CbN030: Painful Unveilings
General Summary
Nov 26th, 2017
NOT WAKING UP
The night after retrieving the small fortune found in the old abandoned Hecata building, all except for one of the Kindred of The Lost Boys wake up as usual. They’re supposed to meet Maude at their haven tonight, but as Mary and Liliana are getting ready to head out, they get a message from Elliot- Clem hasn’t woken up. Liliana drops Mary at The Confessional to deal with whatever is going on while she goes to feed. Mary finds Elliot panicking a bit, not understanding what’s going on. The vampire can tell Clementine is likely in torpor, but they do not have the means to wake her up. She explains that they have to either put her in danger to jolt her out of it, wait two weeks or feed her the blood of a vampire with higher or equal blood potency as her. The blood of the coterie remains too weak to bring her back to unlife. Elliot immediately refuses to put her in danger, taking absolutely no chances with Clementine’s safety and suggests they wait two weeks instead and as annoying as that may be, Mary agrees that’s the best they can do. Liliana arrives later and gets updated on the situation, suggesting they call Sierra, since she should have equal or higher blood potency than Clem. Mary calls the hotel and after a long time is able to connect with someone who knows who she is and gets her in contact with Sierra. She lets her know they have an emergency at The Confessional and to meet them there as soon as possible. Sierra arrives a while later that night along with a human dressed professionally. They explain the situation to her, that they had a big fight the night before and Clem is not waking up. Sierra immediately understands what’s necessary and agrees to help; she takes her time to tidy things around where Clem lies and cuts her wrist with a thin silver blade provided by the ghoul and brings it to the unconscious vampire’s lips. Clementine feeds for longer than needed and doesn’t let go, too out of it to realize what she’s doing. Liliana steps in when Sierra can’t push her away and forcefully detaches them, pushing Clementine away and holding onto her until her unfocused eyes are set on the Gangrel. “Are you back?” Liliana asks as Clementine's defensive posture relaxes and she looks at Liliana in confusion. “Are you good now?” Clementine nods and wipes her mouth, just as Sierra finishes feeding from the man she brought with her and steps in her line of sight, the wound on her wrist already healing. “You were in torpor, Ms Montano and your friends were too weak to help, so I did instead.” Sierra explains matter of factly and moves in closer. Clem murmurs that she hasn’t been in torpor in a long time, just as Sierra steps forward and extends her hand for a handshake. “With this I assume our debt is settled.” Clementine shakes her hand and then turns Sierra’s arm around to see the fading wound. “Are you ok?” She asks, feeling embarrassed for losing control. She has trouble looking Sierra in the eyes, the effects of the blood bond taking its toll. Sierra assures her that she’s ok and wipes away the blood on Clem’s cheek, “Don’t worry, what you’re feeling will pass.” She leaves soon after and Clem thanks the group for the help. The night is still young as they gather their things and head towards Maude’s haven.THE ELODIE WALL - PART 2
Maude is waiting for them patiently when they arrive and the group quickly updates them on what happened. Kim grabs all the letters to Elodie and takes them outside to burn with only a little bit of complaining from the tall Malkavian. Once that’s dealt with they reassure a very undecided Maude that this is the best course of action, the wall has to go. Clem holds onto Maude’s hand as Mary starts taking down the many papers, pictures and strings attached to it. “Hurt me if you must.” She tells them as she tightens the hold. Maude's hold on Clem’s becomes bruising as Mary takes away the first photograph and moves away the string. They suddenly begin pleading against doing this, that this is a bad idea, but stays in place until the first layer is removed. Mary is very careful not to destroy any of it and is frustrated to discover there’s a lot more to go through underneath, an additional thick layer of conspiracy revealing itself. As Mary starts taking out the second layer, Maude steps forward, only Clem’s hold keeps them from rushing to Mary. Liliana takes notice of the change and grabs onto Maude as well just as they start screaming insults, cussing with ferocity for as long as it takes for Mary to strip everything down from the wall. The hacker endures the vitriol and doesn’t look back. Liliana and Clem have to use all their strength to hold back Maude now, who seems uncharacteristically strong out of nowhere and in a fugue state. They shake Clementine off and Liliana holds them back with all her might, just as the last bit of the wall comes off.“... I’ll fuck you up like that piece of shit Craig and you’ll never see another day!” They finally scream and then just stop, suddenly getting very quiet as yet another layer of the wall is uncovered. For just a moment, so quickly that no one even looks in time to see it, Maude closes their eyes.The final layer is very different, a lot simpler, the wall nearly bare as it displays what seems like a psychological profile of a person. It’s all about Maude, their personality, connections, what they like and dislike, etcetera. The rest look at Maude for a reaction to this, but they’re completely disinterested and just want to finish the task at hand, not caring at all about the wall any more. After it’s finally over, Maude exits the room with that same disinterested attitude, Liliana following close behind. Mary and Clem hang back for a moment to check around in case there’s anything else left they should take care of. Mary finds a letter between the broken wall with a Kurt Cobain guitar pick earring. “I’m not worth remembering.” it reads, in the same handwriting as the letter they had read before- Elodie’s handwriting. They put the letter and the earring inside a ziplock bag and Mary hides it in her hoodie.
