[rednblack]

Ace opens the refrigerator door.

"It's like a scene from a dream," she answers Ace. "Something you recognize when you see it but that you didn't remember just a second before."

"I know exactly what you mean." he says peering inside.  He comes up with a packet of Baco-soy and opens it.  "This I remember liking.  Think one bite will bring it all back?"  He takes a bite of the chewy-crunchy goodness.  "Nope, but totally worth it," he says with his mouth still full, smiling.

"On the other hand, what do you suppose these were for?" he asks pulling out a few packets of 500ml red blood cells. 

After coming up empty in his quest for firearms, Ace joins Katsina in the bedroom to go through the drawers. While checking his socks, he feels something hard about the size of his thumb. Unrolling the socks, he finds a commlink. He slots it in his Hermes Ikon to check the balance.

>> Zurich-Orbital Gemeinschaftsbank
>> Silver Certified Credstick
>> Current Balance: ¥8,760

Katsina raises an eyebrow: "Looks like you had a bit of an expense account. Maybe I should have gotten that scarf at L. Bradley after all."

"Maybe," Ace says a little dumbfounded.  "Where do you want to go for dinner?"  Anyway, we should probably wrap it up here.  We still need to find a car.  Maybe we should head down to Zed's.  If we can get Doc to hack our new friend's car, and he puts it together, that could buy us some time on a couple of fronts.  Do you mind taking a peak around the apartment building in astral space?  I'd rather not walk into an ambush if we can avoid it."

[rednblack]

Katsina goes limp on her bed, and wakes back up only a few seconds later.  After she confirms Ace's fears that the fellows from earlier are still outside the apartment building waiting for them, and that they have their car in tow, Ace fires off a message to Doc.

<<@Doc [Ace] I'm pulling my commllink out of silent mode for the next 5 minutes.  I'm in an apartment in a residential area in Aspen.  Downstairs we've got some not-so-friendlies, and I think we can put this to our advantage.  Can you maybe hack some comms?  Once they're parked for a bit, that should be the car we boost.  Let me know if any of this unclear.>>

Ace waits to receive a message from Doc, and finishes his Baco-Soys while he's at it.  As he paces the apartment he ponders his exit strategy.  They didn't seem to care much about Katsina here.  That's a good thing.  So, I can call SecForce and say there's a group of unsavory looking characters hanging around this apartment building, and that would probably get them shooed off, but there's no way I want my comm linked to that mess.  I could fight them, but that seems unwise in the same way as my first idea.  Well, maybe I can outrun them.  These Instigator legs have got to be good for something.

Ace pulls up GridGuide on his commlink and maps out a primary and 2 secondary routes to get him back to a main shopping street.  Ok, this might work.  "Katsina, I'm going to make a run for it.  When our friends give chase, make sure they've left LoS before you come out with our duffel bags.  Get to a cafe as soon as possible and call our driver.  I'll rendezvous with you then."

On the way down in the elevator, Ace can feel his pulse quickening.  These are just a few low-level punks, what the hell am I getting so worked up about? he wonders.  When the elevator door opens, Ace starts a light jog, and by the time he's reached the foyer doors, he's almost to an outright sprint.  He pauses briefly at the awning to catch sight of any cheap-shots or thrown bottles tossed his way, and he's off into the neighborhoods of Aspen.

[Zweiblumen]

Doc is surprised to recieve a message from Ace.

<<@Doc [Ace] I'm pulling my commllink out of silent mode for the next 5 minutes.  I'm in an apartment in a residential area in Aspen.  Downstairs we've got some not-so-friendlies, and I think we can put this to our advantage.  Can you maybe hack some comms?  Once they're parked for a bit, that should be the car we boost.  Let me know if any of this unclear.>>

<<<@Ace [Doc] Keep that thing running silent.  I've got your location, lemme scan the area to see what you're talking about.  Gimme 30 seconds.>>>

With that, he moves seemlessly through the matrix to the address Ace gave him and starts to filter out all of the devices in the immediate vicinity.

[rednblack]

Doc is surprised to recieve a message from Ace.

