"Everything is alive, and it all wants to kill you in new and exciting ways."

[renferret]

Mouse and Slug throw around ideas on how to deal with the wasps. 

 

Tenement Building - Ground Floor(#2451RJ)

The ground floor of the apartment building is taken up mainly by the lobby, an open space with the front doors at one end and the elevator and the door leading to the stairwell at the other. The floor is covered in black and white tile in a checkerboard pattern, and the walls have been painted a neutral grey shade. A couch, two squashy armchairs, and two wooden chairs have been set up in a rough semi-circle around a square wooden coffee table, facing toward the front doors and positioned so as not to interfere with any traffic moving between there and the stairs. The furniture does not seem to be very old, but it has been well-worn in its short lifetime. A few potted plants have been set in corners, to give the old lobby a more welcoming atmosphere. 

To the right of the main doors are mailboxes for building residents, and off to the left is the doorway into a cramped rental office (see +view), and other doors that lead to the building's large laundry room.

Obvious exits:

Stairs  Salem's Apartment  Out

 

Currently the moon is in the waxing Half (Philodox) Moon phase (51% full).

Currently in Saint Claire, it is raining lightly. The temperature is 44 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius). The wind is currently coming in from the south at 10 mph. The barometric pressure reading is 29.88 and rising, and the relative humidity is 89 percent. The dewpoint is 41 degrees Fahrenheit (5 degrees Celsius.)

 

The lobby is anything but quiet today. Mouse is seated near the couch, in a power chair of all things, with a small table attached to one of the chair arms pulled up for her laptop to sit on. It's from the laptop that music is blaring. Handel's Messiah, for anyone who might actually recognize it, but she has it loud enough that one might be forgiven for thinking it's some sort of really strange new alternative band. The elder herself is staring intently at the screen, occasionally typing furiously.

 

Slug comes in from outside with two worn looking steel pipes slung over his shoulder, both of which show signs of rust and pitting. He has to move carefully to avoid swinging them into things as he closes the door behind him, but he doesn't seem to have any problems with doing so. He pauses when he catches sight of Mouse, and listens for a few seconds before piping up. "Getting into the Christmas mood a bit early?"

 

"Nah," Mouse says, without looking up. "Just a programming mood. I like the classics when I'm working on ruining someone's day." The volume does lower, however, to a far more tolerable level, even though her typing doesn't so much as pause to do it.

 

"Neat. I play a violin, y'know... Just ain't very good at it." Slug gently lifts the pipes off his shoulder and puts them on the floor, then walks over and takes a seat on a couch near Mouse. "I haven't seen you since you got back. Welcome home."

 

Mouse glances ever so briefly toward the pipes at the sound of them being set down, then back to her screen. "What's with the plumbing? And thanks. I was getting rusty out there."

 

"A Gaian wanted me to show her how to fight." Slug says, his eye wandering away from the Theurge. "But-" He drags a hand across his face, looking as exasperated as he sounds. "She's afraid of pain. She's too frightened to throw a punch, too scared to strike back. The pipes are for the next lesson." Slug reclines back into his seat and turns back to Mouse, his eye tracing over the many lines on her face.

 

Mouse finally does look up for a significant period at that, both eyebrows arching. "Afraid of /pain/?" she echoes, incredulously. "Christ. I don't envy you /that/ one. Point out that the better she fights, the sooner the other guy drops dead and stops trying to hurt her."

 

"I tried. I also told her there are times you won't be able to get away, and it's either fight, die, or get captured." Slug reaches into his pocket to take out his cigarettes, and coaxes it to life with a cheap black lighter. "Didn't work. Told her to go ask a Pain spirit to show her what pain was. She didn't like that either."

 

Mouse's yellow eyes flick toward the pipes. "...So now you're going to beat her silly? Can't say I disapprove." It's not clear whether or not she's joking. "Please tell me this is a cub."

 

"No. Beating doesn't do anything to a Garou." Slug takes a drag off his smoke, smirking wryly at the Theurge's reaction. "And no, she's a Cliath. Must be that she's good at doin' things, but her teachers never had her kill. Gaians."

 

"/Gaians/," Mouse echoes, derisive. "The hell do they think she's going to be doing for most of her time as one of us? And I don't know, maybe /that's/ the point she needs. That beating her with a pipe hurts like hell, but it also won't permanently damage her whatsoever."

 

"I don't intend on damaging her... Permanently. But beating doesn't hurt, not really. Not until you start breaking bones. There are more direct routes to pain." Slug reaches into one of his hoodie pockets and comes up with a stun gun, which he lays on the table in front of him. "I'm going to fit that into the end of one pipe. High voltage, low amps. I can use it like a spear, and she won't be able to really stop me unless she shifts and attacks- And if she frenzies, I'll have her at arm's length. She'll fight if I back her into a corner."

