Burgers and Beer

[ Nathan Spriggs ] As Wharil mentioned their dear friend Renegade's corpse, Nathan broke out into fits of
laughter for a moment. His only response for now was shaking his head.
"Nah, I took it outside the city." He took a knife and fork and started to cut his steak, eating a piece as he
waited for the fries to cool down a bit more. Then he gestured towards one of the booths near the entrance
with his head. The crowd inside right now on the opposite side of them.
"This counter's a bit uncomfortable for eating, let's talk there."
[ Wharil Choc ] Wharil looked decidedly less amused, but all Nathan really got was a shake of the head one
minute, and a nod the next as he picked his plate up and headed for the booth.
"Anybody come around that place yet?"
[ Nathan Spriggs ] Nathan followed behind him with his plate in hand, leaving some beers on the counter in
case anyone wanted some more. When he'd gotten himself into his seat and checked to make sure no one
was around, he shook his head.
"Nope. Not humans anyway. Fuckin' cats. Found who Tortura is, or at least Henri told Jon about him.
Apparently some mad scientist who worked on cats. And from what we saw? The cat that attacked
Renegade, it was a goddamn Terminator or something." He stopped there, finally eating some of his fries and
throwing another glance at the surrounding.
"Cat had a device planted in it or so we thought. Turns out, from what Jon discovered, the cat is the device.
Seems Tortura lives in Chinatown too, I'm guessing the address we got."
[ Wharil Choc ] The look Wharil is giving Nathan right now might be enough to blink him out of existence were
he a griffin or a faerie, or some other creature that relied on belief to survive. Terminator cats? He looked to
be, to say the least, a bit skeptical. But in the end he stares down at his fries, plucks one up, and shakes his
head.
"If I hadn't heard it from Henri first I'd say you guys were making this shit up. What could possibly be the
purpose of a terminator cat? Unless you're up against zombie mice?"
[ Nathan Spriggs ] Nathan leaned back and shrugged, the expression on his face something like 'fucked if I
know'. Another piece of steak followed by a few fries as he stares up at the ceiling for a second, thinking.
"We're working on finding out. But it seems this guy's got a cat army. And they'll be back." He gave him a
smile following that.
[ Wharil Choc ] "That's Corny, Nathan. And nobody likes a corny Nathan."
He muches a fry finally, washing it down with a sip of beer.
"And what makes you think this guy is still in Chinatown?"
[ Nathan Spriggs ] He responded with a shrug and a smile, a couple fries disappearing from his plate over the
next few seconds.
"We entered the realm of extremely corny when we actually seriously discussed Terminator cats. Also,
absolutely nothing. But I'm banking on overconfidence, and/or the difficulty of moving a lab around. Since the
only guy we know was investigating so far got murdered. Unless he knows we exist."
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[ Wharil Choc ] "Bean found the lab. By accident, but she found it. At least, that's what she said to me.
Besides, if you're making robo-cats, I think making a call to a descreet U-haul would be the least of your
problems."
And again, his brows knit together just thinking about it.
"Robo-cats. Christ. They must be pretty advanced. You couldn't even tell the difference?"
[ Nathan Spriggs ] "Yeah, think about it. Henri found it, and yet it still seems like the guy stuck around. Or at
least stayed close enough to find a certain 'V-Dept' a threat. If we assume he's the unknown sender as well,
that means he's strapped on funds. Makes it hard to move around."
Nathan leaned back, thinking about it carefully. His fries were almost gone as was half his steak, but he felt
full right now.
"Now we just need to track down that Lin. As for the cats, yeah, not a single difference on the outside. Except
a strange sort of Resonance, like they were decaying or falling apart or something. Same thing that was on
the interface. As if that wasn't enough, between the leak, the cats, and everything else. The goddamn
Shallows, the stuff that's coming out of them is even worse. Hear about the Nephandi attack at Lincoln Park I
told Ashley about?"
[ Wharil Choc ] Wharil tongues his cheek, nodding and dabbing a collection of fries in some catchup.
"We knew they'd still be out there. Not surprising. Its why the Society has concentrated most of its efforts on
securing the Chantry. We need that place. Somewhere we can fall back to. Not much adventure involved in
that but..."
A shrug as he tosses the fries in his mouth.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] At Wharil's behavior, Nathan simply stared for a moment, he didn't eat anything for now or
say anything.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. Speaking of, I was thinking and doing some reading, I think I might be able to
set up some pretty basic Time wards in the chantry."
