21:05 <Crion> The first week of December is here. Sooner or later...probably sooner...it'll be time. 21:07 <Crion> Lauren's more or less put her security into Stewart's hands at this point, but she's been suggesting she spend more and more time at the Wherehouse as the calendar turns over. After all, it's not only safer, but much easier to fix if something barrels in looking like an 80s movie star with massive guns. 21:07 <Crion> What's everyone been up to since Thanksgiving, though? There's other stuff going on in Baltimore on both sides of the Hedge than a rogue Huntsman. 21:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart resists at first - the 'real world' feels more secure and safer to him... but Lauren's right, and it's not long before they're spending more time than not in the Wherehouse. 21:10 <VoxPVoxD> When he's not doing this, he's working... while thinking about this. The new Path of Exile league is just around the corner - hopefully the Huntsman hits before the 9th or so - and that'll mean 16, 20 hour league start streams. A lot of the preparation for this is just being as healthy as possible in the run-up so it doesn't destroy him too badly. 21:10 <dammitwho> It's also nice to be around friends! :) 21:11 <VoxPVoxD> When Stewart's stressed, he's deeply ambivalent about being around people. And he's stressed more or less all the time now. But the others do make it easier. 21:13 <dammitwho> Maggie: "So yeah, you can pretty much put sausage in any kind of pastry or bread-based dish." 21:14 <trenchfoot> Nels has been idly working away at her schoolwork, mostly, though she's also been hanging around the Wherehouse more. Her apartment's starting to feel lonely without the others' voices, or Steve's honking. More often than not, the others can hear her humming away or plucking at the guitar or finding some bit of culture she missed out on to watch or listen to. 21:14 <CBN> Tony's spent a chunk of his post-Thanksgiving slowly but surely replacing bits and pieces of the Wherehouse's furnishings with castoff parts and so-great-as-to-be-better-not-asking-questions Black Friday deals. That's how the fridge has a working lightbulb. That's how the burners on the stove look like they've ever been clean. And most importantly, that's how Tony's bachelor hovel has a framework of wooden studs where there will 21:14 <CBN> eventually be walls. 21:14 <CBN> For now, there's enough wall-stud there to hang a calendar. Did you know how cheap calendars are when it's already late November? They practically give that year away. 21:16 <CBN> And that's why right now, he's re-hanging the rug-walls, over clotheslines that've been anchored into the studs. It sure is "an aesthetic." 21:22 <banana> How's Melanie been? To whoever's around: "Hey, watch this." 21:23 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's curled up on a couch with his earbuds in, but he takes them out when Melanie looks demonstrative out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah?" 21:23 <dammitwho> Hmm. Melanie gonna start juggling things it is unwise to juggle? 21:24 <banana> She's wearing a pair of slightly knobbly gloves and, now just taking them out of a pocket, oval orange-shaded glasses. 21:24 <banana> Standing behind a kitchen countertop, Melanie.. slumps, lacing her fingertwigs together and resting her face on her hands, looking over the decorative glasses. Hopefully they catch the light. "Inadequate." 21:25 <dammitwho> ??? 21:26 <banana> "Every one of you is a disappointment." 21:26 <CBN> Tony observes this exchange, completely lacking any context for the reference. But he politely stops hammering into his almost-wall for a moment. 21:26 <VoxPVoxD> ... 21:26 <CBN> Tony clears his throat. "Is this a movie? I haven't seen it." 21:26 <VoxPVoxD> "That's really good. You're really good at that." 21:26 <Crion> Lauren is watching, semi-baffled. 21:27 <trenchfoot> Nels snickers. Also, for once she isn't the one out of the loop about pop culture. Weird feeling. 21:27 <banana> Not working? Well, Stewart gets it. Melanie pushes the nonfunctional shades up her nose with one hand, glares a moment longer, then gives up and smiles. 21:27 <banana> "I found these at a Dollar Tree!" 21:28 <banana> "Nels got it, right?" 21:28 <CBN> Tony: "Do they do a second Halloween after Christmas now?" 21:29 <trenchfoot> She plucks a few bars from the song she played at the end of the movie, last time. 21:29 <VoxPVoxD> To Tony: "Yeah, it's a movie. Melanie's doing an impression of the main character's evil dad." 21:29 <banana> To Tony: "We watched this crazy movie, or series of movies. Really I should have gathered deepening shadow behind me and worn a uniform jacket." 21:29 <banana> "That dad is the main character. He's the only guy who knows what's going on." 21:30 <trenchfoot> Nels: "He's also the worst. Just. The worst." 21:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Knowing what's going on is hardly a prereq for protagonism." 21:30 <Crion> To recap for both Stewart's and this narrator's benefit: he (and Lauren, and the Wherehouse at large) have a standing agreement with John of the Falls to bring the Huntsman to his door, his Gate of Horn, in the Hedge -- and John of the Falls will then somehow provide them and the Huntsman access to the dreams of Rebecca Sarah Connor, an eight-year-old who has never seen the movie Terminator 21:30 <Crion> but never the less dreams of metal skeleton men crushing human skulls every night. 21:30 <CBN> Tony: "Oh! Like the Shining? Weird movie to franchise but I guess everyone's out of ideas." 