Jin shook his hand, and quickly took out a notepad to jot down the name. "Two Rs, two Ls?" he asked. He scribbled it down when Liam confirmed it. He listened to the request, and took a moment to play the request over in his head.

Then he exhaled sharply, and cracked another bottle. "Just so I'm clear on what you want to happen, here," Jin said. "You want the government to recognize you as a one-hundred-and-fiftyish—year-old haematologically-challenged landed immigrant. One who may or may not still be an active member of the military, because I honestly have no fucking idea whether a funeral counts as a discharge. It's not only going to open up a whole can of legal worms for you, but also for the government; it's also going to let the cat out of the bag. I would trust the military to keep your existence a secret, but Canada Revenue?"

"Canada Revenue can go after the department of National Defence for a hundred years back pay,” Liam said with a grin. “I'm sure we can work out the details. The thing is, the cats coming out of the bag one way or another. Its no longer a question of if, but when and how. I want there to be a place for those of us who want to reenter society - who are willing to do so on terms society accepts. That only comes with legitimate recognition, so I'd like to reclaim my citizenship."

"The world is in for a rude awakening, Mr. Konno. The government better start planning for what comes next."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:48, Sun 17 Jan 2021.

Jin rubbed his eyes. "Look, you must know this is well beyond my paygrade," he said. "I'll see what I can do, but first you gotta give me something I can use. The more you give, the better it'll go for you."

"I'm nothing if not patient," Liam said, taking a drag on his cigarette.

"So lets talk politics. Vampire politics are ancient. Feudal. We don't plan in terms of years or even decades. Alliances span centuries. Accords have bound us for even longer."

"At the most fundamental level are the clans, thirteen in total. These are bloodlines that span back beyond the dark ages into the earliest nights of our kind. For all intents and purposes these are immutable. We are 'born' into our clans and they do not change."

"Tremere is one such clan. I belong to another: Gangrel. With me so far?"

Liam waited a moment for a sign of assent before resuming.

"The clans are a force in their own right, but the major currents in our politics are dictated by the sects of which there are three main factions."

"The Camarilla have long portrayed themselves as the cooler heads, though in recent nights I would contend they've bridged the line from cool-headed to diabolically calculating. For centuries, since the Spanish Inquisition, they - we've maintained - I counted myself as Camarilla until ten years ago - that it would be best for Kindred (that's us) and Kine (that's you) if humans simply forgot that we ever existed. To that end they constructed an elaborate system of lies and obfuscation which we call the Masquerade, and they've let the march of time do the rest. Human memory only persists for so many generations before it becomes the stuff of myths and legends."

"This conversation that we're having right now? Its a breach of the Masquerade. Both of us would be marked for death. Me for revealing it and you for knowing. Vampire law is both Byzantine and brutal."

"After the Camarilla the next largest faction are the Sabbat. The Sabbat are a quasi-religious sect that developed in reaction to the Camarilla - something like the schism in the Catholic church. At their fundamental root, the Sabbat believe might makes right. I'm sure they would quibble with this simplistic interpretation but basically they believe they have not only a right, but an imperative to lead - and not just our kind but everyone. They see no reason for the Masquerade because they believe their place is atop humankind rather than beside it."

"Lastly are the Autaurchs which is pretty much a catch all for everyone else - either those Vampires who disdain politics, or those factions too small to control more than a small domain unto themselves."

"Useful info," Jin said. "We'll circle back to who's in charge of these factions, but it doesn't answer the most important question: what's happening in Verdant Falls?"

"I'm getting to that," Liam replied.

"Round about the end of the 90s the Camarilla were coming to a crisis point. Humans make for unreliable witnesses but video cameras, satellites and drone footage are harder to refute. Trying to maintain the Masquerade was like sticking fingers into the proverbial dike. Breaches were occurring with greater and greater frequency and they were increasingly more difficult to cover up. Keep in mind that was twenty years ago. Now there are twice as many cellphones as there are people on this earth. The evidence of our existence is already out there. Its why you and I are having this conversation."

Liam took another drag on his cigarette.

"Around ten years ago the Tremere hit upon their current solution and they chose Verdant Falls to roll it out. Verdant Falls is the Camarilla's best effort at a 'perfect society'. Its a city under occupation, but its an occupation that's all but invisible to the outside world."

