Going back to sleep is NOT an option

Lee came up from the living level, combing her damp hair as she wandered barefoot to the couch and settled on the arm. "What did I miss?"

Luc grunted, his attention focused on the transmutation of his sigils. "Mr. Cryptic wants to investigate a prospective new member."

The corner of Lee's mouth quirked upward as she glanced from Luc to Liam. "Lover's quarrel?"

Liam grinned at the stiff, controlled motions of Luc's brush. "He wouldn't blow me."

Lee returned his grin but rolled her eyes. "He wouldn't be any good... far too stiff jawed to allow for any prolonged fun."

Luc smacked down his brush and turned to glare at them. "I'll go get cleaned up."

Liam waved dismissively as Luc descended the scaffold. "Take your time. From what I can tell, the boy stays fairly localized. You won't be meeting him directly anyway, so you don't have to pretty up." Liam's grin widened as Luc ground his teeth as he left the common area for his rooms.

Lee shook her head. "You'd think after two years he'd be used to us by now."

"Oh he is," Liam replied, "and I think he's more frustrated that we still tease him rather than the actual things we say." He took another swig from his water and rose from the couch. "Two years ago he'd have retreated to his sanctum for the day to bring some order back to his world."

Lee gestured about the room, indicating the every increasing complexity of sigils. "He doesn't have enough order in his world?"

Liam chuckled. "With two such chaotic mages as ourselves in his life, absolutely not."

Lee frowned. "It used to be three."

Liam sighed, and putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. "Connor has his own path to follow. He will return if here is where he needs to be."

Lee nodded, and visible shook off her momentary regret. "Who are we going to see?

Liam shrugged. "I don't know who he is, though I know he's a he and works with mechanisms... not technocratic, or one of the adepts... I don't believe he's been formally trained."

Lee frowned. "Untrained, unguided awakened are dangerous to themselves and others. Has the technocracy found him yet?"

Liam returned to the kitchen shaking his head. "Not that I can tell. He appears to work mostly with mechanical devices, like engines and such. His power hasn't manifested in hypertech -- yet."

"A potential Son of Ether then?"

"That's my guess," Liam agreed. "We need to make contact before someone else does." Liam frowned. "I think the only reason he hasn't been picked up is the unstable state of the Technocratic Union. They have fractured, and the power struggle within the ranks has turned their efficient management of everything into a bureaucratic black hole." Liam's gaze traveled the room. "That's probably why we haven't been discovered and eliminated... they haven't noticed one of their old strongholds has been recycled by the opposition."

Lee frowned. "I thought Luc's friend took care of that for us."

Liam shrugged, walking over to the scaffolding. "Sure, she broke into their systems and erased records of this base from the net... but that doesn't mean they didn't have offline files."

"We really need an adept in our cabal," Lee mused.

"Possibly, but I think we are safer being off the grid completely. We have our own power, water and food. The technocracy has very little by which to detect us, let alone infiltrate our systems. An adept would want to either have a satellite link or bring in a hard wire... either of those could be back-doored." Liam swept his hand at the sigils. "And we've had enough problems with umbral incursions without having to maintain security from the virtual web."

Lee shrugged, getting off the couch and heading for the stairs. "So, what's the plan?"

"You need your jeep maintenance'd."

Lee looked back at him, her eyebrow raised. "I do?"

He nodded grimly. "You know how unhandy and clueless you are about such things... you need a mechanically inclined man to manage such things for you... you delicate lotus flower."

Lee rolled her eyes. "Do we really have to lean on the trope so heavily?"

Liam smiled. "No... you're welcome to improvise as you see fit. I just thought I'd set the scene... at least from the clueless man's point of view."

Lee's smile matched his. "I can handle that"

* * *

Luc watched the jeep drive off before turning and walking into Valhalla Brews. The coffee shop-taproom was an island of originality in the river of plebeian businesses surrounding Missouri Valley College. Though he would have preferred to meet the mechanimage himself, he knew his presence at the garage would have been more incongruous than the presence of a sophisticated, metropolitan coffee shop in this backward town. Still, he could keep an eye on the situation in his own way.

Obtaining a large mug of tea, he moved to a window table and settled into the comfortable seat. Arranging his tablet on the table, he took a sip of his tea and put on his glasses. With a force of will, he pushed magic into the formula drawn onto his lenses and the black sigils flickered for a moment before fading from view. Though by all outward appearances he was looking at his tablet screen, the view through the lenses showed trees and buildings moving past Lee's jeep. He tapped his headset. "I'm sync'd up."

"How's the view, any flaws?" Liam asked absently from the passenger seat while Lee drove.

Luc turned his head, looking up and down slowly and deliberately. "No, though I only have views from the windshield, passenger and driver windows, and the headlamps. It would have been so much easier had the Jeep had chrome fenders." Luc blinked for a moment as he returned his gaze forward. "Oh, and through the mirrors..."

Liam nodded and Lee glanced at the mirrors, confirming that she could still use them. "What about sound?"

Luc frowned, taking a sip of his tea. "No."

Liam raised an eyebrow at Lee. "Spirit sight? Prime sight?"

Luc's frown deepened. "No." Sighing, he took another sip of his tea. "I didn't think about that."

Lee grinned at Liam. "We should have taken more time preparing for this."

"I suppose we could do that."

Lee nodded. "Mushu can scout that for us." The spirit dragon faded into view, looking at her through the steering wheel. "You hear that Mush?" Mushu raised an indignant eyebrow at her before turning around and looking out the windshield, ignoring her existence. Lee rolled her eyes at Liam. "He'll do it."

They traveled about ten minutes from the campus and pulled into a mixed use neighorhood which had seen better days. Liam tapped the dashboard. "Let me out here. The garage is around the next corner."

Lee pulled over and Liam stepped out. She leaned over before he closed the door. "What do we want done?"

Liam shrugged. "Full fluid change, engine, tire, brake check? You know, preventative for people who can't find a dip-stick."

Mushu's tail twitched and Lee laughed. "Like the one holding open the door?"

"Ha, ha." Liam closed the door and stepped back.

