20:37 <Crion> Business Steve has been scheming. You've seen him out in the Hedgerows, here and there, speaking with this hob, wheedling that hob. He has not disclosed much. Real players move in silence. Occasionally he is in one of his outfits -- galoshes, or a tiny sailor's tunic, or tweed. One time, a very improbable goose-fitted tracksuit. It is unclear whether he thinks these are disguises. Recently, 20:37 <Crion> the husk of an old Volkswagon van has been seen in the alleyways nearby. It is unclear why. Steve refuses to comment on it. It looks like it was green, once. 20:37 <Crion> Other than that, it's been an uneventful week in the Wherehouse! 20:37 <Crion> What's everyone up to? 20:39 <VoxPVoxD> Christmas shopping. Stewart thinks he's got everyone nailed down but Tony... and work, obviously. The league's at peak activity, and this new job has come down from Santander, but it's hard to know where to start... 20:42 <Crion> Obviously since he's not on the joint task force to do...whatever...he's not going to be invited to their first meeting. But someone has forwarded him one of Gaunt Rose's e-mails negotiating the time and place of the first summit. Ravens did it -- that's the e-mail sender mask, anyway -- but its unclear whether it was done by them on their own initiative, or on someone higher authority's 20:42 <Crion> behalf. Santander is the obvious suspect, of course. 20:43 <VoxPVoxD> When and where? 20:43 <trenchfoot> Shoot, Nels needs to get on that. And maybe see about volunteering for more music lessons, and oh dear that van might be an issue, and actually take her GED test, start using that still... 20:43 <Crion> As to the e-mail's contents, it's a suggestion of meeting in the basement of The Brewer's Art on North Charles -- the Mt. Vernon neighborhood, specifically. It's one of those monk bars. 20:46 <dammitwho> Maggie's making chili, because who doesn't like chili? "Ohhhh, let the grasses grow and the waters flow, in a free and easy way!" 20:48 <Crion> The time suggested is...Wednesday night into Thursday of this week. Midnight, specifically. 20:58 <trenchfoot> Nels is still sticking around the Wherehouse for the time being, humming along to Maggie's song as she reads over her papers. She's almost caught up on history! Now, whether she'll retain it is another question, but now she understandsthe punchline to "Ronald Reagan? The actor?" 21:01 <dammitwho> "Now learned men, as use the pen, have written your praises high..." She takes a swig from a jar and stirs a little. "How's the studying going, Nels?" 21:02 <Crion> Lauren, who is hanging around the Wherehouse more and more, is sort of watching Maggie tenatively. 21:02 <Crion> She doesn't cook much. 21:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's just sitting on the couch reading some reddit meltdown or other on his phone. 21:03 <Crion> After all, when you've got basically an unlimited takeout budget (Lauren realized awhile ago that she could expense Doordash and Santander would just, let her) why would you eat anything else? 21:03 <VoxPVoxD> Sometimes it's raining and you feel bad making a delivery person go out in that... 21:04 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Hm? Oh, it's duck soup at this point. Just finishing up the last few decades 'til I get caught up, and they stopped writing so much about wars. Not that there were less of 'em, just they stopped writing so much." 21:05 <Crion> Lauren tips 25% even when it's her own money. Such are the wages of...uh, wages. 21:05 <trenchfoot> "How's the chili-ing going?" That's not a word. 21:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks up. "Duck soup?" 21:05 <dammitwho> "Wasn't that a Marx brothers movie?" 21:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Who?" 21:06 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I don't know about that. It used to mean 'easy,' but, like, you were cool." 21:08 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Should be done pretty soon. Hope you guys don't mind storebought cornbread mix." 21:08 <VoxPVoxD> Is Maggie smoking? 21:09 <VoxPVoxD> To Nels: "Nowadays you might hear someone say something is 'a piece of cake' to mean the same thing." 21:10 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Oh! Like a cakewalk, kinda." 21:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah! Exactly." 21:11 <Crion> To Maggie: "Not at all!" 21:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Honestly I'm not sure I could tell the difference between storebought and homemade cornbread." 21:12 <Crion> Lauren: "Homemade has more actual corn. Like, kernals." 21:13 <Crion> "Most mix doesn't bother to get that right. Which is fine, because biting into bread and finding a kernal of corn in it is kinda weird." 21:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "But not rising to the level of kernel panic." 