Nov 25 03:16:42 108 PA - Leading Minds About the Lady

From Chronicles

Nov 25 03:16:42 108 PA.

NORTH 'DREGS MEETING HALL

Afternoon in early winter. It has to be earlier than in late summer, barely enough time for lunch to digest. Gabriel's lucky Val wasn't still in line at the deli. But she wasn’t, so after a few moments the large door opens to admit him. Inside it will be better to speculate why he would be visiting. And she wastes no time in this as she looks him over. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Yes, quite," Gabriel replies in a strange tone. "I believe that I once promised to never look for you. I'm afraid that I need to countermand my pride right now for the good of everyone else. Mind if I come in to talk?"

Valeriya shrugs slightly before closing the door behind Gabriel and gesturing to lead him into the main hall. "You'd have to know me to be able to look for me." She notes en route before she pauses by the bar on the side. "Want a drink?"

Gabriel shakes his head, following in and not bothering to question the likely intentionally-cryptic reply. "Thanks, no. I'm fine, and I don't want to keep you. I'm sure you're busy." He then sets right in. "I'm here because I was told that you might be some kind of salvation for the cause. The cause being eliminating the threat that the vampires represent at the Ivory Lady. The woman who leads Hope for Humanity pointed me to you. Are you familiar with any of this? I don't want to bore you by telling you what you already know."

Valeriya pours herself a drink and gives another shrug. "I heard Jax's claims that there was a vampire problem a while back. But his ridiculous take on the process kept me from sticking my neck too far out on it. So it's a bit odd that I'd be called 'salvation'. Perhaps you can elaborate?"

"They're milking people like dairy. A vampire believed to possibly be a master vampire has two dozen secondaries under her control. They hop people up on psi-cola, then send these living zombies to do their bidding. Meanwhile," Gabriel continues with one hand for emphasis, "they're hooked with the Family, trafficking humans into slavery. They get drained of blood, used as toys. Some people give blood freely, the vampires take it and give 'em something for it. When someone gets old and useless, they die, and get replaced by someone new and probably not willing or intentional. The vampires are goading Hope for Humanity into war. That's the gist of what I know. I was sent here because the human group thought that you could help me - and now others, including Bella, whom I believe you're friends with - fix the problem. I'm a soldier, but not a vampire hunter."

Valeriya takes a few moments to consider all that. And even then she doesn’t do much more than sip her beer before leaving the main hall to enter a side room. A moment later she emerges from it with a old fashioned flame lamp in her hand. "Two dozen is a lot. Twenty more than I'd want to wager in against. Are you sure on that number?" She asks as she returns, setting the lamp down. It is exactly like the lamps outside the door, casting shadows of crosses through the room.

Gabriel shakes his head. "I'm sorry. Two dozen *girls;* human girls. Minimum. They've passed through and died as dairy up to this point. It is likely in the twenties by now. I misspoke. I don't have a very accurate count of how many other vampires are involved, I only know that they are. Particularly the ones that benefit off of cows." He watches Valeriya with his eyes as he speaks, but doesn't move from where he stands, his arms lazily propped against his waist. "Any number of vampires thinking that laissez-faire with humans should be accepted is a bad idea. You never know when they will get greedy, and want more."

Valeriya looks very much reassured by that correction and nods as takes a seat and invites Gabriel to join her. "So what is your objective, best case scenario?" She asks, letting the lamp sit for the moment.

"The vampires die and stay dead." Gabriel just lays that out flatly, allows it to hang for a second, then politely joins Valeriya at a chair. Then elaborates. "Bad guys die, good guys live and go home happy. The oppressed are freed, the oppressors are denied the ability to continue what they've been doing. Rainbows, unicorns, sunshine and butterflies all around." He smirks a bit at that.

Valeriya smirks as well as she catches what she was mostly expecting. "Right, we all live happily ever after. What's your objective, for reality? Or worst case scenario, whichever you prefer."

"Worst case scenario is easy. Just stop the business. Donna - the head vampire - has to stop, though she'll inevitably pick up somewhere else in the future." Gabriel looks to the lamp for a moment, but doesn't ask. "Most realistic is that yes, Donna dies. Is destroyed. Whatever the correct term is. With her out of the picture, I and some others who are listening to me are making the assumption that it would be much easier to dismantle the operation. Donna dead, operation done. Best case." After smiling again he does ask, "So. Were the lamps being sold on a special, or are they doing something that I can't see?"

Valeriya turns to look at the lamp at the change of subject and shakes her head. "No, what you see is what you get, a shadow of a cross damages vampires. So this lamp will hurt an vampire who approaches. But there is more to it." She notes before turning to open the lamp's top. After which she pours was left of her beer in, and it keeps burning.

Gabriel's head bobs. "Yeah, that's pretty much what the good local folk told me. But look, here's the weird thing." He leans forward slightly. "Putting down a vampire is in some ways rather easy. I know, don't bother to correct me for now. Containing her somewhere to be 'killed' seems like one of the biggest problems. I doubt that she's dumb enough to call anywhere 'home' that could be found during the day. Of course, I've made my suggestions but the others won't stomach them. That's a problem for me. How about you?"