Lee turned the corner and spotted Joe's Garage as Mushu faded from view. One car was waiting outside, either to be worked on or having been worked on, and another was in one of the three bays. Lee pulled up and parked before the office. She smiled at the old man who sat behind the counter as she walked in. "Do you do regular maintenance?"

Joe nodded, eyeing her prospectively. "Yep. What you need?"

Lee shrugged, infusing her movements with disinterest. "Fluid change, check the rest?"

He smiled."Sure thing."

"Today?"

Joe's smile went a little crooked, but he looked passed her into the garage and eyed the legs pushed out from under the car. The boy could do it without a problem. "Sure thing, miss?"

Lee smiled. "Emerson." Joe's eyebrow rose sceptically and Lee added, "Chinese mother, American father."

"Well Miss Emerson, give us a few hours... probably four." He slid a service agreement with her requested maintenance marked on it. "If you have a cell, just write it in and I'll call you when we're done." He looked out the office window. "Do you have a ride?"

Lee shook her head, taking the contract and filling in her information. "I'll walk."

It looked as if Joe would object, but he kept his opinion to himself. "Suit yourself." He nodded toward the way she'd come. "Best to walk towards the college." He took the keys from her and clipped them to the contract.

"Thanks." Lee smiled again and stepped outside. She walked slowly, peeking into the garage as she went. She saw a girl with dirty blonde hair sitting on a stool near a tool kit reading a ragged book. She also noticed what looked like the back of a toy robotic dog just beyond the front tire of the car. Overall clad legs ending in hiking boots stook out from under the car.

"Monkey wrench," came mumbled from below the car.

The girl reached into the tool kit without really looking and pulled out a wrench. She dropped it into the outstretched hand without looking away from her book.

Lee watched for a few moments and felt Mushu climb down her and scamper into the bay. She shrugged and turned away, walking in the direction of the college. She did slow, small motions with her hands and arms, ocassionally taking a precisely timed step diagonally left or right in coordination with her hands. Her attention split as she walked, part of her senses remained at a point within the garage as she maintained enough positional awareness to walk safely down the sidewalk.

"The mechanimage must be guy in the garage," Lee said conversationally, "he has a robotic dog."

"A mechanimal?" Luc shifted in his seat. "I can't see that from here. Is it a magickal construct?" 

"Mushu is fascinated with it, so it is at least a construct... maybe a familiar." Lee found a tree along her walk and paused, leaning against it to put most of her focus toward her distant viewing.

"Technocratic?" Luc frowned, sipping his now luke warm tea.

"No," Lee replied, frowning as she tried to focus her point of view upon the metal creature. "It looks more automaton than cyborg or synthetic life form. I don't think it functions on electrical power at all."

"It is a familiar, similar to a homunculous," Liam chimed in as he stretched at a corner a few streets away. "Definitely a mechanimal... though not steam powered, which is surprising."

"So not Victorian etherite at least," Luc surmised.

"If I were to guess," Lee commented as she focused on the robot dog, "I'd say it is clockwork."

"I wish I could examine it myself... but I didn't prepare my enchantments for primal investigation," Luc complained into his tea.

Liam sighed and straightened up. "I'll jog over and take care of that."

* * *

Erik held out the wrench and Anna took it from him without comment. As he turned, Clutch dropped a tuning fork beside him. "Thanks, boy," Erik mumbled as he picked up the fork and struck it on the engine block. After a few moments, he felt the vibrations pass through the block and resonate with the carbon build up and contaminates. As he pulled back, he found Clutch had left a couple other forks for him. He shook his head, still marveling at how the mechanism seemed to anticipate his needs when he worked with vibrational theories. Taking up the forks, he struck them in unison, two in one hand an one in the other, and placed them at critical points along the engine block. It took several minutes of fine positioning to get the resonance right to release the build up and corrosion from the interior parts of the engine and encourage them to break down small enough to be easily filtered out.

Erik finished his resonant attunement of the engine and drained the now truly contaminated oil into the pan before sliding out. He wiped off his hands and then picked up the vibrationally enhanced replacement oil and refilled the engine. "That should prevent corrosion for the next several years, " he thought with satisfaction. He really couldn't believe no one else used higher vibrational theories for practical applications... it was so simple, so fundamental, that science just couldn't have missed it. Erik frowned as he wondered again if the conspiracy theories about withheld technologies the leaders of the compound ranted about might not have been at least partially true. It would certainly explain why someting so simple was not in common use.

"What's Clutch doing?" Anna asked, sounding disinterested to anyone who didn't know her the way Erik did, as she flipped the page of her book.

Erik eyed the robot dog as it seemed to play bow near the garage bay door and bounce a little before scampering hastily under the car as if playing a game of tag or chase. "I have no idea." He knew Clutch responded to vibrational frequencies outside of human perception. He suspected it was reacting to entities or events happening in a near vibrational reality... sort of like the idea of multiple, parallel realities existing just a frequency quotient away from our own. "Hey, Clutch," he called as he knelt down to look under the car, "get out of there."

The dog made a mechanical bark of affirmative and scampered over to him. Erik smiled, patting him before standing, "and put my resonators back."

Erik slipped into the driver seat, rev'd the engine, and listened for a minute before pulling the car out. He took it for a slow drive around the block to make sure the knocks and pings were truly gone, and then parked it outside the garage. Tossing the keys to Joe as he walked in, he smiled. "Better than new."

Joe grinned. "Mrs. Danvers will be happy to hear that." He nodded at the keys and contract on the counter. "Fluid change and full check-up, the Jeep."

Erik nodded, taking the keys while skimming down the paperwork. "No complaints?"

Joe shook his head as he picked up the office phone. "Nope. She just wants general maintenance."

Erik shrugged. "That's different."

Joe smiled. "We'd have more regular business and far fewer problems if everyone brought them in before something was actually wrong."

Erik snorted, but agreed as he walked out of the office. He pulled the car into the bay and listened to it idle for a minute. It sounded perfect. "Really," he thought as he frowned, "perfect."

He popped the hood and got out fo the car as Anna lifted the hood and put the support in place.

"Sweet ride," she commented, "not fancy, but solid."

