Everything For A Price

[Callista Alexander] Hi Molly, it's Callista. I'm not sure if it'll be any use to you, but I might have dug something up. Meet me for coffee again, 6pm. See you later.

Time had passed since they last met. Possibly more for Molly, given her abilities and recent activities, but enough for Callista to have done a little investigation. Nosing around. Snooping. Depends how charitable people are being, really. But it all comes down to the same thing - her need to search, to uncover things.

To be nosey and snoop.

So, she'd called Molly and hit her voicemail. Probably not that surprising - the other woman was probably either working her Will, or sleeping a little before trying again. Leaving a quick message about meeting up, same place as they'd first met, she'd carried on with the more mundane parts of her day until it was time to head out.

Which brings her back to a small, independent coffeeshop just off the Mag Mile. Callista's sat at a table with two chairs - she's occupying one, her jacket's draped over the other. She's concentrating on a notepad, doodling away with a pencil. On the table are two mugs. One contains tea, smelling strongly of mint, the other contains something thick, dark, and most likely caffienated to hell.

((Also, while she's got a little downtime, practicing a little Willworking of her own. Landscape of the mind: Corr 1, Diff 4. Taking time -1. ))
Dice Rolled:[ 1 d10 ] 5 (Success x 1 at target 4)

[Molly Quincannon] When Molly enters (at exactly six o'clock, no less), she looks a lot better than she did the last time Callista saw her. She looks better slept, certainly, and more than a little triumphant and determined with it, and rather less frazzled. It all points to 'reasonably cheerful, if thoughtful' intertwined with frantic tenacity held in check for the time being by social conventions that she chooses to observe just now.

...But she wouldn't be Molly if she observed social conventions religiously. Which is probably why she starts the conversation by setting a good-sized Zip-Log baggie full of cookies on the table in front of Callista and says, not 'hello' or 'how are you?' or anything that sounds like a greeting but, "Home-made almond cookies! For you, because you are awesome. Or, to break out the thesaurus, take your pick - sensational, phenomenal, fantastic, wicked, cool, amazing, yadda. Also? Hi. How're you, beyond pick-a-synonym-for-great?"

[Callista Alexander] The sribbles on the paper start forming a pattern. A circle within the square page, the circle containing... is that a floorplan? Callista's attention is elsewhere - not paying attention to the door, or the people, or even the pencil and paper. It's simply not in the room.

Which is why she jumps somewhat when Molly drops the bag on the table. She looks up, frantic for a moment, as if she'd been caught in the middle of something. "Whoah! Jeez, woman, don't sneak up on me like that!" She takes a deep breath, to calm herself a little, as a smile appears. "You're looking better. You've managed to find what you were looking for, I assume?"

Setting the pencil down, Callista takes a careful sip from her mug. The drinks were only recently poured, and the steam rolling off the tops shows how hot they still are. "I'm good, thanks. Busybusy." Putting the mug back on the table, she leans forward to look into the bag. "I really shouldn't... But they do look good."

[Molly Quincannon] [[Awareness - what have you been up to?]]
Dice Rolled:[ 6 d10 ] 1, 2, 7, 8, 8, 9 (Success x 3 at target 6)

[Molly Quincannon] Callista jumps. Molly blinks, then peers at the scribbles on the paper as if trying to work something out. It's only once she tilts her head and gets a general read of the air that she figures it out. "Oh; sorry, did I interrupt something useful? My bad. But you said six and here it is, six oh-one as of ... now. So here I am. And thanks; I've been branching out my cooking skills and Elizabeth was over yesterday so I was inspired to do Chinese desserts. Anyway, why shouldn't you? I mean, it's not like I expect you to scoff the whole bag now or anything. They keep well, or so the Almighty Google tells me."

Then she sits, looks at the mug that's apparently been set aside for her, and beams. "Aww, thanks! You got my favourite. That's nice of you. And yes; yes, I found who I was looking for, and a where, and I've got as good a fix on a 'when' as you can get with this kind of thing. My general vibe does this kind of thing no favours, you know; Flash-Forward MaybeVision is twisty and jump-cutty enough at the best of times without throwing Frantic into the mix. I think Elizabeth helped in more ways than the main reason she had to be part of the whole thing, though I hope I didn't give her too much of a headache. Anyway. I have news and you have news and you have hints but I have no news. What's the sitch?"

