Geminid Donna is in her office.

Alice Alone?

Geminid At the moment.

• Alice sits down. "I done what you wanted last night. Caught him on the phone setting up to talk to someone this weekend. 'Cept I ain't gonna be around most of that."

Geminid She arches a brow, "Why not?"

• Alice grins. "Gonna be ridin' 'Sana come Riaxhium."

Geminid She frowns, then it dawns on her. "Ahh. You don't have... protection?"

Alice "Don't want it neither."

Geminid She looks you over, then shrugs, "Very well. I'll put someone else on it. What can you tell me?"

• Alice shrugs herself. "'Bout him? Nothin. Followed him from here to his place. He et, made that call. Said he wasn't feelin' right talkin then and there and they should meet come weekend."

Geminid She frowns, then nods. "All right. I'll put someone to follow him this weekend. Is there more?"

• Alice considers, weighing some options.

Alice "You wanna know 'bout that fucking bloodbath yesterday?"

Geminid She pauses, then nods, "The picture?"

Alice "Yeah."

Alice "And maybe the one I got today, too. That skeleton thing."

Geminid "By the gnome?"

• Alice nods.

Alice "I can tell you the deal with them. But s'choice information. For another hundred."

Geminid She pauses, then pulls out the chequebook.

• Alice waits till she's got the cheque in hand, then, "You know the scissorman?"

Geminid "The old nightmare legend?"

Alice "Yeah."

Geminid "Yes?"

Alice "He's real, but he ain't real proper outside bad dreams, just an idea. No body. 'Cept if someone calls him. Builds up a body, puts some faith in it, and makes some ground zero stew on set."

Geminid She takes a moment to decipher that.

Geminid "You mean someone's prayed to him and brought him to the set?"

Alice "Maybe. S'been the mistake's gizmos went strange both times. And the splatter today was bigger."

Geminid She frowns, "Thank you. I'll look into it."

• Alice pockets her cheque and gets up to leave.

Geminid Donna lets you go. Where to?

Alice Actually, before leaving.

Alice "Got a contract yet for the new job?"

Geminid She smiles, "Not yet. It will be ready tomorrow morning."

• Alice nods and goes.

Alice Hmm. To the wealth church first, to try to turn the cheques into money.

Geminid The lavish temple sits in Gravitas like a massive purple and gold sore on the world.

Alice Sounds horrendous.

• Alice goes in.

Geminid It's closed up tight. Banker's hours.

Alice Does Alice have any idea what to do with a cheque at this hour?

Geminid I doubt it.

Alice Any idea who might?

Geminid It's after 8 by this time. She looks like a beggar. Basically no one would at this hour for Alice, unless you can think of something clever.

Alice Do we get lunch breaks during the day?

Geminid Yes.

Geminid I just skip them, assuming you all eat at the catering table.

• Alice will come back here at lunch tomorrow then.
• Alice will swing by to see if David went straight home again, then back to the lot to develop pictures.

Geminid David is not home.

• Alice heads back to the lot by way of wide meandering squiggles, looking for his car.

Geminid You don't see it.

Alice Damn. Ah well. To the darkroom then.

Geminid The photo of the skeleton trap is gruesome

Alice Neat. I make three of it again.

Alice And again catch a little rest with my back to the door while they're drying.

Geminid You awaken not long later to the sound of growling outside the door.

• Alice snaps awake, though she remains still for a few seconds. Then she stands slowly. Does the door lock?
• Alice makes sure that it is locked.

Alice She'd have done before sleeping, but still.

Geminid You still hear vicious growling outside.

Alice Is it right outside? Or a bit away? Moving around?

Geminid Right outside.

Geminid You hear it clawing at the door.

• Alice quickly hides her glasses and camera, stashes her rags, and goes full bat.
• Alice then clings to a light fixture and waits edgily.

Geminid A creaking sound, then a tearing noise, splintering, and a red claw bursts through the door. It's about a foot wide, and the claws are huge.

Alice Whatever... has claws like that, it couldn't possibly fit in this room, right?

Geminid It'd have a hard time, probably.

Alice Hiding the camera does not count as losing it Alice's self if it's stolen, right?

Geminid Right

• Alice waits, then.

Geminid It rips the door off, and a muzzle that's huge, red, and bloody snarls in, but is blocked by the door frame.

Geminid It does this for about an hour before snarling high pitched and wildly, and leaving.

• Alice waits a few minutes, listening intently, before finally descending to change back, redress, and recover her things.

Geminid A trail of blood and destruction leads away from the door.

• Alice takes a few pictures of it, already regretting not having gotten pictures of the thing itself. She'll wait for the pictures to finish drying before following the trail.

Geminid They dry not too long after.

• Alice collects them, and moves to follow the trail in werebat form, keeping her ears wide open for trouble.