"Be better if it were pre-computer," Erik commented as he eyed the engine with her, "all the cleaning and optimizing of the engine isn't worth shit if the computer fritzes."

She shrugged. "Like people, it's easy to make a body stronger but we're hard to predict and control because we think... living brain," she nodded at the car, "electronic brain," she tilted her head at Clutch, "mechanical brain... thinking's messy."

Erik shook his head. "What are you reading today?"

"Kant: Critique of Pure Reason," she replied as she wandered back to her stool and took up her book.

"Why do you read that stuff?" Erik wondered aloud as he pulled a tuning fork out of his pocket.

"Makes me think," she replied as she settled down to continue her reading, pulling out a pencil to take notes. "I'm not sure about the translation though," she frowned as she scrutinized a sentence, "I may have to learn German so I can read the original." It was statements like that which reminded Erik of just how smart she was. She looked up from the page. "Can we stop by 'Repurpose Pavilion' before going home?"

Erik grinned at her. "You want to find a book on German?"

She shrugged. "Doubt old Gordon will have any, but he might. I like combing through the abandoned textbooks."

"Sure, I can look through his used tools... never know what he'll have."

With their evening decided, Anna turned her attention to philosophy and let Erik play with his machines.

Erik frowned as he examined the vibrational characteristics of the engine again. It sounded wrong. "No, not wrong," he thought bitterly, "it sounds like my engines." He wondered, for a moment if it was possible someone else used higher vibrational theory for practical applications after all. He set down his resonator and opened the driver's door to verify the VIN. He frowned as she saw small, meticulous, silver equations marked along the inside of the door panel. As he began to look more closely, he saw more markings, everywhere. They were along the controls, inside the wheel wells, along the struts and on the shocks. "Who the hell writes all over their cars," he mumbled as he activated the lift so he could check the tires. He detected along the inside wall of the tires even more markings. By the time he was done the only evidence of imperfection was that the oil had some normal degradation, but the actual engine parts seems better than pristine.

"At least I can replace the fluids with better, " he thought almost resentfully as he went to vibrationally enhance the oil, other fluids.

Anna looked up from her book as he began the draining and replacing. "What has you all pissed off?"

"This Jeep is too perfect," Erik grumbled, "except for the cryptic formulas.

"They what," she asked as she closed her book.

"Look along the door frame," he replied as he set the oil into the vibrational augmenter.

Anna opened the driver door and scrutinized the frame. "Weird... looks like some kind of advanced accounting. Maybe its a kind of inventory system?"

Erik shrugged. "That's as good an explanation as anything else."

* * *

Luc pretended to ignore how the college students responded to Liam's arrival. Even walking the man looked like he was a predator on the prowl. The primal grace of his movements, no matter how he tried to tone it back, could not be disguised completely. The reaction was either intense attraction or repulsion. Liam wasn't classically handsome, and certainly wasn't pop-culturally attractive, but his presence could not be ignored. Where Luc moved through modern society like a shark in the deep, sleek and unseen until he struck, Liam was a force of nature disrupting the orderly flow of human social mechanics. Luc was thankful his disruptive presence was not so strong as to influence socioeconomic calculations or his own magic might be adversely effected while in his company.

Liam grinned at the flabbergasted barista and ordered a quadruple espresso americano. With his coffee, and a local granola mix from 'Patty Cakes' in hand, Liam moved passed the tables and sat down across from Luc at the window. He took a sip of his coffee before speaking. "What's on the feed?" His eyes flicked from Luc's face to his scrolling tablet screen.

"Economic markets," Luc answered, frowning at his now completely cold tea. "I think I'll get another." He pulled off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Could you adjust these while I'm gone?"

Liam smirked as Luc pulled out a glasses repair kit. "Sure. Need the lenses cleaned too?"

"That'd be great, thanks." Luc set the glasses and kit near Liam and took his half full, cold tea back to the counter.

Liam looked about, frowning at the fact they were inside, and pulled out his travel kit. Inside were various small pouches of herbs and incenses, oils, waters, stones, and charms. He pulled out a grey glass vial and opened it. He put a napkin under Luc's glasses and tapped three drops from the vial onto the inside of each lens. Picking up a small turtle-shell rattle with celtic knotwork etching from his kit, Liam closes his eyes and gently but rhythmically shakes the rattle as he quietly chants in Gaelic.

Luc returns as Liam presses his left thumb to between his eyebrows and then smears the water drops across the inside of the lenses. He sits and remains quiet as Liam ends his soft rattling chant. He notes the beads of sweat along Liam's hairline, but notices no other signs of his strain of doing magick in so public a setting. Liam takes a deep breath, then quietly picks up the glasses and polishes the lenses with the cleaning cloth Luc had left.

"What was that," Luc asked as his gaze fell on the grey bottle.

"Essence of sage smoke," Liam replied, looking through the lenses to verify he hadn't left a smudge. "Try that," Liam instructed before taking a slow sip of his coffee.

Luc slipped on the glasses and grinned as he not only sees what could be seen by normal vision out of the Jeep, but recognizes the soft white haze of primal energies. The young mechanic comes into his line of site and Luc takes a sharp breath. "You're right, definitely awakened and active." He narrows his eyes and scrutinizes the vision. "I believe he has attuned foci on his person." His gaze fixes upon the end of a tuning fork poking out of a breast pocket. The white primal light is not hazy at all around the tool, but is a sharp, refined glow. "He's been working magick recently."

"On the Jeep," Lee clarified over their ear pieces. "He seems to use tuning forks and other similar tools to analyze things and I think he tries to change them by the same techniques."

"Sound magic?" Liam frowned. "Seems odd for a mechanically inclined mage."

"Music of the Spheres," Luc muttered. "He's probably working from some form of meta-science theory, like string theory or harmonic resonances. There are hermetic practices that work that way, though based on the astrological resonances... my guess is he's working from an 'all matter is just energy at different vibrational states' or something." He shrugged as Liam eyed him with what bordered on awe. "What? I've been studying occult practices since I was an apprentice. It is far easier to coordinate spells with other magicians if you have at least a passing acquaintance with their paradigms." Lifting his tea to his lips, he added uncomfortably. "Hermetics are usually the ones who have to adjust our formulas to work with magic from other traditions... you and Willa are exceptions to the rule when it comes to Dreamspeakers and Verbena... you adapt far easier than most."