[Callista Alexander] Callista has been feeling around her with a touch of Correspondence. Nothing strong enough to actually affect anything, connect with anything, but enough to sense what's there. The doodle has been turning into a floor plan of the coffeeshop. It lacks people and the more temporary furniture, but the walls, counter, doors and windows all seem to be in the right places.
to Molly Quincannon

[Callista Alexander] Noticing Molly interest in the paper, Callista's in two minds about whether to show or hide what she's been working on. What the hell. She passes the notepad to Molly, so she can get a decent look without getting a crick in her neck.

"Not sure if you'd call it useful, unless you want to cut out little bits of paper furniture and plan some redecorating. I suppose I could have a career in interior decorating if everything else falls through, I suppose." Callista grins, lifting her jacket away from the other chair so that Molly can sit if she's so inclined.

She lifts the bag and cracks the seal, smelling the contents. "Well... I suppose one won't hurt. You're not doing my sweet tooth any favours, though." Callista pulls one of the cookies out and sets it on a napkin, before putting the bag back on the table - open side towards Molly.

Then they're moving onto news, and hints, and foretellings. "Well, the short version is that I've had precisely no luck tracking down the cult or our golden-eyes friend. On the other hand, I've picked up a little about some kind of 'rally' they might be holding in the next couple of days." Callista drops into her 'reporter' voice, Molly may have noticed the difference between Callista's way of speaking in person against how she speaks in front of the camera. "The rally is planned for a beautiful location, one with a candle-lit fountain. My source mentions flares of light due to appear somewhere nearby. The event is being organised for the 23rd of the month, when Mercury is in its greatest elongation east."

A blink of an eye and Callista's back to her 'normal' self. "Mean anything to you? I haven't a clue what the bit about Mercury's about. I never took much of an interest in astronomy."

[Molly Quincannon] That gets raised eyebrows. "They're tagging meteorological significance to this bullshit. Lovely. Man, I hope the flares of light aren't the case. I was happier with the doves, honestly. But the flares of light herald ... well, things. The kinds of things that make me understand why Solomon's reaction to Atticus' My First Cthulu was to watch it warily and pointedly not reach for his gun. Well, possibly." There's a frown that's at once sheepish, thoughtful and cheated. "The problem with this is how many variables there are when this ... uppity voicemail from beyond gets involved."

Then she shakes her head and hits the basics. "This is confirmation and that is so beyond helpful, seriously; I got the 23rd but things can change so much just from my having seen them that there was no guarantee. But if there's a meteorological thing here, then they can't vacillate from it all that much, which is ... okay, not good, considering the consequences, but at least means we can be there at the right time. You've also narrowed down the location - I had three options, and it's good to know that some of this potential shit won't be going down near a gas station." She pulls out her laptop. "Now I just have to Google for the statue I saw. Poseidon, seahorses, nymphs. Might be near Shedd Aquarium, but might not; but Google is wise and all-knowing."

While she waits for her laptop to boot, she looks at Callista, concern and determination in her eyes. "I saw the one we're looking for. She can't be more than ten, Callista. Her father's a member of this cult-religion-I-don't-even-know. And whether it's the doves thing or the rain of fire or the everybody-levitating bullshit or the ... well, the things ... it's going to end up bad." Then she gives a wry grin and adds, "Want in when we go? Elizabeth wouldn't dream of not turning up to this one, Kim's hired on by Trad fiat or something and I'm going because I have to see which of the options I saw happens. Figure that not only would more backup from the West Coast be appreciated, but covering that clusterfuck might get you off podunk human interest stories, right?"

[Callista Alexander] "Meteorology's weather, isn't it? But... Are you saying they'll end up with some Stay Puft Marshmallow Cthulhu stomping its way through downtown Chicago, if Goldeneyes turns up? So this isn't directly related to what she's up to? No, wait, hang on." Callista closes her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose as she gathers her thoughts.

"The kid I was following up on had been trying to get others to join him at this thing, or another one like it. He'd been trying to get his parents to join him. But neither of them would." She gives a snort, what would be dry humour if it was actually funny. "The poor kid thought he'd figured out how to make himself and his parents happy, and they thought he was going through a phase. Wrote it off as teenage rebellion, especially when he shaved his hair off. Barely noticed that he'd started to live his dream. So he goes to his best friend, asks her. Scares the living daylights out of her, with how he'd changed. First an amazing improvement in his ability with the violin." Callista takes her hand away, looks at Molly. "Sound familiar? So he scares her half to death with how intense, how desperate, he was getting about finding others to 'walk the way' with him. The day after that, he was found dead. Suicide."

