AM is very far from the stoic determination of Black, as rational as she is there are emotions - sometimes intense or even violent emotions.
Yet, she knows not to argue with Black in this manner; they are not that far apart. When TJ hurt her, she was stronger than him, but she did not pay and knew the rules. If TJ did not do his tasks, Jimmy would have sent someone worse. Appearing weak even if you are not weak is sometimes good, even though that particular case is a dent in her soul. Naturally, a person with a lot of money would use money more often to solve options, and the broke shaman would use it less frequently.

She takes another gulp of the beer, and just enjoys the atmosphere knowing that it is not long before she needs to leave. "Let's drink to luck and good stories. It is going to be a long night -but an interesting story one way or the other.



AM comments "Why not use remote sensing? why get inside? "

Jawsey messages back to the others <<The fire spirits are staying in the astral right now, right? With the rain and all I can't imagine that they want to materialize, so they are providing good astral observation, and could be physical in a couple of seconds -- albeit in the rain -- so it is pretty strong security. I don't think we could get away with sending you close enough to use a clairaudience spell to listen in, as they would see you. I don't have my sword back from being upgraded yet, and I don't like 4-to-2 odds much, so just showing up and making like the roof is an astral boxing ring doesn't appeal much. Depending on their orders I might tempt them to go chase after a water spirit? But if they are not allowed to leave where they are, that would make a limited distraction. Give me a few minutes to swing by and look at the situation to see if I can find an angle on it>>

Jawsey heads to his bed, automatically reaches to clutch his absent sword, then projects. The usual murk of Touristville is unpleasant but familiar, but he quickly leaves it as he heads toward The Jack O'Lantern. The astral in most of Redmond manages to feel greasy and gritty all at the same time, and is a reminder of another reason he doesn't want to fight the Halloweener spirits on their home ground.

He doesn't even try to hide from the fire spirits; by the sounds of it there is too much astral observation to avoid being spotted, so he just pretends that he doesn't have anything to hide. He does come in from the downtown side, he stays about 70 meters up, and focuses on seeming excited. Then he simply flies to near the Jack O'Lantern, stops, gapes for a second, does an astral cartwheel, and zips away towards downtown. In downtown he uses some of his standard astral jukes to make sure he isn't being followed, before looping out over Bellevue and finally back to his body.

Once back he messages <<I took a look, and while I'm sure they saw me I'm hoping that they'll take me as a thrill seeker, checking out the lair of the notorious Halloweeners, maybe on a dare or something like that.>> and then he communicates anything new that he spotted.

The fire spirits don't appreciate Jawsey's presence. One growls and gives signs of displeasure, but they don't pursue him.

Tellingly, even while the one is shooing Jawsey away, the other three stay alert and on guard. They have been instructed wisely; it seems like a minor distraction will not create a significant response among the others.

They do stay tethered to the building, as if they have been given instructions not to leave. Or perhaps Jawsey's exhibition wasn't major enough to warrant a larger response.

Other than that, Jawsey feels like his assessment is correct: the fire spirits are for astral security and they would not want to materialize in the rain. Perhaps that is contributing to their frustration, knowing that they won't be able to immolate anyone tonight. Either way, their full attention is on the astral right now.

>>I am sort of in the middle of drinks and eating, but I can leave if you need me. Didn't think it would warm up so quickly. Can you pick me up from the Hilton? I am not very fond of your dare-devil approach.

In principle, Haloweeners are led by a spirit that is very much aware of magic. So evidently magic security is tight but when there is a powerful but a system is only as secure as its weakest component. We can use the matrix to spy in there, I can hack you a few comlinks to listen in their conversations, perhaps a few glasses. I don't even have to hack the Haloweeners themselves, there are other patrons in there.

Alternatively, we can do ritual magic and spy in there from a relatively long distance. It is simply our awareness extending, and to the best of my knowledge, these spells are very difficult to detect because they are passive. So we can seat in a car a few blocks from the place and do rituals, or even be at their parking lot without a ritual. If we are in a hurry.

So are you picking me up, or should I take the ford and not park it overnight at the Hilton?


She rolls her eyes and sighs "They keep buzzing me, so let's do the ice cream now but I'll need to go before they solve it like Sioux soldiers."

'Well, if she puts it like that...'
<<I'm going to fetch you. I'll be there within the next 40 minutes.>>
It wasn't like he was afraid of going in there alone - but a better option was a better option.
'I really should try to learn a bit more about computers.' He resolved while he put his things in order and went back to bring the car.

Bobby goes and gets the Dodge Xenon, is parked at an off-site location a short distance away. You have been paying a generous monthly fee - by Redmond standards, anyway - to keep the car safe and hidden and not associated with SIS at a public storage facility with above-average security. The outdoor units are big enough park a car in. Bobby gets through a couple layers of maglocks - one at the front gate, another locking the storage unit itself - and is privately impressed that the place isn't completely overrun with squatters. The down-and-out generally love the inexpensive shelter provided by storage units, but this place seems to discourage that with high prices and rigorous monitoring.