"I don’t know about found, but certainly can't be gotten to. I'm known for stronger composure than some. So I'm listening. What's your idea and what's stopping you from doing it?" Valeriya asks as she rises to collect a towel and clean up the mess.

He rubs his hands together lightly. "Just one idea. Assuming that the Lady's made of regular materials? Just drop the fucker on her, and yeah, everyone inside. If it's made of wood, it'll probably hurt like hell with splintered wood all over, because from what I've seen, she doesn’t walk around in armor. Once the building's down, people move in with the water, silver -" he gestures to the lamp "- crosses and light. Based on my limited understanding of vampires, it sounds like a good idea. But others don't see the occasional necessity of sacrificing the village to save the kingdom." Gabriel looks on, obviously ready for praise, mocking or something in between.

Valeriya nods slightly. "Maybe it's because they don't know anything about the village. But my take on that is it's kind of like using a shotgun on a mosquito. Not that I'm trying to imply Donna is so easy to swat. Rather that bringing a whole building down on her, doesn’t sound effective. Let's say you're Donna, building comes down on you. Wood hurts, but it doesn’t last, what do you do?"

"You try to get away. She probably turns to mist to do it, if I didn't get lucky with a beam falling through her chest." Perhaps Gabriel isn't entirely uninformed. "Or maybe a master vampire is tough enough to just stand up and and start killing the people who I'd brought in with the water and such. But that's my problem - I can't battle a vampire one-on-one like I would anything else. I doubt that my brain is strong enough to withstand much of their psychic abilities. Sooooo... every solution that I come up with is as you say, a shotgun approach. Overkill. Because I can't garrote her, snipe her, or walk up to her with a smile and stab her in the chest. What would *you* do?"

Valeriya shrugs not having that answer. "I'd have to take a much more in depth look at the setup she has to answer that. But let's step back and reconsider bringing the house down, without any destruction. Why does the lady work for Donna? Why is she there?"

Gabriel thinks for a moment, but he's already done a lot of thinking on it. "Depends. How do you mean? As a retreat? As a money maker? Or as influence? She's there because as people have already told me, people get what they want, and it is a seemingly win-win situation. The same people who tell me I can't drop a building on 'em." He shakes his head at that. "At this point, it might even be a fortress if those psi-cola'd guys are doing the right thing."

Valeriya nods looking to be on the same train of thought. "So, how do make it stop working for her?" She asks, before her expression shows a relation. "Think of the Ivory lady as alive, a slave to her whims. How do you kill it without utterly destroying it?"

Gabriel smirks. "But I don't care if I utterly destroy it, or the slave in this metaphor." He waves it off. "Cut off its supply of psi-cola, humans being trafficked and the entire bloody marketplace. Which is the problem of Hope for Humanity's boycott not working. People do like it, and they're willing to accept it. The only way to make the boycott successful would be a blockade, but in this city, that'd be pointless. She's a fucking vampire, I don't even know why she gives a damn about what she's doing!"

"Because vampires who don’t give a damn, who aren’t so tightly tied into a support system, are much easier to eliminate? Anyway you hit the nail on the head. A blockade. Why can't that be effective?" Valeriya asks, making a slight gesture to the lamp.

"I did float out this idea to the humanity folk," Gabriel says, clarifying, "though not with details. A blockade would be... let's just say 'difficult' for a few reasons. First, the people who want to trade blood for merchandise still want it. So they're trying to get in. Donna and any other vampires that might be there can simply come and go as they please when night comes, so you can't starve 'em out." A nod toward the lamp. "Unless you have a few hundred of those that could be erected around the building in the time span of five minutes? Then there's the Family. They're getting something from the trafficking, so if there's a blockade, they're going to be trying to break it as well. Break and destroy it. *However.* It's the vampires that are the problem. Unless we can keep them from moving, I don't see how we could wait them out."

"A few hundred? That’s a bit extreme. One lamp covers thirty feet, The Ivory lady isn’t that big. But yes, perhaps that is difficult, and time consuming. It would take a lot of manpower and would draw a lot of attention. I can understand you not finding it ideal. So a more subtle approach, assassination won't work? Why not?" Valeriya concedes then offers, exploring the situation.

Gabriel nods again. "As I said, because I'm fairly certain that she could control my mind without much effort. Kills me, and turns me on the other good guys, too. I've been told that she's aware that I've been poking around, so I don't think that I could really sneak up on her. That's an assassination. A flat-out killing is far more basic. Get maybe four people into the place with appropriate weapons, move fast enough and get her. *IF* we had something to keep her from getting away. Maybe." He *tinks* the lamp with a fingernail. "Assassinating someone who can turn into mist and fly away sounds just about... impossible. Though I never like to use that word."

"Vampires can't see the invisible." Valeriya states with a slight smirk and shrug. "She probably has security that can, but if it's distracted.. Well you get the hint. And I know for a fact that Jax has that ability.. So group walks in with lamps, obvious distraction, security engages, and meanwhile Jax dispatches..."

