Jan 14 21:19:00 109 PA - Meeting an Old Friend for the First Time in Months

From Chronicles

Jan 14 21:19:00 109 PA.

SEBASTIEN'S APARTMENT

A knocking comes at the door, a knocking above the bust of Pallas if there had been such a thing above the chamber door. Three knocks, no less, no more.

The chamber door does in fact bear a weathered-looking postcard taped below the eye peep, depicting a man and boy in a train car. The boy has opened a present, with tentacles slithering out around the lid and groping for his head. The caption reads, 'That's some cephalopod, son.' There's a moment of pause, and the soft noise of steel tapping steel on the opposite end of the door, followed by the voice of Sebastien. "Who is it?" The door remains untouched.

The man on the other side of the door says very quietly, "Gabriel. Come to visit about matters." It's short, and left at that.

The door unlocks, a quick flick of the dead bolt, and it sways open. Sebastien can't be seen at the door. He isn't immediately visible, but rather stands in the doorway to the kitchen cradling a rifle with a bore big enough to stick two fingers in, and a drum hanging heavy and low. The muzzle points at the ground, as Sebastien bids, "Step inside. Are you alone?"

Gabriel calmly raises his hands to chest level. They're clean. He even spins - very slowly. "I've got an energy weapon and a taser inside my jacket, along with a .44 loaded with silver bullets and a vibro-knife."

"Good," Sebastien replies impatiently, and he nods. "Good, good, but are you *alone?*" He steps forward, one hand leaving the rifle to beckon Gabriel in as he nervously watches the door. "Close the door behind you." He blinks, staring at Gabriel a long moment, and a faint smirk crosses his face. "For God's sake man, we're friends. Get your hands down. What brings you here?" He's still clutching that rifle as if it were life itself.

The older man chuckles as he hurries inside and closes the door. "Yes, friends who pull large bore weapons on friends. Friends who until recently might have been considered enemies. I know it wasn't your fault." Gabriel makes it a quiet statement followed by a nod with closed eyes. "Yes, I'm alone. Not only am I alone, but no one has any knowledge of my intent to visit."

Sebastien's eyes flicker, but don't quite leave Gabriel, and he shrugs his shoulders. The muzzle still points at the floor. "Silver," he says simply. "Ported. It puts eight to ten ounces on target in just under a second and a half." He tilts his head to the right. "Is Bella your enemy?"

Gabriel answers sadly and honestly, with a shrug to boot. "I have no idea. Possibly. That's what I'm here to find out."

Sebastien replies with a challenging look, "She is mine." He stares at Gabriel from across the room, his tone unambiguous where his words could be misinterpreted. "She cares only for her own survival. She will ensure it in any way she can. Making a slave of me was her first step. Using Donna to lure every civic-minded monster hunter in the city to their death was the second."

"I know that she'll do anything for her survival," Gabriel says clearly and calmly, keeping his hands relaxed but away from anything remotely dangerous. "May I please ask you some questions? Keep in mind, I am under no illusion that she is a saint, and probably not even a good person. I would only like to find some answers, that hopefully you can fill in."

"Have a seat," Sebastien offers charitably, making no move to do the same himself. The small sound of children running down the hall causes him to twitch, the muzzle coming up just a notch as he backs against a wall and frowns towards the door. Then his eyes return to Gabriel, and he tries another smile. "Ask."

Gabriel glances at the available seating, and narrows one eye as he offers a simple lip-smile. "Perhaps I'll stand. Forgive my probing questions, but I need to know. Bella told me that she only took control of you to keep you from killing her. She never made you do anything to harm anyone. Is this true? Alternatively, did she keep you from doing something that would have prevented someone from being harmed?"

"Yes," Sebastien replies simply, a hurt expression in his eyes. He may not have slept any time in the past, well, whenever. The would-be knight draws a breath, shaking a bit, and lets it out slow and easy. "I was under strict instructions to do nothing to harm the operation of Donna. She took me into the basement of the Lady. She gave you up, Gabriel. All of us, when we attacked, she was to let Donna know when we would come. She made a deal. And she swore me to secrecy."