Liam chuckled over his coffee. "Pot, meet kettle."

"I like how he omitted me in that statement," Lee grumbled.

Luc rolled his eyes. "You and I have seldom mixed our magicks, Lee. You have done far more cooperative casting with Willa, Liam and Connor... and I'm not sure how much of the success is from their adaptability or yours."

"Hmph." She huffed, then changed to topic. "Regardless, he's definitely realized there is something far stranger about the Jeep than the cryptic formulas written all over it. He just doesn't seem to recognize it for what it is."

"Magick?"

She nodded, though unseen by the others. "Yep. The way he's reacting, I don't think he's related his 'activities' with magick -- he probably thinks of it as an esoteric science."

Liam nodded in return and sipped his coffee. "What do you suggest?"

"Open his eyes," she replied confidently, "he may be awake, but he doesn't 'see'."

"You're out of my area," Luc added, before taking a larger swig of tea. "I don't do the 'welcome to the real-real world' tour guide routine."

"I suppose that leaves me," Liam commented dryly.

"I want to help," Lee insisted, tired of being sidelined by her elders.

"Certainly," Liam agreed. "Once you recover the Jeep, take Luc back to the chantry. I'll keep an eye on our mechanimage until you return." He frowned. "What are your impressions of the girl?"

"Exceptionally intelligent, but curiously absent or abstracted," Lee observed. "I'm not sure, but I don't think she induces paradox when he does his magick around her."

Luc raised an eyebrow. "I don't see any signs of primal energies about her, beyond what anyone would have being in close proximity to a mage."

"She's not awakened," Lee said firmly.

"No?" Liam's tone was unsure. "Not fully at least... though I'm not so sure she's sound asleep either."

"We're not here for her," Lee objected.

"She appears to be attached in some way to him, a cousin or dependent?" Liam pondered the possibilities, waiting for some feeling or insight.

"It looks like he's about to take the Jeep for a test drive," Luc interjected before Lee could respond.

"Then I'll start walking back to the garage." Lee let her focus on the garage fade and waited for the disorientation of integrating her full awareness back with her physical senses to fade. "They'll probably be calling me in a few minutes.

* * *

Liam watched as the mage and his companion entered junk shop. Antique shop would have been too generous. He let his gaze go slightly out of focus as he peers through the smoke wafting up from his talisman. "The shop has some old spirits hanging about, but no strong disturbances or barriers," he commented out loud, "the presence of so many old possessions thins the veil."

Lee walked up from behind him, not surprised that he'd sensed her approach. "How shall we do this?

"I think I'll take you over and give you some time to shoo away the lurkers," Liam replied absently, "and then I'll open a way from this junk shop to the other one."

"That should shake up his perspective," Lee agreed with a mischievous grin on her lips.

Liam began to let his censer swing in a slow, clockwise circle as the burning sage smoke began wind in thin tendrils about them. "Yes, it should."

* * *

Erik smiled at the iron haired black man behind the counter as Anna made a beeline for the used textbook shelves. "Hey, Gordon."

Bright white teeth flashed as Gordon returned the smile. "Hello Mr. Erik," he tilted his head so he could see down an aisle, "Miss Anna."

"Hey, Gordon," she called back from the stacks.

Gordon chuckled. "What is she hunting for today?"

Erik rolled his eyes dramatically. "German language textbooks?"

Gordon frowned. "Not sure I have any..." He leaned further to get a clear line down an aisle, and called out, "I do have some English to various language dictionaries and travel phrase books in the -travel- section!"

"Thanks," Anna chirped from somewhere deeper in the stacks.

"That girl reads more than a professor preparing a research grant," Gordon observed before looking back at Erik. "Got some new widgets in the bins." He looked over the counter towards Erik's feet. "Where's the piston poodle?"

Erik snorted. Nothing seemed to unsettle Gordon, not even a mechanical dog. "In the car."

"You know they passed that law about dogs left in cars," Gordon mused.

Erik smiled, but waved dismissively as he walked toward the knickknack bins. "For the ones that breath."

Erik rummaged happily through the bins, pulling out small pistons from lift doors, gears, springs, and antique tools he thought might be useful. He stopped, and his eyes went wide as he looked near the bottom of a bin. "It couldn't be," he thought as he reached down and plucked the small silver cylinder with a conical, omnidirectional top, "a Mk3 Sonic Screwdriver?"

Erik sat on his haunches, turning the little anachronism over in his hand. He'd expected it to be a metalized plastic toy, but the solidity and weight of the thing indicated it was made of a metal, or a metal analog, not aluminum. He stood up, holding the thing in his right hand as he began wandering his way from the front/left of the shop towards the rear/right. It took him a moment to realize he was smelling something smokey and herbal. It certainly wasn't pot, but it seemed familiar. He wended his way around the stacks, looking for Anna when it dawned on him where he'd smelled that herbal scent before. "The Jeep," he realized with a start, and looked around. There were thready wisps of some form of smoke drifting down the aisles, and to Erik's surprise, it seemed that the world had lost most of its color. He looked at his hands and the SSD, and both he and the tool looked full color... it was the rest of the world that'd gone flat.

Erik looked at some of the books and swore he saw them shifting position, as if adjusting themselves under the scrutiny of his gaze. Changing direction, he walked for the front of the store and stopped short as he saw an Oriental woman, the Jeep Owner, sitting on the counter. In full color. "Uhm..."

Lee slid off the counter in one fluid motion, smiling benignly at Erik. "We need to talk."

"We do?" Erik eyed a small, cat sized dragon wandering the shelves and he had a hard time splitting his attention between it and the woman slowly walking towards him. The dragon slipped behind a small humpty-dumpty figurine and, with what he was certain was delighted malice, hip-checked the thing right off the shelf. He was certain he heard a tiny, terrified scream as it fell.

Wide eyed, he looked back at the woman, her almond eyes nearly glowing as she drew near. "Yes, we do." She almost purred as she closed, "You're a mage."

