S3 Ep1: Off The Ground

[00:00:30] Speaker A: Hi, I'm Ophre, and I play Isabelle, the entrepreneurial. [00:00:35] Speaker B: Hi, I'm legacy, and I'll be playing Rosanna, the now faithful. [00:00:43] Speaker C: Hi, I'm Scott. I'll be playing Arthur, the always faithful hunter. [00:00:49] Speaker D: Hi, there. I'm termite, and I'll be playing piper, the underground. [00:00:54] Speaker E: And I'm bloodied porcelain. I'll be your storyteller for the evening. Madman. Noun. A derogatory term for a mentally ill person. An extremely reckless or foolish person. Used in similes to refer to a person who does something very fast, intensely, or violently. Sometimes great ideas seize us before we are ready. Sometimes they spur us to action. That to an outsider, perhaps even to ourselves, may appear extremely reckless or foolish. For mad men, the world of darkness is a crucible. Less a place and more an experience. One where they are melted, shaped, forged, remade in ways that can make them unrecognizable when they look in the mirror. [00:01:39] Speaker A: For someone who has lost the ability to see the living as living, there might be questions about life and its meaning. [00:01:47] Speaker B: For someone who asked every question, they may have learned that some answers leave scars. And sometimes faith might be better than any answer you could have found. [00:01:57] Speaker D: For someone who peered into every secret window, there are fears of what or who might peer back. And whether anyone else can sit with you behind your own window. [00:02:08] Speaker C: For someone with a great lie at the heart of their faith, they are now left with a wreckage and asked to lead it, wondering if they can even find the truth of themselves, let alone a universe. [00:02:20] Speaker E: They have all been reckless. They have all suffered. They have all paid a price in blood or hope or peace. They are none of them madmen any longer. Because some walk through the fire and pain until they find themselves becoming something more. Something dangerous. Not only to the monsters of fang and claw, but to the monsters who wear men's faces, who claim humanity as a mantle. That new name then becomes a calling. Hunter noun. A person that pursues and kills. A person who searches determinedly for something or someone. Tonight, we tell a hunter story. Good evening, players. [00:03:08] Speaker A: Hello. [00:03:09] Speaker B: Hello. [00:03:10] Speaker E: Welcome to the beginning of season three. It has been nine months since your. Since our last episode. After dealing with sending Loki back to his world, after facing off against the werewolves who had been dogging the cell since season one, after attempting to mend broken relationships and finding oneself questioning everything they thought they knew, we find ourselves here in separate parts of the US. Santa, tell us about your time since our last episode. [00:04:16] Speaker B: Yeah, well, after the werewolf attack and after Rosanna had nearly died, she spent a little bit of time in recovery, learning how to do basic functions again, and kind of while in recovery, learning that therapy is very important. She doesn't talk about the stuff that goes on in the dark, but she is able to open up about other things. Over the course of time, she had managed to grow a stronger connection with faith and decided that it's time to stop idling around and asking questions, and it's time to start looking for answers. She spent a lot of time in Europe and Ireland with quiet, her companion, and recently came back after doing a little bit of soul searching. [00:05:36] Speaker E: Excellent. Who do we want to talk to next? Arthur, what did you do with those nine months? [00:05:51] Speaker C: Well, for the most part, Arthur tried to gain control of the cult that he was suddenly put in charge of and the financial problems that were left on his lap, particularly the legal problems. But with the help of some of the others, he dug into the finances. They managed to free some up, get some lawyers involved, and get that under control, while he kind of reestablished the structure of the two sects of the cult that would listen to him and connect with a couple of other sects that he knew nothing about, but also tried to fix things with Katie Lynn. And it was rough going for a little while, but they're currently on a path to get better. [00:06:43] Speaker E: I'm sure that that money that they managed to free up was all through completely legal means, right? [00:06:49] Speaker C: Yeah, totally legal means absolutely. 100% for sure. [00:06:54] Speaker E: Speaking of totally legal means, Piper. [00:07:00] Speaker C: Hey. [00:07:01] Speaker E: Tell me about your downtime. [00:07:04] Speaker D: She's mostly spent it locked up in a room at her computer, either fucking with money to get at least some of it freed from all the frozen accounts for Arthur and the cult, or trying to navigate the hell that is, trying to fight the IR's to, you know, try and make the whole legal problem kind of, if not go away, kind of take a step to the side. [00:07:40] Speaker E: The IR's forever the true big bad in all HHS streams, right? [00:07:46] Speaker D: Eternally. [00:07:50] Speaker E: And last, but certainly not least, Isabel, I heard you went back to the west coast. [00:07:58] Speaker A: That is, you've heard correctly. After everything was said and done, everyone was patched up, and there was nothing else left to do in Louisiana. I headed back home with several new people in tow. As I took Alison up on her offer for a job, it needed some changes in my life, and through that, the therapy she had been telling me I should go to for years, you know, try to make some headway with this curse that I'm dealing with. I kind of understand how to live with it, and I'm making progress. And it's been interesting adjusting to my new situation. Kind of was used to living in a place where I was the only one there. And now the apartment is always so full of life and it's taken some getting used to, especially for me. [00:09:14] Speaker E: Excellent. Having spent your time in different ways, occasionally reaching out to one another to help research this or that, this curse, that IR's problem, that other occur, that other curse. You all have made a plan, I understand, to meet back up. Yes. It is time, it would seem, to start addressing some of those problems that were still lingering at the end of season two. Rosanna's twin is still out there somewhere causing problems for her passenger. Isabelle is still walking around with a curse that it seems only therapy can fix. Piper has her own issues in both the personal relationship department and her own curse that she has to address and is conveniently kind of ignoring as much as possible. And Arthur? Well, Arthur was the source of most of the problems in season two, so he gets to take a backseat for right now. Rosanna and quiet have flown into Louisiana to meet up with Arthur to make the drive across country to California in the rV. It is a relatively painless trip with three people who are more than capable of driving. Two, perhaps more than one. Notice that they're both nodding. Which one do you think has got the higher dice pull, is the question. With all of that done, you make your way across the southern US, following almost exactly the trace that you took the first time you came across the US in the opposite direction. You even passed through Gilibend, the little town where everything is about UFO's and aliens. But you all learned that their biggest issues were ghosts, remnants of the past that could drag people underwater or run cars off roads. But this time, Gila Bend is quiet. You stop for gas, pop in at the local diner for a strawberry donut or two for Rosanna, and continue on your way. And eventually you roll into California, arriving at just around about eight or 09:00 p.m. We're gonna say outside of the little house that Isabel and Patty and tov have been staying in. As it is the bigger place, probably the more comfortable option for everybody to sit and have a meal than whatever a tiny, tiny little apartment piper has taken up for herself. [00:13:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:25] Speaker B: Wow. [00:13:27] Speaker C: In the time that Arthur's been roaming between the compounds, he learned a thing or two, so he brought some snacks for Gozer because that's how you make animal friends, apparently. [00:13:42] Speaker B: I'm proud of you. You're finally learning. [00:13:48] Speaker C: Yeah, learning a few things actually. [00:13:50] Speaker B: Good. [00:13:51] Speaker A: Sure. [00:13:52] Speaker C: There are these things called love languages. [00:13:54] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm proud of you for learning that one, too. [00:14:02] Speaker C: I mean, be real, Katie just put this book in my lap. And, you know, of course, then I had to read it, and I was like, oh, okay, there's love languages, so gozers must be food. Cause it worked for everyone else, so here we are. [00:14:20] Speaker B: Well, he's a dog, so. Yeah, his love language would be food until the day he is put to rest that infection. Which I hope that you got better at, too. [00:14:39] Speaker C: Yep. [00:14:42] Speaker E: Quiet is sort of scratching the back of his head, awkwardly being present for this conversation. [00:14:50] Speaker B: You, um. Sorry. Um. You doing all right? [00:14:58] Speaker E: Who are you talking to? [00:14:59] Speaker B: Quiet. [00:15:01] Speaker E: Yeah, no, I'm good. Um. You guys are just, uh. Come on, it's fine. [00:15:10] Speaker B: No, good. We're gonna talk about this. Arthur, can you step out the car for a moment? [00:15:17] Speaker C: Yeah, sure. I was just gonna treat stick gozer. [00:15:21] Speaker B: Okay, go. Go bribe the dog. And finally lock in you, maybe. [00:15:26] Speaker C: We'll see, I guess. [00:15:27] Speaker B: Hmm. [00:15:32] Speaker C: And Arthur will get out to leave them to talk while he goes toward the house. And presumably Isabelle and a dog, perhaps also the two guys that are with her, protecting her, making sure she's safe. Right? [00:15:53] Speaker E: I mean, when they're not working. Yeah. [00:15:56] Speaker B: Yeah, when they're not working. [00:16:00] Speaker E: Good Lord. Quiet just sort of looks awkwardly. You've been sniping at him since we left New Orleans. And while I don't necessarily think you're wrong, I think sometimes you forget I'm here. [00:16:22] Speaker B: I'm. I'm sorry. It's. It's not you. Listen, the werewolf attack left me in a really, really sour spot. And after that, they all just kind of up and left and almost died. [00:16:47] Speaker E: I know. I was there. [00:16:50] Speaker B: I know. Not a visit, not a call. Nothing. I got a couple memes from Papper. She sends me these really stupid songs, and sometimes they cheer me up. But, yeah, I'm angry. I'm. I'm. They didn't even have the fucking gall to apologize. So, you know, I. It is. Yeah, I'm sorry. I've been a little bit snippy. And it's not your fault, because you have been. You've been a saint. A true, true saint. [00:17:35] Speaker E: Listen, we've talked about this at length, and I've told you that you've got every right to be mad, every reason to be hurt. But there's something else that, whether you want to or not, you're going to have to learn how to do, and that is to compartmentalize that shit. You guys barely made it through last time, and you guys are about to deal with some shit that's even bigger than what we dealt with last time. And if you are so keyed up and mad at them that your instinct is to be snippy all the time, none of y'all are going to be able to trust each other or anticipate each other, and at least one of. One of you will end up dead. And I don't like that. It has to be you. Believe me, if I could get all of you in a room and lock the door and let you beat the shit out of each other until you all got over it, I would. But they told us in the military that we're at least not supposed to talk about it after we do that. So I'm going to assume that that's not going to work well with civilians. You've got to put it aside. [00:19:24] Speaker B: No, you're. [00:19:26] Speaker E: You're gonna need them and they're gonna need you. Be mad, but also go hash it out or set it aside. One of the two, you gotta. Gotta have at some point, the ability to not have that. Get in the way in color. Everything that you look at. [00:19:53] Speaker B: I know. [00:19:54] Speaker E: Hey. [00:19:56] Speaker B: Yeah? [00:20:00] Speaker E: I think you are the strongest person I've ever met. And I don't know what I would do if I lost you. So get your shit together. Learn how to be a part of the team. I have all been, or I will drag your happy ass back to Louisiana. [00:20:32] Speaker B: I'm sorry, was that supposed to be a threat? [00:20:36] Speaker E: You're the one who brought me out here. [00:20:38] Speaker B: That's fair. [00:20:39] Speaker E: I will veto this whole plan and take you home if I don't think you're gonna survive it. [00:20:47] Speaker B: Okay, you're up. You're up. And she's going to reach into her pocket, and she's going to pull out a little candy and just unwrap it and pop it in her mouth and just let it sit and melt for just a moment. [00:21:05] Speaker E: My girl. And he kisses your forehead. [00:21:13] Speaker B: You're a saint. I still think so. [00:21:22] Speaker E: I'm just patient. [00:21:26] Speaker B: And she'll lean in and just give him a quick kiss. You want to come in? [00:21:34] Speaker E: Let me park the rv and then I'll be in. Once you and your friends have had a couple of minutes to say hi, okay. [00:21:47] Speaker B: And she'll hop off the rv. [00:21:55] Speaker E: All right. Meanwhile, while that was happening, Arthur, you made your way to the door. You are less than two steps from the door, and you hear barking. And the whole door shakes as a heavy, furry body throws itself against the. [00:22:11] Speaker C: Door, doing exactly as you should. Arthur preps the snack for when the door opens. [00:22:26] Speaker A: And he knocks, which only. [00:22:29] Speaker E: Redoubles the barking, of course. [00:22:34] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, knowing who is at the door, at least one of the people at the door, I can understand his excitement. So, you know, it's kind of the. I've worked with Gozer long enough to at least get him to sit. [00:22:55] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, no, he'll open the door. He'll sit if you give the command. But you hadn't given the command, so he was going to make it. [00:23:02] Speaker A: Oh, of course. But before I open the door, I will give him the command to sit and then open the door to Arthur. [00:23:13] Speaker E: Arthur, you hear a very kind of sharp command in Isabelle's voice. And then the barking and the shaking immediately stops, and the door opens, and Isabella's there with blue hair. [00:23:31] Speaker C: Oh, uh, it's blue. Nice. [00:23:34] Speaker E: I like it. [00:23:35] Speaker A: Thanks. I, um, needed a change. [00:23:41] Speaker C: Looks good. And Arthur awkwardly holds out the snack because it was prepped in his hand. I have this, uh, for Gozer. Sorry I didn't bring you anything. [00:23:53] Speaker A: It's okay. Go through it. Seems like you have a chance to make a new friend. [00:24:02] Speaker C: This will be attempt number three, I think. [00:24:06] Speaker A: Five times the charm, maybe. [00:24:10] Speaker E: Dozer gives a doubtful look to Arthur's hand, and then up at Isabelle, and then back at Arthur. But if Isabelle, you know, gives the command that it's okay, he will inch toward Arthur's hand. [00:24:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:30] Speaker E: Arthur, do you have any ranks in animal Ken? [00:24:35] Speaker C: Nope, still do not. [00:24:39] Speaker E: We're gonna go with composure and animal ken, then. [00:24:42] Speaker C: Okay. Composure's not too bad. All right, coach, pool of three. Oh, hey. [00:24:56] Speaker E: Crap. That's five successes. A critical. [00:25:01] Speaker A: That's all good. [00:25:03] Speaker C: Looks like the snack worked. [00:25:07] Speaker E: Yeah. So there's a minute where Gozer kind of leans in and sniffs. Sniffs at it. And Arthur, do you swear to God? You see his lips peel back like he's about to snarl or growl at you, and then he snatches the treat out of your hand, and while he is chewing it, he presses his head up into your palm. [00:25:38] Speaker C: Oh, hey. [00:25:39] Speaker A: Very good. [00:25:39] Speaker E: Like he is giving you permission or just outright demanding that you pet him. [00:25:44] Speaker C: Hi, buddy. I got the strong chewing thing, you know, because I heard. Because based on him, you know, from what I understand, needed something that he could chew on for a while, keep him entertained. And all the while, Arthur just starts petting him. You know, I heard that dogs are. They have special things, and that's how you get close to them, learning what they like, what they don't. Like, anyway, how are you, Izzy? [00:26:09] Speaker A: I've. It's getting better. Been busy, you know, but, you know, in a better place than I was ten months ago. [00:26:30] Speaker C: Good. That's good to hear. [00:26:33] Speaker A: Yeah, I kind of didn't realize how much I needed to work through until I actually sat down with a therapist and. Yeah. [00:26:49] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. Learning about yourself is a strange situation. I mean, yeah, so much stuff you think you know, and then you find out you don't, and it's about yourself. [00:27:04] Speaker A: Anyone would think you would know it because it's your you. But. Do you want a drink? [00:27:10] Speaker C: Yes, please. I've been in the car with Rosanna and quiet for so long