Sebastien's guest is silent for a time, obviously thinking. Then a soft nod, followed by Gabriel's drawl saying, "I believe you. I've been suspicious of her ever since the raid was aborted - thank God you got the message out. Don't know how you did it." He shakes his head, "But thank you. Point is, I became very suspicious of her, despite her words - which are always riddles. I've been feeding her bullshit information for weeks now; counter-intelligence. Of course, now it needs a new twist on the plan. I don't suppose that you know a bunch about the organiz... wait. There's a basement??"

Sebastien laughs at that, nodding, "Oh yes. They keep liquor down there. It's cool, you see, and dark." His smile evaporates then, eyes staring at Gabriel, but seeing something else. "And they put ... valves, into people there. It's like a..." He lifts his left hand from the fore end of the rifle a moment, grasping at his breast, "Like a spigot. To draw heart blood at the whim of the vampire. There was a woman there. Mostly unhurt, when I saw here. A leader of men. They were bartering her, as chattel. When I was to be killed in the assault, Bella would have her."

"No, no, it's okay. I've seen it. At the hospital, before Stacy was captured. I know what you're talking about. Not the plans, but the 'spigot.'" Gabriel does his best to continue to speak evenly. "I suppose I know what I came here to ask, if you'd like me to leave. But if not, I'd love some time to talk with you more about what you know."

Sebastien's voice grows quieter as he narrows his eyes a touch, words coming rapidly as he speaks, "You've staked her once. I felt it. It was like sunshine on my cheeks. Oh," he shivers again, smiling genuinely, "oh she was angry. That was when she decided your life was void." He pauses, watching Gabriel as a hawk considering a sparrow. "You still meet with her. You could tell me where, and when."

Gabriel smirks a little. "Yes, I did stake her. I wanted Jaxain to kill her, but he wanted to ask questions, then let her go when he found out that it was her, and not a wolf. I was a little surprised by that, considering what he tells me of himself." he shakes his head. "These days I generally meet her around town. But she's lusting after me - I know that. I've stayed alive because I can see it. If I gave her a call, I could have her show up just about anywhere you want. Where we might fix at least one problem." He floats out the information and leaves open an... invitation? Something darker, really.

Sebastien nods, once. "Good. Good. Listen; I have something else." He returns his hand to the shotgun, and pats it. "Less random. I've hit a man-sized target at five hundred meters. Without wind, using an illuminated scope, I could hit a heart at two hundred. Here in the city?" He shrugs. "There are not many shots longer than that. But know what you're facing." He leans in, still ten feet from Gabriel, and widens his eyes. "She can meet your gaze, and the last thing you will know is that her glowing eyes are everything in the world to you. Like a snake with a mouse. All you'll feel will be the thudding of your heart trying to beat its way free of your chest. Don't meet her eyes. A cross will keep her from making you her slave, but it cannot stop her from reaching out and tearing the flesh from your spine." He nods once. "By making her hand flat she can decapitate you with the flick of a wrist, or punch through your chest whole. But I will need to know that she does not wear armor."

"She has an armored coat, I believe. And I too can make that shot, though possibly not with that same size slug. I'm not clear on how the silver works." He sighs, then. Gabriel pauses. "She tried to take me. Or something. Early, when I thought that she was still one-hundred percent on our side. We were in booth for cover, and she looked at me - and her eyes glowed, just as you describe. But.. whatever it was, it failed. She was furious, I insulted her when I left the booth - in character, of course - and I apparently was just a very lucky man. Maybe I'm too dull for this world." He snickers a little. The small religious crucifix around his neck is obvious.

