[Jack_Spade]

Kynos kept an eye on the spot of the meeting, while browsing an AR catalog for a new vehicle. Having lost his second bike, he was reluctant to purchase the same model again. But the alternatives were not much better. What he really needed was a reliable rigger. He sighed and closed the window when Sovereign made himself known. Hopefully after taking down the Toxic Mage he'd have more options.
Until then he'd have the pedaling as exercise...

[Mulcarn]

Corroded scraps of detritus litter the ground where he walks.  Dumpsters filled to the brim with long discarded refuse and waste.  The meeting place was an urban sty, no one would come if not but to do something shady.  Maxwell cancels his sustained spell and has Rime do the same, revealing himself to rusted junk and ruin.  There he stood on the lookout for Kynos or whomever might else be here.  Aloud he speaks to draw out the people in question.  "I know i'm here earlier than i'm supposed to.  Don't tell me I have to wait another hour."

[Jack_Spade]

"Nope, you don't."
Kynos slided down from the roof he had lain on.
"Damn. It's really you. I was half expecting this to be a trap.
Why did Ginger let you go? When I asked about you she told me she'd keep you locked up in a torture dungeon or something till you died. Made me mad enough to set her tree on fire.

By the way: Is it true that you fire bombed that bar and killed a bunch of patrons? Because I actually liked it there. People bought me drinks for shooting at Venom. Funny how these things change..."

[Mulcarn]

Maxwell waves at the cybered elf.  This is a bit of a long story so you may want to get comfortable.  Shortly after I got your message about DemoX disappearing, I summoned a spirit to go look for Venom.  I was going to search for the dwarf next once Venom was found.  But what I didn't anticipate was that Venom was practically in my backyard.  I ordered my spirit to go fetch Venom and bring him to the Joke, or kill him if he refused.  Then something strange happened.  Someone banished my spirit like it was nothing.  The Drain alone would kill most mages.  The only person that could have done that would have been Strawberry, so naturally I went to go confront her and tell her to fuck off."

"As I was heading toward the bar, I felt a presence, like a spirit trying to possess me.  I managed to safeguard myself from the possession attempt and went along my angry way towards the Joke.  This time the earth split open and tried to gobble me up.  I evaded the earth's embrace and finally managed to get inside the damn pub.  I tossed a bolt of flame at a very expensive selection of wine and vodka, that was just done to get the Ginger's attention.  I made myself very clear that I really really really don't like being possessed and attacked."

Maxwell stops momentarily to catch his breath before continuing.  However instead of saying anything she just stared at me with blank eyes, like she had no fucking clue what I was talking about.  Some Yakuza thugs were behind me drinking themselves stupid during my confrontation.  I know they were actual soldiers because their tattoos told me all I needed to know, they were professional leg-breakers and enforcers.  Well they didn't like me causing a ruckus and directly talking to Strawberry.  They threatened they'd kill me if I didn't leave.  Welp... I created a massive fireball and tossed it at them.  Any questions so far before I continue with the rest of my tale?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Athos shrugs.  "I am not too sure I can give you what you want to promote your design.  Let me know if you think of something.  I would like to chat with Red some day.  It might be interesting if she does not try to control me.  Could you protect me from her?"

Satisfied that things do not look too threatening, Athos continues walking toward the buildings, headed for the one where the noise is coming from.  He keeps a wary eye on the birds as they walk and makes sure that he can get to his gin.

[gilga]

@Athos Cat said "I do not think she can posses you anymore, before she hacked a nanite lab to spray clouds of her and over produce her for months undetected. Now with no nanite lab, she requires people with actual nanites in their bodies that can be reprogrammed to do her bidding. She cannot do that to me, at least I think she cannot. Most nanites are kind of rudimentary tough and are therefore not secure enough. If she actually preserved her godlike powers from your previous encounter she needed extensive logistics to do so."

Athos as you enter the building it appears to be a meeting of five people wearing white that are discussing a book displayed in semi transparent AR windows inside the house. They are similar to the ones seen in the memories Cat extracted from the madam's memory at the brothel/cyber clinic. When you enter their leader say " I am Rob, Max's husband we were expecting you Athos, and Cat you are always welcome with us." Come have a seat and have something to drink." There are no chairs in there but as he speaks a chair and some ice cold lemonade appear next to you. Including a troll sized chair.

