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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His shoulders hitch in a jerky little shrug, vaguely unnatural-looking. "You didn't know. It's a stupid hang-up anyway." Who has problems with showing their bare feet? It's stupid. But it's not going away, so he deals with it.

He down crouches by the pile of his things. "Something in here is what made me change. I need to find what it is. And destroy it. Then hopefully the changes will revert."

"The logical place to start would be with things you handle often," she says, and takes a knee beside him, studying the items with the careful eye of someone looking for some sort of tell. "Or - I don't suppose you have a thing for gloves?"

He's not the only person she's met with odd hang-ups about bare skin. It would be something to leverage, if there was a targeted aspect to this, something beyond just the artifacts being set free.

"I always have gloves, for when I'm out in public. The glamor doesn't hide my arm." It's not magical or high-tech enough, it could conceivably by made with things here in this universe. He gingerly picks up his jacket, first, ready to drop it if need be.

Nothing happens, so he sets it aside. "I wasn't wearing them today, though. They're here." They're what he picks up next, a pair of simple leather gloves. They... won't currently fit, because his fingers are too long, and uneven.

The line of her mouth flattens as she takes in the difference between his fingers and those of the gloves, and mentally re-evaluates her guess as to the rate of progression. She doesn't like it. At all.

And so she reaches out with one hand, not grabbing him, just in a staying motion between him and the objects he's peeled away. "Maybe you should let me handle them," she says. "You're already affected. Don't want you to get any worse, hmm?"

"No." He shakes his head once, firmly. "I've already been affected. Pretty sure it's from my entity. No sense in both of us having its hooks in us. This kind of thing can linger sometimes. And then the entity will have you, too." Sometimes it fades, but sometimes it... doesn't. He's not going to let somebody else get marked by the Stranger.

"I am absolutely amazing," she says, head canting slightly as she flashes him a smile that's somewhat reminiscent of a preening cat. It erases the look of unhappy concern, though the set of her shoulders and the fact that she hasn't moved her hand makes it clear enough that the concern is still there.

"But I doubt two entities are going to want to have a cage match over me, and if that's the sort of thing yours gets up to, I don't think we share one. Which means we're weighing unpleasant side effects against the risks of something getting a firmer grip."

Winter plucks up the Web pyramid, examines it sourly before setting it aside. "Technically I do already have two, too. It's not really. Fun. Not a cage match, though, since one is the Stranger and the other is the Web. Not really fighters, directly, those two."

He picks up his nearest boot to heft it thoughtfully. No additional change. "Just stand back, please. This is actually my job. For as much longer as I last with ADI anyway."

"I don't care what anyone says, stubbornness definitely correlates with size," she says, giving him a slightly skeptical look. She does straighten and step away, though, fingers flexing before she sets her hands on her hips.

"Worried they might throw you to the lions if you can't find a way to reverse this?"

Well. She's not exactly wrong, stubborn is a way of life for Winter.

"No. They would use an illusion to hide it. But I won't work for someone who is an avatar," Winter explains flatly, grabbing his second boot. Nothing. He hesitates, then starts to tug them on rather than immediately continuing to sort through his shit. He doesn't feel safe when he's half-dressed.

Nina doesn't comment on his choice to pull the boots on, not least because if something left in the pile decides to grow teeth and chase them around the halls, he'll probably move faster if he's not just in socks.

He'll probably outpace her either way, but that, at least, she's accustomed to.

"Why?" she asks. "Haven't you been doing just that all along? The only thing that's changed since last week is that you know now."

"And if I had known last week, I would have quit last week. Serving the entities hurts people. If one gets strong enough compared to the others, it will take over," he explains patiently as he laces up his second boot. "I have no desire to contribute to the end of the world. So I will fight them in some other way if I must."

Event - Dogged

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