22:16 <Crion> There's a pile of dead bodies in a corner of the law office; uptown, they're waiting for what's left of The Sidereal to dry out. In midtown a boy's been tortured and murdered, and someone went through a lot of effort to make it look like your motley was to blame -- for all of an hour or so. 22:17 <Crion> Bob Kingsley, the Steward of Autumn, has been presiding over this emergency gathering of the concerned with an erstwhile gavel; it seems he did not do what he said he was going to do, when he said he was sending a deep-cover intelligence asset of his back to Philadelphia. The Young Street is irate over that and the loss of his young courtier; Amelia Banthem of Spring is growing visibly tired 22:17 <Crion> of having to play peacemaker between the two. It was her club that almost got burned down. 22:19 <Crion> At the other end of the table sits Jesuit, the head of the city's Consilium, flanked by Union and Fireman. They've been helpful -- almost, but not quite, unusually so. See, there's traces of magic -- their kind of magic -- all over these attacks. Frankly, it stinks of the supernal. And there are a couple different reasons that means they'll want to be in the room and on the team when whatever 22:19 <Crion> the Freehold decides will happen, happens. 22:20 <Crion> ...There's some commotion from the front of the office. Someone else has arrived. The motley, Stewart especially, know him...well, they know him. The Mainer strides in, scowling. 22:20 <Crion> "Sorry I'm late." 22:20 <Crion> Kingsley: "Mainer." 22:20 <Crion> Mainer: "Bob." 22:20 <Crion> "...They hit my office?" 22:21 <Crion> Kingsley tilts his head. "The door was ajar, yes." 22:23 <Crion> Mainer makes an angry grunting noise, and sits down. 22:23 <Crion> Then he seems to see you all for the first time. 22:24 <Crion> "How the hell did you kids get involved in all this?" This is mostly to Stewart, but his eyes linger on Tony a bit. 22:25 <dammitwho> Kids? 22:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, who is used to being called or visibly thought of as a child: "We got framed for an insane, brutal murder as, I guess, a distraction. To pull the other Regents away." 22:26 <Crion> To Maggie: "And you, ma'am." 22:26 <CBN> Tony: "Not one hundred percent clear on that one, it kind of happened at us." 22:27 <Crion> Mainer: "That'll do it. Huh." 22:27 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Heck of a thing to do for an hour's worth of a distraction." 22:27 <VoxPVoxD> "As for why they chose to frame the people they chose to frame... that's less clear." 22:27 <Crion> Mainer: "How many bodies? Not counting the gentlemen out front." 22:29 <Crion> Street: "Just the one. One of my boys." 22:29 <trenchfoot> Well, that number's a lot lower than it could have been. 22:31 <Crion> Amelia: "What's the word out of the Night Court?" 22:32 <Crion> "Right. Well." Mainer leans back. "As you can imagine, everyone is still waking up, and vampires don't like...courtly intrusion on their personal havens. So in a sense the Seneschal is only really able to say that as of yet no one's reported getting hit today." 22:37 <Crion> Kingsley: "Then I'm guessing they're gonna stay out of it." 22:38 <Crion> Mainer shrugs. "Seems so. Unless you want to start talking favors owed..." 22:38 <Crion> Amelia: "Not at this time." 22:39 <Crion> Kingsley glances at the motley. "Let's keep the idea in our back pocket. Bringing Lister and his people in on this could be worth it." 22:41 <Crion> Street: "Not to put too fine a point on this, but y'all are doing a lot of talking when we should be doing a lot of something more kinetic." 22:42 <Crion> Amelia: "I agree on that. Assuming you mean cleaning The Sidereal up." 22:42 <Crion> Kingsley: "Seems to me there are two things, broadly, that need to be done." 22:42 <Crion> "First: we need to find the Winter Court. Second: we need to find who killed Capra." 22:43 <VoxPVoxD> Is Lauren in the room? 22:43 <Crion> "Those two things might be intertwined. Seems very likely. But they're still two separate approaches." 22:43 <Crion> Yep. She hasn't said anything yet, though she did wave to Mainer when he came in, as one of the 'kids.' 22:46 <dammitwho> Maggie: "The whole Court or just the King?" 22:47 <Crion> Amelia: "Every last one of them." 22:47 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart folds his arms. "Has anyone been by their places?" 22:49 <Crion> "Not yet. Since it means in some respects low-key storming Camden Yards." Kingsley: "It was my thinking we, the Regents, take lead on that -- considering that the King-in-Court is among the missing -- and that Stewart, Maggie, Melanie, Tony, and Nels look for our murder suspect, seeing as you're already well-acquainted with the Consilium." 