21:14 <Crion> She sticks out her tongue at him. 21:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart grins in response. 21:15 <trenchfoot> Nels: "You can make a smoother homemade cornbread but I never learned how. Maybe that goes on the list..." 21:15 <Crion> Lauren walks over and flops down on the couch. "Ugh! I cannot WAIT for winter." 21:15 <VoxPVoxD> "How come?" 21:17 <dammitwho> Yes, she is. 21:20 <Crion> Lauren: "Because then Angelfire will have to do something other than 'backend maintenance and support,' browsing Reddit, and shitposting on Github all day." 21:20 <Crion> "Three months where I'm not on-call. Looking forward to it." 21:20 <Crion> Presumably so is Stewart, given the number of times he's now been woken up in the middle of the night by Lauren's phone. It's not weekly...but it's close. 21:21 <trenchfoot> Nels understood precisely none of that, unless this 'Angelfire' character introduced themselves at one of the parties, but that's not really ringing any bells. 21:24 <dammitwho> Is Stewart bringing it up? 21:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Three whole months to stare down your Steam backlog." 21:24 <VoxPVoxD> The smoking? No. Just noticing it. 21:24 <Crion> Angelfire has not been at any parties so far, no. 21:24 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I rarely know what you guys are talking about." 21:28 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Angelfire is Winter's tech expert, he's going to take over handling computer emergencies for the freehold after Christmas. Right now he mostly just does nebulous maintenance work and goofs off. Soon it'll be Lauren's time to goof off, so she can play some video games she's bought but not got around to yet." 21:29 <Crion> "He'll still probably escalate some stuff to me. Because he's a jerk." 21:30 <trenchfoot> Nels: "And he can just... do that? Seems rude." 21:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's hard being so smart and cool that everyone counts on you. Lauren makes it look easy but it's not." 21:32 <Crion> To Nels: "It could be worse." 21:33 <trenchfoot> It can always be worse. That's not exactly reassuring, though. 21:36 <dammitwho> "Right! Chili's up!" She moves the pot off the burner and takes a tray of cornbread that has been kept warm in the oven out. "Spoon yourself up some when you're ready, Lauren, no standing on ceremony here." 21:36 <Crion> "!!" Lauren's probably first in line. 21:40 <trenchfoot> Nels still has a few paragraphs to go before she'll serve herself some. Not gonna barge in or anything, but she is pretty hungry, and she also really doesn't want to read any more about Iran-Contra right now. 21:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's not far behind Lauren. "So what have you been working on, Maggie?" 21:44 <dammitwho> "Oh, this 'n that. I bought some books on metalworking to help learn how to put together the still there." She points to a small pile of scrap metal and rubber tubing in the far corner of the Wherehouse. "Yeah, yeah, I know I could just hedgespin the whole thing together, but I guess you know how I feel about that. I like doing it with my hands, you know?" She flexes her fingers for 21:44 <dammitwho> emphasis. 21:46 <Crion> Casually to Stewart, a bite or two into the chili: "Angelfire's going to have to come by soon to drop off my downtime project. Just wanted to let you know. It's just a server; I'll keep it unpowered while I'm not working on it just so no circuits blow or anything." 21:47 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. "Sounds good. What's the project?" 21:47 <trenchfoot> Nels dabs at the corner of her mouth with a napkin before nodding at Maggie. "I know what you mean. Hedgespinning still feels strange to me, I'd rather do it the regular way. Most of the time." 21:49 <Crion> "We're trying our successful staging project for the Wherehouse on a bigger network level. Multiple servers, multiple Hollows. For now we need to figure out tolerances and vulnerabilities. If a server like that got compromised..." Lauren shrugs. "So, very theoretical. Lot of testing. But if we get it to a place where it's safe, we can bring the entire Freehold on the network." 21:49 <Crion> Lauren: "Of course I'm not sure it'll ever be safe. But Angelfire likes to keep busy with his toys." 21:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods emphatically, as his mouth is full, indicating his approval. 21:59 <VoxPVoxD> A few moments later he gives Lauren a brief second look, but when he speaks it's to the table: "So do any of you guys know anything about being a spy?" 22:01 <dammitwho> Cheerfully: "Nope!" 22:01 <dammitwho> "Hope that helps!" 22:02 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Not... exactly...?" 22:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Or is that just what you guys want me to think?" 22:04 <VoxPVoxD> After a slightly too long pause: "But no I have to spy on the cross-organizational task force all the city's magicians are putting together to figure out how to deal with some kind of, I don't know, dangerously brazen superhero." 22:05 <Crion> Lauren sort of sputters on her drink. "The kid who wrecked Power Plant Live?!" 22:05 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Wait, that's a thing?" 22:05 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Eh?" 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, I think so. I haven't had time to do a lot of digging yet. What do you know?" 22:10 <Crion> "Last week there was a 'fire' there. It shutdown for a few days after. Some vampires were running a scheme at Power Plant, apparently. I dunno if they had approval or not from their people, but there were bodies. There were discussions on how to handle it...then they picked the wrong dude. And there was viral footage of him pulling a sword out of thin air and doing something about it." 22:10 <Crion> "Suppressed quickly, of course." 22:11 <Crion> "But." 22:11 <VoxPVoxD> Eyebrows go up. "Like a regular broadsword or..." 22:12 <Crion> Lauren: "I can get you the footage. It...sort of varied." 22:12 <dammitwho> "Wizards have swords?!" 22:12 <Crion> Lauren shakes her head. "Willworkers said he's not one of theirs." 22:13 <Crion> "Could be lying, I guess." 22:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That'd be helpful, thank you. Santander also put someone actually *on* the task force, so I guess we're playing both sides. Someone named Gaunt Rose, who apparently thinks we're competing for a job even though Santander said he would take us both on." 22:13 <trenchfoot> "Do we know whose they are?" She's frowning, now. "Normal people don't just pull swords out of thin air." 22:14 <trenchfoot> Actually in this day and age normal people don't really pull swords out of anywhere. 22:15 <VoxPVoxD> Gonna have to show Nels cosplay sometime. 22:16 <Crion> Lauren sighs. "Yeah, that's Rose." 22:16 <Crion> "She's...just, try to be nice. I know you always do, but. She's difficult for a reason." 22:17 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "How difficult are we talking?" 22:21 <Crion> "...She's a bitch, but she won't compromise the mission to be one." 22:22 <VoxPVoxD> "Right." It is now Stewart's personal mission to befriend Gaunt Rose. 22:22 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That's... wait, she's done this before, or...?" 22:24 <trenchfoot> "This" being spywork, not being a bitch. 22:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shrugs. "I don't really have a dossier or anything. I only kind of saw her once and she didn't really seem like she wanted to be approached." 22:29 <Crion> "Can confirm." 22:30 <Crion> To Stewart: "She's probably mad at you already. Like above and beyond the whole Santander student thing." 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What'd I do?" 22:30 <Crion> "Rose isn't really a...meetings person." 22:30 <VoxPVoxD> "Oh no." 22:31 <VoxPVoxD> "But she made me choose which of the two assignments to take! Why would she do that if she only actually wanted one of them?" 22:32 <trenchfoot> Nels: "If you pick the one she wants, she gets to be rude because you took her spot. If you pick the one she didn't, she gets to be rude because you think she can't do it." 22:33 <dammitwho> Maggie: "That's extremely stupid." 22:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You don't need permission to be rude! That's practically the definition of being rude." 22:34 <trenchfoot> She shrugs. "Some people gotta justify it to themselves." 22:35 <Crion> Lauren: "You'd have to ask her. But my suspicion was she was telling you she was good enough to do either." 22:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart hasn't actually had to befriend anyone who was legitimately mean as opposed to sort of awkward. Technically Lauren, but she was just standoffish because she had a lot of preconceived notions about what Stewart would be like and was sort of worried she was going to have to start defending her job security. 22:36 <VoxPVoxD> This is a completely different situation. 22:36 <Crion> "People do things they don't like to do all the time." 22:36 <trenchfoot> Meanwhile, Nels met a perfectly nice man named DJ Fuck You. People can surprise you! 22:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "But yeah I took the job because I figured I'd have to learn more to do it. Now I just need to figure out how to... learn..." 22:41 <Crion> Lauren: "Usually by fucking up. Which uh. Doesn't really seem like an option here..." 22:43 <trenchfoot> Nels: "...is there anyone you can ask who's done this before? I realize that probably sort of doesn't work 'cause of the secrecy thing..." 