Blue looks at Karmakaze and shrugs his shoulders. He rises and heads out the way they came. Outside, in the car, he opens up to Karmakaze.

""" Something is wrong here. This creature is a new paranormal. Proprietary tech and all that. One of those things in the hands of a competitor could flush Petsonal's profits down the drain. Not to mention what the authorities would do if a harmful, uncontrolled paranormal came up someone's commode. She shouldn't be so cavalier about the loss of a couple of them, even if they are young.

""" So, I'm thinking of reasons why she might toss us a crumb for the return of something so valuable. Maybe what Petsonal gave the policlub were not the real thing. A couple of young pythons to keep the thugs happy.

""" Or, maybe they have their own personnel out looking right now, and they don't want us getting in the way. Afraid we might interfere with the retrieval. What do you think?"""

Karma scans the area for threats as Blue confirms her suspicions.

"""I agree, but let's discuss the oddities elsewhere. It would ease my recently augmented nerves."""

With one last look behind, she leads Blue to the car, which appears to be unmolested.

The area tends to tweak the nerves of Karmakaze anyway. It's unusually clear for an alleyway in this part of the sprawl. There's no squatter claiming a doorway for at least two hundred meters down the alley, and few vehicles.

But on the good side, there's no sign whatsoever that the vehicle was tampered with, so there's a good side to that.

On the flip side, the whole situation seems a bit weird for a policlub's activities. What looks like the strong arm of a protection racket isn't necessarily outlandish, a policlub's activities usually have some kind of connection to its stated goals. Humanis, however ugly their activities might be, are pretty lavish about helping humans who are down and out - but they turn that into support for their propaganda engines, and ultimately support for their more destructive side. PoliDemos might just be stomping ground, but how does this really relate to their stated goal of getting political accountability from the representatives of urban inhabitants?

Something is missing.

Karma turns to Blue, """It's quiet. Too quiet. Can you summon a watcher or something that can see if we're being followed? I didn't think before hand, we should have had something watching the car to make sure it didn't get bugged."""

She separates from Blue's side while he heads for the passenger side and her the driver's. Physically, everything looks to be okay, but something about this area gives her the creeps. Maybe it is just that this job is a bit different from her standard, or maybe the thought of dragonettes and other paranormal creatures has thrown her off her game. Or maybe it's the new cyberware throwing her nerves into constant overdrive.

Blue nods. """ I've been careless lately, not using my spirits to full extent. Nor searching astrally on a regular basis. I'll get on that right away. """



Blue opens his perception to the astral plane and scans around to see what he can see. Any more of those water-element spirits? If nothing demands his attention, he returns to the physical plane and summons a spirit of the city.

The area around Petsonal Petsonalities appears substantially similar to before, in that water-oriented spiritual forms appear to dominate - but not in ways that command immediate attention, either. Just another day of fine weather, apparently.

The urban spirit looks to Blue's eyes like a garbage drone. It rumbles and beeps quietly.

::: Thank you for coming. Stay close for now, please. :::

Blue reports to Karmakaze. """ It doesn't look any different astrally from before. Lots of spirit presence related to water, which is interesting, but doesn't seem dangerous at the moment. I have a fairly strong spirit ready to serve us.

""" I'll need a few minutes rest to clear my head from the drain of summoning. While we think of what to do next, can you drive by the little girl's place? I'll take another look astrally there, and the drive will give me a chance to clear the fog. If you notice anyone tailing us, let me know. My spirit can deal with it. """

Karmakaze put the car in gear and rolled out into the evening traffic, toward the address Blue provided.

"""I will definitely let you know."""

The drive will definitely be a while.

The young lady in question lives well south of Seattle, and it may be as much as an hour. In the mean time, the rush hour is slowly dying, but it still snarls the roads.

While Blue recovers, the spirit invisibly drifts behind. Overhead, low clouds, low enough to fog the tops of skyscrapers, pick up the the city's lights and reflect them back down lending everything a muddled ambient glow. Here and there yellowjackets patrol the low cloud ceiling, their own lights heralding their presence more than any sound or action up high. As Karmakaze drives nearer Seatac airport, the rumble of the larger craft cuts through the noise of vehicle and traffic, and the piercingly bright landing lights mark cones in the clouds on their approach.

