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Event - Dogged

Dogged

The message goes out to everyone on ADI's network. It seems to be something captured live. It's Pam Ruan, head of HR who holds a prosthetic finger up to her lips before whispering, "Everyone's pushing for transparency right now, right? Figuring out where threats are coming from and sharing. I think that should come at all levels. Let's see what Nia's talking about with Mr. Zyrian Steel, hmm?"

The camera flips around as Pam clearly creeps closer to an office door. There are muffled voices, and Pam sets the phone face up before using one hand to shove the thing under the door. The video shows a sliding picture of the office's bland ceiling for a moment before coming to a stop. The voices become much clearer.

"-down in Wolf Trap," a masculine voice is saying. Presumably, Zyrian Steel. "There's just no need for that."

"Zyrian, this ain't a negotiation." Nia Lehrer's voice is familiar to most people working at ADI at this point. They've likely heard her speak in some pre-recorded training videos at the bare minimum. Nia's tone is no nonsense and clearly on the edge of snapping in frustration. "You're not hiring us. I'm sending my people down to Wolf Trap next month. We've got evidence of those signalhead things being on the march, one down that way, your kick off for New Horizons in the park, and evidence out of there about the Lullaby Girl from some of my people."

There is silence.

"You remember her? Ava? Or Amber, it seems like. She's the one you gave us those Lucidio masks to help train our people against. Frankly, I'd be surprised if you don't remember her, Mr. S." Another drawn out pause. "You ain't been straight with me for a long time. You ain't been straight with ADI since Tawnya was Warden. You tell me you need us in Buffalo, payback for helping in Wolf Pen and Cortana and the mobile med units, and not only do half the staff come back with crab claws and whiskers, but I find out you're using us for business politics." There's venom in her tone. "Or were you just going to stay quiet about Etcher's enterprises competing with your own software companies? ADI is not your personal attack dog. You are our client. And I thought my friend. But I'm about 30 seconds away from firing you from both."

Further silence, then a heavy sigh. "And I was going to offer to send you and your staff on such a nice retreat." There's the sound of a chair being pushed back. "Warden, I think you misunderstand the nature of our relationship. You are the dogs. I am the master. I hold your leash. Or have you forgotten just how much technology I've donated to ADI over the years, how many of your systems run on things I built? We've had a mutually beneficial relationship up until now- Well… you and I have. Tawnya got to be a problem before the end, too. But I made sure that was taken care of."

"You self-aggrandizing son of a-"

"You're a much more practical woman than she ever was, even with those shiny ideals you hold so dear. You'll compromise for the greater good, to protect what's yours. Such a good Warden, looking out for her charges."

"What are you talking about? And get your hands the hell off my desk."

"Haven't you ever wondered about the title? Warden. Odd name for a leader of any organization, even one like yours. But maybe not so odd when you consider your more eldritch masters." A scoff. "The Hunt always does pick out the most oblivious avatars, doesn't it? What does a Warden do?" A beat. "She controls the monsters, Nia. Sniffs them out and contains them. And she goes after the poachers coming after her prey. Tell me, have you ever noticed how you're always picking up on threats far afield with uncanny precision. It's been getting stronger, hasn't it? Tawnya was the same way. As was her predecessor, I imagine."

"That's not- I wouldn't ever…"

"Wouldn't you, though? Every time you sent your own dogs after a threat, reveled in it, you were being such a good Warden, instilling terror in the hearts of your enemies, ADI's enemies. So many cults know who and what you are and they fear it. Fear the Warden of ADI, famed avatar of the Hunt. Even now, I know you've compromised yourself. Have you considered what that's done to you? You let that Visionary kid stay alive. I rather think that might have been the start of your slide, hmm? Making exceptions, just this once.

"Now," he continues, voice growing louder and footsteps starting toward the phone, "I realize this is a lot to take in, to think about. Why don't you do that self-reflection while I attend to other matters? You are doing good work, puppy. I need a dependable pet to take care of all those nasty pests who keep trying rituals. But no need to worry about the New Horizons launch, really. I'll just-" Zyrian pauses and everyone will have a view of a middle-aged caucasian man with dark, slightly graying hair and a beard. He's wearing khakis and a Hawaiian shirt, and he's looking down at Pam's phone.

