Report on the lines, and other stuff (Attn: Starling)

Apotheosis arrived at the museum drenched in sweat from the near 45 minute jog in hot muggy weather. The conditioned air of the building was downright chilling. Even so, he didn’t bother changing, instead marching straight to Starling’s office.
He knocked on the door, waited a couple of seconds, and entered, even without an invitation.

After following Valkyrie's directions, Orphan pulls his big sedan into the back lot of the museum. He didn't want to park where the car might draw too much attention, for a number of reasons. He hops out and looks around.

"I'll let you do the talking since you at least know some of these people," he says to Val. "So, lead the way."

(( Is Orphan wearing his daisho? ))

((No, he is carrying it and his firearms in a large duffel bag. ))

(( There's a metal detector. ))

(OOC - aha!)

Noticing the metal detector, Orphan says to Val "Wait right here, I forgot something. I'll be right back."

Though not completely comfortable leaving his things in the vehicle, Orphan doesn't see any real options at the moment, so he stows his duffelbag back in the car, tossing a blanket over it and making sure no other weapons are showing. After double-checking that the car is locked, he goes back in to Val.

(( Also need a STR+STA test for any items being brought in that you use as a weapon. Not anything that could be used, but anything you consider a contingent/backup weapon, and are practiced/familiar with using as a weapon. ))

Theo blinked once composed himself fairly quickly.
“I’ll keep in mind this is a place not to play around in.” Theo said unashamedly and walked out, closing the door a little forcefully.
He knocked again, and started walking away. He was pretty sure there would be no answer but he listened going down the hall anyway.
Assuming no response, he goes to Dr. Primoria’s office. Knocking on her door, he does wait for an answer before entering.

After Orphan's quick dash to store his things, Val leads Orphan to the front desk. She's wearing a grey turtleneck that covers all the stitches. She looks at the girl manning the front desk and cannont remember if she's in on the whole things.

So Val has to play it safe.

"Hi there. I'm Val, I sorta need to check in with Miss. Phrymides or Mr. Starling, if they are avaliable."

She didn't really want to deal with Dr. Primoria right away. That woman scared her.

~~Narration~~

Standing on a high walkway over the main entry, Andrade and Tyria turn from watching Theo''s antics to watching the two new arrivals, seeming to be deep in conversation.

The receptionist nods and pages Starling.

(( Theo knows about it. ))

When he returns, Orphan does not bear any weapons, other than his body. His training was very strict in promoting the idea that an Arrow cannot afford to rely on having weapons available, and as such, he's well-trained in unarmed combat. Plus, he and Val are here to meet with members of the Consilium, and while he is cautious, he's not paranoid enough to think he needs to be armed to the teeth to survive meeting them, or stupid enough to think being armed would accomplish much agains the Consilium if things came to a fight anyway.

He's dressed in the same outfit as when he arrived in town: fatigue pants, hiking boots, work shirt, leather jacket.

~~Narration~~

The receptionist gives Starling a (wasted) million-watt smile and indicates Val and Orphan.

Theo looked around while waiting at the door and spots the Curator, leader of the Consilium, and Starling. He steeled himself for the interaction and started moving in the direction of Starling. Why did he have such a hostile time interacting with the authorities of the Awakened. He’d gotten along with Phyrmides but now she was off in Egypt, or so Starling said, that could have been a joke. Still, as much as he was beginning to loath talking to Starling, it was still better than Dr. Primoria.
He stops a polite distance away but close enough to show he wants to be acknowledged and then waits. If they wanted him to interact with them purely through pomp, he would oblige.

Valkyrie missed the smile, since she had other things on her mind.

"I need to talk with you about something. About last night."

Spoiler:

"Sure," was the only emotionless thing Theo said. He He stood, waiting outside the office.

Valkyrie doesn't take Starling's arm.

"First, this is Orphan. He found me last night and needed to meet with the Consilium. I didn't know anyone other the the people here at the museum and I don't know how to contact you when it's closed. Is there someone he could talk to?"

"I'm new in town, and I think it's probably important Valkyrie and I both speak with someone about some things that happened last night," Orphan says. "Your assistance would be most appreciated."

Vegas pulled into the parking lot and dismounted his motorcycle. Bounding up the front steps he stops just long enough to check his reflection in the glass doors. Not wanting to take to long to put together an outfit he had basically gone into Express Men and stripped down the first mannequin that was wearing an outfit he liked. A baby blue button up shirt under a white vest, white slacks, a black leather jacket and his matching messenger bag over his shoulder. Yes it meant that he would be eating nothing but ramien noodles until he got himself a steady income around here but dame if he didn't look good.

