23:43 <Crion> He is here. He is, in fact, in the stacks with Stewart. No. Somewhere behind him...? He's not inside the spell, Tony doesn't think. 23:43 <Crion> He is also, simultaneously, in Catonsville. 23:44 <CBN> Tony: "Gary's in Catonsville and also, somewhere nearby? It's all fucked up and weird because, god damn wizards. But he's...close? Wizards." 23:44 <trenchfoot> Nels, meanwhile, whispers into her palms the story of her escape from the Hedge. It ought to help Stewart flee. 23:45 <CBN> Tony hollers; "Matter of fact, FUCKING GARY, I'M COMING TO CATONSVILLE TO KICK YOUR ASS YOU FUCKING NERD SHIT." 23:46 <Crion> Echoing from somewhere back in the stacks, a cultured, disappointed voice: "I had forgotten how atrociously difficult it is to imprison creatures like you against your wills." 23:50 <banana> Melanie's stalking the dark shelves trying to find this fucker. "How would you like to try it? To be the one forced into a trap? Can you walk away from what you've started here, what you started two nights ago?" 23:50 <banana> Warmth flickers about her, a weak reprise of the summer recently ended. 23:52 <Crion> Gary: "Walking away from things is my entire aesthetic, little tree girl." 23:53 <CBN> Tony bellows back, "Gonna liberate your teeth from the prison of your head!" 23:53 <CBN> Tony: "I know where you are. I'm coming to find you. We are going to bring you back here in pieces. Both of you." 23:53 <Crion> "It's simply impossible to get anything done in this city, so much--" 23:54 <Crion> He pauses. "Wait. H...ow do you know--" 23:54 <Crion> "Shit." 23:54 <Crion> "Shit shit shit--" 23:55 <Crion> The magic around Stewart abruptly ceases, sending him careening into the stacks if he's in the middle of running full speed as space properly reasserts itself. 23:55 <banana> Melanie: "God damn it!" 23:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart had stopped running a little bit ago. Trying to conserve his energy. 23:57 <Crion> Tony can tell that Gary is no longer in the stacks. He is still in Catonsville, however...but he's on the move. 23:58 <CBN> Tony fistpumps. "Fuck yeah. Stewart, you okay?" 23:58 <CBN> Tony: "Gary's still in Catonsville if we wanna keep fucking around with him but I think we've gotten a couple answers more than we expected out of this already. And I've got his scent now." 23:58 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, I'm fine. Do you have a bead on him? Is it that last address from the stacks?" 23:59 <Crion> The narration will save you some time here: It is. 23:59 <dammitwho> "Ha! Ha HA ha haaaaa!" 23:59 <CBN> Tony: "Yes. Yes it is." 00:00 <trenchfoot> Nels makes a pleased noise that is also sort of shaky because that could have been way worse. 00:00 <banana> Melanie: "Then 'how do you know' was even dumber." 00:00 <banana> "We can catch him, maybe we can catch him. Let's go... and call this in and make sure we're clear to try. And then let's go!" 00:00 <trenchfoot> Also because Tony was just terrifying, very nearby, albeit directed towards someone else. 00:00 <VoxPVoxD> Whatever lingering trace of anxiety Stewart carried into the oubliette seems to be gone now. "Cool! Cool cool cool. Yeah, let's go." 00:01 <CBN> Tony: "We can catch him now if we move, I can also keep this rolling for...I dunno, through sunrise, another sunset, and a pair of that but them I'm completely tapped out. And I really hate knowing where he is any longer than we gotta." 00:02 <CBN> Tony: "Now the good news is, I can just drop it and pick it back up if we want. I should've thought of this earlier but I just haven't wanted to kick any stupid wizard's ass this bad before." 00:04 <dammitwho> Maggie slaps a fist into her palm. "Let's get while the getting's good." 00:06 <Crion> Suddenly Tony feels the read he has on the wizard wobble, somehow, and then cut off entirely. Last known location: the front yard of that house in Catonsville. 00:08 <CBN> Tony: "Ah fuck. He did a," He waves a hand in a gesture approximating a loop spinning and breaking , "fzzt. Lost the bead. But he's fuckin' scaaaaared folks." 00:09 <CBN> Tony shrugs. "Anyway, let's get the fuck out of here?" 00:09 <banana> Melanie: "Ughh. Well.. we can go burn down his house." 00:10 <banana> "Um, Stewart. Did you get what Ravens needs?" 00:10 <VoxPVoxD> It takes Stewart a moment to register Melanie's voice; he was gazing vacantly at a stack of folders before he turns and says "Huh? Oh, yeah, all set." 00:11 <Crion> The RAVENS app is back. And it has just sent Stewart a text message. 