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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"Maybe they did see. Or maybe they thought they could keep it contained, minimize the damage. Some of the worst things in the world come from the best intentions."

She settles on the bench, not quite an arm's length away.

"Are your people still here, in Gloucester? Or did they get out?"

"'I hear tell the road to hell is paved with good intentions.'" The words are singsonged before Pam shakes her head. "No. They've stayed. My family has always stayed." She motions to the shop. "They wouldn't listen to me if I told them to leave. So, I hope the money will give them a reason. They'll move somewhere bigger, better... leave the history we have here behind. It-it rots and it bleeds, and so much of their pain is my fault. It's mine."

Pam lifts her hand to her eyes, pushing her glasses up as she starts to cry.

Nina reaches over and lays a hand on Pam's arm, touch gentle. Gentler, even, than she would normally make it, because absent her gifts, she can only judge the damage done to the woman with the evidence of her eyes.

There's a part of her that wants to squeeze, to shake and swear and exact some retribution for the chaos she's witnessed. The chaos her own life has been thrown into. If she doesn't, it's as much discipline as it is empathy.

"How so? The artifacts couldn't have spread this far yet - how's their pain your fault?"

"I noticed something I shouldn't have. That's why I joined something. There was a monster. It-it replaced my niece. My lè le. She'd just had a baby, and it slithered into our lives. It didn't even look anything like her, but no one else noticed, just me."

Pam seems to be getting herself under control, wiping at her eyes. "If I hadn't said anything, maybe... maybe things would have gone on like normal. But I called ADI in. I had them kill it. It tore our family apart. Or... me apart from them.

"And now even working with ADI, I've been messing up again and again. I let the Corruption onto the network. I've brought in artifacts without realizing it. I've given them holiday parties to twist to terrible ends. Everything I touch goes wrong now."

"Maybe things would've gone on like normal. Or maybe the thing that replaced your niece was just the vanguard, and the rest of your family's still there because you called in help."

One corner of her mouth turns up slightly. It's not a happy expression. "That's the trouble with looking back. We know the outcome of the choices we did make, and what they cost us and the people we love. But everything else is just conjecture. It says more about our own hopes and fears and guilt than about what actually might have happened."

She's quiet for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly as she turns the rest over in her head, weighing her instinctive dislike of ADI against what she knows of infiltration and subversion.

"How many people know about your history?"

"A few. We... we exchange stories, of course. Why we're each there. Everyone has a story like mine." She looks over at the other woman. "That's why I thought it was safe. It was good. We'd all gone through these things. How could we- none of us ever wants to be them."

"No one ever wants to admit it, maybe."

She exhales slowly, through her nose. "I don't know you well - any of you - but it sounds to me like someone's been setting you up. Other than Steel, maybe, because he definitely did."

"Someone?" Pam blinks. "Like... another avatar? Or do you mean Nia?"

"Maybe another avatar," Nina says. "Or someone who's not quite that bad, but still wants to cause pain and chaos. Maybe in service to one of your world's great horrors, maybe just for vengeance."

"For so long, though? ADI has been around for-for centuries." She seems to be latching onto the idea, though. "Steel... he is of the Vast. Maybe... that one? It would last a long time."

"D'you mean it might have extended his lifespan?" she asks. It isn't disbelief there, but a grim sort of concern.

Pam nods. "I don't know how all of the powers really work. None of us do. Every avatar is unique. But I think they said there was another man, a Desolation avatar. He was at least a century old. He could reshape his body again and again because it was just wax.

"So, maybe a Vast avatar has something like that. Maybe Mr. Steel's ancient? Maybe even older than ADI, itself?"

"Sounds awful," Nina murmurs, suppressing a shudder. Living bodies made of wax is a disconcerting thought, though the reshaping itself is less so.

"The Vast - the ocean's part of that, isn't it? There are plenty of ancient things there. It does seem plausible, doesn't it? If he got his fingers in early, built himself a blind spot, found ways to exploit people to cause some chaos if he thought people might be looking in his direction."

"Could be? The ocean isn't so simple as one or the other, more how you look at it." She shakes her head. "It could be the Buried, the Dark, the Stranger, maybe, for some of the creatures. There were mermaids that seemed like they might be part of the Extinction we dealt with not long ago. But the Vast could be. It makes you feel so tiny sometimes.

"But it makes sense, yes. I don't... I'm not sure, though. If he is something that old and terrible, I don't know how we'd find out. He didn't become a client for ADI until a decade or so ago. So... he might have been influencing in other ways?"

"Or surfacing every few decades under a new name, once everyone he would have dealt with died off or retired to somewhere warmer," she suggests.

"If your predecessors kept solid records, there might be something hidden away in there. Old clients, or previous benefactors. No one completely shakes their past, no matter how much they might hope to."

"I-I could look. I can- Would that help? I feel so-" She takes a shuddering breath. "If there's something else I can do to help that's not Dogtown. I can look into it, let people know what I can find?"

Event - Dogged

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apologies for the delay this seems to have escaped my inbox!