Log:Guilt Complex, Scene 20

Guilt Complex 2013/10/27 	 Vicki Regan Malcolm Yameen Bee Silver Spider 20

Metagym

''A superhuman gym. It looks like a traditional gym, just upscaled in all the obvious fashions. Treadmills that can handle hypersonic running speeds, weight sets that go up to a kiloton in weight, and all the other acoutrements of a gym. The floor is padded and comfortable to walk on, strong enough to handle the immense weights being slung about and the occasional droppage due to limits being reached. The computer monitors with force fields, protecting any whom look to have lost control of a piece of equipment to provide a safe and functional place for the supers of colonial bay to get a workout without requiring a villain to be present.''

Like many times in past weeks, Vicki has not really been seen soaring the skies, or really in the field. It's not that she was taking time off. It's just that when she had any free time, she was still analyzing stuff. The problem is that -her- knowledge of magic is so limited that all this ritual stuff is just gobbeldy gook to her. But she's in the workout room, running holos to show images from the escape of the pwoered up patients as well as imagery from the biker bar, and the pentagram found and all kinds of other stuff. She's standing back, kind of looking at it unfocused like she was trying to see an image within the images....

Regan moves into the room, looks at the by-now-familiar data array and moves to the controls. "Perhaps we should review what happened in chronological order. We've gotten a lot of stuff piecemeal. And we haven't really looked at it in detail."

Yameen's initial purpose to visit the training room is likely training, though two key discoveries alter this. First, it is already in use. Second, the images displayed are familiar in context if not individually. Holding a personal interest in the events, she enters with an entirely new purpose. Predominantly, curiosity.

Like some kind of wraith, Malcolm seems almost to just appear (in Yameen's wake) as Yameen enters the room. The tall man glances around, first at the layout and then at the image arrays. He frowns slightly, rolling his shoulders impulsively a few times as he strolls deeper into the room.

Shaking her head as the words are spoken, Vicki looks back towards the others and grins, "Hey guys. Yeah sure... fresh set of eyes would be awesome." and she heads over to the coffeemaker she brought in. I mean where else can she get strong, bitter pure black coffee without all the weird flavors added? She pours herself a cup and says, "Anyone's welcome to some if they want."

Moving to the controls of the holographic display and brings up a timeline. It begins with a question mark and has two entries. 'Explosives' and 'Money'. "The explosives used in the hospital bombing were home-made using a recipe taken from the anarchist's cookbook, it contains impurities that would probably allow us to identify the lab once we have found it but which don't contain anything too specific. They may have set up a clean room. At any rate there was a total of almost a five hundred litres of explosive distributed between twelve devices. That takes a long time to prepare. Simultaneously our protagonists prepared cash reserves. The money for the drones was tracked back to a bank in the Maldives where it was deposited in person in cashe in small used bills over a period of several years, since the transfer to pay for the drones the account is now empty and disfunctional. The sole signatory on that account is a man by the name of Edward Teach, obviously that was not his real name."

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Malcolm strolls amongst the images. He looks almost lost in thought as he moves, though the way he keeps looking to whoever's talking indicates he's paying some attention at least. Malcolm offers an emotionless hum and arches a brow, "Why's that obviously not his real name?"

Regan illustrates her presentation with pictures of samples of the explosive, chemical readouts, a printout of the recipe used, a picture of the bank and copies of the account documentation. With a photo ID of Edward Teach who looks a lot like the man from the internet video. "Because Edward Teach was the real name of Blackbeard."

Yameen frowns, though it is only suggested by her eyes. "That this plan was devised and set in motion so long ago is unsettling. Whoever controls the pieces is intelligent, methodical, and exceedingly patient."

"And with all of the super-powered people, immortals, and time transplants," replies Malcolm, "Are we sure it's not Blackbeard?" He cocks his head slightly to one side, offering a quixotic little smile. "I mean, immortals play the long game right?"

Yameen tilts her head as she considers Malcom's point. "It is possible, though it is a great shift from piracy to creating meta-humans."

"Piracy's gotta get old after a while, I'd think," suggests Malcolm.

Regan brings up a photo of Colonial Bay Memorial Hopsital. "The hospital has a quarterly contract with Apex Services for the supply of seasonally appropriate potted plants. Two weeks before the last due change of plants Apex received communication by phone re-scheduling the delivery by a week due to maintenance issues. This was not so unusual and Apex adjusted their work schedule accordingly. The hospital did not know this had happened and when on the appropriate day two Apex services vans did show up and did swap the plants it was not considered unusual." She brings up security footage of the vans. "Note the license plates, these are in fact copies of the APEX services license plates but the real vans were making deliveries elsewhere. The team here consisted of four people, here are the best images we can get from security footage." The team consists of two men and two women in baseball caps that they keep lowered but there are occasional profiles, reflections, and the like that can be combined.

