(IC 2) San Francisco by Night: A Requiem in Fog

[Bennosuke]

"Good," Gabe replies quickly. But his eyes narrow and he suddenly stand rod stiff upright and says, "But there's more I want to talk to you about..." His voice trails off, but whatever it is, the Ghoul is dead serious about it.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

"Perfect, now we can come and go as we please," Anna said, "is there anything else we need to take care of?"

If not, Anna bids Victor adieu and heads out into the night to the Rack to try and find a likely candidate for feeding. She'll cruise around and look for a happening spot, then try to get picked up for a one night stand.

[Bennosuke]

Victor sighs in a very mortal way and replies, "I think we took care of what we needed to. This should give us in and out access to the hospital and all the floors. I guess we should just talk next steps." He raises an eye at Anna, his face a placid mask, though still flush with the artifice of humanity.

[Thundercracker]

Victor sighs in a very mortal way and replies, "I think we took care of what we needed to. This should give us in and out access to the hospital and all the floors. I guess we should just talk next steps." He raises an eye at Anna, his face a placid mask, though still flush with the artifice of humanity.

Anna Wu

"Let's talk outside," Anna said. She led the way to the parking lot, where they weren't likely to be overheard.

"We've secured the hospital under Kindred Law, the Prince has granted the domain," Anna said, "but if we don't want a Masquerade breach, we'll need to make sure we own it under mortal law as well. That means purchasing the hospital legally. I'm already in the process of setting up a legal entity to do just that. Next step is to find out who the current owners are, and make them the former owners. Once that's done, we'll set things up so the kine never have a clue what's going on, maybe make some renovations and add some more restricted areas, get some ghouls on staff, expand the number of persistent vegetative patients, and then we can start a trial run with a few neonates to see how it goes."

[Daishain]

That got Karl's attention. When Gabe was feeling that pain it took a lot to focus him on something else. "All right, what is it?"

[Bennosuke]

Victor's eyes seem to widen slightly as Anna details her plan. When she finishes speaking, Victor replies with a cocksure grin, "Well shoot. Those are some pretty lofty goals. You have that all under control? You sure there isn't anything you don't want my help with?" Victor puts a hand on one hip and raises an eyebrow at his companion with a haughty smile.

************************************************** ***

Following Karl's invitation to speak, Gabe steadies himself with a slow breath in and out. This time he does not fall into a fit of coughing. "I want The Embrace," the ghoul says slowly, his eyes locking with Karl's, seeming to study the vampire's expression and anxiously awaiting his reply.

[Daishain]

Karl stiffens, "You know that's not a light thing to commit to. I think I can guess why you want it, but have you fully considered the cost? Even if you can ignore the hunting of humans and the whole being a corpse thing, you've seen a fair portion of the bull**** I put up with from kindred society. If you feel helpless now, I can assure you that becoming a neonate won't help with that feeling, not for a very long time."

"On a more practical level, that would also mean we'd have to make some drastic changes. Among other things, neither of us would be able to get anything done during the day. Our little detective agency would be doomed unless we bring more people in."

"Let me ask you this, if I do agree, what is it that you plan to do afterwards?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“I have the money, but I don’t know who the owners of the hospital are,” Anna replied, “if you have time and can look into it, it would definitely speed things up...”

[Bennosuke]

Karl stiffens, "You know that's not a light thing to commit to. I think I can guess why you want it, but have you fully considered the cost? Even if you can ignore the hunting of humans and the whole being a corpse thing, you've seen a fair portion of the bull**** I put up with from kindred society. If you feel helpless now, I can assure you that becoming a neonate won't help with that feeling, not for a very long time."

"Trust me, I've had plenty of time to think on it," Gabe says flatly. He stops here, but then after a long pause his cold expression softens and with slight pleading he says, "Look, even despite your blood, I AM slowly aging. I WILL die. We're just holding the tumors back at this point."