21:31 <Crion> The hard part, of course, will be convincing the Huntsman. 21:31 <dammitwho> Do the dreams frighten Rebecca, or has she gotten used to it? Huuurm. 21:32 <trenchfoot> Nels: "No, this was one of those Japanese cartoons. Anime? It was called Evangelion, but they had weird names beyond that." 21:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's sort of like the Shining, if the main character was Danny, who was puberty age and every interaction with a ghost was like the lady in the bathtub." 21:32 <trenchfoot> Nels can (not) remember. 21:32 <banana> "It depends on whether you're trying to effect effective change though." Odd to see the whole world in an orange light. It's like there's a blaze somewhere in the background. "Narratively yeah you're absolutely right, people bumble through and like, deal with stuff. The heroism of instinct." 21:33 <Crion> Lauren snort laughs. "Sorry, I just imagined Smitten and Smote as the twins." 21:33 <VoxPVoxD> "'Come play with us'." 21:33 <Crion> "But with a backbeat." 21:34 <banana> "If someone reacts with compassion and skill we're like wow, good protagonist! But isn't that only for stories? If you want to get something done in the real world and you don't have vital context, the chances are..." Well, whatever. 21:34 <VoxPVoxD> "I dunno, Mel. What if that's just a just-so story told to us by the people who have power by accident to justify their being assholes?" 21:35 <banana> "It's not working if so. Like sure maybe I'm convinced that only if you have power can you do stuff, but the stuff they do.. it's not good stuff. Some of the worst stuff." 21:35 <CBN> Tony clears his throat but says this while busying himself with the wall, "I'd think if anyone would know that just because the story's about you, doesn't mean you should have stories about you, it'd be us." 21:35 <banana> Ooh. 21:36 <VoxPVoxD> "Everybody's story is about them. It's just... who can make other people listen to their stories?" 21:36 <banana> "Well.. that does situate protagonism as totally distinct from success. Oh dear." 21:40 <CBN> Tony dusts off his hands and turns back to the room. "So, anyone doing anything interesting tonight? Place is too clean now, I gotta get out of here for a bit." 21:40 <Crion> One thing John wasn't able to help you with was any sort of early warning system for the Huntsman's return. Did Stewart look into anything like that over the last few weeks? 21:42 <VoxPVoxD> Yeah. He knows about the Herald, obviously, but that only goes so far. But he's got plenty of people in the Freehold he can bother with questions, and he's got the Book... did he learn anything new? 21:42 <banana> Melanie: "We could go for a walk. It's pig weather, but there's always Baltimore?" 21:42 <Crion> Probably. What was he looking for? 21:43 <VoxPVoxD> Probably the main thing was some kind of way of predicting where a Huntsman will re-form, and then some kind of way of monitoring that place. 21:43 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That depends on our long-term plan, here. If we're okay there, then I've got nothing pressing." 21:46 <banana> It would be nice to regularly have something on, somewhere to go... sort of. Melanie's not sure about that, actually. Parties and people are great, what she wants on some level, always has.. but she can easily fill any number of hours with work, there are dangers and stresses that didn't previously exist, and also, Tony's right: trading agency away for safety or victory is entirely 21:46 <banana> worthwhile. 21:47 <banana> She looks inquisitively at Lauren and Stewart (from behind orange glasses) to see whether they've got input. On the 'long-term plan'. 21:47 <VoxPVoxD> "Long-term plan for what?" 21:49 <trenchfoot> Nels glances over to Lauren, before looking back to Stewart. "The Huntsman." 21:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I mean... there's not really a long-term plan for a Huntsman. We had a month to prepare, now the month is up... now we're waiting for a sign. Then we settle it." 21:51 <Crion> The Book is actually extremely helpful in this regard, conversationally laying out both the way that the Huntsman 'reforms' in the Hedge (they're said to step out of the thorn-walls themselves, having become tangled there through expulsion from some sort of special portal from Arcadia itself which only goes in the one direction) and various means of telling if it is about. The Herald may or 21:51 <Crion> may not return, but if it does return is usually much less confrontational than it was on initial meeting; Huntsmen generally take no notice, good or ill, of hobs and hobs have no particular aversion to them, as the Huntsmen are never any real danger to the Hedge's native denizens, so hobs make excellent informants; and there is a certain goblin fruit, The Pursuer's Mandrake, that can be 21:51 <Crion> planted in Hedge soil -- and will scream when approached by a Huntsman at his work. 21:55 <Crion> Lauren's face gets a bit pinched at the word, but she's been very encouraging of them speaking freely about this in front of her, instead of treating it like she's got cancer. 21:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart goes on: "We've got, you know - Tony's friends in the Hedge are keeping an eye out for us, there's that Goblin Fruit we were able to plant outside... but we just gotta wait." 21:56 <VoxPVoxD> "There's no way to make this part of it faster." 21:56 <VoxPVoxD> Or easier. 21:59 <trenchfoot> Well then. "Then I've got nothing planned. Movie night again?" Or trying to track down family members? That's maybe a solo mission. 