The Nexus

Sunday Evening, June 15

"We need to get Abu down here," said Mort. "To identify all these magical hieroglyphs."

Abu was promptly phoned, and said he would be there within an hour.

Detective Noble started the grisly task of sealing the crime scene. Now that supernatural activity had ceased, she phoned in the mundane CSI guys.

Outside, the sun set.

Almost immediately, the charred pieces of the mummy skeleton melted into mist and floated up the stairs and through the ruined door. The party frantically followed it. The air compressor pump set was still sitting in Mort's hearse, so they couldn't try the mist-sucking trick. The mist got into the bathroom, and went down the bath drain.

"Damn damn damn," they swore.

Suddenly Mina was there, arriving in her usual enigmatic vampire fashion. She wandered around the basement looking at things.

"This is fascinating," she said. "These hieroglyphs and the Risen magic has made this area into a Nexus. A source of great power. It would take me almost a year to make something like this. I should like to use it."

"What about Oberon?" asked Ebony. "Doesn't he 'own' this part of the city?"

Mina looked at her.

"Yes. 'What about Oberon?' indeed. He would dearly love this. So would all other creatures of the Veil: the werewolves, sidhe, mages, demons, ghosts, sin-eaters, even the Promethean." She paused for thought. "I shall shroud it. Then they will not be able to find it."

Before the party or Detective Noble could reply, Mina was gone.

Abu bin Laden then arrived. His jaw dropped as he surveyed the place.

"This is a tomb!" he cried. "A fully-configured tomb. Look! See the shabtis, the scarabs; those bodies are lain out in the five symmetries. The canopic jars will contain their organs."

Abu was in happy-land as he started taking pictures of the tomb and making extensive notes. Mort followed his progress. Abu explained that the magical hieroglyphs (the ones that could not be photographed) can be copied, but that the copies must be kept 'a hand-span' apart, else they fade. He also pointed out that if you have one tattooed or drawn upon you, as the party had done with the cold hieroglyph, then you age one year per day. Mort pointed out that the Khalfanis, and Safiya and Osiris had the hieroglyphs on their bodies 'for ages', yet they hadn't aged. Abu could not explain why.

Sunday Night, June 15

Mina arrived, an hour later, with four girls in their early twenties. She barged in past Abu and started to set things up on the floor surrounding the sarcophagus. Abu protested, and she fixed him a feral gaze, and he withdrew silently. Then the four girls undressed, and knelt at the four corners. Mina bit each one in the neck, and didn't seal the wounds. The blood ran copiously down their fair bodies, and Mina used it to draw an unbroken circle around the sarcophagus. Mina then drew symbols in blood on her own naked body, and writhed in the centre (in the casket itself). After some minutes of orgasmic throes (the boys in the party watched in rapt lustful fascination), she stood up, and sealed the girls' wounds (with a lick).

"The Shroud is done," Mina said, as she dressed again. "This place is now protected from magical scrying. If that circle is broken, the Shroud will cease, and I will know, and I will kill whoever broke it. "

Mina collected her girls: "I strongly suspect that Oberon does not know of this Nexus. See that he does not. He now can not scry past the Shroud, and he will not want to send his ghouls* to cross the police lines. So you have some time before he will dare send anyone. I want you lot to take on the rent of this apartment. Keep it as your nexus. As your group Strike Force's nexus. As this Egyptologist's nexus. As my nexus." She tossed them a bundle of money ($1500).

"Oberon owns this region of the city," Mina went on. "This means any Veil activity here needs his approval. You are all Veil-aware, so that means if you take this as your apartment, as you are about to do, then you will need to contact him and get clearance. Again, I stress, he must not be told of the Nexus, the Shroud, nor my interest. I'll be back at 4 [ am ]." Mina then left.

The CSI guys arrived. Detective Noble set them to work and they tidied the place up, and hauled off all the body pieces.

"We can maintain the crime scene status for tonight, and tomorrow night, before it appears suspicious," said Noble.

"I guess I better go see Oberon," said Sledge.

Oberon was in the Khyber Pass Bar & Grill, in his offices upstairs. Sledge went up and spoke to him. Oberon was all smiles and teeth, and seemed genuinely touched that the party (the "cell" as he kept calling them) was seeking his permission.

"Yes, you can have that apartment," Oberon said. "The 'rent' is one drink a week. I will not kill the volunteer, just a single drink. Paid in advance"

Sledge said he needed to speak with the group as to whether this price was okay. And would return at midnight with an answer.

Sledge, Ebony and Jacob were happy with this 'rent'.
The vampire haters in the party: Mort and Juan, were not. Neither was Theo.
STRIKE FORCE sided with the ayes.

They argued long into the evening.

PRO: The ends justify the means. The powers of the Nexus help us immensely.

CON: Don't deal with vampires (Oberon). Don't let vampires use the Nexus (Mina).

Sunday Midnight, June 15

It was decided: Detective Noble brought in a "willing volunteer" from the police station, a young black girl Tyra, and gave her to Sledge. Tyra was on a charge for possession, and was happy to volunteer because all charges would be dropped. Sledge took her to Oberon, and he had his drink; he took a litre of her blood and sealed the wound. His glamour ensured that she didn't remember the ordeal at all.


* = A WoD ghoul is not the corpse-eating creature of lore, but is the term for vampire slaves. The vampire feeds his ghoul some blood, and then has a psychic connection.
Vampires have ghouls. Werewolves have "nonces". Sidhe have "fae bitches". Geists and Demons have "the possessed". Promethean have "Igors". Mages have "slaves". Risen have "the loyal".

Dave Dobbyn's song "Loyal" is about a Risen slave.