kidding with this Melanie?" Tony's holding it together about as well as can be expected but also, as his rust-patina fades he's getting a lil het up. "Seriously, are you fucking kidding?" 01:16 <banana> "We can't allow her into the Freehold of Baltimore." 01:16 <CBN> Tony gestures emphatically, "The only reason she wouldn't have killed us with a chainsaw is because she was shit at it, and they were shit at it, and we just got a "get out of murdering them ourselves" free card in the form of some crazy ex girlfriend!" 01:16 <banana> Melanie: "Does Philadelphia feel differently?" 01:17 <Crion> Loser: "It does." She stands and walks over to K.I.L.L. "There's somewhere I can take her." 01:17 <VoxPVoxD> It's so hot in here. It's so hot. Stewart's forehead pressed against the floor is the only comfortable part of his body. 01:17 <banana> It's actually unclear to Melanie whether Tony is demanding that KILL be put down, or be released, or what. She stares at him in lieu of actually forming the words to ask. 01:17 <CBN> Tony scowls. "Leave her on the fucking field, these assholes all deserve each other. Said while gesturing to K.I.L.L. and the bodies. 01:17 <Crion> "You won't have access to her, but it doesn't sound like that would be healthy for anyone. Or necessary." 01:17 <Crion> Loser, tightly, to Tony: "Noted." 01:18 <trenchfoot> Nels: "No. No, we're all -- augh. Can you tell me if she comes out okay?" 01:18 <CBN> Tony turns on Loser. "Hey your shit's done now right?" 01:18 <Crion> To Nels: "No one's coming out of this 'okay.'" 01:18 <Crion> To Tony: "Yeah." 01:18 <trenchfoot> "Don't I know it sister. Still." 01:18 <CBN> Tony: "So, we can't trust a word you say, starting about five seconds ago?" 01:18 <banana> Melanie: "Hahaha!" 01:19 <Crion> Loser: "Sure." 01:19 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Tony, no. Let her go." 01:19 <CBN> Tony throws his hands up and turns to walk away. "Extract the shit from your ears, I'm getting drunk." 01:19 <Crion> She picks K.I.L.L. up to lean on her shoulder. "Again. You want to shoot me, here's my back." She heads for the door. 01:20 <banana> "Hey, Loser. Um, sorry, that doesn't feel like a good name, but- hey." 01:20 <Crion> "Yeah?" 01:20 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Two weeks 'till moonshine." Gun's still drawn. Don't shoot Loser. 01:21 <banana> Melanie: "These are terrible circumstances, but I'm glad you got out. You really can't ever allow her back here though." 01:22 <Crion> Loser: "...She'll be gone in a day or two. My safehouse is Hedge-side, so don't worry about her going to Baltimore. Philadelphia has a program." She sighs. "Gonna be a long trip." 01:23 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I'm gonna have words with, whoever okayed that. Because it was awful." 01:23 <VoxPVoxD> Finally, slowly, Stewart pulls himself to his feet. 01:23 <Crion> Other than that...it's just the three corpses in the trees. And whatever else is in this Hollow. 01:23 <banana> Melanie: "Good luck." She'll go looking for Tony. 01:23 <dammitwho> Maggie: "...let's go home." 01:24 <trenchfoot> Nels, suddenly exhausted: "...yeah." 01:26 <VoxPVoxD> Belatedly, and very quietly: "...I've got to go make my report." 01:27 <trenchfoot> Tell them that they're jerks, Nels doesn't say. 01:28 <CBN> Tony's heading back to the Wherehouse and getting drunk enough to sound like Steve. That'll be the rest of his night, with big clamshell headphones on and no music playing. 01:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart asks Loser a couple of filling-in-the-blanks questions on the way back, and barely stops in the Hollow on the way out to the city. He doesn't even stop to take his shoes off before he settles in front if the Autumn box to report. 01:46 <VoxPVoxD> <Loyalist cell neutralized. 'Proctor' / 'Kid Kid Kid' / 'Cambridge Son' came to a sudden arboreal stop care of 'The Mistress of the High House', who identifies as Peter Montgomery's Keeper.