now, I will need a drink for sure. [00:27:20] Speaker A: Yeah, there's definitely plenty of. [00:27:26] Speaker E: Piper. You pull up in front of Isabel's house around the same time that Rosanna is walking across the yard. [00:27:43] Speaker D: Uh, Piper gets a small way. Long time no see. [00:27:47] Speaker B: I know. Look at you. [00:27:51] Speaker D: I prefer you didn't. [00:27:55] Speaker B: How have you been? [00:27:58] Speaker D: Uh, I been surviving. Fucking hate the IR's. [00:28:05] Speaker B: But who lacks the IR's? [00:28:13] Speaker D: Most people don't have to deal with them personally, but, you know, that's fair. [00:28:21] Speaker B: It's really good to see you again, Piper. [00:28:24] Speaker D: Piper is gonna walk over to Roseanne and kind of hold her arms out. [00:28:28] Speaker A: For, like, a hug. [00:28:30] Speaker B: The moment that she does, she'll just crack a wide smile and just basically bum rush her and just do that run. Just wrap her up in her arms and just give her a big tat as tight as one dot strength can give you. Bear hug. Oh, man. I just spent 20 hours in a car with quiet and Arthur. [00:29:05] Speaker D: That does not sound like a good time. [00:29:07] Speaker B: It wasn't. It was tense. The entire car. [00:29:11] Speaker E: Rad. [00:29:11] Speaker B: Quiet. Was. Well, quiet. Arthur was quiet. We listened to a lot of Stevie Nicks on the way up. Lot of Stevie nicks on the way up. But, um, the house. I mean, God, it's been forever since I've been California. Um, at least the weather's nice. [00:29:34] Speaker D: Still a ship hulk. [00:29:35] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it rained every day in Ireland, so. [00:29:43] Speaker D: That'S where all the rain. [00:29:45] Speaker B: Yeah, sorry. While you guys had sun and drought, we had floods. Well, not really that many floods, but, you know, rains a lot there, and Piper actually notices that Rosanna is wearing kind of like a crop top right now. Her entire body is covered in tattoos, her hair is a lot more red, and she's not wearing her glasses. [00:30:18] Speaker C: Ever. [00:30:18] Speaker D: Just kind of looks up and down. I. Yeah. I feel like you've been through a lot more than I have recently. [00:30:30] Speaker B: If I didn't get those scars covered. They were gonna haunt me for the rest of my life. [00:30:37] Speaker D: I think there's more to it than that. [00:30:44] Speaker B: It got really rough for a while there. Like, really, really, really rough. [00:30:54] Speaker D: Definitely there. [00:30:57] Speaker B: My nightmares now consists of me seeing my sister everywhere that I go. And it's been, yeah, but I still got these bad boys. And she just, again, pocket into. I mean, hand into pocket, pulls out a giant, like, handful of strawberry creams. Molten. [00:31:26] Speaker D: You can see for a second piper is, like, preparing, like, visibly cringing and then seeing that you're going for your package. Okay, thank God. [00:31:35] Speaker B: What did you. You know, actually, never mind. I learned my lesson to not ask that question. Um, want one? [00:31:44] Speaker D: Uh, sure. [00:31:46] Speaker B: Chilla. Just offer the handful. [00:31:52] Speaker D: We'll take one. We should probably go get the other. Go through kills Arthur. [00:32:02] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I mean, he brought treats to some, so who knows? Maybe things will be a. Will be better. [00:32:13] Speaker E: You guys head inside. At about the same time, Isabelle's in the process of pouring a drink for Arthur on the other side of knelt. [00:32:24] Speaker C: Down on the floor and is up and goes, his face going, who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? Sorry. Just needed that moment to freak them out. [00:32:33] Speaker E: Seeing the look on Roseanne's face and the confusion from Piper. Patty. Patty pipes in from nearby. Hi, Gozer protec. Gozer attack. Gozer even take Arthur's snack. That he does. [00:32:55] Speaker B: Holy shit. Hold on, hold on, hold on. She's gonna pull out her phone and she's just gonna grab a quick picture of this moment. [00:33:02] Speaker E: Mark it in your fucking calendars, ladies. Which might never happen again. [00:33:08] Speaker B: Oh, my God. Oh, my, oh, my. And she'll look down at Gozer and she'll reach into her other pocket and she'll pull out a little treat for him too. [00:33:26] Speaker E: I mean, you don't have to roll. Gozer's been in love with Rosanna for a long time, so he was tolerating the good boy in his face until he spotted Rosanna and Ed Piper. And then he does that excited dog thing where he's on his feet and his tail is wagging so hard that his whole body is shaking. And he scrambles over to Rosanna and Piper's feet and just sort of throws himself at their ankles and rolls on his. And he's head so excited, he doesn't really know what to do with himself, so he's not staying still. [00:34:07] Speaker C: Oh, well, it was fun while it lasted. Arthur stands up and goes to accept his drink. [00:34:13] Speaker D: That's better than when he was trying to eat. Yeah. [00:34:15] Speaker B: Yeah, fair. [00:34:17] Speaker C: That is true. [00:34:20] Speaker E: When we first moved in, wouldn't let Tov get anywhere near the bedroom for the first week. [00:34:26] Speaker C: Yeah. I mean, if Todd had any kind of experience, like, I had to worry about Gozer ripping your throat out in your sleep, so. I get it. I get it, buddy. [00:34:40] Speaker A: Yeah. First week was interesting, but we moved past it. Can I get either of you a drink? [00:34:51] Speaker B: That would be lovely. Thank you. [00:34:53] Speaker D: Yeah, I think. [00:34:56] Speaker A: I'm still kind of new at this hostess thing, so we'll see how it goes. [00:35:06] Speaker C: So far. You're doing great. [00:35:10] Speaker A: I will move and prepare drinks for everyone. [00:35:23] Speaker B: It's been, what, nine months? [00:35:30] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:33] Speaker B: How's everybody been doing? [00:35:39] Speaker A: Getting better. It's been a lot. How are you? [00:35:53] Speaker B: I'm good. Better than I was nine months ago. [00:36:04] Speaker A: I think a lot of us are. [00:36:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Moment that Isabelle puts a drink in front of her, she's just going to take it, twirl it around twice, and then just shoot back. [00:36:25] Speaker E: For what it's worth, the second the awkward introduction started, Patty disappeared. [00:36:32] Speaker A: Of course. [00:36:35] Speaker E: Nobody knows where Toph is. Toph frequently just sort of disappears for, like, hours and then comes back and nobody knows where he's been. But it's better not to ask. [00:36:45] Speaker A: I know he always comes back. That's all that matters. [00:36:55] Speaker B: What's up? [00:36:59] Speaker C: Go ahead. [00:37:00] Speaker B: No, you go. [00:37:01] Speaker C: No, I'm sure whatever you would like to say is shut. [00:37:07] Speaker E: Talk. [00:37:10] Speaker B: I mean, I'm sorry. Um, you were saying something. I interrupted. [00:37:14] Speaker C: No, you were saying something I interrupted. So go ahead. [00:37:21] Speaker B: Please, just talk. [00:37:26] Speaker C: Uh. Uh, yeah, no, I don't remember what I was going to say, actually. It's probably something. Something where things at. With everything that's going on, um, how can we help each other get through what we're doing? [00:37:41] Speaker E: That. [00:37:42] Speaker C: Something along those lines. I don't know, just trying to get the ball rolling. [00:37:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, same. Um, so what has been going on? [00:38:04] Speaker A: Well, I've started a new job. I work with Alison, the contact I told you about. I kind of hope that eventually, down the line, I will be able to get my foot in the door with second inquisition and any resources they have, but I just have to make myself appear like someone they want to bring into the fold. So it's been a lot of just work and training and increasing my skills and sleeping when I'm not doing any of those things. It's. Today is one of those rare days where I actually have time to myself. There's a lot that's going on and a lot that I'm trying to do. I currently don't have any leads on anything your sister is up to, but I'm always keeping my ear to the ground. [00:39:26] Speaker C: The connections that Loki had. Were. Had. So that trail doesn't go anywhere. As far as we've been able to find out. [00:39:41] Speaker D: I've obviously been making sure Arthur doesn't end up committing white collar crime. Or, well, I guess convicted of white collar crime. [00:39:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:54] Speaker B: Um, I know I haven't talked to a few of you in quite some time, and that is, you know, my. My bad. Uh. [00:40:15] Speaker D: Hey, Rosanna. [00:40:16] Speaker B: Yeah? [00:40:16] Speaker D: Step back. Take a couple steps back. [00:40:19] Speaker B: She'll do so. [00:40:20] Speaker E: Not. [00:40:20] Speaker D: Not literally. [00:40:25] Speaker B: Sorry. Um. [00:40:26] Speaker D: Say, that is not what. Say when you said something about not talking to us. [00:40:41] Speaker B: Y'all took off. Um, and, uh, I said. [00:40:59] Speaker E: Um. [00:41:04] Speaker B: And, um, and she'll show off the tattoos to, um, Isabel. I healed along with. Well, with quiet. But I wish I had my friends there. Um. It hurt a lot. Um. I've dealt with people possibly finding my home in the middle of trying to heal from the lupine attack, so I had to move. I've been to Houston and Boston and Miami and Europe. I went to Europe. I think I know more about the religious side of Ireland than I do anything else now. Found religion while I was there. It's beautiful. I should be angry. I should be screaming and crying, but I don't. I don't want to be angry. I get it. Like, we all needed space. Um, and I'm sorry I wasn't a good friend either. I didn't reach out a couple of you. I did. But. [00:43:29] Speaker A: I. I'm sorry that I left in the way that I did. [00:43:35] Speaker D: Oh, yeah. [00:43:36] Speaker B: Listen, I get it. Nobody wanted to stay there, but I was not able to make a big move at the time. So if you guys were able to get out, I'm glad that you did. I just wish that we all would have spent a bit more effort to keep in touch. [00:43:59] Speaker D: Yeah. [00:44:00] Speaker A: You know, I will admit that keeping in touch is not something I'm very good at. It's. I have friends, but sometimes it doesn't feel like they are. And I eventually get scared to reach out. And that's. That's on me. That's something that I'm working on. [00:44:38] Speaker B: Well, we're here. I'm as well try. Right? [00:44:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:44:51] Speaker B: Listen, what matters is that the four of us lived. Yeah, with the four of us fucking lived by some higher power out there. We. We lived. [00:45:15] Speaker A: I, um. Yeah, I still do kind of have nightmares where it doesn't go that way. [00:45:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I, um. I got y'all something while I was in. While I was in Europe. Um, and she is going to reach into her purse and she is just going to pull out a couple of really small coins and just hand them out to each and every single. To the four of you. And it is a. A coin within the engravings of the celtic God of protection. The dogda. [00:46:28] Speaker A: Yeah. Isabelle will slide it into her pocket and say thanks. [00:46:35] Speaker B: Yeah. I missed you. I missed you guys a lot. There wasn't a day when that didn't go by when I wasn't thinking about the four of you. And with that, she kind of. Her eyes just kind of look over to Arthur very, very quickly and then look back. Did also manage to find out a couple things that I think might be of interest. Especially. You've been poking around the second inquisition, more so. Has to do with me poking about Wren. There are multiple sectors of the second inquisition. I'm sure that we all know this by now. [00:47:38] Speaker A: Yeah, roughly familiar with it. [00:47:45] Speaker B: There's first lot, which I believe is the one that you're boss works under. [00:47:58] Speaker A: Sounds correct. [00:48:11] Speaker B: There is a group that is the umbrella name for all the different sects of the second Inquisition. It's called the five torches. And it's from what I was able to kind of gather while in Europe. It is the five different sections. The five different sections that deal with every aspect of hunting stupid fucks. Like, fucking blank bodies and the loop hats. Um, apparently, Rin is under one called the Society of Leopold. [00:49:01] Speaker C: Wow. [00:49:03] Speaker B: Um. Religious nut jobs. [00:49:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:49:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:49:16] Speaker B: Couldn't get a whole lot of information on the other three, but I learned plenty about the first lot. Go government. And I learned a little bit more about the society, um, under protection at the Vatican. Uh, no digital copies of anything from what I was able to find. [00:49:49] Speaker C: Sounds like Vatican. [00:49:51] Speaker B: Yeah. So I'm thinking that they're old school. Pen and paper. [00:49:55] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [00:49:59] Speaker B: Piper. [00:50:00] Speaker D: Hi. [00:50:03] Speaker E: Will you please roll me? Intelligence and streetwise. And even though you're not technically doing anything shady at the moment, I will allow you to add one extra die, because you are underground, and this is going to pull on your underground knowledge. [00:50:25] Speaker D: So I've got. So it's intelligence plus streetwise plus one. [00:50:28] Speaker E: Yep. All right. If you want to use that extra die and risk it. [00:50:34] Speaker D: Oh. It ended up coming at ten, so. [00:50:37] Speaker E: If I do forget to mark that properly, that's okay. Two successes. You, in your digging, hadn't been able to find a specific name for the second inquisition and their various agencies under their umbrella. But when Rosanna brings up first light. You remember chatting with cricket, and it was kind of a throwaway comment that cricket made about those news stories about the explosions in Chicago some time back where a nightclub called the Succubus club got hit among a few other places and practically burned to the ground. There's almost nothing left. Cricket was a choreography, but the rumors was that some shady government group calling themselves last light, dark light, you know, something like that, were responsible for it, but nobody could prove it. [00:52:21] Speaker D: First light. Were they the ones behind shit that happened in Chicago? The explosions? [00:52:31] Speaker E: Rosanna, you're not sure, but you wouldn't be surprised based on what little you found out about them. [00:52:38] Speaker B: I mean, it's very likely, um, they're a little bit shady, um, Isabella. [00:52:47] Speaker E: And you're sneaking around when your boss isn't paying attention. You've absolutely heard the name first light. You don't know if they're responsible for Chicago. Uh, but you know that you've seen that name on a couple of reports that weren't quite redacted yet, as they should have been. [00:53:06] Speaker A: Yeah. And, uh, you're pretty spot on with Alison working for them. [00:53:12] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. If we're dealing with them, we're dealing some with something bigger than. Let me put it. Let me put it in terms like this. We are very little fish, right? Incredibly, four little tiny goldfish, and we just got thrown into the Atlantic Ocean. And I don't know about the three of you, but I've got someone from the crazy religious side who wants me dead. [00:54:04] Speaker A: I think we may all because we are connected to you, be on her shit list. Probably a few down maybe. [00:54:12] Speaker B: I would say I'm definitely number one. Number two, you guys might be number five, six, and seven. [00:54:17] Speaker A: Yeah, that sounds about right. [00:54:19] Speaker D: For her, maybe. [00:54:21] Speaker E: But for her. [00:54:21] Speaker B: For her. [00:54:26] Speaker A: As we know the secrets. [00:54:29] Speaker D: Yeah, they don't tend to like us running over secrets. [00:54:32] Speaker A: They really don't. [00:54:34] Speaker B: Oh, well, maybe if they didn't want their secrets held out, they should have done a little bit better job at protecting them. That's all I'm saying. [00:54:45] Speaker E: Well. [00:54:49] Speaker C: I mean, I think it sounds like they were doing a good job of keeping them, and then you, because of your genetic ties or whatever, to your sister, got in the way. Socio spiritual, whatever the case is, I don't know. [00:55:05] Speaker D: And, you know, maybe sometimes they have difficulty hiding secrets from people that work for them or with them. [00:55:14] Speaker C: Yeah, also true. [00:55:16] Speaker B: You know. You know, also I did. [00:55:19] Speaker D: I have told that story. Right. [00:55:23] Speaker A: Probably. [00:55:28] Speaker D: How there's. There's an agent coming after me. Like I've made that. I've made that clear, right? [00:55:33] Speaker A: I think you. I vaguely remember something about that nine months ago. Um. [00:55:39] Speaker C: I'm sorry, I'm not sure that I knew that. [00:55:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't think. I don't think you told. [00:55:46] Speaker D: We were all. We were all there when the discussion of the guy going by. What was Goldbriar? Cricket mentioned it. [00:55:54] Speaker B: Who? [00:55:57] Speaker A: I think that may have been Roseanna. When Rosanna was in, I think she was unconscious. [00:56:02] Speaker C: She was unconscious, and I was mostly with