Puling the car out of the unit, Bobby sees that the Xenon is a head-turner, a flashy car for corporate brats. Luckily there are plenty of those in Redmond, as they enjoy the risk and adrenaline of slumming it, partying on the wrong side of the tracks. They get swindled or mugged often but Touristville generally knows to send them home in one piece.

The Xenon isn't ideal for being inconspicuous but it's great for getting someone to notice the car and not the driver. Bobby slips out of Touristville without anyone seeming to notice.

Bobby isn't highly trained as a driver but he has good reflexes. That's good on a night like this, where driving is a bit perilous due to wet streets and limited visibility due to the rain. Once he gets out of Redmond he can more fully enjoy the audio system, which has some robust bass that makes the car practically shake with a WHOOMP WHOOMP WHOOMP.

Picking up AM at the Hilton, the Xenon is a little gauche, but there are still plenty of them around. Corp parents prefer it when their brats smash an ¥18,000 Xenon rather than a ¥28,500 Shin-Hyung.

40 minutes is a lot of time for drinks and food. With a belly full and a warm hug, she leaves Black promising a good story when she returns. Not the most useful visit, but having some emotional support and reassurance makes her feel better. She smiles seeing Bobby, and says "Let me drive." Seating in the car, she asks ritual magic or matrix hacking?"

Bobby wasn't usually a musical kind of person - but today he felt he could do with some rhythm - Rez Metal like his grandfather played was what he usually came back to at such occassions.
He switched off Mutilated Tyrant when AM got in and switched over to the passenger seat:
"Matrix - we don't have that much time to waste - and the place is likely warded as well."

"Alright, Trix it is. We'll park nearby and I'll go in hot simulation. Text me if I need to go back." she says, she likes hot simulation and is feeling a tad braver after drinking some liquid courage. She drives to the general vicinity of the Lantern, close enough so she can identify the devices nearby, but far enough to not draw unwanted attention. She calls Trouble to help her with the logic spell, and just in case watch over her with Bobby.

Her mind is augmented by the spirits she enters hot simulation and mentally grins. This one is for you black - she thinks as she moves through the ether with the speed of thought, hacking a device and then going silent examining its data feeds.

Jawsey asks them to put an empty cup or something on the roof when they park, then projects and then flies back near the Jack O-Lantern but places himself around a corner, where he can see people coming or going along the most obvious route to downtown, without being in site of the spirits. He doesn't expect to see anything, but it beats pacing around headquarters more.

He gives that half an hour, then returns to his body to rest and wait for word that AM has parked. Once he gets it, he heads over to the vicinity in the astral and identifies the car with a piece of trash sitting on it. He drifts inside for long enough to tell Bobby he can take that distinguishing mark off for now. He then does a patrol loop of the area to make sure it is clear of likely threats, then parks himself in a wall, peeking his face through every ten seconds or so to make sure all is still calm around the car.

He knows that Trouble will be watching out for AM, but providing more astral guard also beats rattling around headquarters.

AM, powered by magic and VR, slices through the security of a pair of smart glasses, providing her a feed inside The Jackal's Lantern.

The interior walls and the columns that support the ceiling are all made of raw concrete, presumably because it's fireproof. Every flat surface is covered with countless scribbles and other graffiti. The tables are made out of old telephone cable reels and oil drums with screwed-on wooden panels that serve as improvised tabletops. Along the walls are deformed and bent fenders and bumpers of cars as well as mannequins wrapped with barbed wire, which hang next to countless pumpkin lanterns. The air is full of cigarette smoke and looks barely breathable. It's possible some of the smoke from the tire fire out front is making its way inside. All the staff are wearing Halloween makeup.

AM seems to have hacked the glasses of a businessman who is wearing a suit. Several Halloweeners are being very jovial with him and buying him shots. AM strongly suspects that he'll be rolled before the end of the night.

There's a table with a couple guys who look like local muscle. If not shadowrunners, then at least talent somewhere a step or two above gangers. There are blue collar types who look like they are drinking after work. Carn-evil isn't anywhere to be seen, nor are the clown-themed Halloweeners that you saw at Cutty's. If they are here, they are somewhere out-of-sight of the sarariman who is getting drunker by the minute.

>>I got eyes inside, but no clowns. I'll try and find some more devices.
Making conversation, and to make sure that Bobby is not bored she adds >>Nice decore, and the waitresses are all painted up. Seems like a nice place to drink, aside from their terrible air, they smoke so much that is like the tires burn on the inside too. I can see why Nightmare would like it like that. I am sending Trouble to see if their clown car is parked in here. So watch over me more closely, just in case.

Trouble, can you go by the parking lot and see if you can find their clown car? If they paint their faces like that, they are not driving a Ford.

<<Maybe they have camera surveillance in the back rooms. No, wait, we need Carn-evils com number.>>

Bobby switched channels: <<Hey Lysander, just one more question and another 100 nY for you: Can you organize for me the com code for Carn-evil?>>

To Jawsey he sent:
<<I'd feel better if your body was with us in the car. Staying at our place isn't safe.>>

<<Short answer, no>> Lysander responds. <<I don't do biz with the Halloweeners, I don't know anyone who does biz with the Halloweeners. Any biz with them is usually 'here's some nuyen now go away' which doesn't exactly require a commcode.>>

Back at The Jackal's Lantern, AM is having mixed success.

