Shortcuts

[Administrator] Molly Quincannon, welcome to Lakeshore (Now)

[Administrator] Callista Alexander, welcome to Lakeshore (Now)

[Molly Quincannon] [[Starting with the Awareness, for kicks.]]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Callista Alexander] [[Well, why not. Same.]]
Dice Rolled:[ 5 d10 ] 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 (Success x 1 at target 6)

[Molly Quincannon] There's an email, of course; Molly's good with email. Molly's also one of the only people on the planet who can give off vibe of *squee* through simple words on screen. Molly wants to meet up for a sort of an afternoon snack-and-coffee thing for bits of 'esoteric good news' and an offer. And sort of to show off. Show off what? Well, she doesn't say.

Though it's clear enough when Callista turns up, in point of fact. Molly's Resonance has gained another new note - the Frantic is still there, in spades, as is the anchor of Tenacious, but now there's a thread in it that Callista knows well - Searching. There's also something that wasn't there before, perhaps having turned up along with the new note of Resonance - it's power. Molly's levelled up.

Molly has also ordered tea for Callista when she turns up, and launches straight in with, "Peach black, as I remember you aren't a coffee person, and they have ginger cake! I have got to learn to bake this stuff; it's awesome! I'll have to Google recipes later. Hi, anyway! How's things?"

[Callista Alexander] Callista had let herself drift away from the Awakened community a little in recent weeks. Not for any particular reason, simply that life goes on. But, after a brief moment of what's going wrong in the city now, she smiles as she reads through Molly's email. Of course, the reply to meeting up is Yes!.

Which brings her here, now. Wearing a battered leather jacket over black combats and a light sweater. The weather is getting a little warmer, after all. She's also carrying a small paper bag with her.

Walking in, she can't help but notice the familiar feeling of Molly resonating through the coffee shop. The sense of Searching gets a few seconds of warily scanning the others sat at the various tables, until it becomes clear that the feeling is indeed part of Molly now.

Sitting, she smiles and puts the bag on the table. "Hi! And correct! I'll leave the sludge that comes out of the filters all to you. I'm good, but you? You've changed. I didn't hear of any new Apocalypses hitting town, so I guess it's for the good?"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly beams. "Oh, it's for the good, no doubt about it. Personal good, esoteric good ... all kinds of good. And yeah, there's been ... an upgrade. Levelling up. Ding!" There's a giggle, and then she shrugs. "Which is all video game terminology that I figure everyone still gets, more or less. I Sought. I found. It's all good."

She nudges a plate containing a slab of ginger cake and a cup of tea in Callista's direction, still all very, very cheerful. "As to the greater esoteric news - oooooooh it's awesome. There's a spot. In West Div. Where consensus? Has ... well, shifted. In our favour. We can pull vulgar stuff, talent-wise in there and reality doesn't beat us over the head or anything! There are plans to move the House over there - I'm not really sure about the logistics yet because the idea came up in meeting and then everyone wandered off doing their own thing so I'm still working on backup Plan B leave-your-politics-at-the-door place no matter how much Solomon thinks it's a crappy idea and I don't even know - anyway, all that to say? There's a piece of the world that we're reclaiming for actual open-minded 'stuff-is-possible' open-mindedness and it is awesome! Or at least, I think it's awesome," she adds, going a bit thoughtful. "Very few people seem as excited as I am about it. I don't know why. You'd think winning a piece of real estate back from the status-quo bullshit would be cause for a serious party."

[Callista Alexander] Callista grins at Molly's excitement about her upgrade, even if the entire description doesn't make complete sense. But, then, she hasn't really spent all that much time in the virtual worlds. "Ding..?"

At the news of West Division, her eyebrows rise as she takes a sip of the tea. "You're serious? Reality look the other way around there? Is this something to do with the broken voicemail, before she got taken apart? And... moving the house? I thought the, well, foundations weren't really something that could be shifted. Or are they staying where they are, now? And who else has been pooping your party over it?"

"Speaking of which..." She takes another sip. "Given that Ashley's apparently disappeared off the face of the planet, how does a gal get in there these days?"

"I'm still up for helping geting Plan B set up, by the way. Not sure I can help with funding, but show me a paintbrush and some wallpaper and I'll do my best!

