22:14 <Crion> The freehold remains in tension as April approaches. A lot of this is due to the lockdown; fae-touched and changeling Freeholders who have family members getting sick have brought them in to be cured by the mages, which means the mages again have had to explain -- as they do every time -- that this is triage, and they can't simply wave a magic wand and get rid of COVID-19. Technically, that's 22:14 <Crion> not true, as Stewart and others more initiated into their mysteries know -- but functionally it is. More than true enough to justify a little white lie about it. 22:16 <VoxPVoxD> At least we're not in New York City. Jesus. 22:17 <Crion> The weather sucks and people are cranky; Lauren wants to move to the Wherehouse to stop getting Looks from the neighbors when she goes out on a jog or something, but she can't; she's the IT person for the Freehold again. So she's started using Light-shy instead because...well...it's like second Autumn out there right now. Don't even have to work to harvest that fear glamour. 22:17 <VoxPVoxD> Using magic to exercise more conveniently sounds perverse and wrong. Look what we've been reduced to. 22:19 <Crion> Other than glares and the like for carousing publicly, the motley are more or less left to their own devices. As long as you wear a mask, no one's gonna give you too much guff. Yeah, there's kind of a pun there. 22:19 <banana> What's happened to the Summer Court street patrols? Surely the people or entities being patrolled-against don't respect the shelter-in-place orders. 22:22 <Crion> Curtailed by Langford List, reinstated by the Young Street, and then after a protracted argument, scaled back and mostly sortied at night. The Young Street doesn't like it and wants to defy it, but he had to concede that Langford was correct: the cops are going to be out there in force, without masks, looking for black kids to ring up for "violating lockdown." 22:24 <banana> Oh boy. Melanie didn't even think of that at first - her initial reaction was that sure, it's ok to enforce everyone staying inside for a while, this is a public health disaster - and now she feels guilty about missing it. 22:24 <trenchfoot> Charming. Between this and the anti-maskers it's just like before - before. 22:26 <banana> Of course, being kept inside by accident instead of choice does get you a bit stir-crazy. ...Is Steve hanging around now that we've found out more of what's going on with the regional psychopaths? 22:27 <Crion> Generally speaking Steve is a constant fixture, though at the moment he seems to be off with Tony. Something about boats. 22:27 <banana> Then he can avoid being the object of a ~thought experiment~ for today. 22:28 <VoxPVoxD> On the bright side, this time around everyone's got good old internet to keep them occupied. Online - where everyone can hang out and it never gets weird. 22:28 <dammitwho> There is a way to mostly get around these kind of restrictions - be a friendly mom type who delivers free hand sanitizer and homemade masks to those in need. The homeless, bus drivers, nurses, what have you. One of the basic ingredients in homemade hand sanitizer is high-proof alcohol, this literally could not be easier. 22:28 <trenchfoot> It's actually always weird. 22:33 <Crion> It's a coincidence of scheduling (though the wizards would deny such things truly exist, and then devolve into parsing the definition of "coincidence," "exist," and "truly") that David Smote gets back to Maggie and Melanie about the guy out in the county what has the garage forge around the same time David Smitten gives Nels a call to say that Amelia Bantham wants to see her, and any member 22:33 <Crion> of her motley that wants to come with her. 22:35 <trenchfoot> Nels will pass along the invite, pretty much expecting to go alone. She's spent most of her time holed up since Prom, even if she is in the Wherehouse more often. And not just for COVID reasons. 22:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart wants to back Nels up, if she's willing to have him along. He won't press if it seems like she'd rather go alone, but if she just expects no one to care then he will, just to prove her wrong. Spite: the basis of all lasting friendships? 22:37 <Crion> Colt's flexible; the trip to the blacksmith can wait until after the trip to the North Avenue Community Center, which is where Banthem wants to meet. 22:37 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Are you sure?" She's expecting to, but she doesn't necessarily want to. 22:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You'd do the same if it was me." 22:39 <trenchfoot> She exhales. "I would." 22:39 <trenchfoot> "Thanks, Stewart." 