Thursday, February 27 (Not long before Midnight)

A veritable roller coaster of a night, this evening.

First, I met with Vincent. I made a point of mentioning this Giovanni to him, especially when he mentioned that the Giovannis were dangerous and that two had already been removed. I explained what we had seen (the hanging bodies and the blood collection containers) and how quickly the Kindred we encountered was able to neutralize Max.

Acquiring all of the necessary information, Vincent sent a team to investigate it. He also mentioned that, should it turn up something good, I will be put in a splendid light. I actually had not considered it, but I know that I can use it to my advantage. We also discussed my joining the Carthians.

Simply enough, I am a Carthian now.

Next, I made my way to Marcus's, skirting the house and heading back onto the boat. We discussed his affairs, briefly, before launching into the subject of the discussion - Agnes.

It seems as though her desire, and her promise to try, to remain with the team was - I do not like the word "hollow" for this, as it sounds too cruel - perhaps more appeasing than sincere. She has chosen to undergo proper training from the Consilium, as most of her skill with magic was self-taught. This means that she will no longer be part of the team, nor will she be going out into the field.

It was a blow, but a softened one. On one hand, she will be kept busy with whatever training becoming a proper mage no doubt requires. On the other, she will still be around.

He said something that confused me, though, and it made me wonder.

"You were the only one who was allowed to get close to her."

I thought back through our interactions since she discovered that I knew her secret. Hostility at the first, then a sort of resignation. It wasn't until that business with the artifact's destruction that I saw how vulnerable she truly was (unless, of course, it was another layer to hide behind, but rather than continue to be paranoid, I will work with my assumptions).

I am not at all certain that she had ever had anyone fight that hard for her for anything. Her first mentor, all that time ago, may have fought to keep her as his, but that could hardly be considered the same. I don't want her to stay as property, I just simply want her to stay. I was logical, I was persuasive, I was comforting all in turns when I needed to be.

It clearly wasn't enough.

Before I left Marcus, I made certain that he would make sure she remained safe. Given her track record with other Consilii, I wanted to be sure. He assured me that all would be well, that he was far less of a monster than his maker was. I nodded, thanked him, and left.

Now I am home, sitting in my office. While the sounds of Basie, Coltrane, and Ellington fill the room, I am simultaneously penning my thoughts and restructuring roles in Ultor, now that one of my main players is out of commission. All told, I believe that I have won a fairly substantial victory and suffered only a minor setback.

*the above was penned with a resigned hand, the following is more resolute ((consider John Hancock's signature on the Declaration of Independence))*

I am Geralt Dessalines, a Texan Ventrue. I am stubborn, I am driven, and I have nothing but time.

Thursday, February 27 (Early Morning Rambling #2)

Dictated to phone, very faint car sounds in the background...

I should have said something sooner, I know. Before my Embrace, I was useless - a human playing at understanding the supernatural. After, it was already too late, another had beat me to it. Nevermind that I had no right to say anything since my curse makes me an unsavory companion to most.

I should have listened more closely to Viviana: "You must relax, and shed this whole life you once had. It is gone. Things are different, now. And they will not go back."

Apparently, there is some part of Gavin still within me. I wonder if it would be best to tamp that down...

...or snuff it out.

Thursday, February 27 (Early Morning Rambling #1)

Dictated to phone, very faint car sounds in the background....

This seemingly revolving door of people will continue to make it impossible to instill any sort of discipline into this team. I am not certain how well I will be able to continue leading them (if leading them is what I am actually doing). I am patient, but patience only goes so far.

Wednesday, February 26

Dictated to phone, very faint car sounds in the background...

I have eternity to develop many skills, but I feel as if I have but minutes to develop patience...

...and quite possibly hours for a hardened heart.

