Darkness Over Seattle (nWoD Fangame Crossover Abomination)

[Yuki Akuma]

Lately, some crazy person has been posting on all the Internet forums they could find even tengentially related to the occult that something sinister is going down in Seattle. Something dark and ancient has awoken, perhaps. Some sort of convergence of negative energies. Whatever it is, this person, WunderKind5000, has been asking people to meet them at a Starbucks in the center of Seattle, as whatever it is they have to say isn't safe to post on the Internet.

This probably isn't the most well-thought-through plan. Still, those 'in the know' might be interested in finding out what this madman has to say...

It is true that incidences of violent crime have been going up in the Seattle metropolitan area recently, and there's a social movement amongst disaffected youth with strong antintellectual undertones to their rhetoric - which is pretty weird in a city like Seattle, to say the least.

Those who see fit to follow the lead will discover a packed Starbucks at the center of Seattle, filled with... several dozen people who could easily be WunderKind5000.

[Mewtarthio]

A young woman enters the coffee shop. Her appearance is unremarkable--maybe five-foot-five, simple sweater and jeans, shoulder-length auburn hair--and she does her best to remain unremarkable as she takes her place at the back of the line.

This is a horrible idea, she thinks to herself. She quietly begins taking slow, deliberate breaths to calm her nerves. She's not sure what worries her more: The thought that this "Wunderkind" might be planning some sort of trap, or the thought that he's perfectly innocent and whatever's scaring him is setting the trap. She had considered ignoring the messages and letting this debacle play itself out without her... but, then again, this "debacle" is exactly the sort of thing she'd sworn to defend others from. If there was a trap to spring, she'd decided, then if nothing else, she'd gum up its gears so that others could escape.

That had sounded very pretty in her head a few hours ago. As the line advances, Jana Kaplan nervously scans the crowd, looking for suspicious activity.

[kopout]

Curiosity had won out over caution in the end. If what this person was saying was true Max wanted to be a part of it, if it wasn't he wanted to point and laugh. The screen name was almost as interesting as what they had to say. "WunderKind5000" The big question of course was weather that was supposed to be read and wunderkind as in a child prodigy or Wonder Kind, potentially much less pleasant. WunderKind5000 could be just about anything, AI, Uplifted cyborg, cycad stuck full of electrodes, fellow Inspired or maybe just a regular old weirdo. Who ever he (or she or it or they) turned out to be Max was glad WunderKind5000 had chosen such a public meeting spot, and that he was armed and shielded.

A young man walks into the Starbucks . He has unkempt hair and is wearing both a back pack and a fanny pack. He takes a seat by the door placing his bulging fanny pack on the table and fidgets while he watches everyone expectantly, some for a long time, and stares at unoccupied computers until the owner returns.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

As Jasper enters the coffee shop, he visibly cringes. I hate this city. Why am I staying here? Of course, he knows why he's there. Wunderkind5000 and his messages. Various bits of information, cryptic hints at some sort of sinister something that may be related to the Tribe, and a general sense of need surrounding his/her posts have led him here, to this over-crowded, over-priced den of questionable coffee and more questionable clientele.

As Jasper settles into line, he surveys the other patrons, looking for some hint as to who might be Wunderkind5000, or any sign of someone he may know.

[Mewtarthio]

Jana is surprised to see a familiar face enter the Starbucks. She has never expected to see Jasper again: Neither of them tend to stay in one place for long. If he's here, then that probably means Wunderkind has managed to seriously shake the hornet's nest. Still, she does feel safer with the telepath around--Whoever is springing this trap might have bitten off more than they can chew.

Or maybe you just feel safer because of that psychic aura of his. It's been years, Jana; for all you know, *he's* the monster here. Jana tries not to dwell on that possibility as she leaves the line and casually approaches Jasper.

[ocel]

Financially'n'emotionally drained from his earlier exertions, The Genius, known by his peers as Gai Daigoji, or Jiro Yamada to his friends, fell right back into the socioeconomic safety net in order to recoup his loses. Needless to say, the unwritten Peerage law of Help Out, Chip In, had helped him out of a bind before and will for some time to come. Of course, he had to chip in as well, and this li'l errand was his contribution for today. All he had to do was find Mr or Misses WunderKind5000, acquire all the information that person has to offer, and relay it to his superiors. A needle in a haystack's easier to find than him or her through. Regardless whether or not he succeeds in his objective, doesn't concern him so long as he can get a free meal out of it.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Jasper looks up as the girl approaches him. Who is--? Oh, right! That girl from LA a few years ago. That was a mess, wasn't it? What was her name? Something with a 'J'... Janet, Jasmine... "Jana!" He smiles, relaxing a bit. "It's been too long, how have you been?"

