[IC] (Promethean: The Created 2E) Muddy Waters

[Haberdasher]

Adonis
Conditions/Tilts: Masked (Refinement), Spooked
Alembics: Eros (0), Assimilate (0), Stalker (0), Eris (0)
Health: OOOOOOO I WP: 5/5 I Pyros 5/10
Beats: 1/5 I Vitriol Beats: 0/5

Adonis looks about the van. The lights from the road spook him something fierce- as does the clinical nature of the van. "I thought alchemists were supposed all fumes and bubbling cauldrons. This looks something out of a sci-fi movie."

"Pandoran in there. Maybe."

Adonis' eyes flick over to the casket and he jerks away from it with a hiss. "Shit. Okay, anybody have any ideas how to deal with that? Torch the van?"

Adonis is going to try and glean information from the van.

Wits 2 + Composure 2 = 4 dice -> 1 success.

Wits 2 + Occult 1 = 3 dice -> 1 successes.

I assume that us investigating the van counts as resolving Spooked?

[Caladriu]

Earth

In response, Earth just holds up two fingers while examining a test tube. Lightning arcs between them like a Tesla coil.

[Wormwood]

Mark 5
Conditions: Tenacious
Alembics: Hygeius (0), Motus (0), Unbroken (0), Unconquered (0)
Health: OOOOOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Pyros: 6/11 | Beats: 2/5 | Vitriol Beats: 0/5

Mark 5 looked very carefully around. If there was danger afoot, he'd have to protect the other two (especially the boy), after all.
This whole situation felt wonky. Something about the colors was offputting.

"Pandoran in there. Maybe."
The Tammuz narrowed his eyes. "If it moves, kill it as fast as you can. No holding back."

Carefully observing the symbols, he tried to remember if he knew their meaning.

4 sux on Wits+Composure = Exceptional Success due to Heart of Clay
1 sux on Wits+ Occult

[Arcanist]

Earth, Mark 5, & Adonis

The symbols are all immediately recognizable to you, the most well-known alchemical signs for different metals. The different colours correspond to different symbols- blue for cobalt, red for mercury and phosphorus, greenish-black for copper and tin, the one resembling dried blood for iron. You know a little bit about human alchemy, so maybe these are potions? Liquified Distillations of Pyros, Transmutations held in stasis until they're imbibed. That hardly explains all the nonsensical medical jargon though. It's the clear vials that are the biggest shock. They're marked with the symbol for Vitriol.

Earth's suspicions are confirmed when they find the symbol for Flux etched into each and every biohazard container. More of the containers have begun to flash with cyclopean red eyes, blinking with curiosity at the Created standing about them. They can hear the faint sounds of laboured breathing rising into excited gasps through the thick metal containers, the scrabbling sound of sharpened nails and... other things ...against slick steel. The containers are sealed tight, so the Pandorans within aren't at risk of getting out anytime soon.

Adonis notices a small lab centre off to one side, complete with gloves, goggles, centrifuge, and protective clothing. It is kept meticulously clean, and appears to be used solely for taking samples and running tests on the inventory. For the first time, you notice a slight chill to the trailer, as if it is moderately refrigerated. Earth manages to find a thick spiral notebook hanging off a hook on one of the walls; it appears to be part inventory, part lab report, part journal, and part thesis. Whoever was responsible for these writings, they've been cooped up here in the trailer for a while, taking orders from someone else. Every page of the notebook is topped with a tidy letterhead marked with the same symbol painted on the trailer, and with a name in bold lettering, Amalgama LTD.

Mark 5, on the other hand, is alert and aware, and he can hear someone coming up the street, complaining loudly on a phone "... yeah, yeah, there'll be a new truck here in an hour or so. Some furniture store was nice enough to store the trailer for me. Look, I'm not sure about these new compounds we're testing out, they're too reactive, too volatile. What? No- I got the material straight from Tucson, been with the truck the whole way, taking random samples, running tests. They. Don't. Work. Yeah? Tell that to corporate. We're losing contracts to LDI and Cheiron because even if our product is better, the side effects are too unpredictable to make them safe. Fine, whatever. We'll talk when I get this load to the office."