At the beginning, I brought Max up to speed of recent events. Chronos brought a new person into our meeting, a woman named Rose Alexander. A mortal, who at the beginning had a very vague understanding of the supernatural, Max woke her up very violently. That being said, she is a spoiled brat, relying on daddy's money and lacking any and all sorts of manners. Her father is the head of a multinational corporation that deals with investments, and apparently property holdings. Her father also has dealings with the supernatural, which I will cover in time.

Network Zero gave us a few leads. Messages and calls were sent out and only Greyson did not answer. I received a surprising answer from Marcus Purcell, in proxy for Agnes, stating that she would not be attending and that I would be spoken to later. I will also cover this in time.

We decided to follow a missing persons report, all centered around a single building. Arriving there, we were able to utilize a man named Guillermo to get inside. We managed to get down to the basement  and then were promptly scared witless by a door, causing us to high tail it out of there. As we fled, I noticed that Guillermo had been captured.

My ire already high, I was able to tamp down my fear, gather most of my team. Max, showing an hitherto unknown facility for subtlety, conned a security guard into leading us down to the basement again. Rather than repeat what caused us to run, I was once again able to use my blood to manipulate the lock and open the door, successfully.

We made it inside and, within one of the first rooms we searched, we found people suspended, bleeding into collection bins. To be clear, Max found it...

...I was getting hungry and thought it best to keep clear of it.

The second office held a Kindred, who immediately incapacitated Max. With Max paralyzed and Rose...actually, I was thankful that Rose was quiet for the moment...it left me to answer the Kindred's questions. This fellow was slightly fat, mustachioed, he looked Italian. He was pale, dressed nicely, and carried a cane. He smelled, faintly, of rotting death.

He wondered, rightly, what we were doing in his building. I immediately threw out the story of us being specialists and told him what we were investigating. He explained that his family had recently fallen into financial hardship due to the deaths of his two brothers. He was trying to recoup the family losses by launching into a business of this type.

When I was introduced to the Camarilla, I was informed that my hunting activities were all well and good, but if it came to Kindred matters, then I would first inform the Camarilla. That memory firmly implanted in my mind, I took him up on his offer to leave, provided he released Max. He also gave us Guillermo, whom Max carried off. As we were leaving, Guillermo noticed that Rose was trying to return to the other Kindred. We dragged her back along with us, even as she was kicking and screaming. I was able to force her to calm down with a bit of a focus of blood.

So then we were treated to dinner (including a bottle of blood for me) by Guillermo. He spent most of it caring for Chronos or flirting with Rose, but he did take time to answer our questions. He also informed us that he was "fey." Given his knowledge of the supernatural, I assume he has been around for a long while.

Now, I have three problems. First, Rose. Her ties to Kindred notwithstanding, she is a spoiled brat with no manners and a death wish. Guillermo was kind enough to feed us and she still persisted in being rude. Tact...I will beat it into this team if I have to.

Second, the Kindred - the butcher. Guillermo heard someone call him "Giovanni", which gives me enough to give to a "trusted" member of the Camarilla. I've asked my Sire to set up a meeting with the head of the Carthians. If I bring them a sort of gift when I go to formalize my allegiance, I might be accepted more readily.

Finally, this conversation I am set to have with Marcus - about Agnes. I am not looking forward to this. It is not going to go well for my state of mind, nor my last attempt at keeping something from before my Embrace. Leaving emotions aside and speaking practically, it will shoot the Ultor project in the foot for the time being.

I am driving, waiting to hear from either Marcus or Viviana. I plan on feeding first, so that I have a clearer focus. I must only find some appropriate targets.

Monday, February 24 (Nearly Dawn)

I think I can cross item 1 off of the list.

Agnes and Marcus arrived, with Agnes not acting quite like herself. I can only assume that Marcus caught wind of the artifact somehow. We went up to the den, where Marcus and I made small talk while Agnes fussed with the piano I had recently discovered. Eventually Viviana arrived and, after careful examination of the piece, declared that the piece was a means to the end of mankind. She thanked Agnes for giving her a brief moment with an item of such age, then retired to bed.

