Scene #9397: Vertin's Barrel o' Watchmen

Owner	Pose
Timekeeper	Vertin cannot, of course, request official St. Pavlov Foundation approval to have a clandestine meeting with the Watch inside her suitcase. If she could, or was inclined to, then that would probably disqualify the suitcase from being considered a watchtower at all; but instead, true to form, her methods are furtive and kind of awkward. Being sent on an errand through the warpgate, Vertin instead diverted to a large bookstore within a warpgate hub, a vast city-sized building made of concrete overlaid with thick rugs and tapestries, where they instructed the others to gather. When entering the bookstore, Vertin can be seen with their arms folded across the mostly-deserted checkout counter, leaned in for what looks to have been a long and high-energy conversation with the girl running the scanner. When the other Elites come in, Vertin raps their knuckles on the counter and straightens up. "That's them. I suppose I'll have to be off now." "O-oh-- yeah, of course! I'll, um, check out those books by Ans...combe, you mentioned!" "Good; they're quite informative. 'On Brute Facts' is an excellent primer for the rest of her work, and short as well." "Y-yeah... so, will you still be wanting the break room...?" "I would. Thanks for keeping an eye out, Elizabeth." Once the bookstore employee hurries to unlock the staff-only door behind the desk and usher Vertin-- along with the others-- through with a little wave. Inside there's just a small table and old couch, but that's all the space Vertin needs to drop the suitcase down and click it open with an incantation. "One trouble with the suitcase is that when it's not attended, it's as vulnerable as any other piece of luggage lying around. Without Sonetto around, I thought it'd be safe to get some local eyes on the door."
Timekeeper	Stepping into the suitcase's depths at Vertin's instruction goes much the same way it did before. A deep black staircase that goes down, down, much further than it feels like it should, until eventually terminating in a heavy wooden door. Through that is the sunroom, a luxurious wide-open space made out of stately wood and filled with houseplants and flowering vines, lit by the sun streaming through floor to ceiling windows. Bookshelves all around the space are filled with literature, art, and records from previous eras, including a folded t-shirt with Regulus's face that says 'groovy'. At one of the tables in the sunroom, Regulus is sitting with a white-haired and sickly-pale young teenage girl in a wheelchair with IV racks wheeled along with her, though right now the girl is excitedly animated. She has a stack of papers on her lap and spread out across the table, covered with drawing surrounded by scrawled notes, which she's pointing at emphatically to Regulus. ". . . so her name is Astrid Alfdottir, and Astrid is sailing across the Mjinnedwel sea after Bergqvist because she-- ahem-- thinks that it's a waste of time to go after Tialreroath's fabled treasure, even though her father said--" Cristallo looks up when Vertin comes through the door follows by the others, politely covering her mouth with a handkerchief when she coughs. "Oh, is it time for your meeting? Should I go?" Vertin hesitates, and then nods. "That's probably best. Not out of the suitcase though, only up to the living areas; I may end up showing them around, but it's nothing you'll need to worry about." Turning to the group while Cristallo's wheelchair is slowly levitated up the staircase by an arcane sigil she activates on the wall, Vertin nods and looks around. "So, this is the suitcase. Entry is inaccessible besides to me, and it's on my person every hour of the day. While it's a somewhat unexplained arcane phenomena, neither I or my guests have ever been in any danger within it; and in fact, it is among the safest places in my entire world. At maximum capacity, it could likely sustain one hundred people living within the manor at a time, though the food production capabilities inside are limited to the herbs growing here and the greenhouse around back."
Regulus	Regulus knows a meeting is happening but there's no reason for her to leave the suitcase. And honestly, unless she can get dropped off outside it's not exactly like she can just go rolling around the Foundation building (while everybody is trying to get her to sign papers! Why is everybody so obsessed with these registration papers!). At this point, actually, she's not sure if there's a reason not to 'register' it's not like they don't know what she's capable of, but at the same time it feels pretty against her principles? And thse doesn't have much else besides her principles right now. But that's okay. A record player is all she needs ... Well, she also would like to get back to the ocean and hold onto her rock and roll dreams. But for the most part she's just happy to get to know the people in the Suitcase. They're a little weird! But in a good way. And right now she's leaning in and listening intently to Cristallo. "A waste of time...! But she's going to be going after the treasure anyway, right? Fable treasure is made to be found--" But she looks up and sees the people approaching and-- ''Should I go?'' "We can talk about the rest after, Cristallo!" Regulus says. "I GOT to know what happens or I won't be able to sleep tongiht!" She may have something of the wrong idea of how tabletop works or she's just hearing a tabletop story. Nevertheless, she stands up and waves after Cristallo while she leaves before spinning back on her heel. "Oh yeah hey hey hey, you all made it! Nice!" She saunters over to the record player and hums merrily to herself, swinging her hips around as if she can hear the soundtrack to her own life. "It's a shame you can't be in two places at once Vertin, then you could be in the suitcase while also carrying the suitcase." Regulus adds.
Veronica	Veronica briefly marvels at the scale of the warpgate hub - although a former employee of L Corp, she wasn't on the 'enormous megafacilities' end of the company - before making her way into the bookshop. "One trouble with the suitcase is that when it's not attended, it's as vulnerable as any other piece of luggage lying around. Without Sonetto around, I thought it'd be safe to get some local eyes on the door." "Smart," Veronica says with a nod. "Don't want to climb out into the trunk of somebody's car. Sonetto's on some other mission right now, then?" Her eyes linger a split second too long on Cristallo's medical devices. Those machines, plus the ones she saw Cristallo with prior to the Timekeeper's London operation, plus whatever else she has in her personal rooms, might cost well more than the Firefly Dam power plant clinic's budget for an entire year. The result should still be a far-from-enviable position, and yet... But the moment passes, and Veronica smiles briefly at Hibiki as the magical girl enters the suitcase after her. Then a little wave for Regulus as the diminutive DJ grooves to her own tune. "Glad to see your leg's mended well," Veronica comments. "While it's a somewhat unexplained arcane phenomena, neither I or my guests have ever been in any danger within it; and in fact, it is among the safest places in my entire world." "That's something I was wantin' to ask you about, actually. If I remember right you said you just found the suitcase, right? No idea who made the thing or how? I don't doubt your trust in its security, just seems a little odd for there to be magic luggage floating around without any previous owners looking to take it back."