22:02 <CBN> Tony: "Anything you all can think of that'll make the um...the Huntsman-part? A little easier on us? Like if the guys in JAWS didn't just hop on the boat and hope they could blow its head up." 22:03 <CBN> Tony: "Since I've been blasted chunks out of targets with a shotgun outside in my spare time, but I dunno how well that trick's gonna work after the other time. Hopefully at all, but like someone once said, hope is not a strategy." 22:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Hard to say for sure. Some of it'll depend on what form they take next." 22:07 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Do they - sorry, I suppose I never thought to ask. It won't be that same metal skeleton thing?" 22:09 <banana> "And the main thing is still to hold it off or hold it down so you guys can talk to it?" 22:09 <VoxPVoxD> "It'll be an iteration on that. Yeah." 22:10 <Crion> There's a flurry of wings and honks as Steve almost tumbles into the Wherehouse. You don't need Tony to tell you that he's agitated and has news for Stewart, though Tony does have the familiarity to know immediately that it's about Lauren's Huntsman. 22:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's on his feet as soon as he sees the hob. 22:11 <Crion> Oddly, he's also been proudly calling himself "Business Steve" ever since sealing the deal with Stewart last week. 22:12 <banana> Wait, how much did Stewart pay? 22:12 <banana> What deal? 22:13 <trenchfoot> Does Steve have a little bow tie? Perhaps a top hat? 22:13 <Crion> Not at the moment. He's been working. 22:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What do you got?" 22:15 <Crion> Anyway, the news: Lauren's Huntsman is back, and has been for a couple hours at least...but he doesn't seem to be actively hunting. Or at least not hunting Lauren. Instead he's been wandering the local Hedge, investigating doors, and even went to Notgnixel Market to examine a wide array of hedgespun objects that might approximate guns (he bought nothing, and is still apparently well-armed). 22:15 <Crion> None of the Mandrakes have started shrieking, so you know he hasn't been in this area yet -- but surely he'll make his way over eventually. 22:16 <CBN> Tony disappears into the kitchen, reappearing moments later to toss Business Steve a beer. "Steve!" 22:19 <Crion> Business Steve will indulge himself with a well-earned beer. 22:20 <banana> Melanie strips off the white gloves absent-mindedly. "Reconnaisance, or curiosity. Last time it didn't bother to find out what it was walking into..." 22:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "If it's taking the time to prepare, we should go meet it now." 22:21 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Maybe it's stuck doing the movie stuff? The robit didn't get blown up in the nightclub in the movie, so now it has no idea what to do?" 22:21 <VoxPVoxD> "Since we're ready and they aren't." 22:22 <banana> "Maggie, have you got more of that webstuff?" 22:22 <banana> "For prisoner transport... it's the Hedge, we can arrange something if it weighs too much to carry." 22:23 <trenchfoot> Nels has retreated to go fetch her kevlar vest and revolver. 22:24 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Sure. I have to leave the Wherehouse at night to catch more spiders, but I've got some." 22:25 <CBN> Tony: "So we aren't stepping all over each other...what's our plan for talking it into doing the...the thing. That whole thing." 22:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks at Lauren. 22:27 <Crion> She's staring at a point at the wall. "So I guess I have to go talk to it. Him." 22:28 <banana> Melanie briefly considers offering to support an indoor spider farm. No. "If you offer it the heart quest, we can test sincerity with oaths or the Beers of Bacchus." 22:28 <banana> "Will it be difficult? The creature in and of itself, Lauren, is it something you could communicate with if it wasn't hunting you down?" 22:29 <Crion> Lauren: "I mean...if he's looking for something, and it's not me, there's only one other thing it can really be, right?" She looks over at Stewart. "Right?" 22:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Right." 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> "They've got two competing impulses. One is the Title, and the Title wants Lauren. The other is its own desire, which is to get his heart back." 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> "In such close proximity to the heart... we've got a good chance of doing this without anyone getting hurt." 22:31 <Crion> Lauren: "...What happens to him when he gets his heart back?" 22:34 <VoxPVoxD> "Then the Title will be purged, and they'll be themselves again. The oath we'll make will still stand, but he'll just... go back, probably. Unless it doesn't want to." 22:34 <trenchfoot> Nels: "What do we do if they don't? Want to, that is." 22:34 <banana> Also, go back to where? 22:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Well, as long as it keeps to the oath... that's not really any of our business, is it?" 22:35 <Crion> Lauren's sigh isn't one of resignation, but resolve. "I should probably get the vest Gerald gave me, then." 22:38 <Crion> She'll return wearing police bulletproof vest with the BPD logo taken off of it. To Stewart: "I'm ready when you are, babe." She glances uncertainly around the rest of the room. She's not about to directly ask you all to come, but... 22:39 <dammitwho> Maggie's getting her own vest. Safety first! 22:41 <banana> It's a room full of Lost visibly making Grim Preparations. Come on, Ipsum. 