"Liam, if she fails the city's going to be wiped off the map," Maeve said. "You will never know what was sacrificed to keep it from happening already. And a lot more people will die if it does, so if it means you need to save Robyn from her conscience, then that's something you have to grapple with."

"That's the contingency plan, is it?" Liam said without shock or affront. "She'll get this manuscript out to the publisher. If the Tremere start sniffing our way I'll give them somewhere else to look," Liam assured.

"See that you do," Maeve said. "And please give Jacob and Hasan a message. If they ever come here looking to lose some heat on their tails, I'll give them what they want. I'll twist those woods around so badly, no one will ever find them. That's a promise. Now, please hand me over to Robyn. I've got some choice words for her."

Liam held the phone out to Robyn. "Maeve wants to talk to you," he said, suitably chastened.

Robyn took the phone. She was quiet for a moment, and finally she sighed. "Fine. No, really, it's fine. I can barely handle the ones I got. Uh huh. Nope. No." She glanced at Liam. "Gods no. Yeah, Pockets. A coupla times." Pockets shot Liam a finger gun from her spot on the couch, accompanied by a deadpan wink. Robyn snorted into the phone. "Now that's none of your business." Another pause. "He tried to make niceynice, but I still think he's an asshole."

She looked at Pockets. "Always. Love you too. Both of you. Stay safe." She hung up the phone and handed it back to Liam. "I was fifty fifty on whether she'd call or just send lightning bolts. We got off easy."

Liam took back possession of the phone and let out a breath. "So...." he said after a moment, looking at Robyn.

"What happened in Montreal?"

Robyn shrugged. "Got me. Brad dropped him off, and came back with no tail. As far as I know he's still on the road. Might be over the Québec border. But no word yet. City was pretty dead, apparently. Everyone's in the woods."

"Oh, you meant with the cops? Same thing that's going on everywhere. Has been going on for decades. Cops bein' cops, man. If the city were fucking normal, I'd be on the front lines here. They've made a show of it on social media, don't get me wrong. Orderly protests, masks and distancing, and the police responding with tolerance, understanding and a willingness to reform. It'd be heartwarming if it wasn't all fiction."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:02, Tue 15 Sept 2020.

Liam nodded. Mortal policing hadn’t been high on his list of concerns of late. It certainly seemed to resonate with Robyn though.

“Well I’m glad to hear they made it out okay at least,” he said. “I guess now all we can do is wait and see.”

Liam glanced outside through the bay window again.

“You’ve got a book to write,” he said after a moment. “And I’ve got to stop dragging you away from it. And giving the Tremere more reasons to dig around out here.”

"Yeah I do," Robyn said. "Two books, even. Which reminds me. C'mere a minute."

She walked over, and touched a finger to his chest. Her touch felt like an electric shock. For a moment, Liam's mind and body gave out on him. He was a corpse again. He collapsed to the ground in a heap. Robyn stood over him, studying his face. He couldn't speak or move. He could barely think.

"Damn, dude," he heard Pockets say. She hadn't gotten up off the couch.

Then, as quickly as it hit, it let up. Life returned to his limbs, though he still felt decidedly sluggish. Like the blood in his veins had turned to jelly.

"Huh, I'll be, it works," Robyn said. She reached out a hand and helped him to his feet.

“What... what just happened?” Liam asked, allowing himself to be pulled back up. “Was that the binding curse?” He rubbed at his arms, trying to will them to be more limber and less leaden.

"I wish," Robyn said. "I wouldn't be able to have that level of control over Kindred blood without having it running through my own veins. No, that's brand new Rowe magic. I'll say it was inspired by the curse, to be sure. That's the newest recipe in my book, once I polish it up a little. And it's the first thing I'm gonna teach those former mooks out there."

Liam nodded. A magic like this could make even the mightiest of kindred helpless in the face of their enemies. "Is the duration contingent on anything? Did you release me, or does it only last a few moments?"

"It's a temporary thing," Robyn said. "And it's early days. I think I can get a stronger reaction, or a longer duration, but I literally just learned how to do this last night. I'd also be interested to know whether you can use your powers or not."

Liam closed his eyes and concentrated. He felt like his skull was full of soup. After a moment he shook his head.

"I can't change," Liam said. "I could barely think. For someone who doesn't breath, that's the closest I've come to suffocating in a long time."

"Just... warn me if you plan to experiment on me. Its a little unnerving."

He took a breath, largely to reassure himself he still could.

"I guess this means I'm not going anywhere tonight. Probably too hot to fly. They might not know who I am, but Redwatch knows there's a gangrel in the city now that's not under their sway."

"How'd you make out with the swipe card, Pockets?"
This message was last edited by the player at 16:40, Tue 15 Sept 2020.

Robyn was elated to hear it. "Well, I better get to work," she said, trotting over to her office.

"It's copied, and I've run some crypto on it," Pockets said. "But it's gonna be a while til I get anything useful from that. If you can get me more keys, I can get you some real results."

"Oh," Robyn exclaimed from the other room. "Liam, you can't stay in tonight. Jim's fucked. That potion cures the Fugue. It doesn't make him immune. And they're gonna be giving him dosed water at the hospital."

