"""Thanks. """ Blue checks that the keys work. """ My name's Blue. Here's contact info if you need to get a hold of me. Early in the daytime is not a good time. That's when I usually sleep. """ He stays by the door.

"""Excellent. Well, I have to get back."""

She leaves Blue in the basement, and wanders off. He's alone with the pounding beat and the faint rumble of traffic.

Well. Maybe Carlos is still alive. And Hopalong. Or not.

First order of business is to get rid of the headache. Laying back on the bed, pillows plumped up by his ears, Blue tries to rest enough to counteract the effects of the drain on his system from his use of magic earlier. He hopes the rest helps despite the music, but if the music is too much, then when it cuts out at 06:30, he should be clear of the pain by 07:00.

Then a little bit of work before a much deserved sleep. he wonders, again, what kind of hearth spirit exists in a place like this.

The exertions and excitement of the day were ample cause for Blue to relax, and the steady beat eventually lulls him to sleep.

He wakes up again, when a lonely ray of dust-hued sun passes over his face. The window faces west.

It's afternoon. And there's a beat from the club above.

"""Damn, """ Blue mutters. """ I fell asleep before calling people. """ Without a spirit for overwatch. Tsk tsk.

He goes to the bathroom and does what is needed, remarking on the need for soap. He remembers he has a piece in his travel kit in the duffel bag. Then he messages both Mary Margaret and Henry, separately.

<<< Hoy. Blue here. What do you know about moving a hearth spirit from a destroyed location where the domain is fading? Can it be done, and if so, how? Thanks! Anything you can tell me will be appreciated.>>>

Then he messages Billy Bob. <<< Thanks for introducing Betty. Something came up and she had to bail. I have a favour to ask, for which of course I will be appreciative. Any way you could track down and transmit to me communications with a business called Petsonal Petsonalities? The last month should do. Specifically looking for communications with a group known as Polidemos, but they may not identify as such in communications. Sooner info means more appreciation. The target is heavy into magic, but I think their Matrix is less protected.>>>

Daytime is not the best time to introduce himself to the spirit of this place, so he holds off on that. He does need more clothing, so he doesn't have to keep using magic to clean himself up. A trip out to a local clothing establishment is next. Good quality over looks as he can do a one shot transformation on a couple of outfits if necessary. Of course, if it's sharp already, all the better.

Mary Margeret's response is pretty straightforward:

<<<Can't happen. Not in theory, anyway. I'm sure some sunbaked shaman in the back of beyond knows something I don't, but I don't see how. It's the spirit of the place, isn't it?>>>

Henry's response is also fairly clear:

<<<Conventional animism militates against any such interpretations of spiritual adaptations to dynamic environments, but some particularly significant physical aspect could be transferred and thereby influence the nature of a new locus. Alternatively, if the locus itself could move, as per a nomadic encampment, that would be a different matter.>>>

Billy Bob responds with: <<<I can try. No promises. In return, I have something you could do. Can you check out someone and tell whether they have magical talent?>>>

There are a few options for fresh clothing nearby, ranging from vending machine automatic (freshly tailored!) to haute couture, depending on the budget.

Blue responds to Billy Bob. <<< You have a deal. Let me know as soon as you have info, and when you want to check out the talent.>>>

As he considers his finances, Blue recalls the unfortunate situation of having shared the advance with Betty. If he is going to buy some clothing that is armoured, he will need more cash than he has. Ah, life's decisions.

Another message to Billy Bob. <<< By the way, if you know someone who is willing to buy a strong Heal-spell-on-a-stick usable by mundanes, let me know. I could use some cash. I'll part with one for 5000. >>>

Blue remembers some of the clothing workers at Biozu used while outside. An Industrious Line winter coverall or something like it seems like a good buy this time of year. Good for the cold weather as well as helping resist some of the weird drek he might face in the next few days. He checks directories for something he can get to. Even if it takes a day or two to be available, he can live with that.

Underneath all of this surface thought, Blue regrets the news about moving hearth spirits. If the official and clandestine attention to Hopalong's former safehouse dies down, he will see if he can talk to Madel.

