knightsoflegend | mission ♔ somewhere between our hearts and minds

WHO || Gar, Kat, Mark, Dumage, Martha, Myri, Buffy, Sven, Spike [Closed]
WHAT || Following up on the Nightscape incident / Jade
WHERE || Chicago.
WHEN || Mon March 12th - Mon March 19th | BACKDATED
HOW || Actionspam

Welp. That was a wild and crazy time. So the Eternal Jade was... actually a person, Buffy tried to kill Spike, Sven snared himself a pet displacer beast, Mark and Myri got in a car accident, and Des stole their lead away. Go team failboat go.

The Saturday after the events at Nightscape was spent healing up those who needed it and piecing together everyone's memory of the incident: Spike and Buffy luckily remembered everything that had occurred, for now, at least. The singer, Jade, had given them a little bit of information that they could begin looking into for now: that she was being pursued by a church called the Brotherhood of the Enlightenment. On Sunday, Gar called Des to find out whether she was still safe, and learned that she currently being held for questioning by the Hoffman Institute.

Which merited a big unison 'crap' from the team - who had been trying to keep her out of their hands in the first place. Gar, however, didn't see this as a total bust. After all, she was ideally placed to learn anything that they might get out of the girl. Because of this, she returned to her undercover position on Monday and spent the next week spying on the proceedings. Her reports have not been particularly helpful, however. The girl - Eterna Jade - claimed to have no memory of anything remotely tied to the Talisman, and didn't seem to understand what the church wanted with her, or why her name was connected to the talisman's mythology. She couldn't answer most of the questions put to her, actually, claiming to be from the Shadow World recently, and remembering nothing but coming here and living at the club, ever since, which she says was given to her. Though she insists that she is the owner, she appears to have very little information about its daily operations, leaving that to a team of executives she calls the "Dreammakers". When asked, she cannot even name any of the men on this team. She's acted generally sullen and uncooperative, but Dr. Hoffman seems to have concluded, to his own frustration, that she isn't lying either.

She wanted to return to the club shortly after being detained, but the Doctor insisted they make certain it was safe first, and has, indeed, been monitoring the building and Brotherhood movements, to try and make certain that they aren't still after her, or hunting her down. There's been no evidence to suggest that they're looking for her currently.

In the meantime, the Knights have been working on researching more about the club, Jade, and the Brotherhood. And Buffy went on a personal crusade to hunt down information about the man they let take Jade to the Institute in the first place: Desmond Descant, who claimed to know Wynn. (Threads below!)

It's on Monday, March 19th, that Gar comes home excitedly from her job to draw something wrapped in cloth out of her bag and asks everyone to gather around. (Thread below!)

[[Various threads will go up below: as always, pick and choose what interactions you want your character to be involved in. Please make research checks where indicated! Also, you're free to make your own threads for general socializing!]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Kat leans against the back of the couch, munching on a celery stick and looking at the thing speculatively]

Now really isn't the time to go adding to your rock collection, Gar.

That's not ... the actual Talisman, is it? [ LOOK IT HAS THE MARKINGS, SHE HAD TO ASK. ]

This? Oh, no! [Gar laughs a bit breathlessly] It's an artifact that the Institute found a number of years ago. They think there's some way to activate it, but they haven't been able to discover how. It's usually used to show images, either through visions or a projection, if my guess is correct. I've seen something like this before.

So you know how to... activate it? [That word is new, but she gets the gist]

Well... [She deflates, the tiniest bit] No. Not as... such.

Seen something like it before where? [ Because wherever she saw something like it before, someone there might know how to activate it. ]

A group of refugees used them as communication devices. To show others attempting escape where the next check points were.

Any chance we can bring one of those refugees in to hook us up? I mean, if the knights helped 'em out, I'm betting they'd be excited to help back.

[Spike regards it thoughtfully, then looks up at her.] And what's it got to do with our mission? Or did you just decide we needed more paperweights?

