IC [Mage the Awakening] After the 2003 Hoax

[egreham]

Birtomart Transport Centre. I will be wearing a fez.

While Hoplite sat with his Thursday dinner and a deeply broiling female rivalry in front of him, Hei strode toward the building where the creep decided to show his face. Don’t expect to go away without a mark when you stalk someone’s very valued companion.

She stopped in front of the entrance to glance at the railway clock hanging above her head. If it weren’t for the emergent mission, she would have bought Hoplite a real meal out of her gracious and charitable heart, pure of plans to extract potential favors in the future. Such subtle transactions of personal good will were handled more comfortably by Miss Watson. Hei, on the other hand, had made attempt at the sophisticated social maneuvers on her own with some … questionable success. There were not many who could offer notable services out in this world of darkness who held free food to the high regard she held. Because seriously, what beats free food? So far, she only received repayment in meals, and although she was a bit disappointed with the lack of significant boons, she was content. But she had hopes for Hoplite, a hungry, unsettled immigrant, as a good investment. Unbeknownst to her, Hoplite was being served a side dish of a deeply broiling female rivalry for his Thursday dinner.

She squeezed past an exiting passerby and spread her gaze across the giant room. She spotted the fez sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the crowd. She grinned and walked around as to sneak up behind the man with the funny hat. She tapped him on the shoulder and, before he could respond, she said,

“Now, before you say anything, how about we go to my place, where we can do business privately.”

OOC: Spell check as Brito, not Birto

[Cire]

Studying Hei, Bone Dog decided that some jobs for his master offered far greater pleasures than others. This could turn out to be a rather fun job. "That is a very good idea," he replied, his large deep brown eyes with hope. "Please led the way!"

Bone Dog hoped for the best, but he was great for a fight. He was good at fighting...

[egreham]

Hei smiled politely with strained lips while her favored eye twitched ever so slightly, hoping that the intensity of her stare alone would somehow burn a hole into that despicable, leering eyeball of his. However, a façade started is a façade to be kept, and she dropped the knots knitting her brows when he turned up to meet her gaze. Beside, there would be plenty of time for sweet retribution later in her plans in store for this vile pile of organs and unsolicited lust. Hei could smile genuinely with the thought.

Wait until I get my hands on you, you creepin’ bastard, the words whispered in her mind tucked under folds of arcanic barriers.
Bone Dog straightened his collars. “Well then, where is this place that we will privately conduct business?”

“Get in my car if you want to know.”

Bone Dog tailed Hei as if he was on a leash; his ignorance left the direction of his feet at the whims of where Hei was facing. They reached the car parked outside at the sidewalk and stepped inside. Hei started the engine and drove toward the shortest cut to her destination. She estimated around twenty minutes of travel, twenty minutes she would have to endure with someone she could only view with disdain next to her. That is, if she respected the speed limit. The car revved up and lurched in a sharp turn around the corner.

It took a few minutes for Bone Dog to become restless. He had a mission and he saw no reason to speak now rather than wait to talk at a place that he didn’t know how far away it was. He coughed and rolled the fez on his palm with his fingers.

“You know, I haven’t told you who I am yet. I am Bone Dog, an Agent of the Veil.”

Hei responded with an mmhhmm. “Is that so?”

“I came here today to meet you because I had important information I wish to share with you, Miss Watson, and I think you would be more than interested, considering that a rat was found in your organization recently.”

“That was in Free Council, not our Adamantine. For a secret agent, you don’t have your facts straight.”

Bone Dog felt his face heat up, ready to squeeze out a nervous sweat. “I meant to say the Pentacle Society in general. I didn’t mean to imply that your organization was incompetent.” He changed the topic to lose the possible detectable sputters. “Anyway, I’ve come here to warn you of another.”

“Oh really?” This time, Hei turned her head enough to glance at Bone Dog with a spare eye away from the road.

He scowled, crossed his arms, and shook his head as if in disapproval, “Yes, and it’s Dawn. You should beware of her, the no-good-Seer-scum.” He packed as much disdain as he could with the word that he would have felt toward a Pentacle spy in the glorious Throne legacy.

[Cire]

Bone Dog pondered just what he should say next about Dawn. He had a mision, and needed to do it well. However he found the woman he thought as Miss Watson distracting. She intrigued him. He could understand why his master took an interest in her. He said, "Please take my warning about Dawn to heart. Please. And please also take to heart this: you seem to be a very charming woman. I am glad that we had reson to meet. I feel more blessed than ever."