THOUGHTS AND CONVERSATIONS
As they make their way back to The Confessional, the group is silent as they think about what just happened. Maude feels nothing towards the wall anymore, it’s like a switch was flipped and they’re left only with the determination to keep on with the investigation. Clem feels relieved and proud that the team dealt with this successfully; she has new found respect for Maude for facing it head on. Liliana is sad that her friend had to go through all of that and is very concerned by the extent of what Jason has done to them. Mary wonders for how long she can take being the punching bag, she’s glad the situation is over but is very, very tired.THE CONFESSIONAL
Back at the club, Clementine pulls Maude aside to express that although she knows it must have been very hard for them to go through all of that tonight, she’s very proud and thinks Maude is extraordinary and doesn’t deserve the hand they were dealt. “Thank you for keeping me safe, even from myself.” Maude says sincerely. “We gotta keep each other accountable everytime our past screws with us. I expect the same from you if it happens to me.” Clementine replies. Then she adds that maybe Maude should try talking to Mary and smooth things over with her after the outburst of tonight plus the other times they have snapped at her. Maude agrees and promises they’ll talk to her.PREPARATIONS
After Rosa’s request the group must go to the Airport to talk to Flyboy as soon as possible. Mary purchases new burner phones for everybody and distributes them with quick instructions. They’re all very suspicious of Flyboy after the Firstlight conversations and Mary’s phone getting hacked right after their meeting with him. Their plan is to ask him straight up about the vans, but also offer him resources to make the deal more appealing. They prepare the money they’re willing to get for him and discuss other possible things they could offer in case it is not enough. They all agree not to share too many details with him, since he could be working with the Second Inquisition.THE AIRPORT
Clementine has Elliot call ahead of time and make an appointment with Flyboy this time around. The group enters the airport and are immediately led to a private lounge room where he waits for them with a fake air of confidence. They all sit on the other side of a table as he pours wine in glasses they all decide to ignore. Maude uses their Auspex powers to Scry the Soul and discovers that he has multiple magical items on him, including rings and something inside his breast pocket. He seems, like last time, agitated but grateful that at least they arranged a meeting this time. He has a feeling they’re here for the same reason Rosa has come for in the past and lets them know immediately that he just wants to be left alone and becomes very defensive. They grill him for a little while, explaining about the vans that were last seen coming into the airport and how they might be related to the attacks that happened recently. Flyboy is confused by what they mean by “attacks”; he seems very out of the loop with anything The Camarilla is dealing with. He knows Darren has been snooping around the airport and thinks Rosa is trying to take it from him. He tells them that when she came to ask him questions, she mentioned danger and mortal authorities most likely operating in his domain. She told him he needs to get out of here and maybe leave town for a while but he’s very suspicious of her intentions. He feels safest at the airport and thinks this is all a ploy to make him vulnerable and take the airport. He wants to have something on Rosa to threaten her with. He knows her haven is near and asks the group that if they tell him where it is he can tell them what he knows. “You want us to help you THREATEN the Primogen of the Gangrel…?” Clementine asks in disbelief. Flyboy is confused and doesn’t seem to know what “Primogen” means, or that Rosa is one for that matter. The group exchange alarmed looks.THINBLOOD