Hibiki Tachibana	"...That /is/ a pretty big trouble, to be fair." So remarks Tachibana Hibiki, standing at the door after Vertin has ushered them all into the back and opened up the suitcase in question. She, of course, might as well be a complete unknown besides her brief radio chatter the other day; and to be quite honest, she isn't knowledgeable on the subject of Vertin either. Maybe some would say it's unrealistic for her to keep tabs on every single new Watchman who rolls around, but... Here she is, stepping down the stairwell into the depths of the luggage once they're given the go-ahead. Of course, she did call ahead to give an advance warning she'd be showing up. Otherwise, this would be /really/ awkward. Veronica gets a nod and a somewhat tired-looking smile as they head in. ... "Sorry for the trouble..." Cristallo is given an apologetic shoulder-height wave, her other hand in her jacket pocket, as the wheelchair-bound girl floats off; it's probably not hard to tell with one look at Hibiki that breaking up her meeting with Regulus here comes with a bit of guilt. After she's gone, there's a moment where she closes her eyes and lets out a stiff exhale - then brings her palm around to rub at the back of her neck, opening her eyes up again and taking a glance around the sunlit chamber and the various books lining the shelves. And also, that shirt. "..." She closes her eyes again and makes the wise decision to ignore it. Though between the aesthetic of the sunroom and the standout dress styles of both Vertin and Regulus here... "...Honestly, I feel a little out of place in here..." Says the girl in a jacket and shorts. Hibiki sighs, and straightens her back. "...Um, yeah, hi. Hibiki. Hibiki Tachibana," she says mostly for Regulus' benefit, given the excited greeting. "I've been dealing with a few personal things lately, but I figured if there's a prospective new Watchtower on the menu, I should be responsible and actually look into it myself. And, well..." After contemplating the last addition to their Watchtower list - a certain space station which she has more unfond memories of than fond ones - Hibiki soaks in Vertin's explanation and folds her arms, speaking after Veronica does. "...When you say entry is impossible for anyone but you... I'm guessing you mean the incantation you did to open it. That sounds pretty secure to me. Though that, and what you mentioned about it being unattended..." "...Is there any way for people in here to tell what's going on outside? Assumin' something happened to you outside, while you were carrying it... would anyone inside even know what went down?" The little bit of stiffness in how she's standing and talking may or may not be from her trying to actually act in her position for once in her life.
Tamiel Luxis	Tamiel arrives late, bustling furtively into the bookstore. She's wearing a long, shortsleeved tunic, largely gray, with splotches of color speckled like paint across it, over a pair of black shorts that are short enough to barely be seen underneath it while she's standing. The girl is red-haired, freckled, and short, with colorful shards of 'wings' and 'halo' hovering behind her as she walks. "Thank you, Miss Elizabeth..." The angel offerse the girl a furtive smile, before following behind Vertin. She offered the sickly girl a wave, as they come into the suitcase "...Sorry, Christallo." Tamiel cleared her throat, once she'd moved on. "...It sounds secure, but...You let people in sometimes, like your people, or the elites back then..." "Half of security is anonymity, and we don't have that. Some arcanists have access...The Foundation knows about it..." She withers a little at bringing it up, but Tamiel braves onward. "Is there any way we could know if someone left a bug...Even if they didn't mean to?" As an example, Tamiel gestured to her shadow, which briefly fractured, hiding flush within the shadow of a houseplant, before retreating back to hers. Vertin's arcane senses give the shadow an almost synthesatic outline of green, when lingering on it. "I think...That's my main worry. People have common access to it. And there's only one exit...Even if it moves. So, we might need to restrict ourselves to low-security intel and supplies...And we probably shouldn't leave anyone who's...Looked for too hard...In for too long, or you could have pressure put on you. I don't know if that's enough to invalidate it as a Watchtower, but it might not be a high-security one..."
Rita Ma	Rita's been an unassuming customer among the bookstore's aisles until Vertin's arrival. "Thank you, Ms. Elizabeth. Don't worry; I'll pay on my way out," she beams before ducking into the break room, about the messenger-bag full of books on her shoulder. Of the titles that peek up out of the bag, one's about horticulture and one's about 'internet safety', which she has possibly confused with 'cybersecurity'. "Nice to meet you again, Ms. Cristallo! I'm really sorry about breaking things up. Let's talk more later, okay?" Rita says, while slightly-guiltily sliding in to take her spot at the table. She eyes Regulus for a second expectantly too, before remembering that Regulus is in the Watch, and then straightening herself out with a little stretch to make it seem like she wasn't eyeing her at all. "...Honestly, I feel a little out of place in here..." Rita glances down at her own jacket-and-skirt combo, tidy but not especially Statement-y, and frowns slightly. "I think that's just how 'arcanists' dress, Hibiki," she leans over to murmur. "Ms. Mesmer and Ms. Sonetto too. I'm not sure I get it." "And there's only one exit..." "I wonder if setting up an artificial warpgate in here would work, Ms. Timekeeper?" Rita says, straightening up. "Otherwise, like Ms. Veronica said... the 'trunk of somebody's car' problem is pretty bad. A lot of the time, people want to get into a Watchtower low-profile, anyway."
