After examining the pills, Connie is certain that there's no magic in them whatsoever. Whatever's going on with them, they're science-based.
Her process is able to identify the vegetable matter as your usual types of supplements -- ginseng, echinacea and gingko, ginger root, and other homeopathic remedies.
There's something else there, Connie can tell, but her magic isn't discovering precisely what it is. Running it through her sympathetic magic to see if it gravitates toward one of the known Mongrel types -- bat, wolf, raptor, hog, or wasp -- it does not. The closest she can tell is some sort of feline.
======================
Max runs the IP address through the supercomputer at Unity Station. It comes back with a name -- James L. Robertson. Chastity's father and a prominent member of Reverend Reibold's church!
What does she do??
In the interest of using Science to study the pills, Femtite offers, “I can check the pills at the Subatomic level too.”
Seeing how doing this with Skyler doesn’t seem to impress Caio much, she quietly notes, “It’s harmless, and much can be learned from a subatomic unstructure.”
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The image bows to Indarius. "By all means! Take care of yourself."
Once he returns with his tea, the projection continues. "Dragon blood, huh? That could explain having more power than most human mages. I'm not sure what you mean by time-traveling, though. Why do you think it's time-traveling?"
Once he returns he takes a seat and sips at the green tea with a hint of mint. "I'm not sure exactly. I uh have these scales growing after getting hit by an attack from what we called a chrono wraith, some sort f time anomaly creature that was hungry for my friend Horizon. Once the wound healed they were just there. My other superhero friend Femtite examined it on a subatomic level and said something about a dragon on a mountaintop, but like not here in this time so I'm really not sure what she meant exactly. I guess 'having' dragon blood makes some more sense? I still don't know how that would be possible unless dragons can shapeshift into humans like in the board games."
"It is not a matter of it being harmless or not, Femms. I trust your abilities and I do believe it will help, but Skyler wants some time alone to think this through." He says, clearly frustrated.
"Until she decides if me and her are a thing she is willing to fight for, I can't simply take you to her... I must respect her space and wish to be alone, even if it pains me to think of her dealing with all of this by herself."
Caio then looks at her, decided. "On my part, however, I've already made my decision... I'll fight for us and I'll do whatever I need to do to fix this. Not sure if there is anything for you to see in me, but if there is, go for it."
Max curses and shows the others the information."Robertson. One of Reibold's flock, as I suspected. We know who unleashed the daemons. But what do we do about it?"
"Dragons are beings far beyond us in knowledge and understanding. I would not put too much stock in what 'board games' tells you. However, this chrono-wraith creature intrigues me. I've never encountered such a being. How is it a 'time anomaly creature'?"
Femtite considers what Caio is saying…
“I don’t think I’ll find anything examining you. If you want to respect her space, that’s understandable, but how can she make a decision to accept my help or not if she is unaware that I can help? Maybe you should sleep on it; tell me if you change your mind.
“I can examine the drug now.”
She becomes a spark. The spark lands on a pill. The spark dwindles to nothing…
Lightning Thief: URGENT!! I HAVE THE ASTRAL PROJECTION OF DR. INFINITY IN MY ROOM! HOLY S*&* WHAT DO I ASK HIM!??
Connie: Figure out if he's a ghost!
Connie: Or a time ghost!
Connie: or a Space Ghost!
Connie: Oh maybe find out if he has sanctum defenses that you can trigger?
Caio nods to Femms. "It's more like she deciding she wants any help. When I think she is ready, I'll let her know of your offer."
Caio thinks for a while before answering Max. "We need to know more about this Robertson. I believe the Reverend just used him as a patsy, but we need to be sure."
Femtite shrinks to the spaces between the atoms of the substance within the pills. As she reduces in size, she passes by strings of long-chain proteins and unrecognizable enzymes.
Once in the subatomic unstructure of reality, she zones out while floating in the subcosmic aether. She soon gets visions of test tubes and beakers, strange chemicals and malign intent.
"No, no. Keep them straight. Never mix the doses. This batch goes to Halcyon Prep. Panther Pride, as they say."
Femtite grows back. ”Before I forget, I heard a male voice—
“‘Never mix the doses, this batch goes to Halcyon Prep, panther pride as they say.’ As we say.”