Walking inside he goes up to the front counter and smiles at the receptionist. "Hi. I'm Vegas Frostlight. I have a One o'clock appointment with Dr. Primoria."

Orphan nods as he enters the office. "That would be what I'm referring to, yes." He doesn't seat himself unless or until invited to do so.

Vegas turns to greet the doctor extending his hand to her as she approaches.

"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Vegas. I am... errr I was Professor Frostlight's assistant. My last act as her assistant is to deliver the findings of her research to you. He said smiling.

He was also supposed to deliver himself into her care as a Neokoroi, but that was something to be talked about in an office. Not in a reception area with sleepers around.

Valkyrie notes the person she had never met before entering behind them. Not knowing who she was, she just took a seat in the chair facing Starling. It's huge compared to her, and the scrunched in way she's holding herself makes it that much more noticeable.

Valkyrie takes a deep breath before starting. Her aura (for those that can see it) is mostly Bitter Brown, spiked with a Depressed Gray and a Sad Silver in equal measure, with a Obsessed Bright Green and Suspicious Dark Blue miasma poisoning the sides.

"I drove Ollie and Guy to Ollie's -" A frighteningly complex complex blot of Hateful Black, Generous Rose, Angry Bright Red and Compassionate Pink stain her Aura when she says his name, like someone's stuck a handful of crayons and a black ink cartridge into a blender and placed it on high for a few seconds.

"- ho- Sanctum, I mean. We asked Ollie some questions and he answered them, then he got a text from Ghoster. They were being attacked by zombies. Ollie wanted to go off alone, but I thought I could help and Guy wanted to come with us. I drove them over to Granite Park as fast as I could. It started raining either just before we got there or just after, I'm not really sure. But when we got there, someone had pushed some bleachers over to the entrance of the skate park. It mush have been someone else because I couldn't see any zombies outside the fence when we got there. I honked my horn, but I don't know if they heard me. Guy had a flashlight and Ollie had some flares because it was dark, and I went inside to get Ghoster and Logos out of there. Ghoster ran away from the zombies, but Logos couldn't get away and I couldn't get to him before they tore him apart. Then Ghoster and I tried to get away, but we kept falling and the zombies caught up to us and they tore into Ghoster. He was hurt real bad, but Ollie and Guy got him up to the bleachers and away from them. Then Guy fell and they tore him apart too." Val's voice starts to crack and toxic-looking splotches of Afraid Orange start to pepper her aura.

"I was right there and he was screaming and when they tore out his... When they were killed him I just turned around and ran to get Ghoster to my car before they could get him too, but when we got to the other side there were more zombies and we both fell and they attacked him and he wasn't dead and I couldn't get up and Ghoster wasn't dead but I couldn't get to him in time so I called up shadows to protect him and it wasn't enough and Ollie ran away..." The Obsessed Bright Green and Afraid Orange are fighting for dominance of her aura right now.

"...and I drug Ghoster to my car and he was bleeding and my tires were shredded and I drove away but I couldn't control the car and I spun out before I could get to a hospital and itriedtosavehimbutiwasn'tfastenough..."

Valkyrie trails off into silence as a thousand tiny fractures of Hateful Black spiderweb across her aura, seeming to stab her heart and dig in viciously.

Val looks at the woman, and her aura gets fuzzy, mottled, the colors shifting around in confusion.

"I'd say whoever made the zombies, but I couldn't..."

A dozen more Hateful Black cracks wind their way through her aura, and more Bitter Brown starts dripping from them.

"I was scared. I had crashed and I wasn't sure how far away I had gotten and I thought... "

Afraid Orange literally explodes through her aura, wiping out everything else like an Etch-a-Sketch tossed in a dryer. Her head whips up and she looks at the woman, eyes wide with fear.

"What do you mean? Did more people die?"

Thankful that the doctor was tactful enough to be able to decline the handshake without making him look a fool, Vegas reaches into his messenger bag and pulls out an obscenely thick manilla envelope and holds it out to Dr. Primoria.

"Also... ummm now that I am done with the delivery I am supposed to stay in Sacramento and work for you." He blushes slightly at how awkwardly that came out. "Sorry. Normally not that blunt, but I couldn't think of a tactful way of saying it.

