[Malevolence]

The smell of food brings Ohanzee gently to consciousness, mercifully releasing him from the nightmares that had filled his dreams. He had slept fitfully at first, his body too exhausted to dream, but eventually his body recuperated, and his subconscious turned to other things...


The sun gleamed through the windows of the fuselage as the plane cruised above the clouds. The dwarf sat lazily in a chair facing a cowering group of executives. The hand-cannon he leveled at them was the same that he carried now.


"I'm gettin' tired of waiting. Someone tell me what I wanna know, or I start killing people." A wolf spirit, mangy and vile, nowhere near as majestic as the spirit he had summoned earlier, growled at the group to emphasize the threat. He idly took note of the suit he wore - fancy, like something befitting a junior exec. The words weren't spoken, but were transmitted over a magic link to the minds of the hostages.


The pilot, a braver, but less imposing, metahuman than the rest spoke up, reflexively speaking rather than projecting it over the magic link. "You're just as trapped as we are - the security forces were alerted the moment you pulled your gun. You can't possibly hope to get out of this alive unless you give up now."


Little Shadow smiled. The same deadly smile he gave when people called him "Small Shadow" instead. "They'll be too busy trying to keep it from raining bodies to stop me." He stood up and retreated to the cockpit, closed the door, and watched the people through the window in the door.


"It's about to get a bit windy in there, so, mercifully, I won't be able to hear you. But, when you change your mind, I'll know." The spell that linked their minds continued to function and was flooded with a low murmur of confusion. A brief moment of concentration, and the pilot that had spoken earlier stands tall, and walks toward the hatch to the outside. The executives and their lackeys watch him uncertainly, then with great consternation as he begins to work the door controls. They scramble to grab for anything they can, screaming both verbally and with their minds for the pilot to stop what he was doing, but to no effect. The hatch gives, violently yanking the pilot out the opening as it comes free of the plane. Almost immediately, the cabin temperature drops as the cold wind roars in and the warm air is sucked out. The vortex formed by the gushing air rips anything not secured from its resting place and throws it around the cabin before inevitably sucking it out the opening created by the missing hatch. The sound is deafening, loud even in the cockpit, before it is drown out by the various alarms as the plane reports the drop in cabin pressure, then adjusts for the uneven drag. The dog brain pilot struggles to keep the relatively small jet stable. The pilots presence disappears from the shared communication link, and in his absence Little Shadow speaks. "If you don't want to share his fate, you had better start talking."


"You are a mad man!" one of the junior executives, in good shape, leaps to a cabinet and opens it, struggling to hang on while he rummages through it. Shortly, he pulls out a parachute and begins to put it on, always keeping one hand to secure him. He fails to see the wolf spirit leap at him, and with a quick snap of the jaws, the hand holding the the parachute is severed and pulled out the opening along with the parachute it still clutched. Not thinking, the man clutches at the stump with his remaining hand, losing his only tether to the plane, and is thrown across the cabin and dashed unconscious against a wall. As with all loose items, he is sucked toward the hatch opening, spared only when an ork woman grabs his body with her free hand and wedges it between two seats, applying her weight to keep it secure.


"Mad, perhaps, but not unreasonable. For instance, I could have my pet dispose of all of the parachutes, but I think that's unnecessary." The wolf had positioned itself by the closet that the junior exec had pilfered for the parachute, and presumably more remained within. It watched the passengers as it guarded the remaining parachutes, lest any of them get the same idea. "Once I have what I want, I have no interest in what happens to you one way or another. In fact, it might be interesting to see you fight over them." He paused to imagine it for a second before continuing. "Of course, the plane can still make a safe landing, so they likely aren't necessary, and if they were, the longer this goes on, the less competition there will be when the time comes." Another brief moment of focus, and the ork that had saved the junior exec shifted and yanked the exec from his place of safety. The body arced through the cabin, spraying blood from the stump as it went, hitting one of the other passengers before finally disappearing out the maw of the hull breach. The ork shook her head as the spell wore off, her face awash in horror at what she had just done. The look she threw at the dwarf could have stopped traffic. He laughed.


