apocalypsehowcomm | Event

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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He happily takes the hand, hoisting himself up, though wincing as he does so. Yep, someone is absolutely going to be bruised later.

"I'm assuming you were affected by one of the items from ADI storage?" There's a light teasing tone in his voice as he points out, "If you did that on purpose, I might have to request a transfer."

Steph winces in sympathy. At least she didn't break his nose. She'd definitely been trying to.

"Not," she confirms emphatically, "definitely not on purpose. I'll... get you some ice." Satisfied that he isn't about to keel over or retaliate, she hurries into the kitchen to get a dishtowel and ice. How is this so embarassing when it wasn't technically her fault?

"I'd appreciate that," says the man who winces slightly as he walks. She might not have broken his nose but Steph can take comfort in that there's a growing bruise on his forehead and when she slammed him to the ground, she bruised the shit out of his tailbone and leg. That's going to make walking a bit painful for the next couple of days.

"I wish I could say that normally it's less chaotic but this is only slightly wore than normal."

Elias you've been here two months.

"I'm starting to get the idea," she admits, still sounding sheepish. That's probably going to last for a while.

A dishtowel isn't hard to find, luckily, since she's only been here about a week. She starts packing it with ice, thinking that she ought to stock up on medical supplies. Even if this city wasn't a death-trap, she prefers to treat her own injuries when she can.

"I'm not sure what got me," she mentions as she works. "Just that I smelled something. I think it was blood?"

"Based on the amount of chaos going around, I suspect you ran into one of the artifacts from Artifacts Storage."

There's a pause while he looks over Steph, assessing how new she might be, before he asks,

"Did you get the memo on Artifacts Storage? I'd be happy to explain, if you want."

She grimaces, again sheepishly, before handing over the makeshift ice pack.

"That's why I'm here, actually. I've mostly been out and about since I got here. I hope you didn't think Gremlins were coming in and stealing your coffee beans. Though I guess I haven't used all that much."

Taking the ice pack, Elias holds it against his bruise. "I'm perfectly fine if you use up the coffee—I usually make a new pot every morning."

Somebody likes his coffee.

"But as for the artifacts, whenever ADI finds something dangerous out in the world, they keep it and put it in storage for safekeeping. Normally it's a perfectly sensible scenario. That being said, there doesn't seem to be many safeguards for someone who would want to cause problems."

Like, say, removing all the artifacts.

"That surprises me," she admits thoughtfully, but doesn't elaborate. She still doesn't have any hard facts about what the company monitors and what it doesn't, and she's staying in this facility to play the good little girl.

"I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet properly before... me punching you in the face."

"Honestly, I've had worse introductions, Miss Brown," he says, with a cavalier little shrug. Look at the small smile on his face! He's perfectly fine and forgives Steph for all this nonsense (or at least, he doesn't want to show that he's deeply irritated by the artifacts and also that he still kind of hurts).

"Though I must admit: you put up one hell of a fight."

"Thanks," she says, looking genuinely pleased by the praise. Sure, she has training, but it's not like she gets compliments on it.

"I grew up in a bad city." Not a bad neighborhood, a bad city. It had actually been a rather safe neighborhood, relatively speaking.

"And thanks for not, like, fighting back." She doesn't know how much harm he could have done her, but it ranges from 'some' to 'mortal injury', so she's grateful all the same.

Elias can't help but let out a small chuckle as he points out, "Truth be told, I have no idea how I would fight back in the first place. You grew up in a bad city, I grew up in the sort of social class that would rather their children not take any form of martial arts classes."

Needless to say, there weren't martial arts classes in the 1800s but hey, it's a technical truth.

He could have a gun. Or a knife. Or hit her with something heavy, or just flail around wildly-- She's not going to give him any ideas.

"Still counts. And hopefully you won't need to start learning."

Being killed via pipe murder is only for people who deserve it.

"If I may admit, I hope I won't need to start learning as well. If someone like me has to learn how to fight...well, things truly are dire."

"That bad, huh?" Steph tries not to look too amused. Go easy on the guy you just punched in the face.

"So what do you do then? Back home, I mean."

"Bureaucracy," he answers, with a little smirk of a smile. It's a boring answer and he knows it.

"I served as the head an organization much like this one. Though unlike the Warden, my job involved more paperwork and less active searching."

"The head honcho?" Very boring, but she can see why karate might be a bad look on him.

"Doesn't 'bureaucracy' mean government?"

"Usually. But academics get their fair share of paperwork, needless regulations, and finding creative methods to justify expenses as well."

He gives Stephanie a cavalier little shrug. "And at it's core, the Magnus Institute is an academic facility."

Do these people not watch television or something? 'Magnus Institute' sounds incredibly suspicious. At least 'ADI' sounds like a normal organization that nobody wants to call by a longer name.

"Academic bureaucracy? All I know about that is how hard it is to register for classes each semester."

"In that case, consider yourself grateful that you've never had to chase down donors," he says, with a small little chuckle. This is what passes as humor, it seems.

Event - Dogged

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