Children of The Divine (IC)

[Jay 2K Winger]

Location: New Orleans

It would be just outside the door to the building when Hassan walked outside that he would be greeted with a cheerful, "Kon'nichiwa, Hassan."

Waiting for him was a young woman of Japanese descent, and one who clearly fell into the whole 'goth' subculture in terms of appearance. Her skin was unusually pale for her race, her clothing black, and even her make-up added to the look. Intricate tattoos of Eastern dragons and other Oriental artwork crawl up her arms. The familiar twinge of a scion would be noticeable as well as he saw her.

Doubtless he would recognize her as well. Shinihime Raiko-- "Ko-shi" as she was more generally known-- was of a similar Divine background. While not of the Egyptian Divinity, Ko-shi's Divine mother, Izanami, was the Amatsu-kami of the Underworld, which made her... sort of kin. Albeit much younger.

"Got a few minutes?"

[Naamah]

Location: Pyke Brands, Conference Room

"I might just be a suspicious Mister Twisty, but I doubt either would have the Heart." Aiden nibbles his lip. "I'd either keep it on me, or toss it in a box full of audit paperwork in the back of a dusty warehouse. However, since neither of those options seem available, let's go for the gold medal and see what secrets they've got. I say the SCIF."

[Chanlin]

Pyke Brands

Fiona gives a slight shrug, "They don't call it a sensitive compartmented information facility for nothing." Assuming the others give her odd looks at this she throws up her hands, "What, I read... now and then."

Emmett just shakes his head, "I would have to agree, that seems like the more likely place. Which is probably why it isn't there. But we should at least check it out anyway. We may learn exactly what they are intending to do."

[Jay 2K Winger]

Gunnar Forson's Estate, Dining Room

Forson smiles and nods, gesturing for the three to have a seat. "Do try the pheasant," he indicates another roasted bird on the table. There's pheasant, a turkey, ham... There are plenty of warm, steaming side dishes and vegetables as well. Bottles of wine and cold pitchers of water are available. Forson takes another few bites, utterly at ease, while the thrall beside him just stares fixedly at the team without eating. Johnny hesitates, but he does help himself to some turkey.

After a few moments, the jotun lifts his napkin and wipes his lips again. "Let me see if I have this straight. Mr. Mercury, of course, I recognize. I'm a big fan of your films." Johnny's lips twitch with a somewhat gratified smile, but he sobers. "And Mike 'The Wolf' Hammer, too, glad to meet the champ." There's the briefest of pauses before Forson gives another smile. "Or am I speaking with Lupo Virtus, and not the champ?" Then his gaze turns to Jack. "You, I'll admit, I don't immediately recognize your face, but I'm given to understand you are Jack Childs."

The jotun's gaze passes from Jack to the door to the next room which Jack had been staring at previously, but he makes a dismissive gesture. "You needn't worry about being attacked. You are my guests, I extend my hospitality to you. Anyone who violates it by attacking you would find themselves the enemies of the jotnar." This is said in a somewhat raised voice, clearly meant to carry into the next room. Forson looks back to the team. "However, anyone else in my estate should be considered under to be enjoying my hospitality as well."

He takes a sip of his wine, then says, as he tucks into his food again, "You have come looking for the Heart of Winter, haven't you?"

Pyke Brands HQ, Conference Room

Selene nods. "SCIF it is, then." She pulls out a smart phone and taps a few things into it, then hands it to Aiden. "I'll stay here, work on cracking their firewalls and servers. Solomon can keep an eye out for me. You get to the SCIF and look for the Heart. The phone has a remote app for me to work through in case there are any electronic locks the key-card won't get you through." She then gives a quick summary of how to get to the SCIF from the conference room. Down a hallway and a couple of turns until coming to the vault door.

Fortuitously, the SCIF door's combination lock has already been unlocked, and all that is required is waving the card at a magnetic reader. The door clicks open and the team can head inside.