"I'll tell you what you want." an old human male finally offered, resignedly. "You won't live long enough to make use of it anyway." The other passengers tried to hide their relief. The man who had "spoken" was the most senior exec and the others had not wanted to crack before he had and risk surviving only to be ruined for failing their superior. The man gave him a code to unlock a file he had on him, and Little Shadow scanned the files contents before speaking agian.


"See? Was that so hard? Thank you for your cooperation." he cracked the door to the cabin. "Now you may commence fighting over the parachutes." He pulled three small spherical objects from his pocket, armed them with a thought, and threw them into the cabin, closing the door behind them. The wolf immediately vanished back the astral as the grenades bounced about the cabin, the horrified passengers diving for the closet with the parachutes or to find cover behind seats or any obstruction they could find. One lost control and vanished out the open door. The dwarf watched with intense joy as another went out the window as the ork woman pushed others out of her way as she charged toward the closet with the parachutes. She grabbed one and lept out the door, putting it on as she went. A mental command sent the wolf spirit after her, ensuring she would not reach the ground alive.


Then the grenades detonated. The plane was ravaged - the structure of it began to disintegrate as the hundreds of holes they had caused were ripped apart by the phenomenal friction of the rushing wind. Those that had managed to find cover and survive the explosion were suddenly realizing that their stay of execution was brief. The plane split in two and the cockpit where Little Shadow watched began tumbling. He pulled his jacket tight and grabbed onto the handles at the sides of the door. He watched the altimeter count down as the nose of the plane fell to earth. At half a kilometer, he pulled at the door latch and heaved it open then jumped form the debris into the warm air of a summer night. With a brief moment of concentration, his levitation magic took hold, and he slowly drifted to the earth.




He used the restroom, cleaned up - throwing water on his face to clean away the sweat, and exited his room, following his nose to breakfast.


"Good morning." he says to Sam and Ivana before grabbing a coffee. "Anything I can do to help?" he asks as he looks over what Ivana is cooking. His mouth waters and his stomach grumbles. She shoes him away, so he sits down and waits for breakfast to be ready, and for the rest of the team to arrive.

[Poindexter]

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Seen Chino or Doc?"

[Malevolence]

"Nope. Just woke up. Why, what's up?"

[8-bit]

Chino shakes his head and alleviates his needs. After he's done, he sits back on the bed, and contemplates slotting another chip. Reality was looking like a bad idea, and that last chip had been amazing. Then again, he couldn't remember anything else to compare it to, so perhaps it wasn't the best review. Looking at the commlink, he shakes his head in disgust. Not tonight. He would have to face reality eventually, and he might as well save a few of them for the road.

He gets under the covers, but manages to stay wide awake. Just like a junkie who had been without their favored drug and had finally managed to get their hands on some; nothing, not even biological needs, could stop their impulse to indulge in their vice. Chino looks towards the link, sitting just a few feet away from him. It would only take a moment, and then he would be out of this dismal place. For the time being, anyway.

No! He tightly clenches his fingers together into a fist. He had thought getting a hit on a BTL would help; it had only made things worse. They weren't safe yet, his team still needed him to be functional. Not oblivious to the world, experiencing some hyperreal drek. He tosses and turns, and finally manages to settle into a restless sleep.


In his dream, he is bombarded by images, and sights, and colors. It was likely a side effect of the BTLs, and his recent condition. His brain was trying to process information after he had deliberately screwed around with it. The cacophony of sounds and feelings continues, sometimes not even matching at all. The elf from the BTL with a feeling of despair; Ohanzee with a feeling of anger; APB's body with a feeling of happiness. Doc's face on Sam's body, then meshing into a Katsina without her mask, blood dripping from oversized fangs; Ace's dead body in her arms.


Chino wakes up with a gasp. His gaze darts around the room, and he throws the covers off of himself. He backs up against the head of the bed.

And then, reality sets in.

He was in a safehouse, in his room. It was morning. He had just woken up from a dream. A nightmarish dream, but just a dream.