22:42 <CBN> Tony's ready to go as soon as he pulls on a heavier coat, grabs his gun, and slugs a beer. 22:42 <Crion> She's from the Midwest, the Doesn't Want To Be a Bother (While Being a Bother) energy is very strong with her. 22:43 <trenchfoot> We don't abandon friends. 22:43 <banana> Melanie: "I want to thank the kings for what they did, this plan to forcibly create a new motley." 22:44 <banana> "Not only has it been... personally helpful... I've noticed that so many changelings are loners. I get it, really, we have cracked shells and soft underbellies. But together.. we're strong. Really strong." 22:44 <Crion> Ah, speech, ah, she's blushing. 22:44 <Crion> "...I just wanna say thanks to everyone." 22:45 <banana> Melanie just grins hugely at that. 22:46 <CBN> Tony: "What're friends for?" 22:47 <Crion> Lauren won't be going armed. Her decision. She doubts it'll make a difference and this is, after all, something of a peace offering. 22:49 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's got his gun, but in his mind actually drawing it, much less firing it, would be a catastrophic failure and sign of impending doom. 22:50 <trenchfoot> Nels only has her piece for comfort and a general sense of protection on their journey. If she does have to draw it... 22:52 <Crion> When you're all ready, Business Steve will lead you out into the Hedge and see you on your way with a honk. 22:52 <Crion> From thereon, it's Tony's show. 22:53 <trenchfoot> She briefly considers honking in reply, but Nels decides that maybe she would accidentally say something rude in goose or just generally mean, and settles for patting him on the head instead. 22:55 <CBN> Tony gives Steve the equivalent of a high-five, without the awkward hand-to-wing contact, and sets out at the lead. The Hedge is weird (Wyrd) but even then, he's been around the not-really-city-blocks enough times to know how to find Something Worse, and (at least this time), do it without the Hedge itself paying much mind. Which, hey, small favors. 22:56 <Crion> You're looking for a stretch of neighborhood (Hedgehood?) way up Charles Street, then over into Hampden. The Hedge is a bit more twee here...and a bit less. Hampden was a steel town once, before Baltimore grew and took it inside city limits, and for each fake winery-and-dinery there are some abandoned, boarded up "homes" lining the Hedge wall. Still, nothing as gauche as like, empty broken 22:56 <Crion> heroin vials crunching underfoot. So that's something. 22:56 <VoxPVoxD> Putting the Gentry in gentrification. 23:01 <banana> Melanie's concession to armour is a jacket that's thicker than the sweaters she used to wear. She's not going to have the time to really get back into fashion, but it's possible to look more like.. like she's willing to be looked at, at least by those who see the Mask. Today she pulls the coat tighter against the cold. 23:02 <Crion> Finding it isn't difficult. 23:03 <Crion> The Huntsman is standing in front of a storefront window on the corner as you turn onto a wider, main drag, completely empty. The storefront is fake, of course; there's no store behind it. The lovingly-stencilled old-timey shop logo is gibberish. But since the storefront is fake, the window has a reflective sheen. 23:03 <Crion> So it stands there, staring at itself. 23:04 <dammitwho> Hoorm? 23:05 <trenchfoot> Um. 23:05 <Crion> It doesn't seem to have noticed you. Yet. 23:06 <CBN> Tony pauses and looks at the others. Probably not best to open with gunfire if we're trying to win this thing over, so he won't open with gunfire. 23:07 <VoxPVoxD> After a few seconds of intensely uncomfortable waiting, Stewart squeezes Lauren and then... whistles for the Huntsman's attention. 23:07 <dammitwho> Probably too late to hide behind a mailbox. Hopefully Stewart's got a good line for this guy. 23:07 <trenchfoot> Nels' hand hasn't left her side where her revolver is, but she won't fire if it won't. 23:08 <Crion> The Huntsman starts, straightens, and then slowly...slowwwwly...its head turns to consider the motley. 23:08 <Crion> Lauren steps forward. "Hi...?" 23:10 <banana> How is a bodyguard meant to look? Does a dryad in Gendo Ikari glasses look like one? It'll have to do. 23:12 <Crion> The Huntsman has burning red LED eyes, like Lauren's in her Mien but more piercing. It -- he -- cooly takes heavy blackout shades from a jacket pocket and covers them up. There's a huge handgun in his right hand, but he hasn't raised it yet. 23:21 <Crion> Lauren: "I don't...think we've met. Not really. Last time there were...werewolves. I..." She steps back and gestures around. "I brought people with me. My people. Because of what you're here. What you've been...made to come here to do? But I don't want to fight." 23:21 <Crion> "And I'm not going back." 23:22 <Crion> The Huntsmen: "Your people." The voice is metallic, and yes, there's a heavy Austrian accent beneath it. Not quite Arnold though, just like he's not really Arnold in the face. 23:23 <trenchfoot> Nels waves with the hand that isn't by her gun. 23:23 <Crion> "Your people...are not targets." 23:24 <banana> Melanie: "You'd have to go through us, though." 23:24 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That's not really why we're here, though. Not to fight." 23:25 <CBN> Tony clarifies: "Specifically to NOT fight. To help." 23:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We know where your heart is." 23:25 <Crion> The Huntsman: "If you are not targets. What are you." 23:26 <Crion> At Stewart's revelation, the Huntsman makes a growling exhalation that sounds almost like a metal plate being twisted. 