<<@Doc [Ace] I'm pulling my commllink out of silent mode for the next 5 minutes.  I'm in an apartment in a residential area in Aspen.  Downstairs we've got some not-so-friendlies, and I think we can put this to our advantage.  Can you maybe hack some comms?  Once they're parked for a bit, that should be the car we boost.  Let me know if any of this unclear.>>

<<<@Ace [Doc] Keep that thing running silent.  I've got your location, lemme scan the area to see what you're talking about.  Gimme 30 seconds.>>>

With that, he moves seemlessly through the matrix to the address Ace gave him and starts to filter out all of the devices in the immediate vicinity.

<<@Doc [Ace] I'm making a run for it, so if you see any icons tagging along on mine, those are your chummers.>>

[Malevolence]

After seeing firsthand the backgrounds at Gloria's house and body, Ohanzee sighed to himself on the astral. He still wasn't sure that this wasn't done by him, but the evidence so far - mainly the remoteness of the body's dump location and the lack of nearby trails, strongly indicated an air drop. A spirit could have drug her out here and dropped her - or even a levitating dwarf. Ohanzee shivered, not at all a response to the icy astral background her death had created. But more likely a helicopter. He felt that this made it less likely that he was directly responsible, but that was probably just wishful thinking.


Time for a status report.


Ohanzee returned to his body, quickly adjusted to the physical world and caught up on what had been happening while he was "out". Then he updated the team.


>>@Team [Ohanzee] Gloria died violent. There was one heck of a struggle at her place, enough to taint the Astral realm in the area, but she didn't die there. There is a watcher outside the place, so someone has set up watch to see who comes looking for her. Her place was tossed, so whoever killed her was looking for something. Unless SecForce are bigger slobs than I've been lead to believe.


That might also make it less likely to be us, Ohanzee thought, but didn't share his hopes with the others. It seemed that I was likely able to get everything I needed quite a bit less violently, and over a week ago judging by the time I stopped communicating with her.


>>@Team [Ohanzee] She died where her body rests. Whether from a fall or exposure I'm not sure, but she's been there at least a day. The location is remote with no easy access, so she was most likely dropped there, making the fall the more likely candidate for cause of death. She is, however, missing some fingers - I'm not sure what that means, but it was a little odd as in the pictures I've seen of her she very clearly has ten digits. Anyway, Doc, if you can spare a few minutes, I'm sending her location - maybe her commlink is there.


>>@Team [Ohanzee]
Attachment: Gloria Home Address; Gloria Body Location


<<@Team [Doc] They might have taken her fingers to use on a biometric device. Did she have both of her eyes?


Ohanzee couldn't believe he hadn't made that connection - especially since he'd been thinking of using biometrics only minutes before.


>>@Team [Ohanzee] Hoop me! I didn't notice. Give me a few seconds to go check.


Again, Ohanzee slipped into the astral and headed to Gloria's body. He looked again for any missing body parts, then returned to his body and relayed the results.


That done, he got up and headed down the stairs to the room with the artifact.


Time to see what we can learn about this thing. He heard the Air Spirit laugh in his head, but chose to ignore him.

[Tecumseh]

Katsina studies Ace while he pulls the transfusion packs of blood out of the refrigerator. "We should take those with us," she says after a moment. "I'll pack up the fridge."

At Ace's request, she stretches out on the bed and astrally projects. It isn't difficult to spot the three men waiting for them by the front door. They're hiding around corners and behind posts, waiting with a wrench, a beer bottle, and a hammer. She returns to her body, sits up, and gives Ace their positions.

"I'll get the cooler and the bags. I'm sure you can handle yourself but be careful anyway. I'll be on overwatch and will trip them up if you hit a snag." She doesn't relish the thought of layering another spell on top of the two she has active, but even a weak Mana Bind would slow down any pursuers considerably.

She moves over the window to watch his departure. A minute later he hits the front doors at full speed, blasting them open and thoroughly startling the hoods. One of the orks is busy digging for gold but the other ork and the human are more alert. The human steps out from behind a post to take a swing at Ace's face with his wrench. Ace activates his hydraulic jacks at the right moment and zigs two meters to the side, causing the wrench to completely whiff. The ork, awestruck at Ace's speed, chucks his beer bottle. It misses, leaving Ace unharmed and with plenty of room to run.