[egreham]

“Oh you will feel blessed alright”, Hei replied with a smirk.

As they entered the motel, Hei motioned Bone Dog to wait while she approached the reception desk. The woman behind the glass pane shifted in her seat and avoided Hei’s gaze until it was apparent she wanted a room. The receptionist smiled nervously at her client. It was her second night, and she was not yet comfortable with her not-so-respectable job.

“So, any room I can borrow?” Hei asked boldly.

“Uhh, the night’s still fresh, so nobody’s booked anything yet.”

“Well then. I would like to reserve a room.” Hei puffed her cheeks and tapped her lips, “and every room around it, top and bottom, side to side.”

The receptionist blinked for three seconds and gaped for another three.

“Let’s just say that it’s going to be a bit noisy.” Hei winked at her with a grin.

The receptionist scratched her head, contemplating her decision at this unprecedented request while weighing her own inexperience.

“Well, miss. I think I’m going to need your credit card and ID, like a driver’s license.” She blushed and her eyes twitched as she reined her imagination. “Just … in case you break anything.”

Hei reached in for her wallet while the receptionist scrimmaged for the keys. They exchanged the items through the horizontal slot on the bottom of the glass pane. Hei stuffed all but one key in her pocket.

Hei thanked and left before she could hear the woman reluctantly whispered her job’s motto.

“Have a nice evening.”

[Cire]

Watching the woman he took to be Miss Watson securing a room, Bone Dog found it almost hard to remember what the Great Hunter wanted him to do. He supposed it would easier to focus on that matter later. At the moment, Miss Watson had his full attention.

[Esuna]

The striking raven-haired woman sitting across the table from him was a study in arch amusement. Hoplite could only gape slightly, eyes watering as the soda he was drinking took a wrong turn at Albequerque. A questioning glance at Bethany confirmed her flat acknowledgement of Dawn. The two had met, obviously, and the meeting had left a bitter taste in Bethany's mouth. Grimacing, he swallowed what he could and put on his winning-est smile, hampered slightly by the urge to cough violently. He took her outstretched hand and shook it gently.

"I'm Hoplite."

Her raised eyebrow spoke volumes of the inadequacy of that statement.

"I'm new in town."

Yeah, that probably helped, he thought.

"Obviously." She replied, though the smile took the edge off. And added probably twelve more edges.

She leaned back in the chair and folded her hands in her lap, half-lidded eyes never leaving Hoplite's face as he felt a tingling flutter around the edges of his consciousness, like butterfly kisses. Hoplite blinked as she scanned him, unsure of the protocols, but he allowed her into dance along his surface thoughts. She seemed to be looking for some sort of advantage, so he gave her what she was looking for. He quietly shuffled his stupid, horny, 14-year-old personality to the surface for her to find, while the rest of him observed her quietly from a safe distance.

She smiled as she leaned forward, showing a generous amount of cleavage, reached across the table, and took his soda. She took a sip.

"I understand that you're looking for paying work. It just so happens that an associate of mine has a task for you. Something that a local can't handle." She turned the smolder up to eleven as she leaned back.

Bethany made a slight choking noise. Hoplite squeezed her knee under the table twice, as he simultaneously plastered a fawning look all over his face.

"A...anything. I mean... I really could use the money and making a few more friends would help and... " he gulped. Was she taking the bait?

She beamed at him, and with her foot slowly slid a valise toward him, under the table.

"The details are inside..." she purred, "... and keep this to yourself. Trust no-one."

She smiled at Bethany.

"Except Bethany, perhaps. She's a real peach."

Dawn rose and slinked out of the room. Hoplite hadn't realized that anyone still slinked. He had thought it had been outlawed in the 1920's.

Bethany sat next to him, giving him an appraising look.

And Hoplite sat there fervently wishing he had more tell her. He had no idea if he'd manage to trick Dawn. He just felt sick and uncomfortable as he reached under the table to grab the valise. He had been here a matter of days and he felt fingers tapping on him like he was a new toy to play with. The itch on the back of his neck told him he was being watched again. He attempted to casually glance around the cafe, hoping to catch a glimpse of Hei, or even Miss Watson, but there was no sign of them. He clicked open the case, and glanced at the label on the manilla folder within.

"Adamant"

There was also a large wad of bills, and a pay-as-you-go cell phone.

"Looks like I'm buying dinner." He murmured.