Yameen studies the display of the individuals. "With the care taken to conceal other evidence and remain elusive, I doubt that those who placed the explosives will know much." She turns to regard Malcom once more. "Any profession can lose its appeal after enough time. The architect is patient, but I do not believe they are immortal, and not the pirate known as Blackbeard."

Regan brings up the images of the four people and puts them to one side. "The same people returned the next day, they infiltrated the hospital as visitors then removed coats and jackets turn out to be in scrubs underneath. They then moved through the hospital to the intensive care ward, specifically the research ward for osteogenesis imperfecta." She brings up security footage of the people, highlighted as they move casually through the hospital. "At the same time a package was delivered to hospital security, containing a sample of the explosive, a sample detonator and a note with a deadline. Security were able to video link with local police, verify the threat and immediately implement an evacuation. As soon as the alarms sounded the intruders ambushed and killed two nurses in intensive care in security black spots and transferred the patients and a selection of equipment into the hospitals helijets. The man has been identified thanks to Vicki's efforts, he is not Blackbeard."

"I'm just saying, for the sake of argument," replies Malcolm. He concludes his well-reasoned response with an airy gesture to indicate what he was previously saying. Promptly the tall man takes a stroll amongst the security stills, inspecting each suspect in a variety of images with a thoughtful eye. "Who is he then?"

"the clothing they ditched has been recovered it contains no personal effects, it seems not to have been worn before, it is generic and whoever bought it was not one of these four, nor the man known as Edward Teach, or if they did buy it it was not within the state of Virginia, but as the line is stocked by Wal-Mart it could have been purchased anywhere. The team escaped by heli-jet, landing them at a rendezvous just outside Harrisburg where they were loadied into vans. The heli-jets were torched, there was no surveillance near the landing site to help with tracking. I will get to Edward teach in a few moments."

Yameen nods to acknowledge Regan's information and not that she continues to listen as she surveys the displays.

"Okay then," replies Malcolm. He leans against an errant piece of exercise equipment, watching and listening thoughtfully.

"Our attention now turns to North Carolina where a FEMA facility was robbed by a Satanist Biker Gang known as the Furies whom Vicki tracked down from the distinctive tattoo sported by its leader Sebastian Templar. The Furies had been commissioned by Edward Teach to steal a FEMA van and abduct a guard, which they did, handing both over to Teach." Regan brings up photoms of Templar, the FEMA facility, footage of the crime with Templar and tattoo highlighted. "At about the same time a crime syndicate in Moldova was loading four military-class drones into a shipping container for delivery to colonial Bay. They had been commissioned to install programming and self-destruct charges of a very specific configuration which they did. Their payment was handsome." Graphics appear of the drones, their schematics, cargo manifests, ship route.

"That adds wealth and connections to the list of attributes," Yameen notes, though it may be stating the obvious. She looks over the schematics with some interest, possibly for future use. As unlikely as it may be. "All of these investments were expensive, yet disposable."

"After the hospital bombing, there was an increased Federal presence in Colonial Bay. So when there was a tip off of a major drug shipment there was a sizeable response. The mechs had been tested before the tip was delivered and when authorities showed up the mechs burst from their containers, leaving twelve dead and fifteen injured. They fought their way through heavy opposition to the train track where a homing beacon had been planted, on the way they shot a water tower then blew up the track." Regan brings up maps, security footage, and schematics of the encounter. "Some forty minutes earlier a good train carrying industrial materials pulled into a siding to allow a passenger train to pass on the same line. At that point the crew seem to have been abducted and replaced with a crew who took pains to have the train arrive within minutes of the final drone exploding. The fake crew seem to have bailed fives miles before getting to the dockyards. "

With Malcolm's comments then, Vicki inclines her head and steps over to one side where she calls up any imagery that has ever been available about Blackbeard... you know, not cinema images... portraits, etc. And a picture of this Edward... just in case. She kind of tunes folks out while studying it...

