apocalypsehowcomm | Settle The Score | The Assassination of Fenix Down (Player Plot Open-Log)

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Settle The Score | The Assassination of Fenix Down (Player Plot Open-Log)

Who: Aelwyn + Anyone Who Wants To Be Involved In This Assassination
When: April
Where: Around Gloucester, Springfield, the Circus, assorted other locations.
Summary: A murder is planned, executed, and staged. The details are yet to come.
Warnings: Discussions of murder, actual murder, blackmail, espionage, gaslighting, TBA.

[Several months ago, following the Circus' initial visit, Aelwyn was given permission to take down Fenix Down and his circus. Now, after more recent revelations about their unseen enemy, the plan has become a higher priority.

The plan is as follows. To ensure that this doesn't implicate ADI, a false cult will be created for this specific purpose. They'll keep the entity behind it vague, but one must be selected to ensure anyone paying enough attention would be able to identify it. They'll create conspiracy theories, fabricate old reports from decades ago to make it seem like this group is only recently being resurrected.

And then, with that done, they'll execute the plan itself. Staging the kidnapping and murder as if it was the act of that cult, and an extensive interrogation.

OOC Post here!]

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This serves as a private place for those of us involved in this plan to communicate the details remotely. While I am open to suggestions, there are a few ground rules that need to be set before we go any further.

1. This doesn't leave this group. If I find out you jeopardized all our lives and ratted us out either to the circus or to some other bleeding heart who would stop us, I will come after you.

2. Fenix Down is going to be captured and interrogated and then he will die. This is not up for negotiation. It is far more expensive, impractical and dangerous to keep him prisoner. This wasn't my decision, but I agree with it anyway. If you can't stomach that, you can walk away from this. Nobody will blame you.

3. Keep magic use to a minimum, and reserve it only for extreme situations. We are being monitored by one of Nia's agents.

4. This is very unpleasant business. There are parts of it that you might not be able to help with, or that you might not want to be a part of. I understand this. There is no shame in it.

With that in mind, we can more or less begin.

[OOC: Put your network top-levels below here! Threadjacking welcome and encouraged.]

[If you'd like to thread out your actual recruitment into this plot, please drop a starter here and put in the title whether you want it to be Aelwyn or Meredith that they would be sent to.]

[A large part of the plan that requires set up is to create incidents in which it looks like a particular entity is feeding. This includes false reports, as well as creating false crime scenes and sending investigators out to check them out.]

[Scouting out the circus, currently based in Springfield, Massachussets. This could be looking for sniping positions, taking a day trip to the circus itself, looking for a location to hold the interrogation in. For this, please refer to the second event.

Aelwyn will discourage members of ADI who have been before from visiting the circus itself, as it might tip them off. Newer members are very acceptable though. She will ask that they keep contact with home base, however.]

Edited 2022-04-13 00:24 (UTC)

Edited 2022-04-24 16:13 (UTC)

Edited 2022-04-24 16:14 (UTC)

We are running out of time so I'd like to simplify this argument. We need to settle on an entity sooner rather than later, so guess what. There are websites on which you can make polls.

Let's just vote here.

Edited 2022-04-12 04:42 (UTC)

The Media Relations team is here to help with the false reports. Meredith's heading up a crew who are writing, editing and posting the blog posts, news articles and other neat cult-related nonsense.

When she's not hunched over a keyboard (though let's be honest, Meredith is currently spending a lot of time hunched over a keyboard), she can be found with hard copy of what other people have written, editing with a red felt-tip pen in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

Feel free to help, or to take the approved reports and help post them online--Meredith needs computer-savvy sorts to make sure it looks like this has been going on for a while.

(She may also need reminded to eat and sleep. She's in Work Mode hardcore right now.)

[He doesn't know why he'd received a message asking him to meet, and honestly, he should have ignored it.

But then again, curiosity had always been his failing. He wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't would he?

He hovers outside the housing building, cigarette in hand as he waits, mind turning over what this meeting might be about. He's heard vague rumours of things happening, but he tries to keep his head down and get on with things. No sense making things more difficult for himself. But it's just as likely to be someone wanting to ask about research.]

Were you waiting long? [Aelwyn steps out herself, flicking a cigarette of her own out of the packet she keeps in her jacket pocket. Her eyes are sharp, but not harsh yet, and her expression doesn't betray the nature of this conversation.