> 01:46 <VoxPVoxD> <Philadelphia Dragonslayer 'Loser', embedded with the Loyalist cell, identifies Proctor as cell leader. Proctor's MO identified as camping at the entrance of the Mistress's Arcadian estate and waiting for escapees. Montgomery identified as leaving the grounds freely, rather than escaping under duress. Loser shocked to see Mistress in the Hedge.> 01:46 <VoxPVoxD> <Mistress arrested the kill team and had them vote on the fate of remaining loyalist, 'K.I.L.L.'. Votes as follows: Spring- Foulke LIFE, Bakehead LIFE. Summer- Lucas ABSTAIN. Autumn- Loser LIFE, Reader LIFE. Winter- Bowen DEATH.> 01:46 <VoxPVoxD> <Mistress made and sealed an oath to abstain from Contract use at her next meeting. No serious physical or psychic injuries sustained. Kill team rejected Hollow access to K.I.L.L. and Loser took her to her personal safehouse.> 01:46 <VoxPVoxD> <Expect pushback from Loser, Foulke, posssibly Lucas on clarity of brief and mandate.> 01:49 <VoxPVoxD> <Mistress asked kill team to relay following message to Montgomery: I NEED YOU TO TELL HIM I FORGIVE HIM, AND THAT I WANT HIM TO COME HOME, IF THAT'S WHAT HE WANTS.> 01:53 <VoxPVoxD> <--End report.> 01:56 <Crion> Five minutes after he sends the report, an IM window pops open: QUOTH|THE|STEWARD|KING. 01:57 <Crion> QUOTH|THE|STEWARD|KING: <'STEWART READER,' KNOWN OTHERWISE AS 'CRITICALMASS:'> 01:57 <Crion> <Assuming direct control.> 01:57 <Crion> <Stewart, this is Kingsley.> 01:57 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: <present> 01:57 <Crion> <You're absolutely certain it was the Mistress of the High House?> 01:59 <VoxPVoxD> <loser was certain, i saw no reason to disbelieve her, but i can't be personally absolutely certain> 02:00 <Crion> <If Loser is certain, she's probably correct. Keep the incident within your motley. Do not pass along any information to Peter Montgomery.> 02:00 <Crion> <Not until we can look into this further.> 02:00 <VoxPVoxD> <it would not have occurred to me to do so> 02:01 <Crion> <All in all, an excellent outcome. Well done. We will handle things from here, and inform you if we need a consult.> 02:01 <VoxPVoxD> <noted> 02:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart doesn't sleep that night. He's up until well past dawn cleaning: he bleaches the kitchen from sink to stove, filling the air with its harsh and caustic smell. He dusts every inch of both bedrooms and sweeps over, under, and around all the furniture in the living room. It's almost noon, as he's scouring the thin layer of mildew that's built up on the tiles in the shower, when he 02:05 <VoxPVoxD> finally passes out. 02:14 <banana> Melanie spends a lot of time in the wherehouse common areas, standing still in inconvenient places. Thinking. 02:22 <Crion> When Stewart wakes up, he'll have a couple messages from Lauren waiting -- seems like she sent him two really quickly while he was cleaning, then a third, and then let him be. 02:24 <VoxPVoxD> What are they? 02:25 <Crion> <hey are you up> and <?> and then <lmk> 02:26 <VoxPVoxD> It's about 4:30 pm when Stewart gets off the bathroom floor. Fuck, he's got to stream tonight. Eating pre-sliced pepperoni right from the bag and working on his second Red Bull Lauren gets a response just shy of 5. <hey. long night sorry> 02:27 <Crion> She responds within two minutes. Maybe 90 seconds. <its ok! you want me to come over?> 02:27 <Crion> <i can hang out off camera while you stream. we can order in> 02:28 <Crion> <people will start rumors. itll be great> 02:28 <VoxPVoxD> <I want that so much> 02:28 <Crion> <hell ya. be over in like 30?> 02:29 <VoxPVoxD> <k> 02:29 <VoxPVoxD> That gives Stewart time to shower, shave, and change, but he still looks run ragged when Lauren arrives. 02:29 <Crion> <coooooooooooooooooooltr :*> 02:30 <Crion> In the native font, that's a kiss emoji. Anyway, we'll leave those kids to it. 02:41 <Crion> And for those departed: 02:42 <Crion> The Proctor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jz8c17upEwM -- I dig my hole, you build a wall. One day that wall is gonna fall. 02:43 <Crion> Cambridge Son: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WptRf287DdI -- Clean out the bank and bump off your daddy! You can come live with us among the has-beens and the addicts! 