22:50 <dammitwho> Makes sense to her. 22:50 <Crion> Street: "That, and I assume it's personal." 22:51 <VoxPVoxD> "Personal how?" 22:51 <Crion> Meeting Stewart's gaze: "Any man willing to wear my face while dumping the body of a friend of mine is a dead man." 22:52 <Crion> "Maybe it's different for you all." 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shrugs, glancing in Maggie and Tony's direction. 22:53 <CBN> Tony thinks for a long minute, then nods. "Hard to add much more than that." 22:54 <trenchfoot> That was, admittedly, an extremely messed up thing to do. 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Where do you want us?" 22:59 <Crion> Kingsley nods. "Start with the body, is my advice. Our magic might have limited uses on...those who have passed on, but your motley's been good at making friends. I've asked Jesuit to either send over a liaison or provide other help. Street will let you back into the Oberon." 23:01 <Crion> The Steward of Autumn pauses. "Also Stewart, as for that...other matter. Consider your responsibilities there suspended, until we're out of crisis mode. Rose can hold down the 'Gang' or whatever it is they're calling themselves for a couple days." 23:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Sure." 23:02 <Crion> "Alright. That's enough. Everyone keep in touch through Ravens or your Court contact. Mainer, a word?" 23:02 <Crion> The lanky ambassador stands. "Yup." 23:02 <Crion> Kingsley, passing him towards the door. "In your office." 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart glances at Jesuit: "Uh, can we talk to you?" 23:04 <Crion> Unless the motley has other questions, the rest of the regents will leave. Union will step out as well to make a call, probably back to the Belvedere. Lauren will whisper to Stewart that she should go make sure the computers in the office are okay. 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods to Lauren. 23:04 <Crion> Jesuit leans forward, a smile spreading across his face. "That's precisely what I'm here for." 23:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Do you know why there'd be an ochema, or something like an ochema, in the Hedge?" 23:08 <Crion> Jesuit: "Because someone put it there, of course." He pauses. "I promise that's not as much of a non-answer as it seems." 23:08 <Crion> "The ochemata are creations of pure intentionality. Sheer will and power." 23:08 <Crion> "They do not occur naturally. They are...envoys, in a sense. Angels, really, of a very dire Biblical Old Testament sort." 23:09 <Crion> "One assumes the same would remain true of a Hedgespun shadow, or 'fetch,' or what have you." 23:09 <Crion> "Therefore, if you were ambushed by one, someone intended you to be ambushed by one. It was not an automatic defense or something conjured out of your subconscious or so on." 23:10 <Crion> Jesuit: "Which is why I'm here instead of relaxing with a book somewhere in midtown." 23:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That seems like it would take a very different amount of magic than faking crime scene evidence or doing arson." 23:11 <Crion> Jesuit: "And a difference in kind, rather than degree. Whoever has done this has friends in high -- or low -- places." 23:12 <Crion> Jesuit: "Before we proceed further, refresh my memory--" 23:13 <CBN> Tony raises his hand. "Hey question. Can wizards put those...the yolk-egg-mas, places where they aren't?" 23:14 <CBN> Tony: "Or would they have had to be in the Hedge and near where we were at the time, to drop that thing in?" 23:15 <Crion> Jesuit takes a half-beat to process that pronunciation, then: "Oh, wizards -- and by wizards here we specifically mean the Seers of the Throne -- aren't trusted with those sorts of decisions. When one of the Exarchs wants an Ochema in the Fallen World, they get to choose where they engrave their bloody crest, so to speak. A bargain-bin discount Ochema...well, it probably works on different 23:15 <Crion> principles." 23:15 <Crion> "The Ochemata are what the Exarchs call in when the Seers fail." 23:16 <Crion> He pauses. "But you do raise an interesting point, Tony." 23:17 <Crion> "This sort of shadow Ochema -- this false symbol -- it would be to its caster as a real Ochema was to an Exarch. I suppose, therefore, it would have to be able to be tasked remotely. I also suppose the Exarchs might look very harshly on one of their underlings mocking their works in such a way." 23:18 <Crion> "I wasn't kidding about the angel corollary. In a very real sense these are creatures embodying a religion. A religion of overpowering hubris, solipsy, and narcissism, but a religion." 