Erik, his last nerve fried by the situation, very promptly collapsed to the floor, insensible.

Lee's eyebrow arched as she looked up from the crumpled figure on the floor to see Liam leaning against the shelves, his censer swinging side to side like a pendulum, a book open in his other hand, pages turning on their own. "Well, I admit... I didn't expect that reaction," he commented as he looked up from the book.

Lee frowned. "We should wake him before his unshielded thoughts call something unpleasant to this place."

"Hmmm," Liam replied, closing the book and putting it back on the shelf. "You're probably right. Even with the primal barrier I've put up about the place, we can't afford that." He made an acquiescent gesture towards the body. "Would you like to, or shall I?"

Lee grinned. "You'll be gentler."

Snorting, Liam knelt down beside the boy. "Touche." He pulled a few leaves from his pouch and crushed them below the boy's nose. "Dúisigh tú," he whispered, and the leaves sparkled and were drawn in on the boy's breath.

Erik coughed and started awake. A man was just stepping away from him and he was looking at the woman's shoes. They were the only color in a black and white world. He sat up with a jerk, banging his head on the book case. "Ow!"

Lee knelt down. "You okay?"

Erik looked about. "Where's Anna?"

"Back in what is commonly considered the 'real world'," Lee explained, gesturing about them. "This is the penumbra, or what some people call the 'spirit world'. It is just outside of our normal reality."

Erik blinked. "We're in another dimension?"

Lee shrugged. "If you like. This place is so close to normal reality that it mirrors it. We're in the shadow image of the shop you were in earlier."

"Okay," Erik wasn't sure why, but he was pretty sure the woman believed what she was saying. "So, why am I here?"

"It was a safe place, private place to talk with you," Liam answered.

"And we thought this would help convince you we aren't nuts," Lee added.

Erik slowly got to his feet. "So, what now?"

"Well," Lee started, then looked at Liam who nodded, "you appear to be untrained, but skilled. It is dangerous for mages who do magic without knowing the consequences they may face."

"Huh?" Erik frowned. "I don't do magic..."

"You simply utilize some unusual theoretical techniques not acknowledged by modern science to bring about changes to the world, like making motors run perfectly or improving the properties of materials you work with," Liam replied conversationally. When Erik looked at him and slowly nodded, Liam continued. "Let's just work for now on the maxim that any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic and leave it at that, okay?"

Considered this, and decided it wasn't an unreasonable request. "So, what do you want from me?"

"We have a place nearby where a small group of us are living. We are in need of someone mechanically inclined, which you are," Lee explained, "and you need training before you hurt yourself, others, or attract unwanted attention from unfriendly forces."

Erik frowned. "What about Anna?"

"She's a sleeper," Lee replied firmly, but cut off the rest of her response as Liam spoke up.

"She would be included, if you decide to join us." Liam tried to smile encouragingly, but his primal nature, which was so much more visible here than in normal reality, turned the expression predatory and powerful.

Erik's eyes widened as he realized that Liam looked something like a man with a wolf's mane for hair, canine eyes that seemed to reflect the full moon even though they were indoors, and slightly elongated teeth. There were also three long scars down the left side of his face Erik hadn't noticed before. "Aaaand if I don't decide to join you?"

Lee frowned, but Liam shrugged. "Then you are free to go." His eyes locked with Erik's and they seemed to fill with moonlight for a moment. "However, we don't want the trouble an unaligned, untrained, fledgling mage will stir up. If you want to go it on your own, do it away from here... far away."

Lee gave Liam a tight lipped glare, but didn't add anything,

Erik swallowed. "Okay... when do I have to decide?"

Lee locked gazes with Liam, and Erik was certain something passed between them that he couldn't hear. She broke the gaze and looked at Erik. "A few days, no more than a week."

Erik nodded, his eyes scanning about the shelves. They seemed to becoming more animated, or alive, the longer he stayed there. "How do I get back to the real shop?"

Liam stepped back and gestured in the direction Erik had walked from before noticing the change in the world. "Just go back the way you came."

Erik nodded again, swallowed, and walked to the end of the aisle. He looked back at the two 'mages'. "How will I let you know?"

"We'll be around," Liam replied confidently.

"Your little dog could probably find us if you need to get in touch before we do," Lee added.

"You know Valhalla Brews?" Liam asked, and Erik nodded. He'd never been in the place, but he'd seen it when they first explored Marshall. "One of us will be there on and off for the next few days."

"Okay." Erik stole one last glance at the dragon girl and wolf guy, and then followed his route back to the bins. By the time he returned to where he'd found the SSD, the world was full color again and the scent of burning herb was barely noticeable.

"Shit."

What we need is a monkey wrench!

Two years brings a lot of changes, Liam thought as he sat, cross-legged, on the earth topped roof of the bunker access building. Very few of those changes had been for the better, though they hadn't all been bad. Of the changes, he regretted Willa's departure from the Cabal the most. Yes, they still kept in touch, but it wasn't the same. Willa's family responsibilities had called her back to the mountains of North Carolina barely year after helping the Cabal acquire and purge the old missile silo/abandoned technocratic stronghold of nephandi. He shouldn't have been surprised -- living in the fast nothing between Kansas City and St. Louis was a drain upon her spirit, so she hadn't objected when her mother and grandmother asked her to return to Asheville. Liam signed. She would answer a call for help, and would take any of them in if they needed shelter, but her absence still left a hole in the heart of this place. He was thankful that she hadn't also left them without a healer, Lee had taken Willa's role as the Cabal's healer.

Opening his eyes, his gaze fell upon the lean, asian girl gracefully moving through her morning katas. Lee had grown so much since they'd met. That, of course, was to be expected as she grew into full adulthood. Her entourage, as Liam thought of the spirits who guided and advised the woman, moved in the currents made by her practice. Liam was surprised that her magickal growth had not included more spiritual prowess, but it hadn't. Possibly it was because the spirits had sensed impending need, and had encouraged her to glean what she could from Connor and Willa while they were available to her. 