"Some sort of mind-altering magic?" Jin guessed.

"Sort of," Liam replied. "There's a compound in the water derived from what amounts to specially treated vampire blood. Is it magical?" Liam shrugged. "I don't know. I've blown up my share of the plants where the Tremere mass produce it. They're certainly using magic to get to scale. Whatever the case, it makes anyone who imbibes it immediately and intensely suggestible to Vampires. And it doesn't just work on humans. It works on us too."

"Your agents reading you back lines from a script? They were thirsty when they got back to the hotel room and poured themselves a glass from the tap. Or someone handed them a spiked cocktail. That's all it takes. One drink and they don't belong to you anymore, they belong to them. The rest is just classical conditioning."

Jin swallowed hard, and went pale. "Jesus Christ. The whole town? What about Bishop AFB? Is it completely compromised?"

Liam nodded. "Bishop is compromised," he concurred without elaborating.

"There are two good pieces of information though. Number one, the Coronavirus seems to deactivate it. The Camarilla are in a panic because so long as this pandemic continues to rage it throws all their plans into chaos. And number two, we have an antidote."

"I can give you back your compromised colleagues. I can take back Bishop, although that will take some work. We're trying to take back Verdant Falls - but you have to understand, they'll remember everything. When we succeed - if we succeed - the Masquerade ends that very night. You can't sweep that sort of thing back under the rug. The whole world is going to see it on YouTube."

Liam took one last drag on his cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray.

"The cat's coming out of the bag, Jin, and its going to get ugly."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:21, Mon 18 Jan 2021.

Jin shook his head. "I don't think you know who you're dealing with," he said. "You get me Bishop, and maybe they'll be convinced to not wipe Verdant Falls off the map. The Tremere have stolen a military base. When the military finds out, they're going to respond. Decisively. There aren't going to be witnesses if there's no town."

“We’ve been liberating people by the handful, and after much debate there was extreme reluctance to approach the feds for this very reason,” Liam replied. “They don’t want to see their friends and family burn up in some kind of nuclear holocaust. And let’s not kid ourselves, that’s what it would take. Canada would have to authorize a nuclear strike on one of its own cities and then send ground forces in to clear the ruins house by house. You don’t think that would raise questions? People are going to notice.”

“And it wouldn’t actually solve anything. It’s not like the Camarilla will just go away. They’ll pick up the pieces and turn their focus somewhere else. They’ll also almost certainly know it’s coming. Long before their present gambit the Camarilla had its fingers in government. It’s how they’ve managed to cover their tracks for so long. You just told me your colleagues are compromised. You don’t think that’s true of the other service branches? You have a house to clean first. I can all but guarantee they have ears at CSIS feeding your information back to them. And in the RCAF.”

“Look, about Bishop, I’ve already worked out how to get in. I was planning on grounding the fleet, but with your help I can do one better. I can get the antidote onto the base but I’m going to need someone to reestablish the chain of command immediately. Those soldiers are going to be scared when they come around and they aren’t going to trust me of all people.”
This message was last edited by the player at 14:52, Mon 18 Jan 2021.

"I can't say I'd fare much better," Jin said. "The Branch has a contact with the RCAF; a Lieutenant-Colonel, I believe. He's been primed, but I'm going to have a hell of a time convincing him this is true without proof."

He folded his arms, deep in thought for a moment. "I can't see any way this won't escalate quickly. You better be poised to take back the city when we do this. I don't really like keeping a lid on this, especially from my superiors, but this is... explosive information."

He flipped a new page on his notebook. "Tell me about the antidote."

“It’ll have to do,” Liam said. “A couple of nights before we’re ready to spring Bishop I’ll break in and wake up the Base Commander. You give me a secure line to hand him and I’ll put him on the phone with your Lieutenant-Colonel.”

Digging in his pocket, Liam drew out the small spray bottle and offered it up on open palm.

“This is the antidote,” he said. “It’s delivered in droplet form. Just like one drink of that garbage is enough to bind you, one spray is enough to release you. This is magic, although I have it on good authority by those who understand such things that it’s cheap and easy to produce. If I could get a canister of this into the water in Verdant Falls our current problems would be solved, and a host of new problems would just be beginning. Unfortunately that’s easier said than done. Ironically Base Bishop is a softer target.”