23:18 <CBN> Tony: "And would they have to know where they were sending it, or..."He pauses, thinking for a second. "...or could it just say, hey go after those guys, wherever they are?" 23:18 <CBN> Tony: "Basically, is this a case where it was sent to play man-to-man coverage on us, or zone defense?" 23:19 <Crion> Jesuit: "To say for certain, we would have to know more about the caster. Hmmmm...I could task Sommelier to search the archives. We have a set of volumes, the Acts of Hubris, which detail willworkers who got too...carried away...with their craft. Perhaps there's something similar in there?" 23:19 <Crion> Sadly, the Hierophant of Baltimore doesn't seem to quite parse the football analogy. 23:20 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Meaning, can we guess if it was sent *for* us, or if we just happened to cross its path?" 23:21 <trenchfoot> Nels: "If it was sent for us, it didn't quite get all of us." She wasn't there, after all. 23:21 <CBN> Tony scratches his head. "Or, if we assume it was going after us, which is what it sounds like...was it just sent for us and we happened to be there. Or was it sent where it was, because we were going to be there?" 23:21 <Crion> Jesuit: "Ahh! Hmmm. To do that we'd need powerful Prime, and perhaps Fate or Time magic...and we'd also need to examine where it fell in the Hedge, if you can get one of us back there." 23:21 <Crion> "Even then, I can make no promises as to whether such evidence would remain after any length of time in such an environment." 23:22 <CBN> Tony: "Idea being, did the person sending it know about where we were, and where we were going to be, or did it just know us, and we ended up there anyway." 23:22 <CBN> Tony: "Like, did the yolky get sent to cover us at the end of our route, or was the coverage designed to cover us whenever it could? Since that could mean different things for how much whoever sent it, knows about us, and other things." 23:23 <Crion> Jesuit: "Yes, I think I understand now. You're asking the degree of sympathy it had with you, specifically -- either the caster or the 'Ochema' itself." 23:23 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah! I think! Exactly?" 23:29 <Crion> Jesuit: "Then yes, we can -- hopefully -- get that from its remains. What remain of its remains. But I am not sending a member of my Consilium into the Hedge unprepared. We'll need time to assemble and apply the appropriate rotes, wards, protective spells, perhaps runes...it will be an undertaking." 23:29 <Crion> "Everafter, I think, will handle such a task with aplomb." 23:31 <dammitwho> Runes! 23:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That'd be a big help, thank you." 23:35 <VoxPVoxD> "I think we have to go... look at a dead body now." 23:36 <Crion> Jesuit: "Mmmmmm. Yes. About that." 23:36 <Crion> "The Consilium doesn't actually have a strong...necromantic tradition. We do, however, have an outside consultant." 23:37 <Crion> "Whom we employ in situations like these." 23:38 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah?" 23:38 <Crion> Jesuit: "He's...not a willworker. And I can't order him to help you." 23:38 <Crion> "The best I can do is give you the introduction." 23:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks at the others. Is anyone visibly opposed to this? 23:39 <CBN> Tony: "Anything beats nothing, we'd appreciate the intro." 23:39 <trenchfoot> Nels is mildly concerned at the sound of this guy, whoever he is, but, well. Yeah. 23:41 <dammitwho> Maggie shrugs. What does she know from necromancy? 23:41 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 23:42 <Crion> Jesuit: "You're looking for a man named Benjamin Best. He's a veterinarian in his mundane life. His other talents are better explained by him directly. The deceased...he was a young man?" 23:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah. Not even 20, I don't think." 23:44 <Crion> Jesuit nods. "Make sure to mention that to him. The youth, I mean. It'll help." 23:44 <VoxPVoxD> ...okay. 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart just nods again. 23:46 <Crion> Jesuit: "Best's office number is listed, I believe; I have a private number but if he wants that shared, he can share it. Let me know if for some reason he's unavailable, and I can think of options of last resort." 23:47 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Is there some kind of, like... code phrase we should use? Or do we tell his receptionist we're calling about necromancy?" 23:47 <Crion> Jesuit: "Tell him Jesuit recommended you, and you have a special case." 23:49 <dammitwho> "Gotcha." 23:51 <Crion> He'll stand. "Oh." 23:51 <Crion> "One last thing." 