Re: A Timely Rescue, The Green Marble Altar and Battle Plans IC Thread 47

[Adley]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

"The answer to those question is different to everyone and no matter the answer we'll have an argument on our hands. So let's not get into that right now. If your not cool with it than I'm not either." Serge said with a sigh.

"I suppose I have a broad definition of what counts towards people or alive. And it's a hard choice; if it's mine then I say that I can't do that for myself. I'm not entirely sure where my cutoff point is honestly either since I've never had to consider it before in a personal and nuanced way."

"Here's another alternative idea that is much worse than this. No simulacrums. No fake minds or frankenstein-ing life. Instead we ward you and Nicole so that the bullet fired at you doesn't harm you but still appears to blow your brains out. Afterwards a spell from Master Nassa triggers causing your bodies fall over dead and appear dead to all mundance and magickal senses without you actually being dead. A fake death basically. The assassin goes through his routine and shoves you into the watch shop. Afterwards we teleport in, reverse the fake death and whisk you guys back to your real lives, the assassin only finding out after he returns to the present."

He looked over at the rest of the group and said, "And before anyone says it. I know it's a terrible plan. I HATE that idea and really don't want to do it. It puts Adley and Nicole in actual harms way and has so many risks involved with it. But it is a weird compromise between the two plans. No life created and still fools the assassin preventing a prolonged fight. I know its a bad plan but I just...thought I'd put it out there. Hopefully someone has a better idea."

"That...is not necessarily a bad idea, though you are right there are a lot of risks, one being some type of psychological trauma. It could be a backup plan if we cannot stop them at the hospital," he said, trying to work it out.

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Anja's Post:

'Ain't seen a vampire come back from being ash yet.' Nicole replied, giving a little shrug. 'And that spirit fucker can go back to hell or whatever it is from.'

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

"Well we might be able to intervene then, at the hospital?"

"Yeah I am still trying to find the hospital he was taken to the article just says a local hospital, it do not mention it's name."
Jon said, he was still tapping at his tablet.

He was starting to look distinctly uncomfortable the more they discussed it. He thought of this being, looking like himself and Nicole, as /teenagers/ just...being made to fake their own deaths and he shook his head. "I don't think I can do that. That's the same as making a clone or a flesh golem, isn't it? To make something that's alive and breathing, sentient in some way just to use it like that. And if it lived, then what would we do? It's...not right." He frowned thinking of Thomas down in the basement. "I'm sure we can think of something else..."

"Well not exactly like a clone or a full construct being with it's own thoughts and emotions, they would have some basic behavior fitted in to make them seam more real but not be sentient."
George explained.
"Though I understand why such a thing might make you uncomfortable Sodalis."

"I think that's insulting to teenagers who already have enough on their plates." Serge said wryly, "But good enough for our decoys. I think that plan is our best bet. Disrupts the timeline the least and gives us an advatage we can use in the present. We have all the necessary magickal expertise we need to accomplish it as well."

"It is one possible solution at least, if the assassin take our rouse."
George replied.
"If it works it might solve the situation without disrupting the time line to much..."
He agreed.

"This is our best bet though. It's a flesh golem without a soul or sentience. They might be alive in the boring scientific way but they aren't real living people. They don't think dynamically or feel or learn. They simply act and react in the way they've been told. It's like Jon said, there basically AI housed in flesh." Serge said before looking at his cabalmate and seeing the distress on his face, "But...I suppose it doesn't hurt to think of alternatives. Perhaps rather than flesh we can use a light-based illusion and imbue it with mental and life patterns?"

"Imbuing something not alive with life patterns are allot harder Mr Yager and have a much greater chance of being discovered, a light based illusion also would not have the same mass and effect on the world around them it would be an illusion easy to seen through by a trained eye."
The Primus replied.
"I would say that if we are going to use any sort of trickery, our only good chance is to create decoys that have flesh and life, anything else would be far to unlikely to fool our foe."

"How do you define real, and how do you define people? They are artificially created, but alive. They have some mind, whatever way you might like to call it, perhaps not much granted but it can feel, think and it will die at our say so so. Now, I'm not a vegetarian, or vegan or anything but it still feels different, even if it's due to the fact it has a human-like appearance and in fact it will look like I did as a teenager, and her. There are different levels of mind, but it is still different...we are creating it expressly to destroy it. Would you personally be able to look it in the eye and kill this being? That is what I am thinking about. Just like when I'm thinking about asking spirits for help, and putting them into danger. On to of it, these beings won't have a choice. We choose for them, to make them a surragate me, and then letting it be killed by the Nephandi. There is also an issue of how the heck we explain something like that."

Jon tapped a few things on his tablet then showed you a game.
"Do you see these enemies Adley? They run on something called a behavior tree, that is a simple AI, it makes the program able to choose some behaviors, like how to react to the player or someone else speaking to them, when to run and hide and so on, would you have a problem shooting the alien in this game? I have a feeling the mind of these creations we are thinking of sending would be like this, not like the kid we have in the basement or Cava but like a behavior tree computer game AI or as Colin put it, as a Romba."

Instead we ward you and Nicole, possessing your past selves, so that the bullet fired at you doesn't harm you but still appears to blow your brains out. Afterwards a spell from Master Nassa triggers causing your bodies to fall over dead and appear dead to all mundane and magickal senses without you actually being dead. A fake death basically. The assassin goes through his routine and shoves you into the watch shop. Afterwards we teleport in, reverse the fake death spell and whisk you guys back to your real lives, the assassin only finding out what happened after he returns to the present."

"If the assassin have a minimum of ability in Prime or Mind his mind will be shielded and getting him to see someone's brains blown out will be extremely hard, using illusions against other magi are hard under the best of conditions and this will not be the best of conditions."
Ryan said simply.
"Or did you think to mean letting Nicole and Adley get shot, but somehow keeping them alive using magick, well that is hard and if the assassin check for life patterns then you are screwed."

He looked over at the rest of the group and said, "And before anyone says it. I know it's a terrible plan. I HATE that idea and really don't want to do it. It puts Adley and Nicole in actual harms way and has so many risks involved with it. But it is a weird compromise between the two plans. No life created and still fools the assassin preventing a prolonged fight. I know its a bad plan but I just...thought I'd put it out there. Hopefully someone has a better idea."