<<<I have a niece. Her mother's being told by some wizarding private tutor that she has latent talent or something. I don't trust it, but my sister won't let me get it checked out. I think it's a scam. I don't know what to do about it, and figured if you could discretely check it out, I'd know who might need killing. As for healing spells, have you tried a cyberdoc? Sometimes people are in a hurry for surgery stitches to come out.>>>

<<<Thanks for the hint. I'll check it out. As for your niece, sure I'll help. I can assense her to see what I can find. Newbies can be hard to detect sometimes, but we'll see. How do you want to do this? Meet for soycaf or something? >>>

Blue checks for street docs anywhere in the neighbourhood. +++ Hmmm. Maybe there can be some ongoing business to develop here. Have to be careful, though. The sudden appearance of a healer on the streets could alert my hunters. +++

<<<Can you check her out remotely? Her mother and I have had some arguments about this, so meeting up isn't likely.>>>

Street docs don't exactly advertise. Licensed cyberdocs, on the other hand, do, and there are plenty of them this near the world of Renraku.

Yeah, lots of registered cyberdocs. Registered, noted, and observed. Not going there.

<<<Sure, BB, I could go astrally and check her out, but I have to be able to find and identify her to be sure I am assensing the right girl. Can you give me info that would help my astral self be sure I am looking at the right person? Someplace where she would be by herself. Some physical feature like an impairment. Something like that.>>>

<<<Easy. Only one kid in the household. Address attached.>>>

Billy's message includes a direct address reference. It includes a link to a street map, and the number of the condo, and a 3D view of the street as per standard mapping tools.

Shouldn't be hard to find.

After that, he sends in a further message: <<<Your pet shop has pretty good gear, but I don't think they update it often enough. I have an archive of stuff. There is some Polidemos reference in there according to a quick search, but I didn't read it so I have no idea how relevant it would be to you. Either way, only about 15MP of data. Have fun.>>>

<<<Excellent. Thanks for the data. I'll get on your request this evening. One more thing. How old is your niece?>>>

The prospect of progress on his main task and payment for services rendered take precedence over shopping for clothes. Blue heads back to his new home.

<<<She's nine. Pretty typical girl in most ways, can't think of anything that would surprise you. Bright kid, but her mother pushes her around a lot.>>>

<<<That's fine. Different enough from her mother in age and size to make it easy to tell the difference. I'll see what I can find out this evening.>>>

Blue settles in at the kitchen table and sees what he can find in the data store in the next hour. After sunset, Owl will be on his side, and he can check out the hearth spirit, seeing if it will be safe to astrally project for Billy Bob's task.

Blue figures out that there are two basic contexts at work:

The first is that there is the manager, who communicates with PoliDemos (mostly in guarded terms), and then there are people within the business talking about PoliDemos (mostly in vituperative terms).

One of the things this goes some way to clearing up is what atavophid basilisks are; they are definitely reptiles. They are an awakened form of an atavistically mutated python. The exact breed of python is a point of some debate, but apparently it's capable of parthenogenetic reproduction, it's highly intelligent, it has a soporific power of some sort, and it sings.

Whether there are words in its song or not is not clear.

The staff mostly refer to them as dragonettes, for some reason. This rather confuses things.

The staff is aware that they're secret, and that they're for PoliDemos. Other than that, there's not a lot of commentary about them, except that there's a high rate of awakening in offspring, and that they're trainable.

The direct communications with PoliDemos are actually less revealing, but do make one thing clear: PoliDemos wants (demands) unpaid access to the goods and services of the businesses in what it deems to be its area of control, and is quite happy to extract it with (veiled) menace. They have a line of blackmail, and a line of appeal to an anti-corporatist ideology.

From a nietzschean perspective, they probably see themselves as serving a greater need, beyond good and evil. The people in charge at Petsonal Petsonalities seem to be less convinced of that proposition.