The journalist shrugs, struggling to tie ends together. "So this isn't something that she's planning, is it. This is her little cult of spirit getting together, then she just happens to pop up and... well, stuff happens."

Molly talks about the sleeper, a young girl. "Ten, waking into Quiet? Oh, hell."

Callista leans back in the chair, looks up at the ceiling, sighs. "Do you think I'd actually be any use if I came? I can just about feel stuff around me, haven't fought outside of a dojo, and can't exactly report this without our fashionable friends getting wind of me. I got lucky with the tornado, but it sounds like this is going to be a little too strange to explain away easily."

She looks back at Molly. "On the other hand, what else am I going to be doing on a Wednesday night in Chicago?" There's half a shrug, half a smile. Half in, half out.

[Molly Quincannon] The first bit gets Molly looking thoughtful and a little rueful as she shakes her head. "Well, astrology, then. Serves me right for trying to get wordy with it when my brain's elsewhere and in about fifteen different flavours of elsewhen. And there might be ... things. Like I said, something is going to happen and I'm hoping like hell for the doves, but since when have we ever got that lucky?"

Then she listens. Molly is a good listener. She listens to the tale of the boy with the violin, and she has a very good memory. She pieces things together, and ... well. Ecstasy wears many faces, takes many shapes, has many names. Joy. Fear. Pleasure. Pain. Love. Rage. It's that last that flashes in Molly's eyes, sets her jaw, clenches her hands into fists tight enough to draw blood as her fingernails cut into her palms. Molly, for a moment, looks ready to do murder.

Then she sighs, runs her hands through her hair (leaving a couple of bloody streaks at the temples for her troubles) and tries to calm down. "I'm sorry. This is just ... this is why we don't fuck with people's heads until we know they're ready for the wake-up call. We pick and choose from those who are ready, those who would handle it. This is ... I was picked. Spotted. Singled out and watched by my fellows-to-be until they knew I was ready, and then they woke me up, and they stayed with me until they knew I had my feet under me. This? This is ... well, the only word I have is 'blasphemy'. It ... gets to me."

Then, after another deep breath that calms her down as much as anything's going to right now, she shoots Callista a tight little grin. "Well, I wouldn't worry about the first part. If that voicemail message from beyond the sanity belt is around, none of us will be able to do much of anything hoodoo-wise. I've had a couple of bust-ups and a few months of bojutsu so I'm not really that much more combatty than you are. Kim'll be the big guns - literally, and Elizabeth's a better hand-to-hander. I figure you'll be at least as useful as I am in the crunch; you'll maybe see things that others don't, and an extra pair of eyes never hurt. Besides, if all else fails, we're going to need somebody who can pull that girl to safety while the rest of us are doing the stupid and possibly getting stomped to death by angry cult-people. You've got the good sense for that; I can tell."

[Callista Alexander] "You said that they're stuck with the timing, because of the whole Mercury thing happening. If you know where this thing's going to be happening, how about trying to... stop it, disband it, interrupt it. An anonymous tipoff to the authorities about some religious extremists plotting to bring about their Armageddon should be enough to have plenty of uniforms with big guns around to put them off. Unless you happen to know someone who can give Mercury a bit of a nudge and get it out of position before the 23rd..?" She's semi-joking, but there is still a pause as she waits to see if Molly answers.

Molly listens. And rages. Surprisingly quietly, Callista thinks. Based on the few meetings they've had, she would have expected rather more shouting. But, then, maybe that's a sign of just how much this is affecting her. It's scary to see but, in the back of Callista's mind, vaguely reassuring. Something Ashley mentioned lingers in the back of her mind. You grow stronger by confronting what life throws at you, though, not by pretending it doesn't exist..

So. There's a nod. "I'll come. Give me an idea of who I'll be looking for, and I'll do my best to get her away from there. Just tell me you have more to go on than 'a girl with no hair', because that's probably not going to narrow it down much."

