3044/The Burning Men Festival: planning and execution

The Burning Men Festival: planning and execution
Date of Scene:	03 November 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Wu, Satana

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Wu has posed:
    Walking into the major crimes unit is like walking into the distant past. Because, let's face it, that's exactly where this building belongs. Still, did the setup have to look so exactly like a noir film that eyes are involuntarily drawn to the door to look for Bogart's entry?
    Alice is sitting at her desk in row C, column 14, staring at the only nod to modernism that her employer-of-convenience affords her: a computer. It is clear that she's not comfortable with it, and from the dents on the case it looks as if perhaps the computer isn't particularly comfortable around her either.
    Or that the computer was dropped in the past at some point. Because, I mean, c'mon, who hits computers in this day and age?
    "Look, you blacklegging block of binary bits, I know that file's in here. I put it here myself. Now find it before I get a very large hammer and reprogram you in a way you won't soon forget!"

Wu has posed:
    Alice looks up angrily from the computer, nods in unconscious acknowledgement, then turns her attention brusquely back to the screen. Or, rather, that's what would happen if it were the usual sort of interruption she gets. It establishes dominance or something. Or she just doesn't give a shit what people think of her. One of the two.
    Seeing, however, who's actually there, the head turning toward the screen turns back to face Satana so quickly it's amazing she doesn't get whiplash. Her eyes rake over Satana's form before narrowing.
    "Nice outfit," she comments dryly as her left hand reaches into her vest pocket. The ward going up is very subtle. Most mages wouldn't even be able to tell.
    Satana isn't most mages.
    "Was there a special at "Blatant Whores backward-R Us" or something?"

Wu has posed:
    "Major crimes," Alice says gruffly. "Not petty. I don't pick on prostitutes. I don't pick on most johns either. Pimps and the abusive ones? Yeah, maybe them. But that's more hobby work."
    She glances at the computer before locking the screen.
    "How can I help you?" she asks, leaning back more relaxed in her chair since it appears combat isn't in the immediate future. "I mean aside from borrowing some clothing from a nun or something?"

Wu has posed:
    "She works over in traffic," Alice says smoothly. "Mostly she gets spirits to make it rain on double-parkers. A bit childish, really, but I kind of approve of the sentiments. I'd hit them with misfortune charms personally."
    Something that resembles a smile flickers across her face before vanishing behind a carefully-maintained facade of bored neutrality. A reminiscent one. "So, curiosity is assuaged then, is it?" she asks. "You now see what an enchantress looks like sitting behind a desk?"
    She's saying this baldly in the full hearing of ... except ... no, somehow all of her colleagues are out of earshot, each with a good reason to be elsewhere at the moment. One of them, returning to her desk, runs into a colleague who urgently needs to discuss some matter or another.
    "Well, now you know. It looks ... pretty boring."

Wu has posed:
    Alice smiles, this time a genuine one that remains. "That's high praise coming from one of your order," she says. "Thank you."
    There doesn't appear to be any sarcasm involved.
    "I had a few chats with some lesser spirits. There's no news of any of the Yamas deciding to leave their posts, so this is an imposter. A very good one, though, since the scent he leaves behind is ... authentic-feeling."
    Her eyes rake over Satana again.
    "And very different from the scent of your magicks. Infernal, I'm guessing? Baronial or higher?"

Wu has posed:
    An eyebrow crawls briefly up at the name.
    "I underestimated you," she says after a moment's thought. "I should have put up a larger ward. Thankfully this didn't turn to battle. I'm not ready for one of your powers." Mouth tightens into almost a grimace. "Time to start a project, I think."
    Now a slight edge of mild sarcasm enters her voice. "So it's business then, Your Highness? Not pleasure? Such a disappointment." The sarcasm leaves off. "I must confess myself somewhat bewildered. Why do you disapprove? I thought you specialized in dealing with fools who did evil to advance themselves."