“You keep this one, and use it on your team before you tell them anything. If you run out I can get you more. And keep an epipen handy. I’ve seen an allergic reaction happen once - on a werewolf. It wasn’t pretty.”

Jin nodded quietly. "That sounds like a decent plan. It'll be easier to get him to pick up the phone than it will be getting him to show up at the base."

He looked the spray bottle over. "I'd like a copy of the recipe if you don't mind. And I'd definitely appreciate more of this stuff," he said. He placed the bottle in his pocket. "I'll wake our compromised agents before I do anything else. It'll make the director easier to convince. And I will see what I can do about getting you some kind of official recognition. Now what's all this got to do with you meeting someone in Montreal?"

"Vampire diplomacy," Liam replied, settling back onto the edge of the bed.

"Remember I told you about those clans and sects? I've been asked to arrange a summit between the head of clan Gangrel and the head of clan Tremere on neutral ground. Montreal is Sabbat territory," Liam explained.

"The Tremere need the other clans to maintain their hold over the city, but Gangrel broke away from the Camarilla some years ago. So with a dwindling number of holdout Gangrel left in their ranks, the Tremere have taken to capturing free Gangrel to sire more childer. I recognise this may not sound like much when stacked up against their other crimes, but to Vampires this is an unforgivable offence."

"We hope to use this to drive a wedge into the Camarilla and peel away the support of some of the other clans. Depending upon how many we could convince, it would cut the knees out from beneath the Tremere."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:55, Mon 18 Jan 2021.

"I can't imagine the other clans are in a very good mood to begin with," Jin replied. "They need the Tremere to see them through the global death of secrets, but if I were in their shoes, I'd be looking at how they're doing business now and wonder whether they're still going to cut me in on the spoils."

"That's a fair point," Liam allowed with a devilish grin. "If the Tremere succeed they wont need the rest of us to keep their peace. It may be worth mentioning that to the high-ups in the other clans. This post-Masquerade paradise they're promising may be intended to be just for them."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:10, Mon 18 Jan 2021.

"I can't say I'm a big fan of the Tremere thus far," Jin said. "Glad I met you, though. Do you have a way of staying in touch?"

"I'll give you my number," Liam said, digging his phone out of his pocket. "The thing about the Tremere is even the Tremere don't trust the Tremere. Kind of like what they're doing in Verdant Falls, whenever a new Tremere is embraced they're forced to undergo a ritual that binds them to the larger pyramid of their clan. They have to obey. They have no choice."

"There are a couple of Tremere I'm actually fairly fond of but if they were ordered to put a gun to my head and pull the trigger they wouldn't hesitate. They might feel guilty afterwards of course, but that wouldn't help me much after the fact."

"There..." Liam said. A message popped up on Jin's screen saying 'James Westfall'.

He winked.

"Remind me whose balls I'm supposed to be again? Because I am going to give her so much hell when I get home. Of all the times to mess around, she picks a border crossing to play games."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:24, Tue 19 Jan 2021.

"Brian Fantana, from the movie 'Anchorman'," he said. "And for what it's worth, it wouldn't have mattered. It was where you were from that caught my attention, not what you were named. Who's 'she', anyway? Those fakes were pretty watertight, telling names aside. I wasn't entirely sure it wasn't a coincidence, right up until I figured out you were dead. Best fakes I've ever seen, really."

Liam smiled. "Public enemy number three," he replied. "You'll like her. She's from Manchester. My friend from the border crossing is public enemy number one."

Liam stood up and reached for his coat. "I've gotta ask. It takes a lot of guts to walk into a vampire's motel room after dusk. You seemed pretty sure of yourself though. What was the plan if it'd happened to be a party loyalist inside instead of me?"
This message was last edited by the player at 05:10, Tue 19 Jan 2021.

"A girl's gotta have some secrets," Jin said with a wink. "It wouldn't have been my first scrap with a vampire, and I've got better toys now. Let's hope I never have to show them to you."

Liam smiled. "Fair enough," he said, reaching for his coat. He glanced at his watch. "I ought to get going. Are you coming, or are you heading back to get started with the information you have?"
This message was last edited by the player at 12:30, Tue 19 Jan 2021.

"No way am I going to miss a chance to see vampire diplomacy up close," said Jin. "You can pretend I'm your Goon, or whatever you call them."