The dumpster mumbles through muffling garbage bags: :::No, Servant of Owl, save that you have summoned me.:::

Inasmuch as loquacious dumpsters are a rarity, this does seem very ordinary.

Blue is stumped for the moment. He decides to go see if he can get the materials he ordered from Mary Margaret. She does keep some odd hours. She might be up. He hails a cab to take him there. He has a sense that Karmakaze is getting a bit fed up with the chauffeur business.

::: For now, please Guard me and the vehicle in which I will travel. Do you have a name? How may I address you? :::

:::You may call me recycler of flesh. I return wholeness to the streets.:::

+++ Recycler of Flesh?? Return wholeness? What the drek is going on?+++

:::Child of Owl, are you that divorced from the habits of men that you know not what they cast away? Even the flesh that they might eat, even the flesh of their brethren they cast away.:::

:::Hah. My thoughts bled into the astral for you to hear. Thank you for reminding me of the obvious. I have been scattered these last few days by strange occurrences in the astral. Beings, ones that prey on spirits, showing up in this city; odd changes in the hearth spirit of my home.

:::Yes, my kind do cast away much that deserves honest use, or even respect. I can't do much about how the world works, but at least I can resist such disrespect in myself.:::

Blue gets a cab and heads over to Mary Margaret's shop to see if he can pick up his order. He makes sure Recycler of Flesh follows and Guards.

At Mary Margeret's shop, it appears to be open but quiet. Not too many drift in at this time, so he doesn't have to struggle past the shoulders of gawkers and posers which make so much of her revenue. There are a few browsers, but they seem more like tourists or window-shoppers than buyers.

Blue works his way back to Mary Margaret's sales counter and catches her eye. He has his credstick ready and says, """I'm ready to pick up my order. Glad to know you keep these materials in stock."""

As they negotiate the exchange, Blue adds, """This has been a strange night. I have been trying to figure out why the hearth spirit of my abode has suddenly changed character. I'm not sure what happened, but the spirit is definitely weirding me out."""

"""Pupating?""" she suggests, half-laughing. """A new life stage? Changing the look for springtime?"""

Blue tapped his credstick to Mary Margaret's and chuckled. """Larval Forms of Astral Entities. I can see the dissertation already. I don't know. Maybe I did something wrong and skewed the mana. I hope it clears up soon."

He looks around at the clientele. """Business been good for you lately?""" Not only was it good to keep business contacts on good personal terms, he honestly cared for Mary Margaret. An honest business person who went the extra mile, especially if the issue interested her. And then, there are the jokes.

Mary Margaret leans on her counter and taps a finger to her lips. """Well, maybe - why not? Maybe you did shift the mana - but would that be bad?"""

"""Well, in this instance the change has not been all that bad, but I dread the thought that I can cause random, uncontrolled changes in the flow of mana. It wouldn't always be pleasant. Now, having said that, we both know that the ambient mana field can be broadly tilted towards events or emotions that linger. My place is under a pretty heavy rock bar, and the Hearth Spirit reflected that. Is my presence for such a short time enough to bend things? And if so, why to a field of emotions that is more like a movement towards peace and flower power akin to a movement here about a hundred years ago?"""

Blue considers that a moment. """Might be interesting to investigate the history of the establishment. Who knows what was going on there a hundred years ago."""

"""So you have an astral presence. You get things done, you move and you shake, and you change things in your place. Did you do any wards, any ritual circles, establish a lodge, anything like that? Wouldn't those shift things a bit?"""

"""Yes, I established a Lodge and a Ward. Those are shot through with my signature. I can't imagine my aura is redolent with the vibes of the 1960s, 70s, though."""

Blue ruminates.

"""Huh. Maybe I am seeing a shift in progress, not yet complete. If so, I wonder where my aura sits on the opposite side of Haight Street from Seattle grunge. Maybe I am going to get some self-revelation."""

"""So you definitely made your mark on the place. It would be more surprising if nothing changed, wouldn't it? But it might not be all about you. Maybe you just opened a pathway to something else. A slingshot trajectory around a Blue-shaped planet."""

"""How poetic of you, Mary Margaret. Here I am, then, a gravity well bending astral space near me. I wonder if my hearth spirit will eventually start looking owlish."""

"""Ha ha! What do you think you are, a great dragon? But more seriously, we all affect the world in our small ways, some just have more effect than others. Now, if you had a circle active there, then maybe things would change that much but really? I don't know."""

"""I do have my Lodge there.""" Blue responds. """But why that would have this specific effect, I don't know. I might need to commune with Owl to see if their spiritual wisdom could shed light on this matter. Of course, Owl likes to be cryptic."""

"""Isn't it also possible that you just uncorked, or corked, something else up? Maybe you're just a catalyst, and other powers are at work, doing their own thing? Maybe the spirit is tapping into something else, and your presence there is potentiating it?"""

"""That makes sense, too. The world is a complex place, and increasingly so. I'll have to think about it some."""

Blue ruminates a moment. """Say, have you heard any scuttlebutt about anyone needing magical work done?"""

She thinks for a bit, and then says: """Maybe. How do you feel about working with lawyers? I know one who keeps saying that he has problems getting expert opinions on magical tracing. Of course, that might not actually pay very well."""

"""Huh. That doesn't seem all that an esoteric topic. Sure, I could use a few nuyen more. Hook me up. Thanks."""

Blue has his commlink ready to receive the info.