"Not with this," Sebastien replies with a weary expression. "But do not you worry. I have something accurate enough." He takes a breath, and makes a face. "It's funny. I've been fighting their kind my whole life here in Kingsdale. When I first arrived, there was a nest in the dregs. I nearly lost myself to them then, as a young man. And now, what?" He narrows his eyes and tries to think of the date. "Six years, has it been? I've found vampires, demons, the walking dead. This is not my specialty, but I seem to find them nonetheless. The coat is trouble. What I use will not reliably penetrate it, and I cannot be certain of two shots."

Gabriel laughs at that, a genuine laugh. "Sebastien, where I'm from, the only vampires in existence are in fantasy tales and bedtime stories. Think about how I feel! I think that I have a way to... kill Bella. Or un-kill her. Or...kill her, then un-kill her then kill her again? Whatever - make her disappear from this plane of existence. I put her down quickly with a few shots. I have spotlights that would hold her in place in pain while we did it. I certainly know how to take care of common armor. If we bring in another person and ambush her, it should be a surprisingly easy thing to do." He meets Sebastien's gaze. "Clearly, it is now something that needs to be done, before she causes more harm to anyone, in any way. It's getting out of hand."

Sebastien sounds a little shaky, "To be honest? I thought staking was the way. I know people sell water guns, but there are so many stories about vampires that who knows what is real? The sun. The sun will do it." He sounds sure of that. "Just as the warmth brings life, it will correct the wrong that keeps her from passing beyond. A stake, a rooftop, and the hours until morning." He nods. "And then we wait, and be sure that in the morning she does not regenerate."

"Okay, here just off the top of my head. We bring in Tek and Bartholemew. We tell Bella that we're going to have another meeting, finalizing a new assault on the club. Tek opens up Uncommon Mechanics, we all get in beforehand. Bella comes in, we snap on the spotlights that start frying her. I can take out her coat, you and Bart can hit her with silver until she goes down long enough to be staked. I'll shoot if a I have the shot." Gabriel does look a little sad as he says, "Then she stays inside the shop until daytime, at which point her body is carried outside. Problem solved. It's a pretty good plan, off the top of my head."

Sebastien smirks. "Good for all but Tek. You propose to blow holes in his shop. And is it in the city? What of the backstop? Your rifle fire may well end up several blocks over. Non, if we are in the city it is a precision arrow from a great distance when she is without coat, or it is a sword to tear apart her jacket followed by silver. But in any case, I think she can escape. I have seen her travel as smoke, monsieur. When she knows she is cornered she can simply evaporate. It must be a surprise."

"I know. I have been guaranteed that a vampire cannot cross these lights, thus trapping her inside the building. As for the shop? I believe it may be made of the high-strength composite metals that are used in body armor. I would rather be close and pump excessive rounds into her than hit her from afar and give her an easy chance to escape. However." Gabriel shrugs. "If you'd prefer, we could do it at my camp. The same thing, but without walls, only the lights to trap her. With enough of us putting silver on her? It should still be an easy thing. Believe me, I know how to shoot. But I also know that sometimes a garrote is a better way to assassinate someone than is a sniper's bullet. So I volunteer my camp."

Sebastien asks simply, "Guaranteed by whom? There are many well-meaning 'experts' in the field, but unless they come from Lone Star or Old Arizona I will take their words with salt. If she can be made to remove her jacket, this would be ideal. Else multiple simultaneous shooters. Just know that after this, it is open season on us. It must end here."

"Valeriya. She was going to put her neck on the line with her promises of how her own lamps worked. I figure that's a pretty good sales pitch, at the very least," Gabriel says, finally getting comfortable enough to put his hands comfortably in his pockets. "Yeah, it starts with her, and it ends soon after. I suspect that you and I need to figure out that final part, but at least taking Bella out of the equation is a start. She's smart - but she's driven to survive, and that makes her partially an idiot. Dangle something in front of her that she wants, and she'll come. If that is a supposed run-down on an attack? She'll show up, unless someone tips her off. If it's at my place? She'll feel even safer." He looks down at the floor, sideways.

