March 9th (Late, late evening)

With the Titans, our campaign against Birkin, and Ultor, the past two days have been filled with little but meetings.

Two nights ago, I met with Marcus to discuss both the Titans (which he knew alarmingly little about, yet still more than I did) and the Dukes of Hell, Malachite and Alizarin. He said that he would likely remain out of the fight unless there was an opening in which he could remove all three. Acceptable enough, I suppose. He also mentioned they thrive on chaos, and would be as much, if not more, a hindrance to us when it comes time to deal with the Titans, as they would be to Birkin when they join the fray.

After leaving and subsequently feeding, I arranged a meeting with Vincent Delacroix. He mentioned that he was alone, and that Celeste was "out for dinner" (which should have likely been the first warning bell rung in my head). However, he seemed very intrigued by the concept for Ultor, even going so far as to write out a check to help with start up costs. When asked why I specifically came to him, I mentioned needing a lawyer, remembering a remark made when I first met him and Celeste, that both of them were practicing lawyers. He said it was likely he would be too busy to devote time to the venture, but it was entirely likely Celeste would be willing.

Thanking him, I went back to the mansion to prepare for the next night's meetings.

First saw me meeting with Cyril, in regards to an update on the status of things in the projects (things were relatively quiet) and to bring him up to speed. We talked about the ritual and Tartarus, discussed about leaving Cyril to keep an eye on Ultor when the team goes to Germany, the status and locations of MS13, and the absorption of some of the Soul's Army into a para-military arm of Ultor (less hunter style group, more armed backup). We also discussed Ultor itself, getting things ready for its creation, and what the projects would realistically be like once the Soul's Army claims control.

Wrapping that up, I made my way back to my mansion for a meeting with Celeste, Vincent's childe. She and her bodyguard arrived and I began explaining to her my vision of Ultor.  She expressed some initial concerns (number of people needing awakened, issues with prideful bloodlines, and possible competition with other hunter organizations) which I tried (and believe that I succeeded) to address. She expressed a concern that I selected her simply because Vincent recommended her. While it is true that he recommended her, I also recalled her ample assistance in preparing me for my first Elysium appearance. She also presented her resume, which alone would have been enough to win her the position of Chief Legal Officer. We made small talk for a bit longer, discussing the steps we would need to take, before she left for the evening, giving me the remaining few hours to prepare for my most daunting meeting yet - the team.

I sent messages to the team, requesting their attendance to discuss Ultor. I included Cyril and Agnes, as they had been present when the original idea had been presented, as well as Celeste, whom the team would need to meet eventually and it might as well be now. As they trickled in, Celeste brought an investor, whom I immediately recognized as a fellow Ventrue and much, much more powerful than I am.

Hearing nothing from Greyson and receiving an apology from Mark, but with the rest assembled, I decided to start the meeting. I began with the appropriate introductions, allowing Celeste to introduce herself. Then we heard Nadya's concerns on multiple things, such as the absence of a Board of Directors (which I explained as not having enough to warrant it at the start), the fact that I seemed to have all the power in decision making (which I rebuffed by explaining that the C-level management department would work as a team), and the fact that I had pre-emptively hired a vampire for a lawyer, citing theoretical future problems with the Camarilla (which Oliver minimized, noting that if we enter into an issue with the Camarilla, we have bigger problems than our lawyer being an active part). Ultimately, she apparently felt as though she had lost some control (when in reality, little to no control was lost) and got that betrayed look in her eye.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

We ironed out positions for everyone except Greyson and Mark, who would be contributing what in terms of start up costs, and our next steps. Afterward, it seemed most were in a hurry to leave (Rose leaving might have had something to do with Max's aggressive instruction on how act with a modicum of respect). Celeste and her guest remained behind.

He introduced himself as Cillian Stillwater, Kindred whose sire's name has been lost to time. We exchanged pleasantries, and he explained a bit of news that I had heard regarding Celeste, and some amount of excitement involving several of the Primogen. After that, though, we moved on to business. He claimed to be very interested in Ultor, especially in our envisioned attempts to explore genetic memory (and the possibility of discovering progenitors and things of that nature). He claims to be part of a rare bloodline with roots in Wallachia and of which their are only two in Chicago (of which he is aware) - Celeste and Vincent.  He claimed that he would be willing to invest quite a bit into Ultor provided that, in return, should any more Dragolescu (his bloodline) be discovered, he would be informed. After a brief consultation with Celeste, in which it was decided that, should he agree to the information he sought being considered his return-for-investment rather than capital, it would be completely aboveboard and would violate none of the NDAs Ultor would thrive upon.

After a few more pleasantries exchanged, they left, which left me to consider a few things:

- Agnes. She seems far...hostile than she was last time I saw her. Granted, the last time I saw her she was in the midst of a very personal crisis, and we were one on one. It's entirely possible that she was, once again, putting on a facade, that she has simply grown into her role, like I have...or that this was Agnes all along and everything presented that last time was as much a show as many things I've experienced recently.