OOC: Adonis gets a Beat, having Resolved the Spooked Condition by investigating further. Mark 5 gains the Steadfast Condition. Someone is coming back for the trailer, roll Dexterity + Stealth to conceal yourselves, if that's what you plan on doing.

[Wormwood]

Mark 5
Conditions: Tenacious, Steadfast
Alembics: Hygeius (0), Motus (0), Unbroken (0), Unconquered (0)
Health: OOOOOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Pyros: 6/11 | Beats: 2/5 | Vitriol Beats: 0/5

The unclear noises and imagesfrom the biohazard containers made his stomach feel weird. Sick.
These things were not meant to be, and yet here they were. But what got his blood boiling was the Vitriol. There was only one way to get the real thing, and the implications meant Prometheans in the area had been unsafe, despite his work.

He was considering how to trash the place when he heard the phonecall outside.
Hearing the approaching Alchemist, (that was him, he was sure of it), he quickly went through their options. He could probably chase him down without trouble, but they'd be seen. And from the sounds of it, he wasn't alone.
There was bigger fish to catch.
The others heard a hissing "Someone coming. Hide!" as he picked a place where he wouldn't be visible, bent on ambushing the target.
He had questions, and he was going to get some answers.

1 sux on Dext+Stealth

[Haberdasher]

Adonis
Conditions/Tilts: Masked (Refinement)
Alembics: Eros (0), Assimilate (0), Stalker (0), Eris (0)
Health: OOOOOOO I WP: 5/5 I Pyros 5/10
Beats: 2/5 I Vitriol Beats: 0/5

Adonis tilts his head. "Amalgama LTD..."

"Someone coming. Hide!"

Adonis' head whips up towards the back of the van. He gets ready to hide, but then he gets another idea. "You guys wait here."

He quickly jumps out of the van and feigns a buzzed swagger, and walks right up to the alchemist. "Oh hey there. You lost too?" He leans in close to the alchemist, his face friendly and showing extreme interest. "Hey, you're pretty cute. You doing anything right now?"

Adonis is going to try and distract the alchemist with a Seduction roll. The Eros Persistent Condition grants him the ability to get an exceptional success and impose the Swooning Condition on the subject at 3 successes on Persuasion rolls. Manipulation 3 + Persuasion 3 + Seduction 1 = 7 dice -> 1 success.

[Wormwood]

Mark 5
Conditions: Tenacious, Steadfast
Alembics: Hygeius (0), Motus (0), Unbroken (0), Unconquered (0)
Health: OOOOOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Pyros: 6/11 | Beats: 2/5 | Vitriol Beats: 0/5

"You guys wait here."
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT IDIOT DOING!" went furiously through Mark 5's head, but he was in place already: getting out now would only increase the chances of the rashly acting Mimic being hurt and/or taken hostage. Despite not knowing him that well, he didn't want to endanger him; this was not what he was trying to achieve here.

Frustrated, Mark 5 waited for a sign of aggression to swoop in (hopefully, in time).
He could only hope the Mimic knew what he was doing.


"Hey, you're pretty cute. You doing anything right now?"
"What... What's that supposed to achieve!?"

[Caladriu]

Earth

She gave Mark 5 her most human expression yet, a completely bewildered "i have no idea what's going on???"

But hide she did, leaving aside the journal and vials for now to find a good spot she could actually squeeze her misshapen body into. At least she was compact.


Dex+Stealth+WP: 5d10h8 5
Wow, lucky. Maybe she stumbled on something interesting in her search for a hiding spot?