her, so I don't remember this yet. [00:56:07] Speaker A: I was there. [00:56:10] Speaker D: Ah, okay. Okay. [00:56:13] Speaker A: You didn't say anything in the last nine months, so I thought you took care of it. I was expecting a call to be like, hey, help me bury a body. And I would have been like, sure, I'm with more turtle. I know places. [00:56:26] Speaker C: Yeah. And if you had called me and said, hey, I'm bearing a body, I'd been like, okay, well, the colt saw you around the neighborhood. You have an alibi. You're fine. [00:56:35] Speaker D: Yeah, the problem is, it's a lot more difficult when there's people watching. [00:56:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:56:42] Speaker D: Otherwise I would have tried to take care of it. [00:56:44] Speaker B: Oh, wait. I think I remember my sister in my dreams having some vague threat of somebody that you care about being in cahoots with somebody. It was nine months ago. It's not. [00:57:05] Speaker D: I think I know what you're talking about. I think you know what she was talking about. It's not the person she was talking about. It's not her fault. She doesn't. Okay, but she's stuck in the middle of it, and that's part of the reason that I haven't gotten involved. [00:57:23] Speaker B: Okay, I can understand that we want to get involved. [00:57:29] Speaker A: I mean, does this goldbriar know the rest of us? [00:57:35] Speaker D: I assume if they're tied up with all of the shit that we found ourselves in, then they at least got something. [00:57:47] Speaker C: I mean, I did take over as the spokesperson for a whole group, so I'm assuming people know who I am. [00:57:56] Speaker B: And if one part of via five torches knows, I can only assume that the other parts know. [00:58:08] Speaker A: That's a good assumption. [00:58:11] Speaker B: I'm just making some educated guesses here. [00:58:13] Speaker A: But, yeah, I know that from what Alison has told me, there is some separation and stuff where first light doesn't know everything that the society is doing, you know, and doesn't always have access to files or anything. [00:58:34] Speaker C: Government agencies not talking to each other, that's unheard of. [00:58:37] Speaker E: So. [00:58:38] Speaker A: Unheard of. Yeah. I think this time, though, they might argue for separation of church and state. [00:58:44] Speaker C: Hmm. [00:58:48] Speaker B: Um, well. Oh, Arthur and actually, everybody. Do you remember Zoe's friend? Not Zoe. Victoria's friend. Hmm. Sorry. I was vibing with a chick named Zoe for a little while there. The one that was supposed to come and collect the body. [00:59:12] Speaker D: Dietrich. [00:59:14] Speaker B: Dietrich, yeah. [00:59:15] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, yeah. [00:59:15] Speaker D: First sugar daddy. Yeah. [00:59:17] Speaker B: Yeah, he's, like, missing. [00:59:21] Speaker C: That explains why he didn't answer our phone calls. [00:59:24] Speaker B: Yeah. So, see, it's funny, because I went down, like, a little weird rabbit hole because I was trying to get a hold of him, like, a couple months ago, because I, you know, just wanted to check in. I hadn't heard from him in a little bit, and in the whole thing with. With Victoria, so I called him. No answer. So I decided, you know, mental health check in, maybe. Maybe see if he'd be willing to talk to me in person. So I kind of drove out to his house. [00:59:55] Speaker C: Uh, yeah, the worded compound. [00:59:59] Speaker B: Oh, it's for sale. [01:00:02] Speaker A: Did, uh. It was. I'm. I've only heard the name a few times. This person, uh. Do they. Are they a hunter? [01:00:11] Speaker E: Not that I know. [01:00:12] Speaker B: Not that I know. But it was kind of weird, though, so. But let me. Let me get back into this. So I spoke with the real estate agent, and I found out that it's his brother that selling the house. And anytime somebody brings up Dietrich's the brother, he gets all freaky deaky. [01:00:31] Speaker C: Hmm. [01:00:33] Speaker B: So. Oh, and the the little tumblers, the ones that were inserted into the dirt. [01:00:39] Speaker C: For voodoo jars or whatever. [01:00:41] Speaker B: The voodoo jars? Yeah. [01:00:44] Speaker C: He had sort of witch jars with, like, folky magic stuff in them that were protecting compound. That's what we mean by he was a little weird. He wasn't a hunter, but he. He just grew up with that culture and something or whatever. He just had a liking to it and was using it in a very effective way. [01:01:04] Speaker B: Mm hmm. Um, well, quiet had dug up one of the. One of the bottles. They weren't there, but I found, like, shards of glass that definitely looked like those bottles and the little, like, ringlets from, like, the mason jars. So I don't want to. I'll be honest. I don't think he's dead. I think that death is just too convenient for this. [01:01:38] Speaker C: So you think something or someone went at him and the jars did their job, but ultimately, ultimately, he's not there anymore. [01:01:49] Speaker B: Yeah, he either escaped and is wiping himself clean, or he got it. [01:01:57] Speaker A: Been the same people who have Victoria's body. I mean, it might be Lil Nas society. Yeah, I didn't exactly exchange numbers with the person we talked to, so. But. [01:02:16] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm gonna try to do a little bit of a digging into that, see if maybe we can get some answers on that as well. [01:02:24] Speaker D: Yeah, I can. I can start poking. I'm see what I can find. [01:02:28] Speaker C: I mean, we got some information about them before. They're vampire makers. That's what we know. But, uh, why would they want Dietrich? That's the real question. I mean, aside from the connection between them and Victoria. [01:02:43] Speaker B: Money. [01:02:45] Speaker C: Good point. [01:02:46] Speaker B: I mean, the guy was, what, super rich, at least? [01:02:49] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. [01:02:50] Speaker B: I mean. [01:02:54] Speaker C: He could afford Victoria, so. That was a joke. It was a joke. I'm sorry. [01:03:00] Speaker B: Victoria's dip. [01:03:01] Speaker C: She was a good friend. [01:03:02] Speaker B: Yeah, she was. [01:03:03] Speaker A: Rest in peace. [01:03:07] Speaker B: Anyway, moving on. Yeah, but, yeah, I don't necessarily think that he's dead. [01:03:16] Speaker A: Yeah, that would be too easy. [01:03:18] Speaker B: Way too easy. [01:03:20] Speaker D: We want to figure out if he's dead. Probably. Fine. Something. At least get confirmation. [01:03:32] Speaker A: I mean, there's the whole, I see ghosts. [01:03:35] Speaker D: Well, I was smart talking about that database. [01:03:40] Speaker A: That would actually probably be the easier way, because we could do that here rather than, I don't know, me wandering around the property being like, hi, Dietrich. Is your ghost here? [01:03:50] Speaker B: Yeah, probably. That also require us to drive out to. He was in Texas, right? Storyteller? [01:04:01] Speaker E: Who? Dietrich? [01:04:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:04:04] Speaker E: No, he's in New Orleans. Yeah, he was in New Orleans, Louisiana. Near New Orleans. [01:04:08] Speaker C: Super close to the compound. [01:04:10] Speaker B: Right, right. Well, it's either. Well, that and, you know, I don't want to drive all the way out to New Orleans. Um, not again. Not. Not yet. [01:04:19] Speaker C: Not today. No. [01:04:21] Speaker B: Yeah, we just. Just got here. I gotta stretch my legs. Um, but I also have a contact who's working on, um, helping us do a little bit of a token, especially about the jars. Um, I don't know the first thing that comes to any of that type of magic mind, but I know people who know a thing or two, so having them look into it. [01:04:56] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:05:01] Speaker D: Oh, where do we start? [01:05:09] Speaker A: That is my question. [01:05:12] Speaker D: I want to talk about it. I think the most easily accessible thing would be dealing with my shit here. [01:05:19] Speaker C: Yeah. Also, it gives me an excuse to check in with the branch out here, just to make sure everything is good. But that's just an excuse. It's not why I'm here. I'm here to help. Here to hunt. And I told Katie Lynn I was just coming out to check on the group at here. No, I was. I was honest with her. We were getting back together. She knows. Speaking of which, I gotta be back by Friday because it's date night. [01:05:49] Speaker A: It's kind of adorable. [01:05:53] Speaker B: We'll be back by Friday. [01:05:55] Speaker C: Oh, you guys can stay. I just gotta. Gotta get back by Friday myself. [01:06:00] Speaker A: I gotta. [01:06:01] Speaker B: I gotta check on the house anyway, make sure that nobody broke in or, uh, burnt it. [01:06:09] Speaker C: It's fine. [01:06:12] Speaker E: I'm sure everything will be great. [01:06:15] Speaker D: Yeah. If you need somebody to keep eyes on something, I can do it from pretty much anywhere. [01:06:22] Speaker C: I mean, I could also, you know, have some of the guys go check it every now and then. Easy enough. Just a phone call or two. [01:06:32] Speaker B: Some things in my house I do not wish for. Um. [01:06:37] Speaker C: I mean, they wouldn't go inside unless you wanted them to. They would just check the outside, make sure it didn't look like anyone had got in. [01:06:43] Speaker B: That's why I want to go and check it out. You and I both know that there are ways for people who we don't want in our business getting into our business. No matter how many times we bolt lock our doors. [01:07:04] Speaker A: The magic. [01:07:08] Speaker B: Or the lock picking. [01:07:10] Speaker A: That's how well. So, piper, your problem. [01:07:19] Speaker C: Hmm? [01:07:22] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:07:23] Speaker A: What are we. Are we literally going to bury a body? [01:07:32] Speaker D: I do not want to. [01:07:35] Speaker A: So what, just scare him off? [01:07:46] Speaker D: I mean, we can try as much as I. Like I said, I don't want to bury a body, but we might have to. Problem is, if we do, then that's kind of bigger target on us. [01:08:03] Speaker A: Yeah. If we do, we have to be incredibly careful. We have to make sure that this person, like, disappears, because if they're at. And we have to make sure that no ties come back to us. Because if we are sloppy about it and ties come back to us, we will. Yeah. The kind of a they will bring. They will rain hell down on us. [01:08:48] Speaker D: Yeah, that's gonna be easier said than done, I think. [01:08:52] Speaker A: Really, the important thing is making sure your girlfriend is safe. [01:09:00] Speaker D: He's not gonna do anything to her. As long as I don't do anything. [01:09:06] Speaker A: Yeah, but we can get her out of there. We can get her to a different location, so therefore we can deal with him. And she's not in the crossfire. We can take her to the compound. There's a lot of places there to just lay low for a bit. [01:09:39] Speaker B: We could take her out of California. [01:09:41] Speaker A: That too. [01:09:43] Speaker D: I'll just have something to explain first. [01:09:49] Speaker C: Oh, yeah, that's a. That's a tough conversation. [01:09:53] Speaker A: I got super lucky that my guys saw, like, a vampire and a vampire deep blood magics. That was a lot less. I had to des. I had to explain. [01:10:05] Speaker D: I'm gonna try to avoid talking about that as much as possible. And more talking about why the government of after. [01:10:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [01:10:10] Speaker C: That might be a. Oh, yeah. [01:10:14] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:10:18] Speaker A: What does your partner think you do for a living? [01:10:23] Speaker C: Crypto trading. That's a word I heard recently, right? That's a thing. That is a job. Yeah. [01:10:31] Speaker D: I think I just have a. [01:10:32] Speaker B: Not a real job. [01:10:33] Speaker D: I just do it work. [01:10:35] Speaker A: Okay. [01:10:35] Speaker D: Sometimes I have to fly out and deal with problems more person because computer systems can be a pain in the ass. [01:10:47] Speaker B: Well, at least it's not crypto training. [01:10:54] Speaker E: Oh, come on, everybody to make me. Wits and awareness rolls, please. [01:11:01] Speaker B: Okay. Yes. [01:11:15] Speaker D: I am nothing if not consistent. [01:11:18] Speaker E: That's two for isabelle, two for Piper, six for Arthur, two for legacy. What is happening that Arthur gets the most on a role that isn't combat? [01:11:34] Speaker C: I mean, awareness is the second best thing. [01:11:37] Speaker E: Yeah, I was, like, the best thing. Still. You rolled 210s. That's impressive. So everybody hears this, but Arthur hears it first. There's a commotion outside, and while the ladies all kind of immediately go a little tense. Arthur, you hear it, and for just a second, you tense up, and then you realize what's happening. Um, because you've heard this sort of scuffle before. Uh, the guys are outside. I was gonna say they're fucking around and being dumbasses, but because of the former military, their version of fucking around is beating the crap out of each other. [01:12:29] Speaker A: Oh, I'll make sure to have the first aid kit handy. [01:12:34] Speaker E: The rest of you don't know what's happening. All you know is that there's a scuffle outside and Gozer is barking at the door. [01:12:44] Speaker B: He's gonna. Rosanna's immediately just gonna touch her chest and begin to pull out her long waist. [01:12:56] Speaker C: Come down, everyone. It's the guys. You know, been a while since I've seen each other nut tapping. Whatever it is they do is happening out there. Well, maybe we can go check anyway. [01:13:10] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll go. [01:13:11] Speaker E: As a reminder, your bow doesn't come out of your chest. It comes out of your hands. [01:13:15] Speaker B: Oh, right. It's just tattooed him. [01:13:18] Speaker E: The tattoo lives on your chest. [01:13:20] Speaker A: Yep. [01:13:22] Speaker B: It's fine, it's fine. It's. Listen, listen. I, as a member of a specific committee, feel like my extra pocket space should be used. [01:13:38] Speaker A: Your extra dimensional pocket space? [01:13:40] Speaker D: It's not even a real pocket. You're pulling it out of nowhere. [01:13:46] Speaker B: No, I'm pulling it. I'm pulling it and pulling it. [01:13:49] Speaker C: Where else would your bag of holding be, exactly? [01:13:53] Speaker A: Isabel puts away a gun that you didn't even see her draw. [01:13:58] Speaker E: Marsana has enough cleavage to hide a dictionary. [01:14:02] Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. [01:14:03] Speaker E: That's what I'm saying. [01:14:04] Speaker B: I'm just saying, going to the nightclubs with me, you're gonna have the cheapest experience ever. Because I can hide, like, liquor bottles in these things. [01:14:12] Speaker C: No. [01:14:13] Speaker D: Yeah, that's why. [01:14:15] Speaker E: Yeah. Yeah. [01:14:16] Speaker B: Wait a minute. [01:14:20] Speaker C: Oh, well, that was said. [01:14:28] Speaker E: Here for. [01:14:29] Speaker B: A fun time, not a long time. Okay? [01:14:31] Speaker D: We all know how people tend to. [01:14:33] Speaker E: Piper gets an extra die on her next social role for that turn. [01:14:42] Speaker C: Izzy, you said you had a first aid kit? [01:14:44] Speaker A: Yeah, it's in the bathroom. Do. [01:14:48] Speaker C: Does Patty and tov, have they not. Do they not have health insurance? I mean, I pay them enough. [01:14:55] Speaker A: It's just. [01:14:56] Speaker C: But you're right. [01:14:57] Speaker A: Somebody's. [01:14:58] Speaker C: You know, they're those guys who don't go see a doctor even if their leg is broken. I get it. Yeah. [01:15:03] Speaker A: Look, I'm the closest thing I've seen. They've probably seen to a doctor in a while. [01:15:09] Speaker C: I mean, you're the closest thing I've seen to a doctor in a while, so I actually absolutely understand them. [01:15:13] Speaker E: I just want to point out, out of character, that you are literally a doctor. You have to be. [01:15:17] Speaker A: Yeah. It's fair. Yes, I am. [01:15:23] Speaker B: Arthur, Arthur, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. We're going to take my two steps. Zach, you are telling me that in the months that you've been living with your wife, she has not told you to go see a doctor? I find that very hard to believe. [01:15:34] Speaker C: Oh, I know. We've had this discussion. I mean, we have our own kind of doctors on the compound. You know, people mostly on my own, yeah, but. Yeah, no, she's talked to me about seeing a doctor. We've talked about it for sure. But, you know, I see the clinician that we have at the compound that checks me out there. The one out here is much better, so I've stopped in to talk to them when I've been out here. [01:16:07] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:16:07] Speaker B: Mister Arthur. [01:16:10] Speaker A: I'm gonna go. [01:16:12] Speaker C: You know, helps a lot of things. [01:16:14] Speaker A: Don't even start with the help of gonna just make sure that nobody's getting grievously injured. [01:16:20] Speaker D: Yeah, Piper is gonna go look like. Okay, what are these fuckers doing? [01:16:26] Speaker E: Yeah, you all get to the window or to the door, and Isabelle opens, like, the actual door so that you guys are looking through the screen door. [01:16:39] Speaker C: Piper, how do you wear these inside all of the time? I'm just like. I feel like I'm blind right now. [01:16:47] Speaker D: You get used to it. [01:16:48] Speaker C: Okay, thanks. [01:16:50] Speaker D: I'd rather have difficulty seeing than not. [01:16:53] Speaker C: Have these right then. The mind control. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, I understand. [01:16:59] Speaker E: Okay. Isabelle opens the door so that she and Rosanna can look outside, and the boys are. It's hard to tell who's winning. Patti is, like, balanced on 1ft. Tov has one of his legs, like he is trying to haul him up off of his feet altogether. Quiet has an arm, like, around his throat, not in a full on chokehold, but obviously trying to pull him backwards off of his feet. But it's quiet. And Tov artful, fully communicating what they're trying to do. And so Patty is sort of flailing. And then you guys watch as Patty reaches up and wraps his arms around quiet and throws his entire body weight in one direction. And he and quiet go tumbling into what turns out to be a fairly muddy front yard because it rained recently. [01:18:15] Speaker C: Arthur pulls out a 20 and goes 20 on Patty. [01:18:21] Speaker B: And also. Hi, America. My name is Rosanna, and you're watching jackass. What is going on? [01:18:30] Speaker A: It's just been fit. [01:18:32] Speaker E: Are you leaving the screen door open, or are you guys headed outside to actually watch properly? [01:18:37] Speaker B: Oh, I'm watching this. [01:18:38] Speaker D: Are we gonna go outside and watch properly? [01:18:41] Speaker A: Like, I sit on the front steps and watch. [01:18:43] Speaker E: Excellent. The second the screen door is open, goes or joins the fray, and now it is a ball of furry fury in the middle of it all. [01:18:58] Speaker B: 20 on Gozer. [01:19:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I'll take the money on Gozer. [01:19:05] Speaker E: It takes a hot minute before it's clear who goesr is whose team Gozer is on, because 1 minute he seems like he's on Patti's team, and then he seems like he's on top's team, and then he might be on Quiet's team. And after a while, you realize that what's really happening is Gozer is so excited and so into the moment that he is just running around because he's happy. But the problem is, every time he makes a pass, he takes somebody's feet up from underneath of them. Oh, of course. So the boys manage to get up, return to wrestling each other, and then Gozer knocks somebody off their feet, and they all go falling again. [01:19:51] Speaker B: I turn to Arthur and reach out my hand. You bet. 20 on path. [01:19:56] Speaker C: That was before Gozer was on the fray, and I. [01:19:58] Speaker B: They changed it. But that's all right. [01:20:01] Speaker C: Whatever. It's fine. I'll keep it on patty. It's fine. [01:20:06] Speaker B: Okay. You should go roughly. [01:20:10] Speaker E: Okay. [01:20:12] Speaker C: No, thanks. [01:20:13] Speaker B: No. [01:20:14] Speaker A: And you can kind of just see Isabel just smiling at them. [01:20:20] Speaker C: No, no, no. These guys do this. This is what they do. So not gonna get in the middle of that. [01:20:26] Speaker B: What, mister? Hand to hand. I mean, press it with the best of them. Come on. [01:20:34] Speaker C: Yeah, but only if the best of them are monsters. I don't. Can't count. Fair. Fair. [01:20:51] Speaker E: Um. It is about this time that it seems to occur to the boys that they're no longer alone. It's not just gozer that's outside. Quiet's head sort of snaps up in time to see Rosanna smiling and waving, and he just sort of, like, clears his throat and nudges the other boys. And there's sort of this, like, mutual moment where they're trying to decide if they're embarrassed or not. But eventually, quiet sort of throws his arms around the necks of the two slightly taller gentlemen and just sort of looks over at CC. Compartmentalization or you work your shit out. We worked our shit out. [01:21:55] Speaker B: Yeah. And the dog still managed to kick all three of your asses, so. [01:22:00] Speaker C: I. [01:22:01] Speaker D: Don'T even think he was trying. [01:22:04] Speaker A: That's just how well I've trained him. [01:22:09] Speaker E: He also knows nobody's gonna hit him back. [01:22:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:22:12] Speaker E: Cheater. Oh, well, did you enjoy the show from tov? [01:22:25] Speaker A: Oh, of course. [01:22:29] Speaker C: I mean, no clear winner, so. And Arthur just separates the money. Yeah, there's 25. [01:22:40] Speaker E: I mean, I feel like we have a clear winner. And quiet just sort of gestures to the dog. [01:22:49] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Clear winner. She'll look at Arthur, just smile. [01:22:56] Speaker C: Yeah, go buy something nice. Arthur just hands her the 20. [01:22:59] Speaker B: Thank you. Thank you. [01:23:01] Speaker D: Solid 70% chance I got you that money. [01:23:05] Speaker C: I mean, 95% chance that you gave me the money. [01:23:09] Speaker D: You've got cash hiding in random places. I don't fucking know. [01:23:14] Speaker C: Yes. And it will continue to remain squirreled away because who knows what will happen with the IR's? [01:23:27] Speaker A: Maybe we should sic the IR's on a vampire. That would be really kind of fun. [01:23:33] Speaker D: I can probably make that happen. [01:23:39] Speaker A: You know, like a vampire that's been around for, like, 60 years. They've gotta slate. Probably owe some back taxes. [01:23:45] Speaker B: Oh, probably. And if anything, all it's. I mean, if anything, at the very least, it's gonna majorly inconvenience them for at least five to seven years. [01:23:55] Speaker A: Oh, of course. [01:23:58] Speaker D: We're getting wildly off track. [01:24:00] Speaker A: Oh, of course. [01:24:01] Speaker B: Yes. [01:24:02] Speaker D: We should figure out how to deal with the problems that we're dealing with now and not the potential future vampire problems. [01:24:08] Speaker A: Yeah. We should also eat the food that's here. [01:24:12] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. [01:24:13] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. Food. Yeah. [01:24:15] Speaker D: Yeah, that's right. [01:24:18] Speaker B: You've been eating right, Piper. [01:24:22] Speaker D: I haven't died yet. [01:24:23] Speaker B: Pepper? [01:24:24] Speaker A: That's not an answer. [01:24:26] Speaker E: Eat. [01:24:27] Speaker A: As your doctor, I recommend that you eat. [01:24:31] Speaker B: As a doctor, I also recommend you. [01:24:34] Speaker D: I've been eating. [01:24:39] Speaker C: As your spiritual advisor, I recommend eating. [01:24:43] Speaker B: See? Two doctors and a spiritual fazer. [01:24:47] Speaker C: On paper, anyway. I know that you don't have faith in the faith. It's fine. You'd be real. Sometimes I'm. [01:24:55] Speaker A: This is like real food with multiple food groups. [01:25:01] Speaker B: Don't make me get the bok choy again. [01:25:05] Speaker E: Quiet. Sort of. [01:25:06] Speaker A: Oh, no. [01:25:10] Speaker B: Oh, wait. [01:25:10] Speaker E: Sorry. [01:25:11] Speaker A: Hold on. [01:25:11] Speaker B: Wrong person. Arthur, go make me get the box. [01:25:17] Speaker C: Still not sure what that is, but okay. [01:25:25] Speaker B: It's good to be back. [01:25:27] Speaker E: Food. Isabelle, the boys are walking towards your front door. They are still muddy at first. [01:25:39] Speaker A: You do definitely don't want. No. No mud in the house, remember? [01:25:47] Speaker E: But food. [01:25:53] Speaker A: Clean off. And then food. [01:25:57] Speaker E: But the shower's inside. [01:26:00] Speaker A: Okay. [01:26:01] Speaker D: I'm sure I can go find a house. [01:26:03] Speaker C: Catch 22. [01:26:06] Speaker E: Isabelle, there is, in fact, a hose on the side of the house. [01:26:09] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:26:10] Speaker E: And the boys were hoping that nobody would mention it so that they could go this time and clean off normally. And the second piper says, I'm sure I could find a hose, all three of them. Give Piper the dirtiest look. [01:26:25] Speaker A: At least clean off the shoes. [01:26:31] Speaker E: All right, all right, fine, fine. There's a lot of manly grumbling. [01:26:39] Speaker C: Arthur just looks at me. Guys, welcome to my world. [01:26:45] Speaker E: Hey. But you deserve it. We have ten minutes of fun, and this is the shit we eat. [01:26:52] Speaker A: I'll make it up to you later. [01:26:56] Speaker E: Oh, you certainly will. [01:26:59] Speaker D: Yikes. [01:26:59] Speaker C: I'm gonna go inside. [01:27:00] Speaker D: Just walks inside. [01:27:06] Speaker E: All right. You all head inside to start divvying out food. The boys manage to. They make their way in about ten minutes later. They have divested themselves of muddy shoes and socks, have rolled their jeans up in the most comical manner so that they can walk through the house without trailing mud all over everything. And they disappear into the two bathrooms in the back of the house to change. Quiet shows up about 15 minutes later, fully cleaned and in fresh clothes. [01:27:46] Speaker C: Yeah, I was thinking of the rV, but Piper said hoes first, so. [01:27:50] Speaker E: Well, you have the sneaking suspicion that quiet went to the rv, smart guy. So, what's for dinner, Isabel? [01:28:09] Speaker A: I think it's. I've been put on the spot. [01:28:19] Speaker E: Yep. [01:28:21] Speaker A: I think it is something that my brain immediately went to. Shepherd's pie. [01:28:30] Speaker E: Excellent. [01:28:31] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:28:32] Speaker E: Patty heartily approves, even though it's not technically shepherd's pie the way that Americans make it. It's cottage pie because it's made with beef and not lamb. But he still heartily approves because it. [01:28:48] Speaker A: Tastes like home, various other sundries, some nice bread and everything to go with it. [01:28:57] Speaker E: You found out after you moved in with them that Tov is pretty damn good baker and really enjoys making bread. You have the sneaking suspicion that it is because at least a little bit, he gets out some of his stress by kneading the dough when he's annoyed with things. Or he needs to think, because you have more than once walked into the kitchen at an obnoxiously early hour in the morning to find him beating the shit out of bread dough. [01:29:29] Speaker A: Yeah, that checks out. And plenty of wine and drinks for everyone. [01:29:37] Speaker E: You all had dinner and then, I assume, retired to bed for the night. Yes. Is there anything anybody wanted to do in the evening before bed? [01:29:57] Speaker C: Arthur would just want to touch base with Piper on some of the things that they've been trying to work on together, but not anything that we need to go in depth about. [01:30:05] Speaker E: All right, very cool. Is there something you wanted to talk about during stream, Arthur? No. Are you sure? Okay. All right, very cool. Um, I'm going to assume that Isabelle prepared the two guest rooms for Arthur and Piper to take so that quiet and Rosanna could have the rv to themselves. Yes. [01:30:43] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, Arthur. Arthur could sleep on a couch. It's fine. [01:30:47] Speaker A: Yeah, the guest room. [01:30:48] Speaker C: Okay. Yeah. Good, good. [01:30:54] Speaker E: Excellent. In the morning. [01:30:58] Speaker D: So I just realized, I can't believe there's not a fucking insomnia in fifth edition. [01:31:04] Speaker C: There should be. [01:31:05] Speaker D: There should be an insomnia flaw. [01:31:08] Speaker E: That's awesome. Let's focus, Gus. Um, in the morning. Piper. [01:31:18] Speaker D: Yo. [01:31:19] Speaker E: Okay. Actually, no. Piper was not usually the first person up. Piper was usually one of the last people up because she doesn't sleep. [01:31:31] Speaker A: I do. I do think that Isabelle has actually, like, become a morning person in the last nine months. [01:31:37] Speaker E: Isabel has not had a choice because Isabelle has a job. [01:31:40] Speaker A: Yeah, a job that makes my story today rather than at night. [01:31:45] Speaker E: Isabelle, you and Patty and tov all kind of wake up at roughly the same time. It used to be that they were always up before even you, but they have kind of trained themselves to sleep a little bit later so that they don't wake you up at the obnoxious hours of the morning anymore. At the very least, they have trained themselves to not get out of bed until it is around the time that you need to wake up. And Arthur leaves his room about an hour after Isabella and the boys are up to find Isabelle working on breakfast and tov beating the crap out of bread dough. Patty is nowhere to be seen. Isabelle, you know that Patty had a shift over at the compound today, so he left shortly after having a quick breakfast with you and Rosanna. And quiet wake up shortly thereafter in the rv. Um, quiet is. Is happy to chill in the rv for a little while to let Rosanna kind of wake up nice and slow. Um, so it's not this super abrupt wake up in a place that she doesn't recognize. Um, but eventually, you all make your way inside to the breakfast table, and Piper is the last one to shuffle in, mostly called by the siren song of coffee. [01:33:40] Speaker A: There is plenty. [01:33:45] Speaker E: And as soon as piper sort of shuffles in, Tov quietly pushes a large mug of black coffee towards her like it's a peace offering. But he's not saying a word. [01:34:01] Speaker D: She just nods and takes it. [01:34:12] Speaker B: All right, everyone. [01:34:14] Speaker A: Morning. [01:34:20] Speaker E: Mm hmm. [01:34:23] Speaker B: Y'all sleep well? [01:34:26] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:34:29] Speaker D: Slept. [01:34:36] Speaker B: That's good. [01:34:39] Speaker A: Let's eat breakfast, and then we can figure out what the plan is for the day. [01:34:45] Speaker C: That was gonna be my question. [01:34:49] Speaker B: Uh, St. [01:34:52] Speaker E: Yes. [01:34:53] Speaker B: Do I make my willpower roll now? [01:34:55] Speaker E: Yes. [01:34:56] Speaker B: Okay. [01:34:57] Speaker A: I will also have spent my willpower for the day to, uh, stave off the curse. [01:35:05] Speaker E: Yes, ma'am. [01:35:15] Speaker B: Three. I don't like the silence. [01:35:33] Speaker E: Sorry. Sorry. I was sneezing, and I didn't want to sneeze into everybody's ear, you know, asmr up a. That was for your nightmares role, correct? [01:35:52] Speaker B: Yeah. [01:35:52] Speaker D: Yep. [01:35:53] Speaker E: Yeah, you're fine then you had a nice, peaceful, peaceful night. You have always found it easier to sleep soundly when quiet is with you. [01:36:20] Speaker B: So after breakfast, I think that it might be best if we just get started. [01:36:29] Speaker A: Yeah. Figure out what our plan is. [01:36:33] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:36:39] Speaker C: I mean, I think this time we can be a little bit more proactive rather than reactive. [01:36:45] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. [01:36:47] Speaker C: So we're always kind of going from point to point and trying to figure out what's following us, what's hunting us. But I think this time, we might be able to bring it to them. [01:36:58] Speaker A: Yeah, well, I think should focus on getting Piper's partner out of danger. I think that should be our first order of business. [01:37:11] Speaker C: I agree with that. I agree with that. I can understand the feeling, Piper. [01:37:24] Speaker D: So I guess step one would be figuring out where we're gonna take her. [01:37:29] Speaker A: You think the compound is the best bet? [01:37:33] Speaker C: We've got people there? [01:37:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:37:43] Speaker D: Step two is making it not look like a kidnapping. [01:37:48] Speaker A: Well, she is your girlfriend. [01:37:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:37:54] Speaker D: Yeah, that's. That's. That's where the whole me planning comes into play. Just gonna be. It'll be interesting. And that's part of the reason that I haven't done anything about it so. [01:38:13] Speaker A: Far because. [01:38:18] Speaker D: She hasn't actually been in danger till this point that we're back together. [01:38:26] Speaker A: So it should be super easy to be like, hi, babe, come with me. [01:38:33] Speaker C: Yeah, we're gonna go check out this cool thing I heard about. It's like a tent community. We have houses. We have houses. It's not that weird. Just this quaint little community that I was looking into or something. I don't know how you twist it, but, you know, you get where I'm going. We have really great Hoa. Setups and that we don't have any choice, so. [01:39:06] Speaker A: Piper, I feel like there's something you're not telling us. [01:39:12] Speaker D: No, I'm just. I don't. I don't want this to go sideways. I mean, and if it does, I don't want you all to be stuck in the middle pauper. [01:39:26] Speaker A: I think it's too late for that. [01:39:27] Speaker B: Little too late for that. [01:39:28] Speaker A: Yeah, just a little too late. [01:39:30] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [01:39:31] Speaker B: Let's face it. We're all stuck together. Entertained. [01:39:39] Speaker A: So, um, I was worried you're about to say, like, oh, yeah, I haven't actually talked to my partner in nine months, and I was gonna be real mad at you. [01:39:48] Speaker B: I don't know why, but the first thing that my mind was, I hate the hoa. [01:39:52] Speaker C: But, yeah, that's why we don't have any. [01:39:56] Speaker B: Yeah, that's why. [01:40:02] Speaker D: I've been suffering. Not that terrible, but. [01:40:08] Speaker A: Does your partner think that, you know, you're in California? [01:40:16] Speaker D: Uh, storyteller? That would have been something I told her. [01:40:20] Speaker E: Realistically, we had multiple conversations about this. At no point