Timekeeper	"It's a shame you can't be in two places at once Vertin, then you could be in the suitcase while also carrying the suitcase." "It's rather troublesome. I'd have quite a lot of use for a second of me." Even when Vertin is being relaxed and good-natured, their affect is still completely flat and neutral. It's hard to tell whether they're seriously considering the idea, or whether they're joking and just terminally British. With everyone gathering up in the sunroom, Vertin walks past the table to the weird spherical contraption with a staticky screen on a brass stand, which Regulus knows is some kind of record player as well as a jukebox. Looking at Regulus, and not at the organized shelves of records nearby, they say, "Put any music on, Regulus?" While fiddling with the jukebox, Vertin asides to Veronica, "Sonetto's busy back at the Foundation. They're currently holding a briefing on the important details of the era to high ranking field investigators in order to bring everyone up to speed. Sonetto hasn't been informed of my affiliation with the Watch, which is why I planned a meeting while she was unavailable. Though...." They fold their arms across their chest, top hat slipping down the side of their head to dip over their eye on one side. "It's inevitable that she'll learn someday. And through her, the Foundation will know. There's only so much I can do to avoid it, and my goal has never been to avoid detection forever; only long enough that they can't coerce me otherwise. I've been considering how much I will be able to order Sonetto keep confidential." "I don't doubt your trust in its security, just seems a little odd for there to be magic luggage floating around without any previous owners looking to take it back." "Yes," Vertin nods easily to Veronica's question. "However, there's one noteworthy detail about when I discovered the suitcase: it was during the ongoing Storm. While out in the Storm of 1974, I found it remaining the same while everything was destroyed around it." "Immunity to the Storm isn't something fully understood, not in any of its manifestations. It's likely the Manus Vindictae understand their own rituals for gaining immunity to the Storm, but this suitcase doesn't come across as the work of the Manus Vindictae. Which leads me to believe that there is someone else out there, or another faction, besides the Foundation and the Manus, and..." She dips her chin and shakes her head, hiding her eyes behind the brim of her hat. "... My intuition tells me that it is from my mother somehow. I have never met her, and the Foundation assures me that no record of such a person exists, but... well, my assumptions are not substantiated by evidence, but no one has come looking for it yet."
Timekeeper	"...Honestly, I feel a little out of place in here..." "How so?" Vertin lifts up their chin, surprised. It's like they don't even realize they're wearing an immaculately complicated slutty little Victorian suit. "... Either way, it's a pleasure to meet you, Hibiki." Vertin puts a hand to their chest, splayed underneath the blue gem fastening their silk ascot. "I am Vertin, the Timekeeper of the St. Pavlov Foundation. This is Regulus, who I encouraged be brought into the Watch as well to ensure that the Foundation is unable to isolate her as pressure to join them under duress. Are you aware of the nature of the Storm in our world?" It's so strange. With Hibiki acting like she's actually her proper rank within the Watch, she's also being treated that way. Vertin rattles off answers to her questions about the suitcase like they're giving a report for a rubric, crisp, quick, and dispassionate. "There may be arcane methods of scrying that can penetrate the suitcase, but no mundane means can tell what or who is inside, and likewise it's not possible to see anything outside from within. The incantation to enter it is, in fact, irreplicable by the Foundation, and one in a language I have not heard used by the Manus Vindictae either." "Is there any way we could know if someone left a bug...Even if they didn't mean to?" "A bug..." Vertin muses, giving it time to think over before responding. "It's possible, especially now. Before, it was only people I trusted who came into the suitcase regularly, which was a fairly small number. Now, there's scrutiny from the Foundation on it, and far more people moving through it overall. I would likely notice any arcane methods of surveillance, but not a simple camera. Do you know any reliable diviners?" "I wonder if setting up an artificial warpgate in here would work, Ms. Timekeeper?" "That's an interesting idea." The space is definitely large enough for it, with even the sunroom alone being large enough to fit one, and reportedly many more rooms besides it. "I haven't read up on Laplace's designs for the warpgate they built to know whether it would conflict with the spell within the suitcase, but I may be able to test it."
Regulus	Regulus's leg does seem to be healed up. Maybe a positive outlook does heal a rockstar faster than the bemoaning of one's fate. Of course, that's not going to stop Regulus. "Yeah it's fine now..!" Regulus says, barely avoiding getting back into the whole wah wah woe is me schtick she'd been playing up before. "Hibiki Tachibana! I remember you, you're the lady who was talking with Tamiel." She draws out the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band vinyl record, placing the needle to start the music. "Got you covered, Vertin and already on it!--We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, We hope you will enjoy the show o/~" Regulus sings to herself before adding, "Nice digs, Rita." She is also wearing a jacket and skirt combo so there's that. Leaning on the head of the chair in front of her she adds, "How positively exciting, my first official Watch meeting, loves." ''It's inevitable that she'll learn someday. And through her ,the Foundation will know.'' "I think they'll be more upset about that than they were about little old me." Regulus says, swinging the chair back and forth with some mild hyperactivity. "What's it gonna take so they can't coerce you? I can stir up some trouble or be on my bestish behavior but I don't think that'll change their minds either." She looks towards Hibiki since she seems to be the one in charge of this group of the Watch? She's not really sure. "Found it... in the STorm... That's strange, the idea of just stumbling upon it... that's incredible...!" ''It is from my mother somehow.'' "So you have a mother...!" Regulus says. "Is your mum immune to the Storm too?" ''This is Regulus, who I encouraged be brought into the Watch...'' Regulus prims and preens, tilting her head back and fanning herself with her hand. "But it seems like you've run a lot of tests with the suitcase already, I've got to appreciate your thoroughness...!" A bug... Does Regulus know any diviners? She shrugs a bit. "If you can get me the plans, maybe I can help set one up. I suppose it depends on how they made it, and what they used." She's been gathering some odds and bits already from off world but that's more 'just in case'--she doesn't know exactly what she intends to do with the bibs and bobs as it is.