Blue considers what he has learned. +++ No matter what happens to me, this should be known. +++ another thought comes to him. +++ There's probably some profit in selling this info to the right people. Whoever that might be. +++

He fires off a quick message to Henry and Mary Margaret. <<< Learned more about the mystery atavophid basilisk. 1) Awakened form of an atavistically mutated python. 2) Parthenogenetic reproduction, high rate of Awakening in offspring. 3) Highly intelligent, trainable. 4) Soporific power, and it sings. Don't know if there are words in the song. 5) Staff in the facility call them 'dragonettes'. Don't know why. 6) All are to go from Petsonal Petsonalities to Polidemos -- no payment -- threat/blackmail.

These things in the wrong hands could be serious trouble.

You find a way to make some money from this knowledge, please cut me in. >>>

Once the sun sets, Blue settles in a chair and summons a (he more and more is beginning to think 'the') Hearth spirit.

Blue looks up to see the spirit sitting cross-legged on the bed.

It looks like a human party animal burnout. Starvation-thin gangly limbs. Garish tanktop hanging loosely around emaciated torso. Cropped, multicoloured dyed hair, and what looks like a hundred different piercings in every imaginable skinflap available. Track marks on the arms.

It bobs its head to the beat from the club, while watching Blue.

While Blue takes in this scene, and wrestles with the headache and slightly swimming vision that are the price of the magic, his 'link lets him know that he has a message from Mary Margaret. It's all in greek text, but the autotranslation shows a hovering english version. The title is Lord have Mercy.

Maybe she doesn't care for serpents.

Blue is intrigued. He would have thought that Mary Margaret would have used Church Latin. Something to explore another time.

The spirit before him, on the other hand, is quite what he had expected. Interestingly, it materialized ... in order to hear the music? """ Thanks for coming to my call. I will be staying here for a while and may need your services on and off during my stay. I would like to call you by name. What name would you prefer I use? """

The connection is strong this summoning, so Blue figures he has a few services. He asks the spirit to stand guard while he rests to recover from the drain of the summoning. It takes only a few minutes for his head to clear.

Once recovered, he asks the spirit to describe to him the layout of the building, including entrances and exits.

Then he asks the spirit to describe to him any summonings it has experienced here in the last year.

The spirit is not terribly communicative. Apparently it would answer to Sweez, and this is the first time it has been summoned in a year.

The building is pretty simple. There's the basement studio, and besides the main door there's a painted-over trapdoor that Blue can make out at the other end of the space, in the shower stall, that leads to the parking lot. Upstairs there are a couple of dance spaces; one upstairs and one downstairs, but there's a large gap in the middle of the upstairs floor so that they function as one large, two-tiered dancehall space. There are two staircases between them. There's a service entrance round the back that leads to what was once a commercial kitchen, but has been repurposed to give two small offices, a green room, and a storage space for drinks for the main bar. There's a large unisex toilet with three lockable cubicles (Sweez calls it the free brothel and pharmacy), and someone with a sledgehammer or ram could punch out the painted-over windows to make exits out of the main space.

It's a masonry shell with a sound system, really.

Blue considers the architectural info. +++Excellent. Two unobtrusive exits from the building, one right in my bathroom! +++

""" To follow up on your helpful info-tour, Sweez, is there a way up to the roof from the inside? """ Maybe as important, is there a way in from the roof? In the back of his mind, Blue is thinking about how to set up his Lodge in here. That will have to wait till after he pays his debt to Billy Bob.

The roof has no direct access whatsoever, as it turns out. Maintenance people need to bring a ladder. The roof is a fairly typical, low angle shingled affair with a few ventilation and similar facilities. The angle is certainly shallow enough for walking, but it's not a typical, industrial flat top.

""" Thanks for the info, Sweez. I am staying here for a while, and will call on you from time to time, most often to watch guard while I sleep. If something ever happens here to cause damage to your domain, come down here to find me or meet me when I return. Maybe I will be able to help you. for now, I will be heading out shortly, so go ahead and take your leave. """

After the spirit leaves, Blue commits to memory the directions Billy Bob gave him. He settles into a comfortable nap on top of the bed, and projects into the astral plane. Off to see the wizardlet, the wonderful wizardlet girl.

It doesn't take Blue long at all to locate the place in the astral. First he moves to the street at pretty much the speed of thought, and with a glance he can identify the dwelling. It's really not that difficult.