Wu has posed:
    The ward is impressive for such subtle onset, but it was clearly not ever intended to combat a very Princess of Hell. In mystical space the air is rent asunder by the bright flash of magic meeting magic and countering. If people could see it, it would look like one of those cheesy SF movies with laser beams hitting force fields. Only in this case the force field, after flaring brightly for a few seconds, crumples.
    Alice flinches and falls back in her seat. To her credit the flicker of fear over her face is mercifully short before her unnatural (and very Buddhist) fatalism takes over.
    Then Satana takes over. Well, takes over as much as she can. There are hardened areas deep in Alice's soul that would be far harder to crack.

Satana has posed:
    Satana looks over, amused. "Precision's your strength, but ultimately, your strength just isn't enough. Still..." She'll reach out with her magic. Nothing too overt; Alice is clever. Just an implanted "gut instinct" to trust Satana, a little voice in the back of her head encouraging her to listen to the Princess, and then, of course, wiping the memory of this little conflict from her mind, while leaving the effect.

Wu has posed:
    Alice looks confused a moment before wrinkling her forehead. "I'm ... sorry. I just zoned out for a moment there. Burning the candle at both ends." She pauses. "So, right. Yama-guy. Some sorcerer trying to pull off the Yamas. That will backfire. And when it does that's going to hurt a whole lot of people. The Yama kings don't mess around. We'll have to find him or her quickly before it reaches their notice."
    The implicit assumption that "we" are working together doesn't seem to bother her.
    "What do we know so far? Whoever it is has skills, but are they broad or narrow?"

Satana has posed:
"From what I've seen, more narrow. But deep. He's got strength or he wouldn't be able to even try this in the first place. But he's definitely trained in chinese traditional magic, which makes you a good person to enlist in this." She smiles. She has no problem being nice. This helps avoid competition, and puts the detective on the frontline.

Wu has posed:
    "I don't know if he's stronger and braver than I am or merely an idiot," Alice muses. "Because I've had to talk to one of the Yama's servants once and that ... was not something I'd want to experience a second time. There are beings you desperately hope to never attract the attention of and he's sticking needles into them to bleed them. This is ... not a good plan."
    She goes silent a while.
    "I may have some research facilities that can help; find out at least HOW he's doing it so we can track where and who from it. And if I have to talk up one of the Celestial Bureaucrats again I will make sure he suffers before he dies."

Satana has posed:
    "That sounds good." The redhead comments. "I'm lacking your experience in the specific field, but if there's anything I can do, I'm interested in that, of course." Her voice is warm, pleasant. "After all, it's nice to have a partner on this."

Wu has posed:
    That earns a grudging nod. "I don't usually work with partners. On either end of my business. It's good to have someone onside who knows my ... other side." She looks Satana straight in the eyes. "You may be the daughter of Evil Incarnate by Christian models, but you seem, perversely, quite suited to be a partner. I'm not sure if this says more about me or about you, though."

Satana has posed:
    "You and I know very well that old saw..."there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of by your philosophy." I'm not the boogeyman they'd make me out to be. And I'm not my father. Besides, I can't be everywhere all the time. Someone who could keep me in the loop on mystic happenings in Gotham would be a wonderful thing." She's certain her work has taken nicely. "What's this you're working on?" she nods to the computer.

Wu has posed:
    "International smuggling of illicit substances. It's my day job. They operate between Hong Kong and here, so I'm here on exchange."
    She's blabbing major crime intelligence to the literal spawn of Satan. What a world.
    "Currently we're tracking one of the low level operatives, tracking her up to her contact. The problem is they're operating out of a warehouse compound owned by one Natasha Cranston who has refused us a snoop session. We don't have enough for a warrant yet, so ..."

Satana has posed:
    The redhead nods. "Well...perhaps I might be a little help there. After all, Gotham is known for its vigilantes. And I certainly don't need any kind of a warrant." Hey, if she can tempt the detective to break a few laws while helping cement the partner idea, so much the better.