02:43 <Crion> --fin 02:48 <Crion> Oh and one more. 02:48 <Crion> K.I.L.L.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=an6iivcWZhE -- I know my soul's freezing; Hell's hot for good reason. 11:46 <banana> It's been some time. Long enough to think. 11:47 <CBN> And for Tony to drink enough of the edges off. 11:49 <banana> Melanie paces around the largely-empty wherehouse. This is progress; she used to shuffle. Eventually she makes up her mind and her way to Tony's den. There's no door as such to knock on, so she'll just.. holler, shrouded in beads. "Bowen, can I please come in." 11:50 <CBN> Tony: "'preciate you thinking it's a real door, c'mon in." 11:51 <CBN> Tony's sitting on a recliner that doesn't let the bottom section extend, so he's got his feet up on a milk crate with a carpet sample on top. "What's goin' on?" 11:53 <banana> The other elemental looks visibly determined. Her Mask is pouting slightly; her real face doesn't exactly have lips but same energy. "I just wanted to ask you about some stuff. A lot happened, you know? And some things didn't happen?" 11:53 <CBN> Tony: "Yup." 11:54 <CBN> He pops open the minifridge he's resting his elbow on. "Thirsty? I got beer and beer." 11:55 <banana> Melanie: "Yes." She's good with liquid. 11:55 <banana> Melanie: "I remember, before we disembarked yesterday.. we were talking about whether it was ok to like, aspire to murder. In so many words. You were worried then, I wasn't, maybe I should have been, maybe not." 11:56 <banana> Melanie: "Sorry, sorry- I'm being vague because it's hard to, um, phrase things. Or feel things. Give me a moment?" She pops a tab. 11:56 <CBN> Tony tosses her a beer without looking and closes the door with the practiced motion of a former popular teen athlete. "Yup." 11:57 <banana> ..and then just kind of sits there for a moment, drinking. 11:59 <CBN> This is Tony's resting state. This is his kingdom. This exact kind of moment is a zen garden laid out grain by grain on a vast desert of drinking and not talking. It is peace. 12:02 <banana> It brings back long forgotten memories. Random bedrooms at other-people's-house parties, illicit drunken gatherings until someone's parents got home early. Mindless fun. not quiet like this but with the same liminal irresponsibility. 12:02 <banana> Melanie: "Yesterday we set out to put some monsters in the ground, thinking ourselves righteous. That didn't happen, and instead there was something worse, a greater monster preempting our complicity. She wanted to make us vote on who lives and who dies." 12:02 <CBN> Tony: "Mm-hm." 12:02 <banana> "If it's okay, I want to talk to you about that because you might understand. I might too, but definitely not the others." 12:03 <CBN> Tony: "Well it's fucked up is what it is." 12:04 <banana> Melanie: "Yeah, I know! What's bugging me is.. who exactly is fucked up here? Besides everyone." 12:05 <banana> "Did you hear them answering that thing? 'Let her live.' I couldn't believe it." 12:05 <CBN> Tony: "It's all fucked up." 12:06 <banana> Melanie: "It's like.. I wasn't going to play along with the monster's game or, um, couldn't. Not sure which, but I was really glad she couldn't read my mind or, um, didn't." 12:07 <CBN> Tony: "I dunno about you but I spent forty years watching one of those things kill people and cleaning up after it already." 12:07 <CBN> Tony: "So if I say I'm ok with doing that again, kinda fucked up for everybody else to go the other way on it." 12:07 <CBN> Tony: "Kinda like, I'm still not getting to make my choices, you know? Beer finished. Beer started. 12:08 <banana> Melanie: "Yeah, I mean no, I didn't have do do cleanup but I watched pointless crap. For years and years and years. And so often my.. guy.. would get frustrated with his own stupid scripts and take it out on the 'actors'. We couldn't do anything. Apparently we still can't." 12:09 <banana> Melanie: "And so I was thinking, course chainsaw lady has to die, that's why we're here, because she was chasing people down the street with a chainsaw, but I'm not going to say that, I'm not going to be the tool of 'The Mistress', airquote, or a part in her play.. but like." She's finished her beer, but the can is safer to gesture with now. 12:09 <CBN> Tony: "Well but like, at least we walk away after, but that's worse in its way too?" 12:10 <banana> Melanie: "No, that bit is fine. I'd rather leave and all be alive." 