Regan brings up a manifest of the train with the offending MIC highlighted, and projections of what would have happened had it been allowed to impact the water soaked dockyard and boil undisturbed. "You all now full well that a catastrophe was only averted because of your combined efforts. Out of caution an evacuation was ordered however and this is when the stolen FEMA van moved in to the Museum of Natural History's off-site storage facility. There they accessed the vault using a magical ritual that turned one of their number's blood to acid to eat its way through, inside they helped themselves to a host of valuables, as much jade as they could stagger away with, and a host of items of ritual significance, they then drove off, abandoned the van and burnt it." The drawings available don't offer much of a likeness to the modern pictures but it's difficult to be authoritative, they are drawings, and he had a huge beard.

Regab brings up a catalogue of the stolen items. "Some days later, this man. She brings up a photo of Edward Teach, then a driver's license, then a university ID, birth certificate, college degrees, all in the name, Brendean Heath, Professor Brendan Heath, though he seems to like using the name Edward teach. "Departed for a retreat for staff and students held by the Archaeology and anthropology Departments of CBSU. He was supposed to give a lift to these five young ladies." She brings up five student IDs. "Instead he seems to have somehow subdued them and used them in a ritual."

Regan brings up six crime scene photos and a map of Colonial Bay. "The four train crew and the one FEMA guard were killed at these five points, equally spaced on the circumference of a circle." The locations appear on the map and a pantagram is overlain, a sixth point marks the sentre of the circle. "In the centre the five young women were murdered. Each ritual had about ten or so people attending. They were performed simultaneously so this is a total of at least fifty people. detailed forensic analysis reveal that all the ritualists wore the same brand of shoe, a generic sneaker found at Wal-mart. fivbre evidence suggests that they all wore generic tracksuits of cheap manufacture and cotton work gloves that are sold in hardward stores in boxes of a hundred. Attempts to identify single large transactions for these items have been fruitless."

"Painstaking forensic work has also reveled that all six rituls involved granulated jad and shards of sapphire of a variety of colours, predominantly red, indigo, pale blue, green and black. A collection of identically cut Sri Lankan sapphires was among the items stolen from the Museum store. There has been a suggestion that the colours may have elemental connections." Regan explains. "Some time after the ritual four of the five missing patients reappeared, this time sporting meta-human abilities consistent with air, fire, earth and water. They robbed a triad banquet that was issuing significnat payouts to local officials. Neither the officials nor the triad nor the restaurant wanted to claim the money which was distributed over the streets of Chinatown."

Yameen regards the displayed student and faculty identifications in silence. Several of the victims had invited her to the retreat. Even if their invitations had no authority, she could have possibly attended if she had pressed the issue.

Bee silently appears in the back of the room. She does that.

"Any word on the surveillance of the four catch and release targets?" asks Vicki as she swipes away her attempt at comparing pictures and she turns her attention back to the present... just.. trying to put things together from a distance rather than immersing herself in the deep end.

Regan nods. "This brings us up to the release of Professor Heath's video and the announcement of the competition. Since their identities were made public there have been no sightings, the have gone dark as near as we can tell. There has been a flurry of low level crime and dangerous stunts in an attempt to gargner the Professor's attention. So far there has been no response."

Bee hmms thoughtfully. "Has the Professor been arrested. ... and who was the fifth patient?"

"Professor Heath's offices have been searched, as has his home. His friends, family, and acquaintances have been interviewed. It would seem that he is the man who hired the Furies to steal the FEMA van, that he is the man who opened and operated the bank account in the Maldives, that he is the man who made the internet video. His specialty is Witchcraft in Europe and the New World. But it is doubtful that any academic would have the resources necessary to pull this off."

Regan says, "Heath is now missing. The patient who has not been seen since the ritual is Penny Wong." A photo appears. "Though the four patients who have een seen do not seem concerned for her safety."

Turning her head towards the information, Vicki scowls, "So much for -active-... continuous surveillance." She rolls her eyes, "This was our -one- chance." she mutters, turning to stalk towards the coffee machine. She's empty after all. She pours another cup of black sludge and mutters mostly to herself, "We know they were in contact... so observing their routines could have produced -something-... some way of getting in touch. Some common acquaintances... but nooooo.." She growls a bit and adds, "I never should've left the force." and then gulps down some coffee.

Bee says, "Ah. That's what you mean by 'gone dark'. I'll remember that Americanism. I have been trying to make sense of the psychology behind it, to separate the magic from the equasion and treating them like any other group of crazies, but that hasn't worked. None of the ritual sites were accessible to the level of care the parients needed pre-ritual so they have to have been somewhere else. ... If there were just five killings I would say look at the corners of the inner pentagon, but I'm guessing the center ritual changed that in some way ... but magic moves on curly cues for all I know."