In perhaps the most anti-climactic turn of the evening, Marcus wandered over to the item and did something to it. It began to crack, then put out blue light. The artifact shattered and its pieces dissolved into nothingness. Marcus then, thankfully, left Agnes and I to talk.

Without going into too much detail, Agnes is conflicted. Her troubled history (which is at odds with her given history - I must remember to ask her about that) has left her stunted in several ways (including how to function as part of a team). I think that I was able to reach her, to make her understand that I, if not the entire team, would be there to help her.

She mentioned being offered the chance to be an apprentice, provided she focuses solely on training. I think I managed to deflect that as well and made her realize that returning to be with the team would be very good for her growth, rather than placing herself under the direct tutelage of another. I think I did so effectively, since she expressed a desire to remain. She had to speak to someone though, so I will hopefully hear from her tonight after I wake.

That still seems odd to write: "tonight after I wake." I am a monster, yet at times I feel positively human. As strong in my convictions as a human, as nervous as a human, and sometimes...

...as confused as a human.

But, no matter. I've given her what I can and the rest is up to her. Though I dearly hope her desire to remain with us remains with her.

Next, I must speak with Nadya. After I wake.

Sunday, February 23 (Very Late Evening - Around Midnight)

We met (minus Max, who I can only assume was on "werewolf business") for a miniature pizza party, at the mansion. As they ate, I discussed the fact that the lights on my truck had dimmed while driving through certain parts of downtown. Nadya commented that the lights in her penthouse kept dimming, no matter how often she replaced the bulbs. The others commented similar things.

Then it was brought up that Nadya had received a strange phone call from a place called Trojan Horse Communications. I had as well. Everyone else, except for Chronos (who has no cell phone) and Oliver (for some reason), experienced a similar call. We soon found out the reason.

An entity or organization calling itself "Network Zero" hacked into our phones to "give us" information on the God Machine. My annoyance at their presumption aside, the information given was fairly educational. The gist of it is that the God Machine created its Angels, who in turn created Demons (a failed experiment), and then created Man. Man was used as slave labor to build great cities and accomplishments for the Angels. Eventually Man grew tired of this and sought out its own destiny from the God Machine. Given the cryptic words "What has risen will fall, what has fallen may rise again," Man attempted to supplant the Angels. In a bout of murder, all but eight Angels perished, and these eight fled, planning to curse Man when the appropriate time came.

Various artifacts had been left by the God Machine and its Angels. One such artifact eventually came to be known as "Packet Theta." This will become highly important later on.

We deemed the information fit to know, but set it aside for the time being so that we could focus on the more immediate problem of the fluctuating electricity. As we were discussing our options and avenues of investigation, Chronos suddenly jumped up and declared that if we wanted to find out the cause we were in the wrong place. I thought, for the briefest moment, that the team would consider a plan beneficial to the action...

...and I was wrong.

As we were barreling into this, and as we were going to be spending a large amount of time downtown, I decided to forego my revolvers and the pistol. We then piled into Nadya's Escalade where we were horribly guided to our destination by someone that Nadya and Greyson seemed to know. Eventually, we pulled in front of a place called Rough Riders, which I immediately identified as a werewolf joint. Perhaps it was the surly looking individuals, perhaps it was the play on words hidden in the name...

...perhaps it was the nigh overwhelming smell of dog.

Either way, Nadya, Agnes, and Chronos ventured inside. They returned a little later, with Nadya holding a bag and Chronos...

...Chronos was holding a radio.

The events of the next hour or so were a carousel of madness. We followed Chronos along some path that he claimed was a line of disturbance. Eventually he stood still, made some hand gestures, and looked surprised. He said a spirit had died in front of him.

And then he and Greyson disappeared.

We waited for quite some time, enough time that four people staring at a spot on the sidewalk was starting to draw too much attention. No one was swayed by the argument that we should probably drive around just a bit - even just around the block - to disperse the unwanted focus. So we waited. And waited. And waited. Until finally, Chronos came back.