did you ever mention that you were telling her that you were back in town, so. No. [01:40:29] Speaker D: Okay. [01:40:30] Speaker E: Especially because she would have insisted on seeing you if you had. [01:40:35] Speaker D: To be fair, you also said that we were tabling this to happen on screen. [01:40:39] Speaker E: No, I said we were tabling the big conversation to happen on screen. [01:40:46] Speaker C: And here we are. [01:40:47] Speaker E: The big one. [01:40:48] Speaker D: Yeah, well, I. I will say I think. I think we're about to have that conversation. [01:40:53] Speaker E: Yeah. [01:40:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:40:56] Speaker E: Well, but if you had been communicating with her during this entire nine month stretch and told her that you were in California, she would have insisted on seeing you, and things would have gotten real awkward. [01:41:11] Speaker D: Yeah. So probably has not communicated. She's back in California. [01:41:14] Speaker A: Well, now would actually be probably a pretty good time. We can set up a meeting in a neutral area, go for brunch or something. [01:41:35] Speaker B: At least me and her. For the first time, I don't think that the second talk with her should happen over brunch. [01:41:44] Speaker A: Oh, true. I was thinking the talk would actually happen after we got into the compound. Yeah, yeah, we'd meet there, and then through whatever we get her, that's gonna. I don't know, this person. This is gonna be all on piper to convince her to go to the compound with us. [01:42:06] Speaker D: Yeah, I'll see what I can do. [01:42:12] Speaker B: Do you want us nearby? [01:42:18] Speaker D: Uh, nearby? Yeah. [01:42:20] Speaker C: Okay. [01:42:23] Speaker B: I figured you didn't want to sit next to you holding your hand as you were having this talk with her now. [01:42:28] Speaker D: Yeah, this is. I would prefer it be as private a conversation. [01:42:38] Speaker B: Yeah, well, you take your. [01:42:41] Speaker A: Yeah, if. If your shadow does happen to appear while you're at brunch, we can. I don't know, we'll figure it out. [01:42:51] Speaker B: Yeah, I'll talk to him. [01:42:53] Speaker A: Yeah, Rosanna will talk to him. [01:42:56] Speaker D: All right. [01:42:57] Speaker B: Don't worry, I'm charming. [01:43:00] Speaker A: It's either that or, you know, he gets to meet Gozer. [01:43:05] Speaker E: What could possibly go wrong? All things. So is that the plan? You're gonna call your partner for maybe the second or third time in nine months? [01:43:27] Speaker D: I think this will be the second or third actual conversation. [01:43:34] Speaker E: Cool. Awesome. [01:43:38] Speaker B: Awesome. [01:43:42] Speaker E: You know how we gave Arthur no end of shit last season? Oh, yeah. [01:43:45] Speaker D: No, I fully deserve this. [01:43:49] Speaker C: Oh, yeah. I was like, oh, my, how the tables have turned. [01:43:53] Speaker E: My, how the turns have tabled. All right, Piper, how are you gonna get in touch with your. With your lady love? Uh, it is technically a workday. [01:44:08] Speaker D: Hmm. That does make things more difficult. [01:44:14] Speaker E: Yeah, maybe a little. [01:44:18] Speaker A: Oh, do I have to work? It's a work day. [01:44:21] Speaker E: We're gonna say that you took some vacation time. You don't have a ton saved up, but you have enough that you can. [01:44:28] Speaker A: Handle a couple hours. Taking a few hours. [01:44:31] Speaker E: Yeah. It's awful awkward when it has to be you, isn't it? [01:44:42] Speaker D: A little bit, yeah. I think knowing that it's a work day, and also knowing that she works with the guy that we're trying to take care of, Piper would start off just by probably just texting her, hey, gonna be back in town. Give me a call when you free up. And I think probably leave it there. [01:45:19] Speaker E: You immediately get a text back. When are you going to be here? [01:45:30] Speaker D: About what time is it right now? [01:45:33] Speaker E: You guys just had dinner or not dinner. Breakfast. That was a late breakfast because it's you probably at about 10:30 a.m. Maybe eleven. [01:45:55] Speaker D: She'll text back. Should be about noon. [01:46:02] Speaker B: Oh. [01:46:06] Speaker E: Where. Where do you want to meet up? I mean, we're obviously going to meet up right? [01:46:11] Speaker D: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. [01:46:14] Speaker E: Cool. Cause it's been, like, almost two months. [01:46:21] Speaker B: Been there. [01:46:21] Speaker C: Piper, feel that. [01:46:27] Speaker D: Yeah, she'll suggest, like, a diner that they probably have gone to quite a few times. [01:46:36] Speaker E: Okay, I'll be there. [01:46:40] Speaker D: All right. [01:46:48] Speaker E: You do note that that last text message has period at the end of it. [01:46:53] Speaker D: I figured. All right, well. [01:47:05] Speaker E: That long pregnant pause. [01:47:10] Speaker D: Not much we can do right now. Or really not much we can do about it at this point. [01:47:15] Speaker E: Well, it's gonna take a little bit for you guys to get there. It's probably. Probably close to an hour drive just to get to where it is, because while you've been in California, you have not been, like, right around the corner. So. [01:47:35] Speaker D: Frederick. [01:47:36] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [01:47:37] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. [01:47:38] Speaker C: Got the rv stocked and loaded and full of gas. [01:47:43] Speaker A: Quiet. [01:47:46] Speaker E: Quiet sort of looks from one person to the next. And then over at Rosanna, leans over and kisses her on the cheek. Uh, I think I'm gonna go with the guys and see if I could help out on the compound at all. This seems like a personal mission. [01:48:08] Speaker B: All right. Just be safe. [01:48:16] Speaker E: I could say the same to you. I'm probably just gonna go help, like, mend fences and stuff. I think I'll be all right. I'm more concerned that your friend might not come back in one piece. He kind of gives Piper a sympathetic look. [01:48:34] Speaker B: I'll keep you updated. [01:48:38] Speaker E: Okay. You get another kiss. This one on top of the head. Tov pours two travel mugs of coffee, one for him and one for quiet. Gooses Isabelle's ass. And then they head for the door. Tom is a man of few words. [01:49:14] Speaker A: But, uh, louder than words. [01:49:17] Speaker E: He lets you know that he's thinking about you and most specifically, dad ass. [01:49:24] Speaker A: Yep. [01:49:25] Speaker E: Um, all right, you all have about an hour, hour and a half to get there. It's about an hour long drive. [01:49:42] Speaker A: Are we taking multiple cars? [01:49:45] Speaker C: We can all fit in the rv. [01:49:47] Speaker D: I think we should pick multiple cars. [01:49:50] Speaker A: The rv is not exactly the most stealthy, and I mean, that. [01:49:54] Speaker B: Fair. [01:49:55] Speaker E: Fair. [01:49:56] Speaker B: Well, I don't have a car right now, but I've BP. Would you say that we brought the bikes with us? [01:50:09] Speaker E: Could have, yeah. [01:50:11] Speaker B: Cool. I've got a motorcycle. [01:50:14] Speaker E: It would have required a little bit of dismantling of the surgery because the surgery was built into the rvs. Like, built in garage. Yeah. So you would have had to move the, like, surgical table that's usually in the middle that Isabel works from. You would have had to, like, unbolt it from the floor so that you had room for the bikes. But, yeah, you could have done that cool? [01:50:39] Speaker B: So if anybody would like to ride me. [01:50:44] Speaker E: I would pay good money to see Arthur. Right, bitch. I'm just saying. [01:50:49] Speaker A: I'm Arthur. [01:50:52] Speaker C: Well, no, we're. If we're going to the compound from here, then I'll drive the rv. But I understand the necessity for a car, because it would be very strange for piper to say to their person, hey, let's. Let's go to this place, let's get in this random rv with this guy you've never met before, and let's head on in. I get that, but. [01:51:17] Speaker A: And Isabelle has her own car. [01:51:21] Speaker C: Right? Okay, well, I guess there's that. But if we're going from here to the compound, I'd rather take the rv there rather than leave it parked in front of Isabelle's house. [01:51:35] Speaker A: That's fair. If we're going to the compound first. [01:51:45] Speaker E: You're going to the compound on your way to drop off the rv before you head on into town. [01:51:50] Speaker C: No, no, no. Arthur's gonna take the rv to wherever they're having the lunch, as he does, and then from there back to the compound. [01:52:02] Speaker B: All right, well, I'm gonna take him aback. [01:52:04] Speaker C: Everyone takes their own vehicle. It sounds like. [01:52:07] Speaker D: It sounds like that's the situation. [01:52:09] Speaker A: Well, if it's something like that, I guess it's a go with Arthur, just so we don't have four vehicles on the road. [01:52:24] Speaker E: Okay, cool. So who's riding with who? [01:52:30] Speaker A: Isabel's riding with Arthur in rv. [01:52:32] Speaker E: Excellent. Excellent. And Piper is taking her car. And Rosanna's on her bike. [01:52:39] Speaker D: Yep. [01:52:40] Speaker E: Awesome. We'll say that. Quiet took his bike, and Tov took his there on their own bikes. And Paddy is obviously on his. [01:52:50] Speaker C: And Gozer has shotgun. Obviously. [01:52:53] Speaker A: Oh, obviously. I'm gonna be in the back. Just, you know, I can do non lethal munitions with my ordinance, so just in case, I'm gonna prepare a couple of toys. [01:53:11] Speaker E: The look on Piper's face at the thought of you in the back creating non lethal munitions is amazing. [01:53:19] Speaker C: Well, you know, the first ten minutes are probably Isabella going in the back and seeing what they did to her surgical area to get the bikes in. And then. Right? [01:53:29] Speaker A: Yeah. [01:53:33] Speaker B: Awesome. [01:53:34] Speaker E: Okay, you all head off. Um, Piper, obviously, is going straight to the diner. [01:53:47] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:53:48] Speaker E: Where are the rest of you going to be? [01:53:56] Speaker C: Surveillance fan style. Like a. A block down the road, much like when Rosanna was at a restaurant. Are they just gonna pull the same game? [01:54:07] Speaker B: Rosanna is also going to go to the diner, but she's gonna sit in a different section. [01:54:14] Speaker D: Piper definitely doesn't ask to borrow some money, because she's. [01:54:19] Speaker B: Yeah, I figured for sure. I'm sure that, you know what? Here, courtesy of Arthur. [01:54:32] Speaker E: Oh, my God. Okay. [01:54:34] Speaker D: Just coming full circle. [01:54:36] Speaker C: Yeah. [01:54:39] Speaker E: Amazing. [01:54:41] Speaker C: Arthur's 20. [01:54:42] Speaker B: Yep. [01:54:43] Speaker A: Going a long way. And if Rosanna's going in, uh, Isabelle would essentially, like. [01:54:52] Speaker D: We would. [01:54:52] Speaker A: I would link up with you where essentially is. We're just on a constant phone call so you can let me know what's going on and if shit pops off. [01:55:00] Speaker D: Yeah. [01:55:01] Speaker E: Perfect. Okay, so Rosanna is going to get a different table in. In the diner. Cool. Uh, I'm going to assume that you're just going to order, like, a coffee and a donut with strawberry frosting. [01:55:23] Speaker B: Yes, ma'am. [01:55:24] Speaker E: Perfect, perfect, perfect. Isabella and Arthur are outside in the suv. Isabelle on a phone call. Arthur trying not to look shady by. [01:55:36] Speaker C: Just sitting in, smoking and writing in his journal like he always does. [01:55:41] Speaker E: Yeah, nothing weird about that. [01:55:44] Speaker D: Yep. [01:55:45] Speaker C: Normally smoking in California, people are gonna notice. [01:55:51] Speaker E: They usually do. Piper. [01:55:59] Speaker D: Yo. [01:56:01] Speaker E: You arrive and you realize that even with you guys arriving almost perfectly on time, Melannie has beaten you there. And she is sitting in the table that you guys always sit in, in the booth and has a cup of. She has a cup of ice water with lemon, which is never a good sign because Melanie, much like you, is kind of a caffeine addiction. So when she is opting not to imbibe caffeine for a conversation, it is because she doesn't want anything extra to ramp her up. Yeah. [01:56:57] Speaker D: Piper has already taken off her sunglasses and put them into the pocket on her jacket and walks over. [01:57:09] Speaker E: Hey. [01:57:11] Speaker D: Hey. Sorry I'm a bit late. [01:57:16] Speaker E: You're on time. I'm just early. Unless you mean late by a few months. [01:57:25] Speaker D: Yeah, that. That is more what I meant. Um. [01:57:35] Speaker E: Gonna sit down? [01:57:37] Speaker D: Uh, yeah. Yeah, she'll sit down. [01:57:44] Speaker E: So how have you been? You know. Cause I wouldn't know. [01:57:52] Speaker D: Is he trying to deal with some things that I really wish I never had. I don't think specifics should be discussed here, though. [01:58:15] Speaker E: Huh? [01:58:18] Speaker D: If. If there's anything you want to know about, though, just ask and I will explain as best I can. [01:58:31] Speaker E: How about where the fuck you've been for nearly a year? [01:58:39] Speaker D: Mostly on the east coast. More in that general area. Louis, Florida for a bit. [01:58:56] Speaker E: Okay. Um, I offered to fly out to see you, like, five times. [01:59:18] Speaker D: There are some. It wouldn't have been safe for you. [01:59:29] Speaker E: Is that the line now? You know, if you wanted to cheat on me, you could have just said that you were lonely and wanted to find somebody. [01:59:37] Speaker D: No, if I. I wasn't cheating on you. I, um. She kind of closes her eyes, breathes in, and kind of shrugs off, like, her jacket off her shoulder, and shows where she got shot. [02:00:05] Speaker E: What the fuck? [02:00:06] Speaker D: Wouldn't have been for you. [02:00:11] Speaker E: What the fuck were you doing? That that happened. [02:00:16] Speaker D: That's a conversation happened somewhere else. [02:00:24] Speaker E: And we can. [02:00:29] Speaker D: We can go somewhere else now if you want. Or whenever you're comfortable or available. [02:00:38] Speaker E: She sort of leans over towards you and drops her voice a little bit. Ivory, are you fucking with me right now? You show up after me, not hearing from you for almost two months, and I assume that you're cheating on me, and then you show me that you fucking got shot, and now you're asking me to just go somewhere with you without any explanation? You think that that's acceptable? [02:01:21] Speaker D: No, I don't. [02:01:23] Speaker E: But I, but you want me to go along with it anyway. [02:01:31] Speaker D: If you'd prefer, I can explain everything here. But one, I don't think you're gonna believe me. And two, I don't want people to overhear because they'll probably think I'm insane. [02:01:56] Speaker E: Okay. All right, fine. We'll, we'll go for a walk. You're gonna explain what happened, and then we're gonna have a really long talk about expectations. [02:02:17] Speaker D: Yeah. [02:02:26] Speaker E: She stands up, and even though, you know, she didn't order anything that actually would have cost her money, she still puts a five dollar bill down on the table for a tip and kind of waits for you to get up. [02:02:46] Speaker D: Yeah, she stands up and kind of follows along. [02:02:56] Speaker B: The moment that Rosanna sees this, she just places a hand over her ear and just says, they're leaving. [02:03:11] Speaker A: And Isabelle says, copy. [02:03:17] Speaker E: Okay. Piper and Melanie head outside. Melanie none the wiser that they are being spied upon by one group of people. [02:03:30] Speaker C: I'll say. Did we happen? Well, I guess we don't know what the guy looks like, do we? [02:03:35] Speaker A: I would. I would have hoped that Piper last night or this morning would have been like, this is the fucker. [02:03:40] Speaker D: Do I? Oh, yeah. We have a picture of him. [02:03:43] Speaker C: Yeah, we do. [02:03:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [02:03:46] Speaker C: Okay, so while this was all going on, that was kind of the reason why Arthur wanted to be slightly away, to surveil. I'm sure there were people coming and going in the parking lot or whatever, but is there a chance that he saw anything? [02:04:00] Speaker E: You do not see that particular face? No. [02:04:03] Speaker C: Okay. That's all I need to know. Just trying to, just trying to watch my friends back. That's all. [02:04:08] Speaker E: I understand. Uh, Piper, I'm gonna do something as a storyteller. [02:04:24] Speaker D: I don't like that. [02:04:30] Speaker E: I would like to know what's going on inside of Piper's head. In Piper's words. I would like you to monologue for us, please. [02:04:40] Speaker D: Oh, you piece of shit. I mean, really, the main thing going through her head, and I'll obviously put this into her words, but is just her thoughts kind of racing, thinking about what she's gonna say. It's kind of a okay if I. I can't tell her everything. I don't even know what she knows already. She might already know everything, and I might be walking to a goddamn. But at this point, I don't care. Um. This is something that I need to do. I need to talk to her and make it very clear what the situation is. I need to explain to her what I've done and why it's probably better if she just goes to find somebody else. [02:06:00] Speaker E: Excellent. Okay. As you feel the tension and your own personal desperation. Climb. [02:06:19] Speaker D: Yep, there it is. [02:06:23] Speaker E: You two. Step out onto the sidewalk. She looks serious and fidgety, but