He sighed and shook his head. Looking down at his hands, he sees that he had been scraping them and tightening his fist so much, that he had actually drawn blood. Getting out of bed, he moves towards the sink and turns the water on. Throwing some water in his face to wake up, he proceeds to washing the blood off of his hands. Superficial wounds, nothing more. In the mirror, a haunted look greets his gaze. He rubs his face with his hands. Perhaps taking the BTL had been a worse idea than he had thought.

Walking back into his room, he picks the covers up, and tosses them on the bed. His eyes are drawn towards the commlink, but he turns away. Don't be ridiculous Chino, it's just a commlink. Just don't slot any chips and pick the damn thing up.

He palmed the commlink and slid it into his pocket. Turning back towards the mirror, he takes a quick inspection of his face. While looking slightly haggard, it no longer looked like a man haunted by a demon. It would have to do, hopefully the others wouldn't notice.

He headed for the dining room; the smell of bacon guiding his path. It helped wake him up, and he realized he was starving. Walking into the room, he sees Sam and Ohanzee sitting together; Katsina is busy cooking.

He nods. "Mornin'." He pours himself a cup of coffee.

[Tecumseh]

Ivana shakes her head apologetically to Sam, but then - on cue - Chino arrives. He looks a bit worn, his aura showing some dark swirls that probably aren't beacons of health. The swirls seem mostly mental; physically, Chino appears to be in fine form. Katsina privately wonders if that's due to the best muscles that money can buy or ... something else. Who knows. Maybe the nanites are the healthiest things about us. Them.

Seeing that people are starting to congregate, she starts plating breakfast. She makes an omelette for Sam, adding bacon, onions, and bell peppers. She then looks at Sam, remembers that he was the one who bought the bacon, and adjusts the ratios accordingly. The final product looks to be as much bacon as egg.

"A Denver omelette!" she announces proudly as she flips it onto a plate over a bed of home fries, garnishing it with a spring of cilantro. It looks lovely and soft, much like the curvy Russian-Nipponese elf herself

She looks to see if Ohanzee and Chino want the same or something different. If they look at her on the astral, they will notice a new spell quickened on her aura. It's the same spell she's quickened on Ace, but, curiously, a less powerful version. What's it mean that she quickens more powerful spells on others than she does on herself? An indication of selflessness, or simply the arbitrary nature of alchemical casting?

She begins working on the next serving.

[rednblack]

Ace awakens and enjoys a brief morning shower to more thoroughly revive himself.  I think, before, I would do this to loosen up my muscles.  Not necessary now, but interesting how this old habit has stayed with me.  He tries to dismiss any importance attached to Illeana's name.  Ok, so it was her SIN, her good fake, but lots of people use their real first name for their fakes.  His own were very similar, after all.  And she wasn't playing him.  Not before.  Not now.  No, she'd come down on the right side on this one, had abandoned the Black Lodge to keep the obelisk out of the wrong hands.  He would've noticed before, right, if she was using him for some other, deeper, aims.  Plus, it was not like she was out using her mojo to frag around with anyone's minds, or anything.

He casts the robe aside in favor of the clothes that Katsina had made for him yesterday, and follows the smell of bacon to the kitchen.  "Hoi," he says rather absently to no one in particular as he looks for a cup to put coffee in, real or otherwise.  After a few sips, he looks at the team, and pulls his commlink from his pocket.

"Doc did good last night.  We're both still breathing, and he was able to get this."  Ace sends a copy of the files from his datalock to those present who don't already have it.

>>December 24, 2074
>>Agent Case,
>>We have a new mission for you. One of our agents has gone missing, and was last seen en route to Aspen. We do not know if she is dead, compromised or gone rogue, but she missed her last check-in and has not responded to any attempts to contact her. We need you to find her, and find out what went wrong. Attached is a dossier on the agent and her last mission. An alibi has been provided to explain your absence from your current assignment. Read it, memorize it, and follow standard procedure. We do not want these files falling into the wrong hands.