[Jack_Spade]

Kynos grinned at Sovereigns description: "Funny, she tried the same two tricks on me as well. Possessing me and have a flaming mound of earth swallow me. Actually it was her trying to possess me for a second time that escalated that for me and brought her on my shit list.
By the way, I think she works with some kind of decoys. That's why they can't talk and you only hear her mental voice. She had one set up near the tree as a trap. Cowardly but effective.

Over short or long, I think I'll kill her - or at least destroy everything she holds dear. It's what I warned her I'd do if she tried to have me possessed. You are welcome to have some fun too when it's time.

But please, continue. What happened next?"

[Mercy Merchant]

Athos takes a seat and sips from the lemonade.  "Thank you, Rob.  What is this place and why were you expecting me?"

[Mulcarn]

Maxwell nods at in agreement.  "Yeah no kidding.  A knife between the ribs would have been more pleasant than possession.  Also you're right about the decoy thing.  She has a bunch of stone statues she magically animates to do her bidding.  I'm a bit on the fence about the retribution angle.  You'll know why soon."

He clears his throat and adds on to his fable.  "Okay, after I torched the Joke and immolated the goons.  Strawberry, or more accurately a golem made to look like Strawberry, knocked me out.  What happened next is especially irksome.  While I was unconscious, Strawberry and her ally spirit M took a lot of liberties with my body.  The two performed some kind of ritual that separated my soul from my body and threw it into the astral.  I was so deep that I was literally falling apart just by being there.  To make it worse, my weakened state attracted hungry demons."

Maxwell stops again and stares off into the distance.  Minutes pass and he speaks again.  "Anyway once I figured out how to go back to the prime material and return to my body, I arrive to find that my meat had been moved underground.  I was halted by Strawberry's blighted mana construct, M.  After a few death threats and cryptic warnings I managed to convince the construct to lead me back to my body.  I find out from M that Strawberry and her were the ones that banished my soul to the astral.  M said it was to be my punishment for being an 'ungrateful murderous psychopath'.  Which is funny considering she literally tried to possess and kill me, but whatever."

"This story takes a dark and twisted turn soon.  You might not want to know anymore.  It's bad enough I already know.  Do you want to know or do you want to not know?"

[gilga]

@Athos Rob say "Out of all the people we are monitoring, you were likely to interfere with the forces we work against. You see we started preparing for this crisis even before the programmers that coded these AI's begun their work. Ofcourse, at that time we could not know much so we had to establish branches in many places, over time the probabilities converged to Seattle as it is isolated from the rest of the CAS, it makes it a prime target for these kind of catastrophes." Cat begins to move uncomfortably, and seem upset. Rob creates him a bawl of milk that keeps him occupied. How could these people know about a catastrophe so early.

[Jack_Spade]

"Soul banishment? Never heard of that before - and I did actually sit through all those training courses on how to deal with magic. Anyway, that sounds really disturbing.
But more important: There is an underground complex there? That is really interesting - and potentially lucrative. I'd like to know more about that place.

But yeah, please continue - give it to me straight. It's not like I have to fear for a tarnish on my soul..."
Kynos moved into a bit more comfortable position.

[Mulcarn]

Maxwell sighs and rubs the back of his head awkwardly.  "Well... I didn't return to earth by myself.  Those hungry demons I was talking about, yeah they were insect spirits.  Of course I didn't know that at the time.  Strawberry used some kind of ritual magic that banished my soul to one of the deep planes.  Deep enough that I attracted insect spirits.  They saw me and noticed I was dying and came to eat me.  I had enough strength and fight left in me to deter them, but ultimately it wouldn't matter because all they had to do was wait me out."

"I started talking to them after a while, they spoke together almost like they were a singular being.  They laughed and argued amongst themselves as I tried to parley with them.  Eventually they agreed to guide me back to earth because I had no fucking clue where I was.  Together we entered a magical contract, a spirit pact.  They offered to ferry me back to the material plane, in exchange I would have to sacrifice one magician every full moon until I had given them ten total.  Yes I know that sounds really bad and crazy, but given the circumstance I doubt many would do different."