Veronica	"... My intuition tells me that it is from my mother somehow. I have never met her, and the Foundation assures me that no record of such a person exists, but... well, my assumptions are not substantiated by evidence, but no one has come looking for it yet." Veronica scratches the side of her head, considering Vertin's theory. "It's not out of the question. Baker and Seventh - my EGO gear, you saw it in London - is also a gift from someone I've never met. And with the suitcase already doing impossible things like surviving the Storm, maybe whoever made it could tell it to find its way to you without handing it off herself. Or she was keeping an eye on you and knew where to leave it..." "As for only you being able to open it... what's the plan if you get hurt while folks are inside? Can they just... not get out until you're up and have the suitcase again? Might need more than a backyard vegetable garden in that case."
Tamiel Luxis	"It's rather troublesome. I'd have quite a lot of use for a second of me." "It's convenient..." Tamiel admits. Her shadow lifts a hand up into the air and claps with a hand hanging at Tamiel's side. She jumps, startled...Then, rubbing at the back of her neck. "... My intuition tells me that it is from my mother somehow... well, my assumptions are not substantiated by evidence..." Tamiel frowns, and part of her wants to press onward for more of just that. But... "Maybe this is the kind of thing where the Foundation's way of looking at things isn't the right one...And an arcanist's is." "Do you know any diviners?" "Not off the top of my head," she grimaced in apology. "But maybe we can put out a call in the Watch for someone who could fill the role." Rita brings up the possibility of an artifical warpgate, and Tamiel perks up. "We can compare notes with outside magic...Maybe I could dig up some places where you could get reagents to make it happen." She smiles to Regulus. "And then you could build it?" "And...If set a place in the suitcase aside for that, and other Watch business, how secure would it be from other visitors...? Would it be easy to snoop?" "What's it gonna take so they can't coerce you?" "Typically, in order to move to a place where one can't be coerced, you need a couple things..." Tamiel found a seat, wiggling into place, before lifting one leg to sit on it. "You need self-sufficiency. A place to survive the Storm is a good place to start...A way of getting supplies will be important, too..." "That way...Even if the Foundation doesn't like what you're doing...Even if you don't break with them completely...They'll need to deal with the fact that you can just...leave...If you feel you're being abused." She'd done her homework on this. "Right now. They don't have to care. Before they find out...We need to change that. So, um. What do you need to make it possible...?" She looks to Vertin. "Maybe that should be issue one...Or they could just force you. By requiring you to listen to get what you need."
Hibiki Tachibana	I think that's just how 'arcanists' dress, Hibiki, How so? "Ah-- well, it's not a big deal. Just something I noticed." Hibiki plays it off, since it really isn't important - that, and because it's the easiest thing to get out and keep herself talking, when she feels... somewhat awkward, in Rita's presence. It's been quite a while now since Lobotomy Corporation, but they've less actually patched anything up and more... ...well, time's passed. But it won't do any good to drag difficult personal feelings up to the surface now, when they're here for a reason. Hibiki Tachibana has a track record of doing that plenty enough in the past as is. Hibiki Tachibana! I remember you, you're the lady who was talking with Tamiel. "Yeah. That's me. I'm... ..." Well, she doesn't have a title like 'Timekeeper of the St. Pavlov Foundation'. And she rarely thinks about things like introductions. "... ...Back at home, I'm apart of a supernatural disaster relief group. S.O.N.G. Though a lot of the time, it comes down to fighting. Nice to meet you, Regulus. Vertin." Are you aware of the nature of the Storm in our world? "...Only a few bits and pieces," she replies to Vertin on the subject. "Something that keeps rewinding time back in your world, causing even more issues than the obvious... is the short of it, right? Sorry if that sounds like I'm underselling it. Honestly, I have trouble imagining living in a world like it..." It does feel awkward being taken seriously in her role because... well, she usually doesn't act like it, doesn't like acting like she has more sway than anyone else, and often doesn't even feel like she should. But she should try to live up to it, once in a while. "...I'll have to get the full story sometime, so I can figure out what I can do to help. As far as your suitcase here goes, though... not knowing what's going on outside of it is still an issue that sticks out to me, but not one that can't be worked around. My gut feeling is that it's reliable enough. I can already tell you have a good head on your shoulders, Vertin, and that it could be way worse than you being the one to have the only set of keys. Especially if it really is from your mom..." After a moment of looking down at the floor after trailing off, she shakes her head. There's still a bit of an elephant in the room to address. What's it gonna take so they can't coerce you? I can stir up some trouble or be on my bestish behavior but I don't think that'll change their minds either. Her hand comes to her chin, clearly thinking. But given her lack of general knowledge, the best thing to do would be... Glancing from Regulus to Vertin, she simply asks, "What do you think the Foundation's response will be, whenever they find out?"