>> Target: Mireille Smith
>> Age: 23
>> Race: Elf
>> Emergence: Technomancer

>> Mireille Smith is a technomancer who was brought to the attention of Ares three years ago when she attempted to hack into Seattle University to guarantee her acceptance into college. The subject was an honor student at Charles Wright Academy in Tacoma but had a record for grand larceny that would have prevented her admission under normal (non-hacked) circumstances. The hack did not go well. The reports that were filed indicate that a campus spider linklocked Miss Smith into the host while attempting to trace her location. She then proceeded to unleash a small army of sprites. By the end of the siege, she had bricked 35% of the devices on campus and corrupted much of their matrix infrastructure, and put three security spiders in the hospital from biofeedback damage. She successfully broke the linklock by bricking her attackers, but Convergence hit several of her sprites and her position was traced to her home, where several illegally-owned items were discovered by the raiding officers. She was gone by the time they arrived but was caught three days later trespassing on Ares-owned property while attempting to modify files Knight Errant had collected on her. She was involved in a brief gunfight with security personnel, after which she was promptly arrested and sent to prison.

>> Officially Miss Smith's record says that she was paroled for good behavior after two years and required to broadcast a criminal SIN at all times, as well as strictly forbidden from hacking or compiling sprites. Unofficially, she is working for Ares as a deniable asset, and participating in technomancer research programs in exchange for a shortened sentence.

>> Miss Smith's latest assignment was to investigate the Atlantean Foundation's research into some ruins in the Pueblo Corporate Council, not far from Bolder, Denver FRFZ. Ares has taken an interest in the actions of the Atlantean Foundation after receiving reports that they are behaving oddly on certain expeditions in the PCC and threatening Ares interests there. Satellite analysis of the site combined with statistical analysis of the data traffic to and from local nodes suggests a high probability (96.8% or higher) of a significant discovery at the ruins within the last month. Miss Smith was to investigate and report back with her findings immediately. She missed her last check-in and has not responded to any attempts to reach her. Given her history and propensity for destruction, Miss Smith is not routinely provided with as much discretion and latitude as we provide to our Instigator operatives, but she is considered a competent asset and her successful recovery is a priority to management.

>> Your assignment is to find Miss Smith, discover what she has learned, and respond accordingly within your mandate. She was last seen en route to Aspen, although her motives for going there are unclear.

>> Your alibi for your current position is attached. Good luck, Agent Case.

"And here's my mission log."

December 25, 2074
Ace arrives in Aspen on Christmas and immediately began looking for APB.

December 25, 2074 to January 3rd, 2074
- The search was unproductive and uneventful. Ace also explores some of the smaller towns nearby.

January 4th through 10th
- On January 4th, Ace senses that he is being followed. This impression continues for several days.
- On January 10th, Ace again feels that he is being followed. He manages to turn the tables on his tail, who turns out to be the Masked Woman, whom he refers to in the file as Illeana. Ace traps her in an alley and a fight ensues. Ace gets the upper hand and is in a position to kill Illeana, but he interrogates her instead. She reveals her nature as a vampire, and explains that her coven is being manipulated into interfering with Ace and his mission. This did not necessarily mean that she had to kill Ace, only that she was instructed to detain him or otherwise disrupt his activities. Ace decides to let her go unharmed. She is surprised by his mercy, and the fact that he doesn't care she's a vampire, which makes her curious enough to stick around long enough to develop an interest in him.

January 11th through 18th
- Over the next several days, Ace and Illeana become friendly, and then cooperative. Ace initially seeks to "turn" Illeana, seeing her as a valuable magical asset, but eventually becomes fond of her and develops feelings for her. She seems genuinely kind and helpful.
- Illeana is eventually convinced that Ace's goals are more noble than those of her coven, who she no longer trusts due to external interference. She commits to helping Ace find APB. The sexual tension between them is growing daily. Ace agrees to share Illeana's safehouse in Aspen.
- On January 18th, Ace reports that his Ares Instigator™  βSynthetic Torso is "fully functional".

January 19th through 24th
- A honeymoon of sorts. Ace and Illeana continue their search for APB while returning to the safehouse to frequently "regroup".