is, for the moment, quiet and waiting for you to speak. [02:06:52] Speaker D: All right, so. [02:06:55] Speaker C: I guess I start. [02:06:56] Speaker D: At the beginning with me being severely wanted by the federal government. [02:07:12] Speaker E: I'm sorry, what? [02:07:15] Speaker D: Well, federal government is. I may or may not have stolen some things from people that would rather those things be kept secret because they don't like other people going out and doing their job more effectively. [02:07:41] Speaker E: And you think getting shot means that you were doing their job more effectively? Because that's not typically what that means. [02:07:51] Speaker D: That's. That's a few steps down the road. We'll get to that in a second. [02:07:57] Speaker E: Oh, there's more. Great. Okay. [02:08:00] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. This is not going to be a fun conversation for either of us. The reason I was gone for so long is because I was called by some people to help deal with. [02:08:22] Speaker C: How do I put this in a. [02:08:23] Speaker D: Way that's gonna not make me sound? I don't think there is a way. A friend of theirs died, and I was asked to come help handle the fallout of that. [02:08:47] Speaker E: Okay. What were you supposed to do? [02:08:57] Speaker D: Mostly, I was there to help figure out what was going on, what happened to her, what the people that were after her wanted. [02:09:12] Speaker E: So she didn't die. She was murdered? [02:09:22] Speaker D: Yes. [02:09:24] Speaker E: And you thought that the best idea ever was for you to leave home to look into instead of, you know, letting professionals deal with it. And then you got shot. [02:09:43] Speaker D: And then we're still not there yet. [02:09:46] Speaker E: Jesus Christ, Piper. [02:09:50] Speaker D: Oh, no, I know. That situation escalated a lot. [02:10:01] Speaker C: To the. [02:10:02] Speaker D: Point where we were trying to. We were. Hell, we end up in the middle of at least two cults. [02:10:12] Speaker E: Wait, what? [02:10:16] Speaker D: Somehow the least important part of this story, but there she will explain. Kind of rough idea. Like Linnaeus society, group of people that Victoria was associated with. And you know, the. I can never remember the name of the church. [02:10:39] Speaker C: It's the church or the rising star. [02:10:42] Speaker D: Yeah, that's the one. There were some things going on behind the scenes that were brought to light and needed somebody to take care of. [02:10:59] Speaker E: And you decided you were the best one to do that? [02:11:04] Speaker D: Me and a few others. But there's. This is where we go from me being a wanted criminal to people think I'm, uh, criminally insane. [02:11:25] Speaker E: Um. Okay. [02:11:29] Speaker D: We were. I built a. How do I explain it? It's essentially a big conduit and a portal. And it's a miracle I didn't get myself hurt on that part, but that we were making sure it was working, and we got attacked by a bunch of people that apparently had a grudge against the people that called me, and that's when I ended up getting shot. [02:12:15] Speaker E: Okay, um, just. Just to circle down. Circle back a little bit for a minute. Um. You are aware of how crazy this sounds? Yeah. [02:12:37] Speaker D: Entirely. [02:12:39] Speaker E: I know that if you, like, owe somebody money because you got in debt with people, I'll help you. But you can't lie to me. [02:12:55] Speaker D: I know. [02:13:01] Speaker E: Why do I get the feeling that you're. [02:13:07] Speaker D: Piper is going to pull out her sunglasses? Um. You're about to, actually. I'm not gonna. She'll kind of hold them out. There's a lot of. That's gonna sound more insane, but this is something I can at least actually show you a lot of information about. Things that are best left in the dark. [02:13:47] Speaker E: On your sunglasses? [02:13:49] Speaker D: Yeah, well, technically not on the sunglasses. It's more on the. You'll kind of tap the little receiver on it. [02:13:56] Speaker E: That. [02:13:57] Speaker D: And then I. It's easier if I just show you, or you think I'm insane and do the reasonable thing and just leave, because it. It would probably be less difficult for you and less danger. [02:14:26] Speaker E: Um. Hey, Piper. Out of character. [02:14:38] Speaker D: What's up? [02:14:40] Speaker E: Are you trying to convince her to stay or to go? [02:14:48] Speaker D: Um, in character, Piper's not sure. And out of character all. She's kind. I'm kind of leaning more towards wanting her to go just so she's out of danger. But in character, Piper is very torn, because on the one hand, she wants her out of danger, but on the other hand, she doesn't want to lose her. [02:15:16] Speaker E: Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. [02:15:19] Speaker D: So it's kind of. Kind of conflicting. [02:15:21] Speaker E: Cool. And you have how many dots in persuasion? [02:15:27] Speaker D: No. [02:15:30] Speaker E: Fantastic. This can only go well. All right, I'm gonna need you to roll those two dots in charisma that you have. You do have a bonus die because. Cause you burned one of your cellmates so hard earlier. So that puts you at three. [02:15:50] Speaker D: All right, here we go. [02:15:58] Speaker E: Are you ready, kids? [02:16:02] Speaker D: All right, we're gonna go. [02:16:03] Speaker E: Well, that's not a failure. Holy cow. Three successes? Really? That was pretty good. Amazing. [02:16:15] Speaker D: I can't mark my willpower because my computer is being stupid and not letting me click on anything outside of discord, but it's fine. [02:16:21] Speaker E: It's okay. Write it down. You attempt to talk to Melanie about all of this, and your approach is kind of all over the place. 1 minute it seems like you want her to go in the next minute kind of seems like you're trying to convince her that you're not crazy or lying and you want her to stay because it would hurt too much if she went. [02:17:04] Speaker D: Yeah, pretty much. [02:17:11] Speaker E: Aubrey, would you be so kind as to roll me a single deton? [02:17:17] Speaker A: Sure. [02:17:17] Speaker E: If it is odds, she stays. If it is evens, she goes. [02:17:27] Speaker A: It is six. So evens. [02:17:30] Speaker E: Okay, Ted. Evens she goes, right? Yeah. Okay. Piper isn't sure what she wants. And it's clear that Piper isn't sure what she wants. Not only is it clear to Piper, it is clear to Melanie that Piper isn't sure what she wants. And you can see, Piper, that as time goes on, Melanie gets progressively more and more frustrated with the conversation that's happening and how edgy you're being and how unwilling to be straightforward and upfront with her you are. You kind of keep giving her, like, a piece of the truth, like you're laying out breadcrumbs that you expect her to follow. And she is rapidly getting frustrated. You get the feeling that she believes a lot of what you're saying. She doesn't think that you were cheating on her anymore. She believes that you believe everything that you're saying. But she also recognizes that you don't know what you want and that there is no way to fix whatever this is, for this to go back to being a relationship until you figure that out. And she stops you, and she puts her hands on your glasses and folds them up and pushes them very gently back into your hand. Piper, I love you. Against my better judgment, against every warning that all of my friends and family gave me. The first time you disappeared for three. [02:19:46] Speaker D: Months. [02:19:48] Speaker E: I kept loving you. And everything was great when you came home. And then you disappeared again. And I told everybody that it was fine, it was just your work. Everything would be fine. And then three months turned into six, turned into nine, turned into ten. And now you're here and you've been shot. And I find out that you're wanted. And I have a job and a life and two cats. And I want you to be a part of that life. But you don't know what you want. And I can tell you don't know what you want. So I'm gonna go to work and I'm gonna pretend that this was a casual check in and everything is fine while you go figure out what you want. And when you know if you want to be with me or you want to break up, you call me and we'll try again. Try to have this conversation again. Okay. All right. Um. And you can tell from the look on her face that she is desperately trying not to cry. [02:21:23] Speaker D: Piper is not even drying. [02:21:27] Speaker E: She leans up and she kisses your forehead. And it looks like she wants to say something, but she hesitates. And then she just sort of pats your hands around your glasses and turns and walks away. Rosanna, you don't have to roll for this. You were kind of hanging back. And as you see her turn away and start to walk in your direction, you start walking forward towards where Piper is not looking like you're walking to Piper, but just like you're walking down the sidewalk. As soon as her back is to Piper, there are tears streaming down her cheeks. But she doesn't recognize that you're anyone special. You're just a person. She just sort of stiffles and looks away from you. Because it's embarrassing for most people to be seen being that emotional in public. [02:22:31] Speaker B: As she walks past, Rosanna's gonna reach into her bag and pull out a little thing of the little travels to go. Things like tissues. Rosanna's learned to pack those with her. And she's just gonna, before the girlfriend can walk by, she's just gonna take out a tissue and offer it to her. [02:22:59] Speaker E: She kind of blinks and gives you an odd look, but she takes a tissue and says, thank you and keeps walking. [02:23:09] Speaker B: Once girlfriend is out of sight, she's going to go by Piper's side and just reach her arms out. [02:23:29] Speaker D: Piper, at this point, put her sunglasses back on, looks at Rosanna, looks like past Rosanna and just kind of shakes her head. [02:23:50] Speaker B: She'll offer her tissue as well. [02:23:53] Speaker D: She does take it. [02:23:57] Speaker B: I know. Fix this. [02:24:04] Speaker E: Okay. [02:24:07] Speaker B: Whatever. Whatever happened there. [02:24:14] Speaker D: I don't know if I want to fix it. [02:24:19] Speaker B: That's perfectly vital, too. [02:24:25] Speaker E: Come on. [02:24:27] Speaker B: I got a cup of hot tea. And the RV with your name on it. She'll walk towards the motorcycle and lift up the hatch that has a spare helmet. We can take the long way back. [02:24:59] Speaker D: I gotta get in the car. [02:25:01] Speaker B: All right. Somebody decided to not have fun. [02:25:10] Speaker D: Tried to make this seem as normal as possible, and then that got tossed away real quick. [02:25:24] Speaker B: Darling, people look at us like we are mad. When we talk about the things that we see and deal with on the day to day basis. They'll look at us like we belong in some asylum, locked up because the regular people are blind. There's a lot of ignorance. But when you're able to lift the veil from your eyes and see what is truly there, your laugh has changed forever. And some people are more willing to accept the fact that laugh is in all it's cracked up to be. And some just would rather live their lives, go to work. Unfortunately, that's the life that we live now. But you're not alone. You got us. And it's okay to cry. Take it from someone who, you know. [02:26:44] Speaker D: We should. We should get back, figure out to do. Now. I don't think. I don't think there's something to worry about right now. At least for a day or two, right? [02:27:16] Speaker B: If you need me, I'm always here for you. You know that. Always. [02:27:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:27:27] Speaker B: Yeah. She'll just rest a hand on pepper shoulder. [02:27:38] Speaker D: We need to talk about when we're all together. [02:27:48] Speaker B: She'll be at her shoulder a couple times. We'll get through. [02:27:59] Speaker D: Knox starts walking towards her car. [02:28:04] Speaker B: And she'll hop on her bike. [02:28:08] Speaker E: Okay, we'll skip forward a little bit. Unless Arthur and Isabel have a conversation they want to have. [02:28:18] Speaker C: I mean, I was just gonna have Arthur notice the girlfriend leave and just go. Yeah. That does not look like we're going back to the compound with her plans. Yeah. I mean, honestly, I feel for Piper a bit because that's how it could have gone for me. [02:28:43] Speaker A: Yeah, that's something. Shortly before I left to meet you all in Louisiana, I experienced something similar. It sucks. [02:28:56] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:29:01] Speaker E: Okay. [02:29:03] Speaker C: Yeah. And that's it. [02:29:04] Speaker D: Yep. [02:29:05] Speaker A: Yep. Just go over and just give Gozer some extra, you know, pets and stuff. [02:29:14] Speaker E: Gozer seems thrilled to accept the pets. Skipping forward a little bit. You all gather back up at the RV again. Piper and Rosanna find a place to park their vehicles, and everybody piles in for a car conversation. [02:29:39] Speaker A: That's deja vu. [02:29:41] Speaker D: So that could have gotten better, but I think I bought off some time. At the very least, I don't think we'll have any issues for a couple days. I might try reaching out again after I've had some time to think. But for right now, fine. We can handle it. [02:30:02] Speaker A: We're going to just table dealing with this agent, right? [02:30:05] Speaker D: Right now. Yeah. [02:30:06] Speaker A: Okay. [02:30:09] Speaker C: Okay. [02:30:11] Speaker D: Not sure what else we can really do while we're here, but considering we don't really know how to go about this, I think now's a good time to bring up kind of looks at Isabel, the thing you and I have been working on. [02:30:32] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that thing. [02:30:34] Speaker D: Yeah. [02:30:36] Speaker C: All right. So. [02:30:37] Speaker D: Yeah, you remember that book that I told you all not to read because it's cursed? [02:30:46] Speaker B: Did you read the book? [02:30:48] Speaker D: You were all there. [02:30:49] Speaker A: Yeah, we all watched Piper read the book. Right, right, yeah, with their anti magic thing, we thought they were the best candidate for. [02:30:59] Speaker D: Yeah, I still think I was. [02:31:04] Speaker C: Since. [02:31:05] Speaker D: I'm pretty sure most of you would have started cutting trophies off of the werewolf thought. Yeah. So books, cursed. I want to figure out how the fuck to stop that because it sucks. And there's only so much I can do to push back against it. [02:31:33] Speaker B: Sure. [02:31:34] Speaker C: Okay. [02:31:35] Speaker B: Where's the book? [02:31:37] Speaker D: Yeah, good question. [02:31:41] Speaker A: Is the other part. As far as I could tell, it hasn't. From my limited ability to research, it has not popped up anywhere else that I could find. [02:31:52] Speaker C: Wait, what do you mean? Do you not have it anymore? [02:31:57] Speaker D: No, it's gone. Just like it showed up. It disappeared. [02:32:03] Speaker B: Hmm. [02:32:05] Speaker C: Okay, so, uh. [02:32:11] Speaker B: Little heart. [02:32:14] Speaker C: What is it the kids say these days? I didn't have cursed, disappearing, reappearing book on my bingo card for the year. [02:32:23] Speaker D: That's close enough. [02:32:24] Speaker A: Yeah. Close enough. [02:32:27] Speaker B: A real hip, Arthur. [02:32:30] Speaker A: Really, really connecting with the. [02:32:32] Speaker B: Connecting with the youths, aren't you? [02:32:35] Speaker C: Spent a lot of time on the Internet the last nine months. [02:32:38] Speaker A: Are you going to become one of those, like, youth pastors? [02:32:43] Speaker C: Oh, no. No. God, no. No. So Katie Lynn, on the other hand, anyway. Sorry, we were talking about the book. [02:32:54] Speaker D: Yeah, so we don't have many leads regarding the book, but. And I'm gonna be honest, I don't. I didn't have anything do with this. Researching shit like this is not my strong suit. [02:33:09] Speaker A: I, um. Yes. When Piper came to me, I reached out and I looked through any occult channels I could come across, but I came up with nothing. [02:33:28] Speaker D: Other than there might be a thing we can find that will fix it. Yeah. [02:33:34] Speaker C: Hmm. [02:33:36] Speaker D: Which, I mean, it's better than nothing, since we at least know we're looking for a thing instead of, you know, a person or a concept. [02:33:46] Speaker C: So we find something that counteracts this book. [02:33:50] Speaker D: That's what I'm hearing, pretty much, yeah. [02:33:57] Speaker C: Okay. [02:34:00] Speaker D: It's not a whole lot to go on, but it's better than nothing, I guess. [02:34:07] Speaker C: Do we have any idea where the thing is? [02:34:12] Speaker D: Not right now. We might be able to poke around. [02:34:17] Speaker C: Okay. [02:34:20] Speaker D: And this will also kind of tie into looking into what happened with Dietrich. [02:34:30] Speaker C: You think Dietrich was connected to the book? [02:34:34] Speaker D: No, I think we see if we can get a hold of Delphi again, check the database, see if it knows anything about the book. [02:34:51] Speaker E: Well, as a reminder, the only thing that Delphi showed you all was a time and a place and sort of a cause of death. [02:35:02] Speaker D: Yep. Oh, I know. [02:35:05] Speaker E: Okay. [02:35:06] Speaker C: But if. [02:35:07] Speaker E: No reason to believe that Delphi is going to be able to tell you where an item. A specific item is unless that item is used to kill someone. Yeah. [02:35:15] Speaker D: No, it's. It's a long shot, but it's. [02:35:18] Speaker A: I mean, we can maybe right now, if Dietrich is on that list, you maybe tell him