"You're welcome," Liam said, offering a half smile in return. There didn't seem like much else to say.

"You know, when the curtain drops I'd like to put out a statement - to tell humanity that we're here. To tell them who we are. What we are. I can't think of a better way to do that than to tell my story from start to finish, with all the rough edges left in. After all the lies, people deserve to get the unvarnished truth."

"Would you consider interviewing me? Having the agency's stamp on it when it gets sent to the networks and pushed out onto the internet will stop it from immediately getting spun as a hoax, and believe me the Camarilla will try."

Jin thought about it, and then nodded. "Hell, I could make use of that long before the big reveal," he said. "Even in the Branch, there are still some skeptics. And I've shown off for them."

“Just one request,” Liam said. “Keep the focus on me. The point isn’t to name every vampire, werewolf and wizard I’ve ever met. We all step into the light in our own time. I just want to show the way.”

[Happy to end here]

"That's... gonna be hard," Jin said. "It's a lot easier to stay hidden when nobody knows to look for you. Every time I tell somebody that a supernatural creature exists, their first question is always to ask how many of them there are. And governments are going to figure the same things out that we did pretty quick."

"Things like thermal cameras being very cheap and effective vampire detectors. Or if you're feeling real fancy, scraping cell phone databanks for people who only move around after sunset. You're welcome, by the way."

"I can't stop the world from looking for them," Liam answered. "But I don't have to put an arrow over their heads. You saw how alarmed Jan was at the mere prospect. I can attest to knowing my share of Toreadors. I don't intend to tell the world she's still with us and making music though."

"Those are good tips, though. Never would have thought up either one."

"It's a brave new world, all right," Jin muttered.

He ended up staying with Liam for another hour, until they reached Mont-Laurier, where the highway branched south to Ottawa. The conversation drifted to far less dire topics - Mostly speculation about which dead celebrities were secretly otherworldly beings. Liam stopped in the town's police station. It was a small building in the heart of an equally small town. Judging by the single car in the lot, he wouldn't have much company while he waited for his ride.

The rest of the trip through the Canadian Shield was uneventful. Rocks and trees with occasional patches of trees and rocks. Police presence on a weekday evening was light, and Liam wasn't in a particular hurry. The trip would have taken two days regardless.

Shortly before dawn, he pulled into a roadside motel on the outskirts of Kirkland Lake. The room stank of Lysol and bleach, but at least it was clean. Fortunately for him, no knocks came at the door this time.

Shortly before he departed for Tim and Kat's the next evening, he took some time to look in his trunk. He was sure he hadn't been followed, and it was doubtful that his shitty motel's registry was in a searchable database. When the border guards had inspected his trunk, they would have had time to install a tracker - though not enough time to do a truly covert job.

Sure enough, he found a small device with an antenna magnetically attached to the inside of his spare tire's rim.

Liam carefully removed the device and shut the trunk of his car. The motel wasn’t well patronized but he looked over the remaining vehicles in the lot with a speculative eye, and picked a likely candidate to affix the tracker to for the next leg of its journey. “God speed, little friend,” he said as it snapped into place. Liam turned back to his vehicle and pulled the address out of his pocket again. A few more hours and with any luck he’d be knocking on Tim’s door.

When Robyn had said they were in unincorporated Kirkland Lake, she wasn't exaggerating. He drove for an hour after he left the highway, first on pavement, then on gravel, and then on what must have been a hunter's road. The roads around Robin's place were rural, some of them verging on backwoodsy. These roads were wild.

He finally happened upon a sign reading "Private Road - NO TRESSPASSING", with a narrow gravel driveway cutting through the trees. No address placard, no mailbox.

He got about fifty metres down a claustrophobic and winding road. The canopy of pines and maples was so thick that he could barely see ahead of him. As he squoze through the narrow driveway, branches brushed and scraped against his car. Tubular metal chimes clattered and clanged in the trees as he pushed through.

With the dark and winding approach, he barely saw the fallen tree in time to brake. It was too big to lift, and the trees were too dense to take the car off the road. He'd need to proceed on foot.

It wasn't much further before he spied the light of a cabin hidden between the trees. He wasn't far from the door when he heard the cock of a shotgun behind him, and a familiar voice call from the shadows, close behind him.

"Now I know you ain't lost," Kat said. "No sudden moves."
This message was last edited by the player at 07:31, Sun 21 Feb 2021.

Liam raised his hands above his head without turning. "You got me, Kat. Dead to rights."

"Liam?" Kat said. She moved a little closer, and then he heard her weight shifting back. "You're different. What's changed?"

"I got older," he said, without moving his arms. "I realise that's not a thing we typically do. I had some help."

"Unless you're wondering why you can smell me for a change, in which case its because I got too cocky around the Tremere and with their new magic they're playing for keeps. I'm stuck somewhere between a vampire and not a vampire. Its complicated. And wildly frustrating."

"I bet," Kat said, unmoved. "And why are you here?"