12:10 <banana> "Let's not get crazy here." 12:11 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah but now what?" 12:12 <CBN> "Nothing's done, nothing's ended, nothing's resolved. And if it was it wasn't us to do it. Us, or, he gestures towards the rest of the Wherehouse, 'us', made a thing not happen, so now, more shit's gonna happen later, and then that's on us-us, too." 12:13 <banana> Melanie: "Well that's why I'm thinking, do we need to.. re-evaluate. When several people I really like and trust, as well as a paranoid who calls herself a dragonslayer, are freaking, traumatised into taking any opportunity to beg for mercy even though it's a pantomime, even though it's mercy for chainsaw lady, is it wrong to.. um. Were we wrong to even be in that situation?" 12:15 <CBN> Tony: "Well we had to be there, didn't we? First, otherwise Proctor and his crew would've kept doing their shit, then second, because the Loser needed help with whatever, even though, can I just say wow fuck her and that, and then third, we couldn't leave once we got there." 12:16 <banana> Melanie: "You speak with the ring of truth. The problem is.. may I have another beer, please?" 12:19 <banana> "The problem is this reasoning demands catharsis." 12:21 <banana> "It is a problem-solving mindset. It is self-inflicted. If we look at Proctor and see a monster, we can stop him, danger to everyone, brings back the bad memories, do something. If we look at Loser and see, ally in trouble, evaluate risk and opportunity, follow the leader. We're making demands of the Wyrd." 12:23 <banana> "I want to see a way to be ok with when you pull the lever marked Issue Solution and instead of Solving Issues it Dispenses Dissolution? Like. That would sound better in German." 12:23 <CBN> Tony beers her. "You get a problem and you solve the problem." 12:23 <CBN> Tony: "And if you can't get a problem, well." Long drink. "That's your problem." 12:24 <banana> Melanie: "But, you're right. If you can't get, you're applying solve-the-problem to not-even-an-option." Something seems to have gone wrong with her promise to be clear. 12:28 <CBN> Tony: "So you're saying, or are you saying...uhh...think of not having the problem you thought anymore, AS solving the problem?" 12:29 <banana> Melanie: "Maybe just.. try to not build things up as a big conflict resolution point, because it won't go the way I imagine in my head?" 12:30 <CBN> Tony: "So I shouldn't think of K.I.L.L. as being, as the kids are saying, 'on-sight' if she ever shows up around here again in any way?" 12:30 <CBN> "Since it's dissolved or whatever." 12:31 <banana> Melanie: "If she comes by when you're on the porch with a shotgun and you manage to wing her in the leg, I will clap." 12:31 <banana> "If you didn't want mixed messages, this was too much beer." 12:33 <CBN> Tony: "Too much beer is a problem you solve with time and then more beer." 12:34 <banana> Melanie: "I propose an alternative catharsis." 12:34 <CBN> "But no that seems pretty clear?" 12:34 <CBN> Tony: "Go on." 12:34 <banana> "If it doesn't go the way we want, we sit around and bitch about it." 12:35 <CBN> Tony laughs. 12:35 <CBN> "Coach always said you can't play the game you just lost, but, he's probably dead now." 12:35 <CBN> "So what's he know anyway?" 12:36 <banana> Melanie: "My old coach gets like two million bucks a year because college is a scam." 12:37 <CBN> Tony. "Wouldn't know. What's college like?" 12:38 <CBN> "Like, in general." 12:41 <banana> Melanie waves a can again, more splashily. "Two versions. The first time round it was great.. only go to the classes you like, parties all the time, lots of boys. I had a couple years of that, I think? The dates don't quite line up with what I remember." 12:44 <banana> "Now on the other hand I don't get to play anymore but I'm actually learning things? Like someone who isn't a thoughtless moron? And actually gets to have even a basic understanding of the world, which is so big that it's worth.. profusions." 