Without Greyson.

Finally noting the indignation of the team, he returned to wherever he was to retrieve Greyson. Somehow during the course of it all, the pair of them discovered what the source of the disturbance was. When they described it to Nadya, we finally were able to make our way there.

The building had a large stained-glass window held up by beams, but it was held away from the building. We also noticed another individual nearby, regarding the window - and what it held in its center. Chronos, in his devil may care attitude, got out to approach the fellow, while Agnes and Nadya followed.

After some less than intense debate in which we learned that an orb at the center of the window was our objective, it was decided that Greyson, Agnes, and I would venture into the building, while Tristan, the mysterious stranger (who we determined to be an Angel) would knock out the power in the building. Chronos did something to Greyson to make him faster, and he took off. Agnes made herself invisible...

...and I just walked in.

As Agnes and I made our way up the stairs, we could hear Greyson gathering a following of security guards. After a few dozen flights (for Greyson) we heard those same security guards scream and come flying down the stairs. Rather than be caught, Agnes and I ducked through a nearby door - where we came face to face with another security guard. Finding myself highly annoyed, I caught the guard's eyes and, having experimented on others, forced my will upon his with a single word:

"Run."

After the coast was clear, Agnes and I continued up the stairs finally making it to the roof access. As we passed through the door, we saw Greyson take a heroic running leap...

...and plummet to the ground.

Agnes worked quickly to make it easier for me to get to the orb. She made my gloves and boots adhesive, and then did something with our belts to give us a kind of anchoring rope. I was then able to quickly make my way down the stained glass window to the center, and easily grabbed the object in the center - an orb. I laughed, reveling in the bit of victory we had achieved.

WEE-oo WEE-oo...

Son of a...

From my precarious vantage point, I was able to see the lights flying down the street. I was also able to see Nadya start her Escalade. You have to be kidding me. Somehow I managed to climb back up, with the orb. Agnes and I quickly made our way down as we heard the sirens stop. We piled back into the Escalade and drove away.

I was actually content. We had worked as a team to achieve an objective and did it successfully. Things were finally starting to come together.

Then Agnes "claimed" the orb.

After some wordslinging between Agnes and Nadya, which saw Nadya say she quits the team and driving off (and also saw Agnes claim that if anyone disagreed with her keeping it, she was gone as well), which also saw the Angel, who had followed us home, drive off in disdain or disgust.

After all of that, and Agnes's declaration, I left the rest of them in the garage. I sent a message to Greyson stating that all of them were welcome to spend the evening in the mansion to rest, if they so chose. I, however, was finished with the situation for the time being as I had no desire to deal with severe reactions or temper tantrums.

Soon after, Agnes sent me a series of text messages indicating that she was leaving. With my mood, I wished her good luck and told her that I would think of her while I was in Germany, however, if she wanted to work on growing a bit more mature, then my door would be open. She is apparently on her way over now...

Then, I recalled my dream of mazes. It was a little too convenient, but...a possibility.

Immediate To-Do List (in no particular order)
1. Convince Agnes to remain with the team
2. Convince Nadya to remain with the team
3. Discipline Chronos to within an inch of his life
4. Feed

Sunday, February 23 (Very Early Evening)

I awoke this evening from a peculiar dream.

Since my Embrace, at least part of my sleep has been dominated by a single dream. I find myself in a red stone maze, with dead ends of fire and sunlit windows. Each time I seem to make progress, the dreams shift to something else.

Until today, that is.

I found myself midway through the maze, following a patch that I recalled to be correct. As the floor became covered with blood, I found my way into a wide open courtyard. Imagine my relief at navigating my way out...

Then imagine my trepidation when the door closed behind me.

Then, if you can, imagine my supreme frustration when I realize that the courtyard leads into yet another maze.

I do not cleave much to the idea of prophecy, yet the dream intrigues me. I wonder what it means.