22:44 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I mean I could ask Santander, but it always seems wrong somehow to ask the person who gave me the assignment for advice on how to do it." 22:44 <Crion> Lauren: "Winter's the sneaking court." 22:44 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Maybe I could ask Angelfire!" 22:45 <Crion> Lauren kind of blinks a couple times. "You...could do that!" 22:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Might have to move my streaming hours earlier in the day if I'm gonna be shadowing vampires all night every night." 22:52 <Crion> "You've got the blackout curtains for it." 22:53 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah... different audience, though. Hard to maintain subscribers if your hours jump around a lot." 22:54 <Crion> "Mmmm." She sips some tea that was on kettle while the chili was being made. 22:55 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Won't people just watch the shows they like anyway?" 22:55 <VoxPVoxD> "What do you mean?" 22:56 <trenchfoot> She gestures over to the TV they've got. "Apparently you can record stuff for later... doesn't that work? Or is it not the same for video games?" 22:58 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Oh, no, yeah you can. Twitch - the website I stream through - archives everything and I have Youtube for highlights and guides and specific structured things. But in terms of like, the broad current of money everyone's trying to dip their hands into, a lot of people watch what's on when they're around, and they make time for things with consistent schedules." 22:59 <VoxPVoxD> "One of the biggest streamers in my game lives in Australia, and he wakes up about 4am his time to catch peak US viewing hours. I originally set up my stream to go up after his went offline for the night." 23:00 <dammitwho> Maggie: "So they invented all this stuff for recording and streaming so you don't have to care about the TV schedule... and then everybody just went back to TV hours? I don't get it." 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's more like, to a certain extent TV hours are what they are because of people's pre-existing schedules, right? A lot of people are at work or school during the day, a lot of people are asleep in the middle of the night. And having lots of people around watching what you're watching is nice." 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> "Assuming the people are nice." 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> "Which is a big assumption." 23:02 <trenchfoot> The modern world is nuts. "That's... I kinda get it. So you can talk to the other people while you watch stuff? That makes sense." 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "And talk to me while I'm streaming, yeah." 23:03 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Oooooh, that's what you meant by 'Twitch chat'." 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah! My chat's really cool. People are nice and they like to goof off a lot. Since Lauren's in the background a lot now, someone drew fanart of her as one of the characters in the game." 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> "I thought it was sweet." 23:06 <Crion> Lauren will do the dishes once the chili's done. Only fair. 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart'll sweep up crumbs and stuff. 23:07 <Crion> When they're heading out the door, and are in fact back on the side of the Hedge where she can receives texts, Lauren will check her phone and half-grimace, half-smile. "A...ngelfire wants to bring the server over tonight. Are you okay with that?" 23:08 <Crion> She and Stewart are alone, in either the elevator or his car. 23:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, sure. Is there anything I should know?" 23:08 <Crion> Meanwhile: What procedure has Maggie given Union to contact her? 23:08 <Crion> She has his phone number, and her procedure is 'call.' 23:11 <Crion> Lauren hesitates. "....Yyyyes." 23:11 <Crion> "He and I used to date." 23:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Aaaaaaaah." 23:12 <VoxPVoxD> "Did it... end well?" 23:12 <Crion> "Nothing ever ends well. But we're fine now." 23:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You worried he's not gonna like me?" 23:13 <Crion> "He should be fine. It should be fine." 23:13 <VoxPVoxD> "I could peace out for a while." 23:13 <Crion> Lauren, perhaps a bit forcefully: "That's his business." 23:14 <Crion> "And should be well-socialized enough not to make it ours." 23:14 <Crion> *he should 23:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Understood." 23:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart will still spend some time tidying the apartment when they get home, because that's what you do when there's guests. 