[Arcanist]

Earth, Mark 5, and Adonis

The supposed Alchemist rounds the corner, fresh off the phone, and almost runs face first into the supernaturally charming Galateid. The benefits of his sanguine humour and finely tuned Azoth sets a fire in the young man, a blush unconsciously rising to his cheeks as he backpedals and tries to get around Adonis towards the trailer. He seems barely coherent at this point, just stringing words together "Wh- wait, lost? I was just, and you... uh..." He gestures back over his shoulder with a thumb "Work. I, uh, I need to get this trailer full of medical supplies back to the office, my, office. Truck will be here soon- an hour maybe? Really, really can't. Need the job to pay off student loans, you know?" He looks horrified with himself, realizing that he's babbling to an extremely compelling total stranger who just came completely out of nowhere. He turns on his heel and starts towards the trailer, hunched over as though trying to disappear from view.

Earth manages to squeeze her way under the lab centre, bumping up against a door on one of the cabinets in her haste to escape. The door opens, and an old book, apparently handwritten, falls out. Notes and sketches on loose pieces of paper slip out from between the pages, covered in spidery writing and all-too familiar symbols that wake something deep in Azothic Memory. One of the loose illustrations floats its way over to her, and when it brushes her skin it's like the brush of a hand against her Azothic Radiance. This book is more than it appears, and it calls to the Torment inside her, urging her to find an outlet.

OOC: The Amalgama LTD employee has only a single Door left for Social Maneuvering. Adonis' Impression is Perfect, so he can roll again immediately. Earth finds an Athanor, but what, exactly, is written within it and what secrets it contains will remain to be seen. You know, instinctively, that the Athanor is attuned to Stannum.

[Caladriu]

Earth
Conditions: Enraged
Alembics: Arc (2), Imperatus (0), Weaponize (0), Redirect (0)
Health: BBBOOOOOOO | Willpower: 3/5 | Pyros: 4/12 | Beats: 2/5 | Vitriol Beats: 0/5

Hunched under the lab center, not hearing anyone step inside the trailer just yet, Earth furtively grabs the book and flips through it. What is it, exactly? If possible she'd like to figure out what type of Athanor it is, but if that will take more time, she can wait and consult her Library for help.

[Haberdasher]

Adonis
Conditions/Tilts: Masked (Refinement)
Alembics: Eros (0), Assimilate (0), Stalker (0), Eris (0)
Health: OOOOOOO I WP: 5/5 I Pyros 5/10
Beats: 2/5 I Vitriol Beats: 0/5

Adonis claps a hand on the presumed alchemist's shoulder and spins him around. He then moves in close and places his other hand on the alchemist's chest, and his gaze turns nakedly lustful. "Oh come on. You have a minute. Maybe even fifteen."

Adonis is going to make another attempt to seal the deal with the alchemist to buy the others time to sneak away. Manipulation 3 + Persuasion 3 + Area of Expertise 2 = 8 -> 2 successes.

[Arcanist]

Adonis

The alchemist is visibly sweating, knees on the verge of buckling, before impulsively throwing himself at Adonis. The sudden kiss breaks off as the alchemist takes a step, breathes, and gestures out of the loading dock. "Coffee first? Clementine Cafe is up the street. We'll talk and... see how things go."

[Caladriu]

Earth
Conditions: Enraged, Informed (Athanor)
Alembics: Arc (2), Imperatus (0), Weaponize (0), Redirect (0)
Health: BBBOOOOOOO | Willpower: 3/5 | Pyros: 4/12 | Beats: 2/5 | Vitriol Beats: 0/5

Earth realizes that no one's coming.

Earth tells Mark 5: "No one's coming."

She squeezes out from under the lab equipment, dimly aware that her body is chilled. She stuffs the Athanor in her backpack, and steals the spiral notebook journal as well. The Pandorans continue to scrabble and claw against their imprisonment, but she ignores them. She walks back to the vials and stares at them.

She runs a horrid finger along the clear vials of stolen Vitriol. Memories are rushing back: Dead Girl straddling a fallen man-thing who spoke in tongues and bled shadows. Her hands are deep inside his eviscerated chest cavity, gripping his guts. She's stealing from him. There's no glint of humanity in her eyes, they're wide and flat and reflective as mirrors. Earth-Dies-Screaming is hunched nearby, telling her what to listen for and where to squeeze to draw it out best.

