An Open Invitation

[Molly Quincannon] Molly's on sentry duty - her first run at such since setting up her own cabal. She's stocked the fridge with necessaries on which they were running low (with a new variety of tea for Ashley, when she turns up) and done a bit of light cleaning. She's also had time to explore the library - so many books, so many ways to satisfy her eternal curiosity! It's all very exciting, and she hardly knows there to start. Therefore, after poking around in the library, she picks out something historical and settles downstairs. She's brought in an iPod dock and is currently playing Orbital - softly, but enough to give a bit of company while she reads.

[Atlas Mason] It had been several weeks since Atlas had taken the long drive to the mages little slice of americana. The white washed house with its wrap around porch came into view quickly however as his motorcycle swung onto the road, and then onto the long circling driveway that made the home particularly impressive in this neighborhood.

The machine roared up the driveway, lurching in the gravel as Atlas brought it to an abrupt stop, skidding the machine ever so slightly before he performs his simplistic, yet confusing ritual to turn the machine off, and bring quiet to the neighborhood once more. Stepping over the bike he removed his goggles and looked up at the overcast skies and sighed, it had been days since there had been any decent light in the sky.

Turning his eyes from the sky Atlas stepped towards the porch, mounting the stairs with the click of his riding boots following after him, and stepped to the door and opening it after only a moments cursory warning by means of a quick knock on the door. Stepping across the threshold the Dr. looked about curiously, uncertain if there would be anyone in the immediate area, when no one was found, he moved towards the bulletin board.

[Molly Quincannon] The knock is heard, of course - Molly's settled in a chair at the back of the sitting room with a vague view of the door but not in direct line of sight from the bulletin board - and Molly peers over as Atlas comes in. She smiles - she'd been kind of hoping to talk to him, in point of fact - and sticks a scrap of graph paper into her book to mark her place. She assumes that any dog-earing of pages would get someone yelling at her for it. "Hi, Atlas. How's the Lafette?"

[Atlas Mason] His movement towards the bulletin board was arrested as the man acoustically recognized Molly, even if he had visually somehow missed her, perhaps he really did need glasses. He swung around casually and gave Molly that self same amiable smile as he took a few steps into the living room rather then towards the bulletin board.

"The concurrent status of the vessel Lafette is nominal with the standards and expectations of its state of repair at this juncture in time and space fields Molly." He says with a nod. He does give her a quizzical look as she simply seems to be loafing about, not something most seemed to do in this place anymore.

"What particular set of requirements or sources of data find your personage in a state of semi permanent stasis within this physical structure Molly? It is statistically uncommon at this juncture to remain for any longer then fifteen point five standard time units within this structure baring unforseen and unprojected factors."

[Molly Quincannon] "Well, that's good to hear. And how about yourself? Nominal?" Molly seems to be in a fairly good mood today. "And I suppose there are unforseen and unprojected factors. I'm on sentry duty today," she explains, and then she grins. "Part of the whole full Chantry access deal. I'm running my own crew now. Guess Henri didn't mention. So now I'm keeping an eye on the place and I get to use the library. The library is awesome," she adds, unable to contain the general excitement. She blushes a little. "Sorry. Just ... it's not even that; I'm just glad to have the crew together. It's building and we have purpose and it's awesome!"

[Atlas Mason] "My chemical and biological structure is nominal at this juncture yes. Your inquiry is noted and appreciated Molly."

Atlas' eyes widen a fraction as Molly tells him about her recently assembled cabal, a surprising circumstance under any situation, and under nearly all a cause for celebration, however Atlas frowns slightly, a curious and somewhat uncertain look crossing his face for a moment as he consider's something.

"Is your vocalized statement to be interpreted in the manner of understanding that Henrietta Bean has sublimated her drives and intentions into this recently manufactured cohesive paradigmically amalgam?" He inquires,

[Molly Quincannon] Molly blinks, concerned at the uncertain look on Atlas' face - that doesn't happen very often. "Well ... yeah. I mean, it's been building for weeks, actually, but it only became official the other day and I was telling Henri that I planned to find Ashley and make Nat and me an official cabal-of-two and I explained the cabal remit and she was really into it so I extended the invite and she said yes. Why? I mean, you didn't ask her about something like that first, did you? I mean, she never said."