Within the SCIF is what looks like a combination of a test kitchen and a chemistry lab. This may be where some of Pyke Brands' best-selling drinks and products were cooked up. On the far side of the room is a tall blond woman in a lab coat. Her back is to the team at first, but she turns from a computer screen to a series of test tubes in which she is mixing various fluids, staring into the bubbling liquids a few moments, then tapping something into a tablet of her own.

Fiona might recognize her as the woman who opened the "rainbow gate" that Susana Ishii had escaped through in Vegas. Aiden would recognize her as the "Gendo-wannabe" from his Past-watch vision.

She looks up as they enter, then turns back to her work with obvious disinterest.

[Mytical]

"Only time I let Mike out to play is when it comes to the media or boxing. Rest of the time I am Lupo." Lupo sits easily. Though he likes a good fight, he would rather not attack anybody without provocation or need. He is relaxed, but refuses any food or drink...or just about anything else offered by the host. He is polite about his refusal, however. "Honestly I don't give a rats behind about the heart of winter, or the brain of summer for that matter. If you know so much about me, you know I am all about the fight..all about the challenge."

[Scorpodael]

Jack sits down at the table, and takes a rather large slice of ham, and one of the bottles of wine... but the very first thing he tries is the salt, for some reason. "I don't actually give half a damn about the Heart itself- it's the Season of Fire and Ice that I'd quite like to prevent. There's a few things I admit to being curious about, though... The identities of the folks in the next room being quite high on the list, but... Tell me about Pyke Brands, won't you? Even if it's simply a front for titanic activity, surely you take some pride in it, aye?"

[Naamah]

Location: Pyke Brands, SCIF room

Previously, in Aiden's pastsight vision...

"It may be them," another woman interrupts, this one wearing glasses which almost seem to glow from the reflected light of her computer. She has her hands folded in front of her face, but it isn't clear if she's watching the room or the monitor. "But what isn't clear is how they play into all of this. They may yet be useful. Maybe even allies."

Something pricks at him when he looks at the woman. Perhaps more unsettling is how she entirely dismisses their existence.

He walks carefully along the walls, keeping his distance, looking for some kind of container that might hold the Heart.

[Chanlin]

Pyke SCIF Room

Emmett tenses when they see the woman, but relaxes when she casually dismisses them. He takes a moment to use his Soul Gaze on her.

Fiona for her part doesn't even flinch when they see the woman. "Well this looks fun."

Emmett keeping his eyes on the woman notes, "Guessing by her lack of reaction she isn't expecting us to make it out of here, or there isn't anything important here."

[Jay 2K Winger]

Gunnar Forson's Estate - Dining Room (Johnny, Jack, Lupo - Gunnar Forson, Thrall)

The food that Jack eats is good, well-cooked and seasoned, no poisons or other surprises. Forson takes Lupo's polite refusal of food and drink in stride. "As you like," he says, when the fighter declines an offer. "It's a shame to let it all go to waste, but if you don't mind, I certainly will keep indulging." And he helps himself to come more duck. As Jack and Lupo both state they're uninterested in the Heart, the jotun chuckles. "Interesting. I imagine your friends are hoping to find it at our offices in Denver, then." He sighs for a moment. "I do hope that Ms. Ishii does not make as much of a mess as she did at the Palazzo last night."

Johnny starts at this, pulling out his phone, but he very quickly realizes that it has no signal. Forson looks at him. "Forgive me, but while I am allowing you to be my guests, I cannot allow you to make any calls just yet."

Turning back to Jack, Forson continues, "As to the people in the next room, they are also my guests. Allies as well. However, they have asked me not to divulge anything about their identities, and as a gracious host, I must abide."

To the question about Pyke Brands, he grins. "Pyke Brands is my pride and joy. Of course, many of the others of my..." he pauses as he thinks of a word for his fellow Titanspawn, gesturing vaguely with his fork, "...brethren, for lack of a better term, have their own companies of sorts, but alas, many of my jotnar kin are somewhat stodgy and set in their ways." He clicks his tongue as he cuts another mouthful of meat and takes a bite. "I, on the other hand, have embraced these modern times." He indicates the estate at large. "Obviously, I've done well. While my brethren use their companies to look for ways to undermine your 'Divinity,'" and he does make air-quotes with his fingers, "I'm just a businessman. Making food and drink that sell very well. True, a portion of my profits go to funding my kin's efforts here in the world, but I'm nothing if not charitable."