"Well fuck," Liam said, sitting up at once. "I guess I'm going into town tonight."

"I'm going to plan not to come back then. I'll sleep in the city. I don't think anyone will spot me flying out, but I can't risk a tail with how focused they are on the forest right now."

"If it were me, I'd put those two chucklefucks to work," Robyn said. "You'll still need to get them something that isn't going to look out of place in a hospital. You can't just dress up like a doctor and tell an orderly to spritz him once a day."

"Vitamin D," Pockets said, still lying on the couch. "Mooks are all taking vitamin C and D. General order. Gie'm some fuckin' drops."

"Ugh, I guess I can get some oil from the lab," Robyn said. "How 'bout it, do you two dicks want to see how the sausage is made?"

"Does it involve walking?" Pockets said. "Or outside? If so count me out."

"It involves the grove you tried to drive a camera into," Robyn said tersely. She could only be referring to the grove at the exact centre of the property. It was a thick tangle of low, twisted trees and a thick briar rose thicket. There was no entrance, and Liam would have been instructed to stay out when he was given the grand tour. Shortly after the villagers had arrived, she'd put up signs. Not that they were needed. The grove was scarcely bigger than the vegetable patch but it was without a doubt the meanest looking patch of woods Liam had ever seen.

"That tree ate my drone," Pockets said. Liam didn't doubt it. Her curiosity was piqued.

Liam shook his head. “No vitamins. Make it injectable. IM. Like a hormone shot that leaches out slowly over weeks and months. Vitamins can get lost or confiscated. Once that’s in it’s a done deal.”

“And yeah, I’m curious,” Liam said standing up. He reached for his coat.

"I have no idea how a high dose will affect him," Robyn said. "For that matter, I don't know what injecting it will even do if it's designed to be taken orally." She grabbed a hoodie from the table and zipped it up. It said "Fuck the Police" on it in giant block letters. "Time to finally meet that Gordon woman. We'll walk and talk."

"Man," Pockets said, stirring off the couch. "There better be smoking beakers where we're going."

The Gordons were no strangers to sleeping in tents, and they had pitched theirs near the grove. Practically in its shade. This was a ways away from the rest of the villagers. A reasonable precaution given one fledgling werewolf with the possibility of others.

The grove was a couple minutes' walk away, so the three of them had some time.

"What about a patch if it can be absorbed through the skin?" Liam asked. "Something discrete."

"Whatever you come up with, I'll get Hasan to deliver it," Liam said. "I can get around through the hospital ventilation if need be. He can walk down the halls and into a room full of people without being noticed."

"It'll give me some time to work on some other things as well. I think we should move ahead with the docks, Pockets. Redwatch could do with a distraction right about now, and letting tensions boil over between the longshoremen and the police could be just the thing."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:24, Wed 16 Sept 2020.

Pockets nodded. "They could use the distraction," she said. "I've already got a hashtag trending on Russian Twitter. Augusto has spread around a bunch of phones keyed to upload video to a site I control, and I'm reposting what I can. Other than that I'm not sure what I can do."

Robyn scratched her head, a bit uncertain. "I can give you something to paint on a Nicorette patch but I'm not sure if it'll work, and if then for how long. I'm a wizard, not a pharmacist."

"I could belatedly throw that brick at a cop car for Robyn," Liam mused. "Except if they saw me they'd know I was a vampire and the ruse would be up."

"Unless..." Liam rubbed his chest where Robyn had touched him inside. "You took away my 'vampire'. Or disguised it so that they think that I'm human."

"Do we have any idea what it is people under the fugue key off of to know what we are?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:05, Wed 16 Sept 2020.

Robyn shook her head. "I'll be working on that spell for weeks," she said. "And even then I'll be lucky to be able to incapacitate a vampire for a couple of minutes. You want something long-term, you're gonna have to consult the witch hunters. And I don't think you'd like their terms."

"I'm not sure how exactly the horse-sense works; it's something buried deep in human programming. That sense some people have about you, that something's 'off'. Or how even a dog or cat that's never met a vampire before can just sense it on you. Might as well ask me to make you pet-friendly."

'I'd avoid direct aggression," Pockets cautioned. "Even in a disguise. If they get wind we're stirring the pot, they'll treat it like the diversion it is. Plus, videos of police meeting aggression with aggression are a dime a dozen these days. It might get a reaction, or it might get lost in the noise. If we're going to interfere, let's do something that'll stand out. Or better yet, get the shipping companies to move to Montreal."

“Pets have always been fine with me,” Liam said, clearly thinking over Pockets words. “It’s people who take exception.”

“Jim said they were forever threatening to take their business to Montreal,” he said rubbing his chin. “I wish he was here with us to talk to. He’d know how to tip them over I bet.”

"Well, we've got the next best thing," Pockets said.

Moira had heard someone approaching, and was out of the tent. She noticed them heading toward the grove, and waited patiently for them to come to her.

"Oy, here we go," Robyn said. She pulled up the hood on her shirt.