22:41 <dammitwho> Maggie: "I can push the blacksmith business back, but it looks like y'all are set... you okay, Nels?" 22:41 <trenchfoot> Nels attempts a smile. "I will be." 22:43 <banana> Urk. Melanie was just getting ready to go, and of course she wants to help Nels too, but.. "Is this a thing where you need us all to make sure that it's, like, no, there really is a whole group and you can't just dismiss that, or more, like, well of course they would, like a setting-yourself-apart... thing?" 22:46 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I... think it would be a show of support? Probably?" She's really not sure. 22:47 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I think... the more likely it is to be read as defensive, the more likely she needs defending. Like what's the alternative? We're okay with ostracism? Thank you, ma'am, may we have another?" 22:50 <VoxPVoxD> "We've been together barely half a year and in that time we've saved the city twice. One of those times we did it cleanly and safely because - and only because - we had Nels with us. And now they wanna hiss and spit? The Freehold can cope." 22:51 <trenchfoot> This is... not what she was expecting at all. Maybe she should have more faith in her friends. 22:53 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I don't think it's gonna go that way. Especially not from the top down. The Queen knows she owes Nels her crown. And she knows Nels has a good heart. But like... we're not those autumn equinox pipsqueaks anymore. We deserve their respect. Nels deserves their respect." 22:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's spinning his wheels around the thought/feeling that's really animating him here, because he's not sure if he can fully articulate it. But he doesn't really mind that he's repeating himself a bunch because to him this bears repeating. 22:56 <banana> Melanie: "The way people jumped instantly to suspicion and an armed standoff is just wrong. Like I get it, I've felt that immediate rush of.. of hatred for Them, anything to do with them, purge it.. but all that means is I've made the same mistake." 22:57 <banana> "If you want us, um, rolling deep, we will do that. The question in my mind is whether that's the way to get respect, here." 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods in agreement. 22:58 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Exactly, we're with you if you want us." 22:59 <trenchfoot> Nels: "...thanks, everyone. And - you said you could postpone the blacksmith business? I'd appreciate the support." 23:01 <Crion> Colt has found his schedule quite free during the lockdown, for various reasons. At least for the moment, crime's down a bit. 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> How old is he? Has he already celebrated his 45th birthday? 23:03 <Crion> Difficult to tell. Bet he's never heard that one before, though, and you should definitely lead with it. 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> One of the many advantages of Stewart not being there when Maggie and Mellie pick up the thing. 23:05 <Crion> The North Avenue Community Center will be mostly deserted when you arrive; Smitten will have left the sliding mesh fence door to the employee parking lot open so you can drive in and exit on the side, off the street and away from prying eyes that might judge you for being out and about in lockdown. It's not precisely a ghost town -- for one thing, it's not like Baltimore's homeless population 23:05 <Crion> is being given anywhere safer to go than usual -- but it's substantially less busy than North Avenue usually is at this time of day on a Monday. 23:06 <banana> Melanie: "...Earth feels more than usually like the Hedge." 23:07 <VoxPVoxD> Schools are closed too, right? Stewart realizes with a bit of a sting that the fact that he doesn't already know that really firmly cements him as old but childless. Ah jeez. 23:08 <trenchfoot> Look, people still need to go out and get groceries. They're wearing masks. We're being as safe as we can be about all this, nevermind that COVID doesn't actually affect us. 23:09 <Crion> School closures started about two weeks ago, yeah. They're going to try "at-home learning," which means kids in the suburbs lose snow days forever as a concept and kids in the city are just fucked because they don't have fancy tablets (many don't even have internet at home). 23:10 <Crion> That hasn't quite spooled up yet, though, so there's probably some kids running around as well. The NACC however is closed to the public. 23:14 <Crion> Do you arrive in one car? Two? Three, if you're feeling profligate? 23:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's definitely giving Nels a ride at minimum. Possibly Melanie is separately driving Maggie? His car can fit everyone. Either way Lauren gets a text after Stewart parks. <Mellie says 'the earth feels more like the hedge now' and now I can't unsee it> 23:15 <banana> With Tony busy we don't really need multiple drivers today. 23:15 <Crion> Lauren: <yikes> 23:16 <trenchfoot> Shoot, that's what she should've been doing instead of moping. Studying for her driver's test. Practice hours are probably out for now, I guess? Or does she even technically need those, being over 18? 23:16 <trenchfoot> I mean, she does need them for safety reasons, but just for the license itself... 23:16 <Crion> Maryland state law lowers but does not eliminate the number of hours needed behind the wheel to take the test...at age 25. 23:17 <trenchfoot> That's probably for the best. 23:17 <Crion> From sixty to fourteen. Yeah, they let kids on the road with only 60 hours behind the wheel. Maryland's actually really strict in that regard. 23:21 <trenchfoot> When they do arrive, Nels will lead the way in -- it's her meeting they're going to, after all. And she and Maggie are likely the only ones who know the way to Amelia Bantham's office. 23:22 <Crion> When Stewart pulls in, Smitten will pull the door closed, but only bar it, not padlock it. If he's surprised there's four of you, it doesn't show on his face. "Queen's in her office. Y'all know the way." 23:22 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 23:23 <banana> "Thanks Dave." This is an experiment. 23:24 <trenchfoot> Nels just nods, too. 23:24 <Crion> That gets her a weird look. Not many people call him 'Dave;' certainly none of his friends do. 23:26 <banana> Aha. See, neither David comes across as as a Dave - completely different species of guy usually - but they're each others' mirror in many ways, so now she has to check the other one... 23:27 <Crion> Amelia Banthem's office in the NACC is more expansive but less personally-appointed than the manager's office at the Sidereal was; that's true even after the skull of her predecessor was stolen from the latter's desk. One gets the impression this is where she conducts mortal-facing business and entertains, e.g., city councilmembers, donors, so on. She's dressed for such now, in a generically 23:27 <Crion> girlboss pantsuit combo with her hair done up, but she'll march out from behind the desk to give Nels and Maggie hugs and thank Stewart and Melanie for coming regardless. 23:29 <Crion> "I would have had you come to the Sidereal, but, I didn't want to reopen that wound so quickly for...well, any of us. Plus it's easier to sneak you in here then there right now; the liquor license permit guys are looking for any excuse to yank them and force us to pay to get them back, and that includes 'lockdown violations.'" 23:31 <dammitwho> Maggie, cheerily: "Afternoon, boss." 23:33 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Thanks for having us, ma'am." 23:34 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I appreciate it. Um. Bad luck with the liquor license people, though." It takes her a moment to hug back, but she will. 23:35 <Crion> "Oh, we'll deal with them one way or another. I didn't even have to call Santander, last time. Please, sit down." A couple of office chairs have been hastily wheeled into the room to go alongside the two nicer guest chairs that match the decor. 23:36 <trenchfoot> She'll sit in one of the office chairs. 23:37 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart'll take the other office chair unless Melanie looks like she's gonna stay standing. Obviously Maggie gets one of the nice chairs (mom law) so the question is whether Melanie implicitly calls on Stewart's sense of chivalry or not. 23:39 <banana> Unfortunately, Melanie remains standing, but not for that reason! She doesn't sit that often - it isn't as relaxing for her because of the bending. 23:39 <banana> Chivalrous opportunity: denied. 23:40 <VoxPVoxD> Foiled again! 23:41 <banana> She does say a polite thanks for the chair though, and will sort of stand by it using the back as a handrest. 23:41 <Crion> To Melanie: "Oh, I'm sorry. We can get you a stool if you'd like to lean, or if you're most comfortable as you are...?" 23:41 <Crion> She means one of those tall barstools, which they have a few of in storage here because there's not room in the Sidereal. 23:42 <banana> "Ah, it's fine as is. We don't really talk about this stuff, do we? Um, I haven't got.. flexibility.. but the upside is that basically any immobile position is comfortable. Please, queen, think of me as part of the furniture." 23:43 <Crion> Amelia blinks. "I...will certainly keep that mind, Melanie." 