[egreham]

A click resonated within the darkness in the room, which was pierced by the growing slit of light that leaked in as the door creaked in. A hand pointed at the shadows, and it brought forth radiance at the tip of its finger. Another hand reached for the illuminated switch and flipped it. The incandescent light flickered on and revealed the lavish furniture in the room, particularly of the pink draped bed. Bone Dog, no longer needing the spell, unraveled it as he closed his hand. He then waved a hand and bowed slightly as to courteously show the way in for the lady.

Hei closed the door, silently flicking the lock with her thumb, and walked past Bone Dog, giving him a smile for his effort to please, but never taking her gaze off of her host. Hei bent over and flung her high heels away after twirling them, gesturing for Bone Dog to join her in the center of the room. As he stood entranced in front of her, Hei placed her hands on his shoulders and promptly turned him while whispering to him to not look while she changed. Bone Dog was far beyond absorbed in his anticipation.

Sure of his obedience, Hei peered back and conjured an invisible hand that pulled down the zipper of her dress. She stripped her one-piece over her head and casually flung it away as if she was tossing a t-shirt on a laundry pile. She sighed in relief to have rid of the stifling garb over her preferred gym clothes. She received the open purse floating above her left hand and dug around to procure the object she was looking for.

Then she jabbed the sparking end of her taser onto Bone Dog’s exposed neck.

Had the noise that escaped from Bone Dog’s mouth heard outside, it would have been mistaken for something else entirely considering the nature of the building. However, the snaking pain and uncomfortable weakness that followed made sure Bone Dog did not mistake in his deduction of events. He collapsed on his knees, wheezing as his hands laid helpless and twitching on the floor.

“Huh, shouldn’t that knock you out clean?” a voice remarked idly behind his back.

It took great effort for Bone Dog to turn his head, but his fury provided. He snarled with rows of teeth ajar, and he acted on his most primal desire to destroy the bitch who dared. He muttered a sinister whisper, laced with malice toward the flesh of his target. He willed her sinews and tissues to be shredded by the envisioned canine fangs that were sharpened by his pure hate.

Which began to dissolve as it crashed against a barrier projected in front of Hei. However, a single cut managed to tear a small line on her cheeks. Hei blinked with surprise, and then frowned.

“Wow. Fuck. You.” said Hei with distaste as she took a step back

Bone Dog readied to call upon the strength to hand out his merciless judgment, only to see a foot approaching deadly velocity toward his face. He defensively raised his hand, only to have it smashed against his face. Dazed, Bone Dog launched with his feet and swung his limp arm in an arc, hoping to at least slap a jaw. He felt his arm being caught by a hand, and soon found his vision tumbling from floor to ceiling until sudden impact knocked the wind from his lungs.

Bone Dog had no time to rest as he was dragged up by the collar and suddenly was levitating above the ground with his legs flailing. He clutched at the hands that were not strangling him. He saw the woman in front of him with a raised hand cocking a fist.

Bone Dog could not put up a protesting word before he blacked out from the following concussion.

[Esuna]

Hoplite's eyes flashed open for the third time that night. He reached under his pillow for his mobile phone and started writing a text to Miss Watson.

"approached by someone called Dawn pls advise"

He stared at it for several moments before cancelling the text and putting it underneath his pillow again. He gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to tear the pillow to shreds in a fit of pique. He couldn't really trust them, not yet. Not after the stunt they'd pulled. Lilly was their creature, or close enough that it didn't matter. Dawn made his hair stand on end, and not just in the pleasant way. Bethany seemed gentle enough, but he knew so little about how she was involved in this that he could only assume that she was somehow planning his undoing as well. Hoplite lied in bed, with fear and anger and paranoia swirling about him and building to a crescendo until he was having a full-on panic attack.

He had spent an evening alone in his room attempting to imbue the satchel of cash with the essence of un-interestingness, which had left him feeling drained. He had placed it in his locker at the hostel, along with the mobile phone that Dawn had given him. He new the next morning that he was going to have to try to track down some mana. Perhaps he could trust Hei enough to help him with that. He resolved to get in touch with her in the morning.

His eyelids grew heavy once again as he sunk into a troubled sleep.

His dreams once again fell to the dark and empty version of Auckland. The streets blew with a gentle, dry wind, and the street litter formed haunting patters in the shadows. Though he couldn't see anyone, he could see the spaces they left behind, like echoes of movement. For some reason, he knew if he touched them he would be left unclean, so he avoided them as he walked towards the sea. The first person he saw was a transient, sitting by a taxi stand, begging for change. His ragged call of "Spare change?" fell from his lips in a riot of color that plastered the walls nearby, covering them in graffiti so beautiful it made Hoplite's heart ache to see it. He dropped a few coins in the hat and walked on.