Wu has posed:
    Something positively beatic crosses Alice's face. "I'm already arranging for this," she says. "I don't need legally admissible evidence to guide an investigation, after all, and ... I have ways of ingress and egress that won't be spotted by forensics. Ms. Cranston may be in the legal right, and I can even understand her desire not to just open her doors, but this isn't something that will stop me from investigating."
    Now she's casually talking about flagrantly violating procedure. In the middle of the cop shop. Isn't it "lucky" that her colleagues are all busy and out of earshot?

Satana has posed:
    Satana admires that, more than anything else. "Why don't you give me the address and incormation for this Ms. Cranston? I have ways of shaking some information loose. And if it turns out useful, so much the better." She stands, finally getting her barely-clad bottom off Alice's desk.

Wu has posed:
    Alice roots around in her desk and pulls out a business card. She laboriously copies the contents onto paper -- quaintly old-fashioned she is; none of these "smart phone" jobbies for her! (it's a wonder she's not using a dip pen...) -- and passes the slip over to Satana.
    "She's a bit of a lightweight if one trusts most sources. Ms. Cranston went off on a junket for years and came back to take over her grandfather's company. She's started doing some cleanup of the crooked elements, but ... she's young and naive, the story goes. You probably shouldn't have many difficulties pumping her."

Satana has posed:
    Satana takes the card, and tucks it into her cleavage. (It isn't as if there's any pockets on that outfit!) She moves to stand, and will rattle off a phone number of her own. "You can reach me at that number. If you need me." Normally she'd give a mystic trinket to do the same, but she's not handing over a mystical link to a mage.

Wu has posed:
    Alice dutifully writes this down in her omnipresent notebook. Next to the initials "SOS". Looking up she explains without waiting for the question. "Spawn Of Satan," she says with a deadpan face, but eyes which dance with amusement. "It will be easier to remember that way."
    The notebook is secreted in her vest's inner pocket alongside the vintage fountain pen. "Thank you for the visit; next time, though, it may be best at my residence. My wards are stronger there; less chance of being overheard by hostile entities."

Satana has posed:
    Oh, she's not going to pass THAT up. "You'll have to adjust your wards to allow me entrance, of course." She says, as if it's the most reasonable thing in the world. "I agree, though. Far safer there than a police station."

Wu has posed:
    "Of course," Alice says agreeably. "It's easy enough to set up exemptions. I can do it in situ or I can prepare the exemption. For the latter, though, I'll need a sample of hair or something like that."
    Somewhere, somehow, a fish-faced person is screaming in a starship.
    "The only real danger at my place is we may wind up talking about the materials there rather than the case. It can be a bit distracting."

Satana has posed:
    The demoness manages to hide her hesitation. She hates giving up something like this. But she knows the magic enough to know that Alice is right. She reaches up and plucks a /long/ red strand from her head (because her hair is insanely long) before offering it to the detective. "Of course. The least I can do for my partner. And I'd love to see your place. I'm very curious what you've collected.

Wu has posed:
    "It's not as impressive as my Sanctum, but it is a bit of an eye-opener to many," Alice says with a bit of an embarrassed grin. And trustworthy as her partner is, there's no invitation to the Sanctum in the offing. "I do most of my research and construction of charms there; only the big ticket items have to be in the sanctum."
    She roots in her pocket and pulls out a feather pendant on a silver chain of absurd length. "This is one I make quite often. A bit tricky to use, but essentially a flight spell in a pendant. I've got the process down to under 30 minutes now."

Satana has posed:
    "Sounds wonderful." Satana moves to stand. "All right. I'll let you be about your work. Let me know when you've adjusted your wards, and I'll contact you if I get anything out of Ms. Cranston."

Wu has posed:
    Alice nods and then seemingly can't resist a parting shot. "When you visit, maybe I can enchant your dress to be a bit longer? Dressed like that in my neighbourhood and people are going to make some ... assumptions."
    The voice is warm and playful, not sarcastic as before. Mind warps are fun!"

Satana has posed:
    "Trust me, I'll dress more appropriately." Appropriately as per her definitions of the word, of course. She blows a kiss to the detective, and then she'll turn, heels tic-tacing her way out of the station with as little problem as she had getting in.