Trouble did not see whatever vehicle that Carn-evil and the Halloweeners drove off in, and so cannot confirm if it is near the bar or not. There are various vans and trucks in the vicinity that could fit six or seven people, but none of them are so garishly decorated to be conclusively associated with the Halloweeners.

Furthermore, Trouble is clearly not welcome in the parking lot. The fire spirits - which have been shaped to look like hell hounds - don't move to strike but they sizzle and hiss and give every indication that they'd like nothing better than to dogpile Trouble and tear the cat apart. Their agitation is growing; if the summoner is familiar with AM's astral signature and makes the connection with Trouble then the spirits could be let off their leashes.

Inside, using the hacked smartglasses AM is able to start sketching out a layout for the interior of the bar. The sarariman is getting woozy and his camera feed isn't exactly stable but he's looking around enough to paint a picture of the front room.

Unfortunately, there's a lack of sophisticated electronics inside for AM to piggyback on. There are plenty of commlinks and even some earbuds but not a lot of glasses. In fact, if there are any security cameras inside, AM doesn't see them. There doesn't even appear to be an AR menu. And, come to think of it, there aren't maglocks either. The place is a bit of a blackhole in terms of electronics, other than the personal devices that some of the patrons have.

The camera feed is swaying like a sailor on a stormy sea but AM does manage to figure out that there's a backroom that she doesn't have access to, at least not visually. From your experience with Green Toes, and subsequent conversations with Lysander, you know there is a cauldron somewhere with Nightmare's True Name inscribed on it. According to Lysander, there is an everlasting fire in the cauldron and a team of Halloweeners is always there to make sure it never goes out, on pain of being burned alive. That means it will be guarded at all times both physical and astrally. But in the Matrix? Not so much.

AM comments >> I think we found more than we bargained for. This kind of security makes little sense for a pub, I can deduce there is a back room - and I suspect that they keep something very valuable in there. The aspected background count, the wards, the fire spirits barking at Trouble for visiting the parking lot. I think that bastards keep Nightmer's true name in there, hidden in plain sight. There is no other reason I can think of for keeping a pub so tightly secured.

No Carn-evil, but I did deduce the location of a private room. If you are certain that he is inside - Jawsey seems to have tracked him in the astral here - then my guess would be that private room. I will see if I can get ears in there, there are no security cameras, and no more smart glasses in the place.

Bobby had used the time to sent out a pulse to create as accurate a map of the area as he could, scetching it down in AR for later use.



When AM sent her revelation, Bobby grunted and remembered just in time to use his com to talk to AM
<<Well, that would explain quite a bit. Keep digging. I'll try to do some busywork for you and look at each link in the vicinity. Carn-evil is at heart a poser. I bet his link has some distinguishing feature.>>

Bobby extends his senses and promptly receives a flood of spatial data. It's thorough and allows Bobby to corroborate AM's sketch and to fill in many of the details as they collaborate.

Bobby sees the front room, the rest rooms, and the kitchen. He also finds the back room, which is greyed out because it is warded. Furthermore, because he can see underground, Bobby can see that there is a warded room underneath the building as well, which is larger and extends beneath both the kitchen and the back room. He can see the sewers and pipes leading to and from the bar; none of these are large enough for a metahuman, but some of the building's plumbing does seem to intersect with the warded room underneath. If there's a burning cauldron down there, it could be tapping into the kitchen's ventilation above so that the Halloweeners don't asphyxiate themselves.

Bobby's Matrix efforts aren't as conclusive as he might have hoped. There are, in fact, dozens of commlinks with a device rating of 4 or better. This seems improbable until Bobby remembers the party at the Fun House and how all the attendees were given coins to make purchases like high-quality commlinks. Either that or, in the aftermath the formation of the syndicate, all the new syndicate members were issued expensive commlinks to improve their operational security.

Either way, there are lots of commlink even after Bobby tries to filter them. And, to Bobby's dismay, almost all of the device icons share the generic, out-of-the-box Matrix iconography for their respective brands: Erika Elite's crystal key in a fancy lock, FTL Quark's swirling atom, Hermes Ikon's office building, Novatech NetNinja's spinning suriken, etc. There is painfully little to distinguish one from the other. The Halloweeners either don't care about their Matrix icons - it's not part of their identity like it would be for, say, the Reality Hackers - or can't be bothered to update them.

<<AM, I've got an idea. Hack one of the more expensive devices and copy the adressbook. I bet one of them does have Carn-evils commcode in plain text. If the boss calls, you want to know its him. Once you know that, you can hack his link and listen in on what he has to say to his henchclowns.>>

Bobby sent to AM once he realized what was going on here.

AM would select links of the types handed out in the Fun House and try to do as Bobby suggests, hoping for a jackpot. >> Alright, but failure would cost us the glasses because I don't want to be seen so I'll reboot.

AM looks around for likely candidates to hack. She finds a Hermes Ikon whose device icon has been lightly modified - the icon is of an office building, which is standard, but on fire, which is not - and decides to hack that.