More headlines drift in over the matrix while Karmakaze drives.

<<<ENCLAVERS FIND NEW HOPE IN CRYSTAL CHURCH>>>

<<<URBAN RENEWAL PLAN FROM MAYORAL OFFICE>>>

<<<NOVATECH ANNOUNCES BIOPLASTIC SYNTHESIS IN TACOMA>>>

<<<CYBER MAKES CLONED FAWN CUDDLY AS KITTEN>>>

<<<DISTURBED MAN SELF-IMMOLATES DOWNTOWN - DOCWAGON DENIES REFUSING CARE>>>

Blue rests till his head clears. The news feeds are mostly boring, but the church one and the biotech one interest him. He sets his personal assistant to work downloading the details.

Karmakaze was perceptive and kind to let him recover from the drain of the summoning. Good teamwork, keeping the magician sharp. He lets her know he is back.

""" Thanks for the nap. I'm fine, now. Since the restaurant incident, I've been thinking about the vulnerability I have in violent situations. At my last job, there was precious little need to be fast, but I felt like a boat anchor while you and the thugs moved faster. I have to do something about that. Bring myself up to speed. There are magical ways to do that, but it will take some time and money. Without quick reactions, though, I think I will sooner or later become a statistic. """

"""I know how you feel. I just recently underwent the surgery for the wired reflexes. Even as a PI I was sometimes running into to trouble and made me contemplate going deeper into this lifestyle. Then I had a bounty dead to rights, and in a blur I was on the ground with a bloody nose and he was long gone. I knew once I got the "upgrades" that there was no turning back, but I still try to keep myself in the lighter grey areas of the shadows."""

As they cruise off I-5 to approach the house of the girl in question, Blue's personal assistant regales him with facts. Or, at least, reports that purport to be factual.

The crystal church appears to be a collection of people with some sort of faith in crystals, or something about crystals, being repositories of spiritual wisdom. Apparently they listen to the crystals and hear spiritual insights. Or something. The news reports and related content don't go into their doctrine in detail, but there are some images of people in white robes walking barefoot through polished passages, and singing at crystals. It's a little weird, but not off the scale.

Novatech says that they've created a really cool laboratory in the Seattle enclave that lets them synthesise all sorts of fantastic, complex chemicals. Sounds a lot like what BioZu was up to, because there is a mention of microbial cultures doing the heavy lifting.

Blue exercises his limited Matrix search ability to find if Novatech is a subsidiary of Mitsuhama.

As they approach the home of the girl, Blue adds a few details to what he told Karmakaze earlier about the situation here. """ Billy wants to know if the girl really is magically talented, and whether her tutor is stringing her and her mother a line about it, and about the dangers of astral things parasitizing her talent. A little naively I just flew into their home astrally to check things out, and found some weird astral things hovering around the girl. They attacked me, ineffectually, as soon as they noticed me. I manifested to try to talk to mother and child, and discovered how freaked out the mother is by things magical. I think she saw me as the very thing the tutor had warned them about.

""" I think she is talented, but I don't know whether those things are a house spirit or things that actually are sucking magical power out of the girl. I am at a bit of a loss as to how to proceed. I'm hoping for inspiration by the time we get there. """

Novatech is its own animal - it's a mega that inherited large, meaty chunks of Fuchi's rotting corpse. It's actually a major competitor of Mitsuhama. The fact that Novatech unveiled this new capability probably explains why Mitsuhama was so antsy about scooping up everything and everyone within screaming distance of BioZu.

Then again, who knows how deep these thieves have their hands in each other's pockets?

The house is easily identifiable to Blue, based on his earlier researches. Middle class comfort, give or take a maintenance bill on a chunk of housing over fifty years old.

"""Well, I am very un-inspirational. Magically speaking.