Rita Ma	"It's inevitable that she'll learn someday. And through her, the Foundation will know." Rita's eyebrows raise slightly. She leans over the table, chin propped on the back of her hand. "She's someone you don't want to hurt, right? Even though... she's willing to 'hurt' you, I guess. People you have to protect, but can't trust..." 'Are the worst', she's about to say, but shakes her head. "Um, sorry. I don't know much about the two of you, together. I shouldn't be talking like that." Hibiki plays it off... Rita can't read minds, but Hibiki is plenty readable. Her expression slightly sours as it tracks Hibiki's awkward evasion, and her eyes linger on the poor girl for long seconds afterwards. So she does feel guilty, Rita thinks, but conveys only in the unhappy tapping of her fingers against her lips. She just hasn't felt like saying sorry. Why does that feel like it makes it worse? Her jaw clenches for a moment, and then relaxes. She swivels her attention elsewhere. Her shadow lifts a hand up into the air... Tamiel makes a nice diversion. "It's very well-trained," Rita compliments, managing a slight smile. "Nice digs, Rita." "Digs? Oh," Rita says, with a little laugh, and tugs at her jacket. "Thanks. I love your little hat, too. I maybe use this outfit too much, but... you know." She eyes Vertin, who wears the same suit every day of their life, seemingly. "Hey, Ms. Regulus. Do you have any plans with the Watch besides just helping Ms. Timekeeper? I mean-- what ways do you wish the world was better? I know you were doing some 'rebel things' back in London, but I'm not really sure what." She's happier, now; her legs start to swing under the table to the time of the music.
Tamiel Luxis	"It's very well-trained," "If it was," Tamiel sulked, crossing her arms. "It wouldn't surprise me like that..." Meanwhile, her shadow's shoulders shook with silent giggles, before offering Rita a wave.
Timekeeper	"I think they'll be more upset about that than they were about little old me." "Probably," Vertin acknowledges with a tilt of their head towards Regulus. "But it's not precisely against their interests either. While they'll be alarmed by any action I take without their oversight, I am, in the end, expanding the reach of their mission to another faction. As long as they can use me, they can use every resource I have at my disposal indirectly." They tap their finger against their bicep. "That is, I expect that rational thought will, in the long term, convince them to leave me to my own devices in this respect. The question is, then, how to temper the shock of discovery with the difficulty of actually doing anything about it so that long-term thinking can be done in the first place. And to that I have three methods: my personal indispensibility as an asset, which can be proven in any number of ways; my entrenchment within the Watch and therefore difficulty in being smoothly extracted; and my obedience to the goals of the Foundation. The operation with the Philosopher's Stone was equal parts good and bad for that, but during the course of my disciplinary action, I haven't made a word of complaint." "That way...Even if the Foundation doesn't like what you're doing...Even if you don't break with them completely...They'll need to deal with the fact that you can just...leave...If you feel you're being abused." Vertin shakes her head, firmly but not harshly. "No. I'm not leaving the Foundation. That would be tantamount to issuing a death sentence for all of humanity. In the face of the end of the world, the Foundation is the best resource available, and nothing I manage in the coming weeks and months will rival centuries of governmental power." "But they're as aware of the threat facing us as I am. Having allies in the Watch not only makes it possible that powerful figures like yourselves would object to me being coerced away, but gives them a reason to hesitate for my own obedience in the future. They don't want me to get to the point where I'm drafting plans to break off from the Foundation." "So you have a mother...!" "What?" Vertin tilts their head up, so that both widened eyes are visible for a moment. They don't know what to say to that, so they just move on. "I've never met her; I'm not certain whether she's immune to the Storm or not, or even if she's alive at all. Only that... the language I used to open the suitcase is one I feel like I have always known, but never learned from the Foundation." "Can they just... not get out until you're up and have the suitcase again?" Vertin shakes her head. "The incantation is only needed for entry. If I die, it would be possible to exit the suitcase, but never return inside it." "Maybe this is the kind of thing where the Foundation's way of looking at things isn't the right one...And an arcanist's is." Vertin purses their lips for an unspoken reason at that. "In the end, it's either true or it's not. I haven't seen any sign of my mother in all of my memory." "I'll have to make a reminder to look into the practicality of Regulus assembling an artificial warpgate, but until then, I think I may have a room secure enough." Vertin turns towards the staircases opposite the wide windows in the sunroom, not towards the one heading up to the residential areas that Cristallo took, but the ones that lead down.
Timekeeper	When remembering that you're inside of a suitcase, even the sunroom is a lot of space to have to gather in. Going down a floor expands the sense of space within the manor massively, seeing a wide-open rec center on one floor, and then a tangle of concrete hallways on the floor below that, easily the size of a fully functional apartment building. Vertin turns down one of the hallways and walks past unlabeled doors for some time while chatting. "Something that keeps rewinding time back in your world, causing even more issues than the obvious... is the short of it, right?" "Right. That's the 'Storm'. And we're contested by a faction of arcanist supremacists known as the Manus Vindictae, who want the Storm to erase all of modern civilization." "As far as your suitcase here goes, though... not knowing what's going on outside of it is still an issue that sticks out to me, but not one that can't be worked around. My gut feeling is that it's reliable enough." "I suppose..." Vertin frowns in thought. A lookout might be called for, both to keep hold of the suitcase and to keep an eye on the outside. It's solveable, at least. If nothing else, I'm sure that a stockpile of resources and weapons could be stored in here for the Watch's use, even if it can't be secure enough for important conversations." "I maybe use this outfit too much, but... you know." "There's nothing wrong with that." Their tone makes it so hard to tell whether they're being defensive or reassuring, not even when they look over at Rita, with their hand on a metal door. Opening it leads into a bomb shelter-like room, with a wheel locking the door shut behind them, pipes exposed on the concrete walls, and a scattering of chairs and cabinets around. "It's not the most welcoming area within the suitcase, but this room can hold a warpgate and easily be isolated from the rest of the building." "She's someone you don't want to hurt, right? Even though... she's willing to 'hurt' you, I guess." "I don't want to hurt her." Vertin nods with a small sigh, leaning back against the water heater in the room to surveil it from another angle. "Sonetto is a... complicated person, but I have a duty to her, just as she has a duty to me. She doesn't want to bring harm to me either. She's loyal to the Foundation above everything else, but she takes being my assistant extremely seriously... despite everything. In some ways I have to treat her the same way the Foundation considers me: knowing the limits of what she can be asked to do against her nature. I don't believe she could be convinced to lie about me to the Foundation, but she's got the sense to not report other Watch members in the same way. I hope."