"On a more practical level, that would also mean we'd have to make some drastic changes. Among other things, neither of us would be able to get anything done during the day. Our little detective agency would be doomed unless we bring more people in."

Gabe shrugs the question off unconcerned. "You have other Ghouls now," he starts, "Bernardo and that goth teenage chick. And you can get other help." He adds one final thought, the words seeming to leak out of his mouth before he can hold them back, slimy with jealousy and loathing, "Besides, you have your grandson now too."

"Let me ask you this, if I do agree, what is it that you plan to do afterwards?"

Gabe snorts at the question, a frustrated almost insulted glare on his face. "Live," he replies flatly, "I'd live and not worry about the fragility of my mortality. What, you want to hear me say that I'd stay your errand boy? You... you know I'd never betray you, but I want more than living just to serve you desperate for the next time you'll give me blood so that I don't feel the rot growing in my chest."

************************************************** **

"Should be simple enough," Victor says with a shrug and a grin. He reaches out a hand to shake and says, "Well then, until next time."

(OOC: Time for a feeding scene? I think we can incorporate some WP in it as well by playing into Anna's Survivor Dirge as well, if you are up for it.)

[Thundercracker]

"Please be careful," Anna said, "this is going to shake things up, though nobody realizes it yet. Once the ancilla and elders figure out what's going on, they're going to be gunning for us. Let's stay under the radar for a while until we're better established."
Anna shook Victor's hand and then departed for the Rack, she needed to feed first before heading over to Jay's apartment.

[Bennosuke]

Anna drove out from the psychiatric hospital, quickly returning to the main roads where she was forced to weave around the late evening traffic. Much of the city's territories had been claimed and divided up, among various powerful vampires, or portioned to various covenants for further granting; but there were still a few neutral territories where any Kindred could feed.

And so Anna drove back to the neighborhood known as The Panhandle. As she drove, The Beast howled in her ear. The thought of feeding roused her hunger, causing the ache in her chest to spread and pulse, causing the flesh around her fangs to ache in anticipation.

The Panhandle was a strip of manicured grass that split off of Golden Gate Park. It had long been a haven for the tents and makeshift beds of the increasing homeless population in San Francisco, and despite the city's best efforts the neighborhood around the park had only worsened over time. Traffic thinned out as Anna cruised into the neighborhood. To avoid any damage to her car, Anna tried to find a spot on the edge of The Panhandle and The Haight Ashbury (a neighborhood best known for the hippie movement of the sixties and seventies; the other side of the Panhandle was NOPA, which was already becoming too upscale to hunt in... and too hard to find parking).

So Anna parked her car on a side street, away from where she would hunt, and away from prying eyes. But Anna was only just stepping out of her car on this poorly lit side street, when she smelled blood and heard footsteps. The boy who approached Anna couldn't have been much older than 16 or 17. He had a ratty grey hoodie, and dark stretch jeans on that were a good size too small. His hair had been dyed black and styled into a sweep that hid one eye. The other was amateurishly rimmed with dark eye liner. He approached Anna hesitantly, both hands out and said, "Hi miss, sorry to bother you. I uh, I've been living on the street for the last week, and well, I could really use some help if you can spare any money." He gives Anna a sheepish smile and the Beast begins roaring in the back of Anna's head. There were no words to the impulse, but it was something like "Take him! Take all of him! Kill him for yourself! No one would miss him."

[Daishain]

Karl says dryly, "Are you actually suggesting that either Bernardo or Gabrielle are a good fit to help with our sort of work?"

He looks at Gabe silently for a time before eventually stating, slowly, "I am not convinced this is the right thing, but it would not be... right for me to refuse given everything you have done on my behalf. I am going to leave the choice up to you, but not now, tomorrow night, after you have said goodbye to your life. Because let me make one thing clear, what you will most certainly not be doing after the embrace is living."