23:29 <Crion> His fingers roll around the grip of the handgun, but still he doesn't raise it. 23:29 <Crion> To Stewart: "I could kill you. Easily. You know this. You protect her anyway." 23:29 <Crion> "Why." 23:30 <VoxPVoxD> Without thinking: "Because I love her." 23:31 <Crion> The Huntsman, in pure Arnold voice: "Hrrh. Nice." 23:31 <Crion> "That is...nice." 23:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We want to help you." 23:32 <trenchfoot> Nels: "We can restore to you what you've lost." She doesn't miss a beat about the declaration of love. 23:32 <VoxPVoxD> "We came here to help you." 23:36 <VoxPVoxD> "And we need your help, too." 23:36 <Crion> He tilts his head. 23:37 <VoxPVoxD> "Your heart isn't where it should be, you know that. And where it is... it's making a little girl's dreams worse. Foreign dreams. Machine dreams of metal and power and a sky where all the stars are dim." 23:38 <VoxPVoxD> "If we work together, you can save yourself, and you can save Sarah Connor." 23:39 <Crion> He inhales deeply at that name. Perhaps, in retrospect, it was a mistake for Sky Mother to fashion a Huntsman out of a character who is a hero in all but one of those movies. 23:39 <Crion> Finally: "Then I will go with you." 23:39 <Crion> "I want to live." 23:39 <VoxPVoxD> "Then you're one of us." 23:39 <VoxPVoxD> "We have a friend who can show us the way. Let's go." 23:39 <Crion> A bit more smoothly than before, he holsters that giant handgun, and nods. 23:40 <Crion> Lauren exhales and deflates a little bit, leaning against Stewart briefly before straightening up. To the big man: "Do you have a name?" 23:40 <trenchfoot> Nels: "You have a preferred name?" Conversationally, like she wasn't just expecting that to break out into a gunfight. 23:40 <trenchfoot> Good to see they're on the same page. 23:40 <Crion> The Huntsman: "I am a model--" 23:41 <Crion> He frowns. "My predecessor was Something Awful. I am Something Worse." 23:41 <banana> It works. It really works, they're trapped by stories.. Melanie tamps down the shock and follows. 23:42 <VoxPVoxD> That this worked doesn't shock Stewart at all. To him, we're all trapped by stories. 23:43 <CBN> Tony: "Alright then. Good? To have you with us, SW. Let's go." Tony heads out. 23:43 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Well, Something Worse. Yeah. Good to have you with us." 23:44 <Crion> Something Worse nods. He'll be constantly actively scanning the Hedge as they walk, but otherwise will not speak unless spoken to. 23:44 <Crion> Lead on. 23:48 <Crion> Soon you come upon the Gate of Horn belonging to John of the Falls, more or less where you left it, but without any of the onerous proving challenges that were here last time. And in fairness, even if they had been, you do have someone with you who could kind of just walk through them. 23:49 <CBN> Tony: "And that's how we get here. Nice. Anything we should brief SW on before we continue?" 23:51 <Crion> The Huntsman arches an eyebrow over his heavy shades. 23:53 <trenchfoot> Nels is just glad she doesn't have to sing to the weird snake again. I mean, it seemed to enjoy the experience, but that was concerning. "I think we're good? No enemies here, just... the future." 23:53 <banana> Melanie: "Through the Gate is our ally, John. He has an in to Sarah Connor's head." 23:53 <Crion> If you're ready, all that's left is to knock. 23:53 <CBN> Tony: "Also, spooky house, John's cool. Should be good to go, right everyone?" 23:53 <CBN> Tony knocks. 23:54 <trenchfoot> Nels is going to have to figure out why they keep calling Rebecca Connor "Sarah." Middle name, sure, but... 23:54 <Crion> Boom boom boom. The knocker ripples...then recedes into the door. 23:54 <Crion> But it doesn't open. 23:55 <banana> Not this again! 23:55 <Crion> Instead a face presses through the great basalt slabs like it's a thin film of skin, skeletal and grinning, eye sockets empty. 23:56 <VoxPVoxD> "Hey." 23:56 <Crion> It swings left and right, seeming somehow to take you all in, and then: 23:56 <Crion> "So you've done it," booms the voice of John of the Falls, from somewhere and nowhere at once. 23:56 <dammitwho> "Hi there." 23:57 <CBN> Tony: "This part anyway." 23:57 <trenchfoot> Nels just arches an eyebrow. 23:57 <Crion> "Greetings, Huntsman. Greetings, motley. When this door opens, it will be Rebecca Sarah Connor's Gate of Horn. I expect you to remember you are in the mind of a child, and conduct yourselves accordingly. You have the power to save her...or hurt her quite badly. And remember: nothing in there is real. Everything in there is a metaphor. You are solving a puzzle, not winning a war." 23:58 <trenchfoot> Hand away from the gun. Got it. 23:58 <Crion> "Are you prepared?" 23:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart feels so much more comfortable doing this than waiting and thinking about doing this. "We're ready." 23:59 <CBN> Tony: "Yes." 00:00 <banana> Melanie: "A title of the sky mother invaded this girl's head and left the heart of something worse behind. We have to help her and we have to be gentle about it. That's the precis." 00:01 <Crion> The skeletal head nods. "Good luck." 00:02 <Crion> A great, searing light runs down the seam in the basalt door, the head, bisected, recedes, and the doors throw themselves open to a blinding white light. 00:02 <CBN> Tony nods to Stewart. "Lead on, chief." 00:03 <Crion> It's Lauren who goes first. 00:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's close behind. 00:03 <Crion> So how many of y'all have seen Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)? 