The first step is to hop grids. Unfortunately she has to leave the local grid (decent, smooth) for the public grid (gritty, like sandpaper). Her deck's vectored signal processor can handle a fair bit of noise but there's even more than that so she loads up a signal scrubber program to help it out. That takes care of the noise, leaving her with a much smoother signal to work with.

The speed of VR combined with AM's magical enhancements make hacking a breeze. In no time at all she has slapped a fat MARK on the device icon and the started sniffing through its contents.

She finds the address book easily enough, which does seem to contain the commcodes for a fair number of Halloweeners. There's one for Carn-evil but not one for Nightmare. Perhaps that makes sense since, as an astral entity, Nightmare can't interact with technology easily.

Having found the commode, her next step is to copy it. She reboots her deck and opens her eyes for a moment. Taking a moment to return to the sluggish speed of the physical plane. She speaks up, hoping that Jawsey is around but also because the deck takes a few seconds to reboot.
"Alright, I got the entire contact list including Carn-evil - not including Nightmare. Perhaps he does not get along with technology being a spirit. I am rebooting the deck because it was quite a bit of illegal stuff, so I don't want GOD to know that I exist. What is our next move? Do you want me to search for his link? Call him and try to relate to him when in private?

<<Don't call him. Try to hack his link and switch on its recording function. We need to know what he is talking about with his soldiers. Also, it would be helpful to pinpoint his location>>

Bobby replied. The day and also the night was going to be long, it seemed.

Seeing nothing in the area, but not seeing the car move yet, Jawsey slid into the car and manifested. "Any news or new plan yet?"

Once Bobby had brought him up to speed, he suggested "See if AM can trace his location, too." Then he added "I'll patrol this area for a few more minutes, then I'm heading back to my body. Will rest up on the astral projection side in case I need to do more later, and I need to go see Five-Finger Gao soon to get my sword-cane back, if you can't make it back before then I'll see if I can convince a hire car to come into Touristville for me. Feels like the sort of night where having the focus could be good."

AM responds "Alright, I am going online again, but I'll need a dash of mojo for a few seconds because I really don't want to fail here" She says, but the second part of the sentence is addressed directly to Trouble that seats at her lap. Being mindlinked to him, she does not even need to ask. She closes her eyes, grins, and fondly strokes the cat. She can feel her awareness increase, and senses sharpen but then she transforms this sensitivity into matrix sensitivity just like the great Trickster wills it.

She loses herself after the signals and searches the secure comlinks for vulnerabilities she can exploit to get inside. Once she begins working, she turns herself invisible or less visible to be exact as Erika is not powerful enough to really be invisible. With her mental capacities amplified to savant levels, she feels like she takes the little deck to its limit.

The longest part of her episode is to find the device icon, which is not at the pub. Always get your intel correctly, as the way it feels, there is no problem in just walking in. Though she had dinner at a much better place, there is no appeal in getting into that smoke-covered hell-hound layer. She reassures herself that jumping to conclusions is a bad thing - and somehow, they assumed he was at the lantern. Finally finding the device she declares >>I found him alright, but have a feeling that he is not in Kansas anymore. I'll make a trace, but with that kind of matrix conditions, he can be far away. . An Erika elite, another Erika - she could have that comlink if she was not paranoid about accepting gifts from criminal bosses. A sigh, but her last negotiation with the hacker club should get her out of debt in a few months or at least protect them from periods of low employment. She has to admit that she is fond of the brand, given all her success with the little deck.

The noise is terrible, even after using all her tricks to mitigate it - and it is a good thing she is a little drunk because she goes for it despite the noise. With that kind of noise, she might have done this hacking from the Ford -but then again, the parking lot of the Hilton is the last place she wants to be committing illegal matrix actions. Long story short, she observes the secure device, feels the urge to hack it and trace it. Though, she suspects that there is no danger from Carn-evil tonight, considering how far she thinks in the matrix. By this time, she is emotionally invested and would see this investigation all the way through - or make things worse while trying.

<<If you find him, we can drive closer. Seems like he either didn't head back to the Lantern or didn't stay long.>>
Bobby replied.

AM marks the commlink in question and then begins to trace it.

The trace provides with GPS coordinates. Quickly overlaying them with a map, AM finds that Carn-evil (or Carn-evil's commlink) is outside of Touristville and much deeper in the Barrens. The GPS values change fast enough that it's obvious that the commlink is in a moving vehicle of some sort. This patch of the Barrens is especially rough, which explains all the Noise.

Studying the map, AM recognizes this road... this is the road that the team drove on to visit the Funhouse back in November. Quickly comparing the sequence of GPS values to the map, AM confirms that the vehicle is definitely headed in the direction of the Funhouse. It should be there within maybe five minutes, at which point the Matrix signal should presumably improve.

There is no call actively taking place, but the commlink is currently playing Dark Angel's classic album Flaming Wings (2050) on the vehicle's sound system.

(If or when Jawsey is informed of this, he will know that Dark Angel and his wife/manager disappeared before his second album could be released. Their house was burned to the ground but no bodies were found and neither has been heard from since.)