Friday, February 21 (Very Late Evening)

Idiot!

You are not as subtle as you think, Geralt, not as subtle by far. Trying to be clever by dropping hints, trying to outsmart people who have been playing this game for far longer than you.

Now you are a loose end.

Good job.

Friday, February 21 (Late Morning)

During the blissful quiet of a few days, I discovered something in the attic of the mansion. It was a footlocker, a very dusty footlocker at that. I managed to lug it out into an open part and, finding no key nearby, sat down to regard the container.

After an hour or so passed with no notice of mine, and no ideas coming to me, I searched my memory for any ideas, as my curiosity had gotten the best of me. Then I recalled Viviana's trick with the door, changing its destination. If she could manipulate a door, then could I manipulate part of a door? I then focused my blood and willed it to unlock the footlocker.

Click!

Within, I found three journals, a contraption of wires and other chips, and a set of women's clothing, in an 80's European style. The journals mentioned a place called the Golden Citadel, a continuously growing city in Germany that houses a continuously growing sculpture of metal and bone, designed to "transform the world in wondrous ways."

This sculpture has attracted people from all over Germany to form a town, which eventually grew into a city called the "Golden Citadel."  This Golden Citadel is still growing, and the journals called it a "horrifying construction that hides from the thoughts and memories of humanity," yet continues to draw people to it.

Ten years before my discovery of the journals, the author noted the population of the Citadel to be nearly half a million people. She posits that in half a century (forty or so years from today) the Citadel could encompass all of Germany, before expanding to the point where the world's entire population works there. She also notes that people are being fed to the Citadel, so that it might grow faster.

I also found some sort of device to be worn beneath a hat. It is made of wires and chips. One of the journals noted that the device is capable of blocking the effects of the Citadel's concealment and mind control. If I am to do anything with this, I shall have to go and find the parts. Perhaps I can create enough of these devices for all of us.

Being conscientious of getting this information out, I called a meeting for the following evening. Once everyone had arrived, I quickly brought them up to speed on the ending of Cote and his guide. Nadya, as to be expected, was furious, though I dealt with that later. Agnes also brought a new mage to the mansion. He is a "time mage," and Agnes is his - for lack of a better word - first contact. He has called himself, quite appropriately, "Chronos."

Then I brought out the materials from the footlocker. We spent some time discussing them, as well as the merits of taking this on. One of the major concerns is that we have so many things to handle here that it seems impossible to go to Germany of all places and deal with something there. However, I pointed out that we were already on the God-Machine's radar, and if this Citadel is tied to the God-Machine, as I believe it to be, then it needs to be us that deals with it.

Funnily enough, the first person to jump to go with me was Max. I may have misjudged him, though I am certain it won't be the last time.The rest decided to go as well, some fairly reluctantly. After that, the meeting ended fairly abruptly, as the team scattered.

I have called a series of one-on-one meetings with everyone on the team. This is my first step towards making this team work.

Tuesday, February 18 (Very Early Morning)

There are no words for the events of this evening.

I invited the team to my new dwelling. Each brought food, and we gathered in the dining room. Before long, my Sire joined us.

We began discussing plans for business. Greyson has some friends involved in various body art. Possible first ventures all. We also discussed a location for our office. Apparently there are abandoned clinics we can refurbish in the projects. I think that's where I'll look first.

Next, we discussed the Cog. Always sets of three kills, all over. Only connection was that the murders occurred nearby industrial machinery. Cyril read fate to figure out if he could identify the next victims. He said when he tried, the victims kept changing.

We began to start making plans to leave, and Cyril went off to speak with Agnes before he left. Afterwards, he headed outside...

...and was shot at.

We all rushed outside to drag him in (my door has three bullet holes in it). Nadya managed to mostly heal Cyril, causing the bullet to eject itself. Examination of the bullet taught us little, but my Sire was able to send him home via a useful trick with the door to the garage stairs.