 

Mouse considers it for a moment, and then nods. "I'll leave it to you. Still, that's so goddamned ridiculous. We aren't going to have a tea party with the fucking Wyrm. There's a time and place for this sort of thing."

 

"At least she wants to learn... She's just, timid. I told her she should look for you, when she mentioned wanting to be a better Theurge. I couldn't think of a better teacher." Slug ashes his cigarette and shakes his head. "One advantage Metis have over Homid cubs. They don't fear pain. They're annoited in it."

 

"Whether we like it or not," Mouse says, a little flatly. Her fingers return to the keyboard.

 

"Aren't we all? Sooner or later. But for every one of us that breaks, there is another that becomes a hero." Slug murmurs back, stabbing his cigarette out in an ashtray.

 

Mouse snorts loudly, and gives Slug another half incredulous, half amused look.

 

"Careful now, if your face turns just a lil' bit more, someone might think you were smiling." Slug chides, winking with his dead eye. "So, Mouse-rhya. Care to hear my report on the bug motel parked on our Caern? I've been there and back. Can't say I liked the view."

 

"Shoot," Mouse says. She's typing and looking at the screen again, but there's a sense that she's still listening intently.

 

"Well... The Bawn is like the jungle from the movie 'Predators'. Ever seen it?" Slug pauses for a response, then shrugs his shoulders. "Everything is alive, and it all wants to kill you in new and exciting ways. Trees like Venus fly traps that attack you when you go by, poisons, plants that attack you with tenticals like a bad Japanaese cartoon. That sort of thing. It was hard for us to get deep in there without being noticed. When we go in, we'll have to pick the Garou carefully, make sure they know how to move all sneaky like, and even then we'll probably need some Talens. But the wasps aren't as aggressive as I thought they'd be."

 

Mouse's right eyebrow arches at that. "No? That's...unexpected. They did let us walk out of there, but the slightest sign of aggression provoked an immediate response. That's how we lost the cub." She pauses for a moment. "What sort of talens?"

 

"Well, they don't *want* you there, and they did attack when we were spotted... But only nearer to the Caern. On the outskirts, they're thinner, more spread out. If you take down potential runners or attackers really fast, then move on, you won't have any problems. The Bawn is more dangerous than they are, until they get thick. Course... If they detect a big group of Garou moving in... Different story." Slug shrugs his shoulders. "I dunno. Ain't a Theurge. I'd screw with some of the wasps to find out how they detect things, sight, smell, then go with talens that work best against that."

 

"I'll give it some thought," Mouse says, with a slight nod. "Make sure you ask Nieve and Norman too. Maybe pair up this kid you're teaching with one of them, it sounds like she could stand to get any experience she can."

 

"Might work. I need to talk to Nieve anyways, if I can get a hold of her." Slug huffs out a sigh and looks up at the ceiling. "Once we passed into the hive- And that shit was hard, we were given free reign. A fox that was with us gave us a paper window to put the hive, so he could look into it. We saw the queen, and she didn't look good. We also saw grub things being moved around."

 

Mouse grunts. "She wasn't looking so hot when we were there either. We need to speed things up. We're screwed if she dies before we get this done. At the least, we'll have to wait another cycle before we can act, at the worst, they might devour all the energy the Caern has to offer."

 

"I don't know why you guys intend on doing, but we'll never kill those wasps by ourselves. And we'll never get a big group through the front door." Slug clears his throat, then looks at Mouse. "I have a plan, and ya'll can do whatever you want with it. Even tell me it's stupid and knock me on the head- But I have a plan."

 

Mouse shakes her head slightly. "We aren't killing them. We're moving them. The dreams were clear we need to move the new queen to...somewhere. That's why I'm heading out to St. Helens soon, to see if that happens to be our 'somewhere'."

 

"Well, then I'll leave out the part of my plan that involves fire. Going in through the front door would be kinda tricky, and once those wasps are on you, things might go... Badly." Slug points at the Theurge and waggles his finger. "I'm thinking once the team got close to the hive, you Metis could use your Gift to dig into it. Breech at the right spot, grab the thing, and go back out. Wasps crawl a lot slower than they fly."

 

"And a tunnel prevents them from being able to swarm," Mouse agrees. "Digging in would be tricky. We'd have to know exactly where we were going, foot by foot. It's really easy to get lost underground."