Amadeus sigh at this.
"There are two ways you could do this, either let Mr Roth Hicks and Miss Bouchard get shot, keep them alive with magick and mask their life patterns, this is possible but difficult and allot can go wrong, the other option is to make bodies that look like Mr Roth Hicks and Miss Bouchard, but never bring them to life just the bodies and switch them at the moment right before the bullet hit, this would require pinpoint spellcasting with either or both of teleportation and time manipulation, a faction of and either the two dies or we are discovered, also there is a good chance a mage assassin would feel such magick being cast. I do not think this is a viable plan, if we do not use the flesh dolls, we should drop the entire idea of fooling the assassin."
The old healer commented and he shook his head.

[Abandoned Hospital]

'Ain't seen a vampire come back from being ash yet.' Nicole replied, giving a little shrug. 'And that spirit fucker can go back to hell or whatever it is from.'

The woman drew a deep breath of air and she seamed relieved.
"Can you get me out of these restraints?"
She asked.
"Who are you guys anyway? Are you ehm...mages? I have heard about mages."

[Adley]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

"Yeah I am still trying to find the hospital he was taken to the article just says a local hospital, it do not mention it's name."
Jon said, he was still tapping at his tablet.

"Well, the closest one is Providence hospital for trauma. It's closest, too."

"Well not exactly like a clone or a full construct being with it's own thoughts and emotions, they would have some basic behavior fitted in to make them seam more real but not be sentient."
George explained.
"Though I understand why such a thing might make you uncomfortable Sodalis."

He frowned.

Jon tapped a few things on his tablet then showed you a game.
"Do you see these enemies Adley? They run on something called a behavior tree, that is a simple AI, it makes the program able to choose some behaviors, like how to react to the player or someone else speaking to them, when to run and hide and so on, would you have a problem shooting the alien in this game? I have a feeling the mind of these creations we are thinking of sending would be like this, not like the kid we have in the basement or Cava but like a behavior tree computer game AI or as Colin put it, as a Romba."

He looked over the program and then looked at Jon. Then he took out his phone and left the screen blank and put it up to him like a mirror. "What about when it looks like you. Has your voice. You can decide to send it to it's death. It feels pain, if in a rudimentary way. It looks like you did when you're a teenager. You helped give it life, some of your patterns are yours. You programmed it. Can you shoot it?"

"There are two ways you could do this, either let Mr Roth Hicks and Miss Bouchard get shot, keep them alive with magick and mask their life patterns, this is possible but difficult and allot can go wrong, the other option is to make bodies that look like Mr Roth Hicks and Miss Bouchard, but never bring them to life just the bodies and switch them at the moment right before the bullet hit, this would require pinpoint spellcasting with either or both of teleportation and time manipulation, a faction of and either the two dies or we are discovered, also there is a good chance a mage assassin would feel such magick being cast. I do not think this is a viable plan, if we do not use the flesh dolls, we should drop the entire idea of fooling the assassin."
The old healer commented and he shook his head.

He rubbed the side of his face angrily and started to pace. "There's got to be something we can do that's not this. We're all creative people, once we get stuck in one idea that's all we can see, sometimes."

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Anja's Post:

'I don't see why not...' Nicole replied, looking to the Chief for confirmation. 'And yeah, 'suppose you could call us that. You know how long you've been here?'

[Warpmind]

[Master Steelhaven's Room]

"Hey! I watch my words when it matters." Serge said with a raised eyebrow.

Colin smiled thinly, "To a gentleman, it always matters. I'd be interested to hear what Kyle and Stephen might think, for example..."

"Yeah and if they know about Steelhaven the assassin must know there is a good chance that we would take Adley and Nicole here to protect them."
Jon said.
"So bringing them somewhere else and protecting them with the Scrambler might be a all around safer way to go about it."

He frowned, "Let us assume someone, such as a certain corrupt Quaesitor who carries a particular grudge against us, has already told them in great detail."

"Really," he nodded in some agreement.

"At least he was in the area exactly where he first showed up is hard to say as he might have gone to the area around the part to scout it out before the mission, it is what I would do."
Ryan said.
"It is something to go on at least...let me see if I can get the name of the hospital, they will have had cameras so perhaps the ones going back can get an image of him from there."
Jon commented.

"Well we might be able to intervene then, at the hospital?"

"Yeah I am still trying to find the hospital he was taken to the article just says a local hospital, it do not mention it's name."
Jon said, he was still tapping at his tablet.

"Well, the closest one is Providence hospital for trauma. It's closest, too."

He frowned, "We might not want to do overt things at the hospital. However, strange things are known to be lurking in the sewers... if we're preparing to intercept him, it might be wiser to do so while he's off balance and busy falling into a manhole."

"I would think some of our younger members would take issue with that assessment my good man."
George said with a chuckle.
"I agree though that if we manage to fool the assassin we should not gloat, the longer he believe he have pulled his mission off the better for us."
The Primus commented.

"I think that's insulting to teenagers who already have enough on their plates." Serge said wryly, "But good enough for our decoys. I think that plan is our best bet. Disrupts the timeline the least and gives us an advatage we can use in the present. We have all the necessary magickal expertise we need to accomplish it as well."

He chuckled, "Well, now, I did not claim a Roomba would be able to imitate a teenager well enough to fool their parents or friends for long - but as you say, Mr. Yager, teenagers have a lot on their plate. It would not be entirely unreasonable for a stranger to assume a slightly absentminded appearance and tired, automatic responses to be simply the result of mental fatigue."

"It is one possible solution at least, if the assassin take our rouse."
George replied.
"If it works it might solve the situation without disrupting the time line to much..."
He agreed.

He was starting to look distinctly uncomfortable the more they discussed it. He thought of this being, looking like himself and Nicole, as /teenagers/ just...being made to fake their own deaths and he shook his head. "I don't think I can do that. That's the same as making a clone or a flesh golem, isn't it? To make something that's alive and breathing, sentient in some way just to use it like that. And if it lived, then what would we do? It's...not right." He frowned thinking of Thomas down in the basement. "I'm sure we can think of something else..."

"Well not exactly like a clone or a full construct being with it's own thoughts and emotions, they would have some basic behavior fitted in to make them seam more real but not be sentient."
George explained.
"Though I understand why such a thing might make you uncomfortable Sodalis."

He frowned.

"This is our best bet though. It's a flesh golem without a soul or sentience. They might be alive in the boring scientific way but they aren't real living people. They don't think dynamically or feel or learn. They simply act and react in the way they've been told. It's like Jon said, there basically AI housed in flesh." Serge said before looking at his cabalmate and seeing the distress on his face, "But...I suppose it doesn't hurt to think of alternatives. Perhaps rather than flesh we can use a light-based illusion and imbue it with mental and life patterns?"