Ace looks at the ground, grateful that last night's snow was dry and powdery. It compresses easily, providing plenty of traction. He slows his pace a step, just in case he hits some black ice, but for now he's home free.

[rednblack]

After crossing the street and finding a good alley to run down, Ace turns around, still jogging backwards, and taunts his opponents.  "What?  One and done?  No wonder your girl went off with me, chummer.  A little stamina goes a long way,"  With that, Ace fakes his legs going out from under him and hits the street hard.  "Oof," he exaggerates the sound of air being expelled from his lungs.  He comes up to his knees, looking woozy, and shakes his head twice.  "Ah, fuck, man," and tries to pull himself up on a nearby dumpster.  Come on, guys.  Easy pickings over here.

[Tecumseh]

The men think twice about giving chase, but the fact that Ace runs down an alley gives them hope that maybe they can beat his brains out without a large audience. His taunting dissolves whatever remains of their composure. A ruby haze of anger and cuckoldry descends over their eyes as they charge after him.

[rednblack]

Ace stands up groggily, looks at his pursuers in mock terror, and heads off into the alley.  He's moving much slower now, and weaves a bit as he does so.  He calls up GridGuide and reroutes his approach to the shopping district, planning to take the nearest right before he turns the heat on again.

<<@Katsina [Ace] I'm fine.  Just a bit of show.  These guys should clear your LOS in less than a minute.  Be ready.>>

[Malevolence]

Ohanzee informs Sam and Chino of what he is about to attempt and makes sure they are comfortable with their preparations. The first part should be innocuous enough - try to fight against the overwhelming brightness of the artifact and study it astrally, as well as in the physical world. The second part would be trickier - actually touching the artifact. He hoped that wasn't what triggered the amnesia from before, but even so, compared to step three, it was low-risk. The final part of the examination would involve communicating with it - touching it with his mind and listening to its ancient whispers. He shivered at the thought as he steeled himself and opened his mind to the vivid shapes and colors of the astral.


Immediately he is forced to look away by its brilliance, and finds himself starting into a pair of shimmering eyes. It takes him a moment to realize that it is the Spirit of Air that he had summoned earlier, and slowly the rest of the spirit's body drifts into focus. No, that's not what happened. The background faded OUT, revealing the deep black body of the spirit. But not all black - pinpoints of light, like stars, winked in and out across the body of Celestial Crow.


I can tell you what you need to know about your prize, Celestial Raven said, the mirth evident in its voice. As a gift. Or perhaps for my amusement. It should not matter to you which.


Ohanzee's avatar, normally that of a medicine man, but tall as a human while still being unmistakably dwarf, appeared to shrink beneath the gaze of the powerful spirit. The intelligence and long lived wisdom the spirit possessed were nearly a physical presence here on the Astral, and they were impressive. The black raven he had summoned earlier surely had this same effect, being even more powerful, but in the heat of combat, Ohanzee had not had the opportunity to bear the focused attention of the spirit for long. But Celestial Raven watched the tiny dwarf with intensity. It was all Ohanzee could do to keep his voice from not coming out as a peep.


I would be grateful, oh spirit, for any assistance you would offer.


It is to be a weapon - more specifically, a bomb. The great bird preened, but the near eye never left the dwarf.


I know that already, Ohanzee thought. I don't need to know what I already know.


But under the withering attention of the vast spirit, such an affront as accepting a gift without grace would be unconscionable. Thank you , great spirit. Ohanzee started to turn back to the artifact, but Celestial Raven laughed.


You do not see the value of my gift. I could tell you about the artifact itself, but it would cost you, and that is not what you need to know, merely what you wish to know. Your pursuers are persistent, and have vast resources. It has been stimulating to foil their attempts, but even I cannot hold them at bay forever. They will find you soon enough, and when they do, you will be prepared or you will perish. Knowing the original purpose of the artifact will have little affect on the outcome, but to know why you have it - that is knowledge you can leverage against your foes.


The background of the Astral faded back into view, again leaving just the eyes, two starry pinpoints, then Celestial Raven blinked, and was gone from sight. He was still there - Ohanzee knew because he could still sense him through the link he had to any spirit he summoned - but he did not wish to be seen. The spirit had said its piece, and now stepped aside for Ohanzee to continue with his task.