[Atlas Mason] He clears his throat as a hand comes up to his mouth in a fist, a very gentlemanly manner and shakes his head. "Negative, no verbal ascertion or deliverance of an equal or parallel offer had been made as of this juncture." He says with a wave of a hand. "This particular occurance simply had not been projected, previous indicators had marked Henrietta Bean as unlikely at this point in time and space to acquiesce to any such amalgam offers."

He shrugged as he undid the top few buttons on his jacket and shook his head as he loosened the neck brace. "Congratulations Molly."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly keeps watching Atlas, a little bit worried, but she does say, with a small, slightly concerned smile, "Thanks. I actually wanted to talk to you anyway, and was going to call once sentry duty was over - well, between this and bojutsu, anyway. I was going to ask if you'd consider coming in on it with us. I mean, I can't think of anyone better in terms of what we're all about."

[Atlas Mason] Atlas stops what he had been doing and raises a brow at Molly's offer, its an inquisitive look that he gives her, but about what in particular who knows. He leans back against the wall that was behind him at that moment and blinks a few times before taking a breath.

"What is the specific purpose of this amalgam unit and what particular factors and driving elements determine this thesis which you hypothesize on Molly?"

[Molly Quincannon] Molly pauses a moment for the best ways to put it. Then she says, "Well ... one thing I've noticed in this city the last few months is that problems ... they tend to be allowed to grow and spread and ... and fester until the body count rises and innocents suffer. The other cabals have their remits and that's awesome, but they don't go out and actively look for the seeds of a problem; they only go for the root when the problem itself has grown into a veritable hedge maze. Our remit is to go out and find the problems before they get so big that we can't deal with them without quite so much ... I guess stress and problems. Which means a lot of different things, really. Keeping a weather eye out for any ... anomalies, I guess is the best way to put it. Educating those that need it on what to look for, what to avoid and how to deal with it. Dealing with smaller problems so they don't become bigger ones. But mostly it's being on the front lines, actually watching for the issues before those issues come out and kill somebody, or worse."

Then she shrugs and smiles at him. "I think you'd fit in well because most of Chicago's magi don't have half your experience. You're intelligent, you can work a security perimeter, you know battle strategy, and you'd know better than almost any of us what data's significant of a problem and what isn't. You'd also be more likely to know the source of the problem from available data and how to deal with it. That's my thinking on it, anyway."

[Atlas Mason] "You and those amalgamated with you have agreed to establish your personages as an early warning and detection system around the entirety of this urban locality?" He inquires nodding slightly to the idea, most of the other cabal's were afterall, far more reactive then proactive.

Atlas seems to rub his chin for a few moments, as if considering her offer, at the very least he is taking the offer seriously. "Are there any additional personages you intend to acquire and sublimate into this amalgam Molly?"

[Molly Quincannon] "Yeah, that's the basic gist." Molly's smile is stronger, more confident, when she talks about this kind of thing. "We'll react when we hae to - if something slips the net, if someone else is in trouble, that kind of thing - but mostly we'd like to at least identify and pinpoint the problems before they get that far. Maybe with a group like that in place and working, we can ease up on the security on the Chantry enough to give people much-needed access to the library at minimum. I mean," she goes on, sounding a little aggrieved, "Ashley can talk about how it's not our responsibility to educate the new mages all she wants, but that's not strictly true, is it? I mean, if we don't educate the young and the vulnerable properly, make sure they know the scores on the doors, then they're more likely to make a mistake that's going to get themselves hurt, captured, Fallen or Marauder or I don't even know. It is our responsibility, if for no other reason than making sure they don't violate the Rule of Shade by accident."

Then she addresses the other question, back to more pleasant topics. "There are, yes. We were thinking of asking Thomas Taylor, though it's likely he'll balk because he doesn't want to be tied to the Chantry at all. I'm going to pass along an invite to a Vdept friend of mine named Wren, and there's an Orphan named Ellie who really wants to help, and willingness is a really big step, given the remit, so I'm going to bring that up with Nat and Henri. But we've already discussed inviting you so I can pass along the invitation with no reservations."

[Atlas Mason] Atlas frowns as he listens, in particular about how it was not their responsibility to teach, opening up a wound he had left alone for a while. He nods with a slightly bitter look slipping across an otherwise smiling face before the man nods. "It is quite our intrinsic responsibilty to ensure the stability and capability of awakened personages within this city. That is the basis of the traditions, education and further understanding through dissemination of data." He shakes his head in agitation before looking back to Molly.

