Nex. Robyn was presumably using the bracelet to communicate somehow. He thought it unlikely that Nex carried a phone. Liam frowned. Robyn could take care of herself, and there was little he could do to help but he didn't have to like it. With a shake of his head he dismissed all thoughts of the conversation and knocked on Pockets' door, before nudging it open.

"You alright in there?" he asked, putting on a smile.

Pockets groaned as she turned her head to greet Liam. She didn't get up. "I mean I'm not worse," she said weakly. "But I'm not getting any better, either. The pain is... pretty indescribable. If I was mortal, this shit would be healing. But it's just...not. I'm worse off than an NPC right now."

“Is there anything I can do?” Liam asked. He suspected there wasn’t much he could offer that Robyn hadn’t already done, and done better. “Do you need anything from the city?”

Pockets shook her head. "Not unless you can fix this, nah," she replied. "I feel so goddamn useless. I'm in so much pain I can't even concentrate on video games."

"I mean, I'd be willing to take a look," Liam replied. "I'm not sure what I can offer that Robyn cant but sometimes it just takes a different perspective."

I don't suppose there's any roll within Liam's purview that would be contributory?

Pockets laughed a little, but it was cut off by a groan. "Ow motherfucker," Pockets said. "Stop makin' me laugh. No I don't need another person poking at my stitches. And the last time you got medical training predates antibiotics."

"Unless you have a mook in your back pocket that's out of their mind on painkillers and edibles, I'm good. But thanks."

Liam smiled. "I'll ask Augusto if he has anything for your pain," Liam offered. "I'm planning on paying him a visit tonight."

"Knowing him he'll try to sell you a doped-up mook," Pockets muttered. "Watch your ass tonight."

“I will,” Liam replied. “How are you for blood? Let me know if I need to start hunting for two,” he said.

"Nah I'm good," Pockets said. "Not using blood for much these days. Robyn's drumming up volunteers, too. 'til I'm better." There was a pause. "Stay safe, mate."

Robyn had completed her conversation by the time Liam came upstairs. She was seated on the floor in her office, with her back toward the door. She had covered the floor in thick blankets and every pillow in the house. As she heard him come up, she flopped on to her back, and watched him upside-down as he ascended. Her pupils were as wide as saucers. The Tome was in her lap, unlocked but closed. "Heyyyy, there he is," she said slowly. "The night flyerrrr."

“In the flesh,” Liam replied. “I was thinking I’d take a flyover tonight actually. Pay a visit to Deluca.”

“Everything okay? I heard you on the phone before I went to check on Pockets. It sounded heated.”

"Pppfff I wasn't on the phone," Robyn said, waving her hand weakly. She seemed eager to change the subject. "Hey if you're going to see that guy, I got a package for him! In the hex box."

She pointed to a large wooden box on her shelf. Though it looked very plain, something about it repulsed Liam to his very core. His Beast raged at its chains at the very thought of touching that box.

"I better go get it, actually." She crawled over to the box. Agonizingly slowly. As she lifted the lid, Liam spied the source of his loathing. The inside of the box was covered in wards and sigils, both in the cuneiform of the First Tribe, and other languages Liam could only guess at. It probably wouldn't have opened quite so easily for him, though he surmised their primary purpose was to contain magically suspect items.

"No peekin'" Robyn said, and dipped a hand inside. She handed a small package to Liam.

From its size, weight, and the way it rattled Liam knew right away what was in the neatly wrapped brown paper package. Magic bullets.

"Book said if I ever needed anything, that I should give him those," she said. She clutched the book to her chest, pulled over a thick pad of paper and set of pens, and settled into the cushions. "'One. At. A. Time.', he said. Treat 'em like they were diamonds." It was a box of 40. That's a lot of diamonds.

Liam took one of the bullets out and held it up to inspection. After a moment he handed the rest of the package back to Robyn. "Better you keep them in there," he said, nodding towards the box without looking at it. "One is enough to show him I'm serious."

"Do you need anything from town?"

