Martin Park Anthropology Building
Mercy-Dearborn University, Bay City
Early Summer
Just Before Sundown

Class was almost over when the headache struck. Like a thick black hood of electric void-riddle pain it descended on her and sunk its rusty poisoned teeth deep into her spine and just swung back and forth with every breath and every blink.

She made it to the end of the class through squinted eyes and gritted teeth, and she was on her way home (deciding maybe, between a trip to see Twiddle for some relief or straight home to bed to sleep it off) when her phone pinged in her pocket.

Text message.

Through bleary eyes she saw it was from her mother (who wasn't much of a texter). And it said COME RIGHT AWAY PLEASE IT'S YOUR FATHER.

And, at basically the same moment, she heard a familiar raspy sibilant voice from the shadows of a nearby alley (Padbit's voice): "Don't answer that, pet. Not for your life don't."
This message was last edited by the GM at 19:03, Wed 09 June 2021.

Tessa froze, staring down at the phone. She turned half away from Padbit, started answering the text, but then halted again, deleted the message, and turned back towards Padbit in the shadows. She was trying to figure out exactly what Padbit was trying to say.

She thought for a moment about how to phrase a response, massaging her temple with her thumb the entire time. Maybe Padbit, being what he was, didn't understand what makes someone love her family. "Why not? It's...it's my dad, why not?" Tessa moved close to the alley, peering in with bleary eyes to see if she could spot Padbit in there.

"What are you talking about?" She said to the darkness.

Padbit had little to no magic about him, but something had given him a small (but useful) suite of psychic abilities. He was always vague on what, or who, or why. One of those was the trick of being dim, of evading sight and notice by making others' regard slip off him like water from an unbrella.

Tessa was usually pretty good at seeing through it. It helped that he often didn't try very hard in her presence.

But tonight, whether because of her headache, or something he was doing, she could not get a bead on him. She was sure she knew where he was, but her eye kept slipping away and forgetting what she was looking for. It was very disconcerting.

"Weaves," he hissed, "Wizard weaves. The mages of numbers and chance. The webs are all around you. Green lights, red lights, obstacles and temptations, but take a step like they want and you'll be seen. Seen bright and see true. And then there's no saving you from them."

Tessa restrained herself from groaning, turning back away from the shadows to make sure no one else was around. She looked at the text message, gripped the phone a little bit too hard, and put it back in her pocket after debating with herself about whether or not she should throw the phone aimlessly into the darkness.

Instead, she leaned back against the wall and started talking again: "OK, so...weaves? What does that mean? There's magic on me? And if I send this text, it'll tug on the web and tell them where I am. Or will any text tug on the web?"

She paused, and then decided to push Padbit's buttons, stepping away from the wall again, and tugging on the straps of her backpack.

"So help me god, if you're about to tell me I can't use my phone. What, am I just supposed to lay around having visions for people? Forgive me for saying, but maybe I'd rather just tug on that god-damn weave and be done with it." Tessa knew he hated this sort of talk, and added something more: "Either I get dead or I get back to my life."

Tessa tried to give a bit of a flourish, throwing her hands around and turning back to the darkness with a melodramatic flip of her hair, which was loose. But as she did so, her headache surged and she wobbled. So much for that...

Padbit's dimness faded a little and she could see the outline of him there, shaking his head sadly. And then he was gone again. "Tessa-pet, Tessa-pet," he said, "Is so many worses things than dead. And is so many worses things than living, too."

Pause.

"I can't know what text pulls what. I know that, if you go home, chances is they wait for you there. Maybe if you talk, is as bad. Maybe worse. Maybe they wait only for ping before they know all they need. Padbit has the one game, weavers another."

Tessa wanted to throw a fit, stamp her feet. Maybe that would trip the damn wire, or weave, or whatever. She wanted to flail her hands at Padbit through the dark. But she also knew that she needed the support of the wall for stability right now. She could see Padbit, but everything was all bleary for her.

I hate you sometimes. After a brief pause, she said, forcing a softer tone of voice: "So, what do I do, then? Am I just supposed to...not show up at my house ever again? Where do I go today?"