Geminid It leads through most of Aurdog Studios' grounds to Lot 13.

• Alice keeps following.

Geminid It leads to an old shack in a corner of the lot, away from everything. A sign on the outside says something and has a big red X on it.

• Alice takes a picture of the sign.
• Alice then tries to get a look in the shack.

Geminid There's nothing in there but an old workbench and a table covered in strange instruments.

• Alice takes pictures of those as well.
• Alice then heads back to get this lot developed right away before making for the beach.

Alice Actually, do any of the instruments look particularly interesting or valuable?

Geminid All of them, and completely incomprehensible.

Geminid And heavy, if theft is your thought.

Alice It was a passing thought. Ah well.

Alice Then, back to the darkroom.

Geminid The blood and destruction are cleaned up as you go back, and a strange old man is fixing the door.

• Alice pauses, then takes a picture of him.

Geminid He turns to look. He's clearly an aberration, as he's got one six inch eye and one normal one, and the big one is pure white. "Hullo there."

• Alice takes another, then scowls. "You gonna be done soon? I need the room."

Geminid He nods, "Just fixing up. Some beastie got loose."

Alice "You know anything 'bout it?"

Geminid "Nope. Glenda just told me to fix what it broke after she took it down her shed."

• Alice sits against the wall. "Hurry up, then."

Geminid He finishes it in the next fifteen minutes, then strolls off

• Alice gets her new pictures done up, and tries to get a little more rest, before heading to the beach.

Geminid The beach is cool at this hour.

Alice "Crow!"

Geminid "CAW!"

Geminid One lands on a post nearby

• Alice gets out her pictures of today's splatterfest and the afterhours stuff, and gives her report.

Geminid More crows arrive, and it coalesces into the Gentleman.

Geminid "How fascinating. The Ansheen Devil."

Alice "What's that?"

Geminid "The big red monster. Beast of Hatred. Whoever let that thing out is sporting with real danger. I like it."

Alice "That mean Glenda's calling up her monsters for real?"

Geminid "Or that she bought some real ones, or that the handyman lied. Or any number of things. But it's very likely, yes, that Glenda has arranged things with dark powers."

Geminid He pauses, "And not me."

Alice "That bother you?"

Geminid He smiles, "No."

• Alice grins. "Should I worry 'bout her stuff?"

Geminid "The Ansheen Devil won't kill you... permanently."

Alice "Maybe next time I'll try for the picture, then."

Geminid He shrugs.

Alice "What about this one?" She holds up the picture of today's snuff shot. "Same's yesterday, ain't it?"

Geminid He looks at it, "Not at all. No scissors involved."

Alice "That's all he does? Can't stay around once he's there and mess with other stuff?"

Geminid He shakes his head, "it's not an avatar of him. He wouldn't... infuse it. That's something else entirely."

Alice "Any clues what?"

Geminid He frowns, "Did anyone else notice this?"

Alice "Got a lot of scared looks, and I could see it pretty clear this time. Last time I didn't know what the hells'd happened till I got the picture done."

Geminid He nods, "The camera sees it, it's real on some level of reality," he seems to be speaking to himself, "Shared visions, not prophetic. Not a warning, but maybe an indication? But who? Too many options." He hands the picture back, "Keep taking these pictures, girl."

Geminid He crows away.

• Alice stays there thinking for a few minutes before flying away herself. She'll get that picture up on the Silver Maul to get a bit of self-entertainment in for the night, then find somewhere to pass out till work.

---

Geminid Where does she place the picture?

Alice Is it open this time of morning?

Geminid No.

• Alice will see about getting inside to put it in a place of honor.

Geminid There are glass windows, closed and locked. Oak doors, closed and locked.

Alice Any both out of plain sight and pickable/jimmyable?

Geminid You are inside the lodge.

• Alice now has two goals. Firstly, find a board or something to pin the picture up on.

Geminid There's a mantle over the fireplace.

Alice That works. She'll set it on the mantle.

Geminid And next?

Alice This is a lodge. They should have like... barrels of beer and stuff, right?

Geminid There's ale and mead.

• Alice is feeling ballsey. What's the best bodily fluid with which to infect someone?

Geminid Saliva, but alcohol kills things really fast.

Alice Oh yeah. Hmm. They have anything at all nonalcoholic?

Alice Water, even?

Geminid Meat, but that'd be cooked first. Water comes from the tap.

Geminid Ketchup?

Alice Weird, but it could work.

• Alice will mix as much spit as she can into the ketchup.

Geminid It's gross, but it'd be easiest to pour a bunch in her mouth, swish it around, then spit it back

Alice That's what I was picturing.

Geminid Then what?

• Alice finds a bolthole to pass out in, then. She makes a point of flying away from the lodge to make sure there's no trail.