Standing here in the refrigerated clean trailer, Earth realizes that Dead Girl didn't want to do that. But she did it anyway, because they were tog͝é͏͞t̸͝h҉̡è̴̶r̡͘

"This is us," she whispers to Mark 5. Her voice isn't rough, it's confused and quiet. "The ones who made this Vitriol, they didn't ask to be used this way. She didn't want this."

Her fists clench. She tries to justify why this little vial bothers her so much: "It isn't right. It isn't alchemy!"

What Milestones these came from, she can't imagine. She pictures herself crushing them in her hands, denying the alchemists their prize- and all that bottled enlightenment wasted in a puddle on the floor of a semi-trailer, lapped up by hungry Pandorans in boxes.

She looks over at Mark 5, angry and lost. "We can't...use this, can we? We couldn't. We could- you can use it this way- but- it's...it's stolen, but not the way a TV is stolen. I don't know another word." Language fails the Named. She's stuttering and tripping over her tongue.

"But if we just break it- then what was the point? That whole stupid useless Pilgrimage that cooked it just ends in- in- a puddle! But if we took it, it would be like- fuckin'- spraypainting a soul in a paper bag and huffing it!"

Earth throws up her hands. "Just- say something any time, Hero. I'm not good at this doing the right thing gig."

[Haberdasher]

Adonis
Conditions/Tilts: Masked (Refinement)
Alembics: Eros (0), Assimilate (0), Stalker (0), Eris (0)
Health: OOOOOOO I WP: 5/5 I Pyros 5/10
Beats: 2/5 I Vitriol Beats: 0/5

Adonis accepts the kiss willingly. This is different, it's new. The man is different from Sharon, different from Lily: smell, taste, touch, sound, feel. It's over before he would like. The man isn't the most attractive one he's seen, but he's been wanting to try this, see if a human's sex makes a difference in the experience. It does, but it's a pleasant one. Not a change of quality, but a change of characteristics.

Part of him wants to show this man what he can do right here and now, throw the man up against the wall and blow his mind. But that's not the idea- he needs to stay on target. "That's fine. I won't keep you all night. Let's just get coffee. If it's a work thing, you can just say you got stuck in traffic or something." He says it in a conversational tone, but hopefully the two Tammuz in the van can hear him and get the hint to grab what they want/need and get out. He gestures up the alley, his smile now less hungry and more friendly. "Shall we?"

[Wormwood]

Mark 5
Conditions: Tenacious, Steadfast
Alembics: Hygeius (0), Motus (0), Unbroken (0), Unconquered (0)
Health: OOOOOOOOOO | Willpower: 6/6 | Pyros: 6/11 | Beats: 2/5 | Vitriol Beats: 0/5

Mark 5 heard a faint "Shall we?" outside. Apparently Adonis placed the Alchemist under some sort of Mind control. Not bad. He actually came in handy. After they could not be heard anymore, Mark 5 came out of his Hiding spot, to see Earth Watch the Vitriol. He listened carefully, at one point stroking a vial, sadly. A pilgrim like him, reduced to this. He expected rage. There was none. Just one word in his mind:
Why?

"Just- say something any time, Hero. I'm not good at this*doing the right thing."

Mark 5 contemplated the problem. Taking it was out of the question. Leaving it here, behind... "Defiling. Is what this is. It won't Stay here." Destroying it? Unthinkable.
Taking it with them wouldn't solve the problem.
How do you show respect to those who won't notice? A memory bubbled up. Men in fancy clothes, looking alike, shooting and making noise as a Box is carried and put in a hole.
How strangely appropriate.
"Humans do this thing were they put a body back in the Earth. Then talk about the person. They show respect to fallen warriors like that. We could do that- to be dealt with like real humans, even if it is in death, they'd probably have liked that."
Something wet on his face. Strange. He was sure there had not been any rain.
"And then, Earth, we will avenge them. We find who is responsible for this, and we will put them to JUSTICE!"
He smashed his fist on the Wall of the trailer at that.