Regulus	''Supernatural disaster relief group. S.O.N.G.'' This might be the only governmental agency that Regulus is allowed to respect. "S.O.N.G? Do you perform at concerts too or is that just a funny coincidence?" ''My EGO Gear is also a gift from someone I've never met.'' Regulus frowns at Veronica. Perhaps she's wondering if she also has a mother but she does have an answer. "Oh you can leave freely, getting in is the tricky part." Yeah she's probably had some experiences with that. Meanwhile an APPLe wearing a pair of glasses and a nightcap floats in from another room and asks, "Captain, did you move my toothbrush?" "Um...maybe." Regulus glances to him. "I can look for it later." "I would appreciate it, Captain. Lovely to meet all of you." He says before starting to float back to where he came from. "He likes to keep his peel shiny." Regulus explains. Her mood brightens further, seeing Rita enjoying the music. She's the sort of person whose own spirits are lifted when seeing the spirits of others lifted. Seeing someone touched by rock, even just a little, gives her strength. She pulls off her sunglasses, still kind of swinging her body not quite matching the beat but maybe half as quick. "Oh! Interested in the life of a pirate, are we matey?" Regulus of course immediately jumps on her request for information. "I spread the love of rock music around, even when ''the man'' says it's corrupting the youth though ehmm that's ''what'' I did, it sounds like rock wasn't so easily defeated... Recently this guy named Little Bastard asked the Watch to help stop these jerks from foreclosing on a nursing home and I was able to make it out there and I messed around with some goods until the warrior guys chased the army off. And that was off the chain! So if that's the sort of noise that the Watch makes, count me in!" Seems like she's willing to do her part to provide reciprocal aid. "I'm good at breaking and entering, sailing, being a dj, performing, alchemy, I'm good at fixing stuff. My specialty is arcane machinery..." Then she apparently remembers that this wasn't quite the question, exactly, so she dials it back to add, "I think the world should be freer and kinder, isn't that what it all boils down to? Anyway, I was mostly just doing some old fashioned piracy but mostly the musical kind, cracking into the soundwaves of authority and hijacking it with the beautiful noise of liberation. Shaking out the old kindsa thinking." ''The operation with the Philosopher's Stone was equal parts good and bad for that.'' Regulus grimaces a little which at least puts a stop to her showboating. "And I bet the Foundation knows you wouldn't leave either... You really are walking a tightrope. But uh--we're obviously not gonna let you kick the bucket, love." She stops wiggling the chair. Vertin seems to just have a kind of intuition about some things. She pulls away from the chair to follow Vertin down. "Certainly looks like it'd fit the Warpgates I've seen." She looks around for an outlet, of course, in case that's relevant. ''I don't want to hurt her.'' "She seems nice." Regulus says despite how their first interactions worked out. "We got off on the wrong foot but I don't get bad vibes from her at all. I get the feeling she'd prefer hearing about it from you than finding out on her own though. So hopefully you're all set up sooner rather than later!" She continues pacing around the basement, humming to herself.
Veronica	Regulus: "So if that's the sort of noise that the Watch makes, count me in!" "Yeah, we rob banks and stuff. It's pretty cool." Veronica smirks and flexes her concrete arm. Then her eyes bug out when APPLe asks after his toothbrush of all things. This fruit has TEETH??? She lets out a little 'phew' of relief at Regulus's explanation of the implement's purpose. "Anyway, I was mostly just doing some old fashioned piracy but mostly the musical kind, cracking into the soundwaves of authority and hijacking it with the beautiful noise of liberation. Shaking out the old kindsa thinking." Veronica nods. "I can really get behind that. Practically everything on-air in the City's been past some censor or another, or is sponsored by a Wing, or both. Closest my district had to free press was live sports games. 'Course, now there's not much of anything on the air... maybe we could use some pirate DJs, heh." "We got off on the wrong foot but I don't get bad vibes from her at all." Veronica folds her arms, leaning against a wall of the basement. "She..." Huff. "...better not name any names when she tells the Foundation that Vertin's running with the Watch."
Tamiel Luxis	"...Yeah. So. No leaving." Tamiel conceded. She hadn't necessarily thought that without the Timekeeper, humanity would just perish. But she trusted Vertin to know that best. "But, leverage could give you the leverage to say 'no' to things, even working with them. I want you to be able to work with them on your terms. Not theirs." "...I don't think of them as too 'good' to do almost anything," Tamiel confessed. "They already get to pick who lives and dies, every era. When you start to be practical about that, you can be 'practical' about cruelty, too. It makes me suspicious." Vertin begins to lead them deeper into the building, and Tamiel's eyes grow wider and wider. It's one thing to hear 'around one hundred people,' it's entirely anotehr to see the sprawling expanse of the suitcase all around her. "It's so big..." She marveled. "This is amazing...How many people live here now?" "Sonetto is a... complicated person, but I have a duty to her, just as she has a duty to me. She doesn't want to bring harm to me either." "I bet she thinks, in the long term, what's best for the Foundation would be the best for both of you...That's the kind of story people like to tell themselves." Any hurt she did, then, would be to 'protect' Vertin. Even if she didn't agree with it. Even if it wasn't true. "We'll have to be careful about what we share with her." She assessed the bomb shelter, once they had arrived. "...I think you're right, Vertin. This could be a great place for it."