She explains, “I can’t tell you about the drug itself. But it was definitely an attack. I heard the voice. Male, not the reverend.”
"It wouldn't be the reverend. He's not involved with the drug ring," Max says. She then turns to Horizon (or calls him on the comm to relay the information). "What's our next move?"
Horizon calls back on the comms. "Okay, to recap what I missed - the demon summoning is linked to the Reverend, and the drugs that are being distributed seem to be specifically tailored to the places they're going? That's really disturbing news."
There's a pause before he continues. "All right, I'll be coming by to pick up the samples later tonight. Thank you, everyone, for doing your part."
Max frowns. She was hoping Horizon might give them more specific directions. She shrugs and turns to the others. ”Well, I’m not just going to sit around and wait for him. I want to investigate the warehouse where the drugs are being distributed. Who’s with me?”
"I'm in, but we should only investigate. We take a look at the place and we get in only if we can do so without being noticed... We do not want to spooke those involved." Caio says, eager for some action. "Femms, Connie, you coming?"
Caio then sends a private message to Guardian. "Steel Guardian, Horizon is busy with personal things... We are going to investigate the warehouse. Feel free to join us, but this is a stealth mission." He adds, fearing they'd arrive with some music blasting again.
"Obvs. I'll bring my kit."
Femtite notes the dirty word: stealth.
“I’ll need to stay in the bug room avoid blowing the whole stealth mission.” She offers a hair-clip-sized Love Bug, The to Connie. Once aboard, Femtite Mindlinks with Connie and is also on the comms, able to talk to or text anyone from the cockpit.
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Lightning Thief: URGENT!! I HAVE THE ASTRAL PROJECTION OF DR. INFINITY IN MY ROOM! HOLY S*&* WHAT DO I ASK HIM!??
Connie: Figure out if he's a ghost!
Connie: Or a time ghost!
Connie: or a Space Ghost!
Connie: Oh maybe find out if he has sanctum defenses that you can trigger?
LT: He's not a ghost it's an astral projection... like a recording but well magic and smarter like some sort of intelligent being with some of his knowledge. I'm not gonna ask him about his sanctum defenses he'll think i'm trying to break in.
Percy shifts in his chair a bit recalling the encounter, "Um well simply put, my friend had apparently encountered it before when he was with his previous team. It distorted time, quickly decayed the subway we were in, brought trains from back when it was in use out of time to strike at us, that sort of thing. The wound it gave me festered into disease almost instantly so it was really painful, thanks to modern medicine though i'm fine though. Little antiseptic and proper cleaning and care go along way. Most people don't really know how much even that can do when tending to a wound."
He takes a sip giving pause in case there are more questions, "So... what happened to you? You just sort of vanished and even your apprentice doesn't well.. no one knows what happened. Those of us who can use magic are just sort of lost without any information about it. I'm looking for ways to reverse the demon possession brought on by one of the artifacts that was in your sanctum for instance, so I figured looking there would prove some use but, well knighthall was basically all tore apart and there wasn't anything of use there. I got these journals from your apprentice."
"Okay, I'll meet the team there. Remember, we're looking for evidence, making sure that once we nab this guy he can't get away on a technicality," Horizon says over comms. "So we can't wreck anything that can be used to convict him, like his drug supplies or other equipment."
The blustery cold intensifies as the sun sets. A few swirling flakes of snow are visible underneath the orange glow of the streetlights of the Brickyards -- a warehouse district close to the old rail stations between Old Town and Rustside.
The warehouse in question is typical of the buildings in the area, old orange brick construction with a slightly slanted roof. A single large garage door that can accommodate a small truck or large van, while a side loading dock can handle the larger shipping vehicles.
The warehouse is surrounded by a high chain link fence with barbed wire at the top, and a single gate has an old intercom system.
What do you do?
The apparition nods as Percy explains the chronowraith and his injury, his brow furrowed in thought.
When asked about what happened to Doctor Infinity, the image shrugs. "I wish I knew. I was placed here in the event of something bad happening. If I knew what was going to happen, I'd have prevented it. So all I can do now is impart my knowledge on to the next generation."