[Yuki Akuma]

Jessica Harbridge has been here all along, of course - she is, after all, WunderKind5000, although she does her best to hide that user name from other Geniuses. It makes her feel all mysterious and important if people don't know who she is.

She's been sat in the back corner for the past hour, coffee already cold as she taps away at the laptop in front of her. She's glancing up at the door now and then, taking note of who enters... She recognises some of them, but not everyone.

Once it reaches 1pm - the time she posted to meet her - she gets up, stretching. "Geez. That Wunderkind bozo said he'd be here, but I don't see him anywhere," she says, voice a little louder than it really has to be. Ah, attention-getting.

She's about twenty-six - not really a "kind" any more - with short black hair and grey eyes. She's dressed like any average person, really - with the exception of a somewhat old-fashioned brown leather belt, with a large, brass buckle that rather stands out.

[Mewtarthio]

"Well, I can't complain, Jasper," says Jana. "Been moving around a bit, but I've kept in touch with Amanda--She's engaged, now, by the way--" to someone who isn't you is the implication. Hopefully, he'll take it as good news; just a few years ago, Amanda wasn't keen on doing anything that didn't involve Jasper.

"As for me, I'm doing okay. Took a break from college; I'm trying to focus on the more important things in life." She's embarrassed by how shallow she sounds, but she can't exactly talk about those "important things" in such a public place. She's considering inviting Jasper over for dinner or something when some fool starts loudly complaining about the elusive Wunderkind. Jana winces, and her voice drops to just above a whisper: "Speak of the devil."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

"And he shall arrive," Jasper finishes. "Is she really engaged now? Good for her. I'd been worried she'd have trouble after I left, but it would have been worse if I'd stayed. Or gotten in touch with her afterward. I'm glad to hear you're doing all right as well. Perhaps we'll have some more time to catch up after we find this 'Wunderkind' character. 5 bucks says she knows something about him." Jasper nods at the girl in the corner, and starts moving toward her. "'Scuse me, but are you also looking for Wunderkind5000?"

[kopout]

Max has also begun moving over to the table were Jessica Harbridge is siting
"Hi Jessica, long time no see."

[Mewtarthio]

Jana notes that Jasper isn't the only one who's taken interest in the complaining girl. As Jasper heads over to investigate, she excuses herself, saying, "Go on ahead; we'll catch up later." Then, she returns to the line, buys her coffee, and sits as close as she can to the new group forming in the corner without drawing attention to herself.

[ocel]

The opportunity to reunite with ol' friends'n'foes or forge new ones, isn't lost on Jiro Yamada; and while he's no socialite, he couldn't deny the wealth of info to gain from a li'l small talk. Speaking of which, doth my eyes deceive me or is that truly my ol' collaboration off yonder‽ 'Tis'em, indeed! "Ahem..." We'll've none of that quixotic nonsense in our speech pattern, now. After he readjusts himself, he'll walk over to Jessica Harbridge to properly reannounce himself. Haven't see y'all in awhile, how's it been?

[Yuki Akuma]

Jessica jumps in surprise as Max and iro walk up. "Guh! I wasn't expecting people I knew to show up... Now this is embarrassing..." She coughs, glancing around, before grinning a bit at Jasper. "...You could say that. Now, c'mon. Let's go somewhere more private so no one will try to eavesdrop or something."

Gathering up her laptop, the young woman promptly heads for the door. If followed, she'll lead everyone into a dark alleyway... and hmm. "...Now, where was the entrance again..."

It's probably becoming apparent that she is, in fact, WunderKind5000. Or someone who works for them, at least.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Jasper signals to Jana to follow them, and then follows Jessica out the door and into the alley. "Entrance to what, exactly?"

[Mewtarthio]

Jana slips out after the group. Private alley, eh? It's just as well; I was feeling a little underdressed anyway.

She ducks behind a dumpster in the mouth of the alley, looks quickly to make sure no one's watching, and Transforms...

An imposing woman catches up with the group. She's nearly six feet tall, with perfect posture and an immaculate white pantsuit. "So, I take it you know this Wunderkind?" she asks the apparent leader, watching closely for her reactions.

[kopout]

“And I take it you followed us from inside were you could have over heard that information. I didn't see any one who looked like you in here though, care to explain?”The tone is confrontational but not quite aggressive enough to provoke a fight.