"Well… fuck." He stomps a heeled shoe on it and the transmission ends abruptly.

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Eda has been bristling since Pam’s video feed went up on the network. Not precisely angry, although that’s absolutely part of it, but also not as satisfied over her own distrust of Zyrian Steel as one might expect.

She’s simply… unhappy, in a way that’s taking even her a little while to put her finger on.

Not that sitting with her feelings about the ADI is what she’s spending most of her time on—there’s too much happening for that.

In fact, as much as she’d like to have some kind of words with Nia Lehrer, she’s not actually looking for the Warden when she runs into her. She’s looking for artifacts, but she won’t pass up the chance, especially when it’s Nia who stops her.

”What’s not right… and why shouldn’t I check it out?”

"I can't tell exactly. I just got a feeling." She looks uncomfortable saying that. "And I'm planning to check it out, myself. Too many people are hurting right now. Don't need to add to it with a cursed artifact getting them."

"I can handle myself," Eda points out. She's uncertain if she appreciates the concern or not, at the moment. But she makes a note that the part about not wanting more people to get hurt at least seems genuine.

"And you're not wrong about that... I mean, that's why I'm looking for the things. But it seems like there's other stuff you ought to be worried about."

Her tone isn't accusatory, or at least not quite; she might really just mean she suspects Nia might be better off dealing with other priorities.

Nia sighs. "If you're about to tell me I ought to be focused on getting down to Wolf Trap to deal with Zyrian, I already had Elias telling me the same thing and that's not my highest priority. I'm not leaving everyone here to clean up a mess when we have at least a little time before he's gonna get his ritual started if it is what I think it is."

"Well, I wouldn't want to agree with Elias." She may not have proof he's up to anything specific, but she doesn't trust him. Either way, that was only part of what she meant.

"And what do you think it is?"

Eda's… tired. Although someone who only knows her casually might not put together that that's what's behind this particular shift in attitude.

Because tired presents as coming off a little bit more aware of the world around her, not less. She can't be bothered to work an angle that keeps her underestimated–especially because, unlike on the network post, there's no pretense of giving someone who works with the ADI the benefit of the doubt. They're well past that.

"Word from Wolf Pen made it sound like Vast to me. Maybe Extinction of you squint," she says flatly, "New Horizons would have me put money on the first one. But I'm also betting you know more than the rest of us."

Eda knew Raine had ideas about getting on the Warden's good side; which wasn't a bad idea at all. Unfortunately, even if she wasn't trying to antagonise Nia, of the two of them, the bard was a hell of a lot better at tact.

"Yeah. Vast. 'Unlocking the human potential.' Zyrian's always had that... 'the universe is so immense and we're so small' sort of mentality. I thought he was just one of those big thinkers. Should've realized it was more than that." She scoffs, but it's clear frustration with herself and her own failings more than anything external.

"New Horizons is some sort of tech that's supposed to bridge the gap between man and machine, providing more computing power for the human mind. I definitely think he's incorporating tech into his ritual. And I think those miners we turned Copernicus' attention to are... test subjects. Fuck... we did this to them. I did it."

Eda wrinkles her nose a bit. While there may not be much point in harping on the fact Nia should have seen through the man sooner, it's frustrating to watch people taken in this way. They need to stop believing awful little men are their friends so easily.

“Yeah, you did,” she agrees—not accusatory, but she doesn't see a reason to argue the point either.

“But… I think I believe it wasn't on purpose.” Though she's not sure that precisely makes her feel better.

“So what are you planning to do for them?” The ritual itself might be the more immediate concern, but she suspects the miners will need help with whatever’s already been done to them.

Nia runs a hand down her face and makes a sound of frustration that's halfway to a growl. "Priorities. We need to figure out the priorities. Immediate. The artifacts. They get much further than ADI, they're going to start causing hell around town. That signal creature, too, that's lurking at the edges of Dogtown. It needs to go. I don't know what it's gonna do, but if it's part of Zyrian's network, then it's not gonna be anything good.

