They Walk Among Us: Game Thread

[hiei82]

Jackson Clark​

Jackson was crossing a street, trying to track down the limo. It wasn't that far ahead. Jackson took a look at his phone, just to check up on the priest. Even from the distance the quad copter was, the broken down section of wall was easy to see.

Jackson turned down an alleyway and moved behind a dumpster. He watched again. One priest was picking up something from the remains of the wall (he didn't want to move the quad closer and risk it getting spotted). Suddenly, the priest rushed forward, but Jackson didn't see anything on the feed. It was obvious the priests had found/stumbled onto the creature's trail.

Jackson opened up his pack. He needed to get back to their position, but a person running through the crowd will just bring up all kinds of questions. He couldn't afford to be seen. He took out the PCIC.

Jackson put slug his sniper around his back and put on the Prototype Concealing Invisibility Cloak. In a place this crowded, no one would think much of being bumped by somebody they didn't see, as long as he wasn't to obvious. Jackson put on the infrared eye pieces, and took another look down at his phone. The Priests were crawling into a sewer.

Cramped, dark, disgusting beyond reason, and a thousand places to hide. The perfect place with for a monster who can stand the smell and survive those toxic fumes to hide. That is assuming there is even enough room to stand up, let alone to crawl.

Jackson took out the gas mask and put it on. He knew a lot of these old cities had huge sewer systems, but he wasn't sure Boston had those, or hadn't upgraded to smaller plumbing systems. The fact such a large creature could move down there suggested the former, although, if it could plymorph it's size...

Jackson engaged the stealth. It only lasted 30 seconds, and needed a minute to fully recharge. That would be enough to get back to that section of the alleys. There were a lot of people on the streets, but Jackson was able to weave through most of them. He was able to cross the street when it was clear (thankfully, it seemed Bostoners had a genetic drive to jaywalk) and get into the alley. It was difficult, but he did find the wall with the gaping hole in it, and the blue blood. Jackson took out his phone.

"Found signs of a preternatural struggle at current location. It does not appear to of been contaminated by the police, other agent's found it first, very likely Templars. Location unsecured, and may of been viewed by civies. Entity appears to be using sewers, leaving extra gear at present location."

 

[Terratina.]

"I know its big and fast, and it only seems to come out at night, might be a shapeshifter of some sort going by what I have heard, though I can't be sure."

"Thine occupation is detective but thou have but naught to tell us, I see." Eligos didn't even bother rolling his eye. What little Detective Summers had to offer in terms of information wasn't worth the agreement they had made. Big, fast, comes out at night, it was still so vague. The man hadn't even stumbled upon any evidence yet!

"'Twould be best to be off." The imprisoned demon muttered to Adrain.

 

[hiei82]

[HEADING=2]The Waterfront[/HEADING]

"I'm interested enough in who else asked about it, but I'd pay even more if you could have a boat ready for me and my... partner, by the time it gets dark. She's very interested in seeing the city by sea."

The captain smiled and spoke up. "Two people have asked about this. One was a detective; the one they were talking about in the paper. Not surprised he'd be asking; he was trying to hunt some mythical serial killer. The other guy was a strange one. Looked like one of them educated types. Said he was from Harvard down here "doing research". Didn't believe it for a minute; what kinda college is looking for missing sailors and cargo? In any event; he looked the part. Had big bag and long coat on."

He as about to continue when he paused for a second, glancing over Victoria's shoulder. "That yer partner then? need me to get that boat ready?" he asked, just as Jake's voice rang out "Victoria, hi!", all big grin and exuberant wave. "How the damned hell are you?"

[HEADING=2]The Sewers[/HEADING]

Sesthine and Rain barely had time to ready themselves before the first of the beasts rounded a corner and attacked. It came from Sesthine's side of the tunnel, jumping on top of her in a distinctly canine like manner; knocking her to the ground with a malodorous splash. While Sesthine's vision was obscured by the creature's close proximity, Rain had no such difficulties. From Sesthine's perspective, the creature was a hundred and change pound beast of goo-like flesh with a dog like "face" based solely on the size and number of viciously sharp teeth. Saying the thing had a face was woefully inadequate however as it appeared to be lacking in anything resembling fur or skin. Instead, the creature seemed to be constructed of necrotic muscle not unlike her own vampiric body. She felt a sharp pain in her side; apparently the beast had equally vicious claws on each of its feet.