[Mewtarthio]

Jana's response is measured and deliberate. "I doubt that will be the strangest thing you see today. If you can't handle something as basic as people showing up out of nowhere, then you might be over your head here." She pauses for a second. "Let's just say I have my reasons to be cautious. Surely you can understand that."

[Yuki Akuma]

Jana, with her expert empathy skills, can tell that Jessica is rather... nervous, and trying to hide it behind a layer of bravado. Its the sort of nervous someone who isn't good at public speaking would get just before being forced to do a speech in front of a huge crowd.

No one else appears to be following the group, thankfully.

She doesn't seem to care about Jana's late arrival. "That I do. Now where was... ah!" She holds out a hand, placing it against a patch of wall that, for a moment, looks as though it's made of sheet metal rather than brick. There's a sudden crackling sound... and then the wall yawns open, revealing a tight passage walled with sheet metal, various pipes and tubes criss-crossing the ceiling.

The Geniuses of the group will likely immediately recognise it as a Bardo.

"...We can talk in here. Come on."

[Mewtarthio]

Where are you leading us? thinks Jana. What's got you so scared?

A part of Jana knows that it would be wiser to leave now. Whatever is going on here is outside her experience. Still, her curiosity has been piqued. Besides, the other woman is clearly worried about something, and Jana's not about to abandon her and the others.

Of course, now that she knows something dangerous is going on, Jana would feel safer with some proper protection. She closes her eyes and focuses for a moment, and her clothing shimmers and is replaced with a suit of pure white armor. Hardly subtle, but she doubts she'll need subtlety where this group's going.

[kopout]

As they enter the tunnels under the city Max pulls out his stun gun from his fanny pack and attaches it to his belt, he doubts Jessica is leading them into a trap but Bardos can spring things on you.

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Well, this is an... interesting space. Jasper follows the rest of the group, wondering just how bad an idea this is.

[ocel]

With nothing else to do, except track down the White Rabbit, WunderKind5000, Jiro follows his only lead, Jessica Harbridge, down the alleyway'n'into Wonderland. Once there, he takes a minute or two regain his bearings. At times like this, he couldn't help himself from saying, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto, aloud. He didn't know why, but somehow it felt more appropriate now than any other time. Seeing no other means to recover socially but add... "But in all seriousness, I'd like to know where we are, or at least the way back before we meet the Goblin King in this Labyrinth."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

As we're waiting for Yuki's return from whatever is keeping him busy, and we sincerely pray that it is nothing bad, it has been determined that a series of flashbacks to the meetings of our various characters is in order. To that end, a flashback, in which Jasper Gill and Jana Kaplam meet.

Los Angeles, three years ago

I hate Mondays. Things had been going so well here. Jasper had arrived in town 6 weeks ago, and at first it seemed like things were looking up for him. It was the off season for surfing and tourists, which meant he had the beach largely to himself. He'd managed to find himself a job working under the table as a delivery guy for a local pizza joint, and he was making decent money from it. True, the tips he got from his customers seemed a touch higher than those of his coworkers, but he convinced himself that the people were just being generous, and that the Wake had nothing to do with it. He'd gotten a great deal on a room at a local motel, again convincing himself that the owners were just helping a guy who was clearly down on his luck, and not victims of the Wake. He'd done his best to keep to himself, keeping his distance from others. It had seemed to be working. It didn't feel like a cult was forming around him, and he had plenty of time to look into disturbances in the area. Maybe here, he had thought, maybe in LA I'll find some way of blending in well enough. Maybe here I'll find the secret. But now, that was all coming to an end. He'd first met the girl, a pretty brunette by the name of Amanda, on a delivery to her apartment. She'd had some friends over at the time, but Jasper had felt something, some small spark within him, a stirring of feelings that had been sealed away since high school. She had apparently felt something, too, because she began to cal for delivery whenever Jasper was working. They began to talk, became friends, and, against Jasper's better judgment, he'd asked her out. He had hoped, prayed, that what she felt was genuine, and maybe some small part of it was, but this was clearly the work of the Wake.

Amanda had grown too attached, too eager to please over the course of their short courtship, and Jasper had tried to push her away, to distance himself. But he was selfish. He envied how others could have relationships, while he simply pushed everyone away to protect them. When did he get to enjoy himself? When did Jasper get to have friends? And so he didn't push her away. He didn't leave, not when he should have. He stayed with Amanda, and she became Beloved.

Rumors flew, as they are wont to do, about this new character in town, about how blessed the pizza joint was to have him working there, about how lucky the motel owners were to have him staying under their roof. And most of all, rumors spread about the girl who had abandoned her former life, who hadn't called her friends in 3 weeks, who hadn't even been home in that time, and who could always be found in Jasper's Yellow Wrangler, or the pizza joint where he worked, or at his motel room, or sitting on the beach, staring off into the distance, saying that she was waiting for him to return.