23:52 <Crion> "Have any of you had any contact with the Seer of the Throne 'Society' that we -- the Consilium -- are unaware of? I know about both of Stewart's unfortunate interactions." 23:52 <CBN> Tony shakes his head. 23:52 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Nothing for me, although if he can impersonate people like on that dang video tape who knows?" 23:53 <Crion> Jesuit laughs without mirth. "Oh, Society doesn't go in for impersonations. He likes you to know it's him." 23:53 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Nothing over here either, but -- oh, that's actually more concerning." 23:53 <Crion> Jesuit: "Quite." 23:54 <Crion> "If I had to guess, he's involved in this somehow. But he's hiding his hand...and I don't like that." 23:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart rubs the back of his neck. "I guess we'll find out as we go. In the meantime I should call this guy. Excuse me." 23:56 <Crion> Jesuit nods. "Of course. Fireman, let's depart." 23:56 <Crion> Fireman nods his farewell and follows his boss out. 23:57 <CBN> Tony turns to Stewart after the mages leave. "Decent guys, wizards." 23:57 <VoxPVoxD> A quick search and then Stewart's on the line at Benjamin Best Veterinary Clinic. Phone in hand while the line rings. "A lot of them, yeah." 23:58 <Crion> A tired-sounding man picks up on the second ring. ...Which is impressive, since it's after 7 PM. "Best Practices. Ben speaking." 23:59 <Crion> Here's something else the Google search reveals: this guy's a horse vet. 23:59 <Crion> Like, racehorses. 00:00 <VoxPVoxD> Sounds like good money. "Good evening. We have a special case, and Jesuit told us you were the man to call." 00:00 <Crion> "Special--" He pauses, then sighs. "Taking it this isn't about horses." 00:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "No, sir." 00:01 <Crion> "Jesuit, huh. ...Alright. You got a name?" 00:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Reader. Stewart Reader." 00:03 <Crion> "Shockingly...normal. Okay, Stewart Reader, let's do this. You meet me at the southern turn of Pimlico Race Track at midnight. We'll talk then, not over the phone." 00:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Okay. There are going to be a few people with me, just to let you know." 00:05 <Crion> "...Alright. Good of you to say so. Doors will be locked but alarms will be turned off. I figure a couple of locks won't stop your...won't stop you." 00:05 <Crion> "See you then, Stewart Reader." 00:05 <VoxPVoxD> "See you then." 00:06 <VoxPVoxD> Once he's off the phone: "Pimlico Race Track at midnight. We're going to discuss it in person." 00:07 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Spooky. Guess we'll have to step around all the guys getting worked over widda lead pipe while we're there." 00:08 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Dramatic." She huffs. 00:09 <Crion> You've got some time to kill before then -- Pimlico's within city limits, shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to get there even with bad lights. 00:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We've got a few hours until then, so you guys should like... get something to eat, drink some water, stuff like that. I'm gonna go see how Lauren's doing." 00:13 <Crion> Lauren isn't at the front desk, but when Stewart turns to go look for her elsewhere, the door behind the front desk opens and she steps out, shutting it and tapping the doorknob twice. There's a loud THUNK somewhere in the door. 00:15 <Crion> Stewart might have assumed it was a washroom or a breakroom, but this time he'll notice the stylized raven engraved on the rather heavyduty knob. 00:15 <Crion> Lauren: "Oh! Hey." 00:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Hey! How's the network." 00:16 <Crion> "Ravens is snitty, but fine. Guys with guns getting this close to the server room is...kinda unsettling." 00:16 <Crion> The bodies, thankfully, have all been moved, and all the blood has been cleaned away. 00:19 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah... how about you?" 00:20 <Crion> Lauren: "...It's kind of fucked up -- actually it's really fucked up -- but after the fear and uncertainty there's just like...this relief? That it's not me that's the problem this time." 00:26 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Every day the Freehold has a main character, and the goal is to make sure it's not you." After a pause: "So, uh... have you heard anything about what the Regents are planning to do to track down the Winter Court?" 00:27 <Crion> Lauren grimaces. "Santander's working on something. It sounds...I think they're going to try to break into Winter's Hollow." 