From Rain's perspective, the creature was decidedly more hideous. The creature's frame was indeed dog like and lacking in anything like skin, but its body had a much worse element to it. Covering its body were a half dozen decidedly human faces - likewise devoid of skin. Their eyes still moved as did their mouths, each muttering silent cries of pain and suffering. The creature's "feet" all appeared to be heavily modified human hands bearing long, talon-like claws.

Meanwhile, around the corner, Hugh and Shaun had lacked the time to prepare for the strike at all. A creature - similar in most respects but far from identical - had jumped from the darkness behind them, slamming into Shaun. Shaun could feel the creature bite into the flesh of his arm followed by unimaginable pain; far more than a simple bite should cause.

As the second struck, it roared in that unnatural way only to be answered by innumerable more roars in the distance.

[HEADING=2]Jackson[/HEADING]

"Found signs of a preternatural struggle at current location. It does not appear to of been contaminated by the police, other agent's found it first, very likely Templars. Location unsecured, and may of been viewed by civies. Entity appears to be using sewers, leaving extra gear at present location."

"Understood" the response came; "We'll have a team on location in T-minus 3". Not a second later, the sound of sirens blared through the streets; apparently the "response teams" were in position.

 

[Texas Joker 52]

+ Father Daughtry +​

Even with the flare of his purifying flames lighting up the area, Shaun had to struggle to see very far into the sewers. Whatever the figure they saw earlier was, it had quickly gone out of sight. He was about to move forward and peer around the corner when something large and heavy slammed into his side and clamped large, toothy jaws around his left arm, causing the flames around his hand to go out.

As soon as he felt the teeth bury themselves into his flesh, Shaun screamed in pain before blindly thrusting his spear just past where his arm was being bitten.

"Get off of me you bloody gobshite piece of..." he ground out, stabbing it several times before he heard it roar.

The answering calls caused him to momentarily forget the blinding pain in a wave of panic as he turned to Hugh.

"There are more! Don't let yourself get overwhelmed!" he spat, before turning back to the demon still clamped to his arm and kicking it viciously.

Then, grasping his spear more firmly, he raised it above his head before bringing it down point-first where the monsters head had to have been.

 

[hiei82]

Jackson Clark​

Jackson put away his phone. He commanded the quad to come down and put it in his pack. Jackson only grabbed two things from the pack, a flashlight (which he attached to the submachinegun) and one of his five anti-demonic rounds. Hopefully it wouldn't be needed.

Jackson found the sewer entrance and put his pack next to the entrance, to communicate to the clean up team where he had went. Jackson descended into the sewer. Thankfully it was large enough to move around, and the gas mask was blocking the worst of the smell.

He heard the yelling, both human and a lot not of this world. Jackson ran towards the noise, FPG in hand.

 

[Mestizaje]

Victoria

She listened to what the captain said, and then when someone decided to be loud she had to turn her phone recording off, or they would complain back at Winter. She'd gotten everything from the captain that he was willing to give out with the promise of money, and likely also everything he actually did know about it anyway. She sent the recording back to Winter.

"No, my partner is a woman. I did say she." Victoria answered the captain first, then turned to look at the man who'd just greeted her like they knew each other. He might have looked vaguely familiar, but she kind of hoped she didn't have any friends that would dress like that. She wanted to think they knew better, especially if they were about to go anywhere else than within their own home. Victoria just looked at the man for a while. She may be well known in certain circles, but she hardly had anything resembling fans either.

"Confused as to who you might be." Victoria finally said.

Sesthine

"Fucking cretin." She whispered through clenched teeth.

Sesthine had been prepared and reacted as fast as she was able too, but the thing had still knocked her over with its combined strength and weight when it jumped on her. She had gotten the axe between her and it though, which meant the fall must have hurt it more than it hurt her. The axe was buried deep in the creature's stomach, and when she forced it deeper she felt a claw in the side of her own body. She didn't let out a sound because of the sharp pain. Instead, she used one hand to keep the doglike face from biting her with its fangs while she dragged the axe up towards the head, through the creature's torso, shoulders and then throat. It seemed to have the intended effect as the creature stopped fighting back as much.

She doubted it was dead, as she'd recognized what the creature appeared to be made of. However, even she needed a breather to recuperate whenever she'd had her stomach opened, and throat cut as a vampire in the homelands. She could try to keep it alive long enough to get it to Victoria, and deliver it to Winter, but it would be difficult to remain unnoticed. Though it had never hindered her before.