- Rose. As I expected, her talents will lie more in the non-combative side of things. She handed me a resume showing that she was a capable project manager, something that will be sorely useful in the days ahead. However, she's still almost void of tact, or any sort of...common sense. It's almost like a child who touches a stove, gets burned, shrugs, and touches it again.

- Nadya. This is going to get rather interesting rather quickly. I can only imagine what she will do when she finds out that our first three outside investors are vampires. There's probably a way I can head that off, and I have a couple of days to think about it.

Overall, this stage of Ultor's conception is both easier and more difficult than I initially considered. I have a meeting with the other C-level officers soon, and as a team we still have to consider how to deal with the God Machine in Chicago...and the Germany trip.

(Events of) March 6th/7th

It has been quite the whirlwind of an evening.

After a brief meeting discussing Ultor, Germany, and Sangiovanni, and despite my better judgment, we once again followed a lead from Network Zero. This time, involving a series of ritualistic murders across Chicago. Also involving the word "Titan."

Arriving at one of the most recent crime scenes, we encountered not only relatively (to me) useless, coagulated blood, but also a chubby man named Todd Zenecki. He claimed to have been there for the beginning of the ritual, doing research for a game. When a woman entered the room, took off her clothes, and ascended the altar, he claimed to have left. The only reason he had returned was that he also claimed to have left his phone.

Finding his phone, and assuming he had no further use,he was permitted to leave, only to return fairly beaten and being dragged in by Oliver. After further interrogation, he revealed that he knew where they were headed - an abandoned courthouse. After sending Guillermo to corral everyone else back to the cars, I spoke briefly with Zenecki, lightly modifying his memory to make him believe he'd been robbed, but rescued by a stranger and given enough money to get safely home. I also received a text message from Marcus: "Something is up. The Ley Lines are acting up. If you are not working, you should be." A brief conversation later, and we were on our way to the courthouse.

Upon arriving (and dealing with the fact that there was a police cruiser out front), we made our way inside. Even Rose, whom I had told to wait outside. Once we were inside, I could hear chanting on the other side of a large, heavy door. Greyson opened half of the door just in time for us to see a man at the altar stab down at a woman bound there. Cue the explosive backlash - and an unexpected yell of, "Chicago PD! Drop your weapon!"

Excellent.

A hectic, touch-and-go fight later, and most of the cultists were dead, save two. Greyson had been repeated and violently stabbed, Guillermo had successfully used a door as a weapon, Nadya made a few people bleed violently, Chronos had run off to do God knows what, and Rose had hidden under a desk.

There was an understandable amount of consternation when Oliver approached the cop, but Guillermo and I were able to take him aside and explain things to him, giving him a slight awakening, with more to come later. While we did that, the others were apparently trying to get a handle on what we had stumbled into. It seems as though it was a ritual to "crack Tartarus" and "release the Titans."

Challenge piled on top of challenge, is that it?

We returned to the house to discuss our options and the meaning of what we found out. Over the course of the discussion, Mark, the cop, arrived, having been released from the investigation. We also found out that Task Force: VALKYRIE was sent to Greece, that Marcus was aware of the situation, and that we knew very little of what to expect of the coming days.

After a few different approaches at awakening Mark (with varying degrees of success), we were visited by two (what I later found out to be) Dukes of Hell - Malachite and Alizarin. They had brought with them a proposition - and a gift.

The proposition was that we would draw out Birkin for a real fight, rather than a cat-and-mouse game. Doing so would involve destroying God Machine infrastructure and making the Machine's presence in Chicago both untenable and unpalatable. In return, they would swoop in and eliminate Birkin. After getting them to agree to give us some locations of infrastructure, I inquired about their gift, a woman in a form-fitting red dress, that they had laid on my dining room table.

They demonstrated, by ripping one of her wings out of her back, that the gift was an incapacitated angel. After working out an agreement to the deal, they offered to dispose of her for us. Chronos wanted to keep the angel to study, but I wanted nothing to do with it, and asked them to take it with them and destroy it. Instead, the female, Alizarin, stabbed the angel through the back, destroying it (and damaging my table in the process - I wonder what would happen if I sent her a repair bill). Smiling smugly, safe in the knowledge that any attempt I, or we, made to kill them they could easily rebuff (as it appears happens with most whom we encounter), the pair left, in Nazi-esque lockstep and precision.

After the others had left, Mark and I sat down and had a very long talk about the events of tonight, what he's seen, what he's able to do about it, and so on. I then offered him a place to stay for the night and he accepted, making his way there. I, on the other hand, struck by an epiphany, went to my office in the remaining hours of daylight to redesign Ultor Corporation.