"Gabriel," Sebastien speaks flatly. "Valeriya cannot know. She's worse than Bella. She creates anarchy for its own sake. Anything she offers is poison. Bella is dead. She has been for years. Centuries, maybe. When you touch her skin it is cold. Her life's blood has stopped flowing. Perhaps once she was a special girl, a young prodigy of life and vitality, but all that's left is a pale echo sustained by the most vile blight our species has ever seen. To end her existence, such as it is, is a blessing. You must know that."

A long sigh. "I know that when I first encountered her, she appear to be a homeless, starving little girl in need of food and shelter. A little girl who Monique told me was not evil - scanned her sitting right across from me. A little girl who admitted that she had a secret and no one would help her survive." Gabriel shrugs. "What could I do? What did I know of vampires? I promised on my Lord and Savior that I'd keep her secret a secret, and not hold it against her. Not knowing what the secret was." He tickles the cross around his neck. "Eventually her identity came out through no fault of my own, and I was able to talk freely. But still, taking and raising a hand against her sends me to Hell. Never to see my family again." His eyes almost, but not quite, tear up. "But there is no more left to do, than to save this world. Incidentally, if this weren't your place, I'd spit on the floor at Valeriya's name. But she did give me freely what I needed, despite being a horrible bitch and blight on this world."

"Look around you," Sebastien replies flatly. "Judgment Day has come and gone. Jesus has taken the souls he wants. You weren't amongst them. Maybe this is ..." He shakes his head, and chokes on a laugh. "I head a story once. A man, in an asylum. Catatonic. They tried all sorts of things to bring him out. Drugs. Electric shock. Presently they put him in a box and turned up the heat. He lay there, motionless, as sweat poured off of him, and at a hundred and forty degrees he screamed, 'Dear God get me the hell out of here!'" Sebastien's eyes narrow, and he looks at Gabriel. "Maybe that's what this place is. A hot box. A place to finally realize; there is more than us. I can prove God exists; my cross will hold Bella at bay. Gabriel, she is a thing of the snake. She has the Devil in her. How can destroying her send you to Hell?"

"Breaking an oath of such promise, could keep me from seeing my family again. But I told you that I'd do it, Sebastien, you needn't worry," Gabriel says, his drawl twanging. "The Rapture may have come and gone, but you're wrong - Judgment Day is not yet upon us. The proof of God does not lay in a cross simply because it keeps Bella at arm's length, or even burns her skin. I have an implant that keeps mosquitoes at bay, but I don't find God in it. God exists because you and I exist, and even Bella is one of His creations. For what reason, we cannot know." He shrugs, but reemphasizes, "I will not hesitate to eliminate her evil. I'm offering my own house as a killing ground. As for Valeriya? She can be manipulated as well. Not for survival, but for blind greed. Still, we need to stop talking philosophy, and get down to planning. Starting with who we can, and who we cannot trust."

Sebastien shakes his head. "She took me. It was easy for her, and I knew what to look for. In my absence, she will have found a new protector. I hate to say it, but the people she sees? We can't trust them. None of our friends. Not unless we can scour them for bite marks. Monique is clean. She is more than willing. Other than her, outsiders I think. Or non-humans. I don't know if her witchery works on them."

Gabriel frowns. "That excludes both Valeriya and Bart, then - and they're the ones with the lamps. Jaxain's off in the wilderness right now. Tek was going to handle security, but I imagine that between the two of us we could strip him down and check his 'taint for bite marks, be sure they're not hidden anywhere else." Yes, even in dire straits, there's room for a little levity. A sigh. "Oh. What about Ruby and Sage? Ruby's not a big fan of me right now - due to her own idiotic fuckup blamed on me - but they might get in on it. I'm already using a little Plaza merchant to try to grab some inside information. A dimensional traveler of some kind I talked to a few days ago. Bernard, I believe." He nods a chin in Sebastien's direction, and his mouth almost moves as if he was intentionally injecting Kentucky into it. "What do you think? Any of those people able to be used?" Used. Not trusted.