The soldier takes in the information, but does what a soldier does - his best to poke holes. "What about the psi-cola'd people? There could be ten of 'em behind a curtain just waiting to shoot up people like that. Plus, if she's as bright as she is - good that they can't see the invisible - who's to say that she doesn't have some simple thermal scanners? I'll tell you that if I was building a club these days, I'd build my security with thermals."

"Did she build it? And who's monitoring those thermals? And what if the thermal signature was masked?" Valeriya asks pretty much as Gabriel does, not giving much room. "People behind the curtain are certainly possible. Though I doubt they'd be high, not if they are to be competent. More likely her vampire minions would be behind the curtain."

Gabriel smiles a bit. "I'm already ahead of you, Val. I'm trying to track down people involved in building the club, including any security system she might have put in. I can lend Jax my ghillie suit, but inside of two-hundred feet or so it gets less effective. Up close to a security system? Probably useless." He waves a chin at the magic lamp. "I don't suppose someone could magically mask his IR signature?" He quickly adds, "These lamps would trap her?"

Valeriya nods to Gabriel. "I have such a spell, but it can't be cast on another. The scroll for it is worth about 40k." She says nodding slightly but then hesitates at Gabriel's addition. "Not easily. If you surrounded her, without lighting her, then it would take a great deal of resolve for her to enter the light and escape. If she is lit, then she is already in the light and escaping it is easy."

Gabriel frowns. Perhaps rolls his eyes a little. "I don't suppose someone can borrow the scroll for a few hours? Or pass along a good deed to teach it? I doubt those of us working on the problem could scrape together that much money. Unless you're volunteering to be the assassin?" His drawl flows out so the last sentence is very even, not confused.

Valeriya smirks but ultimately shakes her head. "I take trades as well as cash, and we can hash that out after the fact. If I have your word that you will ensure we do. Then I know who to collect from if we don’t. Equal total spell level, or equal credit value. Although doing her in myself would save a lot of anxiety of your possible failure and my subsequent implication, I simply don’t know enough at this point. And I don’t want to delay you with catching up."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Val?" Gabriel's obviously not pleased, but he's quite rational. "You realize that without offering up the damn spell for a bit, *you* are the one who is now effectively in control of this situation. I'm sure you do realize that. You're the one with power over both the good guys and the bad guys. You own a goddamn building, you've got your own business, you've got the key to a possibly successful assassination of an evil in the city." He taps his chest, then makes a motion past his shoulder. "See, we're the good guys, which usually means very little cash or trade. I know that none of the others are going to be real happy about a ransom for it either. How much do you want for a lamp?"

Valeriya blinks, clearly taken aback by the outburst. She then hesitates with her answer, considering if she should give that either. "Bart already has five of them, 4000 each if you want to buy more. As for the spell, I think you misunderstood. I said I'd give it to you now. You come back with compensation later. From what I hear the Lady should be bursting with it. If Jax doesn’t just have an appropriate spell already."

"I'll give you my word that *if* the Lady has *anything* in it of *any* value, you can have it. That's what I'll offer as compensation. No promises of riches, no promises of coming away a pauper, either. You hand me the scroll, and you get to spin the wheel and see what happens?" Gabriel clearly appears to feel that it's a very fair bargain. "Can I get a bulk discount on lamps?"

Valeriya frowns and shakes her head. "You are insane. You offer me far more than I ask. I think there is much more than 40k in value there. And you do so at the expense of anyone who helps you. So it looks like you leave me no choice. I can't accept this, and can't let you throw it away for equally ignorant reasons. So I'll have to assist with the job itself and collect my pay at the site. Jax will get the spell and do the deed. I will assist the rest of the group."

Gabriel smiles and scoots to the edge of his chair, extending a hand - because that's what the did in his time. "Thank you, Valeriya. That's very noble of you." Even if it might not be noble of her. "Not to push my luck, but as you're in with us now, any chance we could borrow some of your lamps for a night? I'm sure that we can pay for any that get damaged or destroyed."

"I only have three left. Do you want me to make some more?" Valeriya asks before she departs to her office a moment. She returns with five pages of high quality bonded paper. "Here is the scroll."

Gabriel accepts the scroll with many thanks, then asks, "How much area did you say each one covers?"

"30 foot diameter." Valeriya answers quickly. "And like I said, Bart has 5 of them."

A quick nod. "I thought you said Bart had four. But four or five, plus these new three and the one on the table? Perfect." Gabriel gets to his feet. "I want to thank you again, Valeriya. Can I contact you later, after I've spoken to everyone? All of us meet for a final plan and attack?"

"Eight total." Valeriya answers to give some clarity. "I can make more if you think it will be necessary. I doubt it, one per person should be lots." She offers before giving a nod. "154.8 on the radio."

"Excellent." Gabriel starts to move to the door. "Want to get out of here before the sun starts to go down. I'm not a tough 'Dregs fellow like you. Thanks for your time, I'll get you as soon as we can all get together."

Valeriya nods and follows, as apparently she needs to let him out. "Stay alive, I don’t like collecting from corpses." She bids to his departure.

Gabriel smiles and exits with his treasure tucked quietly inside of his coat.