Chapter 5: The Hunted

The Hunted 21 JUL/18 Miranda Geiss knows that information is power. It’s more than just the slogan on her “The More You Know” t-shirt – it’s her whole identity. Information is the great equalizer, a power more piercing than money and more flexible than status. But it has to be put together, the lines drawn, the conclusion derived. In the ever growing sea of information, finding even a tiny island to anchor to can be daunting.   So Miranda built herself a small army of algorithms to assist. She calls them her Hunters, and in a fit of her own vanity, named each them after a quark – a fundamental piece of the universe. Up and Down are her basic data miners, relics of her earliest days of code. They get sent out on the drudgery jobs, pouring through public records and churning through data dumps. Charm and Strange are her infiltrators, breaking in through encryptions, tracing ghost lineages, and finding the hidden corners.   Her final two are Truth and Beauty, self-learning programs that take what the other four provide, and come to conclusions. Sometimes, those conclusions surprise Miranda. On a handful of occasions, they have frightened her.   But Miranda is still at the heart of it all, directing them, refining them, and stepping in when the programming can’t quite reach that final objective. And as she pushes them to figure out more and more about this ‘Riot’ from her vision, the more she finds her brilliant little corps stymied and throttled.   So it is nice to set them to other tasks. Tasks that are conquerable, and make her feel needed by her crew. That transform her information into power.   Flicker’s Hunters work away at the code behind the City, seeking out black cars, hidden agendas, and questionable people. They are not the only ones on the hunt as the rains let up, and the evening begins to fall.   In Hilltop, four figures remove their masks and let down their hoods, standing around a table etched with symbols and covered in sand. In the center of the table, a pair of earphones lay coiled, dormant with a potential hoped to be activated.   Among the rusted glory at the old docks, a man is babbling incoherently, a victim of his own tragic paranoia. But someone with a forgettable face is listening, and she twists her forgettable lips into a smile at the mention of a visitor with dead eyes and questions.   High on the cliffs of Winegarden, one of the lost scions of the Camlann family aerie swoops down from above and captures a rabbit. The rabbit’s screams are harsh and disturbing, but soon silenced. A figure watches from a lit window, and for a moment considers calling for a hunting rifle, to take down the noble bird herself, but instead allows it to fly off into the growing darkness.   In a small pocket of the digital, where Flicker’s Hunters are rarely sent, a sly and clever beast slips between networks. It haunts machines around the Old Quarter, flitting here and there, watching for sparse openings into the technological barrens of an old antique store.   A man with an ill yellow pallor furiously scolds the prison guards crowded in his Cross End office. They suffer their abasement silently, their eyes occasionally flashing the color of sick gold. The sweaty warden sends them out into the night again, this time to seek out the beast of a man who has entered the playing field on behalf of an inquisitive reporter.   And at the McSmith Packing Plant parking garage, a youth in a fawn mask begins hanging lights along the railing edges. Soon they are joined by a figure in the laughing mask of a satyr, and another crowned with holly berries and metallic acorns. Gigantic speakers are erected, with twisting knots of cords connecting them at the node of a DJ booth. Two owl-feathered girls giggle, swallowing bright orange pills before hanging a mirrored ball to one of the sprinkler system pipes. The crowds are gathering, and a new Wild Hunt is about to begin.   ~ ~ ~   Dee attempts to sort out the madness of the last half day, as Krys leaves to take Lily back to ScorchRain to calm down and Michel prances off to prepare for some evening engagement. It seems that Dee had been frozen in a doorway since the previous night, after finishing up her research into the prison, and getting a text from Flicker to meet her at the back door. Now, a flood of missed messages reach Dee’s phone. Some are from Flicker, one is from Eugenia, and there is a disturbing chain from her sister, Gisele, who apparently has been kidnapped.   