23:15 <VoxPVoxD> It doesn't seem like there should be anything to tidy, since Stewart is constantly cleaning the apartment. But he always manages to keep busy. 23:15 <Crion> Lauren will help a little, but after prepping a space for the new server, mostly she'll hang out with Chup and look distracted. 23:17 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart feels like this would be easier if he wasn't here, but he's gonna respect Lauren's decision to make everyone deal. Past that there's not much to do but not deliberately add to anyone's stress. 23:18 <Crion> Eventually her phone chirps. "Angelfire's downstairs." 23:18 <Crion> "...Aaaaand Canterbury is helping him bring the server in. Guess we've still got a security detail." 23:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "This is a pretty big-deal project, anyway." 23:19 <dammitwho> Maggie has likewise given Union her number. 23:20 <Crion> Then she'll get a call on her phone from a restricted number. 23:20 <Crion> In the Hedge. 23:22 <Crion> Lauren: "Yeah." She pulls on a hoodie and zips it up; she's still in her jeans, which is a bit weird because she usually changes into pajama pants immediately when you get home. 23:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart observes but does not comment on the oddity. 23:23 <trenchfoot> That's - we are expecting company, right? Because a blocked number in the Hedge is... a concern. 23:23 <Crion> Soon there's a knock on the door. One, pause, two more. Canterbury's current code. 23:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart waits a beat to see if Lauren jumps for the door. If she doesn't, he opens it. 23:28 <Crion> Lauren will walk towards it, but wait at the end of the kitchen counter. She's not yet in the headspace where she's about to open Stewart's apartment door. Especially not for her ex. 23:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart gives her a supportive nudge as he passes. It's her apartment too, but now's not really the time to be didactic. Stewart opens the door and immediately steps backward to accomodate someone carrying something heavy inside. 23:29 <Crion> When Stewart does open it, there's Canterbury in front making sure he's visible through the peephole (opsec), and an Asian guy, more wide than merely heavyset, standing behind a single-stack server rack on wheels. 23:29 <Crion> He peers around the server and his eyes, behind glasses, narrow slightly as he sees Stewart. 23:29 <dammitwho> Is that an 'okay to answer' thing or a 'do not ever answer' thing? Maggie can't recall. 23:30 <Crion> Honestly? It's not like you can trust any information the Hedge gives you anyway. YOLO. 23:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Hey, Canterbury." 23:31 <VoxPVoxD> After they're both inside, he shuts and locks the door behind them. "You're Angelfire, right? Stewart Reader." He offers his hand. 23:31 <Crion> Canterbury: "Evening, mate. Got a delivery." 23:32 <Crion> His face is impassive and his voice neutral as he shakes. "Yeah." 23:33 <Crion> Angelfire -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkgR0SxmMKo We're of flesh, circuit and bone; The only world we've known, these empty streets we walk alone! 23:33 <Crion> *We're made of 23:34 <dammitwho> She shrugs and answers the call. "Y'ello?" 23:34 <Crion> Chup mrowls from the counter. Angelfire: "Yes, hello Chup--" 23:34 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's smile widens a half inch. 23:35 <Crion> The cat immediately leaps on his shoulders and begins like, trying to step on his head. Which is no mean feat, given that Chup is a very lazy creature by nature. "Cat. Cat! Ah shit. Ah fuck." Angelfire doesn't actually seem very concerned. 23:36 <VoxPVoxD> Nice. 23:36 <Crion> Lauren: "Hi." 23:36 <Crion> Angelfire: "Hi. Excuse me. Cat." 23:36 <Crion> Canterbury, to Stewart: "You good on weed?" 23:37 <VoxPVoxD> Stepping into the apartment, Stewart says, "Yeah we're alright. Thanks for asking. You guys want anything to drink?" 23:37 <Crion> On the other end of Maggie's line: "BIG M!!! Maggie Mags. The Magster. The sledge from the Hedge. What is UP?" 23:38 <Crion> The sound of someone hitting a bong REALLY hard on the other end. "This is Union. I'm incredibly high by the way." 23:38 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Hey, I guessed!" 23:39 <Crion> Canterbury: "Could use some tea." 23:39 <Crion> Angelfire: "Cat! Cat. Yeah that sounds good. Thanks. Cat." 23:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'll go fill the kettle." 23:40 <Crion> Lauren goes to retrieve Chup from off Angelfire. Both are physically uncomfortable, being that close. 23:40 <Crion> Angelfire: "Where am I putting this?" 23:43 <Crion> In his mien he's Wizened; wrinkled and somehow smaller. But his wrinkles are circuitry, and his eyes have power on symbols blazing in them, not pupils. 