And when he mentions 'charitable,' Forson indicates some pictures and awards decorating the walls of the dining room. Him shaking hands with the President, posing with various religious figures and charity organization heads, along with the awards from his charitable work.

Forson finishes his plateful of food. "If none of you care about reclaiming the Heart of Winter, then what, if I may ask, are you doing sneaking into my estate?"

Johnny glances at the other two, then says, "Well they may not care, but I do. The jotnar are planning to use it to summon this 'Jotunhammer' thing and kick-start Fimbulvetr, aren't they?"

Forson shrugs. "Naturally. We've been preparing for the end-times since time immemorial. We have any number of plans to try to start Ragnarok. This is just the latest one." He smiles at Lupo. "If you want the Heart back, I'm willing to part with it. But why don't we make it a challenge, eh?"

Pyke Brands HQ - SCIF Lab (Aiden, Emmett, Fiona - Quisling Scientist)

Emmett's Soul Gaze would see that this woman is almost wreathed in rainbow light, but she is a very cold, unfeeling person. It is, if one will pardon the pun, a bit chilling. She has no concern for anyone's objections or opinions unless she deigns to notice them. Aiden, meanwhile, feels a definite need to be wary about her. Something just in their Divine heritage clashes against one another.

When Emmett makes his note about her lack of reaction, she speaks without looking up. She has a very dry tone, flat and cool and nigh-unemotional. "Both, I'm afraid." She examines the test tubes again, then takes a pipette and adds a drop of some other fluid to one of the tubes. The liquid within turns red and starts to bubble vigorously. She nods and makes a note on her tablet.

"If you've come looking for the Heart of Winter," the woman continues, turning to her computer again, "it is not here. By now, Utgard-Loki has bestowed it to Gunnar Forson as a reward for his service."

There's some noise from somewhere in the halls, shouting and a gunshot. Then a voice shouts from behind the team: "Agatha!" a woman screams in fury. "Hoffman and Becker are here! They did something to Matt, we've been compromised--" The voice cuts off, and the team would see Susana Ishii, wearing loose-fitting trousers and a blouse, standing there. There's a bit of surprise on her face, but this fades into the hard expression of someone about ready to commit some violence.

"Try to keep the collateral damage to a minimum, Susana," 'Ag' says, swiveling around and skewering Aiden with a piercing gaze. "Do stop skulking around as if I can't see you, Mr. Mistel," she says, with the harmonics of that teacher every student has had who never lets you get away with anything.

[Scorpodael]

Jack narrows his eyes slightly, raising one finger. "I care about getting the Heart of winter... but I don't care about what happens to it. The thing's just a hunk of rock with no intrinsic value beyond being a tool to bring on Fimbulvetr- Which I would quite like to stop." He clarifies his position on the stone, and looks at the door. "Well, let's see. If you're not going to tell us who's beyond that door, why don't I just have a little guess? Take a stab at it, if you will." He says, reaching down to his knife, and taking it out... and uses it to start cutting the ham rather more swiftly than he could with the cutlery provided. "That is, if it doesn't ruin the game you propose."

[Naamah]

Aiden considers putting a hand up and saying that he'd only drugged Mattieu, but the holyshit crazy eyes of the Japanese woman are a very convincing reason for him to not address her, not bring her attention anywhere near him.

He starts a little at Agatha's sudden gaze. "Um. I wasn't expecting you not to see me, Aggie. I was just hoping you'd be too cool to care. I mean, I'm pretty sure you're on the wrong side of this little dance." He moves closer to her - putting the table between the two hot-blooded women and himself. "Does your father know you're here?"