Luckily, we should be able to figure it out without their assistance. I learned a bit about the way they operated at the time. [She nods to Spike] They're generally magically programmed, so to speak, to respond to the touch of people who fulfill certain qualifications. In that case, it was Shadowkind. In this... well. [She falters] Admittedly... it could be anything... I suppose. But it's certainly worth an attempt.

[She points to the marking on the one side and looks to Spike] This is the symbol of the Lazarus Talisman. It's meant to be recognized by those looking for it, perhaps to help the ones who are meant to possess it locate it.

We simply need to find someone able to ... to activate it. [Make it sound so easy, Gar...]

Jade? [ Buffy says it while still staring at the stone, then glances up at Myri, Gar and Spike in turn. She shrugs. ] She's supposed to be the thing that guides us to the Talisman, right?

I've thought the same thing, to be quite honest.

The difficulty, of course, is that she's currently under twenty four hour surveillance at the Institute. We'll have to wait until she's out from under their watch.

[ She gives a thoughtful 'hmm' and then a nod. ] We should grab her in transit on her way back to Nightscape, save ourselves another break-in.

Think that PI git has an in? He did bring her there, after all.

That was also my thought! [Progressively more excited:] Perhaps he'll be willing to cooperate, given he had 'first dibs' on the information she had to offer.

Great. Him again. Suddenly less of a fan of this plan.

If she's under constant surveillance at the Institute, what makes you think she's going to be in transit to Nightscape anytime soon? I mean, if these other blokes are looking for her, then they aren't going to give them the opportunity to seize her - or, for that matter, give us the opportunity.

Oo! What if we set the building on fire? Smoke 'em out!

Gar said she hadn't been giving up much in the way of useful information, right? I mean, they've been testing her and questioning her this whole time. If they were just gonna keep her prisoner in the Institute, why the barrage? And, why keep her when Dr. Hoffman buys it when she says she doesn't know anything? [ She shrugs. It seems a little obvious. ]

Her guards at Nightscape were like jailers, anyway. They know where to find her. If she doesn't give them anything soon ... [ She sits back, sighing a little. ] I just don't know why they'd hold onto her. Okay, granted, maybe they're bigger on patience than we are ... [ She looks to Kat, who is the most likely to be on board with her next suggestion. ] We could always slip into the Hoffman Institute to get her direct.

More breaking and entering? Sounds like fun. [Is Spike's insightful contribution.]

[Martha just gives Kat a Look. Crazy plans? That sounds sort of familiar...] I really don't think we ought to set a fire, Kat, that's not terribly inconspicuous.

Spike and Buffy's plan is probably our best bet, as much as I hate to admit it.

[HEY WAIT YOU REMEMBER THAT WHOLE MAGIC THING] Isn't there some sort of truth spell or potion or something they could use to get her to talk? Or that we could use? [ethics what] Like...what's it called, Veritaserum.

Not exactly in my recipe rolodex yet, sorry.

It's certainly an option. Though not without particular hazards.

For one, I'd be placed under rather intense scrutiny if something were to happen to Jade while she's there. Only a select few of us even are aware she's being held. It could mean potentially losing our in, if we ended up needing more information from the Institute.

However, it might be the more direct route.

Indirectly, you're right about Mr. Descant potentially being another way to reach her. I have a feeling they won't hold her much longer. Dr. Hoffman is getting increasingly frustrated, and the girl seems to want to return to her club.

If we could find a way to ensure that Desmond is the one who transports her back, free from any Hoffman guards... we'd be able to speak with her on the way, as well.

Can you get in to talk to Jade? She seemed to be big in the Descant fan club, maybe you could get her to ask Dr. Hoffman to make sure he takes her back.

It'd be difficult... but not impossible. [She thinks about it for a moment, then nods, decisively.] It's a better plan than any.

mission ♔ somewhere between our hearts and minds

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