00:04 <trenchfoot> What are those? 00:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart has. 00:05 <Crion> Those who have recognize this as the future setting of those movies, where Skynet has won and humanity is being hunted down and exterminated. The rest of you just see a nightmarish fever dream of improbable smoke, odd war machines, burned out, ruined buildings, and skeletal silver monster-robots grinning as they hunt down and murder screaming, fleeing civilians. 00:06 <banana> Melanie's seen both but she doesn't remember them well, as it was Before. She wouldn't remember at all except that they're really good movies and she's refreshed her memory with wiki synopses. 00:06 <Crion> The people don't seem to see you, and there's something...insubstantial about them? They seem like they're recorded on film. When they push past you, you feel no pressure on your arm or chest. 00:07 <banana> Muttering: "If the girl dreams this world, she's going to be very confused someday." 00:07 <trenchfoot> "This is - she's a kid?" Utter cruelty. 00:07 <Crion> The skeletons though...the skeletons CAN see you. They raise their weapons... 00:07 <Crion> And Something Worse, ignoring everything that John of the Falls just said, leaps forward -- a literal 20-foot leap -- and begins removing heads from bodies. 00:08 <dammitwho> Well, we'll just have to-- whoa! Look at that! 00:08 <trenchfoot> Suddenly really glad he's on our side. Or at least not against our side. 00:09 <Crion> Robot skeleton heads, of course. 00:13 <CBN> Tony just watches. This is probably ok for now. 00:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart calls to SW: "We need to keep moving forward." 00:13 <Crion> Punching a skeleton's head off without looking: "Understood." 00:14 <banana> Melanie freezes, unsure - is this okay? Does hurting dream-creatures hurt the dreamer? 00:14 <trenchfoot> It would be difficult to stop him, and they do seem angry at us. 00:18 <Crion> Lauren, to Stewart: "Okay. Okay. What are we doing? Are we looking for Linda Hamilton?" 00:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We're actors in a story. We have to help this play out to keep going." 00:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks around for a cop car they can steal. 00:21 <Crion> Lauren: "Okay so...is this 1 or 2?" 00:22 <Crion> Well, you're in the hideous far future. All the cop cars are burnt out. You need to get sent to the past for that.. 00:22 <trenchfoot> Nels: "One or two whats?" Maybe not the time. 00:22 <CBN> Tony: "I gotta hope it's two, for the sake of us and SW getting along. That's the one where he's good right?" 00:22 <banana> Melanie: "We need to find something hidden, right. Is there a.. safe or bunker, some totemic place in the story that you need to get to?" 00:23 <Crion> Something Worse is currently covering your advanced with twin longslide 1911s. 00:23 <banana> "..nice moves.." 00:23 <Crion> *advance 00:23 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Do the robit skeletons have a controller of some kind? I never saw the movies." 00:24 <Crion> Lauren: "I don't see Sky Mother. And they only meet Skynet in the movies in Salvation and Genisys..." 00:24 <trenchfoot> Nice guns. And nice firearms, too. 00:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "A Cyberdyne building maybe?" 00:25 <Crion> "We're looking for Sarah Conner, right? This is her dream, she's gotta be here somewhere, even if it's not the right part of the timeline...?" 00:26 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Her home? It'd be kinda straightforward, but she is pretty young..." 00:26 <banana> "That seems like a good start, find the dreamer. Things will be happening around her." 00:27 <Crion> Lauren: "Wait! Shit! No! JOHN Connor, right?? Like, this is the future! We're looking for John Connor!" 00:27 <Crion> Something Worse's eyes flare. "I recognize that name." 00:28 <VoxPVoxD> "So he can send us back to protect her. Right, yeah, that makes sense." 00:28 <banana> Melanie: "Either way.. John, the other John, he said we can shape this place the same as the hedge. We can warp it to locate someone, though we mustn't break.. important dream bits." 00:29 <banana> "By dream-logic, in this scene of massacre.. should we head to where they're all running from?" 00:30 <CBN> Tony: "Or where they're running TO, if that's where the Human Resistance is, in this?" 00:31 <Crion> It's worth noting some of the human survivor props are firing back -- they're just getting slaughtered over and over again on repeat. But you might be able to divine what they're defending from where they are. To the extent spatial position matters in a dream world. 00:39 <trenchfoot> Hmm. Same as the hedge. A song Nels doesn't immediately recognize comes to mind, and she begins whistling, ignoring any of the dreamer's nightmares taking notice. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpMg1upld0w Then, to punctuate - she begins knocking on the nearest wall. Ba-dum bum ba bum. Ba-dum bum ba - holy shit, is that a door? 00:40 <Crion> Something Worse perks up as she whistles. His eyes glow through his shades. 00:40 <Crion> The door pops open. A trooper yells, "Are you with the resistance?!" 00:42 <VoxPVoxD> Holy shit what. 00:42 <VoxPVoxD> Did she just- 00:42 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's agog. 00:42 <banana> ....... ".........Yes." 00:42 <Crion> The Huntsman is laying down covering fire like you've rarely seen, even in a movie. Just one-shotting everyone. 