Sesthine pushed it off of her, and heard the roar of more of them. If she stayed she could catch a few of them, but risk other hunters stealing her catch or stabbing her in the back. She acted quickly, hacking the creature's front paws off and hanging them on the inside of her coat. It stained her already dirty clothes, but that splash had made her wish she'd brought a second set anyway.

She slung the beast over her back, while holding it by its back paws, so that they ended up back to back. She didn't want to make it easy for the beast to bite her, should it regain its strength while she carried it. "Plenty left" She said, to no one in particular as she begun to run in the opposite direction of the roars. She'd try one of her race tricks, disappearing in the dark, then head towards the sea and hope Victoria was able to pick her up as soon as possible.

 

[Drummodino]

"I know its big and fast, and it only seems to come out at night, might be a shapeshifter of some sort going by what I have heard, though I can't be sure."

"Thine occupation is detective but thou have but naught to tell us, I see."

Adrian shared the demon's disappointment. They'd actually found someone in this overcrowded labyrinth of a city who may have had some useful information, but he had squat.

"'Twould be best to be off."

"Agreed." Looking back to the detective, Adrian opened his mouth to speak, but cut off when he heard a faint sound.

"Was that a scream?" He may have been imagining things but it sounded like it came from further into the alleyways. It was somewhat muffled, as if it was from within a building or perhaps underground.

"Did you hear that? I think that may be our lucky break. Come on," Adrian said, turning and striding in the direction the sound had come from.

 

[Redryhno]

As the creature lunged out of the darkness, Hugh felt it. Turning, gun in hand as the priest battled with the dog-demon that bit his arm, causing the area around them to plunge into darkness again. Thankfully, Hugh shut his eyes for a heartbeat and regained most of his vision in the darkness around them, the light from the day above reaching very little down below.

Turning back towards the opening and another roar, he saw...someone rush past, the glint of their axe a moment before continuing past. Hugh quickly made the decision to run after the person, leaving Shaun to deal with this one demon, he was confident in the priest's ability to defend himself, despite being wounded and surprised. Seeing the person wrestling with the demon,axe in hand, he also heard another behind him, and instantly pulled his second pistol from its holster, taking the safety off both, and fired once at the dog-creature wrestling with the axe-wielder, seeing a hole be ripped through the demon before turning his attention to the one behind him, keeping a gun pointed in either direction however.

"Now exactly who are either of you?" He paused a moment, taking aim behind the abnormally tall person behind him, and firing off three shots, taking another of the creatures down, if not dead, before continuing,"Nevermind, there's more of these things coming." He was filled with yet more adrenaline and fear the more of these things that he saw, he had no idea what they were, probably some Cabal Witch's pet project gone awry.

"You're both coming with us out of this infernal hole,"He called out to the priest at the base of the ladder,"Father Daughtry, I'm sorry, but we need to leave already,"He kept a gun pointed at both, his trigger fingers ready to fire if either of these people had demonic magic about them.

"Move now!,"He yelled to both who were currently on the receiving end of his pistols,"Too many of these things for us to deal with, our information were lacking it appears. Do not test us."

 

[Mestizaje]

Sesthine

She didn't stop running for a second, guns were such a useless weapon anyway that she almost laughed at the man threatening her. She'd no problem to deflect bullets with her axe thanks to her reflexes and speed when first entering this world of technology, but most of the time it wasn't even necessary to try to defend against them as a vampire.

Sesthine turned a corner before she could hear what else he might decide to try against someone who just didn't care. Victoria would be disappointed if she let herself get caught so easily, especially when it hadn't happened before and they should be more busy fighting for their lives than capturing her.

She kept running through the labyrinth-like sewer, turning a number of corners as she headed towards the sea. It got so dark eventually, because of the lack of any light sources whatsoever. Sesthine kept running though, with the incacipated dog on her back, following the scent of the sea and the bond between her and Victoria, which would always lead her back to her.

 

[hiei82]

Jackson Clark​

Jackson ran forward when he heard the gunfire. He turned and saw the two priests fighting dog like creatures. Hordes of the bloody things. This means, it isn't simply one lone creature. He caught a glimpse of someone with an... axe maybe vanished into the dark. The priests were not alone, two other figures were also in the sewers. One of the priests held up two pistols

"Move now! Too many of these things for us to deal with, our information were lacking it appears. Do not test us."

