A Different Beat

[DerekCase]

Work was terrible that day. It's a losing battle trying to stop Luke Oil from expanding its hold on the city counsel. They'd been caught dumping waste directly into the river twice this year. Their coal plants sprayed dust all over the neighboring homes. This time they were vying to remove alternative fuels from the pumps at local gas stations claiming that it was "unfair" competition. The game was a rigged here, but according to his colleagues, this was the world. Wherever you went, money controlled the decisions.

Devon vented his frustrations into a hanging bag. He'd brought a stand from home. It seemed like the right idea. He was spending all his free time at the park lately. The dull thud of his fists into the leather echoed throughout the woods. The images of the counsel member's faces each taking their turn on the bag, the Luke Oil and Mega-mart defense attorneys taking their turn beneath his hands. The sounds of the forest around him were only a reminder of how fucked up the world out there actually was.

[Gh0st]

Gh0st was wandering around the area aimlessly, studying various statistics and numbers running across his device when he overheard the frustrated working out of Devon.

He approched without regards to the mans potential desire to be left alone, due to lack of any innate sense of social ediquate.


"helLO. whY ARE YOu frustrATED?"

[DerekCase]

The beat grew faster and faster until his arms were a blur before bag. After a few seconds of this, he stopped. He turned to the newcomer, no sweat on his brow, breathing steady, "What is there not to be frustrated about?"

[Gh0st]

He blinked. "frusTRATion IS AN EMOtion born frOM INABILITY TO FIx somETHing, sO YOu musT VENt thAT SOMEOTHer waY. it'S NOt proDUCTIVe. iF THERe's a proBLEM YOu shoULD FIx iT. whaT IS THe probLEM?"

[DerekCase]

"The PROBLEM is," He kicks the bag off the stand, breaking the chain, "this city is corrupt from it's senators to it's lowest meter-maid." He sighs, "No one gives a shit about parks or refuges or the environment or Gaia. It's money. Money changing hands is the only power to these people. Like its going to be off any use when this shit comes crumbling down. All this technology, all the cellphones and tvs and tablets are going to mean squat. When the wyrm tears it's way here, when fomori are flooding the streets, no amount of connections or influence or wealth is going to stop you from dying screaming in your own refuse like the rest of them."

[Gh0st]

Gh0st showed no reaction to the raising of voice, or to the sudden aggression shown. It was of no consequence.

"yES. ANd alL THAt is thE PATTErn anD REALIty. LEAChes. weAVER.. bUT YOu juST HAve tO PLAy bY THe ruLES. DIVERt monEY, MAKe proJECTS THAt heLP PROFItable. leARN THe rulES OF EACh gamE ANd usE THEm tO YOUr adVANTAGE. GAIa's advANTAGE."

[DerekCase]

Devon sits on the bag, bringing his knees up. His voice suddenly much more steady, all serious he said, "No, there is nothing in business or the greedy affairs of men for Gaia. Men are moved by selfishness. Keeping forests standing is not profitable, freeing up bandwidth is not profitable. There is virtually no effort to save this place to stand for nature in comparison to those who would burn it to the ground. There is nothing in this system for Gaia, and playing in it is only harmful. It's a way to the weaver and soon, the wyrm."

[Gh0st]

"too deFEATest." He replied simply. "iT SOUnds aS THOugh yoU GIVe uP ALREAdy. thE BATTle is stiLL BEIng fougHT EVEn if IT's a loSING ONe. piCK YOUr battLES. KEEP FIGHting. i WILL."

[DerekCase]

"There is no giving up. We're garou, and this is who we are." Devon growls, "It is just useless to fight it here, with their laws and their money and their allies. We have to fight it at its source, take out their figureheads, turn the people against those business. Make those in power fear the things in the night. We have to be Gaia's vengeance, not her defendant."

[Gh0st]

"whEN YOu can'T WIn a figHT WIth monEY OR CONTActs, proPERTY DISTRuction, espionaGE ANd assasINATIONs can woRK WEll." Reply's the young teenager.

[DerekCase]

Determination in his eyes, "Then thats what we're going to do."

[Gh0st]

Gh0st nodded absently, pulling out his cell phone and loading up some programs. He activated a program he had loaded on an SD card (Gnosis challenge: 1 Rock > 12 Scissors) to give himself the equivalent of edict memory, helping him work and recall his areas of influence and contacts.

His fingers rapidly flew across his keypad while he spoke idly. "I caN ARRANge foR SOMe of mY contACT IN THE UNDERworld to taKE OUT THe ceO OF A COMPANy yoU HAVE IN MINd. BY USING MEDIa to grandizE IT'S IMPACt on the strengtH OF THe buisneSS, we caN DRIVe thE STOCk pricES INTO THe grounD. THe RESULT WILL Be makiNG IT PRIME FOr hostilE TAKEoveR iF YOu have influENCE IN BUISNESs or FINACE To moVE ON IT."

[DerekCase]

Devon had stood up the bag. He plucked a blade a grass and drew within himself. Even in homid, a garou was aware of its spirit self. He touched that part of the spirit of man that urges it to shape and create new structures from the chaos about it, to bring order and purpose to a wild world, and the leaf in his hand grew circular and strong. He held it to the links on the bag and stand, and it grew to replace the missing link. He tested, the bag, satisfied with it's strength and began striking it again.

Ghost speaks up, and Devon stops suddenly. "It won't work that simply or the Glasswalkers would have done so already. There are powerful spirits, both wyrm and weaver with interests in corporations like Luke Oil. Even their servers are host to beings that wish to protect them and corrupt them. There are vested interests here, both spiritual and physical. Mages that align with with companies plans, leeches that hold sway of executives, underworld or otherwise."

Devon stepped up to the newcomer. His eyes were empty, his heart almost completely still. His blood pressure dropped tremendously and the muscles under his shirt bulged. Had either of them been in the spirit realm, they'd have noticed the small spider that guarded him retreat into the umbral ground. In a voice entirely devoid of life, Devon toned, "You listen, Cliath. You do anything, and I mean ANYthing like that without permission first from your elders, and I will personally end you. That is exactly why Pentex has a presence in Louisville, why the leeches have flooded our city, and why the IROQUOIS CAERN FELL."

Devon, in an instant, was gone.

[Gh0st]

There was no reaction from Gh0st. He simply closed down his programs and put it away. Indignation? Pride issues? Rage? Depression? Rejection? All of these were lost on him. He had made a suggestion, it had been denied. Devon flipping out wasn't something that had been required, as the implications of it were lost on Gh0st. He was told no, and that's all that was needed. All the extraneous emotions were over his head. He wandered off, simply internalizing the message to ask permission before having anyone killed. If spiritual and super natural ties were force-fields around their physical holdings and connections, he would become adept at lowering those shields. Problem identified, solution created. Steps towards solution in motion. Analyzing success rate and optimal path of growth...

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