October 25, Evening (Official)


Cas and Olga were the first to arrive. Actually, Lindsay had been there since opening, washing the few dishes required as the largely nondescript patrons came and went. The area is crummy, and so are the clientle. Cas was a more self-confident patron that normal for them, coming from a harder part of town (by a few blocks). Olga, on the other hand, with her velvet coat and careful presentation, was right out of the experience of this place. And she didn't even order anything to eat.

The third arrival was a mature woman. She immediately took control of the situation, commanding Cas and Olga to help bring some tables together and join her. As the others arrived she drew them all to the same table and ultimately introduced them to each other, after noticing and nabbing Lindsay as she went past. She seemed to know at least a bit about everyone other than Lindsay, who she pleased she had spotted.

Campbell Jones she indicated was a cop, good at discovering people's secrets.

Olga Troynikov she identified as someone who finds things - interesting things.

Renee Saint-Clair she described as a doctor - someone who helps people.

Cas was simply someone who neither finds things, nor helps people; but is good in a fight.

And Lindsay introduced herself, and was then labeled "quiet".

The woman was not forthcoming with her name, or any sort of description. She did call herself None at one point. But that might have been rather than giving any sort of name.

She made it clear that she'd called people together, but the woman was somewhat circumspect about why. She indicated that some sort of group was watching all of them. Perhaps the group was called the New Inquisition. She intimated that they could be dangerous, perhaps even fatal. She claimed not to be part of the group, but perhaps had some knowledge of them from past dealings of some description.

Alex Abel was mentioned, perhaps in association with this New Inquisition.

She talked about a missing or captured or hidden child who, she said, must be found. At one point she seemed to indicate the kid was white. She seemed to indicate the knowledge of the child was, in itself, important. But actually locating the child might give them leverage to get out from under their difficulty.

There was some indication that the woman had been involved in hiding the child, along with someone else. It seems that the other person (a man, it would seem) had told her that to find the child one would need to locate the Heart of All Sorrows. She claimed not to know what, or where, it might be.

She talked a fair bit about being chased or oppressed in some way by others, perhaps the same group she was warning them about. At one point, shortly after muttering some foreign words and blurting out a lot of the above information, one of her hands seemed to leap of its own accord to the table, grab a fork, and stab her other arm before she was able to control it.

At that point she made to leave, and after a few final words she dashed out of the place, warning the others to watch out.

The group was not silent through the conversation. Renee, in particular, was quite vocal about voicing his concerns at being invited to such a group meeting with people he didn't know. Others asked questions, or ventured that the woman (or the rest of the group) was nuts.

By the time the woman had fled, Lindsay was also gone, and could not be found.

Renee ended up paying for the meal.

It was decided that people would see if they could find out anything about the stuff the woman had told them, and then meet for dinner on Friday. The venue selected was a restaurant that Olga frequents.

Renee's car was attacked and he lost the wheels and CD player, a window was broken, and he later found the pistol in the glove box was missing. Cas was signaled by a local who was able to lead her to the location of the tires, and the two helped to put them back on. Money changed hands. And at some point Renee managed to lose track of his wallet; Cas was impressed at how much cash he still had left in it.


Copyright © 2000-2003, Liam Routt

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