[Sodium_noir] Red Squared: Neon City Friday Afternoon

[Jennie Teakle]

Carlito's Cafe, Neon City
3.45pm

Aurora, Christine
Dreamspeaker, Orphan

The coffee, like cafe/bar owner, Carlito, turns out to be Puerto
Rican. Carlito's is two streets down from Raindogs and has a narrow,
wedge-shaped shop floor with the bar counter running lengthways. The
red and white floor tiles are worn but clean, as are the rickety red
and black lacquered cane tables and chairs.

Aurora and Christine sit at one of these tables, the only current
patrons. Carlito sits and reads a novel at the other end of the
counter so it feels like they have the place to themselves.

"So, if I have this right, your 'faction' are most interested in the
spirit world?" says Christine quietly.

Aurora nods, "We loosly call ourselves 'Dreamspeakers', but each of us
usually has our name for ourselves."

Christine hesitates briefly then fishes in her pocket and draws out a
smooth black object that seems to absorb light in a faintly
disquieting way. She puts it down on the table in front of her coffee
cup. "This comes from some old statue that was tied up with blood
sacrifice. Apparently I can use it to see spirits and some other, I
dunno, invisible beings."

Christine drags her gaze off the shard of obsidian and wraps both
hands around her coffee cup. She looks at Aurora over its rim. "Not
sure it's a good idea to touch it. Remember that guy Panic from last
night? The owner of the Chaste Dragon? He treated it like it was
radioactive."

With that information Aurora treats the black rock splinter with
respect, but she does cup her hand over it, though not directly
touching it.

What has she started humming? Hide me under a bushel?

Aurora opens her senses and understands that the shard is pure
obsidian and has clearly been shaped by human hand although one edge
is jagged, evidence that this finger of black volcanic glass has been
broken off from a larger worked object. It has no life presence but it
does have a strong connection to the spirit realm. Almost like a lens,
or a window, it is capable of granting clear access to the invisible
world. Aurora is not entirely sure exactly how powerful that access is
but there is an intensity about the object that makes her feel that
more that just a view into the spirit plane is offered. However, the
prime signature has dark and malevolent overtones - a bloody history?
It's 'aura' is in a state of continuous flux and is threaded with
similar patterns to those that surface in Christine's aura. Although,
which is influencing which is hard to tell. Either Christine is
developing a similar resonance as the obsidian fragment or it is
becoming patterned by hers.

Christine watches Aurora intently, trying to work out what she is
doing. She can feel an odd buzz in her ears and a faint tension
headache is developing between her eyes. Feels like someone is trying
to bore into her brain with a tiny hot wire. For a second it seems
like a heavy, dark curtain is being parted slightly and beyond it a
glow of luminous trails, that as her sight accustoms, are meaningful
patterns, shapes, words. At the point at which Christine realises she
can see through the weird illuminations into another dimension, her
view is blocked by a rearing shadow in the shape of a giant, black
snake. The slow swing of it's flat head and the murderous glitter of
black bead eyes and stilletto fangs makes Christine cry out in sudden
fear. She pushes Aurora's hovering hand brusquely away from the
obsidian shard.

"Stop!" she says urgently. Then as calmly as possible she adds, "Look
. . . sorry. But whatever you're doing isn't all that . . . safe."

Aurora frowns with concentration. What is it? Why is it's spirit so
tainted? Could it hurt her? Could it hurt Christine?

She looks to Christine and abruptly it stops.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I was trying to gain an understanding of it.
It's obviously very significant to you. My main question is how, and
then perhaps I can understand it and what you're going through better.
Each individual journey is too unique to make generalizations."

Christine looks at Aurora. She wonders how much to tell her. Christine
hasn't mentioned her vampire connections yet or anything about being a
ghoul. Ex ghoul. Whatever. Neither Bellamy nor Panic had looked down
on her for that but Panic had indicated that other mages might.
Christine would prefer to know more about Aurora before she told all
her secrets.

"I think this little bit of rock is what got me into all this Fate and
Fortune stuff. Maybe." Christine smiles sketchily. "But it also helps
me see, I dunno, lil demons and . . . ghosts. At least I think it can.
And actually, that would be pretty useful right now. See, I've been
looking for someone who can see ghosts and talk to them. Or, maybe,
someone who can show *me* how to do that."

Christine smiles again, crookedly. It's not really an accident that
she has brought Aurora so close to Market Street. Nor that the
conversation has come round to the spirit sphere.

"Got a little ghost problem," she says casually. "Any chance you can  
help?"

Aurora nods, thoughtfully. "Generally we call these 'focus' or plural
'foci' pretty much anything that can help us 'focus' our concentration
on the task that we want to complete. Like how you found me singing
and dancing at the Temple," she explains.

"I would be more than happy to help you and your spirit friend,
however. How did you come to meet it? And we can also see if you have
the spark to see such as well, through some trial and error, of
course. Otherwise, with some time, I can teach you, though it'd be my
way of doing things... if that'd be all right."

Christine shrugs. "Sure," she says. "No harm in trying, right?"



TBC 
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