Having done this, it's not hard to zip through the place. There's the mother and ... yup, there's the girl, surrounded by a positive cloud of spiritual activity. Whoa, it's a swarm!

Blue is taken aback by this twist. It was supposed to be an easy in-and-out after figuring out if the girl had potential or not. But it looks like something thinks she does!

Blue circles a bit. Didn't he read something, somewhere, about astral parasites, or something like that? Damn. It'll be tough to read her with all that around her, but maybe he can get a sense of what these things are, what they are doing. If they are feeding on her Magic, well, Billy Bob is a buddy, and she is an innocent to boot.



Ooooohhhh ..... fuuuuuck.

Blue goggles for a while at the whirling, buzzing cloud of minor spiritual activity, trying to make head or tail of what it is, when something that looks like a tiny (but voluptuous) naked woman with dragonfly wings catches sight of him.

Her eyes open wide as can be, her mouth a perfect O of amazement, and then comes the tiny shriek: "Dirty old man! Molester! Peeping tom! Creep!"

In mere moments, the cloud of tiny things starts buzzing around Blue, successfully inhibiting him from telling much of anything, beyond that they have needle-like tiny teeth, those of them with teeth (the floating mushrooms probably don't), and that whatever they are evidently doesn't like him staring.

He would feel more ashamed if it weren't agonisingly painful.

--- Soak 1L of damage ---

Blue is utterly flabbergasted by the flurry of confusion and mystery that thunders cutely at him.


But only for a moment.

:::I am here at the behest of the child's family. If you are here to harm her, leave now or I will destroy you all. :::

Blue manages to shrug off the assault, with the feathers of Owl affording him some protection against their nips and pinches. However his threat doesn't appear to disturb them in the least. If anything, they redouble their efforts to do unto him before he does unto them.

It's rather like being at the bottom of a pile of clumsy but playful kittens. And equally confounding to the senses.

However, from what little Blue can make out through the cloud, the girl is undisturbed by this furore.

For all Blue knows, these are a manifestation of the house spirit having taken a liking to the girl. An all female environment taking astral form? Who knows? What Blue does know is that the nipping hurts and he is getting frustrated. Later, this will be a learning experience, teaching him to expand his astral functionality. But for now, there is precious little he can do to rid himself of this annoyance.

Reasoning/threatening didn't work. Combating them is silly, as he is so outnumbered. He can't Banish them, as that cannot be done while astrally projecting. Just about the only thing he can do to them is a good old stunbolt. He's not that annoyed ... yet. There is one thing he can try, though.

Blue makes a break for the ceiling, planning to shoot up to the second floor, cut over to the other side of the room below, and dodge back down, hopefully giving him time to Assense the girl and just leave. Let Billy Bob worry about what the hell these things are.

Blue manages his evasive move with speed - partly because they did not appear to have been expecting it - and has a few precious moments in which to try his assensing action.

Before those damn little sparkly toothfuls get at him again, Blue takes a quick look at the girl's aura. No time for concentration, just ... oh damn ... a peep.



Poor Blue. Not so good at the stressful situations yet. If he survives long in the shadows, this may change. Well, he promised an answer to Billy.

Though the presence of those little things must mean something. Nevertheless, he stays.

Buuuuttt... he could be a little smarter about this. He waits for the sparklies to come back to this room, ready to cut outside. Will they follow out of the house?

In point of fact, they never really seem to have left, or at least not gone far from the girl (which doesn't make things any easier, anyway).

Blue only had a chance for a brief glance before he finds himself at the centre of a yelping, nipping cloud once more.

Blue zips outside of the house, not far but far enough to see if he is followed. If, as he suspects now, they don't follow, he has a moment to reflect and figure out what to do next.

It feels like quite a relief; Blue emerges from the house (very quickly, as the rate of astral travel goes) and immediately finds himself free of the cloud of nibbling confusion.

It's quite correct, as he suspected. He's not being followed at all, and in fact outside here nothing obvious seems to give a damn about him having arrived.

Blue is in a bit of a quandary. He can try to assense the girl again, but it will be harder with each successive attempt, and it is already difficult with those damn things getting in the way. If only they would leave the child for a moment, he could get another try in. He forms a plan.