where. Where, and why and what happened. And if he's not on the list, it means he's alive, hopefully. [02:35:30] Speaker D: Exactly. [02:35:30] Speaker E: Maybe. [02:35:31] Speaker C: Or if. If trophies were taken by people who have come in contact with the book, we might be able to track the books previous. Like, places where the people who may have previously had the book. I mean, it's obviously gonna be a big list of potentially also just random serial killers, but still something to look into. [02:35:56] Speaker E: Sorry. [02:35:56] Speaker C: I spent a lot of time on the Internet, like I said, but, yeah, we don't. [02:36:00] Speaker D: And we don't have much to go on. We kind of have to do what we can with what we do have at him. So, main purpose. See if Dietrich is dead. [02:36:14] Speaker A: Yeah, I can. I don't want to, but I don't know I can. If we've come down to nothing, I can always talk to Alison and see if any of these things ring a bell, but that feels like a last resort. [02:36:39] Speaker D: That is definitely last resort. [02:36:48] Speaker B: Storyteller. [02:36:50] Speaker E: Yes. [02:36:53] Speaker B: Checking my phone. [02:36:55] Speaker E: Uh huh. [02:36:57] Speaker B: Did I get anything back from my contact about that, um, broken glass or those, um. The stuff that I sent her, the pictures of? [02:37:11] Speaker E: Right, right. Uh, yeah, actually, you would have gotten not specific information, but you would have gotten a notification that she might have some thoughts and kind of asking when and where you want to meet. [02:37:30] Speaker B: She'll text back. How fast can you get to Cali? [02:37:35] Speaker E: Are you really asking is what you get back? [02:37:38] Speaker B: She'll show the winky face. [02:37:41] Speaker E: But you're gonna have to be more specific than California. That's a big state. [02:37:45] Speaker B: Where are we? [02:37:48] Speaker C: San Diego. [02:37:49] Speaker B: San Diego. San Diego. Okay. [02:38:01] Speaker E: Give me an hour. [02:38:04] Speaker B: I can give you an hour. I'm gonna be meeting up with a friend in about an hour. You guys know her? [02:38:18] Speaker A: You know a lot of people. Rosanna, you gotta be more specific. [02:38:22] Speaker C: Yeah, we. [02:38:29] Speaker B: Yeah, might want to babysit her pet for her while, while her and I are having a meeting. You guys like dragons? [02:38:37] Speaker C: Yeah. Oh, the angsty teenage dragon. Right. [02:38:46] Speaker B: I mean, I'm sure if you give him a treat. [02:38:49] Speaker C: Good point. What do teenage dragons eat? [02:38:57] Speaker B: I don't really think that it's actually physical, like an act. Well, maybe it might be. You know what? I don't know if she's gonna bring. [02:39:04] Speaker C: The dragon with her, um, funyuns and mountain Dew. [02:39:10] Speaker B: That's a, that's a teenage boy, not a teenage dragon, but, um, or a. [02:39:14] Speaker E: Middle aged Arthur when there's nobody around to cook for him. [02:39:20] Speaker C: Very true. [02:39:23] Speaker B: Um. [02:39:26] Speaker C: I mean, hotel lobby markets only have so much, you know. [02:39:34] Speaker B: Cup ramen and funyuns it is. Um, yeah. Uh, so in an hour, I have a meeting. Uh, I'm also gonna just check my email, see if I got any, uh, see if I maybe heard from my, my pen pal Peter over the last, uh, couple days. [02:39:52] Speaker E: Not the last couple of days. Um, he did give you a heads up that he is on assignment for work, so his reception and ability to sit down and actually write is a little sparse at the moment. [02:40:10] Speaker B: Okay. [02:40:13] Speaker E: But he promised that as soon as things are a little bit more stable and or he is back where he has a normal, regular Internet connection, he will be back in touch again. [02:40:24] Speaker B: Wonderful. [02:40:27] Speaker E: That said, you guys take an hour to relocate out of an abundance of caution and Arthur's ever present paranoia. [02:40:43] Speaker C: Yep. [02:40:44] Speaker E: You move the rv, shuffle around vehicles a little bit so that you're not too easy to find. And Rosanna, you text a more specific location for Ophelia to meet you at a, like, a highway roadside diner outside of the city where an rv will not look quite so out of place. And if your friends would like to, they can go inside with you without, like, having to worry themselves too much. Right. Who is going inside for the meeting with Ophelia? [02:41:36] Speaker A: I mean, nobody else wants to go. Isabelle will go. [02:41:44] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, Piper would like to go. [02:41:48] Speaker C: Arthur, on the other hand, does not want to go. [02:41:53] Speaker A: Surprise, surprise. [02:41:56] Speaker C: He will guard from outside. I mean, I know that she helped us, but. Yeah, but still can kill you in the blue of an eye with her. [02:42:14] Speaker B: Mind for her and our friends. She's not gonna hurt us. If anything, she's doing us a big favor. It would just be nice if you came in and said hi, is all I'm saying. Could you please do that for me? [02:42:30] Speaker C: For you? I will step outside my comfort zone, push my boundaries, and. And talk to her. [02:42:45] Speaker B: Thank you. [02:42:46] Speaker E: Excellent. You all lock up the rv and head inside. You have about ten minutes to order drinks, to get comfortable, to kind of chat quietly amongst yourselves before the, uh. Actually, I would like everybody to make me. What's awareness, please? [02:43:11] Speaker C: Oh. [02:43:12] Speaker A: Maybe my roles will stop being trash. [02:43:16] Speaker B: Nah, not mine. Mine will always be. [02:43:21] Speaker E: Well, hello, Piper. [02:43:24] Speaker D: You know, I was hoping for that on the. [02:43:26] Speaker E: Jesus Christ. What is happening? [02:43:30] Speaker D: No, not Arthur. Halftime. He had this chance. [02:43:34] Speaker E: Arthur is deeply uncomfortable at the idea that he's about to meet a mage again. So Arthur. Arthur has buried his face in the awesome sunglasses. [02:43:46] Speaker C: He's not used to them. [02:43:47] Speaker E: Yeah, buried his face in the menu like it is the most interesting thing to have ever been written. He is carefully studying the price of bad roadside diner meatloaf, but Isabelle, Rosanna, and Piper all catch a flash of gold out of the corner of your eyes, and you look up for a second half expecting to see a full on dragon in the parking lot. You do not see a full on dragon in the parking lot. However, what you do see looks like a large tour bus that is easily the size of, if not slightly bigger than, the rv and has a big ass gold dragon painted across the side. A door opens on the side and out climbs Ophelia. She is dressed in a pair of distressed, like, bell bottom jeans, a. Like a halter top that leaves very little to the imagination, really, and is as stunning as she. She has ever been. And you are all kind of instantly reminded of that, like, immediate effect where you can't quite pull your eyes away that she had last time. She kind of stops at the side of the bus and reaches up and sort of pats the gold dragon painting. And you get the feeling that the bus might be more than a busy before she heads into the door and she kind of waves at you guys through the window, looking slightly kind of giddy, excited, like she doesn't get to do stuff like this very often, and then hurries in and over to the table. [02:46:04] Speaker C: It's when she runs the table that Arthur notices that she's there. [02:46:09] Speaker E: Yep. [02:46:11] Speaker C: Ah. [02:46:13] Speaker E: Ah. [02:46:15] Speaker C: Sorry. Hi. [02:46:17] Speaker E: Hi. [02:46:19] Speaker A: Hello. [02:46:20] Speaker B: Hey. [02:46:21] Speaker E: She. She hugs Rosanna. How you doing, kiddo? [02:46:25] Speaker B: Oh, you know, same shit, different day. [02:46:31] Speaker E: Where's the hot one? Last time I saw you. You were with some, you know, tall, slightly lanky, but still muscly piece of man meat. Where'd he go? [02:46:53] Speaker B: She talking about. [02:46:54] Speaker E: Well. [02:46:54] Speaker B: And she talking about quiet. [02:46:55] Speaker E: She's talking about quiet? [02:46:56] Speaker C: Yeah, she's talking about quiet. [02:46:57] Speaker B: Oh, he's. [02:46:58] Speaker E: He's. [02:46:58] Speaker B: He's doing a job with some other. With some of the other guys, so unfortunately, you're gonna have to. [02:47:06] Speaker E: Right, right. It was too awkward hanging around while there was tension. Gotcha. [02:47:19] Speaker B: Well, she'll scoot in a little bit closer, like a little bit, to give Ophelia some room to. Biggest seat. [02:47:32] Speaker E: Next to her, Cecilia will sit, reach over and snag your hot chocolate and take a sip of it before she puts it back down in front of you. Sorry, chocolate tax. [02:47:47] Speaker B: Eh, it's fine. She'll take the mug and just take another sip. [02:47:53] Speaker E: So how. What's up? What? Oh, right, the thing. The thing that you asked me about. Yep, yep. Okay, so, I mean, obviously, without immediately seeing it and having it in hand, I can't tell you how much of the old juice was left, but, I mean, everything that you showed me suggests that it might have been a witch jar, which is what she thought it was. [02:48:30] Speaker B: Yeah, that's what he said it was when I saw him. [02:48:36] Speaker E: And here's the thing. They're not indestructible. They do a good job at keeping the nasties away, but if somebody knows to look for it or, you know, send someone who's just a normal mortal to get their hands on it, it's not gonna stop someone with a shovel. Yeah. [02:49:02] Speaker B: No, that is fair. What I wanna know is, and then she's going to take out her phone and switch to the picture of, like, the. Were the shards of glass in the tins kind of aligned in a very specific way, or were they just kind of, like, scattered? [02:49:30] Speaker E: No, they were scattered. It looks like somebody picked them up and chucked them. They were just trying to get them out of the area where they were taken from. Does that make sense? Maybe they just picked up and threw the jar itself. And what quiet managed to find for you was, like, what? What hadn't been, like, swept away by rain or carried off by animals or whatever. [02:49:55] Speaker B: Out of curiosity, storyteller, is there any way that we would have been able to take one of those shards of glass with us? [02:50:05] Speaker E: I don't see why not. Sure. [02:50:07] Speaker B: Okay, so she'll take out one of the shards. I just think that it's a little bit bizarre because we were speaking with him, and then suddenly he was up and missing. Is there any way that we might be able to get a set of what might have happened to him? Or if he's even, like, a laugh? [02:50:35] Speaker E: I mean, there are some things we could try, but it's been. Been a long time. It's not like this happened a week ago. We're talking months. And the longer it's been, the harder it is to get information. I mean, I can look into it. Do you have anything of his. [02:51:00] Speaker B: Do I have anything of his. [02:51:07] Speaker E: Cough. [02:51:07] Speaker B: Cough. [02:51:08] Speaker E: You have the glass. Cough. Cough. [02:51:09] Speaker B: I was gonna say we have the glass. I hand over the glass. [02:51:14] Speaker E: Well, I can give it a shot. I can't make any promises that it'll work. And I could talk to my aunt. Yeah, she's got a better handle on time stuff than I do. I mean, I have the sight, but she's better at, you know, manipulating time. So maybe between the two of us, how, out of curiosity, do you have any idea who or what might have grabbed him if something did? [02:51:59] Speaker C: I have a theory. Suddenly. [02:52:01] Speaker E: Okay. [02:52:04] Speaker C: I mean, I could very well be wrong, but, um, you said immortal. Could have dug it up. And one thing that has been bothering me since we met our first mage was the idea of a sort of secretive, evil mage vampire cabal thing. And unfortunately, we kind of discovered that. And the only reason I thought of this is that we discovered that there was a group of mortals that become vampires in this whole group that Victoria was looking into and. Or was involved in. And so part of me is suddenly thinking, maybe because Dietrich, Victoria, the Linnaeus society. Suddenly a thought came into my head. [02:52:57] Speaker B: That's what I was thinking. [02:52:59] Speaker E: Wait, the what society? [02:53:04] Speaker C: The Linnaeus society. [02:53:07] Speaker E: And they do what exactly? [02:53:13] Speaker C: From what I remember, been a while since we looked into them. If I remember correctly, there was some kind of thing where they essentially, people work for them, try to achieve certain things, they've learned things, but in the end, the ultimate goal is sort of everlasting life or whatnot in the form of vampirism. Yeah. [02:53:41] Speaker E: So there are. Recruitment group. [02:53:47] Speaker C: Yeah. [02:53:49] Speaker E: Uh huh. [02:53:50] Speaker C: Who likes sort of weird esoteric stuff. [02:53:54] Speaker E: Okay, well, I know who they're recruiting for, because there's only one group of vampires who do that. [02:54:05] Speaker C: Coming in. [02:54:09] Speaker E: Do you all understand how vampires work? The different bloodlines and clans and stuff? So. [02:54:15] Speaker A: So I just sorta. I can. Learning. Yeah. I feel like we had a conversation about this last season. [02:54:26] Speaker C: We did. [02:54:26] Speaker B: We actually did. [02:54:28] Speaker C: We did. Um, yeah. I kind of missed part of it, but I think I get it. That there are different types of vampires and some kind of connection familiarly with powers that they possess, if I understand. [02:54:42] Speaker A: That'S about it very much. [02:54:46] Speaker E: Okay. You see her kind of glance around the diner and then she grabs a chain that's hanging around her neck and the pendant of which is like inside of her halter top. And she pulls it out. And you guys realize that she is wearing like a gold. A gold and silver pendant. Arthur, would you be so kind as to roll me? Do, do, do have to find the right sheet. Roll me int and occult. And I'm gonna give you a plus one because this is a little bit tied into theology and biblical stuff. [02:55:44] Speaker C: Coo. You can't see my keys. [02:55:57] Speaker D: Yeah, that you don't get used to. [02:56:01] Speaker C: That would be six successes. [02:56:04] Speaker E: Excellent. You realize as she pulls this out, the pendant, it's like a round coin. And the coin has one of the seals of Solomon on it. And she sort of glances around like she's making sure that there's nobody watching. And she passes her thumb along the seal of Solomon. And Rosanna specifically feels the air kind of change as a little pulse of magic goes out around her. The rest of you, all of your ears pop for a minute. [02:57:00] Speaker C: I assume you just did something. [02:57:02] Speaker E: I just made it so that people are less inclined to come over so that we can have a conversation. [02:57:07] Speaker C: Just tell me that didn't release one of the 32 demons or anything, right? Like the shimmy han for us or something? [02:57:14] Speaker E: No. Okay, it's just a focus, Arthur. Plus, the demons have been out for a while, so. Anyway. [02:57:27] Speaker C: Cool. [02:57:31] Speaker B: I think he just blew his mind, Ophelia. [02:57:34] Speaker C: And found it probably for the worst. Something else to worry about. [02:57:40] Speaker B: She'll just give. She'll just give Arthur a little, like, pat on the shoulder. [02:57:43] Speaker C: It's okay. [02:57:46] Speaker E: Anyway, very different clans. Yeah, of vampires. But one of them very specifically is into black magic. [02:57:59] Speaker A: We met one. [02:58:01] Speaker D: Yeah, one we met. [02:58:03] Speaker E: Yeah. So they weren't always vampires like most of the vampires can trace their lineage back to. Well, they say they can trace them all the way back to Kain. The first one. Right. [02:58:19] Speaker A: Sure. [02:58:20] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [02:58:22] Speaker C: Okay. [02:58:24] Speaker E: The magic users called the tremere. They can't. They used to be us. [02:58:35] Speaker C: By us you mean people or mages. [02:58:39] Speaker E: They used to specifically be hermetics, which is the order that I belong to. [02:58:45] Speaker A: Yeah, fascinating. [02:58:49] Speaker E: We don't like them. But now that I know that there's apparently a whole order of people looking for humans with potential magical ability to turn into more of those blood sucking. Anyway, now that I know that that's a thing, I need to make some calls. House titleists will be pleased to hear about it. [02:59:22] Speaker C: Um, house titleists? [02:59:27] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, there are houses within the hermetics, and titleists, they're always angry, but they're really good at fighting things, so. [02:59:38] Speaker B: All right. I would like to find out if we can, if our friend is with people. [03:00:01] Speaker E: I will do what I can. I can't make any promises. [03:00:04] Speaker B: I know you can't, but, you know, before your friends go off and slaughter a bunch of. I'd like to see if we can get our hands on him first. [03:00:19] Speaker E: I will look into it. As I said, I can't make any promises. It's been over nine months. It's not that easy. [03:00:25] Speaker B: I know. [03:00:25] Speaker E: To just summon up a vision like that. You of all people should know that. [03:00:30] Speaker B: I know, I know. And I appreciate you for even helping me out here. There is. And she's going to look specifically towards Piper and give her the. Can we talk about it look. [03:00:52] Speaker D: Uh, yeah. [03:00:55] Speaker B: There is