January 25th
- On January 25th, APB triggers her distress signal. She is immediately recovered by Ace and Illeana.
- APB explains that her exploratory run against the ruins went sideways. During the run, she uncovered evidence that the Atlantean Foundation research team had been infiltrated by religious cultists.
- APB retreated to Aspen (thinking that security and/or the cultists would look for her in Boulder, the nearest city) to lay low. She went to a bar, picked up the toughest looking guy, and shacked up with him for a few weeks while waiting for things to cool off.
- APB provides the results of her aborted hack. She says that the Atlantean Foundation has uncovered an ancient obelisk at an archaeological dig. Its value is inestimable and would surely be worth a significant commendation from Ares were they to successfully bring it in. Ace agrees.

January 26th through 30th
- Red Team lays the groundwork for their run on the ruins. They conduct physical, astral, and Matrix reconnaissance. The details of this are included in the file, including the location of the ruins. The location ties out with the photographs that Katsina has on her comm.
- The Atlantean Foundation is referring to the artifact as the Blank Slate. They are actively conducting research on the obelisk in situ, but with mixed results. A couple volunteers were rendered into mindless husks after "reading" the "writing" on the obelisk. The obelisk somehow robbed them of their minds, leaving only an empty shell of a body behind. These shells are still alive and can perform involuntary functions (breathing, blinking, heartbeat, etc.) on their own, but seem to be devoid of higher thinking.
- The cult appears to desire the obelisk to worship it. Their religion seems to be based off indigenous beliefs dating back to the Fourth World.
- Illeana is nervous about the power of the artifact and who else might be looking for it. She is more comfortable with the notion of Ares having it than her coven, which is actively being manipulated by forces she does not trust, or religious fanatics, whom she also does not trust. Illeana agrees to help retrieve the artifact for Ares, but warns that the group that manipulated her coven will surely hire runners of their own to do the same. (Illeana was not instructed to recover the artifact, only to interfere with Ace. She feels certain there must be another team actively pursuing the artifact.)

January 31st
- Ace records the contents of this file to his data lock prior to the run.

He sits down to his meal, and again eats with a clean and swift efficiency.  The food is good, but it seems Ace enjoys the smell of it as much as the actual meal once it enters his mouth.  Maybe they did a better job with olfactory senses than my "taste buds." he wonders.  Makes sense.

He turns to Sam and says, "I've got a favor to ask.  Once we're through in here, I was hoping you could take the smartlink system off that hunter's rifle and attach it to mine.  Could come in handy for what's coming next."

To the group, Ace says, "Looks like the Atlantean Foundation is a no go.  Makes me nervous about some of the others as well.  It looks like before I was trying to get this thing to Ares, which makes some of my previous understanding about what I was doing and what was going on prove flat out wrong.  I'm wondering if Ares might be the way to go now.  They might be able to help with the nanites, and they could certainly get everyone here some start-up cash and a good quality SIN."

[Zweiblumen]

Getting a full night of actually restfull sleep was amazing.  Doc stretches and does the three S's.  Cleaned and groomed, the smell of bacon draws him out into the dinning room just as Chino is getting there.  He walks over to Ohanzee and sees that he's looking hearty and hale, as a dwarf should.  And smiles his hellos.

Taking a seat at the table and thanking Katsina for preparing a wonderful meal again.

"So, AF may be out, but we don't really have anyone we can actually trust.  Ares would definitely have the resources to get us to retirement, but they also have the resources to just take this from us.  Nothing a little Thor Strike can't take care of if you know what I mean.  I'm starting to get more and more concerned about these nanites and where they came from.  Why I have more than everyone else and where we want to go next.  If I'm going to get any more information, I'm going to have to leave the safe house.  I'm only so useful in here."

[rednblack]

"So, AF may be out, but we don't really have anyone we can actually trust.  Ares would definitely have the resources to get us to retirement, but they also have the resources to just take this from us.  Nothing a little Thor Strike can't take care of if you know what I mean.  I'm starting to get more and more concerned about these nanites and where they came from.  Why I have more than everyone else and where we want to go next.  If I'm going to get any more information, I'm going to have to leave the safe house.  I'm only so useful in here."

