Geminid "Caw." from behind you.

• Alice turns around sharply.

Geminid "Caw." the crow says.

• Alice demands, "What are you playing at?"

Geminid "Caw?"

Geminid The crow waits for clarification. Or is just a crow. It's hard to tell.

Alice "I don't remember anything about some trainwreck movie in the deal"

Geminid A flock of crows appears and coalesces into a man in sharp, slightly outdated clothing.

Geminid His top hat is black and shiny, his eyes are made of raging fires.

Geminid He has nubby horns on his forehead, which you see as he tips his hat to you.

Geminid "Oh, Alice, don't look a gift horse in the mouth. You're of an age where you need more than what you can steal to get by."

• Alice nods back, scowling.

Alice "No one gives nothin for free, specially not you. What are you selling, and what do you want for it?"

Geminid He smiles, "I'm selling a job you'd enjoy if you didn't spit in its face. I want... well, I want you to keep track of things on that lot for me. Nothing more."

Alice "Takin pictures of fake trees for some grub faggot? I can find better, and I can get what I need to get by myself. N'less there's somethin else there."

Geminid "The continuity photography is but the start. Stick with it a short while and see where it goes. You can probably take your pick of slots, including actress, production manager, or other interesting role. Or, you can use it as an excuse to get close to Glenda."

Alice "Who?"

Geminid "You know all those horror movies you watch? How some of them are, well, shit? And some are actually realistic and good? Actually scary?"

Alice "Yeah."

Geminid "She is solely responsible for the latter."

Geminid "/Think/ of the photographs she can allow you to take."

• Alice considers for a moment. "I ain't signing anything. If I start not likin' it, I'm gone. I already got et by bugs, and that's prob'ly the nastiest ever been done to me yet."

Geminid He pauses, then says, "Eaten by bugs? Really? Now /that's/ the sort of report I'd like to hear about. Do tell."

Geminid He says in a manner which suggests he already knows, but wants you to talk anyway.

Alice "Those big green cropeaters. Locusts. Lots. Like in The Swarm, only all over the lot last night. Came after me soon's they saw me."

Geminid "And seen in three other spots in the city, too. Fascinating. How do you like the idea of revenge?"

• Alice says cautiously, "I like it fine."

Geminid "Then I suggest you stick on that lot til you find who's behind it and fuck them over nice and good. For every piece of information you bring me about that lot, I'll provide you with that much more firepower when you have the information you need for revenge... /But/ it has to be the real source of the problem. I'm not going to help you kill a messenger."

• Alice scowls, thinking for another moment, and finally says, "You got paper?" Meaning a contract.

Geminid He sighs, snaps his fingers, "Now I do, if you insist."

Geminid He holds out a sheaf of papers--your old contract, with an amended sheaf.

• Alice studies it. This is also readable?

Geminid Yes.

Alice And it's what he said, with no iffy language or extras?

Geminid It's what he said, in fancier language.

Alice Is it straightforward? Are there bits I don't understand or think might have multiple meanings?

Geminid It's straightforward. You understand it all, and if it has multiple meanings somewhere, it's waaaay beyond your figuring. It seems legit.

• Alice frowns over it, then finally changes to werebat and bites her finger, then makes her mark before it heals up.

Geminid He smiles, "One other thing, Alice." He pauses, "Don't go dreaming with your dryad. I can't protect you from the Scissor Man."

Geminid He turns into a flock of crows, then flies off.

Alice "You don't want to know any of the other stuff's happened so far?"

Geminid A single crow curves around and lands, "Caw?"

Alice "I got snuck up on in the darkroom by some idiot poet. I think he stole some of my film. He..." She talks about what he said, and about what she saw on the first day, the blowup about the set builders, Alsa getting screamed at, and whatall.

Geminid "Caw!" is all it says, throughout, then flies off when you're done.

• Alice stays there a while, thinking, till it's time for the movie.

Geminid When she gets to the movie, she has to sneak in.

Alice A window's preferred, a high one she can use to get near the rafters or somewhere high and disused in the theater proper.

Geminid No need to roll rogue. They don't know your ways in.

Geminid The previous movie is just ending as you enter.

• Alice settles in with her bag and waits.

Geminid The newsreels after the last movie talk about the drought and the recent movie executive found dead in La Bella.

Geminid The trailers promise Seamon Coranizo's now not-gonna-happen new one, and a new surprise from Aurdog, as well as a few romcoms and histories from the other studios.

Geminid Then, Night of the Lycanthrope begins with that blood curdling scream that never ceases to make you laugh.

Geminid A man in a wolf's head outfit comes on screen and tries to kill a woman.

• Alice snickers.

Geminid Someone nearby says, "Ssh!" to you.

Geminid He goes back to necking with his girl.

• Alice ignores him and watches the movie. She starts light, mimicing especially horrid sound effects, calling unhelpful advice to the characters, and shouting corrections of the bad mythos, waiting for the second half or for people to start thinking of looking up before starting to throw things.

Geminid You're in rare form tonight. The necking man shushes you several more times. A few people start looking up just after the halfway mark.

• Alice begins tossing fruit at the lead actress whenever said actress fails to follow her advice, then switches to the monsters and accompanying tosses with mockery of their incompetance. She saves the rocks for the climax, hoping to tear out vital bits of the screen if she's really lucky.

Geminid Just as you slam a rock right through the monster's head, you hear someone below shout, "There she is!"

Geminid Four men in silver cloaks are standing there beneat you, aiming silver tipped crossbow bolts.

• Alice takes a picture.

Geminid They fire. Roll dodge.

Geminid They miss badly, sending silver bolts into the ceiling. You have time to escape.

• Alice changes to werebat and flies for the exit, knocking the remains of her bag out onto the seats below in the process.

Geminid People scatter and holler as you do so.

Geminid You fly out into the night.

• Alice makes a point of flying closer above them than she needs to, shrieking. Once out, she turns in a random direction and keeps on to put time and space between her and the silvercloaks before deciding where to go next.

Geminid They scream in horror as you make your escape. Ten minutes later, you're on the other side of the city.

• Alice lands and changes back to human, laughing, then starts toward one of her own 'darkrooms'. It's worth losing half a roll of film to get that one developed sooner than later.

Geminid Where do you go from there?

Geminid Does she do anything else that night?

• Alice swings by the lot, checking from a safe distance whether the bugs are back.

Geminid No bugs in sight

• Alice snoops around a bit looking for anything interesting, then, before winding down enough to get a few more hours' sleep.

Geminid Then we end here.