"""Is there anything I can do to help? I fear this does not require too much roughing up or mundane legwork, and my presence may make things worse."""

As Karmakaze's car slows down in its hunt for a place to park, they have a pretty good view of the building's exterior. Vinyl siding, faded, then retreated. Karmakaze in particular can see with the investigator's practiced eye how the old siding had been abraded, to remove the faded layer, then coated with a sealant that should in principle keep it safe for another few dozen years - except that the sealant itself didn't do too well in the local climate, with moss starting to tear it up. Subsequent pressure-washings tore out the moss, but also crackled the surface of the sealant so that the whole thing has a slightly crazed look.

In the growing gloom of the evening, the lights from the inside suggest activity. Something behind a curtain looks like a TriD display at work. On the steps someone in a coat is prodding at a security panel, probably dialing in an access code.

The car rolled to a stop, but the engine continued to idle, and the wipers continued to clear the windscreen every few seconds.

"""This looks like the place. Are you rolling solo? Or do you want me to come with you?"""

Blue looks at the house pensively, watching to see what the person at the front door does. """ No, I think whatever I do should be solo at the start. Maybe keep the engine running for a quick exit and keep your powder dry. If Mom gets up in arms again, she might start shooting at a running, dodging dwarf looking to get out fast. If the magic instructor shows up, you might need to get involved.

""" I'm pretty sure the girl has the Talent, that's the first part of what Billy wanted to know. """ Blue thinks out loud. """ But I have no idea what those things are around her. If they are astral parasites, I would really like to get rid of them. It would be so easy if Mom weren't so paranoid. The only thing I could think of is to just walk up to the front door and knock while open to both astral and physical planes. If I'm lucky, the girl will answer, and I can see if those things are around her. If they come out of the house and attack me again, I know they aren't a manifestation of a house spirit. I also know the mentor might not be on the up-and-up if they haven't dealt with the things they specifically warned Mom about.

""" Whoever is at the front door complicates things. Let's wait and see what happens. """ With the window down, Blue opens his perception to the astral to see what he can see about the stranger at the front door and whatever might appear inside as the door opens.

While Blue talks to Karmakaze and watches, the door flies open, a woman that Blue recognises as the mother comes from it, and gives the man at the door a decidedly non-platonic embrace. Regardless of physical proximity, the hand coming around and fondling his posterior is pretty unambiguous. After a moment of that, they both go inside and close the door behind them.

The man himself is not magically active at the time that Blue is looking at him, but the purple evidence of lust is clear enough to see - not that Blue really needed the details on that. Oh well, with the door closed and them back inside, Blue has a free hand to engage in whatever dastardly hijinks seem appropriate.

"""I could always subdue the mother,""" Karma says, half-joking. """I will keep the car running. Do you want to mind-link again so we can communicate while you're inside or will that cause you too much... meta-stress?"""

Blue starts to reply when a man approaches the house.

"""Who the frag is this jabroni? Is that the "mentor"?"""

"""No... I don't know who this guy is. He doesn't appear to be actively magical-"""

The door flies open and a woman embraces the man.

"""That's a nice welcome home. Is that the mother?"""

"""Yes."""

"""We should probably wait until he leaves. I don't mind knocking down a few thugs, but so far as I know he is innocent, and my guns are less-than-lethal, not non-lethal... Unless he is the one, though mundane, somehow causing the "parasites" on this girl? What do you think, Blue?"""

Karma continues to watch the two horny toads while waiting for Blue's response, when she catches a glimpse of something.

"""Oh drek."""

"""What is it?"""

"""Ever hear of the Children of Purity? This dude is one of them. The little girl is swimming in deep drek."""

""" Something. A policlub? Humans and magic rule the world? Is that right? If so, the girl's magic will be perverted to their ends. """

Blue considers a moment. """ But the relationship with mom is a blessing in disguise. I bet she is more interested in him right now than her daughter. I might be able to get to her and have a chat. Those sparklies present a problem though. They might be his, a barrier against interference.