Sniffing around a bit, the commlink has a truly eclectic selection of music:
- Barry Mana, Once More Over the Moon (2071) - a troll who went viral after singing classical jazz music in a rich baritone voice on Amateur Night at the Big Rhino downtown
- Christy Daee, Last Daees (2073) - magnificent singer, album includes church hymns, rockabilly, pop, and rock with equal passion and confidence, was murdered for "immorality" by vigilantes
- DarkVine, Redwood Forest (2058) - classical music player from Tír Tairngire with a magical talent for playing the harp, often collaborates with others who provide violin, mandolin, cello, and vocals
- Grim Aurora, Munge and Snog (2073) - Seattle locals, industrial/punk style, new trumpet player on this album because the old one got caught smuggling drugs while on tour
- Orxanne, Queen of Freaks (2064), a striking ork singer whose industrial rock and rap music is heavily themed with political and environmental messages

AM comments >> He is headed toward the Funhouse. ETA 5 minutes, playing Dark Angel's classic album Flaming Wings. If you are familiar, the dude has some interesting playlist.

She'll let that for a short while and then return to the meat world. opening her eyes, and asking "I think I should reboot now, We can go to the Funhouse, but there is a dragon and an army of awakened there. We'll be noticed for sure - and I am not sure we want to appear that worried.

If Carn-evil appeals to a higher power then he is playing a political game. He is a strategic problem because he hates us, and is a member of a powerful criminal organization. That said, I see no evidence indicating that they'll be Haloweeners with Molotov's at SIS tonight. I am even willing to make a small bet about it.

pausing she says Perhaps Jawsey can go visit his girlfriend and ask her about this? Urubia seemed rather fascinated with him at the Funhouse so perhaps she'll feel generous.

Jawsey had done his last pass around the car and returned to his body just in time to catch AM's message. <<Do you have any way of making out the vehicle he is driving? I might be able to set a spirit to watch it tonight, let us know if it moves. I'm about to take a fast fly-by of The Funhouse and see if there is signs of a big gathering there again, well if I can without being too obvious about it. If you think you can get me the make of car quickly I'll wait, otherwise I'll go now and see if it is alone enough on the road to pick up. I guess Bobby might be able to catch up too, but probably not until he was too close to The Playhouse for comfort.>>

He took a moment to go peer out a window and check the vicinity while he waited to see if there would be a response.

>> Bobby is your man. He can fly to the Funhouse and with Trouble's help, he can be there before Carn-evil. I can keep the tracing just to make sure he goes there, and communicate with him through Trouble. She looks at Bobby to see his response to her suggestion.

Bobby nodded and remembered that AM couldn't see that, so he answered: <<I'm getting my pants off as I write. I'll take swallow form so I can haul bird ass. Have Trouble guide me to the target. Ok, open the window>>

AM opens the window and instructs Trouble to follow Bobby and help him find Carn-evil.

She'll use trouble to communicate with Bobby and guide them toward the car.

Jawsey replied as he headed back to the room he shared with AM <<Great, I'll go astrally and look for Bobby, and let him mark the car. Then I can set a spirit to keep an eye on it, at least for however long we don't need spirits to do other things tonight.>>

He took a moment to lower himself onto his bed carefully, and another to regret not getting his cane back yet, and then went astral and headed to the right general vicinity to pick up Bobby. To make it there that quickly Bobby would obviously be flying, and there shouldn't be too many awakened birds traveling at improbable speeds towards The Funhouse, so he didn't think it would be too hard to find his teammate.

Getting undressed and jumping out of the car, the Swallow Also Known As Bobby rockets through the air. Boosted by Trouble, Bobby is quickly boosted to race car speeds. This would be awesome on a clear day but right now Bobby is getting pelted in the face by rain. At least it's not hail, which might actually be dangerous.

Luckily you have a good sense where the vehicle is headed. Rocketing off, Bobby is there about four minutes after leaving. AM, communicating with Trouble, helps keep the pair of them on the right track.

The Funhouse is right next to a little lake (all of 63 acres) called Cottage Lake. There's a nice park next to it, or at least it used to be nice. 50 years ago - right before the Crash Virus of 2029 - this was home of the elite, the top 2% of the whole state. Then the crash hit, wiped out the local tech economy, and emptied out Redmond. The squatters moved in, first to the empty McMansions and then spreading out over the park.

It seems the Urubia has cleared and cleaned the area somewhat. The park has been emptied of tents and shanties and the lake is clean-ish... cleaner than most bodies of water in the Barrens, that's for sure. On the astral it's pretty nice, much nicer than the surrounding terrain. This is where Jawsey intercepts Bobby right before they reach the Funhouse.

If Bobby hadn't seen the vehicle then he might have heard it. Dark Angel's was unsurpassed as an electric guitar players, which was on full display on his one and only album, Flaming Wings. The music is blaring out of a black van. Hard to be sure at this distance - and because it's night and black vans are hard to see at night - but Bobby thinks that it's a Renault-Fiat Eurovan. Closing in, it actually looks like a newer model, with undamaged paint and a clean exterior. Either someone is babying this vehicle - which is especially hard in the Barrens - or it is brand new.