After all of that, we made our way to the morgue, again. Nadya and Agnes investigated the bodies while Max and I were watching. Eventually, we made our way to the back of the morgue and found the night shift attendant dead.

Then, flashbang.

I was deafened and blind. When it finally cleared, I was on the floor. I managed to get into the hallway and get off a shot at the bastard. Then he walked towards me and disappeared.

With sirens coming, we decided it was best to get out of there. Max, Nadya, and I made it away, but the cops stopped Greyson and Agnes. We took off to the projects, where we waited to hear what had happened to our friends.

While we waited, the Satan-worshippers from the concert were trying to get into the building. I, amusedly, took them up to Cyril to try and get them involved. Cyril sent them away, then Greyson sent them further away.

Yes, Greyson and Agnes had arrived.

After a brief explanation, Nadya retrieved her vehicle and went home. Greyson went into the projects. Leaving Agnes, Max, and me.

Agnes gets a call from Bishop of Task Force Valkyrie. Valkyrie's not going to have the time to look into this, so they sent the file to us. (NOTE: Consider where taxes go.)

We received the home address of this fellow, whose name was Westley Cote. Agnes, Max, and I drove there. When we arrived, Max and Agnes disappeared. I shrugged and walked towards the door.

We burst in and found no one. Then a pressure settled on our minds, and a voice asked why we were there. After a back and forth, another "angel" with clockwork wings appeared.

He spoke of a world where it is remade, and how the God Machine sees a world without humans. And how stopping Cote in this point in time doesn't mean he'll be stopped in all of them. The angel gave us the chance to leave or die.

Too bad for him I am already dead.

I fired at the angel, doing a fair amount of damage. It rushed at me, trying to knock me down with its wings. Apparently, I hurt it badly enough that it was off balance. Max managed to jump on his back, distracting him. That left me to finish him off...

...which I did.

Agnes dissolved him, right before we heard gunfire in the street. We rushed out and it was Cote. After a violent gunfight, he was taken down.

It was a long three or four hours. Far too long.

Friday, February 14 (Late Evening)

Tonight, I had an evening of meetings. First, with Viviana, I learned that in order to have a dependable person working for my interests during the day, I have to bind them to me through blood.

Which is...basically what she's done to me... Hmm.

I also learned about Trebius Group. Apparently, Viviana has connections that will allow me to take possession of the house on Hawthorne. Convenient!

I also had to go to Marcus's. We discussed a private matter, before moving on to the events of Birkin. He also mentioned that a werewolf war was brewing. Chloe, his confident friend, had been severely wounded by a werewolf pack (ironically enough, the pack that we were hunting with Valkyrie when Cheiron attacked). Whoops on that, I suppose.

Then, another team meeting was called. Apparently, Cyril and Agnes had had several sorts of adventures, and over the course of a day, no less. First, Cyril activated some kind of artifact, seeing things that mages don't normally see. This activation drew the attention of some sort of mage sect called the Seers of the Throne. It seems that a combination of Cyril, Agnes, and new arrival Max managed to fend off the attacks.

Which is the second part of the three part meeting - Max is a werewolf. For some reason, learning this irritated me to the point where I immediately loaded Thunder with silver bullets before my other meetings. When I arrived at Greenbriar, I could immediately smell the wet dog scent permeating Cyril's office. This did not put me in a good mood, nor did Agnes's continuing oblique persuasions to not let racial tendencies to cause us to not get along.

So we moved on. Now we come to the third part of the meeting, the most entertaining part. Agnes had arranged a "group therapist" to come and help the team work out its issues. The therapist was awakened, she said, and very good at what he did. Nadya complained that we were going to do this when tired. Had I truly been riled, I would have pointed out that I was tired when we went to save Nasilah, then still when we went to save Oliver. And that was fighting, not sitting in a meeting. However, I left it alone so that we could focus on the therapist. Then he arrived.

Dear God, the sweater.

