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.