Data mining time!
sup
I have a question. Of a... personal nature. I hope you will answer it.
You've been awfully curious about me.
I have my reasons. Please indulge me. Our missions have taken a very... personal nature. At least, as far as you are concerned. These visions you have seen of your demon-self. Could you tell me how they make you feel?
I'm glad of them. Without them, we'd never know what the demon did.
I see. Pragmatism. That is often necessary, but rarely pleasant. Thank you for sharing, I will see you at the meeting.
How's Logan fitting in?
It was... difficult for my father to accept a Bestower, but he understands the necessity. I am certain Logan will prove himself. As you have.
Did you see a little blue... thing... fly by?
Yes, that would be KayKay, Logan's spirit guide. I admit, I was surprised to see her as well. Eli has a theory, he can explain it better than I.
wooo theories
Why are you so curious to know how I feel?
My concern is for your welfare. We must all watch out for each other, since no one else will. One day, you will do the same for me.
Any thoughts on that last mission?
I confess, putting lost souls to rest gave me a certain... satisfaction. I can see the appeal in being a Bestower. Yet I am glad I am not one.
I'll leave you to it.
Thank you.
Next!
Sup, e-lah
Um, it IS tomorrow.
It is? Jesus, I should really put a clock down here.
Burning the midnight oil?
Oh, a fire pun. Never heard that one before. I was reading about ghosts. Trying to learn more about the geists we saw. There must be millions of texts and old tomes on the subject. None of them have anything approaching solid facts. Still, there's GOT to be something. Somewhere.
Why are you so interested?
Why do you THINK? Lost ghosts are turning geist on us.
[Scholastic lore: Nazism] "Geist" means "Ghost" in German. Just fyi.
*Sigh* I really shouldn't let this stuff get to me. I've outlived a lot of people. I buried my wife over sixty years ago. Heck, my kids are in their 60s. I'm probably going to outlive them too. And that's... okay, I've made my peace with it. But GEISTS? That their souls could be... twisted like that? I don't like it. Not at all.
We have Logan now. If the worst happens, he'll help.
I hope you're right. Anyway, sorry for the brooding. See you at the meeting?
Could you tell me about your family?
You don't know many parents, do you? Never ask a dad about his kids, he won't shut up. But yeah, you probably saw the pictures on the wall. I have two girls, Julie and Gloria.
Must be cool, having a fire mage for a dad.
They... don't exactly know about that. And they never will. They, um, think I'm dead.
They think you're DEAD?
I faked my death, remember? When my powers manifested, they attracted... the Hunters. The ones I told you about. The Hunters of Aldin. Creatures dedicated to hunting down all fire mages. That's why there are so few of us. They would have hurt my kids unless I died. So I did.
... but why would they hurt your keeds? This makes no sense.
I'm so sorry. That must have been hard.
Yeah. Still is.
Are they fire mages too?
... no. No, they aren't. Thank God for that.
What happened to your wife?
Donna was young. Thirty? Thirty-one? It was cancer that took her. Seems so... mundane, doesn't it? When I think about all the things I've seen since. Just goes to show you don't need magic or monsters for something to be terrible.
Seems Eli's past life didn't go up in smoke as it seemed so before.
So you raised your kids by yourself?
Why is everyone always so surprised when they hear that? Yeah, I raised them both. Got them into a school near my office. We... figured it out.
Julie and Gloria. Tell me about them.
Heh. I DID warn you about asking a dad about his kids, right? Well, here's the cliffnotes version. Gloria married a realtor and moved to Florida. They're both retired now. Julie got bit by the wanderlust bug and it hasn't let go. She hasn't settled down and probably never will. They... turned out fine. Dad or no dad.
You keep tabs on your kids?
Once in a while. I might not be in their lives, but I'm still their father. What kind of dad would I be if I didn't watch out for them?
*smacks lips*
Nevermind about your family. Let's talk about something else.
Yeah, enough talking about the past.
How's Logan fitting in?
He's an impressive guy. He's been out there for almost a year, all by himself. I think he's finally happy to have some backup.
Did you see a blue light fly by?
loight floi boi
Oh, that was KayKay. Turns out we can see her now. Well, sort of.
We can all see KayKay now? How?
how now brown cow?
Because Logan's officially joined the Unavowed. All members of the Unavowed share a spiritual bond, albeit a slight one. Logan and KayKay have a strong spiritual bond. It's what enables him to see and speak to her. Now that we're all linked, we're getting some... spillover, I guess. We can't speak to her, but we can kind of see her.
Any thoughts on our last mission?
Hearing about these geists was bad enough, but I'm REALLY glad I wasn't there to see them. So... thanks for that, I guess.
Anytime.
I'll leave you to it.
Right! See you around.
Sup bois.
[perception]
You guys keep some late hours around here.
I usually pulled the late shift on the force. I'm used to it.
Walking around the city in the dead of night, huh? Not much has changed for you.
NIGHTCRAWLER
Anyway, I was told there'd be a meeting or something? Just let me know when it starts.
No, let's first get to know each other!
I'd like to talk a bit first.
I can do that.
What are you doing with your phone?
You ever hear of Trollgate? Some online game thing. KayKay is... a little obsessed with it. Oh, don't deny it, KayKay, you totally are. You make me play this thing every chance we get. Anyway, that's what I'm doing. Roleplaying a pink troll in a fairy tale land, zapping goblins with magic. Okay, okay, KayKay says they aren't goblins. They're called WHITTIKANS. Yeesh, such a nerd.
Original content, do not steal.
What? You are!