"The one in Wolf Pen needs to go, too. I can- If folks are still there and listening, I'll redirect them to Wolf Pen to destroy it. That might help- We can at least solve the immediate problem. Austin's said he'd stay on. I can tell him to round up whoever we've got left and head that way.

"Next is the ritual. That's not until next month, but we should get down there with a little time to spare to figure out the specifics of what he's doing. Then stop that.

"Then we figure out exactly who's been affected by his testing and get them some kind of help if we still can."

To her credit, Eda listens and nods. They're all good points, and she takes a moment to think about them.

“I can help with the signal thing,” she says, “especially if you are down to bend your own rules.” She spreads her wings briefly—it's easy for her to attack the thing from above, and Eda's not sure that's an advantage they should pass up right now.

“And I was thinking about going down to Wolf Pen even if no one else did.” A team certainly sounds like a better bet.

Nia shakes her head slightly. "People were already bending the rules. Might as well make it official while I'm still in charge. We need to deal with these problems and we need to deal with them quickly. I don't... like compromising, but sometimes you have to." Sometimes, the mission is mor important, her tone says.

"You can head to Wolf Pen if you want. I'll buy you a ticket, but I'd rather have you in Wolf Trap. Austin's no stranger to explosives and taking down big things."

"Sometimes," she agrees. She isn't happy about the idea of feeding the Entities herself, but not using the things they can do... seems like a bad call, too. Especially when it's true people were already bending the rules; she's pretty sure the main thing the ADI was accomplishing was making people sneakier, though she doesn't bring that up for the moment.

The next point gets a little bit more of a pause.

"As long as you're sending someone... I'll go to Wolf Trap," she decides. It was mostly something she planned to do if no one else was concerned enough, though she's still torn for a moment. "I want to be there for whatever Steel is planning. Just don't want us forgetting about those folks either."

"We're not forgetting or leaving anyone behind." Her next sigh is heavy. "Gonna need to... figure out finances after this, too, though. We got other clients, but Zyrian's had ADI on a retainer for over a decade. He was a decent chunk of our budget."

"Personally, I think if someone tries to cause an apocalypse they don't deserve to keep all their money," Eda says, just flippantly enough to maybe pretend it was a joke later.

Though she supposes either way that sort of thing is probably a lot more complicated here; at home you can just steal gold. Here she's guessing there are computers involved.

Nia huffs in mild mild amusement. "Yeah, well... maybe Cortana can hack his bank accounts, but I'm pretty sure he's got a lot tied up in Bitcoin. He kept trying to get me to buy into that bull."

"...Yeah, I'm gonna leave that to Blue,“ Eda agrees with a little shrug. It may be true that she's less obvious to the Human Realm than she sometimes acts, but that doesn't mean that she's entirely sure what a Bitcoin is. Or even loosely sure.

She pauses for a moment, looking Nia over again.

"You really didn't know, huh?" Though her tone doesn't quite make it clear if she's more glad or judging the fact it took this long.

The woman's expression shifts to something pained for a moment before she gets it under control again. "I didn't want to know. Not until Zyrian was shoving it in my face. My gut got good fast once I took up being Warden from Tawnya. I wanted... I wanted to believe that happened because I was getting better, stepping into her shoes and doing her proud for it.

"But it's never that easy. I'm the head of ADI. I should know the signs to look out for. We all should have..."

"Yeah, you probably should've. But I meant what Steel was up to," Eda points out. Though she'll admit the rest is interesting.

"What you are... isn't really the part I'm upset about." There's a pause, before she decides she should really clarify that a bit.

"Don't get me wrong I'm not saying it's good. Or alright. But for what it's worth I'm pretty sure there's a lot worse things to be tied to." To be honest she has a lot of thoughts about the Hunt, though she's not sure how far to voice them.

Nia huffs and shakes her head. "Sure. But... Zyrian. He was right under my nose and I was starting to get a sense of things being off, especially when he sent us up to Buffalo, but before that, he's... He was a client. First client I ever worked with. I've seen him scared and panicking, looking like any of the other victims of the powers we've helped. I've had talks with him where he shared all kinds of things he was doing or wanted to do to try to make things better for victims of the Entities. It seemed genuine.

"I think... in the beginning, it might have been genuine. I don't know where things went wrong with him."

