World of Darkness World of Darkness: Attrition - Flies in the Ointment

[SalmonMax]

Amber heard the engine of Ariel's car outside, and stepped up her pace, finishing the last touches of getting ready to leave fast enough to avoid a phone call or, god forbid, a honk. On getting outside she saw it was the same old Civic she'd had last time they'd seen each other.

How long had that been now?

Seemed like a long time.

Ariel was supposedly in 'work clothes,' but they looked pretty normal. Jeans, shirt, jacket...her badge was on a little zipline in an inner pocket. Her gun was normally covered by the jacket...just barely. She gave Amber a welcoming grin and patted the seat.

"Hop in. I found a new place I want to try. It's not far off."

Despite Ariel's genuine pleasure at seeing her again, Amber could sense an underlying urgency in the police wolf's actions. Something was bothering her. Something important.

It was only a few minutes before she pulled into the small parking lot of a little corner diner that had probably started life as a house, then changed into a restaurant called Sunrise 2 Noon. The sign proclaimed; "Breakfast to brunch to lunch!"

As they got out, Ariel said, "So how've you been? Any luck? Oh, and I'm treating, by the way. It's my way of apologizing for the news I have for you."

[z-Amber Wren]

Until Ariel had mentioned how bad things were, Amber had been distracted. Half of her mind had been on the devil's deal she had made with Theodore and his crew. She'd gotten a breakdown of the basic problem, this 'Succubus' ass, as well as some privileged information about the workings of their political group. It sounded like the Democrats on crack, tied up with their twisted undead views. Sparks had some weird idea that a city-state run along the same lines that a street gang ran was the most effective form of government, while Marion was a diehard Communist. As near as she could tell, these guys banded together because they didn't like the Vickies, whatever those were.

But Ariel's words jarred her out of her self-absorbed mindset. "Oh, this sounds good," Amber said dryly. She held the door for Ariel, because she reached it first. "So do I need to prepare my last will and testament, or can I make plans beyond next week?"

[SalmonMax]

Ariel gave Amber a serious look and took her sunglasses off.

"Me and Sarah met up with one of the People a few days ago. He was in the chat, and not too subtle about what he was. He'd heard of Sarah somewhere, and wanted to meet her. Sarah asked if I wanted to go too. I was kind of suspicious of the whole thing, so I went too."

She looks over at the diner.

"The guy seems okay, but we were just talking, when we came under fire. Sniper fire. Good thing they went for Sarah first, or you might be down a friend right now. When a slug the size of a man's big finger hits your brain, it doesn't really matter if it's silver or not, I'd think."

[z-Amber Wren]

Ugh. Hunters were serious business and had a nasty tendency to impact 'business' negatively. "What that the No Moss dude?" Amber asked. Ariel nodded and Amber sighed as they got in line to wait for a table. "Shit. Hunters suck."

The heavily-pierced Hispanic woman in front of them overheard that and turned to give Amber a thumbs-up. "Here," she said, handing her a card. "Call us."

As the waitress lead her and her friend to a table, Amber looked at the card. "Well, fuck," she muttered. "I just got approval from PETA. My day just keeps getting worse." Shrugging it off, she asked, "When was this? And is there any signs that the No Moss guy is working with the hunters?"

[SalmonMax]

"Woulda been...Thursday night," Ariel says as they take their seats in the booth. They take their menus and wait as the waitress pours glasses of water. When she's gone again, Ariel continues.

"I can't say for sure he's not...but I can check his story and see if it checks out." She looks at the menu and shakes her head. "But my gut says he's not with them. For one, it coulda been a lot worse. He knew what Sarah was, for one thing, but the weapon they used on her wasn't one that worked especially well. Knocked a hole in her, but nothing that she couldn't...live with. If he'd been funneling them info, I'd think they'd have been better prepared. No, I think they got wind of the meeting somehow...probably because he was too openmouthed in the channel. That's one reason I wanted to chase you down."

Ariel looked back up at Amber.

