Session Eleven
Everyone is escaping from the pool. They discuss rapidly what to do. Tony decides to stay behind,
watch, and take photos. Everyone else runs for their cars/bikes/etc. Tony joins the gathering mob
of reporters.
Bernard and Martin make Intelligence rolls while heading towards the Doctorate Mappings
warehouse -- where their briefcase-detector is pointing -- and have idle thoughts about how
Vapula is sometimes referred to by his Servitors as "the Doctor". Lucas and Nathaniel get to the
warehouse first, drive round the back and past a short way, then stop. The others then arrive.
Martin possesses a pigeon, and does a flyover. He sees a back yard, with a lorry (shut) sitting in
it, big closed loading doors, large gates giving from the back yard onto the road, and a small door
with a swipecard lock giving from the back yard into the warehouse, and a satellite dish on top
of the warehouse. He examines the back gates, finds no alarm. Bernard checks them from the
other side.
Martin possesses the gates and lets the other angels into the back yard. Case and Bernard both
draw their guns.
Tony mingles with reporters, and asks the police awkward questions. The police story is that it
was some kind of accidental chemical release. He spots the demons emerging in the crowd being
brought out by policemen. The Lilim notices him, and he smiles at her. The demons head for the
carpark. He follows, trying to keep an eye on them as he heads for his car. He spots the Lilim and
one of the male demons, then sees that the other male demon is stalking him. He makes it to his
own car in time, and waves with a smile at the one stalking him as he drives off. He gets out of
the carpark, and drives into a side road to watch for them passing.
Case and company go through the small back door to the warehouse, with Martin fiddling the
lock. Martin also redirects the security camera inside, so they can sneak in stealthily. They turn
a corner in the corridor, spot a restroom. There's a man inside asleep. Martin possesses him, and
the others sneak past unheard, then Martin depossesses him and leaves him sleeping. They come
to a nicer office area. Martin redirects another camera. Case sneaks down a corridor further
round, and discovers the loading bay. There are no people, but there are many crates.
Tony spots the demons driving past him towards the warehouse area, and phones Bernard to tell
him this.
The other angels scout round the warehouse area, and inspect the crates. Some have labels for
shops in Southampton. Lucas pries a crate open, and discovers Beanie Babies. He takes an iguana
for a personal mascot, and puts it on his shoulder. Bernard tries the locator again, gets a signal
from the office area. They go into the office area.
Tony tries following the demon car. They start slowing. Tony rapidly takes the next elft, holes up,
and checks his photos of them. He notes that his photo of the Lilim shows her as wearing a
number of bracelets and anklets.
The other angels go through the nice office area. One dor is marked, "General Testing Area : Do
Not Enter," and has a swipecard lock. Martin makes it open. The receptionist inside, a nice-looking young woman, asks who they are. Case states that they're Public Health, on a surprise
visit. He approaches her. Nathaniel resonates her, gets a CD of 6, and gets some fairly
unmistakeable evidence that she's an Impudite of Vapula. Case knocks her out when she's about
to press a warning button, then cuts her throat, in an efficient manner so as to minimise blood
everywhere. Bernard materialises his computer, and starts downloading everything from her desk
terminal, which Martin possesses to facilitate the download. The others guard the doors (the one
they came in through, and the other lab door leading further in). Lucas searches her pockets, finds
some ID and a taser.
Tony goes on the prowl again, finds the demon car parked in front of the warehouse. He goes
round the side, and finds the angel cars. He parks around the corner from them, and phones
Bernard (who has now set his phone on vibrate rather than sound) again to inform him that the
demons are here. He settles down to watch the warehouse.
Bernard's computer finishes downloading, and he dematerialises it. Lucas listens at the inner door,
but hears nothing. He examines the secretary's switchboard, which has Professor Watson at the
top of the list of names. Martin, examining the secretary's terminal, finds it only has low-level
network priviledges. He reads her email, and sees (a) office messages, meeting setups, including
one with a "TJ", and (b) a folder of email detailing a steamy love affair with one Caleb Smith.
