Cockroach Mansion -- Elder's Office

Salem's office is an extension of the same elegant display of wealth which characterizes the rest of the mansion. Most noticeable, from the doorway in the southern wall, is the large black-veined white marble fireplace taking up half of the northern part of the room, contrasting sharply with the ebony-paneled walls. A rug of forest green carpets the floor from wall to wall, while red velvet frames the wall of windows to the west.

The other decor is typical of the private office of a wealthy, old-world businessmen, from the ponderous mahogany desk along the eastern wall and the equally heavy chairs set before them, to the brass and glass chandelier dangling from the ceiling. A reproduction of Van Gogh's _Starry Night_ hangs above the fireplace, and the bookshelves behind the desk are, so far, nearly empty.

A door at the far end of the office leads into an adjoining bedroom and bathroom. This door is usually kept closed.

Contents:
Salem

Obvious exits:
Out

Natalie knocks a brief rat-a-tat on the door, then pokes her head in without waiting (long) for a reply.

The unobtrusive speakers fill the room with some muted Chopin. The office is empty, the curtains opened wide to show off the view of the grounds, and the door to the bedroom is open. That's where Salem is, busy amidst some half-packed cardboard boxes. He looks up from a notebook he's flipping through, then gives the Galliard a nod. "Morning."

"Morning," she agrees soberly, stepping all the way into the room and half-closing the door behind her. "You have time to talk? I've got a couple things that've come up, and I really need your advice. Well, one I need advice on, the other I need a Philodox."

Salem nods. "Time, I have." He gets up from where he was kneeling on the floor and stretches. "By the way, you should be able to move in here by the end of the week. If not sooner. Going to have most of this stored anyway." He eyes the collection of stuff wryly. He's certainly not a packrat; in fact there's precious little being packed, considering he's been in town for years.

Natalie says, "I will... or Leala will. That's the first thing. She came out of... wherever yesterday, got... well. We both were a little hot under the collar. Suffice it to say, she's challenged me for Elder. You know her better than I do: is it in the Tribe's best interest to have her be Elder? If it is, I'm willing to step aside. I didn't want it in the first place."

Salem arches an eyebrow, then frowns. "Leala goes to Sept moots, helped Jeremy kidnap Joshua, and most recently helped him plant bugs on that Russian's house. She's never, in all the time I've known her, done anything that I could consider... elder-ish."

Natalie grimaces and stuffs her hands in her pockets. "Damn. Well, then: if she were Challenging you for Elder, what would you have her do? Or... hey." A thought strikes her; she pushes off the wall and starts to pace up and down in front of the desk. "How about this for a Challenge. We were saying we needed a Ragabash we could trust to trail one of those Russians. Have her do it, and... I dunno, she needs to come up with useful information we didn't already know. What do you think?"

Salem's eyes narrow. "Considering how little she's been involved in the day to day activities of the tribe, I'd do more. She wants to lead... she should show that she can."

Natalie's silent for a full 'up and back'. "Come up with useful information, a plan to deal with 'em, and implement it? I dunno, that almost seems like too much. Or maybe," she adds with a wry snort, "I just want a slice of that pie."

Salem shrugs. "If she really wants it, she'll at least try. If she's suited to the job, she'll succeed. New as you are here, I think you'd be a better elder."

Natalie's immediate answer is a nod, and more pacing. "Right. Thank you. All right, Philodox thing. I've been trying to decide if I went overboard, number one, and number two, if you're the right one to approach. You already know some of the backstory, and this isn't really a Megan-as-Sept-Alpha thing, I don't think." She stops near the fireplace, turns to face him. "Joshua. Right now I'm seriously considering seeing if there's a way to boot him from the Tribe. Bas... He hasn't yet - that I know of - tried to approach me to apologize. 'Course, it's a full moon; he..." She closes her lips over whatever she was going to add and smiles tightly.

Salem moves out from the bedroom into the office and takes a seat... in front of the desk, not behind it as usual. The elder's chair, such as it is, remains open and empty. "I met with Joshua last night at the park. The problem is not that he hangs about in lupus. Cat does the same, if you haven't noticed. The problem is that although now he's committed to working within the city, he doesn't love it. He prefers the forests." He stretches his legs, then props one foot on the opposite knee. "I told him that a Glass Walker who'd rather be in the woods is like a Red Talon who'd rather be in the city. That it won't work. He'll make a decision and, I believe, leave on his own."

Natalie nods again and turns to study the veining of the marble, clearly letting the words sink in. "...All right. No, I haven't noticed Cat - seems wherever I am, he isn't. And it's not so much that Josh is in lupus all the time but that he -doesn't- act like a Walker. I'm... I don't wanna drive him off - when I can manage to think clearly about him, that is - but if he doesn't change his attitude I don't want him around. I don't feel like he knows what Tribe is. It's like he's... he's disconnected from it. Like he's just here," she flicks her free hand at the office walls, "because he thinks he has to be."