"You're going to have to be a lot more careful about what you say online, I think. That room isn't secure. Not that you're not careful already, I know...you are. But as far as arranging meetings and so on. We're all going to have to be more careful."

[z-Amber Wren]

"Yep," Amber agreed easily. "That's pretty much the gold standard around," she glanced around to make sure no one nearby was interested in their conversation, "hunters." She fell silent until the waitress had taken their orders. "We'll need a more secure way of chatting with each other. Cell phones can be tapped and the chat isn't safe. Maybe encoded text messages to signal the need to talk."

She glanced at Ariel. "You're a cop. What do you suggest?"

[SalmonMax]

"Cellphones are actually probably safer than land lines," Ariel thinks aloud. "Tapping cells means going to the service provider basically. Unless these 'hunters' are some kind of government officials, that shouldn't be easy. Texts are good too."

She sighed.

"The thing is that if they were listening to us, and not just aiming rifles at us, they may have overheard us mentioning your family. Not you personally, I don't think...but it wouldn't take much digging to find out where you're from. So if they're not onto you, they may be soon. They're definitely onto me. What that means for me, I'm not sure."

[z-Amber Wren]

Amber thought for a long moment. "Ok," she said softly. "Thanks for the heads up. My family can take care of themselves; if hunters waltz up in their hills thinking that they can take them out, they will have a nasty surprise. And that's just from my cousins that haven't changed - bear traps are fun that way. But... but... I'll warn them."

Amber focused her gray eyes on Ariel. "For you, I'd recommend some insurance. Make sure that if these guys come after you, that you establish them as a nut. Then when they start spouting off about stuff they shouldn't, no one will listen to them."

[SalmonMax]

Ariel hesitated, then shook her head.

"If it was just about them 'outing' me, I wouldn't be half as worried," she says. "Anyone coming to LAPD and accusing an officer of being...well, you know...they'd get nowhere. Fast. They might try to set me up or something, but even that wouldn't be easy."

"No, what I'm concerned about, for myself and now for you, is that they have more rifles, and better shooters. What happened before...obviously someone on their team screwed up. Either they planned a hit, and someone shot too soon, or missed the mark...or they were just surveilling and their shooter got an itchy finger. Either way, their hand is now tipped, and they've gotta know it. They're probably either going to abort and try again later...or put whatever plan they're hatching in high gear, hoping to catch us before we can organize a defense."

She took a deep breath. "And we're all vulnerable. If they're keeping tabs on us, it won't take them long to see that."

[z-Amber Wren]

Amber shrugged. "I'll be more careful, but if they get me, well... that's what us Full Moons do best. Fight and die." She fell silent as food was brought and left.

"I mean, Ariel... we're all just flesh and blood when it comes to rifles. Do you have a suggestion to negate the vulnerability?"

[SalmonMax]

Ariel chewed her bottom lip, then shrugged.

"Well, I dunno about -negate-. People like us, who don't drive around in armored limos and so on...we can't do much to defend against assassination attempts like this. You can make it harder on them, but sooner or later they'll get lucky, and they only need to get lucky once."

She looks furtively around and leans forward.

"I think the only thing we can do is take the fight to them. Keep them on the defensive. Find out who they are and who gives the orders. It's the only way to finish this."

[z-Amber Wren]

Amber nodded as she dug into her plate of pancakes. "I'm game. You're the cop, the investigator, so I think you need to find them. I can help, but my strong point will be when we need to finish them. That's what I'm good at."

She chewed a bit, then swallowed and asked, "Yeah, that does sound good. How can I help find them?"

[SalmonMax]

"Spirit world," Ariel summed up in two words. "You understand it better than I do. Can spirits see into this world? Can we interview them about things that are happening here? Maybe have one scout around for us?"

[z-Amber Wren]

Amber was quiet and thoughtful. "Yes," she said after a moment. "You can use spirits as spies. The problem is finding those that can see through to the material world. Many of them don't like to admit that, because they think it makes us more wary of them - and in my case, they'd be right. But yeah... you can get one to hunt them for us." She tilted her head. "You wanting to do this today?"

