Lucifer is back on the Last Refuge after a trip to the Trapdoor.  There Spiderweb was able to look him over and give him a little slip of paper he had to keep against his skin, "like a nicotine patch", to keep his anger in check.

Like the woman knows what a nicotine patch even is!

Lucifer's home for all of a day and a half when he gets a message on his system.  Usually he's bombarded with the usual appeals for help and autographs and the like, but Smoker very helpfully filters them.  After all, why would anyone ask Lucifer for help getting their metaphorical cat out of a metaphorical tree?

But this video message has bypassed the filter.  That usually means only one thing:  personal mail from another Exalt.  Smoker never touches those.

"Hello, this is Ilari Lievo.  Mr. Lucifer, I believe we haven't met in person.  I was referred to you as an expert in corpus physiology.  Please return my call at the earliest convenience."

The calm tone of the Lunar is belied by the background:  an Underdecks bar, torn to pieces, Ilari covered with blood that's not his own.  A piece of flesh dangles from his cybernetics.  He's holding up what Lucifer immediately recognizes as a ghost-corpus decked in the bone-and-metal armor of a Candlelight Infiltration Team Gunzosha in one hand, and in another he holds a little gobbet of brass flesh radiating green and pulsing.

(Spiderweb Wu Wei check:  47 vs 40, reduces his Minor to a Trivial.  You have to keep that prayer tag on for a bit longer.)
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:55, Fri 04 Nov 2016.

Daniel's first instinct upon return to the Last Refuge was hitting a certain part of the Martial Library for stress relief, but knowing his condition that option was unfortunately out of the window. Instead he'd holed up in his room as soon as he got back to the Last Refuge, for the safety of everyone.

His quarters are a spacious but simple deal; an ascetic bedroom, a gym equipped to challenge someone of his physique (and give him something self-repairing to break), a room with holoprojectors for study and meditation and a general-purpose lounge with a big screen on the wall and a shelf for mementos, books and various doodads he currently had on loan.

As his messaging system dings - a vaguely hymnic chord, of course - he puts down his weights and makes for the lounge at a brisk pace, brushing himself off with a towel in hand. Anything that made it through to his inbox with a notification sound was bound to be important or at least interesting.

Ilari's message makes him narrow his eyes, focusing on what's visible. Looked like a Candlelight Imperator's remains... A definite matter of interest.

He gestures to return the call immediately. He wasn't exactly presentable in his sweaty t-shirt and shorts but it's not like he was a sharp dresser on the best of days.

The video takes a bit to connect, meaning that Ilari's home terminal isn't in the Upperdecks- unusual for an Exalt, but not exactly unheard of.

"Ilari here,"  If Lucifer was worried about looking bedraggled, he should rest a bit easier.  Ilari's apparently been through hell.  He's shirtless and covered in bandages, and he's currently sewing up a deep gash in what Lucifer might hope to be artificial skin- because if it isn't the man is either impervious to pain or hopped up on way too many painkillers to be healthy, even for an Exalt.  "Mr. Lucifer.  I'm glad you got my message, so thank you for returning my call.  I've been told you're a hard man to contact.  But I've also been told you'd greatly appreciate being the first to hear what I've found."

Daniel certainly wasn't one to particularly care about his looks when serious matters were at hand - and given the message earlier, he'd expected Ilari to look less than polished himself. Still, the condition the Exodite was in managed to impress him - lucky that Ilari was one of the few on the ship who could reasonably make a quick recovery from something like that.

"Just Lucifer is fine. Being hard to contact lets me respond quickly to the important ones."

His look drifts from the torn-up Lunar to his surroundings, checking if he's still in the presence of the Imperator's remains.

"So you fought a Candlelight Imperator? I'm glad you're alive, if barely. A Gunzosha kill team caused me considerable trouble back on Earth, and that was before they were amped up with bits of Malfeas."

He crosses his arms expectantly.

"So what is it you've found?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:27, Sat 05 Nov 2016.

It looks like it's a decrepit bathroom, possibly in his personal quarters if Lucifer's any judge.  The door is ajar, and Lucifer can see through a bookshelf through the doorway.  It's chock-full of medical books.  He sees no evidence of the Gunzosha armor of the Malfeas-gobbet.

"I can't claim full credit for the kill.  I was lucky," He remarks as he finally puts down the needle.  "I was tracking down patient zero of a Wyld-Plague, probably one of Reactor's little personal projects.  That meant buying a few drinks for the right people so I could ask the right questions."

Lucifer remembers those old tactics, alright- he'd done the same thing back when he was just a normal LA vigilante.

"Next thing I know, a bloodape with a dozen holes in him falls out of the ceiling- dead, I should clarify- and the Imperator follows him with a low-ranked goddess on his back stabbing it with a shard of metal.  That bought me the time I needed to engage and reduce the Imperator.  The goddess didn't make it.  As far as I can tell, the two were holed up in the ductwork hotboxing bugnose with a few others when the Imperator stumbled on them."

Bugnose isn't a drug that Lucifer's particularly familiar with, but that's because there seem to be a couple dozen generated monthly.  Most involve feeding sesseljae hallucinogenic items, letting them concentrate in the beetle's tissues before killing the stomach-bottle bug and using them in unsavory ways.

"The important part is that there's more than one in the Underdecks.  I heard whispers from the Imperator's radio while we were fighting."

Daniel listens intently as Ilari recounts what happened, nodding. The unlikely band of hotboxing heroes would elicit a snicker if he wasn't focused on more important matters. The same goes for concern about the Wyld-Plague... Though it was something he might have to talk about on his next visit to the Reactor. "What matters is it's dead. Where are you keeping the remains?"

He frowns as Ilari goes on. "Unfortunate but unsurprising - Candlelight operatives tend to move in teams with various specialists depending on the target or task at hand. I'll come down to search and destroy the rest."

He throws a few glances about his apartment, checking that his equipment was where he thought it was as he prepared to leave.

"What was that about corpus physiology in your initial message?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:52, Sat 05 Nov 2016.

"I keep several hidden compartments throughout the Underdecks to stow materials that need rapid quarantine.  Triple-sealed, warded, hidden by charms and glamor.  I threw it in there." He starts to shrug on a shirt.

"I figured that was the case.  This Imperator was competent but wasn't prepared for some of the more esoteric arts.  I don't think I could've handled a team of them by myself, another reason I decided to call you.

As far as physiology goes- you are the expert at ripping out their 'hearts', after all.  I thought you might be interested that this one had a second heart.  I couldn't show it to you because they merged together after the Imperator's death.  Is it common for an Imperator to have two?"

No.  No, it's not- by all rights it shouldn't be possible.  Two pieces would merge almost instantly if within a half meter of another.