00:27 <Crion> "That's. Like, that's insane, but." 00:27 <Crion> "What are we supposed to do with the Freehold under attack and the King-in-Court just fuckin', gone?" 00:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah. Have you talked to them yet?" 00:31 <Crion> Lauren: "I'm keeping my head down and keeping busy until I'm told otherwise. It's like you said about main characters. The good news is, we know where Angelfire is and they're heading over to pick him up right now. I'm sure he'll help." 00:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart looks relieved. "Okay. We're gonna go meet this mysterious horse doctor Jesuit recommended at Pimlico at midnight. For... forensics stuff." 00:33 <Crion> Her eyebrows shoot up. "I don't think I've heard 00:33 <Crion> of this guy." 00:34 <VoxPVoxD> "Ben Best, is his name, apparently." 00:34 <Crion> She snorts. "Well, he's certainly got our whole naming thing down." 00:34 <Crion> "I'll be here through the night, so...drop by when you're done? 00:35 <Crion> " 00:35 <VoxPVoxD> "Yeah, of course." Stewart kisses her goodbye and returns to the others. 00:36 <Crion> The drive over is pretty trivial. The big question is uh, how heavy are you going in? Guns, armor...? 00:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's going with what he was already wearing, which is just street clothes. 00:37 <trenchfoot> Nels will keep her pistol on her, but that's it. 00:38 <dammitwho> Maggie's just in street clothes as well. 00:39 <Crion> Pimlico is dark when you arrive. It's New Year's Eve now -- or will be in five minutes or so -- approaching midnight, so that's no real surprise. Easiest way in, if you're not concerned about locks, is the gates on the south end of the track. Best told you he turned off the alarms; there's no reason not to trust him on that one. 00:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's fine with going in through the gates. 00:41 <dammitwho> Pretty much any of us should be able to handle the locks. 00:42 <CBN> Tony's hoping this is mellow enough to not require anything more than a few layers of clothes and maybe scowling at somebody. Letting someone else take the lead on locks, though. 00:42 <Crion> There's a padlock and an integrated lock...but the padlock's just for show, really. When you pop the integrated lock, the give on the chains is enough that you can open the door to slip through single-file. 00:42 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart pops the lock, and holds the door for everyone. 00:44 <Crion> Once you're inside, there's a man standing alone near the infield under the clear and empty night. He's wearing a white doctor's coat that hasn't been washed in a week or two, and slacks; he's got his back to you and is smoking a cigarette. 00:44 <Crion> As you approach: "So let's get one thing clear, first. I am not food, I am not drink..." 00:46 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's got both his hands up. "Not our style. I'm Stewart, this is Melanie, Maggie, Nels, and Tony. We're here about a friend of ours." 00:46 <dammitwho> Maggie: "If you're under the impression we're Draculas, you've got your wires crossed." 00:47 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I don't think that's what they call themselves, Maggie." 00:47 <Crion> He turns towards you, eyes limned in silver, and two ghostly arms reach up over his shoulders and wrap around the top of his torso. Over his left shoulder climbs up a woman, a young woman -- girl really -- pretty and possibly blonde and in a debutante ballgown -- but she's not a girl and when she twists her head the massive, violent tear up neck and face becomes obvious, as her smile turns 00:47 <Crion> hideous. "...and I am not defenseless." 00:48 <VoxPVoxD> Oh shit! This OWNS 00:48 <CBN> Tony holds up his hands and takes a step back. "Yeah whoa man, we come in peace. Only doing this at night because it was already evening by the time we got rolling on this bullshit day." 00:48 <Crion> Benjamin, Best Beloved -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDAC2kL01d0 Your presence still lingers here; and it won't leave me alone. 00:49 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart makes an effort to cover his mouth, because the huge grin that crosses his face by reflex is not the appropriate response here. 00:49 <Crion> The Oracle at Pimlico -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aw8W6hYGZ0E Who would have thought forever could be severed by, the sharp knife of a short life? 00:50 <Crion> "Oh." 00:50 <Crion> "You're...uh." 00:50 <Crion> "Well. You're clearly not vampires." 