"Imbuing something not alive with life patterns are allot harder Mr Yager and have a much greater chance of being discovered, a light based illusion also would not have the same mass and effect on the world around them it would be an illusion easy to seen through by a trained eye."
The Primus replied.
"I would say that if we are going to use any sort of trickery, our only good chance is to create decoys that have flesh and life, anything else would be far to unlikely to fool our foe."

"How do you define real, and how do you define people? They are artificially created, but alive. They have some mind, whatever way you might like to call it, perhaps not much granted but it can feel, think and it will die at our say so so. Now, I'm not a vegetarian, or vegan or anything but it still feels different, even if it's due to the fact it has a human-like appearance and in fact it will look like I did as a teenager, and her. There are different levels of mind, but it is still different...we are creating it expressly to destroy it. Would you personally be able to look it in the eye and kill this being? That is what I am thinking about. Just like when I'm thinking about asking spirits for help, and putting them into danger. On to of it, these beings won't have a choice. We choose for them, to make them a surragate me, and then letting it be killed by the Nephandi. There is also an issue of how the heck we explain something like that."

"The answer to those question is different to everyone and no matter the answer we'll have an argument on our hands. So let's not get into that right now. If your not cool with it than I'm not either." Serge said with a sigh.

"I suppose I have a broad definition of what counts towards people or alive. And it's a hard choice; if it's mine then I say that I can't do that for myself. I'm not entirely sure where my cutoff point is honestly either since I've never had to consider it before in a personal and nuanced way."

Jon tapped a few things on his tablet then showed you a game.
"Do you see these enemies Adley? They run on something called a behavior tree, that is a simple AI, it makes the program able to choose some behaviors, like how to react to the player or someone else speaking to them, when to run and hide and so on, would you have a problem shooting the alien in this game? I have a feeling the mind of these creations we are thinking of sending would be like this, not like the kid we have in the basement or Cava but like a behavior tree computer game AI or as Colin put it, as a Romba."

He looked over the program and then looked at Jon. Then he took out his phone and left the screen blank and put it up to him like a mirror. "What about when it looks like you. Has your voice. You can decide to send it to it's death. It feels pain, if in a rudimentary way. It looks like you did when you're a teenager. You helped give it life, some of your patterns are yours. You programmed it. Can you shoot it?"

He frowned and looked into his teacup, "If I were to make a copy of myself for such a purpose, it would be explicitly without the ability to comprehend pain or death, with only a rudimentary function so as to mimic me for a short while, and I would make sure it ceased to exist very shortly after its purpose was served... but I would end that effigy in a heartbeat."
He looked up, "I would still regret having to make something for the express purpose of being destroyed... and it would be a little unsettling, I'll allow, but we would be talking about something soulless, something with no more agency or ability for growth than a vacuum cleaner, entirely unlike Cava or Thomas, who are possessed of keen minds and souls of their own."

"Here's another alternative idea that is much worse than this. No simulacrums. No fake minds or frankenstein-ing life. Instead we ward you and Nicole, possessing your past selves, so that the bullet fired at you doesn't harm you but still appears to blow your brains out. Afterwards a spell from Master Nassa triggers causing your bodies to fall over dead and appear dead to all mundane and magickal senses without you actually being dead. A fake death basically. The assassin goes through his routine and shoves you into the watch shop. Afterwards we teleport in, reverse the fake death spell and whisk you guys back to your real lives, the assassin only finding out what happened after he returns to the present."

"If the assassin have a minimum of ability in Prime or Mind his mind will be shielded and getting him to see someone's brains blown out will be extremely hard, using illusions against other magi are hard under the best of conditions and this will not be the best of conditions."
Ryan said simply.
"Or did you think to mean letting Nicole and Adley get shot, but somehow keeping them alive using magick, well that is hard and if the assassin check for life patterns then you are screwed."

He looked over at the rest of the group and said, "And before anyone says it. I know it's a terrible plan. I HATE that idea and really don't want to do it. It puts Adley and Nicole in actual harms way and has so many risks involved with it. But it is a weird compromise between the two plans. No life created and still fools the assassin preventing a prolonged fight. I know its a bad plan but I just...thought I'd put it out there. Hopefully someone has a better idea."

"That...is not necessarily a bad idea, though you are right there are a lot of risks, one being some type of psychological trauma. It could be a backup plan if we cannot stop them at the hospital," he said, trying to work it out.

Amadeus sigh at this.
"There are two ways you could do this, either let Mr Roth Hicks and Miss Bouchard get shot, keep them alive with magick and mask their life patterns, this is possible but difficult and allot can go wrong, the other option is to make bodies that look like Mr Roth Hicks and Miss Bouchard, but never bring them to life just the bodies and switch them at the moment right before the bullet hit, this would require pinpoint spellcasting with either or both of teleportation and time manipulation, a faction of and either the two dies or we are discovered, also there is a good chance a mage assassin would feel such magick being cast. I do not think this is a viable plan, if we do not use the flesh dolls, we should drop the entire idea of fooling the assassin."
The old healer commented and he shook his head.

He rubbed the side of his face angrily and started to pace. "There's got to be something we can do that's not this. We're all creative people, once we get stuck in one idea that's all we can see, sometimes."

He frowned, "I am highly opposed to having Past Adley and Past Nicole actually get shot at by the assassin, as a means of making him believe he has shot the two of you. The way I see it, we have three basic options: One, we produce simulacra who take the intended victims' places and let the assassin believe he succeeded, Two, we assassinate the assassin, preferably while he's off balance from a series of unfortunate events, Three, we make sure the man is thwarted and derailed at every corner, frustrating him and keeping him unable to finish the job until he's pulled back to the future. Having Past Adley and Past Nicole get shot with a combination of wards and illusions is recklessly complicated and with a completely unacceptable likelihood of failing completely. And that assessment is from the man who jumped in a Caul to tear it down from the inside... So, if anyone has other ideas, keep it simple. The fewer complexities in the core plan, the better."

"I doubt anyone but you want to be visited regularly by Old Man Wrinkle."
Ryan said with a chuckle.
"I for once would be happy if I never met him."

He smiled wryly, "Which reminds me, thank you for that slip-up you made earlier; it gave me a little trip to the future, to meet a blind little Verbena girl who told me about a back door to the Labyrinth. And no, even I would not want regular visits from him. But when he does show up, I'll be sure to put the kettle on... and consider this, better he shows up, than someone who doesn't bother to let you try to make up for your mistakes."