""" You didn't happen to googlie-eye the code he typed in, did you? ''"

"""No, sorry. I don't have magnification mods, only the aim-bots. You say you have met with the family before, but the mother doesn't want you there? Maybe we should wait this dude out. After he leaves I can track him, or could you track his location with a spirit or spell? By the way, how is this girl related to us? Is this part of the body guard job, or the private investigation job?"""

""" This is a side project I picked up to pay a decker friend of mine for some matrix legwork about Petsonal and PoliDemos. The woman is his sister, the girl his niece. He was worried that the two were being scammed by a fake magician who fed mom stories about astral parasites. He wanted me to check the girl out and see if she actually has magical potential, and to learn if the tutor is on the level.

""" Looks like yes to the first, and a twisted no to the second. Before I get myself involved any further, I think I should tell my friend what I know and that there could be a lot more consequence to further poking my nose into their affairs than an irate home-schooler. Damn. Another policlub. What are the chances we would get involved with two in one week? Maybe there's a rash of them, or even a connection. Heh, now I'm getting paranoid. Looks like I'm going to have to discard this new burner after I message my friend. I fear Mitsuhama has a bug on his communications. """

Blue messages Billy: <<< Hey Billy. Looks likely your niece is magical. Bad news, though. Mom has a thing going on with a man whom I suspect is the tutor, but he looks to be part of a Humanis offshoot called Children of Purity. If he is grooming the girl, she will likely be eventually pulled into a dark world of race-hate and an arrogant sense of superiority over mundanes. This is a lot bigger than I can handle, either by myself or right now with help. Maybe you can find out more and plan something out with another crew, or me later. By the way, check your tech for bugs. I was traced earlier, and it could have been through my contact with you. Killing this burner once I am done here. Will contact with a new device when I think heat has died down a bit. >>>

""" I filled in my friend on what we know. """ Blue informs Karmakaze what he said to Billy in the message. """ I'm backing out of this side project for now. I don't think the girl will be drafted into the policlub in the near future. Let's record licenses of nearby vehicles and move out.

""" I have to ditch this burner and get yet another one. """

The man and woman end their embrace long enough to go inside and close the door behind them. Symbolic, perhaps. Does the universe have a poetic sense? Perhaps.

At least the light is good enough on this street that collecting licenses and vehicle models is a quick and easy job.

"""Now what? I still have some leads to check out on the punks who attacked us at the cafe."""

""" Now that we have some license plates and vehicle descriptions in case I should follow up on this thread, we should gt back to the main job, which is to build a report for my Mr. Johnson. Following up on your leads is a good idea. As for me, after dark is my awake time, and I still have at my disposal a decent city spirit, waiting for me to give it something to do.

""" I don't know where you have a base of operations, but you are welcome to do your search at my place, where I could leave my body and go for a little reconnoitering around Petsonal again. The noise from the bar upstairs might be a bit much for you, even with the sound insulation my landlady put in. One of the things we need to work out is how we interleave our sleep schedules. I'm a night owl ... almost literally.

""" First thing, though, can we go a ways away from here and ditch this burner? I need to get yet another one to try to prevent us being found the way we were in the restaurant earlier. """

"""Well, if you are going to toss your phone, why don't we install a kid tracker program on it, then toss it in that hoop's car?"""

""" Sounds great! But which one is his car? """

"""I thought you knew."""

"""No, first time I seen him."""

"""Well, don't toss it yet. We can pull the battery out for now and use it as a tracker later."""


The two drove off, making a stop for a couple new burners. One for now, and two for later, just in case. And that case would probably come sooner rather than later.


The next stop, SPD. Not a place most shadowrunners make planned trips to, but Blue and Karmakaze weren't really shadowrunners. At the civilian reports desk, Karmakaze found some rookie, but through careful and almost painful questioning, was able to find a detective on shift that she trusted.

"""Kahless? Good to see you. How is the civilian sector?"""

"""Drekky."""

"""You here to report a crime?"""

