[neder | various filters | various formats]

[elfstoned]

[PUBLIC]

Dr. Strider here. I'm back. I apologize -- personal business took me away from the city shortly before the Dead District bombing, and I've only just been able to return.

Has anyone discovered the culprits behind the explosion? I mean, we all suspect ThunderCorp and its allies, but has anyone been able to PROVE it? What about the bombs themselves -- have we been able to discern what the bombs were? Not an easy task, I'm sure, since of course the police will be keeping everyone out, but it's worth asking.

And what about the Tuning Towers buzzing?

Has anyone located the source?

[FILTERED TO EMMANUEL]

I'd like to talk to you about those legends you mentioned a few weeks ago.

[FILTERED TO SOPHIE]

[voice:]

You were the one who could see the shape of things underground. Am I right?

[Action, clinic, Wednesday the 13th, locked to Ravi]

[Aaron came back two days ago, looking -- well, looking not quite so bad as he did when he left. His first night here was sleepless, though; he has just as much on his mind as he did when he left.

He needs to speak with somebody about this, though. Somebody he knows won't spread this information around, someone who understands the dangers of panic. There had already been an ill-advised attack on Tuning Towers, for god's sake. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he told the whole host of numbered about what he knew.

Ravi was going to be that person, and when he came in, Aaron was busy with a patient. As soon as Aaron was free, though, as soon as all information had been exchanged and payment secured and the young woman was on her way, he went into the small, windowless room that served as an office, filed her information, then stuck his head out the door.]

Ravi? I need to talk to you for a minute.

Comments

[private/text]

[elfstoned]

The sooner the better. Tomorrow, six o'clock, the White Horse?

[private/text] -> we can keep going right here if it's easier!

[caosgo]

I'll be there.

[action!]

[elfstoned]

[Emmanuel will find Aaron already there. It's not quite a dive but it's halfway there: the horse on the sign outside is outlined in neon, the lights are dim, the floor is grimy, the music is on the loud side and it's already half-full of people. Aaron's sitting at a table in a shadowy corner, because seriously what else did you expect. He sees Emmanuel come in, though, and catches his eye. The beer in front of him is still nearly full.]

[action!]

[caosgo]

[Emmanuel looks...a little out of place. He's wearing a turtleneck sweater and khakis and has that tan trenchcoat folded over one arm; hey, it's getting colder and it seems to be an ordinary coat, so why not use it. He also looks slightly nervous, but that might be the atmosphere he's unaccustomed to.]

[He sits across from Aaron, and orders something light. He's never really been good at the social drinking thing. He does, however, finally relax a bit.]

This...brings me back a little. [He was the one that always had to be dragged and cajoled into social events back in school, after all. Strict Catholic upbringings tended to go only a few ways, either they went wildly awry or stuck a little too hard.]

[action forever]

[elfstoned]

[That pulls a chuckle out of Aaron, not an easy feat these days.]

Fifteen years later, it still takes nothing short of a crisis to get Emmanuel Hall into a bar.

[action forever]

[caosgo]

I'm not sure whether I should be insulted or amused, if I haven't changed at all in that long. [he offers a wry smile.] Don't worry, I'm still the same stick in the mud I used to be.

[he leans back in his seat a little, then changes his mind and rests his elbows on the edge of the table, lowering his voice a little.]

Anyway, I'm...not entirely sure how this will help us, but I guess it's worth a try.

[elfstoned]

Right. We are here for business.

[And Aaron sobers, fixing Emmanuel with a piercing look. It's intense, like Aaron will know if Emmanuel is hiding anything -- someone with a weaker will would have trouble meeting his gaze for long. It's an Aragorn thing.]

Now. Tell me everything you know about this snake god.

[caosgo]

[that's a little unexpected, and he doesn't comment on it, but he does lean back slightly. He's not exactly the constant eye contact type, anyway.]

Well, I'm afraid there's not much. Most of the materials dealing with the pre-colonial era aren't very detailed. But there was at least one historian that went into a little more depth. Apparently, this god that the natives worshipped...it was a giant snake with legs. Though I wonder if that means it doesn't count as a snake anymore... [the last bit is tacked on, wryly, before he continues.]

Honestly, I didn't think the information was that important until I remembered those statues in the art gallery, and how people were running into ones that attacked them.

[elfstoned]

A snake with legs...

That's troubling.

[It seems like Aaron is talking to himself; he breaks eye contact, folds his hands and looks down at them, thoughtful.]

[caosgo]

I'm not sure if the statues themselves had them...

[he trails off, trying to remember.]

Ah, and this must be connected to David Proud somehow.

[elfstoned]

[He looks back up.]

David Proud? The sculptor?

...what's your reasoning?

[caosgo]

He's a descendant of that tribe, isn't he? There was that article written about the gallery opening way back...even without that, two of those statues were of snakes. Especially considering what they did to people, there has to be some kind of connection.

[elfstoned]

I wonder what he knows.

I remember there was an attempt to find him, earlier this summer. But that ended in the cave, didn't it? The leads were fake.