He scratches his beard. "Demon possession, you say? Which one? There were several in my time, and a few that I tried to prevent."
Max crouches and studies the warehouse from afar. Infiltration isn't her specialty, but perhaps she can find somebody she can cajole into helping the team learn more about what's going on inside.
"Hmm... Do we think anyone's home?"
Connie scanned the area, trying to get a sense of numbers by counting cars and the like.
There's not much to assess at this point. The warehouse looks quiet from the outside. Conflux cannot see any cars outside except a few ones that might very well be abandoned and gutted. However, there is a subway stub line that ends within a couple blocks, so that might be misleading. That being said, with this being a Saturday evening, it's not terribly surprising that most of the warehouses in this area are quiet.
"Violet. One of three demonic 'sisters,' though not sisters like humans think of the term. They had been bound in stone idols -- willingly, if the stories are to be believed -- so that they could survive to the end times. They have a very specific role in the apocalypse, according to at least one prophesy.
"I had hoped to prevent Violet's release. Barring that, since prophesies are notoriously hard to circumvent, I tried to tilt her inevitable release to our favor."
"Femtite, can you shrink down and sneak inside to try to see what's there?" Max asks the pixite.
Femtite clips Love Bug, The in DD’s hair. After that, she’s out of sight.
PiP Mode allows Max to close her eyes. A closed eye sees what Femtite sees. (Winking not recommended.)
At first, there is a giant wall getting closer, closer, impossibly close… then a tangled mass of densely packed molecular structures. Femtite maneuvers past millions of these structures at an impossibly high speed!
Once through the wall, the atoms shrink away, and a colossal room is in view. Femtite’s vision flickers—high, low—she’s looking for a perch. If there’s a light on, she chooses the light. She shrinks until atoms are tiny dots and moves to the place she can safely grow to flea size.
She’ll seek a titan.
If nobody’s home, I’ll move around. I can check for a security system too, by the way.
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Percy did his best not to choke on his drink with the revelation Max was going to be a part of some apocalyptic event caused by Violet. Once he recovered enough to speak he had to ask the follow-up. "What apocalypse? How did you try to release hee in our favor? Are you... did you send that idol to Max?" Though he wanted to shout that last question he kept himself more or less composed, fearful that any aggressive response would send the projection back into hiding.
While waiting for Femms to get inside the building, Caio walks around the place, trying to pick familiar scents or get any additional clues, like scents that could be out of place.
Caio detects a strong odor of the same herbs found in the pills. He's sure this is the warehouse where the pills are at least being stored, but he gets no other details about the interior.
Femtite flies around the warehouse which is mostly dark. She spots a light in an office, nestled into the corner of the building.
Checking it out, she sees an adult male that matches the mug shot of Lawrence. He's on a cell phone, asking someone on the other end what she's wearing.
The image seems taken aback by Indarius's reaction. "What apocalypse? The kind where Hell comes to Earth, demons reign, that sort of thing. There's always someone trying to bring one about. And I didn't release Violet, or send her to anyone -- at least knowing what I know. I can't imagine why I would ever in the future. Much safer to leave her safely stored away."
Watching through the mindlink, Max scowls when Femtite sees Lawrence. That's him. Is he alone? Make sure nobody else is around.
Assuming Femtite doesn't see anybody else, Max informs the others. "Lawrence is inside, alone. Do we go in and interrogate him?"
Caio returns to confirm this is the place. "I don't believe we should do that just yet... we know about him, the pills and the place, while Lawrence is probably clueless about us closing on him."
"We should keep watching for now, while Femms flies around and if possible take pictures of everything. The more we know about the whole operation before we talk to those involved, the better." Caio explains. While he did not care too much about detective series and movie shows, his uncle loved them, so Caio watched a couple while growing up.
"If this is not the place manufacturing the drugs, perhaps we can learn where it is, or who else is involved. If we can check other places before Lawrence even knows we are on them, we'll be in a huge advantage."
Fem uses her MindLink to text everyone.
☀️:Lawrence is a creep.
☀️:I’m recording him now. He’s asking over the phone what the person on the phone is wearing.
☀️:Video call, duh![b]
After a pause…
[b]☀️:He didn’t switch to video. I’m by the light fixture.