Bobby and Jawsey have just about reached the van when they're intercepted by a member of the Crimson Guard who is on astral patrol. The Guardsman is bright and clear to Jawsey, and manifests to communicate with Bobby. For good measure, he's also flanked by two spirits, one a water spirit and the other an air spirit. These stay on the astral for the moment.

"You," he points to Bobby, "No." He holds up a tonfa that's clearly a weapon focus.

"You," he points to Jawsey, "The boss wants to see you." He indicates that Jawsey should follow him to the top of the Funhouse.

AM admires Bobby for getting out in the rain and looks the other way to give him some privacy. Perhaps for her more than for him, as he does not seem as vulnerable without his protective layers of fabric. He feels free like the beast gets to play out without the hindrances of civilization.

While alone, she keeps in AR and frees Trouble from sustaining the spell so that he'll have his full attention to himself and Bobby and Jawsey. The Funhouse is a dangerous place to visit, and Urubia does know a thing or two about matrix security, which makes hacking into there a bit of a desperate move. Yet, she has her own problems, namely driving away from the Lantern. Not wanting to attract attention while vulnerable. She would reboot her deck as soon as the two have made contact with her car.

In the meanwhile, Trouble decides that since nobody addressed him, then it may be a good thing to act like a summoned spirit.
He hangs back passively in the background hoping to be mistaken for one of Jawsey's spirits rather than as an autonomous entity. AM tries to phrase her requests in a manner that lends a lot of room for autonomy claiming that in that manner Trouble would learn to become independent. She feels like it is her job to help him grow independent knowing that her entire lifespan is a blink of an eye for a spirit and that this baby of her would stick around long after all of them are gone. So, AM approves of his creativity saying to herself "cunning". Her emotions are conflicted as she is very worried about what would actually happen if Trouble is actually allowed in with Jawsey into the Dragon's layer. AM does not want the attention of yet another Godlike figure.

Bobby was annoyed, but respected the tonfa. Relaying to AM via Trouble 'I've been made - seems like they waited for Jawsey anyway. I'll hang around the park for the moment. Send Trouble if there's trouble.'
Lacking fingers in his avian form, he awkwardly gestured to himself with his claws to show the mage "the bird" and then turned around towards the park, trying to keep in view what happened next with the car.

Even without his own focus, Jawsey had been tempted to shred the punk in front of them -- until he mentioned Urubia. Shredding a dragon's messenger make all the distance to Haida Gwai seem 'far too close.' If he even made it out of the city.

He took a few metaphorical breaths to calm his emotions, then also manifested. He nodded to Bobby to indicate that he had this, and then said "I'll talk to you at home, later, or send a message there if I'm delayed." He tried to sound bored by the whole affair.

Then he eyed the astral punk and gestured toward The Funhouse "Are you 'taking me in' or am I trusted to make my way to Herself by myself?"

There's a parking garage under the Funhouse; you remember that this is where you parked when you came here two months ago. The Eurovan pulls into the garage and Bobby loses sight of them.

On the astral, the place is alive. There's an almost ridiculous number of watchers and spirits on patrol; Bobby spots at least a dozen different ones after just a short observational period. In addition, the place seems to be a bit of a destination for free spirits. There are several of them cavorting on the roof of the Funhouse. They look like spirits of rain and wind who are playing in the storm.

"I'm taking you in," the Crimson Guardsman says. Then he gestures for Jawsey to head toward the rooftop where the spirits are playing. He then swoops in behind Jawsey - again, flanked by his own two spirits - to fully convey that he's telling, not asking.

Jawsey replies "Don't worry, I won't make it difficult for you." He let's the other magician interpret that as he will. And then, true to those words he heads in nice and easily, far slower than he need travel while in the astral. He takes a good look around as he approaches, trying to remember all of the astral activity. And as they get closer he looks over the spirits. He recognizes a couple of them, but nobody who he knows well. Spirits of such raw element were not his usual astral crowd. Still he takes a moment to salute the spirit he thinks of as Miss Spoilsport, who seemed to love pulling showers in from Pugget sound on otherwise lovely days. He'd gone more than one round of chasing each other around back when he'd gone through a phase of trying to make the city better, but they'd never actually fought, more played astral tag through the city.



Approaching the roof he circles it once before choosing a suitable landing spot, giving an exaggerated bow to his escort once he has landed.

The top of the Funhouse is a pleasant garden. Jawsey remembers it from the night of the big party. It was nice then and it's just as nice now, especially on the astral.

Urubia is sitting on the roof, looking out over her domain. She emits a small "Ah!" and seems visibly (well, astrally) pleased at Jawsey's arrival. Her astral form is massive and draconic. She pats the roof next to where she is seated to indicate that Jawsey should join her.

"Where have you been??" she asks in a friendly-yet-intimidating way. She sniffs. "You smell different." Obviously not literally, but it's clear that she's picking up on some change in Jawsey. She leans in for a closer inspection, sniffing him again.

"You've been outside of the city for an extended period, yet now you're back." This is said as a statement, not a question. It's unclear whether this is based on her intelligence reports or in how Jawsey's astral presences 'smells'.