Regan brings up all the available information on Brendan Heath, the items found in his office and home, interview records, financial and phone transactions. She looks to Bee. "So with some expert guidance we might be able to find where the patients were when the ritual took place?" Her lips purse. "Interesting."

"The psychology of it is only really useful and helpful if we have behavioral samples and personality traits on file to compare it against. A Control if you will. How they are deviating from the norm and..." Vicki pauses and looks to the computer. "I wonder.." she remarks as she starts doing a search. "These folks were terminal patients at the hospital. What are the chances that they actually -were- recieving psychiatric help? Maybe we can get a word with their shrink or shrinks..."

Bee says, "Best I have found so far was a street husker who claims to be Baba Yaga's grandson. No abilities himself, but lots of 'my Baba said's..."

"That would be Sash." Regan says. "At Vicki's search, all five patients were receiving counseling from the staff psychologist, all five had seen psychiatrists outside but only three were currently in therapy. The names of all seven psychiatrists come up on the screen (two staff, five private).

"Now, we need to see if we can get a court order to bypass the client patient confidentiality. Though, if they are suspected of actually committing crimes, it is the shrink's duty to divulge whatever he or she can.." mutters Vicki almost victoriously as she brings a list of names up on the screen and then transfers them to the main screen.

Bee says, "Lets start with Penny Wong. Who is she? Besides a patient."

Shrugging, Vicki starts collating. She puts up the psych's name, and then the patient beneath it. Some may overlap, some may not. It's basically a spreadsheet she's making where she organizes the patients by the shrinks.

Miss Wong's file declares her to be an architecture student at CBSU. Her hobbies include some drawing, science fiction and fantasy film and literature and role playing games. She is the eldest of three children and lives with her parents in modest circumstances in Chinatown where they run a grocery store

"Is there any evidence that Heath was coerced into his participation?" Yameen asks aloud, even as she reviews the images and video of the professor. "I am not an expert in the occult, which we know is used heavily. Despite his specialty, he is an academic, not a ...cultist." There is possibly some optimistic bias in her assumptions.

"Looks like the Wongs had the dubious honor of owning and operating a small grocery store." says Vicki as she loads that info on the screen. "That would be great, if not for the fact that their locale is apparently prime real estate for three competing criminal groups, at least one of which has triad connections... and so we can assume they've been extorted by not one, not just two, but all three groups."

As she loads the info, Vicki inclines her head, "Okay, looks like they're -all- various competing Triads. Go fig.."

The longer Yameen regards the photographs, the more she frowns at the faculty identification. She utters a few quiet words in Hebrew before speaking more loudly in English, "So Miss Wong was a victim, not a willing co-conspirator? That seems more likely, given her background. I cannot say the same for Heath. He was ...strange, even for one who specializes in the occult and witchcraft. Heath may not have the means to finance the operation, but he is likely a willing accomplice."

Bee says, "Psychologically, the activities of the other four sounds like just the sort of thing Peggy would be ring-leading. Her visible absence is noteworthy, but I don't know why. It also shows remarkable restraint. ... again, it is the magic element that is tripping me up."

Yameen turns to Bee. "So you believe this missing fifth patient was also changed and could be directing the others?" She considers this, and frowns. "We still do not know why such great effort was put into this to begin with."

Bee says, "I've got no clue. It wasn't to oppose the triads. Five metas of their power levels wouldn't be enough."

Bee says, "Does *anybody* here know anything about magic. Is there a fifth element other than Milla Jovovich?"

Regan frowns. "It doesn't make sense, by releasing their identities publicly the ritualists have greatly endangered and undermined the very wepon they put so much effort into creating. In Eastern teaching there is earth, water, wood, metal and fire. In some classifications, metal can be replaced by void. In some others the fifth element could be spirit or darkness or self."

Bee says, "Spirit would work as an explanation for Miss Wong's whereabouts - invisibility of ghostly powers. But if that is true that eliminates here as a co-conspiritor."

"There are many who know of magic," Yameen advises, but leaves the matter of whether any are present to others. "This seems to go beyond these five, but neither were they created by chance. What of mind? Could she direct the others through mental abilities and does not need to be present?"

Bee says, "I wish I knew what the goal was. It obviously wasn't to create these five. These five seem as disposable as everything they have used."

Bee says, "And I've seen no signs that seventy or more murderous psychopaths are just hanging around the city waiting to do it again."

Yameen quiets in thought and frowns. Deeply enough that it is disernible through her keffiyeh. "If it required so much for five, the promise to change many must be false. That or there are far more vile acts planned."