Jackson fired a burst at the nearest hound, mostly to get the attention of the group.

"THIS WAY!" Jackson yelled in a commanding voice, hoping to bring these four agents back to the alley sewer entrance Jackson and the priests originally entered.

 

[Lotus_Gait]

"Confused as to who you might be." With Victoria's words, Jake narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not. From his own sources, Jake knew the girl could play mind games with the most veteran of CEOs.

Should he tell her the truth, or just give subtle hints? Either way, he needed to get her away from the sailor to chat in private. He laughed sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders.

"A hotshot like you, Ms. Winter? No reason you should remember a penpusher from EarthSheet," he pressed the emphasis, hoping she'd catch the hint. "I'm just doing a little feature on these recent killings."

 

[DarkRawen]

It didn't take long before the demons appear, though not from where he thought they would. Rain thought he heard voices, but that didn't matter now, if there were more people down here, they better be able to fight.

There were at least two of these creatures, hideous skinless dogs, large, and covered in what appeared to be human faces. Even worse, these human faces moved, and looked as if they were in pain, suffering. Rain's heart sank, making him hesitate, wonder if these really had been people, though he knew the best way to deal with their pain was to take out the chimeric creatures. In his hesitation, the woman had moved, nearly killed the creature and brought it with her, as she ran away again.

Should I follow her?

Like the other time he had asked himself that, the answer was no. Around the corner came one of the others that had gone down there, and that he had heard before. The man aimed a gun at both him and the supernaturally fast woman -now he was sure she wasn't a normal human- though Rain just raised his blade.

"Now exactly who are either of you? Nevermind, there's more of these things coming."

There's no need for chatting now.

And more did arrive. He cut down one, and injured another, they weren't hard to deal with once one knew what to avoid and where to cut. However, it became clear that there was too many of them, and Rain found himself, unwillingly, getting closer to the two others. The woman was long gone, from the looks of things.

"You're both coming with us out of this infernal hole, Father Daughtry, I'm sorry, but we need to leave already,"

Father Daughtry. A priest, then?

Looking closer at them, it became clear what organization they belonged to. Templars, of course. Rain hesitated to approach them further, while they weren't the enemy, Templars were some of the most narrow-minded and arrogant organizations out there, and they didn't take kindly to Cabal's way of handling the demons and monsters.

"Move now! Too many of these things for us to deal with, our information were lacking it appears. Do not test us."


There was fear in the supposed Templar's voice as he spoke, though, understandable. Rain had been raised with the knowledge and, often presence of demons and items of demonic nature. Had it not been so, he supposed he might have been a little frightened as well. Still, he did not take kindly to having a gun aimed at him.

"Don't test me," Rain replied. "And don't point a gun at me, Templar. I know when to quit; if you don't intend to fight these creatures, then I'm outnumbered. As dishonourable as it is, I'll follow you out of here."

He really intended to do so, if they moved out, he'd do as well. Cabal had more use for him alive than dead, that he was sure of.

"THIS WAY!"

Another man, whom had surely entered during the chaos, said. Rain calmly nodded, though he wasn't about to get ordered around by yet another guy, this time one appearing to be a soldier. He was still waiting for them to make the first move. Besides, as he was now, he was faster than them either way, and he doubted they'd take kindly to him running ahead like the woman had before him.

 

[IFS]

"Thine occupation is detective but thou have but naught to tell us, I see."

"I've been in the city an hour, maybe two, and I'll bet I've got more on it than either of you," Randall replied grouchily. A sword questioning my competence? That's a new one, must be a damn good blade for him to have not pitched it into the ocean already, its far mouthier than a weapon ought to be.

Adrian it seemed agreed with his weapon though, though any further comment from either of them was interrupted by a faint series of sounds. Some of which Randall was quite familiar with, gunshots and screams, it must be christmas, he thought dryly to himself.

"Did you hear that? I think that may be our lucky break. Come on,"

"Already ahead of you," Randall muttered, moving quickly to match the taller man's long strides "Sounded like it came from below, hrm, sewers probably."

Moving quickly the sound grew louder, much louder, if it was the sewers then someone had opened them up. Great, more hunters, wonder which group it'll be this time. He quickened his pace hoping the noise didn't attract the attention of civilians they would just get in the way, cops... cops might be able to help might not. From the paper it seemed they were in full denial mode on the killings so they'd probably just get flabbergasted then eaten.