23:45 <VoxPVoxD> Melanie... 23:46 <Crion> "I'm glad you're all here. I'm guessing Tony had Baron business keeping him from coming? It's good to see that position filled again in the Freehold; we should have celebrated it more at Prom. Which I suppose brings us to it." To Nels: "I've said stuff to this effect before, but I wanted to formally thank you, in my official capacity as Queen of Baltimore Freehold and Gardener of the Spring 23:46 <Crion> Court, for your quick thinking and personal sacrifice to keep those two little loyalist shitheads from stealing our crown." 23:48 <trenchfoot> After a moment: "I'm glad I was able to help." She's still thinking about the reactions of, well. Almost everyone else. 23:52 <Crion> "I want you to know the Court is taking point on the fallout from Prom -- it was our event and in our season, after all -- and part of that is making sure no one in the Freehold, from Spring or any of the other Courts, attempts to take matters into their own hands regarding what happened at the Sidereal. I don't care how in their feelings they are about it. So I want to know immediately if 23:52 <Crion> anyone starts skulking around your apartment building, making threatening phone calls, whatever. Don't stand on ceremony." 23:52 <Crion> "...Or self-imposed guilt." 23:53 <dammitwho> Maggie sits up straight: "Has anyone been making noises like that?" 23:53 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I'm - working on that last part. But I haven't gotten any calls and I haven't noticed anyone near my building..." 23:53 <VoxPVoxD> Really the bad part was that the number of people skulking around the apartment has gone down. 23:54 <trenchfoot> Actually, shit, now she is worried. "Stewart - have you or Lauren...?" 23:54 <Crion> Banthem: "It can be hard to tell Summer's bark from its bite sometimes. And it pays to be careful." 23:55 <Crion> "Sorry," she says to Melanie, but it's not a particularly emphatic one. 23:55 <banana> What do you say to that? Melanie hasn't heard anything. And maybe she wouldn't. Or maybe Summer isn't the dumb beast lashing out that Amelia thinks. 23:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart shakes his head. "Nothing like that, no. The opposite if anything." 23:57 <Crion> The Queen nods. "There's not much to be done about that except give it time, I suppose. I can't order them to be your friends again. Frankly, I wouldn't if I could. Says a lot about them in my opinion." 23:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods, his expression weirdly tight in that way when you're too-consciously trying not to flinch. 00:00 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I understand it, at least. Even with the positive outcome, it was... risky." And "but it worked" isn't a great argument. 00:00 <Crion> Amelia: "It was risky...but it worked." 00:01 <Crion> "The embarassment to this Court and Freehold if that crown was on its way to Florida right now...hard to overstate. We'd need to launch a mission to get it back. In the middle of this pandemic!" 00:02 <VoxPVoxD> That... sounds kind of badass, actually. Wonder who they'd have sent. 00:03 <Crion> Banthem: "Could you have waited to invoke your favor until everyone had left? Maybe, but Young Street and Kingsley have played the 'you can't second-guess a Court officer in a firefight' card too many times for me to count. Only fair that we in Spring be able to claim the same." 00:03 <Crion> The Queen seems to have no qualms about the Court-mixed nature of this company, so it's fairly likely both men have heard all of this already directly from her. 00:04 <trenchfoot> Those arguments sound fun. Nels is just glad she's not there for them. 00:04 <banana> There's a look on Stewart's face when the queen talks about friendship.. Melanie will have to ask questions later. 00:05 <Crion> She sighs. "There is one bit of...long-term business, though. And it's why I encouraged not just you but the whole motley to come." 00:07 <VoxPVoxD> It's not like Amelia Banthem had any problem letting the Spring leadership know what she thought of them either. Only the evidence of it is missing. The legend remains. 00:08 <Crion> "The skull of Mere Jacoby is also a Freehold relic. Spring Court property, yes, but it has resonance and attachment to the entire Freehold, because he was the Spring King for quite awhile. And Young Street wants Montgomery and Franklin, ah, tied off. He doesn't want them showing up again, the same way their fetches did but worse." 00:09 <Crion> "They'll probably be contacting you personally to give their impressions of our talk. Since I'm Queen right now, I get to go first. It's the way of the world." 