Tucked under her arm is a file she's prepared. The title is blank, mostly because it's all a copy.

She holds out her cigarette.]

Got a light?

Not too long.

[He'd needed to get out of the flat for a bit anyway.][He holds out the lighter towards Aelwyn.]

What did you want to speak about?

[Aelwyn lowers the cigarette to meet the lighter, inhaling. What a stupid process. It's yet another reminder of the things she's been robbed of by virtue of landing in this world, where even the basic facets of her own worth are something she has to pay the price for.

But it's an interesting little social ritual all the same, and something Aelwyn could have done with her fingers or mind. But, unlike many others, she's adjusting. Slowly, but surely. She exhales, letting the heat settle into her lungs. It's no surprise that the smoke tastes like the smallest morsel of nourishment to her, considering what she's on the cusp of becoming.]

I wanted to run some of my theories by you, if that's okay. You always seem to be good at correcting any minor mistakes I might have made, and frankly I find the office a bit oppressive at the best of times.

[Or rather, she's never convinced her own words won't be used against her. She presents the file to Jon. The cover is blank, of course. The page below it, however, is entitled, OBSERVATIONS & SPECULATIONS: JONATHAN SIMS.]

Oh, and if you brought your phone with you, I'd reccommend turning that off.

After the other month where people were genuinely being buried under work, yes, I'm inclined to agree.

[But his inclination to ignore it seemed to have paid off. The work had mysteriously gone back to normal levels soon afterwards.

He glances down at the file and flips it open, and his expression hardens.]

Is this a kidnapping? Because it's really getting ridiculous at this point.

[He feels a sudden surge of empathy for Mike Crew, and his ire that Jon had been there to ask questions rather than just have tea.]

[She lets out a snort at that.]

If I were kidnapping you, I wouldn't start by handing you a file, now would I? And on top of that, I'd have to be so unbelievably incompetent to just try to kidnap you in front of the place where we both live. I'd like to think I present as at least somewhat less stupid than the people running this organization, or buying into it anyway.

[She shakes her head, taking another drag in contemplation.]

No, it's more a confrontation. I just don't think you'll want them to hear it. And if they're spying on us it's through the phones. I don't bring mine with me these days.

Edited 2022-04-14 04:06 (UTC)

I got kidnapped from my flat once. It's not beyond the realm of possibility.

[When you've dealt with the things he's dealt with, the idea of places being more or less safe doesn't really apply. Leitner had been living in the tunnels for years, Nikola got into Georgie's flat.

She does have a point though, although he could argue that certain entities definitely don't need phones to spy on people. It's a shame he doesn't have control of cameras like Elias did.]

Fine.

[He pulls out his phone and switches it off.]

If it takes too long, Martin will get worried though.

(It's not like Cortana has been hiding her skills. She's helping teach cybersecurity classes, and it's not like she made it hard to figure out who was behind that little hacking incident-not that she'd consider either to actually require much skill.

She hasn't really been hiding that she has experience working for the military, either, even if it doesn't come up so much.

As such, maybe she shouldn't be surprised that someone would reach out to her for help with an assassination plot-except of course, she has no idea that such a plot is underway, or why a coworker she only barely knows is seeking to meet with her on her "lunch" break.)

Hello?

That's rough, buddy. [She kidnapped someone out of their own bedroom once, but in her defense, there was a party going on and she invited the entire group that was hellbent on catching their whole conspiracy. So it's not like she intended for her to stay kidnapped?

At the mention of Martin, she nods.]

I'm sure we'd both prefer he remain uninvolved but I also can't imagine you'll keep this from him. If he gets worried about us having a conversation then I guess I can have it with both of you at the same time. If not, I won't bother him. [She takes another drag of the cigarette, blowing a ring. She tried very hard to be something desirable and interesting in parties, to get over that feeling of deep self hatred for her normal self. This happened to be one of the many methods she tried.]

Enclosed in that file is a compilation of circumstantial evidence that you and Martin know far more than you're pretending you do. I had a little niggling feeling for months, but it was only really confirmed as something substantial when Martin accidentally let slip about another Desolation avatar he knew.

And then, for more substantial proof, I believe that your little trick against our darlingest boy Khalil was in fact a rather sophisticated power that you used, and not just the powers of persuasion.