Karma told the detective of her concern about the Church of Purity member taking an interest in a little girl with magic ability. She turned over a set of pictures of the cars and license plates, as well as one of the suspect, though it was from behind, and not a great shot. She also gave him the names of the family members and their address. Unfortunately, after running the plates, none look like a match for the man. The detective assures he would keep Karmakaze informed if anything turns up, but she knew that line. That information was going to cost more than a couple boxes of doughnuts.

The next stop was Blue's old safe house, or what would be left of it. Karma drove through the neighborhood a few times, looking for any suspicious characters, besides themselves, while also allowing Blue to make an astral recon.

"""Maybe I should go in solo, since I have no ties to the property, and you can overwatch."""

The safe house is taped off with a rather slapdash winding of tape around mailboxes, shrubs and whatever else was left standing. The house itself - well, that was a big bang, and as far as can be seen the inside was shredded, while the outer walls failed and collapsed. The houses on either side are substantially damaged, but repairs appear to be under way. The safe house also appears to have burned pretty well.

There's a posted sign about investigation ongoing, blahblah - but considering that Karmakaze is licensed to investigate stuff, and there's no guard, provided she doesn't disturb any evidence (that has been burned, exploded and rained upon), the number of damns given is likely to asymptotically approach 0.

Interesting is that no corporate reference applies here beyond the regular Lone Star stamp at the bottom of the notice. Mitsuhama's logo is nowhere.

"""Well, Karmakaze, I had hoped to see something left of the house in the hopes that I might be able to do something to save the hearth spirit of this place. I had grown fond of her. Doesn't look good. I can confirm the hopelessness by entering the remains. If my city spirit doesn't disappear, there is no change in domain. If no hearth domain, no more spirit. I'll just project into the Astral, look for enemies, and then fly into what remains. That should do the trick."""

Blue sits back and leaves his body.

Blue returns to his body. Once together, he asks Karmakaze, """ It looks as if the hearth domain is still active, even though I can't sense Madel anywhere. If it's alright with you, can we enter the remains of the house together, and I will try to summon her? She might be able to tell me what part of the house we can salvage to transfer to a new location. """

He sees the eyebrow Karmakaze raises. """ I know. I know. But if there is a way I can keep her going, it will make up to some degree for the destruction of her domain. My digs already have a hearth spirit, but maybe some new construction will be able to accept her. """

He thinks for a moment. """ Hmmm. Maybe Sweez, the bar's hearth spirit will allow me to establish her in my apartment. The two of them would make an interesting pair. """

At first Karma had thought they were talking about a spirit and someone namedMadel , but after a bit she realized that the spirit was Madel.

"""That sounds like a plan. Let's be quick. Seems like whoever is hunting you is one step ahead of us, though. They probably have had some time to identify me and start some legwork."""

She exited the vehicle, scanned the area, and without being too obvious about it, drew both of her weapons.

Blue steps out of the vehicle and heads into the ruins, carefully avoiding the police tape. Booby traps, and all, you know. once 'in' the remains of the building he tries to summon the hearth spirit, hoping it is still Madel. Hoping Madel still is.

Madel appears - perhaps.

What Blue sees is like a wispy series of manifestations. A torn house slipper lying in the rubble. A half-burned dress lying limp. A scratched, discarded cane on the lawn. But he knows that the spirit is there, to some degree.

Blue pulls the pieces together as well as he can and tries to communicate. ::: Madel. Blue here. You there? :::

A voice comes through - not really a voice, so much as an intuition. :::Yeah, I'm here I guess. What's left of me anyway. Whaddya want, to drop feathers on the wreckage?:::

It's about as thready and weak as Blue has heard a spirit - but then again, he summoned the weakest manifestation that he could. Maybe that explains it. Or maybe that's just what he might tell himself.

Blue's excitement is barely concealed. """ I think I've made a connection,""" he says to Karmakaze.

::: I am sorry those who hunt me found me here, and that the woman who owned this place chose to destroy it. I want to know if there is a way I can move you to a new home, a new hearth. Maybe take a piece of what remains here and transplant it? Help me keep you going. :::

There's a sort of breeze, or sigh. :::Oughtta be rebuilt, but times ain't what they were. Can't build the new house with the old stones.:::

There's a long pause. Blue's instincts perk up at ghostly rats moving through the broken timbers and plaster that lie around.