[Adley]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

He frowned, "We might not want to do overt things at the hospital. However, strange things are known to be lurking in the sewers... if we're preparing to intercept him, it might be wiser to do so while he's off balance and busy falling into a manhole."

"True."

He frowned and looked into his teacup, "If I were to make a copy of myself for such a purpose, it would be explicitly without the ability to comprehend pain or death, with only a rudimentary function so as to mimic me for a short while, and I would make sure it ceased to exist very shortly after its purpose was served... but I would end that effigy in a heartbeat."
He looked up, "I would still regret having to make something for the express purpose of being destroyed... and it would be a little unsettling, I'll allow, but we would be talking about something soulless, something with no more agency or ability for growth than a vacuum cleaner, entirely unlike Cava or Thomas, who are possessed of keen minds and souls of their own."

"It has to have enough...characteristics for lack of a better term, to make the person going after them believe it's me, if they decided to check - which is the main concern if we used a different type of ruse. It can't be a completely empty container and the reason it has no agency is because of course we do not give it any. Not that I'm saying we should, that would be wrong of course. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much, why it feels wrong. I'm not used to not being able to explain how I feel, either. If I try to think of it like an object, or even a plant or animal like an insect...to justify it, it still doesn't seem the same." He looked unhappy, turning it over and over and trying to see if he was making some kind of faulty decision but could not satisfactorily or logically explain the feeling away. Even when there were several Master magii and others around him that held a completely different view on it. He tried to consider the difference between making an empty vessel and choosing not to fill it, and then letting it get broken instead of him, and it didn't work either.

e frowned, "I am highly opposed to having Past Adley and Past Nicole actually get shot at by the assassin, as a means of making him believe he has shot the two of you. The way I see it, we have three basic options: One, we produce simulacra who take the intended victims' places and let the assassin believe he succeeded, Two, we assassinate the assassin, preferably while he's off balance from a series of unfortunate events, Three, we make sure the man is thwarted and derailed at every corner, frustrating him and keeping him unable to finish the job until he's pulled back to the future. Having Past Adley and Past Nicole get shot with a combination of wards and illusions is recklessly complicated and with a completely unacceptable likelihood of failing completely. And that assessment is from the man who jumped in a Caul to tear it down from the inside... So, if anyone has other ideas, keep it simple. The fewer complexities in the core plan, the better."

"I agree that we should try for two, at least. In combination with other tactics."

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Master Steelhaven's Rooms]

"Well, the closest one is Providence hospital for trauma. It's closest, too."

"Then that is a good bet."
Jon replied.

He looked over the program and then looked at Jon. Then he took out his phone and left the screen blank and put it up to him like a mirror. "What about when it looks like you. Has your voice. You can decide to send it to it's death. It feels pain, if in a rudimentary way. It looks like you did when you're a teenager. You helped give it life, some of your patterns are yours. You programmed it. Can you shoot it?"

"It would be really creepy off course, but if something looked at me as a teenager but had the rudimentary mind of a computer game NPC, yes I could shoot it, as it would not be real, it would be a program in flesh, and it would not feel pain, it would have a reaxtion to injury programmed into it to seam more real."
The Virtual Adept replied.

He rubbed the side of his face angrily and started to pace. "There's got to be something we can do that's not this. We're all creative people, once we get stuck in one idea that's all we can see, sometimes."

"Well there is always the first idea, take you and Miss Bouchard to safety, then find and kill the assassin before we make sure you guys do not remember to much of the experience."
Ryan said.
"That is a fair plan."

He frowned, "Let us assume someone, such as a certain corrupt Quaesitor who carries a particular grudge against us, has already told them in great detail."

"That is a dangerous speculation but yes...there is a good chance that if such a Quesitor works with the Nephandi, then she have told them about us indeed."
George said with a frown.

He frowned, "We might not want to do overt things at the hospital. However, strange things are known to be lurking in the sewers... if we're preparing to intercept him, it might be wiser to do so while he's off balance and busy falling into a manhole."

"Actually that is brilliant idea Colin, I mean I just thought we could get a picture of the guy from the hospital so we knew who to look for, but we know he will fall into a manhole we could wait for him there and make sure he breaks his neck in the fall so to speak."
Jon said with a grin.

He chuckled, "Well, now, I did not claim a Roomba would be able to imitate a teenager well enough to fool their parents or friends for long - but as you say, Mr. Yager, teenagers have a lot on their plate. It would not be entirely unreasonable for a stranger to assume a slightly absentminded appearance and tired, automatic responses to be simply the result of mental fatigue."

Ryan nodded at that.
"Unless the assassin know the way Miss Bouchard and Mr Roth Hicks are supposed to be like."
The Cultist commented.

He frowned, "I am highly opposed to having Past Adley and Past Nicole actually get shot at by the assassin, as a means of making him believe he has shot the two of you. The way I see it, we have three basic options: One, we produce simulacra who take the intended victims' places and let the assassin believe he succeeded, Two, we assassinate the assassin, preferably while he's off balance from a series of unfortunate events, Three, we make sure the man is thwarted and derailed at every corner, frustrating him and keeping him unable to finish the job until he's pulled back to the future. Having Past Adley and Past Nicole get shot with a combination of wards and illusions is recklessly complicated and with a completely unacceptable likelihood of failing completely. And that assessment is from the man who jumped in a Caul to tear it down from the inside... So, if anyone has other ideas, keep it simple. The fewer complexities in the core plan, the better."

"Well if Mr Roth Hicks are unwilling to go the way of creating a decoy, then probably the most effective plan is to find the assassin and end him and fast, we do not know how long he can stay in the past so the method that would give us the most control is to end the man and by that ending the threat."
George replied and Ryan nodded.
"I agree with Master Steelhaven on that, ending the threat quickly is a good idea."

He smiled wryly, "Which reminds me, thank you for that slip-up you made earlier; it gave me a little trip to the future, to meet a blind little Verbena girl who told me about a back door to the Labyrinth. And no, even I would not want regular visits from him. But when he does show up, I'll be sure to put the kettle on... and consider this, better he shows up, than someone who doesn't bother to let you try to make up for your mistakes."

"Well...ehm...I am glad my mistakes are useful to you Mr Wainwright."
Ryan said then he sigh.
"I guess so, but I prefer to avoid Paradox spirits in general."