Dr. Gale Robertson was a very engaged man who spoke with a lisp. He and his pug (dressed in a matching sweater) arrived and were immediately the targets of derision. The team managed to arrange themselves so that it, at least to me, appeared to be us against him. We all received name tags with alliterative epithets, for example, I was "Gentlemanly Gavin" or "Genuine Gavin" (and yes, I'm aware of that irony).

We went through several activities, including stating what we thought was the biggest problem facing the team. We also had to give a description of how we see a given team member, easily enough done. Then there was the roleplay, wherein we were paired off with another team member and had to act how we thought that person would act. I was amused by mine, as I was paired with Agnes. Agnes was less than amused, it seemed.

The last activity was by far the most amusing. Each of us had to stand up in the front and speak with Dr. Gale while the rest of the team wrote one good thing and one bad thing about us on a card. Some of the responses were highly amusing. A summary follows: I am dependable, but broody, among other things. Cyril hasn't died yet, but he has an approximate knowledge of many things. Oliver seems very experienced, but we haven't seen him doing much. Nadya is always there when you need her, but she's paranoid and prone to picking fights.

Then we come to Agnes!

Her negatives were as follows: can be reactionary, strange, sometimes overly persistent, doesn't bother looking past the obvious in the heat of the moment, and she is antagonistic. In a definitively ironic turn of events, Agnes reacted badly. She seemed very upset at her negatives, which spurred the rest of us into fits of laughter. Cyril even pointed out that he had an approximate knowledge of psychology and could probably help her out if she wanted. That, and her reaction, just spurred us into further laughter.

All in all, a very productive evening, though it was far from over. (NOTE: After Ultor is incorporated and we have a few board meetings, contact Dr. Gale and retain his services for another session.)

Not long after, I went to speak to Cyril about some things. Max was there, but some of the tension had already bled away. We discussed the former owner of Greenbriar, Jimarcus. He was a mage, focused on Prime magic - the building blocks of magic. He was once associated with the mages that came to help us with Taraton (which included Octavia, one of Marcus's).

We also briefly discussed Max and why he was so close to Cyril. In short, Cyril is bait, because the Seers are after him and Max is after the Seers. Fair enough, I suppose.

Then we moved onto wards, and their various types. We discussed possible wards for the Ultor building, perhaps something to dampen hostile intentions. Then we discussed possible dampening of supernatural...rages, for lack of a better word.

I offered Max the junkyard, after Viviana is gone and I move my things (what little I have). He and I will go visit it, so that he can take a tour of the place. My only caveat is that he not give me any trouble when utilizing the place, so that I can acquire materials I need. He agreed, but said it would be just me. No other vampire would be able to get in without trouble.

Amusing, that.

Max left, and Cyril began to ask me questions about the changes that have occurred to me since my Embrace. He was concerned that I had changed abruptly, simply because he didn't know why. He was very happy that I was handling things so well, though. That led into concerns of Marcus, but I am pleased with his involvement, though cautious, and Cyril has adopted a "watch and wait" stance.

The Soul's Army will be slowly integrated into Ultor. They will remain protecting their families and their homes, but now they'll draw a decent paycheck for it. Most of them will go toward security (as will a handful of MS 13 members, should we be able to draw them in). I informed him of my plan to offer employment to Petrushka as my assistant, though not my full plan. I also informed him of possibly approaching Wallace Wilkins with an invitation to join the Board.

Cyril planned to scale back some of what Persephone did to her. He didn't like the total shift of priorities and ways of thinking, worrying that they might break her mind. I convinced him to leave her be until I spoke with her, but now I begin to reconsider. Having him there will allow him to listen to her, and watch her, and decide how to scale it back if he still chooses to. It will also provide an educated witness, should the need arise.

He discussed concerns about Wallace, mainly the fact that he might not be human. Apparently Wallace could identify what Max was immediately. He made me promise to let him know how my discussions with Mr. Wilkins go.

So now I'm taking some time to seek him out.