He rounded the corner into another alleyway and spotted the opening, yelling and gunfire clearly originating from within. He drew his gun, a heavy powerful pistol, from inside his coat and readied it as he approached; slowing his pace and feeling his shriveled body tense in preparation for what might come next.

"THIS WAY!"

"Hrm," Randall grunted, pausing a few feet before the entrance "Seems they're falling back, should stand aside."

 

[Texas Joker 52]

+ Father Daughtry +​

The final stab seemed to have done it, causing the fleshy demon hound to twitch once before the body went lax. With one last grunt, he caused white flames to surge from the tip of his spear, engulfing the dead demon and quickly rendering it into fine ash.

Then he turned to his partner as he aimed a gun at a retreating figure, as well as a man just slightly shorter than himself that had a sword in hand. And they were joined by yet another newcomer, this one looking more like he was military, holding a small sub-machine gun in his hands. The soldier promptly fired a burst at the nearest flesh hound, then yelled at them to move.

The one with the sword and trenchcoat, however, seemed to sneer at his partner, causing Shaun to none-too-gently cuff the back of the man's head after switching which hand held his spear.

"Now isn't the time for dick-measuring, so unless you want to meet your maker, best you get moving you gobshite!" he growled, his voice audibly becoming more and more Irish though it was thick with pain.

Then he simply moved past and started to climb up the ladder to the surface as quickly as his wound would allow. He was thankful it didn't take long, especially since the top of the manhole was crowded as it is.

"And who are you two? Nevermind, just move back, there are others coming up!" he told them as he set his spear aside and offered a hand for the next person making their way up.

 

[DarkRawen]

As he was waiting for the others to act, one of the templars switched his spear over to the other hand, then stepped closer to Rain. He then, for no apparent reason, attempted to hit the back of his head. It took Rain by surprise, but he managed to turn around and deflect it with his left hand, though he made no further attempts to counter it. He then gripped his sword tighter, these people couldn't be trusted.

"Now isn't the time for dick-measuring, so unless you want to meet your maker, best you get moving you gobshite!"

"Shouldn't you be running then?" he replied, voice portraying a cold anger, though the other was already moving at the point. Rain followed, though a couple of meters behind. The man started climbing up the ladder, and, when there, addressed someone whom Rain couldn't see yet.


"And who are you two? Nevermind, just move back, there are others coming up!"

Getting closer, about to climb the ladder, Rain noticed someone familiar, and spoke, assuming the other would hear him.

"Adrian," he said, stepping away from the ladder to let others climb instead. While he had been hesitant to taking on these many demons on his own, he was sure two members of Cabal -and a demonic sword- could handle it.

"I assume you want this dealt with now? There is a large number of demon-dogs down here, but they're not that tough, I think the two of us could handle it."

 

[Redryhno]

"I assume you want this dealt with now? There is a large number of demon-dogs down here, but they're not that tough, I think the two of us could handle it."

"No, you are not,"Hugh said, keeping one of his two guns pointed at the sword-wielding demon-user, the other held beside him, in case it was needed as the sound of paws and maddened roars echoed throughout the underground, his voice becoming more solid the longer he spoke, though his own mixed accent began coming through much stronger than normal,"Jinmenken are not seen together unless something has forced them together, and I refuse to allow someone so obviously versed in the ways of Arcana,"his head nodded at Rain's feet,"To go off alone with their superiors,"Nodding at Adrian,"Into these sewers again, one of you has already escaped with one of these demons you came down here for," He gestured at the ladder,"Now if you'd please climb out of here so that we can all get out of here alive."

"However, I could very well be wrong about what we are dealing with, there are countless demons recorded,"He then very pointedly aimed at the Arcane Man's hand gripping his sword hilt tight enough for what little color he had left to fade to pure white,"And let go of that sword, if we had wanted you dead, you would be dead already. But don't take our mercy for a chance to escape back into this failed experiment of yours. Or was it failed at all?"

 

[Drummodino]

Adrian strode through the alleys, heading towards the disturbance. The sounds of gunshots and screams were easy to follow through the twisted alleys. Randall hurriedly caught up to him as they walked.

"Sounded like it came from below, hrm, sewers probably."