[ Wharil Choc ] "Time Wards? Well I'd welcome the contribution, personally. And I don't think it'll take much to
convince the others that defending against the possibility of people eavesdropping on past conversations is
a--"
He was mid-fry chomp when he stopped, eyebrows twitching slightly. Wharil sets the the fries back on the
plate.
"You guys can watch the record. You can look back in a place and see...listen....to things that have been
said, can't you? How far back can you go?"
[ Nathan Spriggs ] Nathan's eyes widened at that, he had the same idea, or similiar, maybe? He was just
about to open his mouth when Wharil's last comment came.
"Never tested it, but theoretically? If you give me a lot of time and preparation, I could arguably look back at
how the area was built and designed. The traps, right?" He wanted to be sure they were on the same page
now.
[ Wharil Choc ] "Among other things." he says with a nod. He reaches again for the fries, popping them into
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his mouth and chewing thoughtfully.
"There's just one problem."
[ Nathan Spriggs ] Nathan gave him a smile, but it faded slightly as he mentioned the problem. "What's
wrong?"
[ Wharil Choc ] "Rules are rules, I'm afraid. And the really pertinent places that we'd need something like that
performed in...well, you're not allowed in them."
Another shrug, and he reaches for his beer, a thought striking him before he even brings it to his lips.
"What's working with Jon like?"
[ Nathan Spriggs ] At the 'rules are rules', he shrugged. Then his question came, it wasn't hard to guess where
this was going, maybe it was just his imagination though.
"It's pretty nice, I'll admit. We make a damn good team if I might say so myself. He's good with computer
stuff, which I'm horrible with, and I can handle physical investigations." He gave Wharil a knowing glance, as
though asking him if this was going where he thought it was.
[ Nathan Spriggs ] ((...look, not glance))
to Wharil Choc
[ Wharil Choc ] It was funny, the information communicated in glances. Nathan's was inquisitive, and Wharil's
was dismissive, but not the way one would imagine. It was more a 'Well, it does make sense' sort of look.
"And what about Kaya? The three of you...it's not weird is it?"
[ Nathan Spriggs ] The look in his eyes made it clear how the situation on that was, especially since he
cringed slightly at the mention. His response was wordless for a moment, a look that seemed to indicate it
hadn't been touched on yet.
"She definitely doesn't want to see him right now, asked me not to tell him about us." He shrugged at that, a
bitter smile coming across his face.
"As for me, depends on how he acts on it. I'm not emotional enough to care. When there's work to be done,
as long as it's kept professional I couldn't care less. And on a personal comment, ironic as it might be for a
Time user to say, the past is the past. Just because he hurt her before, I'm not instantly gonna hate the guy.
In fact, he's an interesting person, and I like working with him."
[ Wharil Choc ] "Hm." Is all he says as he finally sips his beer. Once its put down they're back to talking in
gazes.
"So..."
[ Nathan Spriggs ] "So..." He returned the words, not mockingly but wondering about it. He had only one more
thing to add to this.
"Only issues I see with what you're thinking is if he'll agree, and what I said at the meeting. I'm sure Ashley'll
look down on me for being a hypocrite, but if it's for something this important, I guess I'll have to take it back."
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[ Wharil Choc ] "Fair enough. Just thought I'd mention it and...its worth a shot."
Wharil was gathering up the last of the fries into one spot on his plate. To small and crunchy to be anything
tasty. He frowns at them for a while. Takes a sip of his beer and sighs.
"That could be one really good fry. But look at it now? All broken up and separated."
His smile is more of a smirk, as he looks up to Nathan anew.
"Sorry man. Somebody once told me there were signs everywhere. Ever since then I've been on the lookout."
[ Nathan Spriggs ] He returned Wharil's look, then he shrugged. His eyes on his own fries now, still there and
slowly getting cold. Then a smile. "I dunno if what you mean is good or bad, honestly. But I'll just hope you
mean it in a good way."
[ Wharil Choc ] He chuckles at that, reaching for a napkin to wipe up his hands.
"Anything else you and I need updating on?"
[ Nathan Spriggs ] He considered that for a moment. Trying to remember anything else of importance.
"Uh, don't think so. I'll give you a call once I've had a chance to talk to Jon?"
[ Wharil Choc ] [And Wrap!]
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