Bee waves aside the internet ad. "I'm pretty sure that was either one rogue or a random crazy. Either way a red herring. They didn't try so hard to hide to switch tactics and announce their intentions

Regan nods to Yameen. "Does that seem consistent with how this has gone? This all seems very deterministic, with no room for random happenstance that can directly affect the plan. Does throwing things open to the general public seem consistent with that?"

"It seems consistent with their desire to cause chaos," Yameen expands on the line of thought. "Chaos as a distraction for their next action. We should focus wherever they do not draw attention to."

Stands in front of a biography of Penny Wong, one of the five patients granted super-powers.

REGAN ss in front of a biography of Penny Wong, one of the five patients granted super-powers.

Silver Spider shakes her head as she walks in. "Look. There's only a limited number of places they could be." She calls up a pentagram shape overlaid with a map of Colonial Bay. "Let's look at this from the perspective of a bunch of mystical weirdos, while I'm having a look at this kid's bio."

Bee says, "Huh? Why does that matter?"

Silver Spider turns to Bee. "Well, the ritual is in the center here, and you have these five points out here, where presumably your ritualists were standing. The power didn't go into the points. And the power left the center. So your pentagon here is where it all went." She runs a finger along the intersecting pentagon in the center. "Move around the line. Find the weirdoes. Beat the weirdoes up."

Bee says, "But I checked the corners of the inner pentagon already"

Silver Spider shrugs. "Then it's not on one of the corners. It just needs to be on the line. You have to look at this as a giant synergistic ball of hoo-hah."

Bee says, "I wasn't aware you were an expert on magic. I have a *huge* list of questions for you then."

Silver Spider shrugs. "I'm not. I just fight these guys a lot."

Bee says, "Sooooooo you have no idea why a bunch of seventy-plus psychopaths would create five superheroes based on elements who seem to show no signs of obeying the villains orders?"

Silver Spider nods. "Sure I do. It makes them look good, and us look bad. It also makes the triads look bad so that DEMON can take over Chinatown with relative ease."

Bee says, "Five metas of their level won't make a dent in Chinatown. We covered that earlier in the breifing."

Silver Spider says, "DEMON is not great at fighting. But they are great at causing things to implode around them while coming up roses. And it's not about making a dent. You just put the triads at war with each other. Chinese metas will be at each other's throats while DEMON makes it's move. Any organization that just had it's money robbed is dangerous. The only thing worse than an evil cult is an evil cult that has it's own loyal heroes who are unaware of the evil cult's mission. They can take the power back at any time. Maybe they're even counting on these people dying.""

"We do not know that DEMON is involved," Yameen notes. "The evidence all involvs a blend of technology and magic, excessive planning and a great deal of disposable resources."

Silver Spider shakes her head. "It's them. This reeks of their handiwork, especially when they are losing money."

Bee shakes her head, "I think you are right about these five getting killed if they keep doing what they are doing, but I don't see any signs that this would spark an inter-Triad war. It might allow a strike of opportunity or two, but not as big an upheval as you describe."

Silver Spider hmmms. "Blueprints are a matter of public record. Let's access the city database and see what's left in that area that meets our parameters. They have to have enough space to house a cult. They have to have enough history in the building, which means it has to be old. And most importantly, they have to own the deed to it, which is also a matter of public record, within our little control zone here."

Bee says, "I've seen no signs of that either. I think the bulk of them came from out of town"

Bee says, "They *would* need facilities to take care of the patients before their powerup."

Silver Spider raises an eyebrow. "Well, that narrows our locations down to two, then, doesn't it? The building has to have history. It has to have suffering. It has to have a readily accessible collection of ancient texts to peruse. How do you keep people's eyes away from something?"

Yameen dips her head towards Bee in acknowledgement. "There is no reason to believe that the ritualists remain in the city in any number. The ritual was completed. Their presence may no longer be required. The location that housed the patients beforehand could provide evidence, but I am not optimistic. They took great care to destroy other evidence; why would they be careless, now?"

Silver Spider says, "You detonate a bomb there, or near there. People believe that lightning never strikes twice in the same place. Wasn't that how this all started? I hide my base near where I detonate my bomb. The hospital and CBSU are right next to each other. The guy who I think is responsible for this is a Professor there. He knows every nook and cranny. Why not a secret lair for DEMON hidden underneath?""

Bee leans back, amazed. "How long have you been working on this case? I've been chipping away at it for over two months and everything I see suggests five locations, not one."