00:51 <Crion> The ghostly figure rubs her 'cheek' on his, then vanishes back behind him. 00:51 <trenchfoot> Nels coughs. "I suppose that would've been my first guess at this time of night, too." 00:51 <CBN> Tony: "No sir. You're a different kind of wizard, but Stewart's friend said you might be able to help us?" 00:52 <Crion> He blinks. "...Ah shit. I'm gonna have to delete some security footage, aren't I." 00:52 <Crion> "Whatever, that's fine." 00:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "No, I'm sorry." 00:53 <VoxPVoxD> "A friend of ours was killed at least five or six times. We need to know by who." 00:54 <Crion> "Mmmmm. Violent death, sounds like. Torture?" 00:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 00:55 <Crion> "This is going to sound like a shitty question, but how old's the deceased?" 00:55 <Crion> "At time of death." 00:56 <dammitwho> Maggie looks at the others. "About twenty?" 00:56 <trenchfoot> "Little younger, I think." 00:56 <Crion> He nods. "Good." 00:56 <Crion> "Not...good, but." 00:57 <Crion> "The Oracle finds itself drawn in vengeance to slain children." 00:57 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That must keep you two busy." 00:59 <Crion> He gets a strange look on his face at that. "Yeah." 00:59 <Crion> "Yeah." 00:59 <Crion> "Uh. So. You still have the body?" 00:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 01:02 <Crion> He grimaces. "Alright, keep it, you know. Safe, in a freezer preferably. I'll want to look at it, along with where you found it and the scene of the crime too, if that's possible -- I'm sorry, something's bothering me." 01:03 <Crion> "You're not vampires, you're not mages...but you're not normal people." 01:03 <Crion> "Right? There's something...off here." 01:03 <Crion> "What am I getting myself into?" 01:03 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We changelings. We don't really know what we're getting into yet either. We just know that someone's coming for us." 01:04 <VoxPVoxD> *We're changelings. 01:04 <Crion> "Changelings. Changelings." He pauses, eyes focusing on something that's not there, like he's listening to something. "Uh huh. Ah, okay." 01:04 <Crion> "And I guess we're trying to figure out if it's found you, huh?" 01:05 <CBN> Tony: "We all got thrown in the same deep end here man. Maggie and me got framed for murdering a kid, with something that had our faces, on camera, maybe it's related to some weird storm egg spirit thing, but the kid that died, that's where we're trying to start, so we can get to the people who killed him while pretending to be us, so we can go from there." 01:06 <Crion> He nods at Tony, not even perturbed by the 'storm-egg' comment. "Yeah. Cameras are bullshit. I think I can figure out how to help." 01:06 <Crion> "One thing...my methods can get uh...just a little bit weird." 01:06 <Crion> "Just giving the heads up on that." 01:06 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That's okay. We're used to weird at this point." 01:07 <Crion> "Good! Good, good. Do you guys have like, a card?" 01:08 <CBN> Tony looks at the rest of the motley: "One of you's got a phone on you or something right?" He makes a show of patting his pockets. 01:09 <VoxPVoxD> "Like a business card? No, I don't..." He looks at the others. "I don't think we do. I do have my phone, yeah." 01:10 <Crion> Ben will take down his own and get a couple numbers, then. 01:10 <dammitwho> Business cards! She should get some business cards! 01:10 <Crion> "Alright, I'll touch base tomorrow. I've got some appointments early in the day but a free afternoon." 01:10 <CBN> Tony nods: "We appreciate the help, especially on short notice." 01:10 <Crion> "Thank god you're not vampires and I can just double dip on my billing." 01:11 <Crion> He looks up. "I mentioned my rate, right? $250/hour." 01:11 <dammitwho> Ah, geez. 01:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, that's fine. I'll give the firm a heads-up and tell you where to send the invoices." 01:13 <Crion> Ben nods as if this is all normal. He is used to dealing with vampires, after all. 01:14 <Crion> "Alright, then. See you tomorrow. Head back out the way you came; I've gotta see an office about a strange, spooky burst of unexplained electromagentic energy near where they keep the tapes." 01:15 <VoxPVoxD> "Thank you. Good night." 01:15 <CBN> Tony is registered dumbstruck at this exchange for a number of reasons, not the least of which is what $250 could buy back in his day. An hour! 01:16 <Crion> This simple horse veterinarian will further initiate you into the secrets of death and Twilight...next week! 01:18 <dammitwho> Maggie lets out a whoooooo. "We are so lucky we have someone to invoice."