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
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