[Molly Quincannon] Molly shakes her head. "We could disrupt it, sure. But there's a problem with that. Our fashionable friends are already hot under the collar around here, more so after the leech-thing they pried off the Valentine's Day girl. There's martial law, eff-eff-ess. If we call even more Authority attention to this stuff, this place is going to be wall-to-wall Mirrorshades by Easter. Now, for my own part, if it stopped things, I wouldn't mind, but it might not. Whatever hands They have with the police might let things go ahead to try to take the Sending down themselves, which I'd be all for if it didn't leave the potential for a ten-year-old girl to Awaken into Quiet and then get turned into a lab rat. Also, for all I know, this Sending whatever can nudge Mercury. And that ... would be scary. Or the Mercury thing just an excuse the Sleepers dreamed up, which is more likely, to be honest; and at that point, they'd just find another time and place that has meaning for them and set up shop then and there, which would mean we'd have to start this all over again, and maybe not get quite so lucky. I don't really like rushing into this either, but at this point, I'm not seeing that much of an option. Or ... actually, I'm seeing too many options and I'd rather try to make sure that this poor kid gets through it all with a minimum of problems. There are ... more reasons, now." She remembers that she's talking to an Akashic, sighs and adds, "The kid ... she's a descendent of one of a friend of mine's ... pasts, in your sense. If you get me. I ... want to do right by her. Sooner rather than later. Plus there's the bit where the Sending thing is eating my friends." She shrugs, sheepish again, but determined. "Sorry; it's personal and it's urgent and I have to be involved."

Then she grins at the last of it and gives a full-on description of the girl, up to and including hair colour: "Her father's done the shaven-head thing, but she hasn't. It might be significant. I honestly don't know at this point. But I am by Kibo going to find out."

[Callista Alexander] "Better the devil you know, right? We know where they'll be - the group, the waking Sleeper, the Sending - and what's going to happen, to some degree - flocks of doves or demons. I guess getting this thing postponed is no guarantee the girl will stay sleeping, anyway. So. " There's tea. Cool tea, now, but she drinks some regardless. Collecting her thoughts again. "Has your friend given any information on how to get Israel and the others out of their predicament? I gather that he's been trying to get a few of the others to collect some gizmo, probably something to do with destroying her. Ashley's still deciding what she's going to do - she doesn't want to kill it, just because Lucien says so - but Israel being caught in limbo seems to be helping her decide. Not that she knew." There's another dry half-laugh. "Nothing like swalling both legs up to the knee."

"So that leaves us with the sleeping kid. Possibly Ashley and friends tracking down mysterious thingymajig, most likely to wipe out the Sending. Do you know if there's anyone else involved, trying to get them free? Or are they likely to pop back into reality as soon as she's turned off?"

"The hair thing, by the way. I think that is important somehow. I almost caught up with a bald-headed woman. Wearing a pink ribbon, so I guess it could be down to recent chemo, but she mentioned something. Everything for a price. Always a price. The violinist cut his hair off too. There have been other strange occurances, also involving bald people. It certainly keeps repeating itself."

[Molly Quincannon] "What I've got is vagueries," is Molly's grudging, frustrated response (she hates not knowing things). "But ... you know how there are often ... serious things that happen when someone Awakens? Like the Avatar just ... shows you what your potential actually is so that you'll work towards it? Well, apparently this kid is supposed to be ... a mirror, to appeal to what little sanity this Sending thing has. Or something. The whole 'crystal ball' angle seems more like a Magic Eight-Ball to me, sometimes. As to the price thing ... yeah, it is. But then, we all pay a price to be what we are. That's another one we're going to have to puzzle out from this Sending whatever ourselves, I guess. I mean, shit, all we've got are theories right now."

And then the Ashley thing, and yet more rage, carefully contained, channelled, harnessed for a later time. "Oh, gods-fucking-damnit, Ashley." Then she looks up with a groan. "Yeah, well, Solomon wasn't about to tell her, and I was busy. And Nathan ... fuck knows what he's up to these days. That's kind of why I asked you to spread the word, actually; those who knew about it to start with aren't always the most communicative people in the world except maybe me and I was ... well, my head was elsewhen for about a week. I just didn't have time to make the phone calls I would've had to." She sighs. "I should probably do that now, then, if it's not too late. Though the way communication goes around here, I doubt everyone knows yet." Then she frowns. "Didn't Lucien tell her? I mean, he talked to her ... and before she talked to you, from the sound. Why didn't he tell her? Or did she just not listen?" Then she shrugs. "Anyway, hopefully if she balks on this one there's a standby. Sometimes ... eh. Thoughts for another time."