23:43 <VoxPVoxD> Very cyber. 23:43 <VoxPVoxD> While he watches the pot, waiting for it to boil, Stewart thinks about how happy Beau was to see him. 23:44 <Crion> Union: "So how...are you." 23:44 <Crion> "How are you. I got something up and running here and I thought, that was a good deal. And then I thought of another good deal: ours." 23:45 <Crion> Lauren: "Just leave it outside the study. Yeah, there. We can install." 23:46 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Pretty decent. Just finished making chili for everyone, putting together the still and what have you. What can I do you for?" 23:46 <Crion> Angelfire: "Ah. The study. Moving on up~" He sings that last line. 23:47 <Crion> And pushes the server tower over. 23:47 <VoxPVoxD> ...is that a reference to The Jeffersons? 23:47 <Crion> If Stewart knows the reference, he gets the reference. 23:47 <Crion> Yes. 23:47 <VoxPVoxD> Interesting. 23:47 <Crion> Union: "Chili." 23:47 <Crion> "Christ." 23:48 <Crion> "I could house some fucking chili." 23:49 <Crion> "But yeah! No. Wanted to get our shit together. Start the link. Something changed recently, due to cops, and I've got a bunch of uh. Infrastructure. I can relocate to your place. Lamps, feeders, integrated irrigation. We're talk one or two greenhouses here, but we could go smaller." 23:49 <Crion> *talking 23:50 <Crion> "Generators too. Do emissions in the Hedge add to global warming? Fuck I never thought about that before. They're gas-run." 23:51 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Nice. Bring 'em, we can figure it out later." 23:51 <Crion> "Niiiice. So uh. How?" 23:53 <Crion> Lauren glances over at Stewart. How's he doing? 23:53 <Crion> Canterbury is playing with Chup, who is magnanimously tolerating him. 23:58 <dammitwho> "Oh. Uh, shit. Right. Hold on." 23:59 <dammitwho> She covers the phone's receiver with her hand. "Stewart! What's the Freehold's, uh... policy on bringing other sorts of critter into Hollows? Thinking about Union here." 00:00 <VoxPVoxD> Lauren's seen Stewart like this before. Pensive and far-away, with just enough of his conscious mind surfaced to accomplish tasks and be aware of his surroundings. He's like this when he cleans. He's like this, sometimes, when he streams. She knows him well enough to see a little deeper: his preoccupation is one of deep melancholy. 00:01 <Crion> She'll walk over and help with the tea. Which will involve some innocuous physical contact. Just enough. 00:02 <trenchfoot> Nels: "He's off with Lauren on that server project thingy, but it's... probably fine??" She thinks back. "Maybe don't make a habit of dropping in, just in case." 00:04 <VoxPVoxD> Her presence snaps him back to reality. He carries the tray of mugs over and sets it on the coffee table. 00:05 <dammitwho> Maggie back to the phone: "Okay this is secret, so don't go spreading it around, right? You know the Lexington Market?" 00:06 <Crion> Angelfire wheels the server stack over to the door to their streaming room/office, gently takes it off the handcart, and makes sure its stable before moving the handcart away. If Stewart has carpet and tile or hard flooring in his main space, Angelfire moves the cart back to the hard flooring before joining them. 00:06 <Crion> Union: "THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" 00:06 <Crion> "Lexington Market." 00:06 <Crion> "Yeah." 00:07 <Crion> "Also of course it's secret. Lady I try to talk to people as little as possible." 00:08 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Okay, there's a freight elevator around back. Take it up to--" She explains the rigamarole by which he can knock on the door of the Wherehouse. 00:08 <VoxPVoxD> The living room's carpeted, but the kitchen/ette is tiled and there's barely a wall between it and the living room. Stewart settles in on the couch with his tea. "So a network of server fetches, huh?" 00:08 <Crion> Union: "Alright! Should I be wearing a uniform or just fast talk this shit?" 00:09 <Crion> Angelfire will settle down wherever allows him to not be sitting next to anyone except possibly Canterbury, even if it means bringing in a chair from the kitchen. 00:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I can get one of the office chairs from the study if that's more comfortable." 00:10 <dammitwho> Maggie: "The thing about life is that as long as you look like you know what you're doing you can do whatever you want." 00:10 <Crion> Angelfire: "Please." 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart ducks into the office and comes out with his high-backed, matte black gamer chair. 00:11 <Crion> Union: "Hahahaha. And the thing about Matter is, you can just make real money! See ya soon!" 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> To Lauren: "You want yours while I'm up?" 00:11 <Crion> Lauren: "I'm fine on the couch." 