Connor had disappeared months ago, answering yet another call to deal with his family's financial empire. Though it wasn't uncommon for him to disappear for short periods of time, this one had lasted longer than previously. At least Lee had gained a greater sense of the currents of potentials and possibilities from Connor, but Liam missed the gambling rogue far more than he'd expected. There had been something comforting in having the rich SOB around as a safety net. X athlete Liam might be, but he wasn't one of those idiot who only proved his manhood by living life at high speed without brakes or safety equipment.

Liam rose, lifting his censor from where it had nestled in the dirt, and let the smoke drift about him as he took a deep breath. He wandered the rows of their vegetable gardens, allowing the smoke of his incense to trail behind him. He felt the plant spirits accept his offerings, and knew they would yield a bountiful harvest this year. By the time he'd walked the perimeter of the fence that surrounded their stronghold, or was it a chantry, or a just a sanctum? He'd never been completely clear on the designations... though, since the great upheaval, he supposed any place of power free of nephandi or technocratic hold was a sanctuary if nothing else. 

Lee had finished her morning ritual and was back in her rooms when Liam descended the stairs to the common area. He wandered over to the temporary scaffolding and looked up at the ceiling. Luc was on his back at the top of the scaffolding, his brush moving in precise motions, leaving a silver tracework in its wake. Liam waited until Luc pulled his brush from the concrete.

"What are those sigils for," Liam asked before Luc could start another diagram.

"I am striving to improve the primal integrity of the living levels. That last breach could have been much worse." Luc frowned as he checked the diagrams of his spellworking. "And trying to do so without turning us into a beacon to any mage within a hundred miles."

Liam smiled. "That'd be nice. It would be a shame to have finally shrouded the prima-pool only to attract even more attention than the node had."

Luc grunted his agreement. "It would be nice if we had someone else who could do this work. I am not convinced that Willa's willows will serve as a long term solution."

"The might," Liam sighed, "and Lee seems capable of maintaining them"

"With your help," Luc grumbled as he began a new section of the working. "I don't have anyone reinforcing my efforts."

Liam nodded. "True, and as truly astounding as your sigils are, it would be nice to have more functional options."

Luc snorted. "Don't like my sigils?

Liam wandered to the fridge and pulled out the pitcher of infused water. "I must admit that as effective as they are, I'm not fond of all my clothes having sharpie patterns traced on them."

"You like being bullet proof well enough."

"True." Liam poured out two glasses before returning the pitcher to the fridge. "But it does raise more than a few eyebrows when we take the vehicles in for maintenance and they see all the sigils under the hood and around the wheel wells." He walked back over to the scaffold and held up a glass. "You should drink more, the air handlers suck the moisture out of the air something awful!" 

Luc paused, turning on his side to reach down and grab the glass. "So, by 'practical' you mean you want someone who can improve the equipment?"

Liam nodded. "None of us are technologically inclined. Sure, we can all change light bulbs, know how to use computers and can put on a spare tire, but none of us knows a thing about circuit breakers, lift engines or ventilation systems. And, frankly, I don't want to depend upon esoteric means to keep stuff running." He grinned. "Could you imagine what would happen if we were to call in a repairman to fix a fan motor?"

Luc rolled his eyes. "And we thought this place would be a good location for a chantry why?"

Liam looked unerringly toward the base of the main silo. "It was an unclaimed, secure structure housing a wellspring of primal forces?" 

"I have distinct memories of the prior inhabitants." Luc set his water on the scaffold planks and went back to tracing his spellwork.

"Primal Vermin... we cleared them out... eventually."

"After three assaults, and months of cleansing and fortifying during which time we had how many unwelcome guests?" 

"You act like that wasn't expected. Of all of us, you should have been the least surprised by the difficulties in reclaiming a previously lost sanctum... or... what is it the technocrats call them?"

"Who knows... I try to avoid having to converse with any of the technocrats. They've fucked shit up so bad at this point I'm surprised any of us can still do magick."

Liam sipped his water. "It could have been worse."

Luc spat. "Horizon shattered, nephandi polluting the world unchecked, most of the elders dead, how much worse could it have been? They tried to awaken everyone, and like we already knew would happen, the human race just ignored the call."

"They could have destroyed the traditions utterly, or their failed awakening could have locked the world down even worse. Sure, things went crazy but it went crazy for everyone, not just the traditions... I hear there have even been split offs from the technocracy, like when the Adepts and the Sons broke free." Liam took another sip and flopped down in one of the overstuffed chairs. "Its been over 15 years, and people are seeking alternative truths even more today than before the shit hit the fan."

Luc grumbled again, then finished another arc in his spellworking. "Anyway, you were talking about bringing a mechanically inclined person into the fold?"

Liam thankfully returned to the original conversation. "Yes, and I think I've found someone."

Luc stopped his brush and turned to look at his companion. "Oh?"

"There's a practitioner up in Marshall who looks promising. Works at a garage and is renting a little place that I bet he wouldn't mind leaving." Liam shrugged. "Only hitch is he appears to have a younger sister or cousin living with him. I don't think she's awakened."

"Just a little hitch," Luc said dryly. "Have you talked with Lee about it?"

"She wants to scout them out before we approach the mechanic, but she trusts when the spirits point me in a direction."

"Of course she does..."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "Just because you're nearly spirit blind, you can't really say the rest of us are wrong."

"I can, but I don't. I simply don't like depending upon information from sources I can't verify."

Liam grinned. "And you really dislike the idea that someone could just walk into your rooms without you knowing it." Liam gestured at the sigils about the room. "Thus, the primal reinforcement."

"Unwanted guests are unwanted guests."

Liam took another drink of his water. "No arguments there."

Connor Murphy Description

Name: Murphy, Connor

Age: 27

Ancestry: Black Irish

Born: Boston, MA

Height: 6'2"

Weight: 170 lbs

Build: Lithe, trim

Hair: Dark brunette, close cropped

Eyes: Green

Skin: Pale

Foci: Set of semi precious gemstone studded dice

General Description: Tall and lean, physically firm.  Attractive, but unremarkable face.  Overly pale, almost deathly pallor that others often find somewhat disturbing.  Excellent 'poker face' that can be rather difficult to read.