It seems that the convoluted mysteries surrounding Dee lately have to be put on hold yet again. Strapping on her best guns and her leather duster, Dee heads out into the evening to rescue her sister. She calls Eugenia for back up.   ~ ~ ~   Eugenia has a situation of her own. After an expectedly terse ride back with her grandfather, she has been trying to determine her next steps based on the information that Detective MacAuley alluded to. Priscilla interrupts her to let her know that Lawrence has contacted her, asking to meet. But it is in a location that Priscilla is ‘not welcome’, and she asks that Eugenia meet with Lawrence in her stead. Eugenia agrees, but on the way out gets Dee’s phone call. They decided to prioritize the kidnapping over the meeting with Lawrence. However, both seem to be at the same address…   ~ ~ ~   An off-duty prison guard crashes through the window of the worst bar in town. Inside, a second is already slumped in a pile of his own defeat, and the third is held up in the air by Francis’ mighty arm. Overcome by Francis’ conversation skills, the goon gives up that most of these ambushes have been coordinated by Uriah Linkletter, assistant warden at the prison. Francis suggests the gentleman take a nap, which he obliges. After scrounging up some cash from the goons’ pockets to pay the vacant-eyed bartender, Francis continues his meeting with a terrified Ian, still cowering the corner. Ian tells Francis where he can find Uriah tonight, and Francis repays him with an all-expenses paid trip to the basement of Santa Teresa, rope included. Francis heads out to the address, a place in the Warehouse District.   ~ ~ ~   With Betty’s contacts dried up, and her own investigation stymied, Mora looks for a kill job to complete. Her politician is inaccessible, but there’s a note in a dead drop she keeps at a bus depot, letting her know that Maria Valtierra is on the move tonight. Mora has a contract to end the life of the cousin and first lieutenant of gang leader Samuel Valtierra.   At her apartment, she sees her microwave flashing ‘CHECK YOUR FIRE ESCAPE’ instead of the time, and she cautiously does so. She finds a potted lily with a note – a message from Flicker with some information about a potential connection between Helix Labs and the cryptic “Hello Theta 315” message that was written in Albert’s blood two nights ago. She stashes it away for later.   Trailing Maria and one of her men, Mora finds herself at an address in the Warehouse District.   ~ ~ ~   The make-out is epic. Kat and Kit are loathe to untangle from each other, but in the end, the real world must intrude on the new lovers. They share sheepish grins and longing looks, and Kit takes a moment to part the Mists and see through to what trouble might be plaguing Kat.   With Mythos-charged eyes, Kit sees the familiar star-lit rice paddy that feels like ‘home’ to servants of Inari. They ask ‘Who is the person plaguing Kat?’, and see Kat leading an elderly woman to a water mill that is not turning. The woman seems expectant of Kat’s assistance. Kit asks “What do they want?” The mill does not turn because the river is too low, but it seems that the woman is expecting Kat to make the wheel spin. Finally, Kit asks “What can I do to help?” The vision moves quickly up the drying stream to an Oni, sitting cross-legged and blocking the flow of the river, with a coin sitting over either eye. Then Kit is back, staring at the eager and longing face of their new boyfriend.   They are both interrupted by their phones. Kat’s mother is worried and insistent that he come home immediately. Kit has a group text from Ravyn and Bee that Ty has gone rogue, and is meeting with the Wild Beasts – those followers of Bear that fell back into their old ways when Bear died. Ravyn implores Kit to help Ty, while Bee argues that this is what Ty wants and he will only sow more disharmony in the group. In the end, Kit decides to try to help Ty.   The lovers part after several more smooches, each longing to be reunited soon, and Kit heads off to talk some sense into Ty. Ravyn and Bee won’t join him, because they have no desire to return to where the Wild Beasts now run – the rave known as the Wild Hunt, held tonight in a parking lot in the Warehouse District.   ~ ~ ~   As if guided by the same clumsy, invisible hand, all our big, damn heroes show up at the same location at the same time – a nine-story-tall parking ramp that has been commandeered for the evening for the Wild Hunt. They are halted momentarily at the gate by a tall woman with grayish skin, and an incredible false bravado of authority. She tells them about the oracles of the night’s Hunt – a Golden Salmon, a Silver Falcon, and a Bronze Horse. Then she waves them through, and the crew must begin the hunts of their own – each seeking a different quarry, each unsure if they will find them before the police show up to shut down the party of epic proportions.   