Stone Men In Water Street

[Brian]

The chair is rickety, but servicable.  The room is illuminated with an old gas lantern, which the TK adjusts before hanging on a rafter.  Another lantern in the far corner helps shed minimal light across the area.

All of us got out, yes, Lazarus replies.  He eyes Rez, and then you sense ... though this is odd ... that Rez is now part of the mindlink, too.

Did you come here to join us?

After lighting the second lantern, the TK joins you at the table.  Lazarus and Victor sit down a moment later, though both the TK and Lazarus eye Victor warily.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn grins crookedly.  "Somewhat the opposite, in fact."  He takes a deep breath, the grin fading, and tradesa  look with Rez.  "Nathan and I have entered the Contest, Lazarus," he says, seriously.  "Do you know what that means?"

[Brian]

Not entirely, he sends slowly.  The TK seems completely ignorant of the meaning of what you're saying.  But I suspect that this has something to do with what we were being held in the Workshop for ... yes?

[Bjorn]

"Yes, it does," Bjorn says, slowly, "but to be honest, I don't completely understand how."  Resting his hands on his knees, he looks Lazarus levelly in the eye.  "The people who ran the Workshop are playing for power -- power like they studied in the Workshop.  If they win this Contest, then they'll have what it takes to reshape the world as they see fit.  And what they see, for you and I, is the Workshop, or something even worse.  They'll take everyone with anyone power, and we'll either serve them, or be their experimental subjects."

Still resting on his legs, his hands spasmically clench into fists, and then relax again.  "We -- Nathan and I, and three others -- we don't intend to let that happen.  If we win, then the power will be... spread out.  Metahuman powers, magic, whatever you call it -- it'll become normal.  Equality.  People will have what it takes to protect themselves."

Bjorn's eyes flick about the room, meeting the gaze of all the others, one by one.  "The other players are bigger than us.  They have more resources, more people.  And that's why we're here.  We're here to ask if there are any of you who will be willing to help us, to prevent the Workshop from returning."

[Brian]

Lazarus looks at you in surprise, then turns a more questioning gaze on Victor.  The vampire hesitates only a moment before saying, "It is as he says, though I suspect he's cushioned the truth of the severity to you.  It's just as bad as he says, if not worse.

"It's merely a question of standing up for yourself, or going to ground.  Myself, I'd rather not be imprisoned again.  And a little bit of revenge upon the people who kept me locked up for so long wouldn't be amiss, either."

Lazarus frowns, then looks at Bjorn again.  We may not have much of a choice in the matter, he sends unhappily.  And even if you are with us ... I doubt that we, as we are, are a match for the full power of whatever it was that was behind the Workshop.

How, then, are we to stand against those?

[Bjorn]

"You won't," Bjorn says, simply.  "At least, not directly.  That's what the five of us will do.  But while we're doing that, we're going to be... out of touch.  What we need are agents."  Bjorn looks over at Rez, indicating that he should explain further.

[Brian]

Everyone turns to look at Nathan expectantly.

[Rezantis]

Rez looks faintly taken aback, then starts talking in something of a rush.

"Well, basically, all three of the sides in this contest have some sort of guide.  For us it's, well, the Oracle of Delphi, who also managed to spend a fair time imprisoned by the guys behind the workshop.  The problem is that she, like the other guides, is . . . well, an AI now. I'm not sure exactly how they managed to do that. But it means she doesn't have a physical body to -do- things with, and even if she did she couldn't be a hundred places at once. Even for small things; if she gets something shipped somewhere, she needs someone to receive it. That sort of stuff."

Rez pauses while he mentally sorts things out.

"What's liable to happen is that we're going to, well, vanish. We have to go to a few places around the world and complete certain tasks, but we'll be sort of in the dream world when we're doing that sort of thing and we don't know how long it will take . . . so to avoid our side being completely helpless while we're gone, we need some kind of help.  I won't kid you, it could end up being dangerous, but none of us want pitched battles.  But without your help we're almost certainly going to lose . . ."

Rez trails off.

[Bjorn]

"What we need," Bjorn explains, picking up the thread, "or, rather, what the Oracle needs, is that the Oracle have agents, to be her hands in the physical world while we're... doing what we have to do."

His lips purse in distate, though his voice stays smooth, as he says, "As Nathan said, it will probably be a bit dangerous.  But," he focuses, again, on Lazarus and the TK, "not much more than the danger you're already in.  Our strength, right now, comes from secrecy.  I can't think there will be direct action, any glorious charges or daring operations that will endanger lives, because we can't risk it.  Mostly, you'll need to do exactly what you're doing already: hiding.  Keeping yourselves safe from the Workshop, and their ilk.

"But what we're offering you is the same thing as what you'll get out of it: a chance to not only hide, but fight back.  To work together, for all of our safety, both short and long-term.  As much as you can help the Oracle, she can help you, by warning you when the opposition starts to come close."  Bjorn spreads his hands, as if to say, 'it's not much, but what more can I give?', and then folds them again in his lap.  "In the end though," he says, quietly and seriously, "Victor hit the heart of it.  If we fail, then you won't be able to hide.  The question is, are you willing to fight to keep your freedom?"

[Brian]

"Well, shit," the TK says succinctly, trading a meaninful glance with Lazarus.

It is troubling, Lazarus echoes with a frown.  However, while I think it may be for the best ... I cannot speak for everyone.  How are we to speak with your ... the Oracle of Delphi?

[Bjorn]

"That's fine," Bjorn says.  "I don't expect you to speak for anyone, or to make a quick reply.  Take time to think it over.  It's not a light thing.

"As for speaking to the Oracle -- Nathan can arrange that."  Bjorn looks over at Rez, expectantly.

[Rezantis]

"Well, email. actually. Not that you guys have electricity out here, but I have my gear with me."

[Brian]

"We can take care of that, if we decide this is where we're going to hole up," the TK says with a shrug.

Lazrus nods in agreement.  Can we ... speak with her now?

[Rezantis]

"One sec."

Rez produces The Warbag and sets up the uplink on the bench, then gets out his laptop and boots it up, logging into hotmail and typing up a quick message . . .

He also logs into AIM, as 'Invirious'.

[Brian]

Shortly after logging into AIM, you get a message from Relm Tyrean saying, "Hiya."