"Strawberry knew all of this when I came to and returned to my body.  Almost like she was there in the astral and watched me make the deal.  I asked her how she knew about it all.  She claims ignorance, that she doesn't know how or why she knows, she just does.  I also asked why she didn't kill me instead and her response was that if I died then I wouldn't suffer.  Apparently she really liked that bar I burnt down and was upset to see it destroyed.  According to M, Strawberry was so distraught that she performed the cruelest punishment on me.  Strawberry also confirmed this when she told me that herself too."

Maxwell spreads out his arms in an over-the-top gesture of shrugging indifferently.  "So now you know what i've been up to.  If it's all the same to you, I kinda want to capture this uhhhhh... what was it called?  Toxic mage?  Right yeah, toxic mage, and sacrifice he or she to some insect spirits."

[Mercy Merchant]

Athos reaches down to pet Cat without really knowing if likes that then looks around at the people in the room.  "So you use some sort of predictive mojo or trix magic?"

[Jack_Spade]

"Wow.
Well I can't fault you for wanting to survive. Generally I'm not a fan of sacrifices to insect spirits. Those are serious bad news. On the other hand: It's Strawberry's doing. It would be only fitting if you could sacrifice her for that shit she pulled on you.
I wonder - does it have to be mages or will any dual-natured sapient do? Because right now we have a lot of vampire action on our hand - I'm sure those wouldn't be missed and on the whole balance out.

Just out of curiosity: What exactly do the insects do with your sacrifices? Do you have to kill them and send them their mojo, or are you preparing them for inhabitation?
In that case, I'd make sure you have a way to quickly take them out again. After all, you just promised they'd get those mages - not that they could keep their mortal shells.
And finally, what exactly does that pact entail if you break it? Do they come after you or can they pull your soul back if you default?

Anyway, I appreciate you being honest about that. If you want, I'll help you find a solution.

So about that Toxic: I'm supposed to put a team together and meet the Johnson tomorrow at Aurora Village.

But before we go into details: How did you end up in a compound patrolled by drones?"
Kynos looked quizzically.

[Mulcarn]

Maxwell looked somewhat ashamed and exasperated.  He sighs again before saying.  "Yes, i'm fully aware that insect spirits and any dealings with them are highly illegal and some very heavy dark shit.  One only need to look at Chicago to understand that.  As far as the nature of the deal and the intricacies and what not.  The insectoids themselves asked for magicians in particular.  I'm not sure if any awakened or dual-natured would fly with them.  Hell I don't even exactly know what they're gonna do with the mages once they get them.  They taught me some bizarre ritual to prepare their meals and call them here.  I don't know if they show up for a quick snack and leave or inhabit them like you said.  They were oddly non specific in those regards."

"They made it clear that if I break the pact then I die.  My essence, my soul, is linked to theirs.  I highly doubt I can renege on the contract and get out alive.  Strawberry mentioned that to me too.  And about sacrificing the ginger mageling... the thought crossed my mind, except doing that would only be a temporary fix.  I'd honestly rather find a way to sunder the pact with my life and soul intact.  I brought this up with Strawberry and her answer was that I find Grail and see if the three of us can undo it together.  Let that spin your head around."

"Like you already know, I was being held captive underground, inside Strawberry's lodge to be specific.  Eventually I convinced her to let me go.  She blindfolded me and guided me out of an expansive complex.  Oh and before I forget to mention this, the insect spirits are ant spirits to be exact.  Strawberry herself said that she thinks she had dealings with ant spirits before.  She claims she can't precisely remember because she purges her mind of these memories and makes it so M can never remind her."

"Anywho, back on topic.  I'm being led from an underground complex of some sort to the sewers.  She gives me a ceremonial dagger before I go.  According to her the more mages I sacrifice the better the insect spirits will be able to control me.  The dagger is supposed to be able to appease them or something, thus limiting their control over me.  Are you still with me or should I start the story over?"