"It has to have enough...characteristics for lack of a better term, to make the person going after them believe it's me, if they decided to check - which is the main concern if we used a different type of ruse. It can't be a completely empty container and the reason it has no agency is because of course we do not give it any. Not that I'm saying we should, that would be wrong of course. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much, why it feels wrong. I'm not used to not being able to explain how I feel, either. If I try to think of it like an object, or even a plant or animal like an insect...to justify it, it still doesn't seem the same." He looked unhappy, turning it over and over and trying to see if he was making some kind of faulty decision but could not satisfactorily or logically explain the feeling away. Even when there were several Master magii and others around him that held a completely different view on it. He tried to consider the difference between making an empty vessel and choosing not to fill it, and then letting it get broken instead of him, and it didn't work either.

"If you are not comfortable with us making such decoys Mr Roth Hicks then we will choose another option."
Goerge said softly.
"It is quite okey for you not to be comfortable with it."

"I agree that we should try for two, at least. In combination with other tactics."

"Two going into Three if we can not off the man right away."
Jon replied.

[Abandoned Hospital]

I don't see why not...' Nicole replied, looking to the Chief for confirmation. 'And yeah, 'suppose you could call us that. You know how long you've been here?'

Jeffry nodded his approval at that.
"I am not sure but a few days."
The woman replied to your question.
"Mages...okey...we our societies are not in conflict and if you let me go I will make sure to remember that I owe you one."
She promised in a tired tone of voice.

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

Colin smiled thinly, "To a gentleman, it always matters. I'd be interested to hear what Kyle and Stephen might think, for example..."

"I'd doubt they care much. And it's not like they'd say anything if they did care." Serge said with shrug.

"I suppose I have a broad definition of what counts towards people or alive. And it's a hard choice; if it's mine then I say that I can't do that for myself. I'm not entirely sure where my cutoff point is honestly either since I've never had to consider it before in a personal and nuanced way."

"Its a difficult thing to think about." Serge said with an understanding nod.

"It has to have enough...characteristics for lack of a better term, to make the person going after them believe it's me, if they decided to check - which is the main concern if we used a different type of ruse. It can't be a completely empty container and the reason it has no agency is because of course we do not give it any. Not that I'm saying we should, that would be wrong of course. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much, why it feels wrong. I'm not used to not being able to explain how I feel, either. If I try to think of it like an object, or even a plant or animal like an insect...to justify it, it still doesn't seem the same." He looked unhappy, turning it over and over and trying to see if he was making some kind of faulty decision but could not satisfactorily or logically explain the feeling away. Even when there were several Master magii and others around him that held a completely different view on it. He tried to consider the difference between making an empty vessel and choosing not to fill it, and then letting it get broken instead of him, and it didn't work either.

"If Adley doesn't want to do it we shouldn't do it." Serge said sympathetically, hating to see his friend so distressed. "We can find another way."

"That...is not necessarily a bad idea, though you are right there are a lot of risks, one being some type of psychological trauma. It could be a backup plan if we cannot stop them at the hospital," he said, trying to work it out.

Amadeus sigh at this.
"There are two ways you could do this, either let Mr Roth Hicks and Miss Bouchard get shot, keep them alive with magick and mask their life patterns, this is possible but difficult and allot can go wrong, the other option is to make bodies that look like Mr Roth Hicks and Miss Bouchard, but never bring them to life just the bodies and switch them at the moment right before the bullet hit, this would require pinpoint spellcasting with either or both of teleportation and time manipulation, a faction of and either the two dies or we are discovered, also there is a good chance a mage assassin would feel such magick being cast. I do not think this is a viable plan, if we do not use the flesh dolls, we should drop the entire idea of fooling the assassin."
The old healer commented and he shook his head.

He rubbed the side of his face angrily and started to pace. "There's got to be something we can do that's not this. We're all creative people, once we get stuck in one idea that's all we can see, sometimes."

He frowned, "I am highly opposed to having Past Adley and Past Nicole actually get shot at by the assassin, as a means of making him believe he has shot the two of you. The way I see it, we have three basic options: One, we produce simulacra who take the intended victims' places and let the assassin believe he succeeded, Two, we assassinate the assassin, preferably while he's off balance from a series of unfortunate events, Three, we make sure the man is thwarted and derailed at every corner, frustrating him and keeping him unable to finish the job until he's pulled back to the future. Having Past Adley and Past Nicole get shot with a combination of wards and illusions is recklessly complicated and with a completely unacceptable likelihood of failing completely. And that assessment is from the man who jumped in a Caul to tear it down from the inside... So, if anyone has other ideas, keep it simple. The fewer complexities in the core plan, the better."

"I agree that we should try for two, at least. In combination with other tactics."

"Two going into Three if we can not off the man right away."
Jon replied.

He frowned, "We might not want to do overt things at the hospital. However, strange things are known to be lurking in the sewers... if we're preparing to intercept him, it might be wiser to do so while he's off balance and busy falling into a manhole."

"Actually that is brilliant idea Colin, I mean I just thought we could get a picture of the guy from the hospital so we knew who to look for, but we know he will fall into a manhole we could wait for him there and make sure he breaks his neck in the fall so to speak."
Jon said with a grin.

"That'd be the best scenario. If we could get rid of the assassin before all this happens. As that would cause the timeline to return to its original place, with no deadly assassin interrupting your guy's lives at all. Can we find out when exactly the assassin was sent to the past. Was it right on the day of their deaths or sometime beforehand?  Where'd he pop out of anyways? Could we ambush him when he appears or tail him and make sure he gets loony tooned?"

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

"If Adley doesn't want to do it we shouldn't do it." Serge said sympathetically, hating to see his friend so distressed. "We can find another way."

"Agreed, we will not push this on Mr Roth Hicks we will find another way."
George said with a nod.

"That'd be the best scenario. If we could get rid of the assassin before all this happens. As that would cause the timeline to return to its original place, with no deadly assassin interrupting your guy's lives at all. Can we find out when exactly the assassin was sent to the past. Was it right on the day of their deaths or sometime beforehand? Where'd he pop out of anyways? Could we ambush him when he appears or tail him and make sure he gets loony tooned?"

"It is possible to go looking for Resonances and check for disturbances in the timeline to find out where the man man was transferred in time, but it is a bit of effort and we already know he will fall into the sewers so it seam to be less effort to just ambush him there."
Your uncle commented.
"No need to make things more complicated than it have to be."

[Warpmind]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

"I'd doubt they care much. And it's not like they'd say anything if they did care." Serge said with shrug.

Colin arched an eyebrow, "Yes, they're too polite to comment... that doesn't mean your proclivity for expletives doesn't bother them."

"That is a dangerous speculation but yes...there is a good chance that if such a Quesitor works with the Nephandi, then she have told them about us indeed."
George said with a frown.