one more thing. [03:00:57] Speaker E: Oh, boy. [03:00:59] Speaker B: I know I always come to you with all the exciting stuff. [03:01:02] Speaker E: I just. I just want to put it out there that I'm considering the information about this Linnaeus society. Payment for the other favor. Yes, I may require more payment for this one, depending on what it is. [03:01:14] Speaker B: You know what I'm good for. [03:01:17] Speaker E: Hey, go ahead. [03:01:20] Speaker B: She looked. Piper, this is your story, honey. [03:01:25] Speaker D: Uh, I need information on the. More specifically, the curse tied to the book darks and anatomies. [03:01:42] Speaker E: Ophelia, while she was waiting for you to tell her what was happening, had picked up Rosanna's hot chocolate again and was taking a sip. And the second the name darks of anatomies leaves your mouth, she immediately takes the cup away from her lips and looks like it is everything in her power not to spit the stuff out. I'm sorry, what? [03:02:09] Speaker D: Yeah, that's not the kind of reaction I was hoping for, but the kind of reaction I was expecting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [03:02:21] Speaker E: You know, I thought that your aura was just all modeled, because it's always looking a little weird to me. [03:02:28] Speaker D: No, not anymore. [03:02:29] Speaker E: Are you telling me that you read from the book? [03:02:34] Speaker D: Yeah. [03:02:36] Speaker E: Why? [03:02:42] Speaker D: Curiosity mostly. [03:02:46] Speaker A: Hunters, it appears that night before we sent Liam home. [03:02:57] Speaker E: Uh huh. Do you still have the book? No, of course. Of course not. [03:03:06] Speaker C: Right. Disappearing. [03:03:10] Speaker E: Did a second book show up after the first one disappeared? [03:03:17] Speaker A: No. Piper, did a second book show up character? [03:03:21] Speaker E: No. No, it did not. [03:03:23] Speaker D: No. [03:03:24] Speaker C: Is that a common thing to happen with books of this nature? [03:03:28] Speaker E: With the darks of anatomies? Yeah. [03:03:32] Speaker C: What is the second book? Volume two. [03:03:38] Speaker E: Kinda. It's called the dark sum. In atomist. What? [03:03:46] Speaker C: What? [03:03:47] Speaker E: So the first book that cursed you is called the darksome anatomies. Yeah, anatomies. Spelled a n a t o m. [03:03:58] Speaker D: Y e s. Correct. [03:04:02] Speaker E: The second book is called the dark sum, as in three words, the dark sum and atomies. [03:04:13] Speaker C: Not sure what an atomy is, but okay. Is it just like a weird, goofy, misspelled version of the same book? [03:04:23] Speaker A: Uh, as book one, give the curse book two, take it away? [03:04:30] Speaker E: Kinda, yeah. [03:04:38] Speaker D: There's more to it than that, though, isn't there? [03:04:42] Speaker E: Oh, yeah. Okay, so listen, these books are legendary, right? Because they don't stay in one place for long, they tend to show up where you least expect them. The wrong. Always the wrong person. The person who's always gonna make the wrong choice is the one who gets their hands on the first one. If they're lucky, the book moves on before they do the stupid thing. Obviously, you didn't get lucky. Now, if the darksome and atomies shows up afterwards, it can take the curse away. What is wild to me is how remarkably sane you look. Because how. When did you open the book? Right before we sent Liam home. [03:05:50] Speaker D: Yeah. [03:05:52] Speaker E: How are you so mellow? That's gotta be because of your weird, like, black hole for magic thing. It's gotta be dampening. The effects. [03:06:05] Speaker C: Are words just how hunters do? [03:06:07] Speaker E: No. No, it's definitely not how hunters do. [03:06:10] Speaker D: What happened to your friend? [03:06:16] Speaker E: Listen. [03:06:16] Speaker D: What? [03:06:17] Speaker E: So the curse that the first book puts on you. I haven't heard anybody making it a year without being completely out of their mind. Unless they manage to lift the curse in that time. She. And she points at piper should be way more off kilter than she is, considering how long she's had the curse. How many trophies have you taken? [03:06:55] Speaker D: None. [03:06:59] Speaker E: How have you not taken any? Aren't you guys hunters? How the fuck have you managed to make it this long? [03:07:10] Speaker D: Most of my work is behind the scenes shit. And the one time we did have a direct interaction just kind of didn't. And she'll just kind of tap the glasses. A little bit of this, a little bit of. [03:07:32] Speaker C: Plus, we're not those kind of hunters. We tend to just fully get rid of whatever we've encountered. If we get rid of it at all. And he looks at the others. [03:07:46] Speaker A: We haven't exactly been hunting for the last few months. [03:07:53] Speaker E: Okay. Um. All right, cool. [03:08:08] Speaker B: Yeah, that's it. That's why I was able to join you and your aunt up in. Up in Boston. [03:08:15] Speaker C: What? [03:08:17] Speaker B: I already told you this. [03:08:19] Speaker D: We went over this, Arthur. [03:08:20] Speaker B: We already went over this, Arthur. There's the Arthur I know. [03:08:26] Speaker D: Maybe not. Maybe not the specifics. We didn't go over this. That's fair. [03:08:31] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [03:08:33] Speaker A: But. [03:08:37] Speaker B: Yeah. Um, we haven't been together in about ten months. [03:08:50] Speaker E: Okay, cool. So there's a couple things you should keep in mind. Um, if you manage to catch sight of either book, as long as somebody is looking at it, it won't disappear. It is when you blink or turn your back or look away for even a second, even if your hand is on it, that's when they disappear. The other thing, both books will not exist in the same place at the same time. The first one runs from the second one. Um, also, they are, uh. Well, they're. They think they have personalities. They used to be people, after all. [03:10:07] Speaker D: Okay. [03:10:18] Speaker E: So. Yeah. [03:10:28] Speaker D: So we just kind of hope we run into the second one. [03:10:36] Speaker E: Hope that you can find somebody who has it or that you run into it. Um. [03:10:45] Speaker B: Okay. [03:10:46] Speaker D: Okay. [03:10:47] Speaker B: Is there a way that we could lure it? [03:10:54] Speaker E: If you can find the first one, find the darksome anatomies and keep it with you, and eventually the darksome will show up. [03:11:08] Speaker C: Keep away staring at it constantly. [03:11:13] Speaker E: Doesn't have to have all you. Just one person, right? [03:11:16] Speaker C: It can blinks. Yeah. [03:11:20] Speaker E: Okay, when I say blink, I mean, like a fairly long blink. Not a. Not a split second blink. I can see if I can have a friend, maybe help you create allure of some sort, but that's easier said than done. Honestly, the easiest way might be to find somebody else who currently has the curse. Wouldn't be that hard. Just gotta look for someone who's a serial killer. [03:12:12] Speaker A: Mostly Delphi. [03:12:19] Speaker D: Delphi? [03:12:20] Speaker A: Delphi. [03:12:21] Speaker E: Who's Delphi? I mean, other than an oracle in ancient Greece. [03:12:25] Speaker C: Yeah, it's an oracle in ancient Greece. [03:12:31] Speaker D: I don't think it's actually. [03:12:33] Speaker E: I mean, technically, Delphi was the place, but you know what I mean. [03:12:35] Speaker D: I don't think it's exactly a person. [03:12:39] Speaker E: What? [03:12:41] Speaker C: Oh, see, it's starting to happen to you, too. [03:12:46] Speaker E: No, I think I just haven't been given the full context. I think. [03:12:50] Speaker C: Yeah, that's exactly why I've been saying what for the last ten minutes of this conversation. But go ahead, guys. Cause I don't know how to explain this. [03:13:00] Speaker D: It's not to explain. It seems to be, at least to my knowledge, some sort of artificial intelligence that operates a database of supernatural and supernatural related deaths. [03:13:18] Speaker E: Oh, well, yeah, maybe. Especially if whoever has the curses out looking for supernatural prey. [03:13:32] Speaker A: Yeah. And, uh, I am good with corpses. [03:13:50] Speaker E: With corpses. [03:13:51] Speaker B: Okay. [03:13:52] Speaker A: I was a mortician. [03:13:54] Speaker D: I know that. You did that as part of your job. But you can't just say, yeah, I'm good with. Corpses. [03:14:04] Speaker E: Are a little weird, Rosanna. [03:14:06] Speaker B: Yeah, well. [03:14:09] Speaker E: And I'm a mage. [03:14:10] Speaker B: Everybody's got weird friends. [03:14:14] Speaker A: Yep. [03:14:16] Speaker B: Come on, you're friends with me. She smirks. [03:14:22] Speaker E: Okay. All right, well, I'll see what I can come up with. And once I have some answers, I'll let you know what the cost of doing business is. Yeah? [03:14:39] Speaker B: Yes, ma'am. [03:14:43] Speaker E: If I can get you allure, I'm not going to charge you. If I can't do you any good. [03:14:51] Speaker B: Just, uh, heat me up the date. I will. I'll be in touch. Just doing, like, check ins every so often. [03:15:08] Speaker E: Sure. Check in as much as you want. [03:15:11] Speaker B: Wonderful. Kind of go outside and pet the big guy. [03:15:17] Speaker E: I mean, he's a bus right now, but you're welcome to. [03:15:24] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. She's. The moment, the site is. Rosanna just gets up, slowly walks out of the. Out of the diner. And then the moment that she's out, she just runs towards the bus, gives the painted dragon a couple pats, and then runs back inside. [03:15:45] Speaker E: Seem that often you reach over to pat the bus, and the second your fingers touch the paint, the bus rumbles like somebody just turned over the key. [03:15:57] Speaker B: Mm hmm. It's good to see. [03:16:01] Speaker E: Too good. But when you turn and go back inside, it stops. Turns off again. [03:16:06] Speaker B: Yep. [03:16:10] Speaker A: Took. [03:16:10] Speaker B: Go back inside. I had to say hi. Gotta pay respects. [03:16:16] Speaker E: Yeah, we got that. Um. Isabelle, isn't it? [03:16:21] Speaker A: Yes. [03:16:24] Speaker E: Therapy curse going for you? [03:16:27] Speaker A: I'm working at it. You know, I have a lot to untangle, but, you know, we're working on it, so. [03:16:37] Speaker E: Better. [03:16:38] Speaker A: Yeah, better. [03:16:41] Speaker E: Good. I'm glad I didn't get to see how everybody did after the whole Liam thing, because I was sort of unconscious. Um, how's you. How. How are all the hot boys? Your hot boys? [03:17:03] Speaker A: They're, uh. They're very good. [03:17:06] Speaker E: Still hot. [03:17:08] Speaker A: Still incredibly hot. Yes. [03:17:10] Speaker E: Very cool. [03:17:11] Speaker A: Yeah. Came with me to California. [03:17:16] Speaker E: Very cool. How's the wife? Look at you, Arthur. [03:17:24] Speaker C: Well, we're doing better. We have been working through a lot of the issues that we had that I had created, starting admitting that I had created the issues, so. But I always. [03:17:45] Speaker E: Still. Too good for you? [03:17:47] Speaker C: Very much good. [03:17:54] Speaker E: Uh, Piper? [03:17:59] Speaker D: Yep. [03:18:00] Speaker E: Sorry about your curse. I'd hug you or whatever, but your aura makes me uncomfortable. [03:18:07] Speaker D: I have gotten that more times in the last year than I ever expected to. It's about twice, but still, it's. [03:18:17] Speaker E: You know, I've never met somebody whose aura was just. And she kind of like makes a weird hand gesture at you. Like she's trying to convey a thought that she doesn't have proper words for. It's a little bit like standing next to a black hole. And it's making me very uncomfortable and a little sleepy. So I think I'm gonna go. It was lovely to see you again, Piper. No offense. Um, you know, I'm used to it at this point. Maybe one day we'll figure out how to hit the off switch, and then I'll give you a hug. But that today is not that day. So I'm gonna go. Um, and, uh, I will see you all later, maybe. Hopefully. Don't die in the meantime. Okay? [03:19:05] Speaker B: Sure. [03:19:05] Speaker D: Wasn't on my. Wasn't on my to do list. [03:19:13] Speaker E: She sort of gives everybody a wave, kisses Rosanna on the cheek again. All right, I'm going. And she hurries out and climbs into her, quote unquote, definitely not a dragon. Torbas. And they pull out onto the road. [03:19:41] Speaker B: Every time I see that thing, I always. [03:19:46] Speaker E: What did you say? [03:19:47] Speaker B: I said, every time I see that, every time I see that dragon, I can't help but think of puff the magic dragon. Let me tell you, that's entertainment right there. [03:19:59] Speaker C: So two questions. [03:20:05] Speaker A: Really. [03:20:06] Speaker C: Just gonna limit it to two, because I'm trying not to dig too much into this, but question number one. Well, they're both gonna be hard, so let's just start with Zephyr. What did you mean? That that's what happened to Zephyr? [03:20:32] Speaker D: That's why he went off. And I'm assuming at least. [03:20:38] Speaker A: The mage we met. Gunshot, said something about collecting, that Zephyr was collecting tokens from his victims. Right? [03:20:52] Speaker D: And that's. I remember that kind of compulsion of the curse. At least part of it. Apparently, it gets worse. [03:21:00] Speaker B: Hmm. Hmm. Wonderful. [03:21:03] Speaker D: Yeah. [03:21:03] Speaker C: So. So based on that, we're making the assumption that Zephyr had at some point seen this book, had at some point read the book. [03:21:11] Speaker D: Yeah. [03:21:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [03:21:15] Speaker D: Didn't I remember y'all saying he mentioned something about it at some point? [03:21:20] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, that's another thing I remember. [03:21:23] Speaker C: I didn't know anything about that. [03:21:30] Speaker D: I don't know. All I remember is it. I remember it coming, I think when. [03:21:33] Speaker A: We encountered the book the second time, somebody said it looked familiar. That might. [03:21:43] Speaker B: The trip to the bookstore. [03:21:46] Speaker D: That's what it was. [03:21:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [03:21:52] Speaker D: Yeah. [03:21:55] Speaker B: Hmm. [03:21:57] Speaker C: Okay, second question. You have been hanging out with this mage to the point. Point that you get favors, or you do favors for them in exchange for information. [03:22:13] Speaker B: Um, it's not quite what you think it is? After I had fully healed up. [03:22:28] Speaker E: She. [03:22:29] Speaker B: Had reached out to me, said that she might be able to help me figure out how to control my magic because, you know, being able to summon Faye and. And see things that aren't there and all this other stuff, I had some questions. Right, like, we know I'm not. I mean, none of us are normal, let's be honest. So she took me to meet her aunt, and her aunt helped me with some stuff, but said that I wasn't quite ready to continue these lessons. And I don't quite know what that means either, but she basically said, hang around, Ophelia. Ophelia helped me work a lot of my stuff through, and kind of we got to learn the differences between mine and hers. And I won't lie. Comparatively speaking, mine kind of looks like a pile of dog shit compared to what she can do. But, you know, it's over. Over time, she became a reason Reeves. Very reasonable person. Whenever I had questions and the favors were fairly small, there weren't anything, like extraordinary. [03:24:09] Speaker A: But. [03:24:12] Speaker B: Again, anything that I can use to get the upper hand of my sister, I'm gonna take. Because it's either I learn how to control my shit, or I die by the hands of somebody I don't want to die to. And I know that that's not an answer that you lack, but would you rather me die to the hands of my own twin sister? [03:24:53] Speaker A: I mean, just think of it this way. We have some small advantages. We would be very foolish to not take full advantage of those advantages when they could help us in the long run. Arthur, you can punch ghosts. [03:25:20] Speaker B: I can't even see the ghosts anymore. My entire life just kind of got flipped upside down after everything, and I wasn't getting the answers that I needed. So, you know, I did what I had to do. And again, I'm really sorry if that's not the answer that you were looking for. Um, but I just. I don't. I don't know what to do. Do anymore. [03:26:05] Speaker A: If I touch someone, sometimes I can see how they're gonna die. [03:26:22] Speaker D: I'm apparently a magical heat sink. [03:26:27] Speaker E: And. [03:26:27] Speaker A: Then I can see and talk to ghosts. But, you know, that's it. [03:26:32] Speaker B: I can see visions past, present, and future. [03:26:41] Speaker A: All of these are tools in our arsenal. [03:26:46] Speaker C: Mm hmm. [03:26:49] Speaker B: Remove. [03:26:53] Speaker C: He. But for the sake of getting through the rest of this day, I will go. I will simply say, okay, and that's where we'll end this discussion. [03:27:17] Speaker A: Well, Piper, shall we take a look at Delphi? [03:27:28] Speaker D: Yeah, why not? See if we can find anything. [03:27:31] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, go do that. I'm gonna. And she just gets out of the booth and walks out of the diner. [03:27:44] Speaker E: All right, I think on that note, we're gonna call it for the evening. [03:27:50] Speaker D: Before we do that, Piper is gonna, like, before standing up, she's gonna, like, kind of put a hand on Arthur's shoulder and just kind of, like, nod. Like, yeah, I get it. [03:28:05] Speaker E: Okay, on that note, we're gonna call it for the evening.