Finally, she explains, "I'm not the person to ask about exactly how this is looking like freeing the others. Not my area of expertise, pockets of OtherWhere. What I do know is that if the Sending's gone, she's not generating that pocket anymore, or at least not protecting it or blocking off the Avatar of anyone trying to interfere with it. If she's gone, and they don't just reappear where they were taken, then at least we can track them and pull them out, and they won't be being drained anymore because there's nothing to drain them. If nothing else, it keeps them from being disembodied. That's a start."

[Callista Alexander] "The thing is, we're still not sure what her damned price is. It's not people's lives - kiddo proved that one, with his note saying he couldn't pay it. I can't believe that she's collecting hair. So, that the hell is it?" There's frustration towards the end, there. This is obviously something that's been irritating the hell out of Callista since this all started up. A little puzzle that she just can't figure out.

"Well, Ashley knows now. Why Lucien didn't tell her, I have no idea. What's the history with Solomon? Sorry, back up a little, who's Solomon? I don't know if those who were with her when Lucien dropped in know any more, but I imagine she'll let them know now. Anyway, I picked up that there's a bit of history between Ashley and Israel - is that more likely to get her involved? She mentioned something about it making her decision easier."

"If the blocking thing ends, would they be able to make their own way out? What kinds of things are the trapped guys into tinkering with?"

[Molly Quincannon] "If I knew, I would tell you," is Molly's equally frustrated comment. "But I don't, so I can't. It's one of the things I'm hoping to find out, in all this. Yes, I want to save the city and my friends and that girl, but I also want to know why."

The bit about Solomon, and history, and everything else ... well, it gets a sigh. "I don't know how much of it is my place to tell. But ... Solomon is Israel's fiance. Celestial Chorus ... I think Templar, or something like that. He's been through the wars - I think literally. He's also Chantry Sentinel. He deals with security. As far as I can tell, he and Ashley have clashed over ... points of authority, the ins and outs of which seem to have involved spreading the actual administration and security of the Chantry between a few different people rather than having a situation where knocking out one person would create an untenable power vacuum ... but that's a guess. Anyway. Fact is that Ashley and Israel were friends, Ashley and Solomon had a sort of mutual respect thing going ... and then there were problems and they kicked sparks off each other. Next thing I know, Israel's all sad and Ashley's dropping the Dean angle to focus on ... so not going there. Anyway, point is that I think there's probably enough affection still between them, for all the pride and shit getting in the way, for Ashley to step up and help get Israel out."

There is so much that has not been said, there. Molly does not trouble herself to hide that fact. However, she does not seem to consider now to be the time to air Chantry dirty laundry.

So to the final question, and that gets another sigh. "Atlas couldn't get out on his own - he's more a Matter/Forces kinda guy. Israel might be able to; I think she's got a fair bit of Spirit know-how, and her Prime work is aces. Wren ... oh, shit, poor Wren; if she can't find a power outlet, she's toast. And then there's the other - Addie. She's not a mage, but she's something. Lucien calls her an Artificer. She's a friend of my ... well, one of my apprentices, so I know a little bit about what she is and what she can do - at root, she's a pyrokinetic. There are other things, apparently, so maybe she can help. Maybe not. Either way, if they can't get out, I know a couple of people this side who can cross the Gauntlet, and Solomon seems to have a solid grasp of the Spirit. If he can't cross them, I'm pretty sure he can beat some help out of an appropriate spirit. He'd destroy worlds to save Israel, and he leaves no man behind."

[Callista Alexander] Callista gives a weak smile. "That makes two of us. It just... bugs me, not knowing."

Molly gives a brief, abridged history lesson. Solomon and Israel engaged - certainly enough reason for him to get himself involved. Had he? And why wouldn't he want to tell Ashley about what had happened? Even with the history, wouldn't he think that Ashley would want, or need, to know? Callista had picked up that something had happened between Ashley and Israel - either something bit, something recent, or both - but still had no idea what. Similar thoughts to Molly, though, that this isn't the time to be digging into local politics while there's a psychotic figment of someone's imagination running rampant. She's sure the rest of the story will come to the surface in time.

"Where's Solomon now, what's he up to? Surely he's tearing the other half of the city apart already, trying to track down Israel or our golden-eyed friend."

Then, the trapped. Atlas, stuck without help. Israel, might be able to escape. With the others? Possibly. Addie, doesn't sound like she'll be able to escape unaided, either. There's bound to be more to her than Mollie's said so far, but how much of that would help her return from their prison? Wren..? "Sorry, a power outlet?"