00:42 <Crion> The trooper waves them all forward. "This way, ma'am! He's waiting for you!" 00:43 <Crion> Something Worse finishes clearing the field, then when the door closes behind them, he jams the lock. 00:44 <Crion> They're now in a hazy, sewer-like bunker. The trooper is leading them forward through halls filled with huddling civilians. 00:44 <trenchfoot> It is the practice of one hundred years in Arcadia that stops Nels from immediately fainting. Oh my god, she just did that. 00:45 <CBN> Tony is grinning ear to ear. Never thought this would be anywhere near this enjoyable or entertaining. 00:45 <Crion> "He'll be so glad to see you all ma'am -- we didn't think you'd made it -- left here --" 00:46 <Crion> You arrive at a big metal door, and the trooper bangs three times. 00:46 <banana> Who do they think we are?! What did Nels do? The whole Wyrd pivoted. 00:46 <Crion> Door opens. Another trooper, basically the same as the first: "My god! They're here! TELL GENERAL CONNOR AND COMMANDER REESE THEY'RE HERE!" 00:47 <Crion> So, again, if you've seen a Terminator movie, you probably know who the two guys standing in the center of the room are. Weirdly, it's the Terminator Salvation John Connor -- Christian Bale. 00:48 <Crion> Flat American accent and all. 00:48 <VoxPVoxD> It's Batman! 00:49 <trenchfoot> She might know the secret passage to their secret base, but none of these people look familiar. The song is still pounding through her head. 00:49 <Crion> "Thank God," says John Connor. "We thought you were lost. And you brought the hero machine?" 00:49 <Crion> He's looking at Something Worse. 00:49 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 00:49 <Crion> Kyle Reese's eyes narrow. "Are you sure you're up for this mission, soldier?" he asks the Huntsman. 00:49 <dammitwho> Hey, it's some guy! 00:50 <Crion> In his hands, he holds a shining, pulsing red orb. 00:50 <Crion> "This will take you to the past. Put you on mission. Are you ready for that?" 00:51 <Crion> Something Worse steps forward, guns holstered...and for the first time, seeing his heart like that, he hesitates. "...I am willing." 00:51 <Crion> Dream-Reese: "Not the question, soldier. You're going back to a world you know nothing about, to find someone you were supposed to kill, and protect her. I asked you: are you ready for that?" 00:52 <Crion> The hesitation is gone. "I am ready." 00:52 <banana> Melanie drops back to murmur to Lauren: "Is this an okay metaphor? Think about the implications." 00:52 <Crion> Reese holds up the orb. The bunker rattles around you as the Terminators penetrate the outer walls. A klaxon blares: two minutes until full annihilation. 00:53 <Crion> Lauren, to Melanie: "Yes." 00:53 <Crion> The hero machine takes the orb, and the whole world goes white. 00:53 <Crion> Somewhere in Baltimore County, a little girl stops shivering in her sleep. 00:54 <Crion> Somewhere in the Hedge, you appear outside a great basalt door. 00:55 <dammitwho> Maggie looks around, stunned. Then she puts her arm around Nels' shoulders and guffaws. "HAW!" 00:56 <CBN> Tony: "Nels! The absolute coolest beans!" 00:58 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Oh my goodness." 00:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart sweeps Nels up in a giant hug as soon as they're out. 01:00 <Crion> There's a strange stretching sound as John of the Falls pokes his face out of the door again. "Exceptionally well done. You honor the freehold. The child is safe now, if you were wondering." 01:00 <CBN> Tony: "We were, and that's even better!" 01:00 <Crion> Lauren meanwhile puts her hand on Something Worse's shoulder...and he takes off the shades, tossing them aside. Then the jacket. Then the grenades beneath the jacket. Then carbine somehow stored on his back beneath the jacket. 01:01 <Crion> Soon he's there in a black tee, bootcut jeans, and only two pistols. "Better," he says. 01:01 <banana> Melanie: "You're the big damn hero now." She's either speaking to Something or to Nels. 01:03 <Crion> Lauren and Something Worse speak quietly for a moment, and then he turns to the rest of you. "I want to thank you all. For freeing me. Now I must leave." 01:03 <trenchfoot> Nels: "You keeping the name?" She might collapse soon. 01:03 <Crion> "I..." He looks at Lauren, who nods encouragingly. "'Need time.'" 01:03 <dammitwho> "Sure thing. Hope you like independent life, big fella!" 01:04 <Crion> To Nels: "Yes. I am informed there is always something worse. Therefore, it is suitable." 01:04 <VoxPVoxD> After a moment Stewart moves to stand beside Lauren. "Thank you so much," he says to the former huntsman. 01:04 <Crion> "You are welcome, Stewart." 01:04 <Crion> "Thank you all again." 01:04 <CBN> Tony: "Take care of yourself out there." 01:04 <trenchfoot> "See you when we see you." She's going to be leaning on Stewart's shoulder, if he's still close. "See you later, Something Worse." 01:04 <Crion> He turns to leave, but pauses after three steps. To Lauren: "Find me if I am needed." 01:05 <Crion> Then he turns, and goes. 01:05 <Crion> A few moments after he's gone, Lauren half-swoons against Stewart. "Holy shit." 01:05 <Crion> "Holy shit, Nels!!" 01:05 <Crion> Since Nels is basically right there, Lauren will bear hug her too. 01:06 <trenchfoot> Faintly: "I don't even know why that worked. It just - felt right." 01:06 <banana> Melanie applauds, since nobody did during the actual performance. 01:06 <trenchfoot> She accepts the hug with grace, and will return it. 01:06 <CBN> Tony looks at Lauren and Stewart, then glances at the rest of the group. "There's gotta be a 24-hour diner or something open for us. Stewart, if you two just wanna...leave a sock on the Wherehouse door until whenever, I think we would all understand." 