 

"Mmmhm. That's why you'd have to go in close, and be careful. Maybe use some Talens to keep your bearings, or get some mole-spirits to help. But you'll be completely cut off if you screw up. And you'll have to be careful that the wasps don't find the other end of the tunnel. If they do, you'll have to collapse it, and dig in a new direction. Plus... There is no telling what could be underground in Wyld Land. But it's the best plan I could work out."

 

Mouse nods very slightly. "Have you taken this to Lefty yet? I know the gift, but I'm...not your best candidate for it when time is of the essence. It'd be better if we had more than me to dig."

 

"You're the one that sent me on the mission. I'm just reporting to you." Slug points out. "But you could always call her, you're in the same pack... Aren't you?"

 

"Lefty's coordinating the Ragabash," Mouse says, just a little insistently. "She should hear it from you."

 

"I'll tell her, then. Anyways." Slug shifts around to take a better look at Mouse, then nods. "Me, Riley, and Nieve might be headed up to Vancouver to follow the trail of those people that have been experimenting on Werewolves."

 

Mouse narrows one eye. "Be careful. /But/. One thing at a time, Slug. Let's fix the wasp nest before we open another potential can of worms."

 

"Not something I started, but I don't want Riley to go off alone. Val's working with Riley, Val talks to me. If Riley waits, that's good." Slug tilts his head in Mouse's direction. "Heard the place around the place Val found had a lot of Weaver and Wyrm all mixed together, like a peanut butter cup. You got Wyrm in my Weaver, you got Weaver in my Wyrm... And they use things. Gas. Darts. Before I go, I'd like to get some sort of Talen or something to guard against that crap. But, y'know. Ways off."

 

"Tell her," Mouse says slowly, enunciating each word, " that I said to /wait/. Caern's going to need everyone. Not just with this wasp thing, but what I've got to do after. Every Garou we have in that makes our chances a little better."

 

"I'll tell, I'll tell." Slug assures her with a little wave of his fingers. "But I wanted to ask you... Who do you think could be doing this?"

 

Mouse shakes her head. "Not a damn clue. It doesn't sound like anything I know, which is all the more reason to treat it like you'd handle a live bomb."

 

"Could be humans, maybe guided around by a Fomor. Or Mages. A small part of me says it could be Garou- Glass Walkers." He pauses to incline his head in Mouse's direction. "Not anyone here, obviously."

 

Mouse sits up straighter, eyes narrowed. "It is /not/ Glass Walkers," she snaps. "Jesus Christ, Slug. I'll thank you to keep /that/ theory to yourself."

 

"There is a very short list of people that can find and capture Garou cubs. List gets shorter when you add the high-tech." Slug raises his eyebrow at Mouse, then holds up both his hands. "I'm just sayin', if there is a crazy asshole putting tech into people, it /could/ be."

 

"We /have/ cubs," Mouse says, gesturing at the floor. "We don't need to grab others. /Former/ Glass Walker, /maybe/. But I can promise you there isn't any organization within our ranks that does that shit on unwilling participants anymore. A few nutbars got it into their heads to do that about a decade back, and we took care of it." In the Mafia sense of the word, from her tone. "Seriously, keep that theory to yourself. The last thing we need around here is people having yet another reason to distrust us."

 

"You know I wasn't implyin' you or anyone else here, right? Mmmm... I didn't know the history." Slug leans back in his seat and folds his hands across his stomach. "Whoever it is, I'm not looking forward to finding them. People that are immune to delerium... Vampires and their 'friends', Fomor, or... Kinfolk. Every answer sucks."

 

Mouse snorts. "Do you think that would /matter/ to certain Garou around here? The Get aren't exactly great at /aiming/." She looks back down at her screen. "For the record, that history isn't something we like to spread around either, for the same obvious reasons. Every tribe has its skeletons, but we're already distrusted enough."

 

"So you're saying that some Garou are assholes that don't listen to reason or anything else? Tell me more." Slug responds dryly, offering Mouse a small smile. "I live with you, I eat with you, and I'm packed with two Walkers. But I still had to know if it was a possibility, 'cause it might be me under the knife if I get caught. But I know what you're saying."

 

Mouse shakes her head very slightly. "Anything's a /possibility/. Just watch yourself out there."

 

"Yup." Slug stands up and stretches his back out, then bends over to hoist the pipes back onto his shoulder. "If you need me, you know where I'll be. I'm going to go cook some dinner, egg rolls and such. I'll bring some down when they're done. Someone has to make sure you eat." Slug smirks a little, then makes his way to the stairwell.

 

"Fair's fair," Mouse concedes. As he turns to go, her attention returns to the computer, and as soon as the stairwell door has closed behind him, Handel's Messiah is cranked loud once more.