[SalmonMax]

Ariel shrugged. "Longer we wait, the worse our chances get. The way I see it, time's on their side. Still, if you need time, that's fine too. We're better off moving when we're ready."

[z-Amber Wren]

Amber grinned. "I meant, are you wanting to use my locus today to find the spirit to serve as a spy? I wasn't planning on assaulting them today. I've still got other errands to run first. Not that a good fight doesn't sound fun. But with hunters..." She rotated her neck. "It's best to sure you're ready for them."

[SalmonMax]

"No, I didn't mean assault either," Ariel's quick to agree. "I just meant getting this started. As for locus, we can use yours, or there's one farther out in a warehouse that I check up on sometimes we can use."

A thoughtful look crossed her face.

"And you know? I may know just the spirit to ask about this..."

[z-Amber Wren]

Amber cleaned her plate with a final stab of her fork and popped it in her mouth. "Then let's go," she said. "No time like the present, if you have an idea." She looked expectantly at Ariel, waiting for her to get up and make to leave.

[SalmonMax]

Ariel nodded, settled the tab, and invited Amber into her car. It was aging, with the seat covers fading from sunlight, and shot through with the faint clinging odor of soda syrup and cigarettes.

"There was a pack out here," she explained as she drove. "Got in a feud with some people who apparently had magic powers of their own. They were wiped out. The pack, I mean. But their territory had a locus on it. And their totem was left behind, guarding it."

She shrugged. "I come out here sometimes to take a look and make sure nothing nasty's moving in. And I make sure the spirit's okay. Anyway, this spirit was able to describe how his pack got killed, and he seems okay with werewolves."

"And I'd say he owes me."

The car drives into the old burned out warehouse's parking lot and stops.

[z-Amber Wren]

Amber nods. "Sounds like a good bet. Can he so what we need him to do? Or is he a source to find someone who can do what is needed?"

She stared at the warehouse, her eyes raking over the burned out structure from behind her sunglasses. Even here, she could feel the presence of the locus, calling her home. "Lead the way, Detective," she said with an easy grin.

[SalmonMax]

Ariel waved Amber forward, talking as she went. The warehouse still stank faintly of wood cinders and a strange, acrid chemical undertone. Maybe some kind of synthetic fabric had burned here...or ink...or something.

"You know, I'm not sure. He was the pack's old totem. Spirit of...knitting, I guess? Calls himself Weave. Looks like a big person-shaped afgan. I've no idea what he can do, really, except he seems decent at holding off spirits from the locus. The big stuff he hides from and waits for me to get here. We have an understanding."

Ariel stops at the invisible center of the weak spot in the fabric between worlds and pulls something out of her pocket. A small black plastic comb.

"This belongs to the guy that shot Sarah. I was hoping we'd be able to use it somehow. Track it or something. The guy's in lockup, and he's some kind of religious fanatic...won't talk. At all. But I know there's more, because a carful drove away from the scene."

"I figure we go into the spirit world, check out the scene of the crime and see if anything's there that wasn't there in the real world. After that, it'll just be police work to find an address...which we then visit in the spirit and see what we can see."

She grins self consciously. "I'm kind of flying blind here, so if I'm missing anything obvious, let me know before I make an idiot of myself."

[z-Amber Wren]

Amber was quiet for a moment. "Did you get any blood samples from the other hunters? That can aid tracking. I don't know if or how a comb would help. But blood... that's super."

She looked at Ariel. "Would there be a chance of getting someone in there to interrogate him? One of the mages might be able to suck good information out of his brain.

"Beyond that, we just need to keep our heads up and see them before they see us."

[SalmonMax]

Ariel chuckled. "As much as I'd love to get a mindsucking mage in there, it's not going to happen unless he had a background relevant to the case...or unless he manages to get the guy to choose him as his lawyer."

She nodded at Amber's observation.

"Okay, so we cross over here. Too bad that Moss guy ran off like he did. He might have gotten a better look than I did at the ones that got away."