He decides to fly through the house at a reduced speed, fast enough to get through the room with the spirits before they can attack, but slow enough to attract their attention. In the house, then out. Then another angle. then another. He tries to determine whether his passes through draw the spirits away from the girl. If in the first few passes he sees an opportunity, he will pause and assense the girl.

If that doesn't work, then after five passes, he will start to repeat the pattern, going through the same five angles. Maybe they will be pissed enough to try to predict and intercept. If he sees interception attempts starting, then he will break the pattern and come in on an angle that would put him on the other side of the girl, assense, and get out.

The pattern of their behaviour is that they tend to stick around her until they notice him. Then they go for him.

However, and this may be related to them already being a bit riled up, the cloud does seem a bit looser, a bit more disturbed than earlier. More jumpy.

He could try assensing her with them in the way - difficult, but possible. He could grit his beak and just try to assense her while they're mobbing him, like an owl sitting on a branch while jays flutter around and scold. Or he could try somehow influencing their behaviour (although they don't seem to form an organised group).

---Read OOC 261 first. ---

In the first moment of reappearance in the room, Blue is struck with an idea. Over there, by the hutch, where both mother and child can see, Blue manifests, 'floating' in the air.

""" Hello. Sorry for the interruption to dinner, but I really need to speak to you, for a moment, child. There are some beings in this house who are really trying to hurt me because they are protecting you. Any chance you could let them know I mean you no harm? Because I mean you no harm. I just want to talk. """

Ooooohhhkayyyy. Let's see what happens!

The mother rises from the table with a shriek, and then races over to a cabinet. Maybe she keeps a gun there. Anyway, she's shouting something about it finally happening. Whatever "it" might be.

The daughter looks shocked at first, but then narrows her eyes thoughtfully and says something to her mother. What she says is not clearly audible over the mother's declarations.

The mother turns back with a pistol-looking thing, levels it at Blue's manifestation, and pulls the trigger with murder in her eyes. A squirt of water drifts through the air, through the manifestation, and splatters on the wall behind. The mother shouts: """Jeeves, call the tutor, tell him it's an emergency!"""

It sounds as if a peaceful chit-chat is off the table for now.

Ignoring the mother, and taking solace in the girl's calm demeanor, Blue addresses the child directly, sending his mystical voice to her alone as much as possible. Hoping he isn't causing a headache for Billy. It's that kind of night.

"""I am no danger to anybody here. Your uncle Billy did a favour for me. I'm doing one for him. All I am trying to do is determine if you really have the Talent. He worries about things like people taking advantage of the two of you. If you could show me something, like maybe open to the astral, tell me about the spirits of this place, Hell, fire a spell at me, anything, I could go away and tell him you are not being used."""

At this, the girl looks distraught and shakes her head firmly, while the mother grabs a bunch of something and ... wait, is she lighting a smudge stick?

Blue looks back and forth between the two for a moment, and then nods to the girl. """I understand. Should you ever want to talk, you know how to reach me."""

Blue exits the house quickly, and weaves a convoluted path of flight, checking on occasion to see if he is being followed. No point leading some ... thing to his new home. He intends to message Billy once he becomes corporeal again, but there is a pit stop to check first.

Blue races to near to what remains of Hopalong's hideout. Once close, he looks for any activity in astral space. If things look clear, for example no hovering agents of Mitsuhama, he moves to be inside what remains of the building. If the spirits of the child's house did indeed act on their own volition to be around her, then maybe Madel can do the same here. Who knows? We certainly don't know all there is to know about the spirit realm, and maybe Blue has stumbled upon something new.

No, he can't summon while astrally projecting. He can be still and try to open himself to possibilities.

Hopalong's hideout is a curious case in contrasts.

In the astral it is still there (though apparently fading). Maybe it had more of an astral personality than the typical suburban blanket fortress of insecurities?

However, he does see an astral puppy bouncing over in his direction, after he arrives.