Orphan looks back and forth between Starling and this woman whose name he did not know. He does not interrupt, but he does lift one hand, two fingers pointing upward, to let those questioning Valkyrie know he had something to add whenever they might wish him to speak.

"Yes, thank you," he says, nodding respectfully to Starling and to the authoritative woman.

"First off, I go by Orphan. I'm with the Adamantine Arrow, a Disciple of the Demon Wind. I'm new in town, having just arrived yesterday, and I came across Valkyrie last night, having been directed there by Fate when I sought some guidance as to where I should be. From what I was able to put together later, she must have spoken to this individual you mentioned, Zilker, before I arrived. I didn't know about that until a bit later.

"All I could tell when I got there was that Valkyrie was very, very badly injured and extremely rattled - understandably so - and that she had a deceased companion with her. Before I could provide her any assistance, this other individual, Ollie, showed up, blubbering about abandoning her and so forth. She clearly didn't want to have anything to do with him and told him so, and I also told him he should back off, so he slunk away.

"When I arrived, I could hear sounds off in the distance that may have been the zombies that attacked Valkyrie and her companions. I didn't know much about the situation, but I'd discerned that Ollie was a mage and that Valkyrie had magic about her, so under the circumstances, I figured she was also a mage and felt it was my duty as an Arrow to protect and assist a badly injured mage. I helped load her stuff into my car, and I also took her deceased companion, not wanting to leave him for someone or something that utilized zombies. He's still in the trunk of my car, and I hope when this is all sorted out that we can take care of that and arrange an honorable burial for him."

Realizing he'd started rambling a bit, Orphan gets back on track. "Anyhow, we were ready to take off already before Valkyrie mentioned this Zelker and the Guardians. I mistakenly thought we might be able to contact him through Ghoster's phone, and like I said, I was mostly concerned at that point for her safety, so I thought it best to get her out of there and patched up and call him on the way. When it became clear we didn't actually have any way to contact Zelker, we went back to where I found her, but the car was already gone. Not knowing what else to do that time of night, I took her to her place for medical care and some rest, and we came here first thing after she woke up today.

"My point in mentioning all this right now is that I bear at least some of the responsibility for her not staying and waiting for the Guardian. The only defense I offer is that given what I could tell of the situation at the time - she had awakened only days ago, had bravely tried to save a fallen companion who had been mauled by zombies and seen others slain, and had been abandoned by her mentor - I felt my first duty, as an Arrow, was to make sure she was safe. I take full responsibility for that decision."

Finishing, he nods again to Starling and to the unknown woman.

"Well I am good with computers. I also am a pretty good at research both in a library and during on site investigations."

He takes a moment to think before continuing, wishing that they where having this conversation in private so he didn't have to speak in code. "I am also notably luckier than most and I can be rather disenchanting when I choose to be."

Orphan doesn't say anything at first, even though he feels his insides twist around at the woman's words. "Well, that was an epic fail," he thinks to himself. "Great way to make an impression in the new city." He glances sideways at Valkyrie. "Plus I fucked things up more for her, which is about the last thing in the world she needed." The twisted feeling becomes a sinking one.

In response to Starling, he says "This doesn't have to do with the call, but afterward or whenever suits you, I'd appreciate it if you could direct me to the highest-ranking Adamantine Arrow in the city so I can formally report in for duty with the Arrows. Also, if you could let me know where to deliver Ghoster's body so he can be put to rest appropriately?"

Valkyrie's aura looks like someone's thrown up all over her while the woman passes judgement. She stands up and looks Starling straight on, like she'd rather be anywhere else but she's doing this because she has to. "I would like to know how to get a hold of Zilker, and anybody that might have known Ghoster, Logos and Guy from before." Valkyrie remembered someone that had left the museum with them, Zed or Zenon or Zip or something, maybe he knew more people. "I need to give him Ghoster's phone, and someone needs to tell the people that knew them what happened to them."

Then she looks less sure of herself when she continues. "I also don't know who that was, how my call to 911 got intercepted or who this West person is. Or what happened to my car. If you could tell me anything about those...

"Yes, I'd like that address, thank you," Orphan says, formally. "We can head there together if you'd like, Val."

"Thank you," Orphan says, nodding. He stands back to let Valkyrie exit first.

Vegas looks across the gallery to the young man. "I'll do just that. Its been a pleasure meeting you Dr. Primoria and I look forward to working for you."

Checking the urge to offer her his hand again he settles for a respectful nod.