Silver Spider turns to Bee. "It's not about time. It's about knowing your enemy. This is how they do stuff. There has to be a central point of origin. This is a cult. They can't just draw a circle on the floor. They have rituals, they have a temple. And it's probably been here a long time, too. I've never been able to isolate it. Professor Belinda Charles. Computer. Call up a bio on this lady. Did she, by any chance, hire Professor Heath?"

"Unlikely, but not impossible," Yameen admits. She keeps an open mind, and notes all to be combined with other evidence.

Bee says, "Ah. Enlighten me. I need facts to back up conjecture. What do you have?"

Silver Spider says, "Trust me when I say that all universities are based on nepotism." She shrugs. "Even if she didn't hire him directly, she might have been able to push people to hire him using certain enchantment magicks.""

Bee says, "Facts."

Yameen arches a brow. "Would you have the entire Archaeology and Anthropology department detained due to one member? The entire faculty?"

Bee says, "All elephants are grey. Mice are grey. Thus, mice are elephants. Logic just doesn't work that way."

Silver Spider turns to Yameen. "We don't detain in this country. We observe and pursue to obtain evidence of wrongdoing."

Silver Spider says, "Investigating someone who is a potential suspect isn't wrong. It just requires that you actually either A) Find something or B) Give up."

As it happens Brendan Heath was appointed during Professor Charles' tenurethough her field of study was geomagnetism. She was born on Long Island, won a scholarship to Columbia, and did her PhD at Princeton. She is a high renking member of the American Geophysical Union and has won several awards for her research into the Earth's inner corner and the magnetic dynamo. Her photo shows her to be an African American woman in her forties of pleasant appearance. there is no obvious correlation between her career and Heath's other than that he started teaching here while she was VC.

Silver Spider blinks. "Geomagnetism? Really? That can't be a coincidence. That's pretty much the study of how energy passes through the ground. Like through a pentagram."

Bee is reduced to incoherent sputtering.

"I believe you are mistaken, but it is superfluous," Yameen makes a vague dismissive gesture with her hand. "Brendan Heath is a person of great interest, but that does not automatically make him the grand architect of all that is evil. You may be ... what is the term... missing the forest for the trees?"

Bee says, "You ... your like an AI programmed to operate a bomb.""

Silver Spider shakes her head. "I don't think Brendan Heath is an actual DEMON master. I've fought those guys. If he was that tough, he would already have a plan to deal with me."

Bee says, "Why would he care about you enough to make a plan to deal with you if you are the kind of person to follow random strangers because you have an unsubstantiated hunch they might be evil?"

Regan watches the exchange with her hands loosely clasped in front of her. "I think the evidence strongly supports Brendan Heath's active involvement in whatever organization is responsible for this. It does seem likely this is a DEMON plot though they're objective seems obscure. This is a scheme that has rolled on rails so fair, like a train hurtling to a very specific destination it seems out of character for things to be messy or vague, undefined or open to chance."

Silver Spider shakes her head. "It's a Rube Goldberg machine. You create five superheroes, only they're really time-bomb supervillains. This isn't the first time I've seen this, and it won't be the last. At the key moment, they turn nasty and try and mess the city up. Someone needs to convince these kids to renounce the power."

Regan says, "Well kids is a subjective turn, one of them is in her late thirties."

Silver Spider shakes her head. "Bee, let me explain something. I am on a list. A very short list of people that DEMON masters choose to deal with first. They are arrogant in their own way. They assume they can't be beaten. But if you do, you go on their list."

Bee says, "You have seen this list?"

Silver Spider says, "No. The first guy, I didn't know there was a list. The second guy told me I was on the list."

"If that is true, you should make your interest publicly known," Yameen notes. "Use their ego and draw them out. Force them to defile their own meticulous plan." After this, she dips her head to all. "I am grateful for the information. Now I must investigate other sources." She moves for the lobby and the exit beyond.

Regan says, "Take care Yameen."

Bee says, "You know. You're right. Investigate Professor Belinda Charles. Ignore that the computer just told you that there in no connection and knock yourself out."

Silver Spider turns to Bee and shrugs. "Feel free. That would be my first reason to investigate something like this. If all the signs point to something based on the symbology, but the computer says no, you should investigate anyway. Call it a gut feeling."

Bee also turns and heads for the door. Over her shoulder, she quips, "Regan, if you can find a magical authority whose knowledge of magic exceeds punching magicians in the mouth, I would be very grateful."

Regan nods slowly. "I'll see what I can manage, take care Bee."