The rave is crowded, filling every floor, and the Mists seem particularly weak – strange phenomena and sights are everywhere. (Not to mention more than a handful of party drugs.) Dee gets stuck in a mosh pit of mythic proportions. Eugenia tries to intervene in a seemingly dangerous re-enactment of the Hunt, but the prey rejects her help. Kit travels the elevator with two owl sisters who entice them with a delicious candy. Francis talks a young woman down from a dangerous trip, and runs into another with a mysterious stamp on the back of her hand. Mora interrupts an old fashioned bacchanalia in the security room to spy on the cameras. Many of the crew encounter a dangerous… nothingness on one of the floors. But in the end, all the targets are acquired.   ~ ~ ~   Kit is the first to find their mark, in the midst of the party on the 3rd floor. Ty is thrashing to the music alongside two Wild Beasts – one with the mask of a vulture, the other with the mask of a serpent. Kit convinces Ty to leave his new ‘friends’ behind and to come speak alone. They travel to the ‘make-out’ area of the 5th floor, and among the whispered sighs and muted giggles, they get down to business.   Ty says the direction of the Beasts at the Brewery is wrong – that they need to be better organized, more aggressive, or else the Wild Beasts will come for everything. Kit pushes Ty for what he truly wants, and Ty lays it on the line – he wants leadership of the Beasts, or he’s defecting back to the Wild Beasts and the Hunt. Kit relents, extracting a promise that Ty will work with Bee rather than shutting her out. Ty agrees to hear everyone equally, but insists that he will still be fully in charge, with the final say on all things. He gives Kit 2 days to break the news to Bee before making his leadership known. Ty leaves to tell the vulture and the serpent to fuck off, leaving Kit worried.   For strength, Kit texts Kat, telling him that they miss him, despite having parted ways only hours before. Unlike the previous, painful interlude between texts, Kat immediately messages back. The exchange is brief, and slightly naughty, but empowers Kit to send the next communication: one to Ravyn, telling him about the outcome with Ty, and to start to prepare Bee for the painful confrontation that is sure to come from the agreed terms.   ~ ~ ~   Mora finds Maria next, on the 4th floor, which is oppressive and overshadowed by a strange feeling of death. Maria is making rounds and passing out drugs, likely on Samuel’s behalf, and accompanied by her one guard. Mora decides to tail her for a while, and manages to overhear a few key comments. Samuel is apparently acting odd lately, meaning Maria is considering a coup. And there have been some reports of bad trips from their drugs, with symptoms similar to what Samuel has been experiencing.   Eventually, Maria makes her way to the lover’s retreat on the 5th floor, and that is when Mora chooses to confront her. She sneaks up on her, making clear her intent to just talk. Maria doesn’t believe it, and immediately sics her guard on Mora. Mora takes him down quickly. Kit, on the other side of the floor, see the confrontation and rushes to assist. They manage to disarm Maria and bring her down, where she has to listen to Mora.   Mora warns her that there is a contract on her life, and hints that it was Samuel himself that took out the hit. The problem with the drug supply has given Mora concerns about Samuel, and Mora thinks Maria might be a better person at the top of the heap. Maria isn’t about to thank Mora for the information, but does call off her guard and makes a speedy exit.   Mora notices a man matching Lawrence’s description on the floor, and let’s Eugenia know.   ~ ~ ~   Dee travels through the floors quickly to the rooftop, where she finds the Golden Salmon sitting in a colorful haze with its attendants. Dee and the Salmon share a silent gaze across the crowd, and Dee suddenly awakens to her Mythos, and sees through the Mist. The world is overlaid with a thousand doorways, some open and some closed, some freestanding and some attached to places and people. Everyone has locks – over mouths and hearts and eyes. She is granted two questions of the oracle.   