He shrugged, "It's a more dangerous speculation than assuming we don't have a leak anywhere..."

"It would be really creepy off course, but if something looked at me as a teenager but had the rudimentary mind of a computer game NPC, yes I could shoot it, as it would not be real, it would be a program in flesh, and it would not feel pain, it would have a reaxtion to injury programmed into it to seam more real."
The Virtual Adept replied.

"It has to have enough...characteristics for lack of a better term, to make the person going after them believe it's me, if they decided to check - which is the main concern if we used a different type of ruse. It can't be a completely empty container and the reason it has no agency is because of course we do not give it any. Not that I'm saying we should, that would be wrong of course. I'm not sure why this bothers me so much, why it feels wrong. I'm not used to not being able to explain how I feel, either. If I try to think of it like an object, or even a plant or animal like an insect...to justify it, it still doesn't seem the same." He looked unhappy, turning it over and over and trying to see if he was making some kind of faulty decision but could not satisfactorily or logically explain the feeling away. Even when there were several Master magii and others around him that held a completely different view on it. He tried to consider the difference between making an empty vessel and choosing not to fill it, and then letting it get broken instead of him, and it didn't work either.

"If you are not comfortable with us making such decoys Mr Roth Hicks then we will choose another option."
Goerge said softly.
"It is quite okey for you not to be comfortable with it."

"If Adley doesn't want to do it we shouldn't do it." Serge said sympathetically, hating to see his friend so distressed. "We can find another way."

"Agreed, we will not push this on Mr Roth Hicks we will find another way."
George said with a nod.

He nodded, "While it's not as though we'd ask you to stand and watch, it's unsettling, all the same... So be it."

Ryan nodded at that.
"Unless the assassin know the way Miss Bouchard and Mr Roth Hicks are supposed to be like."
The Cultist commented.

He frowned, "That would mean the assassin has better intel than we do on their natures; people tend to grow and change over a good decade. Who they are today would not necessarily be recognizable ten years from now - or ten years ago. But it's a fair argument; I suppose we can't entirely exclude that, either."

"Well there is always the first idea, take you and Miss Bouchard to safety, then find and kill the assassin before we make sure you guys do not remember to much of the experience."
Ryan said.
"That is a fair plan."

He nodded, "If it can be done without their awareness of the matter, even, all the better."

"Well if Mr Roth Hicks are unwilling to go the way of creating a decoy, then probably the most effective plan is to find the assassin and end him and fast, we do not know how long he can stay in the past so the method that would give us the most control is to end the man and by that ending the threat."
George replied and Ryan nodded.
"I agree with Master Steelhaven on that, ending the threat quickly is a good idea."

"I agree that we should try for two, at least. In combination with other tactics."

"Two going into Three if we can not off the man right away."
Jon replied.

"That'd be the best scenario. If we could get rid of the assassin before all this happens. As that would cause the timeline to return to its original place, with no deadly assassin interrupting your guy's lives at all. Can we find out when exactly the assassin was sent to the past. Was it right on the day of their deaths or sometime beforehand? Where'd he pop out of anyways? Could we ambush him when he appears or tail him and make sure he gets loony tooned?"

"It is possible to go looking for Resonances and check for disturbances in the timeline to find out where the man man was transferred in time, but it is a bit of effort and we already know he will fall into the sewers so it seam to be less effort to just ambush him there."
Your uncle commented.
"No need to make things more complicated than it have to be."

He nodded, "We know the day, we know the approximate time, and presumably the manhole in question. We can set a Curse of Fatal Death waiting for him there."

"Well...ehm...I am glad my mistakes are useful to you Mr Wainwright."
Ryan said then he sigh.
"I guess so, but I prefer to avoid Paradox spirits in general."

He smiled wryly, "Don't we all?"

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Master Steelhaven's Rooms]

He shrugged, "It's a more dangerous speculation than assuming we don't have a leak anywhere..."

"Let us just make sure we are careful with whom we share such speculation or the danger will manifest before our eyes."
George warned.

He frowned, "That would mean the assassin has better intel than we do on their natures; people tend to grow and change over a good decade. Who they are today would not necessarily be recognizable ten years from now - or ten years ago. But it's a fair argument; I suppose we can't entirely exclude that, either."

"Well social media was not a huge thing for a few more years back then, I mean it was blogs and chats but not like today where people basically have a catalog of information about themselves readily available, but the assassin could have gotten information from Adley and Nicole's friend, teachers and so on."
Jon commented.

He nodded, "If it can be done without their awareness of the matter, even, all the better."

"Well I bet they will not expect us to wait in the sewers to coup de grace their ass."
Ryan commented wryly.

He nodded, "We know the day, we know the approximate time, and presumably the manhole in question. We can set a Curse of Fatal Death waiting for him there."

"I tend to prefer to end my enemies with cold steel than with curses Mr Wainwright but yes...I could set up a rip the man body spell where we know this assassin will end up, everyone will think the fall killed him."
Amadeus chimed in.

He smiled wryly, "Don't we all?"

Ryan chuckle at that.

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Anja's Post:

'Yeah... you're that werewolf who went missing, right?' looking at the braces, seeing whether they were locked or merely held by bolts.

[Surprised nobody's blamed Serge's swearing on being around Nick too much...]

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Abandoned Hospital]

"Unless there are other missing werewolves then yes...I suppose that I am."
The woman said. The restraints was held in place with a pin that was easy enough to remove.
"Have you talked with my pack since you knew of me?"
The pregnant woman asked.

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Anja's Post:

'They... well, one asked about you.' the Etherite replied, her annoyance obvious in her tone, removing the pins from the restraints.

'Is there any other sheets or shit 'round here?' she'll say to the room in general, looking around to see if she could spot anything from her location.

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Abandoned Hospital]

"Do it irritate you that someone asked about me?"
The woman asked looking a bit confused.
"Who asked about me? Was it Dino?"

There is a curtain hanging from hooks pulled back against the wall that was fabric at least.
"I dont know maybe in the cabinets."
Strawberry replied and she went to check.
"Nope just bottles with stuff here."
The Ratkin commented.

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Anja's Post:

'No. That a lead to this place was like right on the edge were some of you lot were guarding and didn't investigate.' Nicole replied. This in her mind ranked as incompetence; you watch your own turf, and investigate everything strange within it. Just like when she'd learned about that vampire holed up near the Chantry a couple of months back...

'Dunno who did the asking; was simply told that somebody had asked.' Nicole replied, pulling down the curtain off the hooks firmly. 'You okay enough to move?' proffering the woman the makeshift sheet.