Sebastien shakes his head. "I would not trust Jaxain regardless. Oh, he has a good heart. But he chose to not hunt Bella. He knew what she was and he stood aside. I think he may have slept with her." A look crosses Sebastien's face, and he turns back to spit into the sink, swallowing hard. "Sage," he names. "I don't know her well, but I have met her family. They don't speak American, only Spanish. They fled something. Came here from the south for a better life. If there is anyone who would know what Bella is, truly know and be less corruptible, I choose Sage."

The older man rolls his eyes, disapproving. "What happened to morality? Everyone fucks everyone? Jaxain? Well, I'll agree that he didn't kill her. Not sure I'd say more, but for now I'll go with that. We need to find then if Sage has not just information, but some kind of fighting capability against her. But, maybe you don't know Ruby. Really annoying little princess of a performer. But she flashes up like sunlight and shoots energy. Maybe that would help as well?" Gabriel points a finger at Sebastien, asking honestly, "Hey, weeks ago you were going to see what kind of structure the club is. Ever get a shot off at it?"

"No," Sebastien replies with some haste to get past the topic of necrophilia. "I lied. I could not interfere with the club, remember? I could not harm them any more than I could harm Bella, or take my own life."

"Ah. Well then I guess I'll have to make a trip tomorrow - during the day. Hell, a guy strolling down the street could accidentally pop off a shot, say, 'Oh shit, sorry' and continue on his way," the older Gabriel smirks. "I know Sage; not well, but a little. I'll talk to her. Now, I know that you would have said something before this, but I'll ask anyway... the vampires, particularly Donna, they sleep off-site at a still unknown location?"

Sebastien shrugs again, the large rifle's bore waving over the living room floor. "Who can know? I have never been inside during the daytime. I would assume yes. For all I know, they can sleep as mist in a sewer, or down a well. If I were one of them, I would bury a coffin thirty, fifty feet deep, and connect it to the topside via only the smallest of concealed straws."

"As would I, from what little I understand," Gabriel admits. His own hands are re-tucked inside his pockets. "They don't stay there during the day, I know that. I spoke with the lady who runs the cleaning crew; it's just them until six o'clock, precisely. None of the vampires show up until eight or nine, depending on the season."

"Bomb it," Sebastien says simply. "Burn it down, some night it is raining hard and sure. Then we spread the stones and collapse the floor, and flood out any holes they may have beneath. Any patrons of that shop know the evil they support. That will kill the fewest, and the most culpable."

Gabriel laughs, and very loudly. "That was my first plan! Ever! The very first one!" He's practically loud. "I got bitched at by Jaxain for too much collateral damage, and Valeriya just because - though obviously she wanted whatever treasure is inside. So anyway... yes, I agree. I figure that much collapsing wood has to hurt, too. Hold them down with lamps and water until the sun comes out. I'm this close to purchasing a jammer that would cut off all radio frequencies in and out of the area, so the only way to get help would be to send a runner." He narrows two fingers before his eyes at the 'this close' portion. "So you have my support, and I have yours. So how to we steal a fire truck and find enough explosives to bring it down? I can plant them."

Sebastien nods, a little smirk on his face. "You were right. All along, but I was under orders to not interfere with the club, remember? There will be zombies. However, in life the men she snared were salarymen. We can expect them to be no true warriors. She will have hired hands. A cyborg, perhaps two, and men with armor and rifles. With Bella true dead, we will have less to worry about with collaboration. We can bring in more hands." He makes a face, and says, "A fire truck is perhaps a bit too dear to steal. Many liquids are transported, no? Clean water, milk, liquid propane, and the like? Something like that would endanger less lives in its absence."