12:45 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah but is it fun?" 12:47 <banana> In a tone of wonder: "Yes? The research takes about thirty hours a week and I don't even have a topic yet. Half of my cohort are, like, fanatic libertarians and the rest are being ground under tuition and healthcare costs but, for some reason, yes." 12:48 <banana> "Do you want to go at some point?" 12:48 <CBN> Tony: "Do I have to say anything or can I just sit?" 12:49 <CBN> "Also I never got my ged, is that a problem?" 12:51 <banana> Melanie: "For undergrad it's a bit like a production line, they expect most students to sit quietly and take notes. You should totally hook up with Nels for studying, she's doing the same thing." 12:53 <banana> "You know.. I have a fake undergrad that someone else got, Stewart's the same. You got interrupted in school, Nels was born before schools existed or something? I wouldn't be surprised if they prey on students. People with too-open minds." 12:53 <CBN> Tony: "Oh well fuck yeah then. School can probably be fun when you aren't trying to keep an average for eligibility." 12:53 <CBN> "That's a theory, I think mine just took me because it saw the varsity jacket and had a type." 12:56 <banana> Melanie: "I keep wanting to say weird cliches like 'you get out of it what you put into it'. These days they have like, propaganda about college for seniors, it's big business and a class marker." 12:58 <banana> "Bet you could get the Winter Court to pay tuition though. Don't take loans." 12:58 <CBN> Tony: "Oh that sucks, I was just gonna go because that's where you play more football. Then I didnt, and now I mow lawns sometimes. Less now that Winter's got me doing shit at least." 12:58 <banana> Melanie looks dubious, which is a lot easier after the drinks. "What kind of stuff. I mean shit. I mean stuff." 12:59 <CBN> Tony: "Oh I haven't killed anybody yet but I carried a body." 13:01 <CBN> "Nothing BAD-bad." 13:02 <CBN> "And I was supposed to kill Proctor and the Cambridge guy but, that one was out of our hands." 13:02 <banana> Melanie: "That's what you said you didn't wanna be doing anymore..." 13:02 <banana> "What are they like in Winter." 13:04 <CBN> Tony: "Real sulky and they glare a lot. Which I figured was what we all just do before you guys came around." 13:05 <banana> Melanie: "Well, summer court people glare. Sometimes it's sultry, which is nice, but mostly it's because you like.. dug them out of the hole they're hiding in because the season changed and that's a Big Deal. I don't know. I don't, um, regret the choice, we're just.. all weird." 13:07 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah I haven't talked to much of the other courts yet, it's like...I already know what table I'm supposed to sit at during lunch, and who I see in my free time, so I don't need to go sit with other people, do I?" 13:10 <banana> Melanie waves her arms to make an important point. "This is going to sound reaallllly hypocritical." 13:12 <banana> "It's hypocritical, but you're like.. free now to do stuff, in the world. School's out. The Hedge is behind us... I mean it's not.. for some reason we're living here, but there's a door. We, you don't have to be assigned seating anymore or work just to work.. the freehold courts are power, a structural role. They aren't clans." 13:12 <banana> "We could go to a club. We could start a band." 13:15 <CBN> Tony, more to himself but at a conversational volume: "I could write poetry." 13:16 <banana> "Conceivably." 13:16 <banana> Melanie: "There's probably someone who reads poetry." 13:17 <CBN> Tony: "Hell yeah." 13:19 <CBN> Tony tosses another empty in the cardboard box that was somehow just out of sight until now. "Well, I feel less like shit now." 13:21 <banana> Melanie: "I'm kind of sleepy. Things are basically okay." 13:22 <banana> "It happened but it ended." 13:24 <CBN> Tony: "Stuff ended. How about that." Revelatory. 13:28 <banana> Seems like a good time to sit down for a while and not do anything. 13:29 <banana> Melanie: "Thanks though."