00:10 <banana> Melanie: "They had.. too many chances already." 00:11 <banana> Referring to Gemma and Peter, not to the unreigning monarchs. 00:11 <Crion> "But I think they're fairly sincere in their offer of a full, sworn, unequivocal statement of support for your actions in the Sidereal, Nels -- they wanted to call it a pardon, before I informed them what you did wasn't a crime -- if you can get that skull back and permanently settle the issue of those two loyalists. They want death; I'll settle for any sufficiently binding long-term solution." 00:11 <Crion> "It probably would mean a trip to Florida regardless, however." 00:14 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That's... well. A lot better than I expected. And - Melanie is right about the loyalists. Florida, though." She looks to the rest of the Motley. "I can't really do this alone." 00:15 <dammitwho> Maggie: "We wouldn't let you do it alone if you tried!" 00:16 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'll help the Freehold any way I can. ...I don't know if it's realistic for me to actually go on a cross-country trip, though. But then I'm not really an assassin anyway." 00:21 <banana> "Do we know anyone down there who could give us a safe place to stay, the lay of the land?" 00:21 <Crion> Amelia: "Again, this isn't an order. Frankly, I'd love to be sending you on vacation down there instead, though I suppose that's not really feasible in this climate. But they're out there wandering around with a very powerful token -- you saw what it did to me in Montgomery's hands, and he barely knew how to use it -- and it needs to come home." 00:21 <Crion> Banthem hesitates. "Kingsley's looking into that. He's...not optimistic." 00:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "There aren't any Freeholds in Orlando or Miami or anything?" 00:27 <Crion> Amelia: "The Freehold and Court -- night Court, vampire Court -- of Miami were destroyed by a Keeper who thought it was a vampire Prince in the eighties and never really recovered, though there's been rumors of a very isolationist group of us holed up in Miami now. Orlando..." 00:27 <Crion> "We've heard some concerning things about Walt Disney World." 00:28 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...it's closed, right? Because of corona?" 00:29 <Crion> Banthem, unconvinced: "That's what the news says." 00:29 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I understand that Florida is a bit... lax." 00:30 <trenchfoot> Also, who is Walt Disney and what is his world? Something to look up later. 00:30 <VoxPVoxD> Nels knows what anime is and what Nazis are and what living nightmare worlds are so she's like 95% of the way there already. 00:31 <Crion> Banthem: "There's no proof they're headed to the Mouse, but, if they're doing something as insane as save their Keeper, the only place that could possibly faciliate that kind of danger to it is the Magic Kingdom." 00:31 <Crion> *trying to do 00:37 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Not a... literal Magic Kingdom, right?" 00:37 <banana> Melanie: "Yeah, I guess the Street will give us more information, but we'll need to know more about... that. Save from what? And, obviously, why?" 00:38 <banana> She's just kind of assuming we're going to do this. It isn't crazier than G.A.R.Y. 00:39 <Crion> Banthem: "Well, if the creature that took over the whole world's culture wants to do it, it's probably bad. If that's what's really going on down there. You hear the stories, but maybe they're just stories. Maybe this Mistress of the High House has gone on vacation and this is all a big misunderstanding." 00:39 <Crion> "You know what, though? I kind of doubt it." 00:40 <VoxPVoxD> The 'how' is the bigger concern to Stewart than the 'why'. He can't stream from a hotel in Orlando. He certainly can't Lord Sage there. And that's before the thought of not seeing Lauren for who knows how long. Then, even if that's all reconciled... what does he actually bring to the table? Is he going to do awkward diplomacy with the Little Gods of Epcot? 00:40 <VoxPVoxD> What kind of Mickey Mouse operation are we running here? 00:48 <Crion> The Spring Queen: "None of this is to say you need to book a flight to Orlando right now or anything. This is not a Court order, or a Freehold one. However, Young Street is quite a bit more anxious about it than I am, and once he's King...this might become less of an ask and more of a tell." 00:50 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Do you think it'd be better if it was done now?" 00:50 <VoxPVoxD> "Like if you were of a mind to give an order... do you think it would make strategic sense?" 