"Yes, a fire truck," Gabriel repeats. "They don't put out fires with water anymore?" He looks on oddly, then asks, "Are we talking about killing Bella right now, or are we talking about killing Donna and the rest of them right now? Because with Donna gone, then even with whatever this new human trafficking supplier is, it can be demolished piecemeal and in a normal way, I would guess." Then a sigh. "Problem is that this is going to cost money, even if all we can get are fusion blocks. My wallet doesn't even have enough to buy a single eclip, if I needed it. I'd rather not take out a loan." Then as an afterthought, "Do you know how to drive a truck? Because I don't. Perhaps we'd need to enlist young Tek, if we went that route. Now that we're on the same page... drop the fucker on 'em shortly before they prepare to leave, so that we have to stop them for the minimum amount of time before sunlight becomes a lethal enemy."

Sebastien snaps, "There are no fire companies in the dregs! You'll steal from the city, and that means police. Moreover, you risk losing civilians to fire! No, a milk carrier, a water carrier, these will contain the same liquid death and be an economic loss. I will not steal. What do we need? A large bladder of water? Jugs? We can make this for tens of thousands of credits, not the millions that a fire engine will cost."

Gabriel's mouth squirts to the side, he's clearly not on the same page. "Milk?" His head leans sideways, very confused. "We find some guy in the 'Dregs, rent or steal his giant traveling thermos for a few hours. If we need to steal it, we can give it right back. You can't go soft on me now. We're doing everyone a favor by eliminating this nest of evil; if someone has to lose a cart, that's one man's contribution to the cause to save thousands of lives."

Sebastien squares up his shoulders, the large rifle bore pointing at the floor in the middle of the room. "I'm not so naive to think that this will be done with only hopes and good intentions. I gave all my money to Jaxain, so I know your plight. But." He shakes his head, "I have, weapons enough. I can sell something. I can do something else. Monique is the most gifted healer I know. Maybe we can find a crippled trucker who would trade his livelihood to walk again. Just do not start saying that the end justifies any means. I will not explain to a child that his mother will never come home because we needed to blow up a fire truck."

Gabriel shakes his head. "I've sold off half of my arsenal on this project already. If I keep it up, I'll have a fantastic plan, but nothing to back it up. If you think that you can give someone a piece of goodwill for a truck, that's great. It's a fine idea, in fact. In my defense, where I come from we don't have magical healers; bribes and blackmail work very well, but you need something to work with." He doesn't argue any further. "I'll stop by the 'Dregs tomorrow and accidentally fire off a shot at the club, see what it's made of. You and Monique can look for a 'crippled trucker.'" He stops, "I don't suppose Monique could be brought in? I know she's a magician. Anyway, I'll then talk to Sage when I can. Then my truly favorite part." The old colonel sounds like he really means it. "Feeding bullshit counter-intelligence to Bella and Valeriya, primarily. Get what I can from who I have, then keep 'em in the dark. That all sound about right, Sebastien?"

"Well," Sebastien notes, "Then there is the plan of B. Perhaps this psi-cola is not all bottled elsewhere. If it is on tap?" He smirks, and nods his head. "Trucks and containers full of liquid. Easily replaced with water, and a welcome sight at the Lady. Monique will be brought in. And you have it right. Now," he nods at the door, "Give a man some time to sleep?" He smirks. He's not fooling anyone. He's nowhere near sleep.

Gabriel chuckles and starts to silently re-latch his coat as he approaches the door. "It's okay to tell another man to get the hell out, Sebastien. Anyway, if you think you can find the psi-cola plant, you're one past me. But then I suppose I've been relying on poor information." He stops at the open door and asks, "You're on the fence about necessity and playing nice. Would you be willing to come with me to beat some sense into one of the little hoodlums peddling the stuff on the street? That might be one way to find where it comes from." He's half a step out the door, just waiting for that one answer.

"Oui," Sebastien replies. "The stuff is evil. And I do not need to know where to find the plant; only where to find the trucks." He nods at Gabriel. "A bien tot."

The colonel nods, half-salutes, and is out the door. Gabriel, moving like the wind.