Finally, she asks. "You have apprentices?" Ashley had said that finding a mentor, someone to learn from, would probably be a good idea. Whether Manic and Searching can work together would remain to be seen, but it would be good to know if trying would be an option.

[Molly Quincannon] "Solomon's got his own fish to fry, but I need to check in with him. I promised to keep him informed before all this happened, and then I was looking at a Crisis of Infinite Futures. So I'll let you know what he's up to tomorrow, when I know myself. Unless," she adds with a bit of a grin, "you can't wait that long, in which case I'll drop you an email tonight. But since we haven't really seen much in the way of pillars of holy fire, I don't think he's found her yet. Maybe it'll make him feel better to know we've got leads."

The question about Wren gets a wince. "Wren's a Virtual Adept. Even if she's allowed to Work, and even if her talents lie that way ... I've seen her try doing this stuff without a computer. I can; a computer just makes it a little easier and more convenient, but I've got ways of working without tech, and developing more every day. She ... believes in wifi too much. Or maybe not enough; never been clear on that. Either way, take her rig and her power outlet and her wifi signal and she's kind of in a floundering place."

And then the bit about apprentices, at which point she looks a little embarrassed, though pleasantly so. "Well, it started as just the one. Girl named Isabel. She knew nothing - not about what she could do, not about Nephandi or Mirrorshades or Paradox or anything. No one had the time or inclination to teach her and she was tripping over stuff that would've gotten her killed if she hadn't been very lucky. I volunteered and she's been doing pretty well, though I kind of feel bad about having to infodump her to quite that degree. But I've interspersed it with lessons and half the stuff I learned about working without tech, I started with her. Ellie ... Ellie was just my roommate at first; a street-kid friend of mine that I gave a home and a chance at more of an education. Community college, that kind of thing. But one thing led to another and she wanted to help me and learn things and so I started tutoring her too. Now people sort of consider her my apprentice, instead of just an Apprentice, if you get me. Turns out I like teaching, too," she adds with a grin. "Don't seem to be too bad at it, as Isabel started by running screaming from any mention of magic and at our last lesson was laughing with delight over being able to have a photographic memory for awhile."

[Callista Alexander] Callista grins back. "I'm not that desperate to know everyone's business. I just hadn't heard anything about him up to now, and it seemed a little strange that he'd be waiting to see what happened given the risk to Israel. But, please, pass on anything I've told you that you think he'd want to know. I don't generally like keeping things hidden."

There's a nod as Molly explain's Wren's need for connection. "Ahh, ok. I thought that you meant she's blow up, or something, if she didn't find a way to let off power. Still, she's either going to be relying on Israel or someone out here to get her back."

And back to learning, searching, finding Stuff out. "I've been told that finding a mentor would be a good thing, especially as I can't..." won't? "...really go back to where I started picking up the esoteric. It sounds like you're already busy with Isabel and Ellie, but I was kinda wondering... Assuming we can work together, would you even want another?"

[Molly Quincannon] "Mentors are good things, but they're like Pringles or peanuts; you can have just one, but you don't have to leave it there and it's more fun with more," Molly tells her, smiling. "I had five when I was an Apprentice, and a different set of four teaching me stuff through my early Initiate years. All that to say, I'd be honoured to teach you anything you're interested in, and I reckon we'd work together better than you'd think, but if you want a little more Trad grounding, I'd recommend talking to Elizabeth. She remembers her past lives, see, and she's been a mentor in at least one of them. I can teach you a lot about wider stuff and practical nitty-gritty, but she can probably give you a better sense of Tradition, if that's also what you're after. So ... seriously. If you want me to teach you anything, ask away. Of course, it'd also be interesting to know how you work, what your foci are, how you do that hoodoo that you do so well, stuff like that. I don't think it'll be that hard. You should have seen the guy I taught the basics of Time awhile back. He didn't believe in anything that didn't come in ones and zeroes, sometimes."

But then she changes the subject. "Anyway! All of that depends on surviving tomorrow, and I've got calls to make and meet-ups to assemble. So ... say we meet up a couple of blocks from this fountain, a little while before this thing is supposed to go down, so we can watch people assemble and know what we're up against? I want to talk to Kim about game plan, but ... anyway. We'll say..."

She gives a time and place that should be workable and then, failing anything else, she gets up, downs her coffee in four long swallows and says, "See you then. And don't worry; fortune favours the fugly. And the fugly's friends." She's off and out without an explanation for that one, but Callista can weasel it out of her later.