"What I propose is this, go ahead and take some of my blood so you're healthy, and lets get our work done for now. When you go home and go to sleep, I want you to listen to your breath and your heart. Take the next day off, go eat your favorite food, enjoy the sunlight, find some female company if the urge takes you. If you come to me tomorrow evening and can tell me that you're still willing to give everything up, then I will grant your request. Fair enough?"

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“Trap,” Anna thought.

She tried to get a sense of whether the boy had some kind of ulterior motive.

Spoiler

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wits + streetwise: (4d10)[6][2][7][9](24)
10 again: (4d10)[2][6][4][8](20)

[Bennosuke]

Karl says dryly, "Are you actually suggesting that either Bernardo or Gabrielle are a good fit to help with our sort of work?"

Gabe shrugs, his face betraying only a lick of embarrassment. "Bernardo is a pretty smart kid. I'm not saying now, but I don't doubt he could be trained. And if not, between the two of us I'm certain we could think something," he replies, frustration rising slightly in his voice at the last bit.

He looks at Gabe silently for a time before eventually stating, slowly, "I am not convinced this is the right thing, but it would not be... right for me to refuse given everything you have done on my behalf. I am going to leave the choice up to you, but not now, tomorrow night, after you have said goodbye to your life. Because let me make one thing clear, what you will most certainly not be doing after the embrace is living."

"Sure," Gabe says petulantly, "it's not like I haven't thought about this plenty already." He pauses as the attitude fades a bit from his expression, his tone softening, "It took a lot of courage just to bring it up tonight. If you want to re-discuss tomorrow I'm fine with that... though I don't think my mind will have changed. I can't say I'm really living now anyways."

Following his master's final words Karl replies, "Sounds good to me. I brought the files over, just as you asked." He indicates the packet of files under his arm, but the ghoul is too busy staring with anticipation at Karl's wrist.

************************************************** *******

Anna stayed silent, watching the boy as he drew closer. The vampire's silence seemed to give the boy pause and his steps slowed. "I'm sorry. I know this is ****ty of me," the kid says with embarrassment, putting his hands up.

As far as Anna can tell, he's telling the truth. Perhaps there was more to his suffering, but he meant Anna no true harm.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Forgot to mention, random goth prey selected via the VtM 5E random prey generator.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“What do you need?” Anna asked, “why are you living on the street?”

[Daishain]

"Please take what I suggest for tomorrow seriously Gabriel. The existence you are asking for is hard enough without regrets, if nothing else then trust me on that point."

"But for now..." Karl fishes out his knife and cuts his wrist for the ghoul, willing the wound to stay open for now.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Just one vitae, if Gabe's going through with this it won't need to last him long.

[Bennosuke]

The boy seems partly taken aback by Anna's question. "Uh, I could use some money," he says, his voice tinged with equal parts confusion and embarrassment, his eyes cast down at his feet.

The Beast in Anna's head is screaming now, "What are you waiting for? Kill him! Feed! Take him no!" so loudly that she can barely pay attention to the boy.

He pauses for a moment before replying to the vampire's second question, "I... I ran away from home. It was stupid in a way, but you don't know what it was like with my step mom. Anyways, I've already run out of all my money for food... and I've done some really stupid things so far to try to stay alive." The kid's face scrunches up in a puckered expression, his eyes going misty to the point where it looks like he may cry.

************************************************** ********

"Please take what I suggest for tomorrow seriously Gabriel. The existence you are asking for is hard enough without regrets, if nothing else then trust me on that point."

Gabe puts his hands up and says defensively, "Totally. I can wait till tomorrow night. It's not a big deal." But this is stopped when he pulls back, a hand racing to his face to cover a quick serious of forceful coughs that nearly double the ghoul over.

When Karl opens his wrist, Gabe moves close eagerly grabbing hold of the gaping limb as he goes to his knees for easy access. He feeds greedily, pulling hard at Karl's wrist to coax the vitae into his mouth. When Karl finishes him prematurely, Gabe stands upright quickly, using his sleeve to wipe his mouth clean. He does his best to further wipe away the scowl of frustration on his face and turning away Gabe says, "Okay, so I guess we should get to business then."