Maude notices he seems very afraid, and has a feeling there is more he’s not revealing. “What are you so afraid of? It can’t be just neonates like us. So what is it?”, they ask. Flyboy tries to dodge the question, then says it’s just Rosa and Darren poking around and asking him questions, but Maude can tell there’s something more. “You need a place to stay if things go bad right? I have a haven, you can have it.” Maude offers, their attachment to their haven gone after the destruction of the wall. They explain that their haven is in Southside and it would be hard for people to connect him to it. The others help by overselling the haven. Clem explains that they came to negotiate and create a good relationship going forward- they can offer resources too if that’d make him feel safer. After a long while, Flyboy admits that he doesn’t feel safe- he’s terrified of Rosa and Darren and wants them gone but there’s more. First, he asks them to have Rosa stop poking around the airport. Then, he explains that he needs resources to help fortify his security but would also appreciate it if they can introduce him to The Camarilla, as he wants to be part of it all. In exchange they’ll keep an open communication policy between them- he’ll let them know if anything new happens and they can also come to him at any time. They ask why he’s kept in the dark by the Camarilla even though an airport is so useful and he’s officially part of the sect. He shows a brand on his forearm of a crescent moon and tells them people used to call him “moon boy”; these brands are the way other Kindred can easily recognize Thinbloods. He took the airport from the Anarchs a while back and that’s why the Camarilla gives him attention at all. Thinbloods are seen as a bad omen, a sign of the end times at worst and considered lesser and not worth interacting with at best. They are often sought after to be killed just for existing. Even the least superstitious kindred are wary of their presence in the city, not even considering them true vampires as some of them can walk in the day and most are barely able to use Disciplines at all. Clem advises against trying to gain status within the Camarilla, but he insists that he’s sure they’ll realize how important he is eventually. The group knows that if they help him be known in Camarilla circles, their influence would take a big hit, and so they offer Maude’s haven, resources and more information about the basics of the Camarilla instead.THE DEAL
After the deal is struck, Flyboy explains that the information he has is very dangerous and must be kept secret. He shows them footage of the vans coming into the airport and unloading the body bags that upon closer look appear to be staked. The bags are taken inside helicopters that leave immediately towards the South. The vans are seen leaving the next day during daylight. He explains that this footage is supposed to not exist but he made sure to keep this last recording of it before the authorities deleted it all. Mary scrutinizes him intently, trying to see if he might be “Hurricane” or have any relation to him at all, but comes to understand without a doubt that it doesn’t seem to be the case. After brief questions about the footage, they request for him to give it to them since that’s what they’ll need to convince Rosa to back off. Flyboy agrees and admits there’s something else they must know: An agent from the CIA has been in contact with him for a while.“I am just going to get killed. There is this guy. His name is Daniel Bailey. I know some info about him, not a ton. I’ve been in contact with him. He’s a CIA agent and he meets me on day drops. I can walk in the day for a little bit. He knows what I am. I think he’s working for more than the CIA. He told me that if I want to stay alive, that I need to observe the city’s kindred. I need to make notes of their names, their havens, their power structures, and I need to tell him.”They ask if he has given him any of their names or if he has been looking into them at all. Flyboy assures them the agent does not have their names, he has given him very little information so far. He told him about Kim’s haven and Bailey thinks it’s an Elder vampire’s home and that the Prince is the oldest and most powerful vampire in the world. “I think he’s doing something he shouldn’t. He’s always been alone, he's always nervous, I need to catch him and flip this around.” The group is very shocked by this revelation and assure him they’ll help. It’s actually very lucky that he knows so little about the Camarilla. Flyboy wants to get rid of him desperately but hasn’t found out anything about him. The agent does not operate at night at all, so it’s hard for Kindred to track when he’s on the move. “Do you give him information through USBs?” Mary asks Flyboy. He nods and Mary smiles. “Well, everyone goes to sleep somewhere.” Clementine says cryptically. With business concluded they deliver the recordings to Rosa for her to deal with and focus their attention to the party they must attend soon.
Report Date
26 Jun 2023