☀️:Shall I tamper with his phone, since he has it out?
☀️:I can do that when you come in. The idea is that you take the device and give it to me when I grow back.
Femtite grows slightly under the phone’s screen cover. She looks for a safe way to hide in plain sight: one of the bell-thingies on the clock display. What better disguise for a pixite is there than a pixel?
Horizon watches and listens, taking in what everyone is saying at the moment with stride. No one seems to be there except for the man that Femtite had found. If she could potentially bug his phone...
"I don't know if this is something you can do, but can you perhaps create a link from that phone to Clocktower?" Horizon asks. "If we can get a record of his calls we can see everyone who's linked to this drug network."
He looks at Conflux. "If he's here, then he probably has a car or other vehicle around. Can you create a charm that you can track to place on that as well? I want to make sure all our bases are covered."
☀️:I’ll try that now, Horizon.
☀️:Fair warning. Lawrence and his lady friend will not be pleased.
Femtite has the MindLink connect the Bug to the ClockTower.
Once the connection is established, she does what pixites have been doing to tech since their nanite ancestors…
Perhaps Max is aware of imps that have a similar skill? Surely, Violet is!
…she rearranges the tech to create the 1-9OO-TATTLER, a special phone that can store all of its information on any pixite device, modern human device or even a super computer from the 20th century!
Connie flattens her lips in surprised displeasure as Femms hands over her brooch to Deedee, but she shrinks away before Connie says anything.
"Sure thing, Oh Fearless Leader, only probably they took the subway, since all these cars are basically rusted out. But yeah, tracking is easy. Almost too easy..."
Femtite's tinkering with Lawrence's cell phone works. In Unity Base, Clocktower lights up as data flashes on the screen showing the communication between the ex-con and his lady friend on the other end of the line.
Lawrence: "... ooh, yeah. I cannot wait until next week! You get the package I sent you?"
Lady Friend: "I did. Halloween was yesterday."
L: "What? Come on, I thought you liked a little roleplay."
LF: "You're serious? She f!%%in' arrested you!"
L: "She also saved my life from that psychopath. So I need to... thank her properly."
LF: "You're an ass."
L: "You going to punish me? Tie me up with that whip?"
LF: "I'm being serious! You got lucky! You shouldn't be dealing with this s@%% again!"
L: "Hey! This is legit! One hundred percent legal. Nothing to get either birds' feathers ruffled. And when we hit the big time? We're talking major players. Everyone's going to want a piece. And I'm the one holding the pie cutter."
LF: "... Promise?"
L: "Promise, Babe. This'll be our ticket to the good life. So. How does Wednesday sound?"
LF: "Okay. I can wait that long. If you talk me through what I need to do with myself until then..."
(Clocktower sensors the remainder of the conversation)
The phone is bugged.
What do you do?
"Wow, okay, apparently Clocktower thinks the rest of this is too racy for us to know," Horizon says as he scrolls the transcript of the conversation. "That's some good evidence, but I don't like how he says it's legal. I also don't like how it sounds like he's got a grudge," He says, putting pieces together - and feeling a bit gross this guy was fetishizing his mentor.
"He's talking about a psychopath that Whip saved him from, though. That's intriguing." Horizon considers what else they could do here. There were pieces missing. But there was also answers to be found inside. And he didn't think that it was worth waiting anymore.
"All right, let's go in. Slow and stealthy. Find the drug stashes, nab Lester, get him to talk. I think he's likely not the top of the food chain here," Horizon tells the group.
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He reigned himself in some more, "Okay yeah so.. he'll on Earth sort of stuff. Gonna be a hard break with the Praetorian and Ultra Star gone..." He trails for a moment "Okay well we've still got time to prepare for it, she's out now. One of Matthers' sons is bartering with demons on a hell scar. And it looks like I'll be needing some serious training with anti-demon spells. Do you have a place I could practice this kind of stuff without hurting anyone?"
Max nods to Horizon. ”Okay, let’s go. Caio, with me. We’ll grab Lawrence.” She moves in on the warehouse.
"Since Femms already took care of his phone, he'll probably try to run once we enter." He turns to Horizon and Connie (and SG if they are there as well). "Perhaps it would be better if you stay outside just in case Lawrence escapes us. Once we have him with us, we'll let you know."