Her eyes go wide and there's a flash of recognition. "The metaplanes!" she exclaims. "You've seen them!"

She pulls Jawsey close in a manner that seems affectionate, unless of course Jawsey doesn't want to be there, in which case it's highly alarming.

"Come," she says. "Tell me every last detail."

Well, she had asked. If she had done any research on Jawsey she would have heard part of this story before, because he'd never been shy to share it. And if the way he told it might seem a bit pointed under the circumstances, well, what better time?

He gestures toward downtown. "It starts there, really. Those buildings are sand-castles, held together with cement. Seattle never had that much sand, and the Salish-Sidhe were not in the mood to let itself be dug up or dredged. Lots of sand and gravel on the Olympia Pennsinula, but nobody wanted to touch that, for some reason." He can't really wink in the astral, but he's sure Urubia catches the emotion.

"But Tsimshian, ah, a fraction of the people than Redmond spread over a lot of mountains and some islands, and very nearly as poor and desperate as Redmond. From the Redmond perspective let us say that there were four gangs, and two of them allied and moved quickly and gained control of the country, and they made themselves less poor for a while by letting MCT exploit the other two. They dredged up the sands and gravels of the islands of Haida Gwai, among other resources they found to exploit. They ruined the ecology of the islands, leaving them barely inhabitable, to build downtown. My father followed the sand to work construction here, which brought me here eventually."

"But before that, back on the islands of Haida Gwai, one of the losing gangs, my people, the Haida, were not happy about being exploited of course. Some tried to resist. The victors and MCT provided 'security' for the operations. Some of them decided that I was spying on them, and kicked me mostly to death, leaving damage that still hurts me every day. My father took me to Seattle then, and eventually saved enough for doctors who rebuilt my face. I owe his memory a lot, but also he removed me from my home and most of my family. I'd never thought much about it, even after the overturning of the government and departure of MCT, Haida Gwai is an ecolological wasteland, eroding into the ocean, and the ocean almost devoid of fish. Why would I go back? Back to a ruined land and a ruined family?"

"But recently it came to me that it was time to close that circle, and I went back. I found that, modest though my gifts may be, I could help there. And while the old magical traditions were crushed, they've found new paths, blending what they've learned from smugglers and the diaspora with what was retained by the few awakened. They had things to teach me, and even more than that the land had things to teach me, it was my home from childhood and spoke to me in ways I'd never experienced before. Between all of that, yes I reached the metaplanes."

Jawsey pauses there for a moment, wondering if he should try to explain how entirely confusing that experience had been? He still felt like he'd needed a translation app or something to make sense of what he'd experienced. After a bit he decided it was better not to try to describe that experience. "I learned that our spirit and our body are tied together fundamentally, and I finally accepted that my pain is part of who I am, and I can't just reject it, bury it in pillows and hot showers. And at the same time I lost my fear of sharing my body with spirits, I know now that my connection with my body will always be stronger than theirs, that they will never own my pain like I do. That I can share my body without giving it away."

"So that is what I did on my January vacation. I finally went home, re-established my connection to the land, water, and myself, and came home maybe a little more whole than I was before. I'm still deciding if I need to go back."

"Hmm!" Urubia tuts, clearly not expecting the outpouring from Jawsey.

"Share your body without giving it away, there's a tale as old as time. I know a good many mothers who could have given you insight about that."

Jawsey isn't sure if he's being gently reprimanded or not, or whether Urubia is conveying something of the female condition.

"Well, very well then. What brings you back to me tonight?" she purrs. She runs a finger (claw?) over Jawsey's shoulders. It's almost a massage, sort of, kind of, not quite.

To Bobby, Trouble wiggles his tail to show that he delivered the message. He then accompanies Jawsey along with the other spirit without anyone giving him a second look. He carefully observes the dragon and listens to Jawsey. Urubia is his first encounter with a dragon, and the little cat is very impressed by just how confident she is and how tolerant she is for gangers, free spirits, and mages. Her court is so interesting, but if he'll wander off they would know that he is not Jawsey's, no it is better they think he is part of Jawsey's spirits.

It is fascinating, how there are so many powerful beings, and yet Urubia is perfectly calm. At the same time, his mother is naturally very suspicious of people and their intentions. The more powerful they are, the more careful she carries herself around them. Perhaps it is a matter of perspective, and Urubia is just so much more powerful than anyone else that nobody is genuinely a threat to her - or perhaps she is a more trusting person. Trouble tries to determine if Urubia is genuinely interested in Jawsey or simply looking for another mage for her army. Jawsey is family, and the little cat is concerned about Jawsey being at the mercy Urubia. She feels friendly, but as an embodiment of a cat, Trouble knows very well that predators sometimes play with their prey. Sometimes they even let it go if they are not hungry. Is she mentoring him? Or is it some manipulation to make him like the rest of her crimson guard? He knows very little of dragons. Whatever is going on, he is genuinely interested. Facinated and concerned at the same time.

The idea of sharing the same body with another being is a bit alien to Trouble - why don't these spirits have bodies of their own? He knows that in principle, conjurers can summon all spirits, just like sorcerers can cast all spells -but in practice, most shamans summon spirits in natural forms. Changing the patterns like that are very intriguing to him.