[Molly Quincannon] "Oh! Oh, as far as I know, you're in," is Molly's response to that - yes, she's taking it all out of order, but she's got the kind of memory that makes it work, and she's dealing with what she perceives as the important stuff first. Callista is her friend, and she's sitting right there, so she is the most important thing. "See, I brought it up with the others because ... well, no one else was gonna, and we're doing this entire revamp of how people get let in. Basically, there are two really active, established cabals in this city and what needs to happen now for someone to get full access is for you to speak with and get to know one member of each, getting 'em to vouch for you. You've got me, and you've got Israel, and so ... there you go!" She sighs, then, and swigs her coffee. "I think Solomon would prefer it if you spoke to Israel a little more first, but there's a ... sort of a shortcut, but that depends of what you make of my offer, when we get to that."

She goes back to the bit about the House, then. "Well ... if you've got enough people with the right skill set, you can move the ... spirit ... of a house from one house to another. And in this case," she adds, lowering her voice, "we mean it literally. The foundation has a guardian spirit. With her help, and given the tunnel network under the city, we can move that foundation if we need to. But," and she raises her voice to conversational levels again, "it looks like we're sticking around for the time being because everyone's got something else going and there's apparently no real sense of urgency about it - surprise, surprise - and we're busy testing out the new site anyway. Which brings me to who's pooping the party. Atlas got a little freaked out - but then, his responses are kind of all over the place right now anyway, though he's getting better. Solomon just kind of grunted. Nathan acted like it wasn't even a thing, Wren blinked at me, Israel at least cracked a smile, but ... there ought to be confetti and ten-piece bands, eff-eff-ess! Anyway, yeah, it's not so much before the broken voicemail was dismantled as ... when. Well, it started before and solidified during. Which is good because the backlash would've killed Lucien otherwise. Which I would have realised if I hadn't been too busy dodging small-c cultists and their sharp, sharp knives at the time. But yes, the uppity-ass piece of spam's reign of screw-up actually had a positive side effect. Lucky old us!"

And then, finally, "You're welcome to help with Plan B. I have premises and right now I'm trying to sort out the electrics, which looks like a yarn store after a group of crack-addled cats got into it right now, but it's getting better. Once I've got things a little more structurally sound, I may point you in the direction of paint. In the meantime, though, if you know of anyone having estate sales or ... y'know, don't mind spending some time on Freecycle for ... furniture, bits of kitchen equipment - I can do all the installation, so just the actual bits and pieces is fine ... anyway, I'd be grateful for help finding some furnishings."

After which, there's a blink. "Well, yeah. 'Ding' being the universal noise that comes out of computer or TV speakers when a character in a video game levels up. I mean, some have fanfares or other kinds of noises, but it all gets ... condensed to 'ding!'. Cheery noise, y'know?"

[Callista Alexander] "Well. Ok, cool. Hopefully not sounding ungrateful here, but it would have been kinda nice to have heard something from the house before before now. Even if it was just 'hang on a bit, we're getting some stuff sorted but we'll see about getting you in when we can'. That's not aimed at you, by the way, you've made it clear that things haven't really been running all that smoothly there. But, wow. I get the whole 'crap happens' and 'people have lives' and 'we don't want any old Marauder walking in' things, but the guys running the place aren't exactly making it easy for newcomers to the city to join in the community. If anything, it's gonna make people find their own way. Heck, I was already thinking that I wasn't going to be welcome there, for whatever reason. How long's it been since the last person was even let in?"

Callista sighs loudly. "Sorry, rant over. Really, really, not aimed at you, by the way. Anyway, good news about the changes in the city! Any idea if it's permanent? Or how much things can be poked before consensus pokes back?"

[Molly Quincannon] That gets a sigh. "Oh, tell me about it. Believe me, I don't take it personally? But you're not the first to turn around to me complaining about how things are going around here, though you're the first who doesn't start bitch-moan-whining at me that I'm not changing things fast enough. Rome was not built in a day, great Google. And we are making some steps in the right direction, but it's a long hard fight when two of the other crew are paranoid as McCarthy on a bad cocaine comedown and the other's too nice to really take a stand half the time. Still, the fact that people are actually accepting that there are people out there who deserve a chance at all can be a little hard - which I get, given what people have been going through here lately and everything, but we've got to learn to trust a little bit and ... gah." Another swig of coffee goes down. "Anyway, fact is that I am working on it. Well, me and Atlas. My whole little cabal seems to be the changemakers whereas everyone else seems to be about the paranoia and the status quo. Which brings me to the offer."

Munch of ginger cake, sip of coffee (which is now nearly gone), and then she comes out with it. "So ... how do you feel about joining up with my little crew? Comes with instant access to the House with no gripes about how maybe you should have been vetted harder first, and a charter that gives you not only the right but the duty to nose around the entire city looking for trouble before it comes up. And occasionally kicking its ass. Plus a couple of people who've been around the block a few times willing to share what they know, probably access to Atlas' library as well as the one at the House and shared connections up the yin-yang."