I'll leave off there for Mewtathio to bring in Jana. I was mostly setting the stage for the Jana and Jasper meeting anyway, and I do plan to use that "I hate Mondays" thought at the beginning.

[Mewtarthio]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
Jana was starting to hate LA. It was too pretty. Too many sunny beaches, too many smiling faces, too much glitz and talk of hopes and dreams. It was ironic, she knew, given her Purpose, but somehow none of that mitigated how the city felt. In fact, it made it worse. LA felt just like every other big city she'd been to. It was inevitable: Crowd enough people in one place, and shadows start to form. Those large herds make for tempting prey, even without people snapping on their own and dragging a dozen others down with them before anyone notices. LA was special, though. Something about how she couldn't order a meal without picking out every detail in the waitress's smile that gave away how hard she worked to maintain it, or about how she could barely stop herself from screaming How do you not notice anything wrong? at all the tour guides proudly showing off the city like collectors proudly showing off their serial killer artwork. Dammit, how was she supposed to fix the world if no one would even admit it was broken?

Mark had been the first person to mention Amanda to her. People had a tendency to tell her about the crazies in their lives: Jana was quick to volunteer that she was studying Psych at UCLA, and apparently everyone took that as an invitation to fish for impromptu diagnoses. It suited Jana just fine, since she occasionally stumbled across situations that really did require her... special expertise. Amanda was one such situation. Mark used to hang out with her before she started dating her new boyfriend. Now nobody hung out with Amanda, and she never stopped dating her new boyfriend. Jana gave the stock answer--Sometimes people act crazy in the first stages of a relationship, feel free to call a real psychologist if you're really worried, please don't sue me I'm only a student--but she'd seen this sort of thing all the time. Occasionally, it'd be relatively innocent; some stupid kid reading a book and not honestly thinking it would do anything. More often, she found herself secretly hoping for agents of Storms to burst through the door and apply some proper justice to the place.

Amanda's case was an odd one. Usually, the actual dark creatures of the night stayed hidden, either by keeping their influence plausibly subtle or by literally hiding so that, even if you noticed their influence, you'd never be able to track them down. This Jasper guy didn't do either. He'd completely suborned Amanda's personality, and he apparently put a little whammy on everyone else he met, too. No supernatural secret society would let one of their members act so irresponsibly. That suggested he was an idiot who'd stumbled into great power--It would explain why his ambitions were limited to "Employee of the Month" at the local pizza place, anyway. A bit of research, though, and Jana found out that Jasper had a long history of moving from city to city. That would suggest a supernatural "lone wolf," or maybe a traveler suborned by some other force as a patsy. She tried her internet forums, but those answers were either uselessly generic (vampires, witches, etc) or uselessly insane (conspiracy of whale-gods in human form who must be purged by the Divine Thunder). She hated flying blind, but she also hated giving up.

Jana approached Amanda on the beach. The girl was staring off into the waves and didn't react to her appearance. Jana had Transformed for the occasion; it made her stand out a bit, but it would also make it harder to trace her back to her "real" life if Jasper showed up and things went south. Besides, she was so much better in that state. As she looked Amanda over, though, Jana thought the magically-enhanced senses might have been overkill. Sure, she could discern every tick in the girl's face, every twitch of the mouth or dilation of the pupil, and divine the obsessive, focused anticipation that pervaded Amanda's being... but she suspected a blind man could have noticed all that. Jasper had apparently been quite thorough. "Amanda?" Jana asked. Amanda glanced up briefly, then went back to her vigil. Not the slightest bit of curiosity about why a stranger dressed in a skirt-and-jacket suit so white it practically glowed (but not her Barrier Jacket, it was way too warm for that) was asking about her. Jana sat down. "My name is Jana. Your friends are worried about you."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Los Angeles - 3 Years Ago
"They don't have to be." Amanda's gaze never left the waves as she spoke. "I'm just waiting for Jasper to come back from his swim, and then we're going home." She seemed to think that people were worried about her sitting alone on the beach in the middle of February, rather than what was going on with her new boyfriend. "Huh! Do you want meet him? You could stay here with me, and I could introduce you when he gets back! Wouldn't that be fun?"

[Mewtarthio]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
The girl was in bad shape; Jana could see that clearly. Her first priority would have to be figuring out what Jasper had done to her. "I need you to listen to me, Amanda." Jana spoke calmly, yet forcefully, her words bolstered with the authority of the Light. "You're not being rational: Try to think clearly for a moment."