Urubia sees Trouble and beckons him closer.

"Come here, little one," she says gently, snapping quietly with the astral equivalent of pspspspsps. Trouble isn't in much of a position to say no and so complies. Urubia reaches out and gently scratches the spirit's head and ears, running a finger (is that what dragons have?) down Trouble's chest and then spine. "You're a pretty thing," Urubia coos to Trouble. It's all very pleasant for Trouble; AM is aware of the compliment to her work.

Watching it remotely, AM sees similarities in how Urubia pets Trouble and how she massages Jawsey. Yes, the parallel is clear: Jawsey would very much be the pet in this relationship. That doesn't mean that Urubia couldn't feel care or affection, but it would be in the way that someone loves and attends to their dog. A beloved member of the family, but by no means equal with the master.

Urubia waits patiently for Jawsey's reply. She doesn't seem to be in any hurry. Dragons can pretty much do whatever they want, and of all the options this is what Urubia has chosen to do.

Jawsey doesn't let himself think, and tries not to even think about how dangerous it is to consciously think here and now. Instead he let's his words continue to flow out, laying out a story as he'd prefer it be seen.

"Not every creature in the forest can be top of the food chain, so all the rest need to either make like the mice and try to avoid notice, or be large and dangerous enough like the moose that predators will usually leave it alone, or combine senses and speed to avoid being where the predators are. Of course no solution is perfect, but they have to try. I guess I'm a rabbit in this forest, hoping that I can stay one step ahead of the predators. But to do that I need to understand their habits, so if they change their habits then I need information, and quickly. In the general sense this is why I came back to you, my curiosity led me to your vicinity and from there I was pulled in."

"The specifics are boringly mundane. One gang under the Pax Urubia collected from a nearby business two weeks ago, another attempted to collect today. If this is to become common I need to know because it will have certain consequences. If this is a one off, then I need to understand what caused it and if that same source is going to cause other aberrations. And the source of the issue was coming this way, so ..." Jawsey tries to convey the sense of inevitability

Perhaps a normal mage would grin when a dragon compliments her greatest professional achievement so far, self-taught, and the result of maturity with the sorcery field. AM has many reasons to be proud of, and yet having demi-gods know of your existence does not feel like the best route of action to someone who wishes to be independent. While her first instinct is to panic, her next one is to accept the limitations of power. She is a shamanic sorcerer and while she does not advertise her talent, and performs no flashy spells to show off - she healed many people after the gang war. Several of her contacts already know of her talent, a powerful entity controlling Redmond would have figured it out eventually even if there are two other more flashy mages in SIS that she could hide behind. It was no longer a secret, but it would have happened eventually one way or the other. Trouble wanted to join Jawsey, she would not use magic to coerce him if it is not life and death. She wants to treat him as a child, not as a pet - a child that needs to learn - and needs her for her adult perspective. A child she would one day set free. Children need to make their own mistakes.

She is uncertain if Urubia can see the leash holding Trouble, considering that he is currently acting as a free spirit. AM is quite certain that micromanaging Trouble's responses would make it obvious to Urubia. So as worried as she is, AM allows Trouble to remain authentic.

Trouble just hurls in enjoyment in response to the stroke, and dares to think that perhaps AM is too paranoid and there are friendly people out there.

"You're absolutely right," Urubia tells Jawsey, "not every creature in the forest can be top of the food chain.

"But why do you run around with the mice and rabbits when you can be the cat?"

She pats Jawsey's shoulder while simultaneously stroking Trouble's back.

"Not only have I offered you comfort and protection, I can give you the power to fix this problem and many others. You could help shape the world as you see fit."

Jawsey feels a pulse, as if all the Talent in his body flexed at once. There's a pregnant pause in the conversation before Urubia continues.

"You're sitting on a winning lottery ticket and you're too scared to cash it in."

She gestures out to the Barrens below.

"Any of those folks would do anything to have what you do. It'd be an insult to them if you're still here in twenty years, solving quotidian problems instead of extraordinary ones. Hanging around them is a waste of your time."

Jawsey was getting ready to let words flow again, applying verbal lubricant to the situation until he could slide out of it, then Urubia's final comment hit him right in the heart. If he'd been there physically he might have let out an 'oof' from the virtual impact. So he held his words for a moment, and the let his emotions speak for him as he let this truth sink in. Eventually he simply replied "The lady is wise, and has stated a truth that I feel deeply. Being in a position to solve problems, after years of near helplessness, has been rewarding and thrilling, but I can't let that blind me to what problems I should be addressing. I will need to integrate this insight into my plans, because hopefully I'll live long enough that doing things thoughtfully is worth it. But it is not an insight I can unlearn now. Thank you deeply."

"And now I hope you will excuse me. I see that my worries today were trivial in the larger scheme of things, but in turn that means that I should be working on moving on to more important questions."

Urubia leans back, seemingly content with the exchange and Jawsey's response. She gives a little wave to let Jawsey know that he is excused.

"Come back to me when you are ready," she tells him as he goes.

As they leave, Trouble rubs his body on Jawsey's foot as the catlike expression of possession.