+++Oh drek! +++ Blue had feared a watcher would be left in the house. He streaked away in another convoluted path, passing through the odd building to lose the puppy, and ended up back home. He re-integrated and sat up on the side of his bed.

+++Well, now what?+++

He considered options regarding Madel, and found few viable. The paying job still waited, but he messaged Billy first.

<<<Got into some weird drek at your niece's place. I think her mother has been ... damaged ... by exposure to magic. I couldn't read the girl directly as there were some little spirits (maybe hearth?) that spontaneously hover around her as if to protect, or dance in her aura. Weird, as I say. I manifested to try to talk. Mom went ape-shit. The girl acted as if she knew what was going on but didn't want to upset mom by showing what she can do.

<<<My guess is she is/will be Awakened. No clue if the 'tutor' is a positive or negative influence. Mom was trying to contact the tutor before I left.>>>

He made a cup of soycaf and waited a while to see if Billy was up and responding.

It doesn't take Billy long to respond.

<<<Damaged? You mean, like radioactivity? Didn't know magic did that - good to know. But if my niece really is on the road, I guess it's frosty. Just don't trust some of those fraggers.>>>

<<<I mean she freaked out when she saw my apparition. Something happened in the past to make her afraid/angry/whatever. She said something about knowing 'it' would happen some day. You have any idea what that's about?>>>

<<<That's different. Have you taken a good look at yourself? I'd freak out at your apparition too, omae. But seriously, mister sleaze has been filling her head with the horrors of magical parasites and things, so I guess she thought you were there to eat her soul. Chianti optional.>>>

<<<Well, you know the first thing that came to my mind when I saw that cloud of sparklies around the girl was exactly that. Parasites. Their response was aggressive once they noticed me, but with actual exclamations that made sense as protectors. Yet, their attack could be construed as a form of parasitism on me. They didn't follow me out of the house though, even though I suspect I would have a greater 'caloric content'. So it's not clear what they are.

Whether they are benign or malignant, their presence around the girl does support the belief she is magical. If we wish to investigate further, I will probably have to show up in physical form just so mom doesn't think I am an astral predator.

I don't wish to pry, Billy, but what is your relationship with the two of them? Is my connection to you bound to cause a problem?>>>

<<<It's really simple. Mom got a spiel from huckster. I tell her he smells shady. Mom gets huffy at me, tells me to butt out. So if you tell her that I sent you, she will shoot you, then me, then the DocWagon drones that come to save us. So don't tell her that.>>>

Oooohhhkaaayyyy. We'll just omit the news that Blue might have already spilled the beans. That explains the shot from the water pistol.

Now what? The distractions from his paying job are piling up on Blue. Going back to the child's house now, in person, is probably a bad idea. Mom is riled up and the girl might take flak for whatever she might be blamed for. If those things are parasites of some form, they could eventually drain her of her gift, but it probably won't happen tonight. Let it ride for a day or so, and think through some possibilities.

And Madel's place is being watched. Makes sense. But maybe he can let off some steam there and give her a chance for some payback on the people who attacked the house. This assumes she doesn't want payback on Blue for drawing them there! Later. First some research.

Blue pores over the communications Billy gave him, and once more over the contract, looking for anything that looks like a delivery schedule. Knowing when things are supposed to connect might help Blue determine what other times to check the facility for deliveries that should not be happening.

+++ I don't even know if I should be helping Johnson, if he represents whackjob street bullies. +++

Welcome to the shadows, Blue.

Blue does manage, once he buckles down on the contract and does specific searches, to figure out what the deal is in terms of delivery.

Unfortunately, there's no single date.

The way that it's supposed to work is that the people at Petsonal breed and raise the Atavophid Basilisks, and on positive identification of one, delivers them to PoliDemos. Allowing for a little slack in the system, it defines prompt delivery as being ... well, this is where it gets more tangled. They can either personally deliver to a designated recipient, or if one isn't available for whatever reason, notify a designated representative and hold the critters, or if notification somehow doesn't get through, hold and account for the ownership for transfer on demand. Then there are a bunch of terms that relate to what constitutes delivery of notification - most of which seems a little abstract, but Blue could probably puzzle it out given a week and an indefinite supply of amphetamines.