Anja's Post:

'Hmm... an idea to have one of the medics take a quick look 'round here before pulling out. Might be some good gear in here which can be like re-used.' Nicole replied, giving a little frown. 'What's the plan now, sir?' looking back towards the Chief.

[That reminds me; what happened with that vampire?]

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Abandoned Hospital]

'No. That a lead to this place was like right on the edge were some of you lot were guarding and didn't investigate.' Nicole replied. This in her mind ranked as incompetence; you watch your own turf, and investigate everything strange within it. Just like when she'd learned about that vampire holed up near the Chantry a couple of months back...

"Our territory are out in the woods in the marches, you know the national park in Boston."
The werewolf asked.
"Why would we investigate this place, is it in the marches?"

Dunno who did the asking; was simply told that somebody had asked.' Nicole replied, pulling down the curtain off the hooks firmly. 'You okay enough to move?' proffering the woman the makeshift sheet.

"With some difficulty, but I will heal."
The woman said she took the curtain and wrapped it around her and gave you a smile and a nod of thanks.

'Hmm... an idea to have one of the medics take a quick look 'round here before pulling out.

"Yeah well I would not know where to start, I am a healer, as in a mystic haler, but if anyone have knowledge of school medicine they might get something out of this shit."
The Verbena who healed you said.

Nicole replied, giving a little frown. 'What's the plan now, sir?' looking back towards the Chief.

"Finding the canister of gas, taking care of those things in the tanks, getting the ones who was rescued and the prisoners ready to move, then burn this lab and leave."
Jeffry said as he motioned for someone to go tough the cabinets, the young Hollower who had helped you with finding blankets was the one who found the right canister.
"Ok we have what we need...we should get ready to leave."
The Chief said.
"Miss Bouchard could you check on the group holding the altar and get the prisoners ready to take them with us?"

(OOC: Nothing happened to him, he is still there living in his apartment.)

[Adley]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

"It would be really creepy off course, but if something looked at me as a teenager but had the rudimentary mind of a computer game NPC, yes I could shoot it, as it would not be real, it would be a program in flesh, and it would not feel pain, it would have a reaxtion to injury programmed into it to seam more real."
The Virtual Adept replied.

"Wouldn't your paradigm say you're a program in flesh too?"

"If you are not comfortable with us making such decoys Mr Roth Hicks then we will choose another option."
Goerge said softly.
"It is quite okey for you not to be comfortable with it."

He frowned. Quite a lot more than his own skin was at stake and he knew it. He kept flipping scenarios over, one after another to test against his feeling and nothing seemed to shore up. A flare of embarrassment shot through him on top of the rest.

"Well there is always the first idea, take you and Miss Bouchard to safety, then find and kill the assassin before we make sure you guys do not remember to much of the experience."
Ryan said.
"That is a fair plan."

"That'd be the best scenario. If we could get rid of the assassin before all this happens. As that would cause the timeline to return to its original place, with no deadly assassin interrupting your guy's lives at all. Can we find out when exactly the assassin was sent to the past. Was it right on the day of their deaths or sometime beforehand? Where'd he pop out of anyways? Could we ambush him when he appears or tail him and make sure he gets loony tooned?"

"That would be a preferable, to end the problem before he even made it to his intervention point."

"Actually that is brilliant idea Colin, I mean I just thought we could get a picture of the guy from the hospital so we knew who to look for, but we know he will fall into a manhole we could wait for him there and make sure he breaks his neck in the fall so to speak."
Jon said with a grin.

"Or at least corner him there."

// sorry I got caught up reading a book then fell asleep. Wild times, I know xD

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Anja's Post:

'Yes. And close enough for one to play "catch the car" as we were pulling out.'

Anja's Post:

'Yeah, we've got two. But neither of 'em are here.' clearly referring to Axel and Alicia.

Anja's Post:

'Erm... what about the altar and any other enemies, sir?' Nicole replied, helping to search. 'And what about any intel we might gain from here?'

Anja's Post:

'Hmm... how are we getting the prisoners out, sir?' Nicole replied, giving a frown.

[Oh... was Vampy discovered 'yesterday' rather than in September?]

[Jeremy Silverstein]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

Colin arched an eyebrow, "Yes, they're too polite to comment... that doesn't mean your proclivity for expletives doesn't bother them."

"I've been around Stephen and Kyle for a long time. I doubt their bothered by it at all. But I'll ask them about it." Serge said simply.

"It is possible to go looking for Resonances and check for disturbances in the timeline to find out where the man man was transferred in time, but it is a bit of effort and we already know he will fall into the sewers so it seam to be less effort to just ambush him there."
Your uncle commented.
"No need to make things more complicated than it have to be."

He nodded, "We know the day, we know the approximate time, and presumably the manhole in question. We can set a Curse of Fatal Death waiting for him there."

"I tend to prefer to end my enemies with cold steel than with curses Mr Wainwright but yes...I could set up a rip the man body spell where we know this assassin will end up, everyone will think the fall killed him."
Amadeus chimed in.

"Or at least corner him there."

"Then we're done here right? That plan sounds perfect." Serge announced, secreting wondering why on Earth anyone would prefer steel over curses "The article likely has the location of the manhole he fell into right? We send Master Nassa over there, cover him in stealth wards to hide him and he curses up our hitman when he falls in. Hopefully it happened before the murder."

[Anja Rebekka Schultze]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

"Wouldn't your paradigm say you're a program in flesh too?"

"Yes but not all programs are created equal Adley, this table here."
Jon knocked on the Primus' living room table.
"Is also a program, but I would not hesitate to use it for a campfire if I was about to freeze, I would not do the same with you."

He frowned. Quite a lot more than his own skin was at stake and he knew it. He kept flipping scenarios over, one after another to test against his feeling and nothing seemed to shore up. A flare of embarrassment shot through him on top of the rest.

"There might be another way...another way to create an illusion that will look and feel real and magickally appear real...but which is not actual flesh."
Mara said.
"But it would involve me calling in one of my friends."

"That would be a preferable, to end the problem before he even made it to his intervention point."

"If so then taking him out in the sewers seams to be our best option it would be possible to do it there away from prying eyes and we know where he will be."
Amadeus said.
"It can be done quick and clean and hopefully he will not expect us or see us coming."

"Or at least corner him there."

"Yeah but we want him dead right? Not just captured?"
Jon asked.