She'll get to the changes in the city and their permanence in a minute, that much is clear. But there's an offer and it deserves distraction-free consideration, she seems to think.

[Callista Alexander] That Molly doesn't get defensive is a relief. Moreso that she really does get the frustration Callista has been starting to feel about the whole community in the city. Or, you know, apparent lack of it. Molly had mentioned an offer earlier, but Callista had no idea that it was going to be... well, that.

Moving from feeling like the unwanted red-headed bastard at a family reunion to asking to join one of the groups within the city? Big shift. Which does, indeed, need distraction-free consideration. So, noting the almost-empty mug in front of Molly, she ask for a moment and heads to the counter to get a replacement.

On the one hand there's access to the House, and libraries, and contacts, and information, and... And on the other hand, jumping in with both feet without really knowing what the other options are. Staying unaligned is one, but one that would be hanging onto the general suspicion from some in the House. Especially when they find out that an offer had been turned down. What other cabals are there in the city, anyway? And there's at least one Hollower in the city that she's fairly certain avoids the House.

Deep in thought, Callista doesn't notice the drink put down in front of her. It's only when there's a meaningful cough from the next in line that she's back in the room and paying attention. She takes the coffee back to the table and sets it down by Molly's current mug.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested. But... I don't know enough about what's involved, or what the other options are. And it sounds like there's a lot in it for me if I do say yes, but what would you guys expect from me in return?"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly blinks at the question, and then shrugs. "Really? Honestly? Not much more than what you're doing now. Just ... helping out when you can. You honestly have no idea how rare that is - at least, not without a lot of bribery, coersion, emotional blackmail or ... look, I know that it looks like the House people have sticks up their asses and everything, but there's the other side of it too. There's the people who keep entirely to themselves, won't help at all unless there's something in it for them - never mind the short-sightedness inherent in not helping to protect the city they're ... you know, in and the community they're a part of. Then there's the ones who argue just for the sake of arguing, who don't even try to see things from the other side, who deliberately pick fights at the worst possible times. You? Dude, you're a miracle. You ask the questions, sure, and they're always good ones, but when it comes down to it, you'll knuckle down and do the necessary. What wouldn't be in it for us?"

She swigs her new coffee, interrupts herself with, "Thanks, by the way," and then goes on. "There'd be other stuff - attending the Chantry meetings, for starters. Though that'd be one on the plus column for you too, because it means you'd be able to see what's actually going on in the so-called upper echelon and actually make your voice heard and have a chance to effect some real change for the good. We'd have cabal meetings, and you'd have to come to those, but that's mostly to share information about what's going on in the city and present a united front at Chantry meetings, if we can come to a consensus amongst ourselves. I might ask you to come into Undertown with me from time to time because I like to keep the nasty cleared out of there, but I'd want to train you up in combat first, but I'd want to do that anyway. What we'd ask of you is what you've already given, though, for the most part - information, help, friendship. That's pretty much it."

[Callista Alexander] "Sounds good, so far. Is it just you and Atlas, or are there others? I'd like to meet them, before agreeing to anything. We'd need to make sure we get on first, otherwise it would just turn into a smaller, colder version of hell."

Breaking a lump of ginger cake off, Callista thinks for another few moments while she chews. "How many other cabals are there in the city? And what're the relations like between you guys and them? And with those who stay away and only look after themselves? Again, I don't want to walk into open warfare without at least knowing about it first."

"And, I guess, I'd like to know what happens if it doesn't work out and we can't work together. I don't think it'll be a problem, but I don't want to find out there's a Euthanatos skulking in the background waiting to bump off anyone thinking of leaving."

[Molly Quincannon] "Insofar as my crew goes? So far, there's just the two; me and Atlas. There used to be two more, but they moved on for their own reasons. I was going to ask Kim Jenkins and Elizabeth Zhao, but I wanted to ask you first." This is honesty; clearly, she thought Callista was the most important person to ask in all this. "And I think you and Atlas would get along really well. Just ... his way of speaking is ... well. He's perfectly polite but he does kind of sound like he swallowed a thesaurus and is trying to use every word in it to replace the simple ones. It's not his fault, though, so ... y'know, he's more sensitive about it than he was before. It's a permanent Paradox flaw thing? And they lost their Paradox flaws in that Umbral pocket and now he has to go back to it again? So ... I'm warning you about it and being up-front with you about it now so you don't bring it up. He's had a rough time, is all." She looks truly sheepish about having to say this, as if she's accusing Callista of having bad manners or something (which she clearly doesn't mean to do), but ... well, Atlas is her cabalmate. This means something to her - solidarity. Protectiveness. Family.