[She turns and looks at him, something sharp and familiar in her eyes. She might be primarily of the flame, but it's not the only entity that has a certain level of affection for her. The Beholding is rather fond as well. There's no hint of mirth in her tone as she asks, plain and simple.]

Who are you really, Mr Sims?

Edited 2022-04-15 07:00 (UTC)

Do you want coffee or tea?

[That's Aelwyn's sudden statement as she approaches Meredith's table during the late hours of the night. A better person would, rather hypocritically in Aelwyn's case, dissuade Meredith from working too hard. But Aelwyn is someone who has also never fully been able to wrap her head around the idea that maybe more hard work isn't always better.

But she doesn't want Meredith running herself into the ground either.]

[ Jeff's not as easy to pin down as he used to be. He's not at Bonnie's with any regularity, and ever since the blackout, he doesn't even seem to spend as much time around bars of parties. There are hours out of the day where he seems to be totally unaccounted for, disappearing into some new interest that's been keeping him occupied.

But he still bums around town, and lately, he's been making more appearances out with his guitar, busking cheerfully and (if one's been paying attention to these things) without lacing his music with mind-fucking magic.

Today, he's out at the docks, performing for tourists and other passers by on the boardwalk. ]

I'd prefer not to bother him. Keeping him entirely uninvolved is probably impossible though, honestly.

[Because it was the two of them, together. That was the deal.

He flips idly through the file, curious despite himself. He can't help but snort softly when she mentions Khalil though.]

Khalil? I genuinely just explained some of the horrors we've seen, what these creatures can do, and how he could potentially help us stop them. And asked him to write down what he knew. Everyone else went in there like he was a dangerous mass-murderer rather than a scared victim who'd been manipulated. Amazing what a little kindness and empathy will do.

[He hadn't even used his abilities in the interrogation. Didn't really need to.

He blinks at her when she asks, unafraid because he thinks his threshold for fear is entirely broken by this point. And it's not the right question anyway.]

I mean, I really am Jonathan Sims. I grew up in Bournemouth. I'm not some... shapeshifter or impostor or... body hopping cultist.

[A visionless scout was likely a joke in the making, but it made sense for him to go. It was a quieter area, easier for him to maneuver, and he'd been making good strides in navigating town despite the more unfamiliar sounds he was learning to get used to. Besides, more than that, he hadn't been here the last time this circus came through. Any eyes that might fall on him that he wouldn't notice would likely pass by without note.

He's even dressed the part, wearing something more 'modern' with his glaive wrapped to look more like a weird walking stick, or so he was told by the person who'd helped him look the part. It was all the same to him.

For now, his focus is on an interrogation spot. Someplace not too far from where they'd be taking the target, but far enough to be out of the way and unnoticed. Someplace defensible in case anyone came for them, and preferably good for dampening sound for when things got less civil.

There's a faint smell of the circus on the wind, less than a mile from the area he's exploring and Garner uses it as a compass point to keep oriented. He checks the edges of town, the buildings less inhabited or completely abandoned as well as newer builds, still in the process of being ready for whatever their intended use, a hand trailing along outsides of wood and brick and, when there's a door easily opened or a window left without a frame, he slips inside to check it's sound insulation. One quiet, stale or sterile-smelling location to another, he goes.]

[In the actual file is written notes about most of their interactions, directly quoting things he's said and reactions he's had, particularly highlighting any instances where he seems to know more than he's telling or feels the need to explain something that he really would have no way of knowing about just based on the archives. And all of that is compared to when Martin told Aelwyn about Jude Perry, that she was an avatar of the desolation, and that she died screaming and begging for her life.

And then there's a penciled in passage about the fact that he got a coherent and eloquent written statement out of Khalil somehow, which does include some less professional and less academic notes about how Khalil is a blubbering simpleton incapable of looking up his tormentors on the internet, so writing a coherent statement seems a bit beyond his ability.

She has one on everyone of interest.]

Oh, fuck off. [She rolls her eyes. She grew sick and tired of this attitude with Ren, she doesn't need it from this guy too, especially since he seems to be holding things back that could have saved lives.] You only decided to play nice because you wanted to be better than me. You wanted revenge before I talked to you. And then you decided you'd like the moral high ground.