He knew that it was a bomb - a powerful one, if Katsina's warning was not an exaggeration - and he had suspected that they were taking it somewhere to destroy. No, not destroy - detonate. The pieces began to fall into place. They were weapon smugglers. They had obtained a bomb that was powerful enough to rend the fabric of the universe. The artifact itself was a MacGuffin, it didn't matter what it did, just that it was magically powerful enough to cause the desired damage if it was destroyed.


That presented two possibilities; the more likely was that they were delivering it to Mom for some buyer - a Johnson of unimaginably foul intent - or that they had intended to use it themselves. Were they would-be terrorists? He could see no other possibility.


Or could he? What if it was related to the infection they had? Perhaps there was a source that they had discovered and they intended to destroy it before it spread beyond control. Or perhaps it could somehow save themselves - if it was technological or magical, it might be controlled by some central entity like a hive mind.


He should probably wonder why Celestial Raven had chosen to provide this information unbidden, but with the revelation fresh in his mind, he could think of nothing else.


>>@Team [Ohanzee] I have had an epiphany that might impact how we deal with "Mom".


He relays his thoughts to the team, then turns his attention back to the artifact. It might not be valuable in surviving their enemies, but it might be something they could sell for resources, which could indirectly help them survive. And it'd be easier to sell it if they knew more about what it was.


Celestial Raven chuckled briefly again. Ohanzee really wished he'd stop doing that.

[Malevolence]

As an afterthought before fully training his attention on the artifact, Ohanzee makes a suggestion.


>>@Team [Ohanzee] We could probably use an eye in the sky, maybe a small drone. I know they cost a couple grand, and I don't have anywhere near that much, but if we think its something we want to do I can pitch in about 80¥ and make the arrangements.

[Tecumseh]

Katsina turns away from the window when she loses sight of Ace and his pursuers. His comm'd message comforts her, and she knows he's more metal than man anyway, but that doesn't mean that she isn't concerned. Drawing SecForce attention would be bad, even as a victim. A fight in the streets could earn scrutiny from elements who are almost certainly waiting for the team to slip up or for the bonds of the group to break down. She moves quickly into the bedroom, abandoning her previously-tidy packing efforts in favor of simply stuffing clothes into a couple large duffel bags. It looks like they each had enough clothing to last for a week, although her clothing options were decidedly more limited than Ace's. She must have relied on the Physical Mask spell for outfit changes.

She tosses the bags into the entryway and then races into the living room, stuffing her personal effects into a backpack. Slinging it over her shoulder, she heads to the kitchen. She finds a cooler in the cupboard and some ice packs in the freezer. She quickly dumps the processed food out of the fridge into the cooler, but then slows down the handle the blood. She habitually checks the expiration dates on the transfusion packs and mentally notes than many are nearing their expiration dates. She's happy to have them but wonders where they are from. Stolen? Payment? She passes one back and forth between her hands, feeling blood move within the pack, before finally setting the rest of them on top of the refrigerated food. After sealing the lid of the cooler she drags it to the front door. For a moment she wonders if she can handle two duffels, a backpack, and a cooler. With a strong Magic Fingers this would be easy but she's already sagging under the weight of two sustained spells. Sighing internally, she throws the duffels bags over her shoulder and bends down to drag the cooler. There's an Increase Strength preparation sitting in one of her pockets but she'd prefer to save that for an emergency.

<<@Calvin [Ivana] Calvin, please come to this address. I am waiting with luggage.>>
<<@Ivana [Calvin] Right away, Miss Kutchukokoph.>>

Katsina drags the bags down the hallway and into the elevator, certain that she looks ridiculous, but at least she doesn't look like herself. As she pulls her things into the lobby, she receives a message from Ohanzee.

>>@Team [Ohanzee] I have had an epiphany that might impact how we deal with "Mom".

She listens to his theories as she waits in the lobby for her ride.

<<@Ohanzee, Team [Katsina] You think that it's a bomb? That doesn't make any sense. If it's a bomb then why would Sam make a bomb to blow it up?>> She thinks things over.

<<Who told you that it was a bomb? Celestial Raven??>> Ohanzee can practically feel her incredulity through his trodes. <<Raven the trickster? The prankster? Sly, conniving, devious, opportunistic Raven?>>

She pauses for a moment, suddenly aware that her extreme skepticism may be coming across as excessively rude.