(OOC: So lets start by identifying what it is Karl wants to find out in the papers Gabe brought. One BP taken. )

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

“Oh you poor thing,” Anna said, “of course I’ll help you.”

“You’ve had such a rough time,” she said, moving to give him a hug.

Whether he accepts it or not, she’ll go for the neck once she’s out of his immediate line of sight.

Spoiler

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anna will take 3 to go up to 9

After she drank her filll, she stepped back.

“You can get sick if you stay on the street,” she said, “here’s 20, got get something warm to eat.”

[Daishain]

Karl ignores Gabe's sullenness. His partner would likely be drinking his fill soon enough. "All right, so pressure points are our main goal with the gang. We need to map out their network as much as we can. It might be worthwhile to try and get access to law enforcement files on them, that would save us a lot of work."

"The kid in the hospital could also be of use. He likely doesn't know what we really need to know, but he probably can point us in the right directions. Only thing is I'm not at all sure how to approach him or what kind of leverage to use. I doubt he'll be very willing to listen to the likes of us at all."

"And then there's whatever footage we got from the office of that disgusting lieutenant. Should be at least something useful in there."

"Anything else catch your attention?"

[Bennosuke]

(OOC: I think I would normally ask for a subterfuge or persuasion roll to get the youth to let Anna hug him, but since this is a feeding scene, let's just roll with it)

The boy basically collapses into Anna's arms when she embraces him, his arms thrown tightly around her waist and he almost whimpers. There's a moment's pause where the boy starts to mutter something like, "Ma'am you are cold," but then Anna's teeth sink into his neck and the words simply turn into a soft moan. He gives no resistance as Anna begins to feed.

The boy's blood is thick with his sorrow, heavy with whatever trauma's he had been through recently... and perhaps his entire life. But still he does not fight as Anna takes more and more. His heart begins to race as Anna feeds to near satisfaction; the boy's very life coming into and fulfilling her.

Anna pulls her head back just as the boy's swoon rises, his knees beginning to buckle. Deep in her skull the Beast protests. "Take more! You are not yet full! You don't know when you might need it! TAKE MORE!!!"

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Anna takes three BP bringing her up to 9 and dealing 3 lethal damage. She can gain a WP by listening to her Beast and taking more than she needs while causing further damage. We can consider this part of her Survivalist Dirge. Regardless, the boy now has the drained condition

************************************************** *************

We need to map out their network as much as we can. It might be worthwhile to try and get access to law enforcement files on them, that would save us a lot of work."

"The kid in the hospital could also be of use. He likely doesn't know what we really need to know, but he probably can point us in the right directions. Only thing is I'm not at all sure how to approach him or what kind of leverage to use. I doubt he'll be very willing to listen to the likes of us at all."

Gabe nods his head. "The boy was trying to get into the gang, from what I understand," Gabe replies, "He might know some things about MS-13, and might want to get revenge since they booted him and kicked the **** out of him. Probably a good place to start."

[Daishain]

Karl nods, "I'm wondering if we shouldn't tap Bernardo for this, he might be able to approach him."

[Thundercracker]

Anna, not willing to stop just yet and knowing she was going to likely visit Celestine later that evening, took just a bit more, until she was full.

Spoiler

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thats one more, for four total

[Bennosuke]

Gabe nods his head at this suggestion and replies, "He's a smart boy. Capable. He wouldn't be a bad choice."

************************************************** ******

Rather than releasing the boy, Anna mercilessly continues to feed just a little longer, going all the way to slake her hunger completely. This seems to satisfy the Beast greatly and for once her entire body buzzes with invigorated energy, while the burning ache in her chest cools out to near non-existence. It was almost like being human again... almost.

Anna licked the wounds clean, stifling a satisfied purr. But as Anna releases the boy, he begins to collapse in her arms, wiped completely unconscious from the strain of blood loss. She can still hear the hammering of the young man's heart hammering away to maintain adequate perfusion despite the blood loss, can hear the depleted rush of blood coursing through his arteries.