This seems to be what she's inviting Callista into.

Then she waves it off. "Anyway, it sounds like a great idea. We'll do dinner. As to other cabals? Well, there's Solomon, Israel and Nathan - the Guardians of the Gate, currently the longest-established cabal in the city. Wren and Riley are starting something up, but that's a sort of a techie-centric cabal ... which, funnily enough, Atlas and I aren't. We had another Etherite for awhile, but we also had a Dreamspeaker who couldn't so much as use a search engine. Aaanyway, I'm going off-topic. Lara and Thomas have something going, from what I hear, but it doesn't seem to be very organised and he's not touching the Chantry with a ten-foot pole. Beyond that, everyone else is going solitary, as far as I can tell. As to relations? Well, I'm close with Israel, I don't mind standing up to Solomon and there's ... mutual respect there, and fondness of a really bizarre breed, and me and Nathan ... well..." There's a blush and she moves right on from that. "Wren and Riley and I have been friends for ages, and ... well, I keep in touch with the solitaries as best I can. Which is pretty well, since I like most of them a lot. So there's friendly relations and it's not like we're this isolated little group who never deals with any but their own."

The last bit gets a laugh. "Oh, man, you sound like Atlas. When I first asked him, he joined on a probationary basis; he wanted to see how it worked and how we worked and reserved the right to leave if it didn't work. Which maybe says something, given that he said that six months ago."

[Callista Alexander] Again, Callista listens. The part warning about Atlas's strange way of talking/part warning about not ramming her foot down her throat when they do meet is taken easily. As if Molly was talking about a member of family with a speech impediment which, pretty much, he appears to be.

"I'm glad you said that you're not completely tech-oriented. I can get around alright with a PC and can probably rewire a plug with a diagram handy, but that really is about my limit. But asking Kim and Elizabeth to be involved as well? After that night in the park, and the extra-curricular trip to the power plant, I'd definitely be interested in working with them again."

Callista smiles a little as Molly skims over the subject of Nathan. There's something there, that much is obvious, but there's plenty of time to figure that out later and, honestly, the whole cabal subject is tying up a big chunk of her curiosity at the moment.

The idea of becoming part of something in the city, settling down a little more, become more involved in the city's awakened life is very much appealing. Callista grins as she says, "I think you accused me before of having common sense. If Atlas is happy and I do agree to join, I'd probably want the same kind of arrangement. If you're happy with that, of course."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly smiles. "Callista, you're talking to an Ecstatic. And while I don't lord it over anybody, it is technically my crew. Or at least, I started it and I'm nominally in charge. Really, what I'm trying to say is, do you think I'd try to keep anyone in a crew if they weren't happy in it? Of course I'm cool with a probationary period or whatever; try before you get invested. It's a good way to be. So ... here's to potential?" She raises her coffee mug, inviting a toast. "And if you don't like it at the end of whatever probationary period you choose? No hard feelings, and I'll still always be around to help. Okay?"

Then she moves on. "Yeah, Elizabeth and Kim too. We all seem to have worked well together that time. Elizabeth in particular, I've worked with before this Sending thing, and I know you all work well together, and well with me. Atlas has been around long enough to fit his skill set in with any crew he wants, and is something of a tactical genius. And to be fair, I'm trying to get away from a tech-centric look for the crew. I think what we really need is ... flexibility. A variety of worldviews and skill sets. Everyone else is really specialised, and while that's good to a point, you need someone who can cover all the bases in a scouting position. They have different views of what's needed so they get a more comprehensive picture, y'know? Not just of possible danger, but of ... well, you know, our community. I like your worldview. Hence." She makes a gesture with her hand that incorporates the space between them and is meant to mean her having asked Callista first. "The five of us, if you all like what we're about and work well together - which I'm sure we're going to do - I think we could make something awesome.

"So!" There's a grin. "I'll ask Atlas about when's good for you to come by, but I'll get your availability so I have dates and times to suggest. Now, what sorts of things do you like to eat? I've been wanting to have someone over for dinner for ages and now I have a perfect excuse to break out some of my new recipe e-books!"

[Callista Alexander] Callista's out of questions, at least for the moment. A toast has been offered, and it is accepted.. Callista raises her mug, and they clink as she knocks them together. "To the future, and seeing what it brings." With a smile she adds, "Unless you already have some spoilers about that?"

But they move onto slightly more day-to-day subjects of conversation. Like ferrets, and robotic coffee machines, and parts of the city best avoided because of the Nasty. Building more of the foundations of what could/would/should become part of a larger, extended family in the city.

[Administrator] Molly Quincannon has left Lakeshore