"Are you certain that all individuals who are being considered and circumspectly appropriated for this amalgam will fit and interlock and activate in a cohesive and efficient manner?"

[Molly Quincannon] "Nat, Wren and I have worked together before," Molly tells him. "I've worked with Nat and Thomas respectively, and we work well together. Henri and I talk shop on a regular basis so we're on a wavelength, and Nat used to live with you guys, so the getting along there isn't an issue so long as Henri gives up the head-mounted lasers for Boomer. I know Henri and Thomas are friends, and I can see Thomas and Wren getting along very well indeed. Ellie's a bit more of a grey area as she hasn't met many people but she's serious in her desire to help and I think she'll put a lot of work into working in a ... cohesive and efficient manner. It's all about knowing the available skill set of your team and making sure those skill sets are used in the best way for the situation at hand. Between us, I know we can all put aside paradigm differences and get on with things efficiently."

Then she frowns and looks up at Atlas. "Circumspectly appropriated? How did I appropriate circumspectively? There wasn't circumspect! I asked, people said yes!"

[Atlas Mason] Atlas waves a hand at the accusation and chuckles. "It is circumspect only in the initial deployment of intent, not upon the actualization of the offer." He says disarmingly before going back to contemplating the offer laid out before him. He takes quite some time to consider the offer before looking over at Molly once more.

"I would request that you not interpret my response in a negatively charged fashion Molly, I tentatively accept your proposal however ratification of my assistance in this endeavor is not yet verified, I will require a time frame to ascertain the effectiveness of this amalgam unit."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly frowns - it's not an accusation but a lack of understanding. "What, because I didn't mention it to you before I did it? That's not circumspect, that's lack of availability on both our parts." Okay, she's a bit of a pedant, but it's at least in part teasing.

The rest gets a nod and a small smile. "Understood. We'll consider you a ... probationary member? Meeting attendance but not ... hmm. How would we handle prospective membership so you can see what we're up to? Well, you can come to meetings and see what we're about and then decide, I guess. But do I tell the Chantry bods you're in or not? Hrm. Just ... one thing. You always say time frame or temporal unit, but you never specify the actual temporal unit. I mean, sometimes you say it and I can't tell whether you're talking solar cycles, lunar cycles, earth rotations around the sun..."

[Atlas Mason] Atlas smiles at that and chuckles holding open his hands. "Time is relative Molly, this particular is a primary factor within physics, to specify something that cannot be scientifically framed renders an attempt to attach a time frame to it a fallacious use of ones capabilities. As to the particular requirements of the Chantry governing agents and functional's you may indicate to them that I am an activated and amalgamated personage within the unit. I simply require the ability to retract my personage if necessary, this probationary time frame should last no longer then several standard calendar weeks."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly chuckles a bit. "If anyone knows how relative time is, it's me and mine, Atlas. It's just sometimes you say these things when you're referring to what should be specific divisions used as a baseline for personal experience - like when you were telling me about the Nephandi and I had to work out whether you were talking about minutes or years. Sometimes these things help just keep things organised. Anyway, good to know, thanks." It's an interesting insight into Atlas' psyche, that.

Then she nods, pleased. "Cool! Look, no one's tied into a cabal anyway; it's easy enough to leave if it's not for you. I won't get offended. I'll make sure Ashley and the Emissaries ... other Emissaries - man, that's going to take some getting used to... Anyway, I'll make sure everyone who needs to knows. Willing to take sentry duty at some point? Not now, 'cos I got it for the next few hours until I've got to go to my class, but ... it's a thing all the full-access Chantry members have to do."

[Atlas Mason] "In eventuality, affirmative I will accept the required aptitudes and tasks for the given charge." He says with a nod before checking his watch and sighing. "I must relocate once more at this juncture Molly." He says as he pushes off the wall and moves to curtly, and quickly shake molly's hand.

"Your inclusion of my personage within this paradigm is appreciated, it was certainly not projected as many particulars have been." He says with a nod before letting her hand go and begun doing up his coat once more. "I will initiate analog communication with your personage relativistically soon to ascertain additional duties and requirements."

[Molly Quincannon] "Awesome," is her response to that, giving Atlas' hand a warm, firm shake. "I'll let you know meeting dates as we set them up. See you later, and have a good day!" She lets him get on with his day, then, and goes back to her book.