The second person he saw was a young man sitting inside his house, poring over some homework. Standing at his shoulder were creatures of avarice and creatures of pride. He didn't seem to notice their whispers, but they seemed pleased nonetheless.

Finally he came to the waterfront, and saw Hei sitting on the edge of the pier. The set of her shoulders and crossed arms shouted "angry" at him, so he let her be, instead looking out across the water.

"Coward." was all she said.

His eyes opened to dust-speckled sunlight streaming in through the hostel window.

He brought out his phone, and texted Miss Watson.

"Mana and counsel, if you're not too busy."

[Cire]

As Hoplite sought out mana and counsel, everything changed. This vast, sweeping change went all but unnoticed.

In the city of Mankato, Minnesota, one man was made aware of the changes when his friend and fellow professor asked him if he happened to have the ten dollars that he owed him. The inquiry puzzled Cire. He had a nearly flawless memory and had no memory of his friend loaning him money.

Cire handed his friend the requested ten dollars. "Greg, when did you loan me money? I confess I have no memory of the incident."

Doctor Greg Waxler, Cire's friend, gave him a strange look. "On Friday. At B-W 3."

Cire was puzzled. "Was I not in Texas at that time?"

Greg gave Cire an odd look. "No. We played trivia at B-W 3. Remember, I didn't know the name of Venus' moon?"

"Venus has no moon," protested Cire.

"Yes it does," retorted Greg. "It's Neith. I know that now."

At this moment, Cire became even more puzzled. He knew that Neith was the name given to what was thought to be a moon of Venus. However, it was later shown not to exist. What was going on?

[Cire]

Friday April 11th, 2003

Cire was not alone in his puzzlement. Across the world, Silencer blinked in total surprise as he found himself in back seat of a car with two other people in the front seats. The man in the passenger seat he recognized as Winchester. The driver, a woman with short blond hair, he had never seen before. Outside, the sunlight displayed the lush beauty for which New Zealand was justly famous. Everything seemed wrong.

Last he remembered, left to his own devices by Mouse, he had made his way through Auckland, the City of Sails, enjoying what nightlife that the city had to offer on a Sunday night. He was having a good time. He had no idea what he should be doing so he just decided to party. The people he had come to New Zealand had all vanished. He shook his head. Just what was going on? Should he just return to Little Rock? Just as he started to seriously consider giving up on this fool's quest, a pretty woman with long raven hair made his way toward him. She was stunningly lovely.

The woman smiled at him and Silencer smiled back. "Silencer, I need you to do something for me."

It puzzled Silencer that the woman knew his name. "How do you know me?"

The woman just smiled. "I know a lot of things. I need you to find a young woman named Hei. She has the sword that you are looking for."

Now it was day and he was in a car with Winchester and a strange woman. He felt almost sick with confusion.

The blond woman asked, "Silencer, is something wrong? Do I need to pull over?"

"Are you Hei?" demanded Silencer. "Do you have the sword?"

The strange woman gave Winchester a concerned and puzzled look.

[Mockery]

Winchester shrugged his shoulders and shook his head before turning around to face the back seat. "You know, Silencer, about fifteen seconds ago we were talking about where to grab lunch. If seafood isn't your thing your thing, I guess that's okay, but I'm pretty sure there are better ways to change the subject." His jab was alloyed with irritation, but couldn't hide his own sudden concern.

"Who--" He turned his attention on the young architect. "Winchester, where the hell have you been? I got here with Tuesday days ago and you haven't checked in." His voice was full of only the most tentative and volatile calm. "What happened to 'not going to let them win?'"

Winchester's brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to say something before his face went strange and unreadable, and he coolly sat back down. "Thorn, I think maybe we should pull over."

"Are we talking, 'When we get the chance," or "we should make that chance ourselves?" The woman asked, then paused. "No, stupid question."

The sedan pulled over to the side of the road silently, and the Mastigos' hand flipped, turned, and folded in his lap in a series of lightning-fast protective mudras.

"What's going on here?" Asked Silencer.

"You first." Said Winchester. "You're the one not making any sense."

Silencer scowled, but the younger mage's stare didn't relent.

"Tuesday. Paris. The Chess Set. Your car, and a bunch of angry deer."

The words may as well have been Greek or Mandarin or Guaraní for all the sense they seemed to make to Winchester.

Thorn didn't skip a beat. "'The woods are lovely, dark and deep?'" Both men looked at her, a little incredulous.