Ace nods.  "True, but anyone who can get us to retirement has at least a fighting shot of taking the thing from us.  I don't think anyone here is looking to make millions, just enough to be, well, whoever we're going to be now.  Trying to forcibly take the obelisk from this team could potentially be extremely costly.  They know they'd be up against at least one Instigator, and I certainly don't outclass the other people at this table.  That's a lot of human capital to throw at the problem, including the training, the ware, etc.  They may find it to be much more cost effective to buy us off.  Well, buy you chummers off.  Not sure what they'll have in store for me.  It seems I've given a bit of latitude, but I may also be damaged goods now."

[Tecumseh]

Katsina finishes dishing up omelettes and pouring juice and coffee.

"It's a tough question but we need to figure out what life looks like for each of us after this is all over. Where do we go, do any of us stick together, how do we reboot our lives?

"Ace, do you want to return to Ares? For everyone else, Ares obviously has deniable assets, like APB. I don't know if that's a desirable career choice for anyone, especially since we don't have anything else on our calendars, or if people would prefer to be paid to go away.

"Ares might be able to help with the nanite problem, or to recover our memories, but that would be putting ourselves in their hands. That's a lot of trust to put in a megacorp; we could end up as Ares test subjects."

She looks to Ace, almost apologetically.

"I would very much understand it if you want to go 'home', but I'm not sure there's as much for me there. I don't have the same nanite issue, likely due to my healing factor. I'd like my memories back but I have to weigh that against the risk of being a guinea pig for the rest of my unnatural life. After this is done, we might have to go our separate ways."

She looks to Doc.

"We have 10 or 11 hours until the doors unlock. We can use that time to plan our next steps and talk about our futures. Once we have some ideas, we can form a course of action for when we're back on the road with wireless."

[Poindexter]

He nods. "Mornin'."

Sam bolts up from his seat upon hearing the familiar voice. He holds out the simchip to return it to Chino. "Mary mother of FUCK, Chino! That chip almost gave me a heart attack and I was running it on COLD sim! How the hell did you and Doc watch that nightmarish thing on hot and not just wake up and blow your brains out when it was done?!"

---------------------------------------------------

"I've got a favor to ask.  Once we're through in here, I was hoping you could take the smartlink system off that hunter's rifle and attach it to mine.  Could come in handy for what's coming next."

"Consider it done." he says with a nod.

[rednblack]

Ace considers Katsina's words, and flies back to the naming issue.  He also could have listed her as Illeana as a way to protect her.  Knowing her nature, and knowing what Ares might do with a vampire . . . well, it would make sense even if he knew her real name -- assuming it wasn't "Illeana" -- that he would name her as such for his handlers.  But her good SIN?  He glances around the room and is reminded of his fleeting memory hunting down runners, gutting them, bringing the survivors back to HQ.  How would he feel about that work now, having broken bread with his quarry?

"I'm not sure that 'home' is really home anymore.  Retirement for me sounds like the most attractive option, but I'll always have to worry about Ares.  Perhaps less so, if we go with them to turn in the obelisk.  Maybe not," he says.

[8-bit]

Sam bolts up from his seat upon hearing the familiar voice. He holds out the simchip to return it to Chino. "Mary mother of FUCK, Chino! That chip almost gave me a heart attack and I was running it on COLD sim! How the hell did you and Doc watch that nightmarish thing on hot and not just wake up and blow your brains out when it was done?!"

Chino shrugs as he accepts the chip back. "I did warn you about it. I've probably got some sort of tolerance for these things, but I have no idea about Doc. He hasn't seen it."

He sips his coffee. It might not be the best coffee, but it tasted amazing. It was like drinking liquid gold.

As Katsina serves the food, Chino greedily starts in. The bacon is so good, combined with the hot coffee, it was heavenly. Almost makes you wonder if there's a BTL for this. Chino pauses a moment. Now where the hell did that come from? Did I really just wonder if it came in BTL form? What is wrong with me? He forces the thought out of his mind, and goes back to eating; although it is a little more slowly and he has to force himself to swallow.