OOC: For future reference, I'd like to ask about my cousin Aaron. Real, or a lying Hegemony-funded bum? You could put it in a PM if it's secret, of course.

Padbit shrugs. At least, she thinks he shrugged. Maybe.

"If you know anyone that no one knows you know. I would go there. Like attracts like."

OOC: Not a secret, I don't think. You do not have a cousin named Aaron. So far as you're aware.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:22, Wed 09 June 2021.

Tessa's phone vibrates. If she checks, she sees a text message from Twiddle.

I got a mage here who says the other mages are up to no good and planning bad things. He says he needs to talk to you, and can sense your presence. He also smells really bad.

Tessa was almost mad about that last phrase, too, like she didn't know there was some kind of a principle of sympathy at work when people were using magic. But she said nothing about that.

Instead, she checked her phone, groaning as she read it. "No one? Um...I'll have to think about it. Twiddle and Lilith are texting weird stuff, too. Unless you think I can text them back?" She waited for a response, but she didn't think an affirmative was forthcoming.

After a few moments, Tessa would turn away to start heading out to...well, somewhere, she would decide after a little while. She was probably going to Lilith eventually. She had been thinking, although that was difficult to do, and she thought Lilith was her best bet right now. No one but Twiddle really knew about their association, as far as Tessa knew.

Maybe she'd just check out her home...yes, Tessa would see what her place looked like right now. It was probably psychic rat-thing paranoia, nothing serious.

Tessa's mother (Janice) answered the phone right away, before the first ring was finished. She sounded panicked.

"Tessa? Tessa! Oh thank God! It's your father. He fainted playing basketball and I'm terrified it's a heart attack or a stroke. He's lying down now, but he looks so pale. But you know how he is. He won't listen to a word I say. Can you come? Right away?"

Tessa can feel Padbit's disapproval from the shadows, and then he's gone.

OOC: Why won't your father go to the hospital?

OOC: Sorry, in my post I meant that Tessa would go to her apartment to scope it out from a distance, not that she was calling her mother.

OOC: Oops! My bad. Can you roll with it or do you need a retcon?

OOC: I'll roll with it. :)

It seemed strange to Tessa that the response from her mother would be so quick, no matter what the circumstances, but it seemed like her voice, so she took it seriously. "OK, mom, mom? Listen to me. Call the ambulance. You're at home? I'm on my way. Get on the phone with the ambulance!"

Tessa would go, but she still wanted to try to be careful. She didn't get this Wizard's weave stuff, so she wasn't sure what about it would bring hellfire down on her head. If there really was a wizard—or worse, wizards—waiting for her, it could get ugly.

So she got to her car and she drove just a bit slow. While driving, she texted back Twiddle: What does he want with me? I've got family business right now

Then Lilith: No cousin named Aaron. Don't trust this person. I'll be by soon. Family business right now.

She would stop a ways away from her parents' place, when she got there, and keep an eye out for anyone she didn't recognize keeping an eye on the situation. She wanted to be there for her dad, but it wouldn't be worth giving herself over to the Hegemony.

Her dad was stubborn—grew up someplace else that he didn't like to talk about very much. Tessa had caught on that out there, accessible medical care was a bit scarce. And hospitals were for serious medical emergencies. Tessa didn't know what would qualify as a serious medical emergency for her dad, but she thought any heart attack that left him conscious wouldn't qualify as serious enough.

She didn't think he'd ever actually been to a hospital, honestly.

In reply to Tessa Combs (msg # 13):

No idea. He is vague and obtuse. However, he seems to think its urgent. That being said, I will do whenever you wish. Weather it's a meeting or just a phone call or text. he replied via text.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 10:34, Wed 16 June 2021.

"I'll be at my place with Twiddle. Meet us here when you can. I hope there's nothing serious with your family. Take care!"

Tessa took a moment at a stop light to send a group text to the two of them: I'll try to be there soon. Might be dangerous idk.

She started driving again when the honking picked up behind her.