00:52 <Crion> Amelia: "...Yes. It's better than letting it fester, we're in a lull, most people are shut up inside and bunkered down anyway so there aren't any huge Freehold defense questions..." 00:53 <Crion> "No idea when the lockdown will be over but some people are saying if we do it right, we can beat it by summer. And that would mean a lot more activity, and with that activity, a lot more sniffing around." 00:56 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I'm... less than optimistic about that timeline. But I agree the sooner we handle this, the better." The 1918 pandemic lasted two years, after all. 00:57 <banana> Melanie: "It would be interesting. If we could set the precedent that you can't steal from us, not even with a faery behind you." 00:58 <banana> It does also sound a bit like the sort of thing strong Freeholds attempt and fuck up ruinously. 01:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Okay. We gotta talk to Tony obviously, and our own Courts, but... if it needs to get done then it needs to get done, right?" Plus if we just save the Freehold two more times it'll cancel out all the lost goodwill from Prom. 01:02 <Crion> Banthem looks slightly relieved, like she expected some kind of shouting match. But of course the Wherehouse is who you talk to if you want this sort of thing done, isn't it? 01:05 <banana> So the monarchs intimated when they basically jammed us together in need of some kind of socially acceptable commando squad. 01:05 <VoxPVoxD> If Banthem herself wasn't specifically the one leading the charge in defending Nels from the rest of the Freehold, Stewart would be a lot more against it. 01:05 <VoxPVoxD> Which is why he'd rather do it now than in Summer. 01:06 <Crion> Yes, they did seem to prefigure such a group before the need for it became evident. 01:07 <trenchfoot> Well, they were right to do so, it turns out. Even if the road's been a little bumpy at times. And yes, Nels would vastly prefer to handle this before Summer. 01:08 <Crion> The rest of the meeting will be pleasantries and such unless the motley has other questions -- Amelia has some small talk to make with Maggie as well, and inquires after both of them on the matter of rent and such what with lockdowns hitting, if they need anything extra from the Court rainy-day fund, and so on. 01:12 <VoxPVoxD> Okay. Well... now fucking what? What the hell is Stewart supposed to do here? He didn't even like to travel when he didn't know he lived in a world of darkness, when he didn't have a dozen things holding him down. But he has to back up the motley somehow. 01:12 <dammitwho> Ooh, what's the Spring Queen need with Maggie? 01:14 <Crion> The booze she and Union brought to Prom passed the smell test. And the taste test. She wants to arrange some discreet taps in the special upstairs bar (the main bar gets too many normies who might have too many questions; this is special stuff). 01:16 <VoxPVoxD> What's Lauren up to when he gets home? 01:20 <Crion> Playing with Chup while on her bluetooth headset with...Harlan Jape? "I swear to God, Harlan, I'm going to install adblock myself. You're going to have to restore to backup. ...I know you have it because I set it up when I did the rest of your install. Okay, go to Control Panel and..." 01:20 <Crion> Boomers. 01:22 <VoxPVoxD> He kisses her on the cheek as he passes, and makes himself a drink while he waits for her to get off the call. He's started buying fancy bar stuff, both jiggers and shakers and more complicated and expensive booze. Just a bit, he doesn't have A Home Bar... yet. 01:23 <Crion> She smiles as he does, then gets back to the call. Takes about another ten minutes. "Chup, stop begging." Muow. "How was the meeting?" 01:23 <dammitwho> Ahahaha yessss. 01:25 <Crion> Chup will head over and slump upwards to observe what Stewart is doing. When it becomes clear it's alcohol, he looks personally offended but flumps down within petting range anyway. 01:26 <Crion> Maggie and Banthem can work out the details of the contract at Maggie's convenience; Smitten's main question is about logistics: is there anything special they'll need to do to store this stuff? They've got a range of options, up to and including a Goblin Contract (that they'd prefer not to have to use constantly, since it's a Goblin Contract). 01:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Went pretty well, honestly. The Queen's backing Nels, and I think the rest of the Courts are going to come around pretty quick. Politically, if not emotionally." Stewart idly strokes Chup with the back of his hand (his palms being ice cold and wet from the shaker). "She was really glad we all came to back Nels up. Partly because of the show of support... but also cause she 01:27 <VoxPVoxD> wanted to take our temperature about giving us a job." 01:27 <Crion> Lauren's eyebrows shoot up. "Oh?" 01:28 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yep. They want the skull back." Big sip. "And they want Peter and Gemma dead." 01:28 <Crion> She's quiet for a moment. "I can't say I'm surprised." 