Once his plate is empty, he pushes it forward, pours himself some more coffee, and sits back in his chair. Ace elaborates on the information they got from his datalock; nothing that surprising. Although the method of Red team's formation was certainly interesting; Blue team's was probably just as bizarre.

"It's a tough question but we need to figure out what life looks like for each of us after this is all over. Where do we go, do any of us stick together, how do we reboot our lives?"

"What would I do if I got out of here? Slot BTLs all day? No, no, no." Chino shakes his head. "Despite my amnesia, I think there's a part of my old self that is still ingrained within me. Call it genetics, or whatever you like, but I have the feeling I'm going to end up in the shadows again. I somehow doubt Ares would accept me as a 'covert operative'. Probably going to get out of town, at least for a bit."

He looks at the others. "Aren't we getting a little ahead of ourselves? Figuring out what we're going to do after we're free is all well and good, but I think I'd rather be free first."

He turns to Ace. "You said that the Atlantean Foundation is out. I don't think so. We were willing to hand it back to Ares, back before we knew how connected some of us were to it. What's so different about the Atlantean Foundation? They might be interested in magical artifacts, but they're still a corp. Buying it off of us would be the easiest way to get this back, and they'll figure it out, too." He takes a sip of coffee. "I mean, think about it. If we leave out the Atlantean Foundation but invite everyone else, they have no way of competing for it. That makes them more likely to crash the party or go after us. You know they'll find out about it somehow." Taking a moment to let his words sink in, he continues, "And what about Ares? Even if it isn't your home Ace, you were sent to get the obelisk. They may or may not believe our story about amnesia, but they definitely want the thing. Can we afford to leave them out? They probably have even more firepower than the Atlantean Foundation if they wanted to bring some heat on our negotiations."

Chino sits back and waits for the others to respond.

[Poindexter]

Chino shrugs as he accepts the chip back. "I did warn you about it. I've probably got some sort of tolerance for these things, but I have no idea about Doc. He hasn't seen it."

Sam goes ice cold and his face, a bit pale. He slowly turns to face "Doc" with a look of concerned apprehension on his face. "You haven't seen it?" He glances briefly at Chino before continuing. "You recorded it, you know?"

[Malevolence]

Ohanzee eats quietly as the team discusses their plans going forward, and various other things. Sam's reaction to the BTL is disturbing, and Ohanzee can't stop himself from asking "Am I in it?"

The information pulled from Ace's datalock is interesting. Ohanzee mulls it over.

The artifact. We now know who we stole it from and where. And possibly for who, vaguely. Ohanzee updates his mental timeline to include the obelisk being discovered in late November and Blue Team being brought on to steal it shortly after in December. Red Team and Blue Team apparently met for the first time during the heist. Still no indication as to why they both happened to choose the same night to make their move. It is now unquestionably responsible for their amnesia, and apparently worse for a few unfortunates from the Atlantean Foundation. It is a good thing, apparently, that they are/were unable to read the inscriptions on the tablet affixed to the obelisk. But then how did the way they activated it differ from the reading of the tablet? Was it triggered by the crash, or did it cause the crash? Was that really even relevant?

Or were they mindless husks after all, animated only by the nanotech flooding their systems? That seemed unlikely - technology and magic mixed only in spectacularly disruptive ways - technological control of his body should be unable to use his magic just as spirits were unable to use technology when possessing a body with cybernetics. And that, again, failed to explain Ivana. Ileana. Katsina. Whatever. The vampire. Of course, he didn't know much about anatomy or technology, but to him it seemed reasonable that the nanites might be keeping the lower cogitative functions active - the so called reptilian brain - and new personalities had thus been able to form in the void left in the higher brain. Again, it seemed unlikely, but maybe Doc would have more insight.

And the artifact apparently had some religious significance. Specifically, or just because it is ancient? Would it perhaps be referenced in some obscure religious text from this region?

The Atlantean Foundation. Infiltrated - perhaps to the point of corruption - by secret cults. Ohanzee wondered which one hired them. The Black Lodge? Not likely since they had already fielded Ivana and the operatives they had run into did not recognize him while they had been aware of Ivana. Not whatever group of crackpots the Natelys belonged to or they would have recognized him as well. So, some other player. Great - someone else that would surely come looking for them in time.