"Yes, most likely," Adrian replied. Whatever was down there was causing quite a ruckus, hopefully it didn't draw any civilians. It was always a hassle whenever they got caught in a crossfire.

The men quickened their pace as they got closer. Rounding the corner they found the opening, it was indeed a sewer grate. Randall pulled out a gun from under his coat, a hefty looking thing. Adrian held off on drawing Eligos, descending a ladder sword in hand would be awkward at best.

"THIS WAY!"

It appeared they had found the escape route for the fighters. Heeding Randall's suggestion, Adrian stood aside and allowed them room. He narrowed his eyes as a priest emerged with what appeared to be a bite wound on his arm. "Couldn't have happened to anyone more deserving" he thought to himself smugly. At that moment a familiar voice floated up from the base of the ladder.

"Adrian, I assume you want this dealt with now? There is a large number of demon-dogs down here, but they're not that tough, I think the two of us could handle it."

Rain's plan suited Adrian very well. Before he could answer however, a man next to Rain pointed a gun at him and spoke.

"...don't take our mercy for a chance to escape back into this failed experiment of yours. Or was it failed at all?"

"Oh great, there's two of the holier-than-thou assholes here," Adrian thought. Grabbing the ladder and sliding down, he drew Eligos and pointed it at the man's throat.

"I don't take kindly to threats or baseless accusations, you little shit. Feel free to cower and flee if you want, but don't get in our way," Looking back up the ladder, Adrian called out "Hey detective, you coming? My sword arm is itching for some action." Shifting his gaze to Rain, Adrian nodded. "Good job finding the targets, even if you did pick up some fleas," he said, glaring back at the gunman.

 

[IFS]

Someone quickly emerged from the hole with the others close behind in the sewer now in view through the entryway. One of them recognized Adrian, makes sense, larger organizations don't tend to send in lone operatives if they can help it. Seems long coats are standard cabal uniforms too, well at least they've got a good sense of style. The one who emerged looked to be a Templar and had an injured hand, no doubt now that the monsters are down there,. Another individual stood in the sewer not far behind, one with an itchy trigger finger and a damaged brain considering he thought waving a gun in peoples faces was an acceptable course of action. Fortunately Adrian stepped in before Randall had to.

"I don't take kindly to threats or baseless accusations, you little shit. Feel free to cower and flee if you want, but don't get in our way, hey detective, you coming? My sword arm is itching for some action."

"Count me in, if these pansies want to turn tail and run that's their business," he replied, checking that there was no one directly below him then dropping through the entryway without bothering with the ladder, landing with a small splash in the tunnel below.

He turned briefly to the gunman, who looked rather young to him "Save the lead for the monsters kid, and learn some goddamn muzzle discipline well you're at it," he growled, keeping his own revolver pointed at the ground but ready to raise it as soon as he spotted a monster.

Faction rivalries were nothing new to Randall's experience, and while he couldn't tell what faction the gunman belonged to he also didn't much care. He would cast his lot with the ones setting off to kill monsters over the ones waving their guns everywhere like lunatics and threatening people. To that end he kept his eye on the gunman, if he decided to fire then Randall would do his best to disrupt him, if he had to he would stand in the way of the bullets. Not like they'd do much to me, unless they're explosive rounds or some such.

 

[Redryhno]

ignore

 

[Mestizaje]

Victoria

"Ah, yes, EarthSheet, making the dumb masses dumber.." Victoria said, and almost continued with mentioning her own real job and what she actually meant with the comment, but then the captain was still standing close enough to hear it. She didn't particularly want the public to know about the monsters and demons either, as it might draw too much attention to her and Winter.

"I've probably met some of you before, maybe even yourself." She said. "But then I meet a lot of different people in my line of work, and only ever remember a few without looking in my phone or asking an associate."

Victoria wondered which one of them the man wanted to talk with, but figured that he couldn't possibly have known she'd be there. She'd gotten almost everything she wanted from the captain anyway, so she turned to him once more. "Please, have that boat ready for me and my female partner." She said, then nodded at him and the EarthSheet reporter. "I'll leave you to it then, and good luck with that feature. Better be good."

Victoria walked away from them, but didn't leave the area or get in her limo. She could feel Sesthine clawing at her attention through the bond, and when she responded she realized the woman must have caught something as she was a mix of annoyed, excited and concerned.

Victoria picked up her phone and called Winter, making sure no one was close enough to listen in first. "We need a pickup or dropoff point asap."