Dee asks where she can find her sister. A door rises before her, with an elevator’s floor numbers along the top. The lights descent from 9th to 5th, indicating where the errant woman is. Dee decides to aid her crew, and looks for Francis’ target, Uriah. The answer is more vague, with a frost-rimed door appearing, and opening to show the man dancing in a huge crowd. Dee passes the information along to Francis and heads down the stairs.   She finds her sister at the hipster bar on the 5th floor, seated across from a very handsome and familiar gentleman. She does not appear in any danger, a fact reinforced when she loudly greets Dee and asks for money. With a weary sigh, Dee texts the group “Sister not kidnapped. Still a bitch, though”.   Gisele confesses that she sent the texts as a way to lure Dee to the party and supplement the money she’s lost with their parents cutting down her trust fund access. Her companion introduces himself – Luca Del Mare, the younger brother of Gio. While he has all of Gio’s handsome looks, his charm has a tarnished, gross veneer to it. This doesn’t seem to faze Gisele, though, who seems quite smitten. Dee is not, and insists that the night is over for all of them.   Gisele wants to go see an Oracle, though, and refuses to leave until Dee takes her to one. The rules of the night mean that Dee would have to find a different one than the Golden Salmon, which she is loathe to spend time doing. She pressed Gisele on why this is so important, and Gisele lets it out that Dee herself asked her to do this, about six months ago. Gisele doesn’t know why, just that Dee was very forceful, and looked ‘different’. She told Gisele to tell herself to ask ‘why are doors strange?’. Dee agrees to seek an oracle, cursing time-travel and all the complex ways it continues to screw with her.   ~ ~ ~   Eugenia arrives on the 5th floor, where Lawrence is sitting maudlin at a table next to a thin girl in a opaque space helmet. She says nothing as Eugenia motions for her to leave, merely shrugging and moving along silently. It takes a while for Lawrence to register Eugenia, a sign of his altered condition. Once he does, he returns to his frequent Frantic State, with a torrent of words spewing forth.   He reveals what Detective MacAuley was hinting at – that some of the missing items from the vault were removed well before the ‘break-in’. In fact, Lawrence himself was responsible – it started with one item being ‘borrowed’ briefly, and then escalated into the situation at hand. During the break-in investigation, he panicked and pinned all the missing items on the thieves, and the stress of his guilt has driven him to the brink. He is at the Wild Hunt trying to drown his anxiety with drugs.   Before Eugenia can get much more out of him, he dashes off and up the stairs.   ~ ~ ~   Mora continues to move through the Wild Hunt, and comes across a section of a dance floor on the 8th floor that is oddly cold. It is almost as if the dancers are chasing away the heat rather than generating it. In the mix of thrashers, she spots Uriah by description, and informs Francis, who comes up from the floor below. Uriah is also lost in some drug-induced fugue, which Mora and Francis break by dragging him up to the rooftop and dousing him in as much water as they can find.   It doesn't take long for Uriah to realize that Francis is Felicity’s brother, and a major source of his headaches. He wants to make whatever deal allows him to walk out of the Hunt alive, particularly after Francis makes a comment about teaching him to ‘fly’. Slowly, Mora and Francis get more details out of him.   He doesn’t know exactly which secret the Warden is most concerned that Felicity was going to expose, just that the Warden needed her off the investigation. Uriah took the reins on most of it, eager to outshine his fellow assistant wardens Mathieu and Josiah. He isn’t aware of any bodies in a sealed up room, or the reason that the Payles were fired as the plumbing contractors. He does reveal that the prison has had to make a lot of unethical cuts to the budgets since the partnership with Helix Labs was terminated abruptly about a year ago. There was supposedly a test run of a ‘rehabilitation’ drug with some inmate volunteers, but it never went anywhere.   Mora and Francis let him go, but expect more information out of him. In particular, they want more details about the involvement with Helix and whatever led to the termination of the Payles. They will be expecting to collect in a few days.   ~ ~ ~   Kit has been wandering, looking for an Oracle to answer some more questions. A ride in the elevator with the owl sisters reveals the location of the Silver Falcon on the 6th floor, where a number of the crew begin to gather. But unlike the Golden Salmon, this one asks for a show of overcoming weakness before questions may be asked.   Kit tries to summon a complex illusion of multiple dancers, but cannot hold it in place. Still sour from the outcome with Ty, they forgo any further encounter with the Oracle.   Eugenia pauses on her search to find Lawrence. She offers up a dance to the Falcon, striving to overcome her sore joints. The Falcon approves, and grants her one question. Eugenia asks what item stolen from the vault is the most important for the City for her to retrieve. The Mists part before her, and she stands on a lake, a forest to the north and a wide plain to the south. A medieval knight approaches the shore. The regal figure of a woman arises from the water in the distance, and moves with speed to strike down the knight. She herself is challenged by a cloaked form in a bishop’s miter. A tower arises in the distance.   Dee also arrives before the oracle, her sister and Luca in tow. Already in a foul mood, the oracle’s requirements irritate her more, but she summons her strength and hands one of her guns to Luca, fighting against her distrustful nature. The oracle is appeased, and Dee can see through the Mists again. She asks what Gisele told her to ask – “Why are doors weird?” – and notices a new door this time. It opens, and reveals another door behind it. That one opens only to expose the same again. This happens with exponential speed, until far in the distance of the doorframe, there is… something.   Suddenly, the image races forward through the thousand open doors, a mighty slam echoing which each threshold passed. Dee is finally faced with a bizarre sight – a glowing neon icon, a face with a grimace and a wink. Then Dee is shaken from her reverie, and immediately sets out to bring her sister home.   Luca is not welcome to join them.   ~ ~ ~   Overcome with curiosity, Mora cannot turn down the opportunity to speak to the Golden Salmon about her own questions. With a secret smile, the Salmon parts the Mists for her, and Mora is confronted with the harsh white world of her Mythos – a laboratory. She asks “What is Theta 315?” A whiteboard rolls into view, and a hidden hand begins writing. Theta 001, a name, a date, another date, and the harsh stamp of TERMINATED. Below that, Theta 002 is written. The writing begins to flow, and scrolls through hundreds of entries before slowing down at Theta 315. The name and dates are still obscured by Mist, but a picture that is unmistakably Mora has been tacked next to the entry. And it also bears the word TERMINATED.   Mora then asks “Who is the woman who was in the white van?” Suddenly, the lights start to go out, bank-by-bank, starting at the far end of the room. As the darkness approaches Mora, the scrap of metal against metal can be heard, and something moves along, riding the shadowy wave towards her. Eventually, the darkness stops just before her, and the figure toes the line between the dark and the light. The figure is a woman. She wears a white coat, her face is completely devoid of feature, and she has a name tag reading “Dr. Jennifer Smith”.   ~ ~ ~   Eugenia finds Lawrence on the rooftop as well, starting off into the distant sky. His mood has changed sharply, taking a turn for the dark. He regrets what he has done, the choices that he had made. Eugenia tries to console him, telling him that one decision need not define a person. He agrees, strangely. He tells her that he worked through a contact named Tourmaline on the thefts, and then jumps off the edge of the building to his death below.   ~ ~ ~   Even shrouded in the Mist, a Wild Hunt as raucous as this cannot stay hidden for long. The police sirens can be heard in the distance, and things seems to be closing down quickly. But just has all begin to depart, a vision is seen. It is harsh and strong and cuts to the very core of each person’s brain. A serpent rises – a serpent of death and hate, that makes one horrific scream into the night air. Some see it as a bad trip, or an impossible waking dream. Rifts see it each through their own lens. As unmistakably universal as the vision is, it is still deeply personal, and as it fades, everyone is left wondering if perhaps they were the only person to see it.   It is still the dead of night. The Hunt comes to an end. But the mysteries are still aflame.