Caio then moves towards the door and shoves his shoulder against it, trying to open it as stealthily as possible.
The door gives way easily to Caio's strength. Lawrence is focused on his cell phone which doesn't seem to be working for him, and doesn't notice Caio until it's too late. He yelps in surprise at the sudden intrusion and falls back into his seat.
"What're you--! Hey! Who the f*#% are you!?!" he shouts.
The image gives Indarius a "hold up" motion with its hands. "Whoa, whoa. There's always an apocalypse of some kind right around the corner. I don't mean don't take it seriously, but don't drive yourself nuts stressing about it. Like I said, I took some steps so that Violet is less of a threat if she ever got out. I can show you where to find the binding spell that can contain her.
"And I can tell you of some good practice areas, if they still exist."
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He nodded, "I mean... I'm gonna stress about it regardless and if there's anything I can do about it might as well start now. It'd be good to know what steps you took to help weaken Violet because she is currently wrestling for control with my friend Max so any signs to watch out for would be good. The spell to remove and rebind her sounds like the exact answer to the problem of helping Max return to normal."
He stood up and summoned his gear to him holding his tea out to the side and then taking another casual sip before grabbing his staff. "Best to get to those practice areas as soon as possible. I can tell you about more of the things that's happened since you uh... maybe died? Again noone is exactly sure what happened to the physical you, Doctor Infinity."
Draining the rest of his cup, placing his tome into his satchel and grabbing the journal and staff he looked to the apparition. "Where to?"
"Night Lawrence. We are here to talk to you about the pills you've been supplying the students, and you are going to tell us everything unless you miss your time on the jail." Caio says bluntly.
"Where and who is making it? Who is involved? Who are the students you are using to spread it around?"
Caio reaches for his comms. "Guys, we have Lawrence."
"And tell the truth, please. Don't waste our time," Max adds with a stern look.
Lawrence scowls until he sees Devil Diva step into the office and his eyes go wide. "What the hell?!?" He quickly puts two and two together and starts shaking his head vigorously. "Nuh-uh. No way. You supposed to be hero types? Well, you got nothing on me! I don't have to talk to you. I know my rights. Haul me off to jail if you want, but I'll be out by morning."
"Look at us. Do we look like heroes to you?" Max asks. She leans in to give Lawrence a good look at her demonic features. "There are worse places than jail. I should know. I've been there. Now, I will ask you nicely again, and it would be in your best interest to answer us. Please, tell us everything you know about these drugs."
"That's unfortunate. I wonder--"
The apparition fades away when Percy moves the journal!
Lawrence scowls at first, but seems to relax when Devil Diva leans in. He smiles at her in a haze. "First, they're not drugs. They're herbal supplements. Second, they're a proprietary blend. Trade secrets. Couldn't tell you if I wanted to. I deliver them to the school sports teams, for a demonstration. Once everyone sees how good they work, we start charging. Gonna make a fortune. Athletes, health nuts, regular workers, everyone's going to want some."
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Femtite grows in plasma from from inside the cell phone, melting a one-inch hole in the screen cover.
”Only after you trick them into becoming chemically dependent on your supplement!
‘Keep them straight. Never mix the doses. This batch goes to Halcyon Prep. Panther Pride, as they say.’”
As she reaches human size, Femtite magical-girls some clothes on and appears more flesh than fire.
“Those are your words, Larry. And according to my research of your world, Larry is the name for a number two guy. Who’s your Moe?”
"You know, I used to work with one of the most powerful mind-readers in the world." Horizon speaks up, looming out of the shadows behind Lawrence. "So easy to pluck a thought, delve deep, grab what was necessary and not need to get anyone else's hands dirty. It's something I miss dearly."
The air grows cold in the room, whatever heat remaining outside of Femtite's radius being sucked out of it by his presence. He leans in close to Lawrence. His hand is ice cold to the touch even through the gloves as he places them on his shoulder. "I won't mince words. Either you tell us everything, now, or I'll bring you to the person who is going to be far less lenient to you about getting answers. The one with wings, a whip, and a real desire to see you go down."