"Maybe he was genuine," Eda agrees after a moment. "I mean, you know him better than the rest of us," she admits. Nia's the one who actually worked with him, after all.

"But... I dunno if I'm sold." She knows she's biased by both what she knows now and by the fact he just kind of grated on her when she started trying to research him; the whole attitude towards fixing people put her off. And, of course, by her own experiences.

"I watched everyone back home fall for a petty little man saying he wanted to make things better and that he was their friend. Spent half my life with his lapdogs trying to hunt me down because they believed his bullshit."

Nia can take that however she chooses too, in terms of exactly how much of a comparison Eda's trying to make. But either way, she knows it's easy for some people to be charismatic and lying.

"I'm sorry that happened to you." She purses her lips. "I mean, hindsight's 20-20. Tawnya, the last Warden, she trusted him. It didn't seem like a jump for me to do the same. And ADI's not... we're not the government. We're not the police. We've always operated outside the law. They'll work with us some, but the Chief of Police for Gloucester's lost my number more than once. The higher up's got an idea what we're doing, but they don't like it. They also don't wanna admit monsters exist, though.

"That would mean taking a hard look at their own organization. ADI's not the only place something like the Hunt would go to fester."

Eda shrugs a shoulder, in an it is what it is sort of way. While it is actually pretty awful, she wasn't looking for sympathy.

"Y'know, that's... one of the only things I like about this place," Eda admits with a little snort. Not technically being the cops or the government are a good part of why she was willing to join the ADI to begin with.

"But that sounds about right. It would've been having a field day with the Emperor's Guard... and I'd bet it is with the cops here. And I'm not surprised if they're no help either way."

"They collect the bodies for us." Nia huffs lightly. "Paper over things if we need to kill an avatar. Sometimes. That's about all they're good for. More to your point, though, I get why you wouldn't like how we operate, but... well. Things are gonna be changing after this. Whether I'm part of it or not."

"That's... probably good. I mean, yeah, I don't much."

Eda sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. She wishes there were simple answers, even to the question of exactly how much she'd change if it was up to her.

"You know?" she finally continues, "I think I was really hoping the ADI was worse. That you were... lying about more." They still could be, of course, but it doesn't seem like it, to the degree she means at any rate.

Nia's lip quirks up in amusement. "Yeah? Sorry for the inconvenience. Nicer when things are black and white." She sighs after that. "Maybe seeing shades of gray is what let this thing... take hold of me. Compromising. Letting Sky live. Letting people like you... out at all. Letting a healer work for people who were dying when they turned up. The illusions we got. But it didn't seem right doing nothing and just... locking everyone up or killing them.

"Don't think I could've made the choice if Reyes hadn't stepped up to speak for the others, though. They've got a way with words."

The first bit gets a little snort, the rest not so much.

“Well, I guess I owe ‘em one–I’m not about to agree you shouldn’t have done that stuff,” Eda says with a shrug. “And I doubt letting some of us go is what got the Hunt’s attention,” she points out.

“But it would have made thing simpler, yeah. Given me an excuse to just burn this place down.” There’s another pause, while she debates whether to say more, and maybe while she realises that what she said really is what’s been bothering her about all this.

“At home… it really was black and white at the end of the day.” It sounds almost silly to say, but it’s true.

“That tyrant I mentioned–he said using our magic freely was bad. Dangerous. That it would corrupt us. That we had to be watched and controlled because witches and demons were violent on their own.” Her lip curls a little; there’s a reason the ADI sounded uncomfortably familiar at first.

“It never sounded right to me growing up and I was damn right. Wild magic wasn’t… like that. It just came down to a human hating things that weren't him. That he didn't understand. Wanting to control how they used their powers to keep them–us–weak. To get rid of us, in the end.

And that's easy. I mean, it's horrible but it's easy.

I thought… I hoped that was all the ADI was. Your people fearing everything different. Because that would have made things simple. But… some of it's real. Maybe all of it’s real. And if that’s true there’s… no good answers.” Eda really, really doesn’t like that.

“If you really are trying… then you need to get your act together. But I think we’ve got a lot worse options than you.”

Event - Dogged

Nia Lehrer

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cw: suicidal ideation

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