[She isn't kind towards most people, least of all people she can genuinely understand. Being caught in a situation way above your head and responding by being a coward and letting everyone else take the fall because you're too scared of the consequences landing on your head? Aelwyn understands that all too well.

But she shakes her head at his clarifying statement and sighs. He's playing dumb. Lovely.] But that's neither here nor there. And you know that's not what I meant. Do they have the entities in Bournemouth, wherever the fuck that is?

You've been withholding a lot of information. While I'm sure you have your reasons, I'm not content to just watch everyone [Read: Mercy and herself. Anyone else she might have had a protective instinct towards has vanished, something she almost wants to blame Sims for.] suffer every month for the sake of those mysterious reasons.

So I want to strike a deal.

[In truth, she'd been worried that he was going to disappear or skip town like Ren, Kurapika and Akechi did. It's... a relief, to catch up to him now.

Even if she might inevitably have to put him down. At least he seems to be doing better. She watches his performance to completion, or at least till a lull in the crowd and a moment where he's not playing and then she approaches. Unlike him, there is a tinge of magic to her eyes. A simple precaution that would block him from breaching her mind with his enchantment.

It's not that she's afraid (maybe a little), but he's done it without even meaning to before.]

Calhoun. And here I was worried you'd run off into the wind.

No magic?

[Jon raises an eyebrow at her.]

I changed my mind because I spoke to him, and realised he was just a scared, stupid man in far over his head, manipulated by things he can't even hope to understand. You didn't even enter my mind.

[And maybe he has a little empathy for that. Mind, he also currently has a fair bit of empathy for some of the other avatars he'd met, watching him stumble around like a new fawn, demanding answers of things that could eat him.

Ugh... not a healthy mindset.

He gives her a sharp look at that.]

Then ask better questions.

And Bournemouth in is England. And yes it does. The entities don't really care about geography.

[He lets out a heavy sigh and rubs his forehead between his eyes, then looks back at her, something almost sympathetic in his gaze.]

It doesn't help you know? Knowing more. You think it will, you think it'll keep people safe if they just know things, if you just know things.

But it doesn't. It just drags you deeper. And makes things more dangerous because it brings attention to you.

[Admittedly, being ignorant also doesn't help.]

But go ahead, what kind of deal?

[She doesn't understand. Why people suddenly pretended to care about Khalil, as if this isn't something that happens all over the world every single day. As if it's not the very principle of their legal system, that when you screw up you get carted off and put in a box to be poked and prodded and punished. Nobody gave a shit when she was tortured, and she has no reason to believe that Jon is a good enough person that he would either. But Khalil getting a harsh talking to? Oh, the humanity. It must be easy, being stupid.

She looks at him, baffled and somewhat disbelieving before breathing sharply out of her nose and reducing the cigarette in her hand to nothing but smoke with just the snap of her fingers.

She's got enough fear welled up for that. It's a good relief. Something that was as common to her as water is being kept from her like it's hard drugs but that doesn't mean she doesn't like the rare moments she gets with it. She decides to abandon the Khalil argument. It's hardly like he matters anymore.

His sympathy doesn't reach her. It's not something she comprehends, for a number of reasons. But she does understand his warning well enough, even if she thinks it's stupid.]

Yes, well, much like you it's not my first time dealing with monsters beyond human comprehension. [The Nightmare King's forest makes Gloucester's monthly horrors look like a picnic with how targeted the torture was in there.] I'm willing to take my chances this time, even if you and your boyfriend are content to sit back and watch. In my experience? It's not a picnic to just shut up and do what you're told either.

You don't want things - ADI, one would assume - to know that you know far more than you let on. First of all, get better at lying. Whenever someone says something wrong you immediately try to correct them. [She'd say something about mansplaining if she didn't also do the exact same thing.] Second of all... fine. That's fair enough, I guess. Just keep me informed, whenever it's relevant, and I'll find a way to steer the right people in that direction. Our fellow passengers, for one. In return, I'll keep your secret, and help cover your tracks.

And of course I'd like your help with this mission.

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Settle The Score | The Assassination of Fenix Down (Player Plot Open-Log)

PRIVATE NETWORK

RECRUITMENT

SETTING THE SCENE

SCOUTING

KIDNAPPING

EXECUTION

THE ENTITY IN QUESTION

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For Aelwyn

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For Meredith

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aelwyn!

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