Salem nods, then exhales a sigh, rubbing at his eyes. "Yes, well... I suppose that's as much my fault as anything. Little bastard was such a mess, resisting us at every turn... then this damned inner wolf thing. The one time I did try to sit down and talk seriously to him, he got sulky and... it ended poorly." He grimaces, nose wrinkling, and shakes his head. "And, yet, previous cubs have turned out just fine. They just... understood. The tribe was in their blood, their spirit. Joshua might have been kinfetched as a Glass Walker, but I don't think he really is. Despite his knowledge of computers and such."

Natalie drums her fingers on the mantle for a moment before echoing his sigh. "All right then. As a Philodox, what is your advice? Should I go to him with a list of expectations he needs to follow? Welcome him back, no strings? Leave him alone and wait for him to make the first move?"

Salem's lips thin. "Leave him alone for now. Let him think things over. Give it a few days, but not too much more than that. Then make him decide." His eyebrows rise. "If he decides to stay, then give him the list of expectations. But if he decides to leave... keep it amiable. He won't be family, but he could still be an asset. Like Signe or Alicia."

Jeremy pages to Salem and Natalie: The front doors open an slam, followed by Jeremy calling out. "Salem!?"

Natalie snorts. "Those assets I'm happy to have on the..." She turns at Jer's call, glancing back at the Philodox. "Your call. I don't have anything else I needed to bring up."

Salem's mouth thins. "There's one more thing that I have, but Jeremy could hear it as well. Want me to call him in?"

Natalie crosses to the door and pushes it open in reply. "We're in here, Jer."

Jeremy steps into the office, looking a bit frustrated, his hair windblown and blonde, strewn across his eyes. "Hey." He says, glancing between the pair.

Here stands a young man nearing the age of twenty-one, thin, pale, and not much to look at. When once he was a shy, mild mannered and ignored computer nerd who couldn't weigh much more then a hundred when wet, now stands the exact same person, yet, gothlike. The glasses on his face reveal the pair of blue eyes he bares. His black hair still sprawls out over his face, but no longer dipped in blonde about his bangs, just a solid darkness.

His clothing has changed dramatically as well, having abandoned the button down shirts and slacks, replacing it with baggy dark jeans, a solid black shirt that simply reads: "Chicks dig scrawny pale guys" A long, ankle length trenchcoat billows about his thin frame, nearly cloaking him like a cape. Upon his feet is a pair of heavy steel toed boots, those which travel halfway up his calf. Chains adorn his jeans, three hanging off his wallet, and two more simply embedded into the fabric, jingling and clanking as he walks. To finish off his ungodly apparel, there is a leather collar bound around his neck, with a small metal skull dangling from the end of a steel hoop.

Anthony follows after Jeremy bemusedly, shutting the office door behind him.

Salem is sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk, dressed in sweats. The bedroom beyond the office is in disarray, full of half-packed boxes. Not that there's a great deal to pack. More signs and evidence that the halfmoon Is Not Elder Anymore. Looking up, he gives Tony and Jeremy a nod.

Natalie was at the door, but retreats to stand near the fireplace. She tucks her fingers into her front pockets, leaving her thumbs free. "Hey Tony - didn't see you out there. What's up, Jer?"

"You guys know that Josh is going after Konstan?" Jeremy blurts out. "Dude, he's going to do something stupid... or... something.. you know?"

Salem arches an eyebrow, then leans back in the chair. "Already taken care of." He looks at Natalie. "After I finished talking to Joshua, we ran into Konstantin."

Natalie doesn't comment on Josh's possible mental acuity, just contents herself with a pair of raised eyebrows and an encouraging, "Ah?"

Jeremy blinks his eyes a bit, then lets out a frustrated grunt, eyes staring up at the ceiling silently.

"Really? Already?" Tony asks curiously, folding his arms and taking a couple steps towards the desk.

Salem folds his arms across his chest. "He's still a smarmy little fuck and my gut tells me he's hiding something... and that he has a lot to hide. He was evasive and smug." He scowls. "I told him that he needed to give a full report... how he got tainted and everything he's done in relation to the Russians, and that if he doesn't give it to me or Natalie by the end of the week, we'll hunt him down and force it out of him." His gaze has travelled to the other two while speaking, but he focusses on Natalie again. "If I'm not home when he comes by, call me... or someone else with Truth of Gaia. The gift's not perfect, but it should catch some of his lies... if he does lie. And I think he will."