Hibiki Tachibana	Unfortunately, Hibiki knows that Rita knows (honestly, nearly everybody knows) she's easy to read, which really doesn't help her at all. ...I have to handle it sometime. But even if this was the time... it's so hard to make the words leave my mouth... She can't put it off forever. But she'll have to put it off for now. There's another barely-audible exhale through her teeth. That is, I expect that rational thought will, in the long term, convince them to leave me to my own devices in this respect. "It sounds like you've got more going for you than against you, at least from my point of view." She's not really amazing at navigating huge organizations and how they might think. She's a people person, on an individual level. But... "Between those three things, knowing your goals are the same as theirs is probably the most important. Even if you've also got stake in the Watch, as long as you're still doing their work /and/ personally invested in it, they can only have so much to complain about." "...Double as much if you're irreplacable to them. I'd like if it was as easy as you just saying that to them - 'I'm not leaving the Foundation, because it's be the end of humanity', and them taking you at your word. But it usually never is that simple..." Another sigh, and down the stairwell they go. The shelter-esque room gets a few seconds of her looking about, along with a few nods of approval. "...Mn. This is good. Assuming a Warpgate actually works, that'd be huge... and even if not, yeah. Even just for storage, it'd work really well. This place really is something else..." S.O.N.G? Do you perform at concerts too or is that just a funny coincidence? "Eh?" Hibiki stops in her tracks, just to scratch at her cheek. "Er... no. That'd be... my partner. I do sing, though... it's a bit of a long story..." It's not, she's just bad at explaining things. And also, that's a APPLe. Wearing glasses. And a nightcap. By the time she's done mentally recovering from this, still watching where he floated off to long after he's gone, she's passively soaked in about half of everything else Regulus has said. Strangely, at least one bit in there seems to have gotten her to untense some. "...A freer and kinder world. Thinking like that... ...yeah. I think you'll do just fine here. I want to think so, anyway."
Rita Ma	her shadow... offers Rita a wave. Rita waves back! Then, radio. "There's nothing wrong with that." Rita looks back over at Vertin, and her smile is reassuring, if maybe mistakenly so. "There's a difference, though, between 'an outfit that shows off all of you' and 'an outfit that shows off part of you', right?" Rita draws a circle around Vertin's ensemble with her finger, while leaning forward on her elbow. "What you're wearing right now... maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like it shows off all of Vertin really well. I don't think I'll ever find clothes that show off all of Rita." "She's loyal to the Foundation above everything else..." Rita is having Feelings lately about friends who have absolute loyalty to something else before you. She nods, distantly, while her cheek squishes into her hand. "... better not name any names..." "Mmm," Rita nods at Veronica. "It's just good sense, but we shouldn't leave Ms. Timekeeper with anything identifying. Most Elites can guess I'm probably in the Watch, but it's useful that nobody can say so for sure." "I think the world should be freer and kinder, isn't that what it all boils down to?" "Mmmm! That's right," says Rita, communistly. "It sounds like you're on the right track already, Ms. Regulus. It's okay not to have really big plans of your own, as long as we can work together in the right direction. Although, um... I'm not really sure about the power of music? It's really pretty music! But it seems... old-fashioned, to me?" At last she gets up, a few moments after Vertin's opened the bomb-shelter-like door, and peeps around the corner while making a silent 'ooh'. "That looks perfect, if we can find an outlet. Thanks, Ms. Timekeeper. Your suitcase is really amazing, isn't it?"
Tamiel Luxis	"Anyway, I was mostly just doing some old fashioned piracy but mostly the musical kind, cracking into the soundwaves of authority and hijacking it with the beautiful noise of liberation. Shaking out the old kindsa thinking." "That kind of thing can be important...Things like pirate radio stations can get around things like government censorship. Get out calls to action. Share the kinds of news that some places don't like to let people hear..." Unbeknownst of her, her shadow is bobbing its head to the music, and snapping its finger to the beat.
Regulus	''We rob banks and stuff.'' "Woah woah that's a real crime." Regulus says then snickers, leaving the joke at that. She looks a little hesitant at Veronica's concern at names being named, but she doesn't comment on it though. Maybe Vertin has a plan for that or maybe it'll just be a matter of faith or maybe they'll all be blown!! "Nice! I'd love to hear her work, maybe we can collab some time." Regulus is always willing to do collabs and collab events. "Wait but you ''do'' sing? Rock on, I've got tracks I'd love for you to take a crack at!" ''You'll do just fine here.'' "Great! That means it's smooth sailing from here on out!" Regulus seems a little confused by the idea of an outfit that shows off all of you. She must be misunderstanding something, she tells herself. ''It's okay to not have really big plans of your own.'' "Wha? I have big plans! Ginormous plans! First big plan is to get a new boat. Can't really show off my sailing skills for the Watch without a vessel now can I?" ''It seems... old-fashioned, to me?'' "Old-fashioned?" Regulus sounds like she's more offended by this than any other secret, practically. "I'll have you know, rock is everchanging and everfree, I know there's still plenty of rock playing out there even past my era. The spirit of rock transcends time and brings people together." She places a hand on Rita's shoulder. "I know what you need, love, you need a live performance and then you'll get it for sure!"
Rita Ma	Rita halfway looks back from the doorframe at Regulus. "That's right," she smiles. "In my time, the whole world's flooded... but I still got to listen to songs like that sometimes, on vinyls from the bottom of the ocean. It's just odd to think of something from my childhood as being responsible for change, you know?" She's still a little confused on how exactly good music produces tangible social change, but there's no point spoiling a good mood to grill Regulus on her whole philosophy, Rita thinks. She places a hand on Rita's shoulder. "Uah-?" The contact, just as Rita's starting to look away, woobles her a bit. She blink-blinks, reorienting herself. Obvious half-dazed skepticism wars with her perennial desire to be niceys; anyone can see it play out on Rita's face. I sort of feel like she's not all there. She's an optimist, but... I mean, it's just music, isn't it? . . . But it does sound fun. "That... sounds really nice, Ms. Regulus. I'd like that. Um, when do you play?"