Talking to Logan feels a bit like listening to something talking on the phone on the bus.
There's a ball of light next to you.
That's no ball of light, that's KayKay. Seems you guys can see her? Eli was saying it was because we're all linked now or something. You'd have to ask him. I couldn't understand two words of it.
Could we talk about yourself?
Sure... I guess.
How long have you been a Bestower?
About a year, give or take. One day I got the worst headache of my life. Then KayKay appeared and everything made a lot more sense.
"About a year", and he already knows all the lingo like "Bestower" that took Rosa 4-5 games to figure out.
Things made sense after KayKay appeared?
Yeah, with my brother Jonah. He was a Bestower before me. He'd been acting strange for weeks. Jumping at shadows. Staring at stuff that wasn't there. I begged him to talk to me, but how could he? I wouldn't have believed him. He couldn't handle it. In the end... he took his own life. When he died, I inherited his gift. And KayKay. She explained everything. Jonah wasn't crazy. He never was. And accepting this... gift? It's the only way I can honor him. So here we are.
So aside from being a bestower, you're mundane, like me.
I was never anyone particularly special. And honestly? I'm still not. So am I mundane? Sure. Mundane as mud.
Can I ask you about KayKay?
Is... that okay? She says it's okay.
Why does she bob up and down like that?
The blue light ball keeps doing it.
She says she doesn't know. But honestly? I think she's messing with me.
Why? Because you're ALWAYS messing with me.
What does KayKay look like?
Oh yeah, you only see a ball of light, right? I see a little girl. About ten years old. I... really? You sure it's okay? Well, okay. I have a picture on my phone of what she looked like. You know, when she was alive. She says it's cool if you want to see.
Keeping photos of dead 10-year-olds on your phone, huh?
I'd love to see that picture of KayKay.
Sure, here.
Yep, Blackwell connection confirmed for good.
KayKay was so... young.
I know. She was ten. Just... try not to make a big thing of it, okay?
How did KayKay die?
... Look, you never spoke to a ghost before, so you can't know this. You don't ask a ghost how they died. You just don't. It really upsets them. So... let's not do that, okay?
Fortunately, [forbidden lore: out of character] lets us know the answer. She was smothered by her own crazy mother in her Cleve's bunker in the basement.
Any thoughts on that last mission?
I think I'm just happy to walk more than two feet in any direction. I'm eager to MOVE. You need me to run out for coffee or a pizza or anything? Just say the word.
*produces whip*
See you around, Logan. You too, KayKay.
Talk later. Now, where were we...
Next!
Vicki still being a boozehound.
But now... I know it was just lost. I'm glad Logan's on the team. Nobody deserves that. Nobody.
Any thoughts on that last mission?
It's infuriating. Somewhere in the Gun Hill precinct is some poor cop assigned to the Eddings house case. He'll never solve it. Ever. An unsolved case like that can haunt a cop their entire career. Make them hate themselves. Drive them to drink. I want to drop an anonymous tip in the mail, but what the hell do I say? "A demon did it"? I guess I just have to live with it.
Seems to me like she's overreacting. It's not like there were missing corpses or anything, just a double-murder suicide. Sure, motives might be left unexplained, but the general idea of what happened is as clear as day.
We'll chat later.
Right. Catch ya later, partner.
Kalash, my man!
Unhallowed hall.
More evidence that times are changing.
What do you have against bestowers?
Nothing at all. It is their vocation I have issue with. Bestowers deal with death. Mundane, mortal death. It is messy, fraught with emotion, and rarely pleasant. But... times are changing rapidly. We must adjust in kind. So, shall we start the meeting?
Call the meetung.
Yes. It is time.
The council has convened.
So you met the new guy?
The bestower? Yes, I have. Did I read the report correctly? You battled three poltergiests for two days and survived?
Uhm. I wouldn't call it battling. I just kind of... sat there.
Regardless, anyone else entering that house would have been killed. You being there saved lives.
Well, I was where I needed to be. That's all.
No doubt. HOWEVER. A poltergeist should have never formed in the first place. Let alone three! How did this happen?
Don't blame us for this.
Don't be so sensitive. I'm not blaming anybody.
The demon turned the residents against each other. Then encouraged them to kill each other. Somehow in the midst of all that... nasty, their souls got corrupted. Made them go geist.
But again, we return to our old question. WHY? Why is the demon doing this? To what end? I admit, I am... confused.
Have we exhausted every lead? Spoken to every witness? Is there anybody left?
Well, not for nothing, but I got a ping on those prints from the Village Eye basement.
A... ping. That is good, I assume.
His name was Harry Taylor. 62 years old. Petty thief. Homeless since '09. Dropped off the radar about a year ago. I guess we know what happened to him.
And is this relevant?
I dunno. A name is more than we had before.
Any lead is a good lead. We'll follow it and see where it goes.
I taught you that. Don't say that like you just made it up.
You all know your duty. Report back when you have new information. Meeting adjourned.
wooooosh
Did he just...
Yes.
Time to hit the road again.
Or rather, the subway.
Huh?
Nothing. KayKay wants me to turn on Trollgate, but there's no signal down here.
Kids and screens, right? Gotta set limits.
I dunno about that. I figure if you die, you should be allowed to play as many videogames as you want.
The RPG Codex hell.
Anyway, our last lead is the ghost in the Village Eye basement. With Logan we should be able to check what its problem is. Might as well take Logan and Vicki there.
NORMIE PRIDE WORLDWIDE
Wait what?!
Who is it going to be then, ye codex? Bandana or Eli?