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> What's the word? 00:11 <Crion> QUOTH: <'STEWART READER,' KNOWN OTHERWISE AS 'CRITICALMASS:'> 00:11 <Crion> <THE ADDRESSES HAVE BEEN ANALYZED> 00:12 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart holds his phone out so others can see. "All good." 00:12 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Good work, Tony. 'Bout dang time one of *them* got scared for a change." 00:13 <dammitwho> "Also Stewart. And the Ravens, I guess." 00:13 <Crion> <ALERT: THE HOUSE AT 301 LOCUST DRIVE, CATONSVILLE, MARYLAND IS LEASED BY ANNA FRANKLIN> 00:13 <CBN> Tony clears his throat: "Sorry about all the swears and the doing spooky stuff, it felt important enough to need to. I just really hate being stuck places guys." 00:13 <Crion> <DB LISTING: MOTHER: GEMMA FRANKLIN> 00:13 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's peering at his own phone now. 00:14 <VoxPVoxD> "Uh..." 00:14 <VoxPVoxD> He flips this so Melanie, at least, can see it. 00:15 <banana> ????? 00:15 <dammitwho> "Ah geez." 00:15 <banana> Oh, mother-of- oh, fuck. 00:16 <banana> After a moment, Melanie manages to say: "Yeah, we've found the right people." 00:16 <Crion> To be clear, Ana is Gemma's mother, not the other way about. 00:18 <CBN> Tony: "So this just makes it clear that the warehouse is owned by...what, the bad wizards? So we should probably bring the other wizards back into this? Not calling any of them 'good' right now." 00:22 <dammitwho> "Union is nice!" 00:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah, we've-- we've gotta make sure the Freehold knows everything we know." 00:23 <banana> Melanie: "It's not a chase anymore. Wow, you know what, we still need to get out of this place without alerting someone..." 00:23 <CBN> Tony: "And I dunno about you all, but I could use a rest. We've done two hikes, a lighter B&E, and probably run a couple miles in place, and it's not even midnight yet, I think." 00:25 <trenchfoot> Nels nods. "It might be? I'm not sure how long we were in that maze. And I want to not be in danger for a bit." 00:28 <CBN> Tony nods. "A-gree." 00:33 <Crion> Benjamin Best is waiting outside, none the wiser to the events in the stacks. 00:34 <CBN> Tony: "Hey Ben. Weird question, what time is it really?" 00:34 <Crion> Ben checks his watch. "Like...quarter past eleven?" 00:34 <Crion> That tracks with your subjective experience of reality. 00:35 <Crion> Well, checks his phone. If he'd checked an actual physical watch in 2020, you'd have cause to think you'd been shifted into an alternate reality. 00:35 <CBN> Tony: "Nice. We had a thing. Be happy you were out here in the nice pleasant wide open night." 00:36 <Crion> Ben: "A thing?" 00:36 <Crion> He glances over at Stewart. "A thing?" 00:36 <Crion> "What kind of thing?" 00:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Uh, colocation, and an oubliette - high Vulgar Space, from Gary, of the local Seer Pylon." 00:37 <CBN> Tony: "Dumb wizard maze shit. I'm gonna kick his ass." 00:38 <banana> Melanie: "He ran. A house in Catonsville." 00:38 <Crion> Ben makes a face. "You know, if this Gary guy is such a badass, you'd have thought I'd have heard of him from the Consilium. They warned me about the other guys." 00:39 <Crion> To Melanie, completely straightfaced: "What'd he run there?" 00:39 <Crion> "Drugs? People?" 00:39 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Tony scared him off. He fled." There's more than a little glee to it. 00:42 <banana> Melanie: "He's powerful, he can do things that are beyond impossible, but that doesn't make him a big deal. He hasn't got the flair he thinks he has." 00:43 <Crion> Ben: "I mean there's only really room for one flair guy in the Baltimore Pylon." 00:43 <Crion> "Man. I wonder if Society knows what's going on over in...Catonsville, you said?" 00:44 <banana> "Yeah, we're going to go and report in and see what people think." Melanie doesn't clarify *where* in Catonsville, because Best still isn't one of us. 00:45 <Crion> He nods. "Well, let me know. I'm gonna bill the rest of the hour but it sounds like we're calling it for tonight." 00:47 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah man. Like I said, it was a thing in there. Thanks for all your help earlier tonight." 00:48 <Crion> "It's what you're paying me for. Though I'll be honest...probably woulda done it for free." He waves to the rest. "Y'all have my number. Peace."