01:29 <Crion> "We don't do jails." 01:29 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Yeah." 01:29 <VoxPVoxD> "Thing is, they skipped town, right?" 01:29 <VoxPVoxD> "Down to Florida." 01:31 <Crion> Lauren: "Ah." 01:31 <Crion> "Ahhhhhhhh." 01:31 <VoxPVoxD> He finishes his drink. "Yeah." 01:31 <Crion> "They want you to go to Florida?? In the middle of all this??" 01:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "The Queen was very clear that she was asking, not ordering. But she was also clear that she wanted it done as soon as possible. And that the Summer King would not be asking." 01:33 <Crion> Lauren: "Of course he fucking wouldn't." 01:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I don't know what to do. Like obviously the motley's going to take the job, right? I can't not go. But I can't go, either. I have too much going on to just drop everything and maraud down the Eastern Seaboard for vengeance and a battle trophy." 01:36 <VoxPVoxD> "Also I don't want to go! Away from home, for who knows how long? In the middle of all this?" 01:39 <Crion> Lauren hesitates. "So...maybe you don't have to choose. I mean, between this and giving up streaming." 01:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What do you mean?" 01:42 <Crion> Lauren: "So the box Angelfire and I have been working on...the one we've been keeping off the network...it kind of links to the hexbox. No matter where it is. It uses the same tech we put into the ghost twin servers in the Wherehouse to create an instant transmission through the Hedge, from it to the hexbox. Sometimes faster than instant. For a couple seconds in our first test, we got negative 01:42 <Crion> latency." 01:42 <Crion> "But obviously, it needs a more demonstrative test. We were planning on taking it out to the country, but..." 01:43 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Get the fuck out of here." 01:44 <VoxPVoxD> Negative latency. Jesus Christ. 01:44 <Crion> She grins. "It works. Or at least it has worked, so far. On the Hedge side." 01:44 <Crion> "Of course I'd need to come with you to maintain it...but it'd let me do my job from 'here,' too." 01:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's eyes widen. "And it's not like the Freehold would be without a Sage either. So we actually could just go. And Angelfire can take care of Chup. Assuming Chup doesn't want to travel. This could work. This could really work." 01:49 <Crion> Dryly: "Yes, they clearly miss each other." 01:50 <VoxPVoxD> "...but like, also... why? What am I bringing to the table here? This is a job for Agent 47, and I'm just a guy who can talk and play Hitman at the same time." 01:52 <Crion> Lauren: "Oh don't be silly. We haven't talked to the Orlando Freehold...basically ever? And we need someone to make those introductions. Not to mention talk to whatever else is in power down there. It might be as simple as finding those two traitors, killing them softly, and bringing back the skull, but you still need to like, ask the Uber driver where he dropped them off. I love your motley 01:52 <Crion> but they can't talk to people in 2021! None of them can!" 01:52 <Crion> *2020 01:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart opens his mouth and then closes it. 01:53 <VoxPVoxD> "Well Tony can talk to hobs. And Maggie's nice. Nels can be... charming. Melanie--" Stewart's jaw works. "Maybe you're right." 01:54 <Crion> Lauren: "I'm not always right, but I usually am. Especially when it comes to you underselling yourself. 01:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's face gets hot. Maybe that drink was too strong. "Kind of a working vacation..." 01:57 <Crion> Optimistically: "Beaches will be empty." 01:57 <Crion> "Well...maybe not. It's Florida." 01:58 <Crion> "They're crazy down there at the best of times." 01:58 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "We can just sneak onto them at night if we have to. It'll be warm enough." 01:58 <VoxPVoxD> "Just the two of us..." 01:58 <Crion> "Mmmmmm. I'll pack my bathing suit." 02:00 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart takes Lauren by the hand and draws her close. As they kiss he thinks of warm sand, salt air, the sound of waves... and negative latency. 02:01 <Crion> Chup rolls over on the table, and so, narratively, do we. 02:02 <Crion> NEXT WEEK: About a boat; bad shippers.