Bernard figures out how to use the switchboard, and turns on the receiving speakerphone, and
they hear a fascinating conversation with Professor Watson (who is fairly obviously a Vapulan
himself) berating the three demons. Apparently they believe there were only three angels at the
swimming pool. There is much wrath and orders to go back and investigate the mysterious
occurrences, and much bad-mouthing of angels, and much attempting by the angels themselves
not to laugh out loud.
Professor Watson then attempts to bleep the secretary. He and the three demons are surprised
when the angels walk through the door. (Dramatic, yes.) There is a fight. Lucas gets shot by a
Magnum in the belly and discovers what pain is. Case beheads one male demon, Nathaniel shoots
another, the Lilim runs for a stairway to the roof, pursued by Zebediah. Bernard hits the Professor
with Celestial Light. The Professor turns on some sort of sound gizmo (there is much techno
weirdness in this lab, and many disembowelled Beanies with chunks of circuitry emerging) but
Martin shuts off the loudspeakers. The Professor (now clearly a Habbalite) invokes Fear on Case,
who freezes. Nathaniel attacks, with flaming hands. The Professor goes Celestial, followed by
Nathaniel and Martin -- he has many painful-looking circuitry implants. He invokes Fear on
Nathaniel, who likewise freezes, but is driven to flight (back down to Hell) by Martin.
On the roof, Zebediah catches up with and wounds the Lilim, but she Sings Thunder and knocks
him out. She abseils over the edge of the roof (showing a fair amount of stocking in the process)
but is spotted by Tony below. He waits for her to get into range, punches her in the stomach and
winds her, then ties her up and gags her.
In the laboratory, Case comes out of the Fear, and starts silently trashing the place by smashing
things with a fire extinguisher. He ignores Bernard, who tries to talk him out of it. Martin Sings
some healing on Lucas, sealing up the hole in his belly somewhat.
Tony talks Zebediah into temporarily sparing the Lilim.
Bernard confiscates interesting-looking lab books and diaries (in Hellscript) and fires the lab after
setting off the fire alarm. The angels evacuate, as do various human workers. There is a big
boom.
Case walks off to the dojo alone (followed secretly by Martin in a pigeon, to check that he's
okay.) The others head for the Common, with the Lilim in Tony's car. Nathaniel unties her bonds,
though leaving her gagged. He warns her that if she tries to escape, he'll kill her. She nods.
People arrive at the Common. They degag the Lilim and march her to the terminus of the Novalis-Tether (which happens to be the Trim Trail). Martin heals Lucas some more, and Clementine (the
Seneschal) gives him some clean clothes. (A "Power in the Park" tshirt, jeans with appliqued
flowers, Nikes with a pink flash.) Zebediah heads back to his museum. Nathaniel goes to the flat,
then the dojo, checking for Case. Lucas plays with the kids on the slides.
The rest interrogate the Lilim, with Tony mainly leading the inquisition. She gives up a fair
amount of information, after it is generally agreed that she won't Geas for it: Technology was
working with Media (though a Balseraph of the Media who was supposed to be involved never
showed up). The whole setup has been trashed by what the angels did. The Lilim was there on
a Geas to help arrange security, locks, etc. She doesn't know about the swimming pool affair any
more than they do: all she knows is that "something" followed the radio broadcast they were
emitting, and stopped at the swimming pool, and the demons were investigating. She just wants,
currently, to get away from Southampton, and away from being followed by Vapulans who may
ask awkward questions, as she can guess who Professor Watson is currently blaming for the
project's failure. The angels let her go, perceiving a glimmer of possible Redemption in her soul,
and advise her to do this. Tony heads off to make a report to Dominic.
Case takes the dojo class, still quiet. He's approached afterwards by Martha Wright, who's there,
who was the housewife that gave him the Beanie earlier while resigning from his classes. She says
she doesn't know what got into her, and apologises. Case smiles for the first time since the
Habbalite incident.
Nathaniel suggests that Case gets drunk that evening. Case likes that idea.
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Feather And Bone