00:12 <Crion> Angelfire cleans his glasses. 00:12 <VoxPVoxD> "Cool." Stewart sits back down with his e-reader so he doesn't feel compelled to ask them bothersome questions. 00:13 <Crion> He's not lying: Maggie gets another call some 45 minutes later. 00:13 <trenchfoot> Nels clears all her work back to her room; continued reading about history is best done in small chunks. Hoo. 00:14 <Crion> Angelfire sips his tea. To Stewart: "...What is this?" 00:14 <Crion> "What sort." 00:14 <dammitwho> Wizard jokes! Or possibly weed ideas! It is very difficult to tell them apart! 00:14 <dammitwho> She answers again. "Heyyyup?" 00:15 <Crion> Union, sounding more sober: "Hey boss, we're out back with the machinery. All you gotta do is come up and sign some paperwork and we're good to go." 00:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That's called, uh, Irish Breakfast." 00:16 <Crion> Speaking to someone else off phone: "Look, buddy, she'll be up. What if you took a walk? No, I'm just saying. ...Do you know what a per diem is?" 00:16 <Crion> A vague conversation. Then, thirty to forty seconds later: "Christ, you guys need to organize." 00:16 <Crion> Then Union's back on. 00:17 <dammitwho> She rolls her eyes. "On my way." She grabs her jacket, and says to the Wherehouse at large: "Headin' out, I'll be back in a bit." 00:17 <Crion> "Hey, all good." 00:17 <Crion> "Cool. Waiting." Union hangs up. 00:17 <dammitwho> Maggie will leave by the Market door and take the elevator down. 00:17 <Crion> Angelfire nods. "This is good shit." 00:18 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Kind of a funny name, since the teas used in the blend are all grown in India." 00:20 <Crion> He shifts in the gamer chair. "...Anyway. So. Things you both need to know. Lauren knows them already but my job is to say annoying shit when it's important. Never put that thing on a network. Never hook a monitor with integrated speakers into it. Speakers can also be microphones, and therefore passive receivers of data. Wired keyboards and mouses only. Never plug a camera into it. Only test 00:20 <Crion> it in prod environments. Other than that, it's basic IT security stuff." 00:20 <Crion> "Which I assume you're up to, Stewart." 00:20 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. "I got the whole spiel when the freehold brought me online." 00:20 <VoxPVoxD> Lauren will of course note the deliberate omission of who came to do that. 00:21 <Crion> Angelfire nods. "Lauren does good work." 00:21 <Crion> He stands. "I should probably get out of your -- cat -- hair." 00:22 <Crion> Chup is trying to climb his leg. 00:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Chuuuuuup." 00:22 <VoxPVoxD> He'll try to free Angelfire from the cat. 00:22 <Crion> Angelfire: "Whatever else you can say about him: that's his name." 00:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Written in stone in the Cathenaeum." 00:23 <Crion> Angelfire, deadpan: "Yeah, I definitely get that reference." 00:24 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think it's originally a school in ancient Rome. But it's what the Belvedere calls their, uh, archive." 00:24 <Crion> When Maggie arrives at the loading bay, she finds Union in a blue jumpsuit absolutely holding court with the workers while vaping. 00:24 <VoxPVoxD> "Athenaeum is, I mean. Cathenaeum is a regrettable pun." 00:25 <Crion> Angelfire: "Huh." 00:25 <Crion> "Be careful with the mages." 00:25 <Crion> He adjusts his glasses. "Not you in specific. I don't know anything about you. Just in general." 00:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "They don't fuck around. Except when they do, which is so much worse." 00:26 <dammitwho> "Christ. Don't work too hard, huh fellas?" She ambles up, hands in her coat pockets. "Everything here?" 00:26 <Crion> Angelfire: "They believe in a better world than this." 00:27 <Crion> Lauren: "Angelfire..." 00:27 <VoxPVoxD> "A lot of them do," Stewart agrees. 00:27 <Crion> Angelfire: "And that's only dangerous when you realize it's zero sum. They make their better world, and we don't get this one--" 00:28 <Crion> Lauren: "ADRIAN!" 00:28 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart blinks. 00:28 <Crion> Angelfire: "Time I was going. Thanks for the whatever." 00:28 <VoxPVoxD> Slightly subdued: "Yeah, take it easy." 00:29 <Crion> "Weird advice from a gamer." He pets Chup and leaves. 00:29 <VoxPVoxD> Is Canterbury still there? 00:29 <Crion> Yep! 00:30 <Crion> Canterbury: "So. I'll uh. Use the bathroom, and go." 00:30 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Thanks for helping lug this in." 00:30 <Crion> Canterbury: "Least I could do. Kind of literally." 