"Then we're done here right? That plan sounds perfect." Serge announced, secreting wondering why on Earth anyone would prefer steel over curses "The article likely has the location of the manhole he fell into right? We send Master Nassa over there, cover him in stealth wards to hide him and he curses up our hitman when he falls in. Hopefully it happened before the murder."

"The article have the general area but there are likely more than one manhole however I can probably narrow it down given a bit of time."
Jon said.
"It is not a bad plan but we will need some back ups, this is important to put all fo our eggs in one basket Mr Yager."
Amadeus said with a frown.
"Hopefully this can be dealt with easily, but...I do not want to underestimate our foe."

[Abandoned Hospital]

'Yes. And close enough for one to play "catch the car" as we were pulling out.'

"Jace's hut is out in the woods but we are some distance away from that."
Jeffry commented.
"Ah I think I know who the car chaser is...but are we in the woods?"
The werewolf asked sounding confused.
"It felt like I was taken further than that."

'Yeah, we've got two. But neither of 'em are here.' clearly referring to Axel and Alicia.

"Well we can always pack this shit down and do a cleansing on it to get rid of Resonances and take it with us, but I do not know what here have value or not."
The Verbena commented.

'Erm... what about the altar and any other enemies, sir?' Nicole replied, helping to search. 'And what about any intel we might gain from here?'

"The altar we will have to deal with, but we also need to get this gas back home and fast so the assault on the Labyrinth can be undertaken and you need to get home to deal with the threat to your existence Miss Bouchard, we will take the prisoners with us and get what info we can from them but as for this room, there is not allot here that I would know what to do with at least if you have some specific thing in this room you think can give us something do feel free to let me know, if not then the assault on the Labyrinth simply is more important."
Jeffry replied.

'Hmm... how are we getting the prisoners out, sir?' Nicole replied, giving a frown.

"With magick Miss Bouchard...with magick."
The Chief said with a smile.
"We will be teleporting home."

(OOC: Well reading is a nice way to spend ones time.)

[Nicole Bouchard]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Anja's Post:

'Erm... was talking about the cabin where Fran's cell got exploded.' Nicole replied, giving a look to the Chief. 'And yeah, you were taken further than that, like. This is an old hospital out in Waltham ways.'

Anja's Post:

Nicole considered all of this, clearly trying to form a plan of sorts which fit all the needs. 'Okay... we evac the prisoners now with teleport... while you can go and look at this altar. Scratch team quickly clears the rest of building of hostiles... the two medics can give this room a once-over before you torch it. Second transport can be the bulk of us, leaving a clear-up squad - after all, we can't like leave dead bodies, guns or items of intel around for Mundies to find. They can also take the cars back to Boston. Normally, I'd like volunteer to lead the clear-up, but get that I'm needed back at base.' ending with a clear "what do you think?" look to the Chief.

[Adley]

[Master Steelhaven's rooms]

"Yes but not all programs are created equal Adley, this table here."
Jon knocked on the Primus' living room table.
"Is also a program, but I would not hesitate to use it for a campfire if I was about to freeze, I would not do the same with you."

"Sure but we're talking about something that will have some kind of mind. I know, not all of how I feel makes logical sense. But...well, as our cabalmate said this could turn out to be a longer debate than we might have time to indulge in to help me understand."

"There might be another way...another way to create an illusion that will look and feel real and magickally appear real...but which is not actual flesh."
Mara said.
"But it would involve me calling in one of my friends."

He glanced towards her curiously. "Oh?"

"If so then taking him out in the sewers seams to be our best option it would be possible to do it there away from prying eyes and we know where he will be."
Amadeus said.
"It can be done quick and clean and hopefully he will not expect us or see us coming."

He nodded at that.

Yeah but we want him dead right? Not just captured?"
Jon asked.

"Captured would probably be harder to accomplish."

"The article have the general area but there are likely more than one manhole however I can probably narrow it down given a bit of time."
Jon said.
"It is not a bad plan but we will need some back ups, this is important to put all fo our eggs in one basket Mr Yager."
Amadeus said with a frown.
"Hopefully this can be dealt with easily, but...I do not want to underestimate our foe."

"We do need some way to see if the person is our target, in case the other spell went awry and landed on the wrong person, accidentally."

[Warpmind]

[Master Steelhaven's Rooms]

"Let us just make sure we are careful with whom we share such speculation or the danger will manifest before our eyes."
George warned.

Colin nodded, "I believe everyone in this room is equally aware of the... situation? I trust your wards, as such."

"Well social media was not a huge thing for a few more years back then, I mean it was blogs and chats but not like today where people basically have a catalog of information about themselves readily available, but the assassin could have gotten information from Adley and Nicole's friend, teachers and so on."
Jon commented.

He frowned, "That'd be one hell of an investigation in advance of the attack; does anyone even know who Miss Bouchard was back then? I'm given to understand she's adopted a number of aliases in her time..."

"Well I bet they will not expect us to wait in the sewers to coup de grace their ass."
Ryan commented wryly.

He grinned, "Most likely not. Well, or other delicate bits, going by that article."

"I tend to prefer to end my enemies with cold steel than with curses Mr Wainwright but yes...I could set up a rip the man body spell where we know this assassin will end up, everyone will think the fall killed him."
Amadeus chimed in.

He smiled wryly, "Ah, the Curse of Fatal Death is... well, a reference; a comedy skit. But for the purpose of making it seem entirely accidental, I suppose that spell would be... tidier than a series of lethal stab wounds, if the man is fished out of the pipes later."

"Or at least corner him there."

"Yeah but we want him dead right? Not just captured?"
Jon asked.

"Captured would probably be harder to accomplish."

He frowned, "Would we even be completely able to bring him securely back here to the present, instead of having him dragged back to his point of origin?"

"Then we're done here right? That plan sounds perfect." Serge announced, secreting wondering why on Earth anyone would prefer steel over curses "The article likely has the location of the manhole he fell into right? We send Master Nassa over there, cover him in stealth wards to hide him and he curses up our hitman when he falls in. Hopefully it happened before the murder."

"The article have the general area but there are likely more than one manhole however I can probably narrow it down given a bit of time."
Jon said.
"It is not a bad plan but we will need some back ups, this is important to put all fo our eggs in one basket Mr Yager."
Amadeus said with a frown.
"Hopefully this can be dealt with easily, but...I do not want to underestimate our foe."

"We do need some way to see if the person is our target, in case the other spell went awry and landed on the wrong person, accidentally."

He nodded, "While I take some pride in my precision, I can't completely exclude the possibility that the assassin managed to somehow transfer the misfortune to someone else. A backup plan would be quite valuable, all the same."

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