Clothing: Semi formal and business casual, Often wears long, charcoal grey overcoat in cold/wet weather.  Carries a .45 ACP caliber pistol in a concealed underarm holster.

Willa Stone Description

Name:  Wilhelmina (Willa) Stone (no given middle name)

Height: 5'10”

Weight: 155 lbs

Build: Strong, slim, muscular build (like a dancer)

Hair:  Naturally light blond with even lighter highlights; thick and fairly straight and long (to the middle of her back)

Eyes: Large and blue/green

Nose:  average and non-remarkable

Mouth: Thin, straight lips that are naturally pink

Skin: Fair with pinkish undertones, but is prone to tan rather than burn in the sun.

General Description: Her overall appearance is strong, fit, and healthy. She is quite attractive, but in a symmetrical and non-remarkable way. There is not one feature that could be considered stunning, but the parts combined makes for a quite lovely whole. She has the appearance of a Swiss milkmaid, in that she in slender but strong, and has long blond hair and fair skin.

Clothing: Willa dresses in casual, almost bohemian type clothing. She favors blue jeans, long skirts, sweaters, and shorts (when the weather permits). Hiking boots, Tevas, and sandals are the only shoes she owns. She does not wear many bright colors, but rather prefers earth tones and natural colors. She often wears beautiful wooden and stone jewelry and that she has created, and has been known to stick a just-picked flower into her hair, which is normally worn in a braid down her back.

Lee Discription

Name:  Zhu Liu Min  / Emily Lee Emerson / Lee

Chinese/Caucasian

Height: 5'7
weight: 135
Hair:  , thick, slightly coarse, dark brown cut blunt to the top of her shoulders, with straight bangs.
Eyes:  grey, epicanthic fold not as pronounced as is typical in Chinese ethnic group
Nose:  straight, narrow, more prominent than typical

Her overall appearance is typically Chinese at a quick glance, but her Caucasian ancestry is obvious upon closer scrutiny and, with cosmetic help, she could pass for a slightly exotic Caucasian woman. She is not beautiful, but her features are regular, her skin is clear, and appearance average.  She tends toward thinness and must work to keep her muscles.

Skin: light brown
Long limbed, gymnast build, smoothly muscular

Clothing:  Lee dresses in a mix of Western and Eastern styles with an eye toward freedom of movement, close but not tight fit, and subdued colors.  She does not typically wear anything with patterns, logos, or symbols, and prefers shades of white, cream, grey, brown, or black with the occasional touch of blue, green or peach.  She prefers pants to skirts, never wears more than a very modestly heeled shoe, and tends to chose jeans, a simple Asian style shirt, and either light boots or sneakers

Lee -- Backstory 1

"Liu!  Liu, you bitch!" 

A skinny girl child curled up tight in a space between garbage pails and stacks of old chicken cages, her pale face half hidden against her knees. 

"Liu, you better come out now.  I'll find you, and I'll beat the hell out of you for this!"

"He won't find you," whispered Mushu.  He coiled around her neck, only his long snout sticking out from under the ragged fringe of her dark brown hair.  She had cut it short so it was harder to grab, and that had made Jon angry with her.  Nothing hurt quite like being grabbed and jerked off her feet by her hair.

Jon peered around the dark, crowded, and dirty alley.  He wore an expensive suit that didn't fit him well, and he wore rope thong sandals instead of shoes.  She could see the grime on his toes as he moved passed her spot.  His rolled up cuffs and shirt collar were also stained and greasy, and a large gold ring glinted on one of his fingers.  He owned the brothel where her mother worked.

Used to work, she reminded herself.  Ma died just a few days before, beaten to death by a drunken customer.  At least, that's what Jon had told her, right before he told her she belonged to him now and had to work off the money Ma owed him.

Not that she hadn't worked for him ever since she'd been old enough to toddle around the many rooms and hallways of The Summer Peach -- that's what Jon had named his little empire deep in Kowloon's underbelly.  She'd carried drinks, swept floors, emptied ashtrays and wiped spills.  As she grew into a thin, quick eyed youngster, he'd sent her out to pick pockets and shoplift.  She had a talent for that.  People didn't notice her, or weren't fast enough to catch her when they did.  Eventually Jon employed her to sneak into the houses and offices of his business rivals to steal valuables or even money.  He said they refused to pay debts to him and the items belonged to him by rights.  She thought he lied, but she did it because Ma had to pay him for their place in the Peach, their room and food and protection.  With the money Ma brought in from her many regular clients, Liu calculated between them they had not only paid rent for several months in advance, but had paid off the money Jon had loaned Ma when she'd left the Peach before Liu was born, when her mother had been beautiful Mai and had met the American who took her away and married her. 

Jon growled various threats under his breath as he continued down the alley, poking occasionally at piles of cardboard or stacks of pallets.  Many shops and bars backed onto this alley and they all used it.  The wet stink of rotting food and vomit kept most people away.  Rats rustled and glared at Jon, but stayed out of site of the assorted cats that also haunted the trash heaps.  Jon recoiled from their glaring eyes.

"Liu, damn you!  Ungrateful bitch!"

Mushu chuckled in her ear.  She knew why.  She had no reason to be grateful to Jon. She was only collecting on the debt he owed her. He beat her when he was in a bad mood, complained about every bite of food he saw her eat, and begrudged her even the cast-off clothes Ma gave her to wear because he might have sold them.  Ma made her sleep in cupboards or under the bed.  She'd learned to sleep lightly, aware of any change in the constant traffic of working girls, party boys, and clients that might mean danger.  She'd learned to move unseen among the glowing high rises full of business suited people with briefcases and cell phones, through the crowds of gawking tourists, to find her targets and bring back her gleanings of money, jewelry, and expensive electronics.  She didn't owe Jon anything.  Her work had paid for the ugly, expensive suit he wore.

She waited patiently, ignoring the growing cramp in her spine and the tingling in her feet, while Jon skirted her little spot, knocked over a pile of plastic bottles, and cursed as he stumbled away from the mess.  His voice gradually faded into the general hum of the city.

"Not yet," Mushu warned her as she lifted her head and wiggled her toes.  "He'll come back."