"...Telefon?" She asked, incredulous. "Charles Bronson? Sleeper Cold War agents?" She crossed her arms with an exasperated sigh and a frown. "Nobody remembers the classics."

Silencer and Winchester looked at each other, Thorn's own non sequitir cracking the tension, just a little.

"Her name's not Hay."

"Hei." Silencer corrected. "It's Chinese"

"Do I look Chinese to you?" She asked.

"No, but when did that ever--" A pause. A deep breath. "All right. We're about to compare notes. Okay?"

Winchester didn't break eye contact. "Okay."

[To Be Continued.]

[Cire]

Trying to hid his growing fear and total bewilderment, Silencer asked Winchester, "It seems like you don't remember Tuesday, but do you remember being in Paris, Texas? The whole unbound hoax?"

Before Winchester could answer, Silencer turned toward Thorn. "And just who are you?"

Thorn looked over to Winchester. "Maybe we should compare notes ourselves first. Silencer, could you give us just a minute?"

Grumbling, Silencer got out of the car and took a few steps away. After he did this, Thorn surprised Winchester by starting up the car and accelerating away. Looking over to Winchester, she said, "I know I'm being more than unilateral here, but we just can't take the chance that Silencer has been taken over by the seers somehow. This is just too weird."

Behind the car, Silencer gave vain pursuit.

[Mockery]

Winchester looked over his shoulder at the rapidly diminishing figure of Silencer, and then nodded along with Thorn as the car did as cars are wont to do, and outpaced him easily.

There was complete silence for several minutes, before Thorn looked sidelong at the Warlock. "There's a Paris in Texas?"

"I...think so." Winchester said, tentatively. "It's near where I'm interning. Ish."

"Is it nice?"

"Probably not." He answered. "Dallas isn't pretty, but if you drive north for another hour every sign of civilization just disappears. If you're taking back roads and going away from the highway like that? I'm pretty sure I'd run into people waving clubs and cooking wild animals on spits."

"In Texas?" She asked. "You mean guns, not clubs, right?"

"Probably." He conceded with a grumble. "Just as crude. My point stands."

"It'd be nice if it were just clubs, though." The Thyrsus admitted. "You haven't known catharsis until you've hit someone with a heavy, blunt object." She took her eyes off the road, decelerating just a bit, to look up at the sky. "The whole lifestyle's kind of appealing once you've lived it, really. Tooth and claw, running wild..."

"No television or air conditioning..." Winchester countered.

"Wrestling with wolves..." Her voice was dreamlike.

"Freezing in rain CAR!" Winchester yelped.

The sedan screeched to a halt as Thorn whipped her attention back to the road, stopping moments before collision with a blue SUV.

The two mages looked at each other.

"It's overrated." She said, then amended herself with a sigh when Winchester pointedly looked between her and her hands on the steering wheel. "All right, it's useful--really useful--but overrated."

It was another minute of silence, this time Winchester breaking it. "Is it always like this?"

"Oh, yeah." Thorn said. "The weather's pretty fantastic year round as far as I've seen."

"No, I mean, the part where they say, 'You've been working really hard. Clearly you should take a vacation, take your mind off things.'" Winchester affected an avuncular tone at first, dropping it launched into a dizzying rapid-fire onslaught of words. "'Here's where you're going, here's what's going on, here's your contact, here's what you're doing, and here's an incomplete list of the things you can reasonably expect to pose a threat to your livelihood or well-being in the pursuit of the aformentioned.'"

"Oh." She said. "That." She seemed to think on this. "Well, you're new."

"'I'll get used to it?'" He said derisively.

"No, you'll find someone else to pawn the grunt work off on." She said, half-smirking, before a thought occurred to her. "...you know, maybe Silencer's compromised, maybe he's got some sort of Bedlam going...but maybe we should check out and see if anyone knows who this 'Hei' person is. Maybe she's one of us, maybe she's one of them, but we should probably know what's going on when Silencer shows back up. I'd like to know how much I need to apologize and how much I'll be able to justify when that happens."

"For dumping him on the side of the road?"

"Oh, he's Thyrsus like me." Thorn waved it off as the light changed and they proceeded further into the city. "If he can't run back to his hotel room without breaking a sweat he's got worse problems than being magically brainwashed and/or crazy."

[Cire]

After arriving in Auckland, Thorn left to check in with some of her friends. She promised Winchester to return as soon as she could. Less than an hour later, she returned. "To find about Hei, my friends suggest that we contact an American calling himself Hoplite," she reported back. "They gave me the location where he's staying. I hope he can shed some light on what's happening."