[Mytical]

Lupo nods to Jack. "Do not mistake me, my allies care about the Heart..and I want to retrieve it for them..but I personally have no interest in it. If my friend Jack there asked me to, I'd reach over and remove your heart..or at least attempt to. It would not be personal, just business." he shrugs. "If a game or challenge will settle this, I am all for it. As there is one thing I do care about other then the fight. Stopping my vision from coming to pass." he leans in, his intention and meaning with the next saying clear. "To that end, whatever is necessary, is what I will do. My conscious, or what passes for it, would be clear."

[Chanlin]

Pyke Brands: SCIF Room

Emmett turns slightly so that he can see Ag and Susana and raises his hands slightly, "Now, now, there's no need for this to erupt into..." but before he can finish his statement...

Fiona upon seeing Susana drops the illusion on her staff/skateboard and without any preamble charges Susana with the intent of using her staff to sweep Su's feet out from under her.

... Emmett finishes what he has to say about the time the two would meet, "... violence." He face palms and sighs at the same time.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Gunnar Forson's Estate - Dining Room (Johnny, Jack, Lupo - Gunnar Forson, thrall)

Forson nods to Jack as he clarifies things and then offers to guess about the identities of the scions in the next room. "It won't disrupt anything. By all means, speculate away." He chuckles a bit. "Though trying to stop the Fimbulvetr is something that, sadly, won't be happening."

To Lupo, Forson gives him another smile. "You can certainly attempt to do so. I'd warn you, however, that I'm over four centuries old, which makes me quite powerful among the jotnar." He chuckles. "We jotnar only get stronger with age." He shrugs. "But you might not make it to me to remove my heart. Klaus here would stop you." He nods to the thrall, whose chilly gaze swivels to fixate on Lupo. "But! You're up for some challenges! Excellent."

He puts his cutlery down and clears some plates from the table. As he does so, Klaus rises and stands beside his master, who reseats himself on one side of the table, putting one muscular arm out in a familiar pose. "Why don't we start with a simple arm-wrestling contest? We giants pride ourselves on our strength, after all."

Pyke Brands HQ - SCIF Lab

"The name," the scientist says coldly, "is Agatha. Doctor Agatha Riggs. By the time I came of age, I'd earned my first PhD. Two years ago, I had my third PhD by the age of twenty-three. I notice everything. I certainly notice your little efforts to try to get under my skin. Let me tell you this so you don't waste your time: you can't make me angry." And she does very much comport herself well, betraying little emotion, not even letting it get a foothold. "As for 'wrong' or 'right' sides, that, as ever, is a matter of perspective. I wouldn't expect a child like you to understand my rationale for the decisions I make."

When he asks if her father knows she's here, she arches one pale blond eyebrow. "Does yours?"

When Fiona charges Susana, the Japanese woman reaches back and grasps what seems like the air, until she suddenly draws her sword, at which point the blade and scabbard both become visible. She slides back into a martial stance, and unlike the battle in Vegas, she pulls the scabbard around to block Fiona's staff-swing, then thrusts her sword forward, aiming for her chest. As the fight continues, both women would find that the hallway somewhat restricts their movements.

While this is going on, Agatha turns her attention to Emmett. "No need for it," she agrees. "But, regrettably, it always does. Still, omelets and eggs." She makes a few keystrokes on the computer, which is going through some manner of back-up routine after she finishes. "I do hope you enjoy explaining your presence here to the local authorities. The police have been called."

[Chanlin]

Pyke Brans, Running Like Hell?
Emmett frowns but takes the threat for what it is and briskly shouts, "Fi, Time to go!" And starts making his way toward the nearest way out. He is assuming of course that Aiden is inclined to agree with and follow him.

Fiona would use the staff end that has just been blocked and the resulting momentum and leverage of the swing to push and twist herself just enough to the side to avoid a lethal strike, but not necessarily a wound. At the same time she continues to step forward trying to get into an extremely close range fight and deliver a palm strike to Su's face. (her aim in stepping in is to limit the already limited space and make it impossible for either of them to swing their weapons around effectively since that sword is the most dangerous thing right now)