"Then I should move," she replied in a voice so low only the little dragon could hear her. 

"Not yet," Mushu insisted.

"No, no, not yet," echoed a dozen or more transparent voices, like so many tiny breezes whistling through cracks in the walls.  She shrugged to loosen her shoulders, flexed her fingers, and settled again, her face hidden against her knees, her thin arms shielding her eyes.

"You'll have to move soon, Emily." 

Mushu nuzzled against her ear and made a little dragon sigh.  "I know, Baba.  But Mushu..."

"I heard Mushu."  Her father's voice was just a little louder than the other voices she heard, almost as loud as Mushu's.  Her dragon didn't look like the cartoon dragon in the Disney movie, but she was so little when he came to her and that was the only dragon name she knew.  Her father had spoken to her even longer than that, maybe since before she was born.  "You can't wait too long or you'll miss your chance."

Before she could respond she heard voices at the far end of the alley.  Jon returned, pushing a smaller, younger man in front of him.  The young man wore baggy, torn blue jeans and a worn sports jersey.  She recognized Kim, one of the punks who did dirty work for Jon in return for drugs and, occasionally, cash.  Jon shoved him again and he staggered.

"You find her.  She's hiding in here somewhere.  I saw her run down here.  You find her and bring her back, and it will be worth it.  You don't find her and I see you again..."Jon let his voice trail off in unspoken threat.  He wheeled around, casting his angry glare at the walls and stacks of garbage.  "When I get you, Liu, I'll beat every single coin you stole out of you!"  He stalked down the length of the alley, his rope sandals flapping against his crusty heels.

Kim stared numbly around the twilight alley, swaying a little.  Maybe he was drunk or high.  Liu wasn't sure.  She couldn't see him very clearly.  Slowly, shaking his head, he moved toward a pile of crates and pushed them to one side.  A few toppled off and he flinched.    The afternoon sun was already too low to shed much light into the long, narrow passage between streets, and the neon glow on the street didn't reach far into its constant twilight.  Controlling her breathing and ignoring the growing throb in her muscles, she listened and watched.  He wouldn't look for long, she was sure.  He'd go work for some other pimp or dealer, or he'd get knifed in a fight, or maybe he'd get picked up by the police.  But he wouldn't look for long.  She just had to wait.

Once he left, she could run to her special hiding place where she had stored clothes, food, money -- everything Baba had said she would need. It hadn't been hard to sneak into Jon's office and pilfer money a bit at a time, or to lift from shops and stands things she might need.  She'd started preparing weeks ago when Baba warned her something dangerous could happen.  He didn't know what, but he said she should stay away from the Peach as much as possible.  He warned her that something might happen to Ma, and she had tried to warn her mother.  But Jon had hooked her mother on one of his illegal chemicals, either the smoke or the needle or the pills -- she didn't know for sure -- and her mother had become hollow and memoryless, just a body that others used.  Over the last year, it felt like she forgot she had a daughter at all.

Kim poked and pushed through the garbage, his lackluster eyes shifting from side to side without ever focusing.  He walked up and down the length of the alley in this desultory way and then settled almost in the center, his back against a rusty door, directly across from her hiding spot.  His gaze drifted around the dim, shadowy piles before coming to rest on the ground, his chin on his chest.

"He can't know you're here," Mushu said.  "He can't see you."

Her heart thudded against her ribs hard.  Did Kim know where she was?  Why didn't he just come for her?  Did he just suspect?  What was he waiting for?  She fought to control panic.

"It's the only clear place."  Her father's spirit voice spoke calmly.  "The other doors have more trash around them.  This door is relatively clear."

Her panic subsided into a general rumble of irritation and anger.  If Kim didn't move, she couldn't leave this tiny space, and she couldn't get to her stores.  If she couldn't get to the money and clothes she'd squirreled away, she would miss her chance to leave Hong Kong.  Jon would find her eventually, and he'd chain her up in one of the rooms in the Peach or sell her to someone else.  Or, worse, he would pay for thugs smarter than Kim to find her and kill her or bring her back.  She seethed invisibly at Kim.  Mushu writhed impatiently around her neck.

"You'll have to run, Em," Baba told her.  "He'll grab for you.  If he misses, fine, keep running.  If he gets you, you'll fight.  I'll tell you how."

She drew in a deep, long breath, slowly uncurling her limbs, letting the feeling come back to them, breathing through the exquisite pain of returning circulation, waiting through the numbness.  Carefully she slid back the layer of old newspapers and sacks which covered her hiding place.  The increasing darkness of evening helped hide her movements, as did the rising noise of nighttime business on either end of the alley.  Hawkers shouted, food vendors sang, and the hard beat of dance music rose from the clubs and bars. 

"Don't move until you can move all at once," Baba warned her.  Other voices, the whispering babble she'd known all her life, rose and fell like the sound of the ocean behind his voice.  "Get yourself ready.  Pick your path.  Lay it out in your mind.  Now....go!"

The layout of the alley, the placement of each pile and stack and spill, blazed like a map spread in her mind.  She unfolded herself, a skinny shadow in a recess behind the crates and cans, and slid out of her niche, turning to her right as soon as she was clear of the obstructions.  Kim's head snapped up.  A second passed as he blinked at her appearance, giving her one more step before he moved.  She gathered her strength to run.  His hand snaked out, his body tense and already lunging, and before she could take the next step, his grimy fingers around her wrist and tightening.

Baba's voice whispered steadily.  "Keep his arm extended.  Pull your arm close to your center.  Spin to his outside.  Aim for the elbow."

She flung herself into Kim's arm without thinking, practicing one of the tricks her father had patiently and carefully taught her.  It didn't take great strength or great size to win a fight, he'd told her many times.  It took skill and speed and precision.  Kim's scream almost drown the crack of bone as his elbow joint strained and gave under the force of her body slammed against it, forcing it unto an unnatural angle.  His fingers dropped from her wrist as his body tried to curl protectively around the injured limb.  She kept going, spinning once or twice as she regained her balance, running in the opposite direction than she had started, leaving him behind, his moans lost in the noise of a Kowloon night.