<<I don't think it's a bomb. When we first woke up, I saw the aura of the obelisk on us. All of us. I don't think I'd be seeing the astral signature of a bomb on our auras.>> Ah, the dry wit. <<The signature faded steadily as we got up the hill with the crate. I'm guessing that we somehow triggered the obelisk, lost our memories, then crashed. That's the model which fits the data.>>

[Tecumseh]

Ohanzee goes downstairs to examine the obelisk more thoroughly. Assensing it is the first step, even if it hurts. Opening his astral vision, he's practically blinded by the spotlight, deafened by the waves of power rolling off the obelisk. His head rolls as he tries to grasp the age and immensity of it all. Foci and artifacts of the Sixth World are young things, less than 70 years old. This obelisk though screams its age, an ancient relic of the Fourth World. Instead of 70 years it has had 7,000 years to concentrate mana, to deepen its connection with the land, to store its power. It is the product of an age far more magically advanced than Ohanzee's own. He realizes his role is reversed: he is the caveman, and the obelisk is the futuristic tool or technology.

With his eyes and ears swimming, he returns his senses to the physical world. Still dizzy from the experience, he reaches out to touch the obelisk. Nothing happens, although the artifact itself is cold - colder than room temperature. It feels like metal or a stone than had been left in the refrigerator. It bleeds the heat away from his hand but the surface never seems to warm up. He moves his hands over the base, feeling the geometric forms carved into it, then moves to the tablet on top. It is covered with inscriptions in dozens of different parts, some with their lines raised and others seemingly carved into the face. He searches for patterns but finds none. The inscriptions are unintelligible.

Finally, most bravely, he casts a spell to communicate with it. A small one, intended to limit the exchange. He reaches out with this mind, touching the obelisk with the spell as gently as he had touched it with his hands. A murmur rises in the back of his mind. It's a garbled noise, like dozens of voices speaking at the same time, overlapping and washing each other out. He strains, trying to improve the connection, trying to single one out, but the increased focus only makes the stream stronger, not clearer. He leans back, uncertain of whether a stronger spell would allow him to differentiate the noise or whether it would just turn up the volume. But at least the experiment didn't kill him, or drive him insane, or steal his memories again. Call it a success from that standpoint.

[rednblack]

His pursuers seem to close the gap between them quicker than Ace had expected.  At one point he can almost the human reaching out with his hands to grab him by the scruff of the neck, but Ace turns up a little bit more heat in his legs and takes a sharp right down another alley.  The snow is practically untouched here, and while the powder provides a good crunch, he has to be careful of his footing for fear of coming down solidly on some black ice.  "If I go down now, this is going to get a whole lot more serious.  The orks trail farther and farther behind as Ace weaves between alleys and across smaller streets, the GridGuide overlay in his field of vision helping him avoid any dead ends or switch-backs that might put him at risk of being cut off.

Finally, when they've put a few hundred meters between themselves and the apartment building, Ace holds up his middle finger on each hand and really turns up the heat.  "Watch your hoop, chump," he warns the man gasping behind him.  "I'm not done with you by a sight."  Ace goes as fast as he can for the next 50 meters or so, and then slows back to a jog, and has practically finished catching his breath before he turns back onto the main shopping street.  Now that he's back around polite company, Ace checks his comm and frowns.  This drek just keeps getting weirder.  Wish I understood more of the mojo stuff.  He fires off a few messages before finding Katsina.

<<@Team [Ace] My financial situation has changed.  Unsure about how useful a Fly Spy would be, but I can help cover the cost of clothes and medkits.>>

<<@Doc Ace] Any luck with our friends?>>

<<@Katsina [Ace] I'm down near Cafe Nochabi.  Where should we meet?>>

Upon receiving a reply from Katsina, Ace heads down to finish shopping.

[Malevolence]

After the experience with the artifact, Ohanzee shuts his eyes - astral and physical - and takes a deep breath. He's notified that there are messages waiting for him - he had tuned out his commlink during the examination.

<<@Ohanzee, Team [Katsina] You think that it's a bomb? That doesn't make any sense. If it's a bomb then why would Sam make a bomb to blow it up?>> She thinks things over.