Timekeeper	"He likes to keep his peel shiny." "Have a good evening, APPLe." Vertin calls out pleasantly to APPLe, and then after he's gone, she slowly blinks in one of the most extreme demonstrations of shock she's ever displayed. "I'd been wondering what he needed it for." "Recently this guy named Little Bastard asked the Watch to help stop these jerks from foreclosing on a nursing home and I was able to make it out there and I messed around with some goods until the warrior guys chased the army off." "Is that what happened?" Vertin spares a lingering glance aside at Regulus, subdued but approving, before moving on. "Good job, Regulus. During my disciplinary period, I've had to keep my activity with the Watch somewhat underground and restricted to logistical work, but my goal is to change that soon. Though, I'm not a fighter." "But uh--we're obviously not gonna let you kick the bucket, love." "Of course. But it could happen at any time. ... My education was quite clear on that." "Yeah, we rob banks and stuff. It's pretty cool." Vertin nods to Veronica. "You may have a chance to do that during this era. The Foundation has noticed some suspiciously unhistorical activity in the stock market of 1928, that may be linked to Manus activity. It isn't an angle that the Foundation would officially endorse, but the Manus often have a way of worming into societal services, and some well-considered terrorism is an appropriate response." "They already get to pick who lives and dies, every era." "None of the gears of the machinery do, but to anthropomorphize the whole, that's true. 'We did what we must' is a drug that any large organization is desperate to take, and the Foundation is well-acquainted with 'practical cruelty'." Vertin trails off, not quite finishing the thought. After a few seconds of thoughtful silence, they lift up their wrist to check where the nixie tube clock would be if she was wearing it now, as a habitual tick, and then they cover their wrist with their hand. "I'm moving the bar on how practical it is to do cruelty." "This is amazing...How many people live here now?" "This place really is something else..." Vertin looks upwards, to the rest of the manor above, counting out on their fingers. "Not many. Ever since I got it, I've only gradually built on how much I entrust to the suitcase, until I learned the extent of its abilities in 1966. Currently, the only people who live here full-time are the ones for whom the Foundation isn't an option; Cristallo, Rabies, Regulus, APPLe. TTT is always on the move, but comes back here often, and Bette has her own dorm in the Foundation, but she's slept in her room here a handful of times." "Before I knew it could allow arcanists to brave the Storm, the suitcase wasn't of any higher interest than any other rural manor that couldn't be 'lived in' for fear of the Storm. In this era, I plan on filling the suitcase in every way I can, with arcanists or with supplies for the Watch or otherwise. I've put far too much effort into the decor for it to remain empty with the multiverse available, you know." "We got off on the wrong foot but I don't get bad vibes from her at all. I get the feeling she'd prefer hearing about it from you than finding out on her own though." "Right." Vertin sighs. "There's that as well. Sonetto was assigned to me, not just because of formerly knowing each other as classmates, but because she's very perceptive and extremely loyal. The less I come across as 'sneaking around', the better."
Timekeeper	There's no outlet in the room as far as anyone can see. The logistics of having to do contracted electrical work on a magic suitcase mansion set to be a Watchtower are kind of headaching to think about, a conclusion that Vertin seems to silently come to as well. She readjusts her top hat like she's preparing herself for something, and then makes her way towards the door out of the basement. "I believe Laplace's warpgate is powered by electricity, but that may not be our only option. I'm sure the technology is much more sophisticated in the broader multiverse than it is in Laplace alone, so we'll see then. In the meantime, I'd rather not have invited you over just to talk business, so would anyone be interested in tea?" "What you're wearing right now... maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like it shows off all of Vertin really well." "I do have other outfits," Vertin says, though it's really hard to imagine them actually wearing anything normal. More thoughtfully, they linger on Rita to consider her outfit holistically. "It may just be a luxury to be able to show off all of yourself at once by any means. The idea of a concrete rather than fluid self rarely holds up under every circumstance. Rather than being able to show off 'all of Rita' at once, maybe it'd be better to consider whether there's any of 'Rita, here and now' missing from an outfit." "That... sounds really nice, Ms. Regulus." Having waited to mention this until the most un-refusable time, Vertin casually asides to Rita while heading back through the hallways. "Actually, Regulus has already planned a concert upcoming in the suitcase. You're more than welcome to attend."
Rita Ma	Rita's outfit says 'peppy upper-middle-class girl', in the crispness of her jacket; it says 'femininity chosen deliberately', and yet the flat leather shoes are a little scuffed. They'd be comfortable to run in. The skirt and jacket wouldn't easily show dirt. "The idea of a concrete rather than fluid self..." 'It's not as though there's... a human part and a monster part. It's all just me, isn't it? So I'll always be me.' Memories and feelings from a long time ago slosh around in Rita's skull; memories of squirminess, and not having bones or a skull at all. She nods, slowly, like she might cloud those thoughts with sediment if she moved her head too fast. "You're right. I'd like to think I'm more concrete than I really am. But I'm not, really, at all." Thinking back to the Storm's chromatic aberration and infectious music: "Not more than anyone else. Maybe a little less." "So I'd like to express myself more. It's fun to. But it's hard. There's... true things you can't tell someone, because they'd reach the wrong conclusions, right?" Rounding a corner while following in Vertin's wake, Rita's jacket becomes a sunny yellow. If you're watching closely, it comes in a wash of chromatophores, like a microscopic scoreboard rolling over. "... would anyone be interested in tea?" "Just water for me, Ms. Timekeeper," Rita says, and then holds in a little cough about the inconveniently-timed concert invitation. Glancing between Vertin and Regulus: "Well, I... I guess it'd be rude not to, now." But she's smiling.