"Mmm, Gatorade," Robyn said. "Helps me get whole again after... Y'know." She patted the book. "Hey. Hey, psst, hey. Wanna see how I busted up the Tremere's stupid little world domination plan?"

Liam smiled. "Sure," he replied. "Show me."

"Kay," Robyn said. She took a thin mouth guard out of her pocket. "Just, uh, make sure my head hits the pillow."

She placed the guard in her mouth, and flipped open the cover. She flipped the thin embossed metal pages with a practised hand, until she came to rest on the correct page. She stared at the writing for a moment, and her whole body began to convulse. Her eyes bulged, and every muscle in her body gripped and shook. After an agonizing minute, her back arched, and she fell back hard on the pillows. She bled from her ears and nose, and her mouth foamed around the guard. Liam didn't know how she was able to find and grip one of the pens on her pad, but she managed to grip it in her whole fist like a child, and scribbled illegibly on the paper. She tore off a sheet and scribbled over another. Then another. And another. After what seemed to Liam to be at once both a very long and short amount of time, she went limp. She laid there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling. Then she spat out the guard.

"All you gotta do to save the world is that, 40 or 50 times in a day, once a week, for ten years," she said. "Let's hope that this problem is easier to solve."

The smile slipped from Liam's face immediately and he fought the urge to rush to Robyn's side. Instead he watched worriedly as the convulsions wracked her body.

"Jesus Christ," he said softly as the last tremor passed through her limbs and she fell silent. Liam knelt down beside her, and reaching out he took her hand. "That's ... quite the ordeal to watch. You're much stronger than I am to have stuck with it as long as you have."

"Thanks," Robyn said. With Liam's help she hoisted herself back into a seating position. "Gotta keep the pace up. It's worse when I stretch it out. Please remember to close the office door." She put the mouth guard back in, and found her place in the Tome.

And just like that, Liam was dismissed. He quietly made his way out and shut the door behind him. Turning away from the office he crossed the living room and exited through the garage. It was early enough that the village would still be awake.

The village site was a hive of activity. They had managed to lay the foundations for three trailers, and a massive pit for the gigantic septic tank. Liam was greeted with far less apprehension than the first night he'd first approached the yurt. But there was still some apprehension.

Caleb rushed over to greet his master. The old boxer flopped to the ground, grateful to have momentarily lost the attention of a dog with supernatural endurance, who would be forever in his prime.

He was pleased to see Brad at the controls of the small backhoe. Apparently he and his wife had made it back safely.

Joyce was seated over by the fire. A table nearby had been set up with the evening meal. She waved hello to Liam as he appeared.

Liam returned the wave and smiled, making his way over towards the fire with Caleb fast on his heels. "How are you tonight, Joyce?" he asked, taking a seat beside her.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:03, Mon 27 July 2020.

"As well as any of us can be, I suppose," Joyce said. She had barely touched her plate. She moved a bit of salad around with her fork. "Certainly more comfortable than we were three days ago. We saw three people off today. The young woman who hasn't been eating took a granola bar today. Still won't tell us her name though. No change with our three sleepers, though. The sooner we can get them to your doctor friend, the better."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:30, Mon 27 July 2020.

"To Corr's?" Liam ran his fingers up over his scalp. "Now there's a double edged sword."

"He runs the sort of hospital where I wouldn't send my worst enemy, but where I've been known to take my best friends when I'm in a bind. He's the best there is, no question. But he hasn't sworn the oath you're accustomed to."

"Have you talked it over with Robyn at all?"

"She recommended him," Joyce replied. "She said that she owed him an interesting case. And she also said that 'it might help him with his own blocked research into a cure,' and I was to make sure whoever delivered them made sure he was told that." She smiled. "She also said it was probably a better idea for you to deliver them than her, daylight travel notwithstanding. I assume there's some unresolved conflict there."

"Oh, yes," Liam said, grinning. "You could say that." Liam cast his gaze back across the camp and then looked down at Caleb, scratching underneath his chin. "Alright. I'll do it."

"Going to be a tight fit in the back of the cruiser though," he said.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:40, Mon 27 July 2020.