:::The lock. The lock and the key.:::

""" Karmakaze. There's a lock and key around here somewhere. She needs me to collect those. """ Blue points to where he saw those ghostly rats. """Maybe there? """ Blue starts looking around.

Karma assisted in looking for remains of the door near the entrance, but also kept her eyes out for anything else that might be mobile parts of a foundation, if that is what Blue was looking for; Maybe some piping, plumbing fixtures, a fireplace insert.... If she could find something good, maybe the spirit would look over her. With all the other drek flying around today, that would definitely be a good thing.

Karmakaze's investigatorial eye and knowledge of police procedure turn out to be helpful. The door was clearly kicked in, and on the ground by the time the whole place went up. The explosion wasn't near where the door lay, so while rubble fell on it, it didn't go very far.

A few moments of yanking and tugging, and the scorched, dented, scarred remains of the door come free. The lock, as far as it remains, could be removed with a screwdriver and some creative profanities.

But the key? Tough call. Was there a hook inside? Maybe. Old school, but this was an older, rather nondescript sort of building.

As for other things, there are hints of plumbing fixtures visible under wrecked roofing, but nothing that promises to be particularly whole. Maybe a solid metal thing, like a bathroom sink's tap?

Blue dredges deep for an idea. """ There was some kind of pipe embedded in the front steps. It supposedly had a key dropped down in it. Let's take a look. If there is something down in there, I can fish it out with a spell. """

Sure enough, Karmakaze and Blue go over to the debris where the front steps used to be, and there they are. A basic set of poured concrete steps, with a little drainage pipe (or what's left of it) set horizontally in the concrete itself. Once upon a time this proud PVC cylinder might have conveyed a trickle of rain, but now with the aid of a flashlight Karmakaze can confirm that there is a keyring inside it.

It's a little funny, really. Technically, the key was under the doormat, just about six inches under the doormat. Oh, well. Blue mutters something that sounds like a soft chirruping sound, and the key comes scraping out. It's on a keychain adorned with a small brass maple leaf.

A little toolwork, and they could leave this charred, crumbling hold.

"""Anything else? Anything I should look for to see if any of your friends made it out? Anything look out of place, for an exploded building of course, that could lead us to the culprits?"""

Blue is very happy to retrieve the key. He drops the barely adequate Magic Fingers spell and hangs on to the key. ::: I think I have what you asked for, Madel. See if you can stay connected with them. I release you to make that easier. :::

He answers Karmakaze. """ No, those with me who lived are long gone to parts unknown, and the explosion was almost certainly triggered by my erstwhile protector, whose safehouse this was. Madel showed me the hidden explosives earlier. Blow the bridges as it were. There were some other hidey holes Madel showed me, possibly with cash or data in them, but searching for them now would take a long time. And probably Hopalong cleared those first. If you have anything to remove the lock from the remains of the door let's do that, otherwise just break the section with the lock free from the rest and we can remove it properly later. We shouldn't tarry here any longer than necessary.

""" I released Madel to make it easier for her to stay linked with the parts of the house she called for. If you can take care of getting the lock free from the bulk of the door, I'll step outside to be sure I don't get Madel again, and summon a stronger spirit to boost our numbers. """

Assuming Karmakaze takes on the mundane task, Blue steps just past the front steps and summons a wind spirit. +++ We might have to move quickly. +++



""" Not a good night for summoning. Got a headache and one service. """

The wind spirit is a fickle, blustery gust that tugs at Blue's attire and whines and whispers. It's a poor substitute for Madel, who faded out when released.

For now, the street is quiet, but that could change soon enough.

Karmakaze's 'link, however, isn't so quiet. There's a message on it from Badger.

<<<Hoi, Karmakaze. I hear you're running with a pretty heavy crew these days. Hypothetically, if I knew who was after someone, and how much was on offer, would that data be valuable to you?>>>