"Because I couldn't find you or Tim when I got back. I found the Caern in ruins. Moira and Jim the only two left alive that I can tell." Liam knew Kat and Tim had had no contact with the Caern since Tim was expelled but the frame of reference at least was one they shared. "I went to your old camp site, but it was long abandoned. I wanted to know that you were okay. That Tim was okay. Ten years is a long time to go without speaking."

"You told me to protect him," Kat said. She shouldered her shotgun, and moved around to face Liam. "And I did. I kept him safe, and out of the conflict. When you left, the safest place to be was as far away from Verdant Falls as we could manage."

She looked him dead in the eye and scowled. "Tell me you're not here to drag us back into that mess."

Liam lowered his hands as Kat came around to face him properly. "I did," he replied. "And I stand by it."

"I'm not here to take anyone anywhere. I'm going back. My work there isn't done. And I'll tell you upfront, Book has taken a renewed interest in me. Or perhaps he never lost interest, but I was simply too far away to bother with."

"But its enough for me to know you're both safe. I can look for you again, after I finish and the mess is taken care of. Lord knows it wasn't easy to find you this time."

Kat's expression changed as Liam mentioned Book's interest.

"Have you changed your position on releasing It?" she asked. Her face was neutral, as was her body posture. But she couldn't mask the effects of a sudden rush of adrenaline. Her pupils went wide. Her nostrils flared. Her grip on the shouldered shotgun tightened ever so slightly. She was prepared to fight Liam if he gave the wrong answer. In his current state, he wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance.

[Auto on Emp + Survival DC 8]

"I was always afraid that releasing It would do more harm than good," Liam answered honestly. "Even with how far gone the world has come in the past ten years, that hasn't changed. I'm still afraid."

"Seavers is dead. The Tremere have seized the ruins. They're piecing it together piece by piece, but that's really a sideshow to the real problems right now. They don't need It's help. They're already winning. They just need time."

"Then you're a dupe," Kat said sharply. "If Book's around, it's because that's what you're working towards, whether you know it or not. C'mon inside. I want to hear exactly what you've been up to for him."

As they approached the cabin, Kat walked ahead of him. "It's me, Tim," Kat said. "Everything's purple. I brought an old friend-"

Her voice was cut off as the door flew open. A fully-fledged Crinos struggled to squeeze through it, and wriggled past it with surprising speed. He closed the distance between them before Liam had a chance to open his mouth. He was swept up in a massive bear hug that would have smarted even if he'd had his Fortitude.

[Soak 7 bashing]

"Easy!" Liam all but squeaked. His sides creaked and he was sure he'd felt at least one rib crack under the strain. "Easy! I'm a little softer than I used to be."

He grinned in spite of the pain and returned the embrace with a wince.

"Its good to see you too, Tim. I've missed you."

"Liam's back," Tim whimpered. He placed Liam gingerly back on the ground, and took a step back. He wiped tears from his eyes. "Liam's back!" he said again, looking at Kat.

"I missed you so much," he exclaimed. His arms opened wide to scoop Liam into another hug, but he caught himself. "Come in. Kat made some stew if you want it."

"No, no, I'm alright thanks," Liam said, waving away the offering of food. "But I'll come and sit down while you eat."

"How have you been?" he asked.

Liam followed Tim into the cabin. It was not fancy by any measure, but it was spacious and well-heated by a woodburning stove. Power seemed to come from a combination of wind and solar. The aforementioned stew sat atop the stove, bubbling away and filling the cabin with the smell of venison.

"I'm doing good," Tim said enthusiastically. "I really miss TV but I get to go outdoors a lot. Hey, did you know people will pay you for stuff you kill?"

"We make ends meet by hunting and trapping," Kat assented. She ladled out two bowls of stew. She placed one on their solitary table in front of a massive section of log which served as Tim's stool. She gestured for Liam to take the only chair, and settled for leaning against the counter. "I got Tim set up on the ODSP before this whole shit show went down, and that helps a little, too."

Tim nodded enthusiastically. "We only go into town once a month because of the germs," he added.

"That's great," Liam replied, sinking down into the remaining seat. "That's good work. I've done the same before," he added, thinking back to the old settlement at Verdant Falls.

"ODSP?" he said, turning back towards Kat before the penny dropped. "Oh! Oh, well I'm glad you got him enrolled. I'm sure that makes a difference."

"Probably a good idea to stay away from town for now. The pandemic doesn't seem to be letting go any time soon."

"Any day now," Tim said optimistically. It was mid-may and the Maritimes were doing well. The same could not be said for Ontario.

"So what have you been doing?" he asked, shifting gears quickly. "You were gone a long time."

Kat let the two speak, and ate her stew quietly.

"A long time," Liam concurred. "I went to Europe. The same vampires that had been spreading the mind controlling 'poison' in Verdant Falls had been trying to do the same thing overseas. I made sure they weren't able to succeed. It wasn't easy, and I'd probably still be there if it wasn't for the 'germs'."

"The virus breaks down the poison, funnily enough. They were forced to stop because of the pandemic. So I got to come home, except after ten years it doesn't really feel like home anymore. Everything's changed. Much of it for the worse, but not everything."

"I made a new friend. She's a witch. I've been staying with her these past few months. She helped me find you."