[Thundercracker]

Anna Wu

Dammit. That was stupid, I could have gotten more blood anywhere...

Anna felt around for the kid’s phone even as she let him slip to the ground in the side street. If she can find one, she’ll use it to call an ambulance, otherwise she’ll use her own.

“Yeah, this kid is passed out on the ground here,” she told the dispatcher, and rattled off the address. If it was his phone, she wipes it off then places it back in the kid’s pocket, then drives away quickly, before the ambulance arrives.

[Daishain]

"All right, we'll get him on board. Shall we start sifting through the data from our surveillance cams? We ought to have picked up a few things of interest."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Anything in particular you want me to roll?

[Bennosuke]

Anna finds the boy's cellphone without difficulty. Despite the fact that he had apparently run away from home, the data plan seems to still be working.

The 911 dispatcher sounds to Anna like a middle aged Midwestern housewife. In a heavy accent she requests that Anna stays with the boy till the ambulance arrives to make sure he stays safe and to watch him for evidence of seizures or other abnormal activity, promising help is on the way.

Anna of course does not have to stay with the body, but it was likely not safe to just leave him collapsed in a bad part of town.

************************************************
Karl and Gabe begin sifting through the footage.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I'm sorry Daishain, could you remind me about the security footage and the disgusting lieutenant, maybe remind me about the scene so I can find it and read up. My guess is though that a Resolve + Investigation roll would be appropriate

[Daishain]

Karl works with Gabe to set the footage up. They'd fast forward through the videos, pausing and proceeding at normal speed whenever there is some manner of interesting activity. It could be boring work, but with two sets of eyes, chances are they'd pick up at least some details.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

resolve+investigation (6d10)[7][2][6][7][10][8](40)
ten again (6d10)[1][1][5][10][4][2](23)

[Thundercracker]

Anna waited until she could hear or see the sirens approaching and then drove off, leaving the phone behind. She didn’t want to be questioned by the paramedics and she didn’t have time to be filling out forms. She decided to head to Jay’s neighborhood, parking a few blocks away from his apartment and approaching on foot.

[Bennosuke]

Karl and Gabe begin reviewing the footage from their surveillance cameras, set up on the second floor of Spooky's bar Los Luchadores. The footage confirms the evidence of Spooky's money laundering operation, as an extended amount of time involves MS-13 members bringing in suitcases filled with money which is counted, documented and carted off.

The footage is also notable for showing Spooky with a young man who fits the description of Jay, the man Anna had asked for help investigating, and whom she was concerned was a member of MS-13.

Once or twice Spooky also has some sort of dealing with young men, either Asian or White; kids who don't seem to fit in with the Hispanic gangsters. They are too well dressed, too uncomfortable. Maybe they are tech industry kids. They seem to be show up at the bar with large sums of money for Spooky. And he always deals with them without any of the other MS-13 members around.

************************************************** *********

Anna drives out to the center of The Mission District. She passes through an area where the streets are poorly lit, and even though it is not so late, they are mostly empty. The few cars parked on the street here are either junkers propped up on cinder blocks, or badly beat up trucks with pealed paint and missing side view mirrors.

In contrast, Jay's neighborhood is a mix of old fashioned queen victorians and brownstones, interspersed with a few newly made, modernly designed apartment complexes. Locals wander about the streets, couples arm in arm, and groups of young adults moving between bars. Music blares from nearby bars, and the traffic slows down due to the number of cars and pedestrians.

Jay's apartment is one of the newer, more modern buildings, should Anna decide to go investigate. Otherwise, she could stop by one of the local bars; perhaps Jay was a regular at a few of them, or perhaps someone would have seen Katie recently.

[Thundercracker]

“Least he’s not staying in a junk apartment,” Anna thought.

She parked and approached the apartment complex on foot, getting an idea of the security in the place.