Ares. That was new. It offered great promise as an option to turn the obelisk over to since they had an in, presumably, with Ace. But there were also reasons to be cautious, many of which had already been brought up by the others. He knew that they were big on stomping bug spirits, so they certainly had every bit as much reason to be interested in the artifact as the dedicated magical foundations, and would be just as likely to use it for "good", as loose as that definition tended to be in the sixth world. He wasn't sure how his old self felt about them, but having access to the resources of such an organization to learn about his ailment and shield him from his enemies, known and otherwise, was tempting. But it was hard to shake the thought that he had spent a lifetime learning to live outside the law - and the grasp of the corporations - for a reason. It bore more investigation, but for now, he felt he could go either way.

Blue Team. There was already reason to believe that Chino and Doc had been true sociopaths. He wasn't sure if Sam was in the BTL, just that what it portrayed disturbed him, so he still wasn't sure there was much reason to believe that he and Sam were equally disturbed. But if his dream was more than that, perhaps a memory... But if they were hired by some religious cult with nefarious purposes, then they were probably not necessarily moral paragons.

Secret societies. Too many to shake a stick at. One influencing Ivana's coven - likely the Black Lodge. One infiltrating the Atlantean team studying the artifact. And whatever group the Natelys belonged to. The last two could be the same, but considering the religious cult was apparently indigenous, and the Natelys hardly looked Native American, that seemed like a stretch. But in all, were any of them actually doomsday cults? Would it be all that bad if any of them ended up with it?

Of course it would - turning people into blank slates - potentially moldable - could be a potent tool, or weapon.

The future. This was in many ways the most important topic. Ivana had made her case, as had Chino - Ares was not an option for them. And Chino was right, they were uniquely suited for this kind of work and Ohanzee had trouble imagining doing much else. He supposed acting as some wage mage wouldn't be the worst thing in the world though. But they didn't have to stick together. It made sense to, though - they could trust each other more than they could trust anyone else, and they were tied together in three very significant ways; the mind wipe, the nanites, and the consequences of their actions over the last day and a half. But each of them had to do what was best for them.

Ivana could return to her coven if she could manage to release it from whatever foul influence had chased her away. Ace could return to Ares - the hero returning with a prize. But Blue Team had what seemed, by all accounts, to be a depraved or even miserable existence to return to. They could sell out and hope for a corp Job, or they could submit to whatever whims and research their chosen benefactor decided, or they could try for a big score and try to start over here or somewhere new. Sticking around seemed like a bad idea considering the heat they had garnered, and they would have to navigate a sea of people that knew them better than they knew themselves, few of which were likely to be trustworthy. Better to be a stranger among strangers than an enemy or rival among strangers.

Next steps. He couldn't see a reason not to include Ares in their proposal. It might be well armed, but it had an asset (or two, as far as it knew) in place that would hopefully make the aggressive option, well, less of an option. And there would be the other organizations there to help keep them in line. It might even be worthwhile to extend the olive branch to the Atlantean Foundation. If their local research team had been compromised, their "liberation" of the artifact could be viewed as just that - liberation. And what should they ask for in exchange for the obelisk? Ivana was right - it was priceless, and they could reasonably ask for millions. But that kind of money brings that kind of heat. Having friends in high places might be worth more in the long run. Or, at least, not having quite so many enemies in high places.

Split a million five ways? It seemed like it would cost at least that much to risk resources and highly trained assets against Purple Team and whoever else showed up at the bargaining table. Or maybe they were looking at this all wrong. Maybe they should just dump it on the black market and be done with it. Get some serious money from someone that can manage moving such a piece - it was unlikely that some secret organization with nefarious purposes could outbid Ares or any of the magical research groups. Win-win - they get money they can use to start over, and they can be reasonably sure that the artifact won't fall into the wrong hands.

Ohanzee shares his thoughts with the group.

[Poindexter]

"Am I in it?"

Briefly shaking his head, Sam responds, "No, neither am I."