01:06 <Crion> Lauren: "Oh for fuck's sake, let's all get something to eat." 01:07 <CBN> Tony laughs. "Works for me." 01:07 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, very quickly: "Yeah I'm hungry, are you guys hungry? Let's get some food." 01:07 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I could eat." 01:08 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I need to go lay down. Oh my God. That -- happened." 01:08 <banana> "You might wanna talk to John about it later. Maybe you've got a talent for dreams." 01:12 <CBN> Tony: "Gary Wright's got a song about that even! You guys know---of course you don't." 01:13 <banana> Absolutely no idea. 01:13 <banana> Let's find a diner with the long seats so Nels can collapse on one as we eat over her victorious corpse. 01:16 <trenchfoot> Anything with eggs. 01:16 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart will stop at home to drop off his gun and also to make a full report through Ravens on the total victory achieved. 01:17 <Crion> He gets congratulations back through the Ravens in their inimicable style, and a similarly congratulatory text from Gerald some 30 minutes later (he was over at his brother's place). 01:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's almost delirious with relief. The feeling lingers for at least a couple of days. How's Lauren doing over that time? 01:25 <Crion> Spending more and more time back at her place...but not yet truly moving out. 01:25 <Crion> Chup seems to like it there. 01:26 <Crion> I mean, he doesn't like Stewart, of course. But he does like florping all over Stewart's furniture and possessions and so on, while making faces. 01:28 <VoxPVoxD> One day while Stewart is putting groceries away, he says with no preamble: "So I've been thinking." 01:28 <Crion> Lauren, at her computer, turns in the chair. "Yeah?" 01:29 <VoxPVoxD> "Are you on a lease?" 01:29 <Crion> Her eyes literally flare. Bad Mien for concealing emotion. "It's up in a month or two," she says casually. 01:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Cause like... I know the circumstances are very weird, and I don't know if this is... I don't want to pressure you or, or move faster than you're comfortable with." 01:32 <Crion> Lauren: "You're not doing that." 01:33 <VoxPVoxD> "Okay. Okay. Do you want to stay?" 01:33 <VoxPVoxD> "Cause I... want you to stay." 01:33 <Crion> "Yes!!" 01:33 <Crion> "Chup, do you want to stay?" 01:34 <Crion> Chup: "mao." 01:34 <Crion> "I think that's a yes." 01:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Great! Cool. Cool cool cool. I think we're gonna want to mess with the furniture some more, make your setup feel like a more organic part of the apartment. And you gotta help decorate, obviously. There's a closet here that's just full of stuff from sponsors, we've got plenty of storage..." Breezing past the emotional weight of the decision and plunging directly into tasks 01:36 <VoxPVoxD> that can be done feels a lot more manageable than the red-hot giddiness in his chest. 01:37 <Crion> A bit hesitantly: "So do you want me to keep my computer here, or should I move it...?" 01:37 <Crion> "Just, you know, for a permanent home. For the computer." 01:38 <Crion> "And yeah, we're -- we can change a bunch of stuff." 01:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I was thinking maybe we could figure out a way to split the office." 01:38 <Crion> "About this whole...thing." 01:38 <VoxPVoxD> "You know I don't want you to have to be on camera constantly, but." 01:38 <Crion> "Hmmmm. I'd like that...but I worry about the heat output. We need to figure out good venting..." 01:38 <Crion> She waves a hand. "I don't care about that. The camera stuff. I'm fine with that." 01:39 <Crion> "It's just going to get really fucking hot in there in July." 01:40 <VoxPVoxD> "The heat we can fix, but the noise from the heat solutions might be an issue..." 01:41 <Crion> "I mean...it's a temporary problem, right? With both our incomes, once your lease is up..." 01:41 <Crion> Her eyes flush. "Sorry. That's getting ahead of things." 01:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Which is July, by the way." 01:41 <VoxPVoxD> "Not that I'm counting." 01:42 <Crion> She smiles at that. 01:42 <Crion> Chup, as always, is unimpressed. 02:26 <banana> From: paperbark@summer.ctl 02:26 <banana> To: listl@losf.org 02:26 <banana> Subject: Thank you 02:26 <banana> 02:26 <banana> Hi, Mr. List. I wanted to catch you up on how things are going with the 'Wherehouse' motley. 02:26 <banana> 02:26 <banana> I believe the seasonal leaders made a great decision, even regardless of whatever danger's been foreseen. Now that I've got my feet and met more Baltimore changelings, I've seen that most of us are loners, cooperating through the court structure and specialisation but eschewing human-style reflexive trust. 02:26 <banana> 02:26 <banana> Taking the leap of faith to rely on others of your kind isn't just a relief. 'Managing' the local Hedge operations gives us a kind of task-expertise where synergies are readily obvious. Is there an analogy with the way most members of the courts have a particular role, a task to benefit the Lost that in the tasking renders them found? I'd like to do more for Summer if you've any needs. 02:26 <banana> 02:26 <banana> We saved Lauren's Huntsman from their Keeper today. Nels captured the whole Heart-dream in a song and simply wove us straight to the end, or to the beginning. 02:26 <banana> 02:26 <banana> Melanie Lucas