<<Who told you that it was a bomb? Celestial Raven??>> Ohanzee can practically feel her incredulity through his trodes. <<Raven the trickster? The prankster? Sly, conniving, devious, opportunistic Raven?>>

She pauses for a moment, suddenly aware that her extreme skepticism may be coming across as excessively rude.

<<I don't think it's a bomb. When we first woke up, I saw the aura of the obelisk on us. All of us. I don't think I'd be seeing the astral signature of a bomb on our auras.>> Ah, the dry wit. <<The signature faded steadily as we got up the hill with the crate. I'm guessing that we somehow triggered the obelisk, lost our memories, then crashed. That's the model which fits the data.>>

Ohanzee is confused for a moment at the misinterpretation of what he had said, but finally sees how Katsina might have misunderstood.


>>Katsina, Team [Ohanzee] Sorry, I've been preoccupied and am just getting these messages. I didn't mean to imply that the artifact itself was a bomb. It is simply a concentration of magical energy. The bomb that Sam constructed is more like a trigger - it destroys the artifact, but the artifact's destruction releases the magical energy.


He remembers the power, the unfathomably vast accumulation of mana over thousands of years.


>>So much magical energy that it disrupts the barrier between the physical world and the Astral one, causing mana warps, perhaps even deeper tears into realms beyond the Astral. The devastation would be incalculable.

>>But, I see your point. Raven, in all his forms, is a trickster, and the information was freely given. It is suspect, but the only other explanation I can see for the bomb that Sam made is to hold the artifact hostage from whoever hired us to steal it. But that doesn't track because the bomb, once attached, is not removable - you wouldn't attach the bomb unless you intended to use it. That's a poor negotiating tactic, unless there is a way for us to remove it safely and reliably that no one has mentioned. In which case, why not attach it immediately?

>>And really, both you and I are knowledgable enough to know how catastrophic destroying the artifact would be and our help was needed to create Sam's bomb. Why would we go along with something that would be as suicidal as building a nuclear weapon as a simple negotiating tactic?

>>No, destroying the artifact had to be the intent, not a "just in case".

>>And my mind must have been foggier than I realized this morning, but this is the first mention I remember hearing about you seeing the aura of the artifact on all of us after waking up. Not that it surprises me - it is almost certainly responsible for our current condition - but it at least confirms that the artifact has had an influence on all of us.

>>But, in the interest of exploring alternative options, let's reconstruct the timeline as we know it. The last communication we know of as our "previous selves" is between Sam and a Johnson at 10:10pm yesterday. It did not go well. The next point in time we are aware of is waking in the van at Midnight this morning. That's two hours unaccounted for, during which we were unconscious long enough for the battery to die down - that's what? An hour? So could the bomb have been built in an hour? If so, maybe it was built in response to the conversation with the Johnson, in which case we knew what would happen if the artifact was destroyed and we helped build it anyway, just to spite our employer.

>>Or we came with the bomb already built. Maybe we were supposed to destroy it on site and once we laid eyes on it we realized that would be suicide, and that precipitated the call to the Johnson. But how could we have been surprised by the artifact if we knew enough about it in advance to build the bomb meant to destroy it?

>>Again, everything leads to us having known in advance what destroying the artifact would do, and choosing to destroy it anyway. So, we are either destroying it despite the risk - in which case the artifact itself is dangerous and we just need to destroy it in a location that minimizes collateral damage, or the artifact itself is a component for our ultimate weapon and the location where we choose to destroy it is the target.


Ohanzee hoped he was clear this time. Admittedly, he was less certain about his epiphany, or rather the conclusion he came to after Celestial Raven's encouragement. But it still made sense, more sense than any other scenario he had considered. Perhaps another team member had a suggestion that made more sense, or a piece of the puzzle that utterly disproved his working theory. But until then, he would focus on learning about the artifact. In a few hours there would be another vote on the object's fate, and he wanted them to have as many facts as possible.


He thought about the voices he had heard - almost heard - as he attempted communication with the ancient device. If it had stolen their minds, were those voices perhaps their attempt to reach out? he decided that perhaps if he focused on listening for one voice - one he knew well; his own - that maybe he would have better luck.


Opening his mind again to the artifact, he cast the Mindlink spell and listened...