00:31 <VoxPVoxD> He busies himself with cleaning up the remnants of the tea until Canterbury sees himself out, unless he's got more to say. 00:31 <Crion> On the loading dock, the workers nod and don't seem to question Maggie's presence. One even says: "Yes, ma'am, if you say so," before laughing and helping pull another rack of equipment off of Union's truck. 00:32 <Crion> Union walks up to shake Maggie's hand, and when he does will pull her close and say in an exaggerated whisper, "This Cost Three Thooouuusand Dollars" 00:32 <Crion> "In Bribes!" 00:32 <Crion> Canterbury uses the loo, as he'd say, then says his farewells and departs. 00:33 <VoxPVoxD> What's Lauren doing after he leaves? 00:33 <Crion> Moving the server into the room where they're going to put it and wrapping the cables. 00:34 <VoxPVoxD> He hunkers down and helps her without asking. "What was going on at the end there?" 00:35 <dammitwho> Maggie will nod, and supervise. Which mainly involves taking a smoke break and watching the other guys carry all the heavy stuff. 00:35 <trenchfoot> Classic. 00:36 <Crion> Lauren: "He started having an old fight of ours with you, and I should have controlled myself better." 00:36 <Crion> Union helps with the hauling, and the backslapping, and the vaping. Especially with the vaping. 00:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You guys used to argue about wizards a lot?" 00:37 <Crion> Lauren: "We argue about a lot of things." 00:37 <Crion> "Argued." 00:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Sorry. If I'd known I would've just dropped it." 00:40 <Crion> Lauren: "I know you would have. ...It's an argument worth having. Just, not around me." 00:41 <Crion> "...He ended the relationship. If you were wondering. Which you were." 00:42 <Crion> "It's very much over. Hopefully the next time we see him he's hauling this thing out of here." 00:42 <Crion> "Wrap this power cord, would you?"| 00:43 <Crion> Eventually, Union, Maggie, and Nels get all of this junk at least into the Wherehouse atrium. Where are we taking it? 00:43 <Crion> In fact Union asks precisely that: "Wherrrrrre are we taking it?" 00:44 <Crion> He slaps a folded up light stand. "You can fit half a city's GDP in these bad boys." 00:44 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart wraps the cord. "I didn't know Chup could be that exuberant." 00:44 <trenchfoot> We have any spare quarters we haven't already made use of? As I recall the Wherehouse is pretty large and we've got rooms for each of us, the common room, and the kitchen, so there's probably room to expand... 00:45 <Crion> Lauren: "Chup loves people who make him work for it." 00:45 <Crion> "Because cats are weird and stupid." 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "A lot of people are like that too." 00:46 <Crion> You essentially have whatever narrative space you'd like within reason, especially because you could hedgespin a second floor in the Wherehouse at any time. 00:46 <Crion> Very high ceiling. 00:46 <dammitwho> Maggie points: "Way down at the end there, next to the pile o' junk. HEY FELLAS! Say hi to Union!" 00:46 <Crion> Business Steve, be-tracksuited: "Honk" 00:47 <Crion> Then he cracks a beer. 00:47 <Crion> Union: "This fuckin' bangs." 00:47 <Crion> "You've got a fuckin. A Lithuanian duck." 00:49 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That's Steve. He mostly does business." She's never been quite clear on what kind of business. 00:50 <Crion> Union: "Such power..." 00:50 <Crion> Slav Steve: "honk" 00:51 <Crion> He is eying the new material. 00:51 <trenchfoot> Is that something he would honk around Tony? 00:51 <Crion> Business Steve might have some ideas... 00:51 <Crion> About business. 00:52 <Crion> Anyway Union starts moving the racks to where Maggie wants them. 00:52 <Crion> Union: "Damn. So we're basically outside of time and space here." 00:52 <Crion> "Maybe not time." 00:53 <trenchfoot> Nels will help with anything small enough for her to carry. She freezes slightly at 'outside of time,' but keeps walking without a comment. 00:53 <dammitwho> Maggie: "We've never had any trouble with the ol' four dimensions before. Outside, maybe." 00:54 <dammitwho> "Seriously, though. You're welcome to hang about, but when you leave, only go out the way you came in." 00:54 <trenchfoot> Nels: "There can be... problems. The other ways." 00:55 <Crion> Union: "Ride that spaaace elevator..." 00:55 <Crion> "..." 00:55 <Crion> "So where do you want the generators?" 00:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I gotta say, wizards aside I was really impressed with Angelfire. Well-socialized or not that's a really uncomfortable situation to be in." 00:57 <Crion> Lauren: "Being magnanimous to your ex is a bit easier when you've had to work with her for a couple years already. And you were the one who ended it." 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah..." 01:00 <VoxPVoxD> Some other time.