The Gaming Den

Max'll try to find his center again but will stay silent.

Very slowly, Eris unclenches her hands.

"Fine. But I want my girls."

The Siberian looks at Kel. "This will not be a problem."

Kel will turn to the Siberian and nod, "We would prefer to speak to her first, without you and your companions, and be present when you speak to her. The Cam came out here, but it's still our demesne."

Ancient History wrote: "Fine. But I want my girls."

"This will be a problem. They have families who are looking for them. A mass disappearance of this size won't be easy to cover up. You understand. Not even getting into the moral issues. You already had to kill one of them. Trying to control that many ghouls through little more than crash indoctrination, bullying, and blood bond, isn't going to fly, long term. Ties are going to get weaker, not stronger. Resentment will fester. It's not sustainable. If you care about them, then you'll let them go. If they don't try to return to you, then they were never really yours to begin with. And it's better to learn that now than have to clean up the mess later. "

The Siberian moves to say something, but is cut off by the arrival of a small helicopter, which hovers about ten feet off the ground. Suzanne and Hermes drop from it onto the parking lot, landing on their feet like cats. Then the helicopter takes off.

"Did I miss anything?" Suzanne says.

"The Gorgoneion has...accepted our invitation." The Siberian says. "With a small concession."

Cornrows takes that moment to break away, running to Eris' side, tears running down her face, black lines of running mascara. The vampire gives the ghoul a motherly hug.

Verge makes a compromise offer. He'll get them out of jail and walk them though officially withdrawing from classes and dealing with their families. All i will be dotted and ts will be crossed. Rosa's death provides them with plenty of motive to take a temporary sabbatical. They need time to process their grief. Once that is handled we can provide transportation to whatever location is most convenient, preferably far away from Alaska.

Ok, at this point, clarification is needed. Are we just letting her go, or is she joining the coterie/staying here, what?

She (and the women) would be leaving with the Siberian ASAP.

Quiet Endings
With Eris' surrender - or really, her acceptance of the Camarilla's offer - the tension diffuses. Hands ease off triggers and grenades, secret weapons rest quietly back into their hiding places, and the whole party moves, eventually, back to Elysium, where matters are hashed out. Suzanne, playing up her role as nominal Prince of the City, handles the negotiations - including places the hacker-ghosts under the control of Seth, the release of Eris' "daughters" - with an appropriate cover story - and as a sort of bonus, $10 million dollars in reparations from the Camarilla for damages and services rendered.

There are questions unanswered; Eris remains tight-lipped about many of her actions in the city, and the Siberian and Hermes are unwilling to press the point - her "extradition" back to the major Camarilla stronghold of Chicago for formal induction and interrogation is to happen as soon as possible. Empty promises are made to supply any answers that are forthcoming, but you don't need truth-verifying Disciplines to see through such thin lies. Within a few hours, Eris and all the problems she brought to the city are on a private jet.

The evening wanes and the last stars fade as the various members of Juneau's castle return to the comfort of their own havens. There are other issues still to sort out: Tibiru and his young childe; the itinerant Memphis, who is due to leave soon if he doesn't overstay his welcome; and the old Gangrel, Tracker, half-mad with hunger and nearly consumed by the Beast, who still waits for Kel...

...but these are problems for another night. For now, as the sun shines in the world above, the Kindred of Juneau sleep easy, knowing they have passed the first major test of their supremacy of the city...and they did so without resorting to fang and claw, as the youngest Kindred can, but through veiled threats and diplomacy, as befits the actions of Elders. Certainly, it was a challenge, and they learned much about the weaknesses in their systems - and how to better control their city. Such lessons will undoubtedly prove valuable in the nights ahead...