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
Amanda looks at Jana quizzically for a moment, and it almost seems as if something is registering in the back of her mind. There's a brief glimmer in her eyes... And it's gone. "I don't know what you're talking about, silly. I'm being perfectly rational. Jasper needs me, and he asked me to wait for him here on the beach. He'll be back soon."

[Mewtarthio]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
Of course it wouldn't be that easy, Jana thought to herself. On the bright side, she could now be even more certain that Amanda was under some sort of psychic geas instead of just crazy. She had to act, but she needed more information. "Never mind, Amanda," she said, "So, why don't you tell me about Jasper?"

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
Amanda's eyes visibly brighten at the mention of Jasper. "Oh, he's great! He's smart and he's strong and he's really sweet and everyone likes him! He seems sad sometimes, especially when he thinks I'm asleep, but he always brightens up when I ask him what's wrong. I ask him, "Jasper, what's wrong Why are you still awake?" And he tells me, "It's nothing, just thinking about where I belong." And then I tell him, "You belong here with me," and he smiles and kisses me and then we go back to sleep." The whole time she's speaking, a smile stays on her face. Amanda clearly doesn't realize there's anything wrong with Jasper or their relationship.

[Mewtarthio]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
Jana began to think that Amanda might be useless as an information source. Perhaps Jasper's other victims would be more lucid. Still, she had hoped to observe Jasper in person when she got the chance. "Sorry for taking your time. One last question: Do you know when Jasper will be back?"

[kopout]

Seattle 2 years ago
Max Hooper seethed. They were wrong, worse than that they had the audacity to tell him he was the one who was wrong! It just made him want to stab them through the internet. He could see how it would work to! But, no, no that wouldn’t work. How would he get them to have the device on their end? He glanced down at the clock and found that it was 2AM, time flew while you argued with those fools (fools!) on the internet. He had to get to bed. It was tempting to stay up and post a scathing rebuttal but he had class in the morning.


Going

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Los Angeles - 3 years agoAt that moment, Amanda's gaze is drawn toward the water's edge. A figure, soaked from head to toe, can be seen approaching the blanket on which Amanda is sitting. Amanda, for her part, squeals with delight. "That's him! He's back! I told you he'd be back soon!" She grabs the towel sitting next to her and runs to meet Jasper, offering him the towel before glomping him and nearly tackling him to the ground. Jasper, knocked nearly off-balance, indulges in Amanda's affections for a moment, before extricating himself, taking the towel and beginning to dry off. Their words can't be heard up by the blanket, where Jana is standing, but given the gestures they seem to be talking about her. This is confirmed when Jasper walks up, Amanda in tow. "You must be Jana. My name is Jasper." He extends his hand for a friendly shake. "Is there something I can help you with?"

[Mewtarthio]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
Jana remains outwardly calm as she gives Jasper's hand a quick shake. "I had actually been hoping to speak with Amanda, thank you," she says, "but it is good to finally meet you in person. Everyone I've met seems to think very highly of you." Somehow, I doubt you realize just how obvious your little reputation is getting. Jana smiles as she observes Jasper for any reaction.

[kopout]

So many people. All over the place, taking up his road! Some times he thought it would be best if he could just get away from them all. Start his own country maybe! But on, the world government would never let him do that. He had looked into a few years ago and despite what the international treaties said about nationhood no micronations had been recognized. Apparently you had to have a military that could threaten the world to be recognized, and that defeated the purpose of being alone didn't it. The hypocrisy was so infuriating but its not like he could do anything about it except an army of clones, but that wouldn't be fair to those poor clones would it? And how would he even make them anyway? Man trafic was bad today.


going

[ToySoldierCPlus]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
[spoiler]Jasper smiles pleasantly, with just the smallest hint of smugness tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Well, it's certainly nice to be respected. Amanda said you were asking her lots of questions about me, specifically. So again I ask, is there something I can help you with?"

[Mewtarthio]

Los Angeles - 3 years ago
Jana is a bit unnerved by Jasper's confrontational attitude. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised. Mind-controllers do tend to think of themselves as the most important people in the world. She decides on a different approach. She does her best to look somewhat confused: "I'm sorry, I don't--Well, this is a bit embarassing, but..."[color] she starts to whisper, [color]"There's just something interesting about you. I can't say what it is for sure, but I'd really like to know more. About you, I mean." She pays close attention to Jasper's reactions; after all, this bluff is a seriously desperate gambit.