"Do you think he is leaking information about us? Maybe they are using some brainwashing bullshit on him?" Jeremy asks. "I mean.. they know shit about us that is deep. Hell.. knowing about Alicia and Tom is way out there. He is practically a ghost since he is a Doctor outside of Claire's, and Lisha.. well... you know why she hasn't been around." He frowns some, shaking his head. "They attacked you, Cutter and Rina. I think Kon is flapping his lips. You shoulda took him in last night and beat the information out of him."

"Definitely," Nat promises Salem before looking to the others. "Jer, chill. That's a possibility, but we gotta give him a chance to prove he's all right, right? He comes in, meek as a lamb, and tells us everything, that's one thing. He doesn't, and we have to hunt him down? That tells us another. Plus there's a third option: he's not leaking secrets on purpose. Now - when'd you hear about Josh wanting to hunt Konstantin? We still have to worry about that, or no?"

"Didn't say he was going to hurt him, just hunt 'em down." Jermey says with a huff. "I was afraid he'd do something way out there."

Salem grunts. "Well, he was quite restrained last night. Of course, he had a lot to think about." He smiles thinly.

"I don't think they'd have, like, brainwashed Konstantin 'cause how would they've known that... I mean, uh... how would they've known that he knows what he knows?" Tony muses, none too clearly.

Natalie says, "Interesting idea, Tony. Expand? What're you thinking?"

Jeremy tilts his head some, curious. "You saying... how do they know he was a Garou an had dirt on us?"

"Well, uh, if they knew Konstantin was Garou, wouldn't they've just killed him, 'cause they think they're like demons or something?" Tony pauses. "What tribe's Konstantin in? And Cutter?"

"Cutter and Konstan are both Shadow Lords." Jermey says, furrowing his brows.

Natalie says, "Except - isn't it smarter, if you've got a lead on someone and they don't know you have it, to follow that lead instead of clipping it off? I mean, that's what we're doing - trying to do - with all that spyware, instead of just killing Boris out of hand."

"But how would the Russians know that Konstantin had this lead?" Tony asks in reply. "If they had brainwashed him, wouldn't the hits be a little more, I dunno, random?"

"Our Ragabash," Salem says quietly, "has a good point. I didn't immediately drag Konstantin in because he may indeed have... reasons. But it does all look highly suspicious."

Natalie resumes her pacing, this time along the wall with the fireplace. "Depends. Maybe. What if he accidentally let something slip to them - something to raise suspicions. Then whatever happens to him happens, and poof, they've got a singing Shadow Lord on their hands." She snorts and stops, turning to face the others. "Then again, we're... we're pretty much making this up. It looks like Konstantin's our leak, but we don't have anything to back that up. What's that thing, says to... Occam's razor, that's right. Look for the simplest explanation."

"Well, unless Konstantin happened to make a very specific veil breach while he was in the presence of those guys, I don't see why it's not the simplest explanation..." Tony pauses, suddenly looking disappointed. "But that doesn't explain the whole magic powers thing," he concedes.

Salem steeples his fingers, his expression turning narrow-eyed and thoughtful.

"Wait a minute - magic powers?" Nat shakes her head as if trying to dislodge a fly. "I think I lost something somewhere. Tony, you're saying you don't think Konstantin's the leak, is that it?"

"Nono... the fact the Russian's are able to take bullets and leap over tall buildings and what not." Jeremy explains.

"One of them can, at least," says Salem.

"Well, maybe it's unrelated," Tony considers next. "Or maybe Konstantin went to these guys because they already could do that superhero crap."

Nat says, "We've got two things here, I think. Separate, but related. First, we've got Russians who've watched too many comic books. Second, we have Russians who know who we are, and where we live. I don't think the first has anything to do with Konstantin."

"I think it'd be good to just drag Konstantin in now; if he's not singin' for the Russians, then he'll understand why we needed to take him in, and if he is ... well, then we figured it out," Tony concludes with a nod.

Salem gets up and moves back into the bedroom to continue his packing while the others talk in the office. He keeps an ear open, listening, but doesn't say anything more.

"I'm willing to give him a bit of leeway," the Galliard says, moving toward the others as Salem retreats into his room. "That'll tell us something too. If we drag him in now, all we know is that we dragged him in. But if we haven't heard from him by Saturday, then all bets are off."

Anthony doesn't look quite convinced that waiting is the best option. "What about you, Jeremy? What do you think?"

"This is how I see it." Jeremy says. "Salem went to him once, he didn't give him shit. Salem has now went to him twice... still... nothing..." He trails off. "How much more time do you want to go by, until we are all dead?"

"Saturday," Nat answers flatly. "He's got until Saturday, and then he's coming in whether he wants to or not. Salem gave him until the end of the week, and I'm not going to... trample on Salem's word just because I've got itchy feet. The word of a Glass Walker means something, damn it. If you two want to come along when we bring him in, you're more than welcome. In fact, I'd welcome both of you being in on the planning party of how to take him down."

"Then when you decide to bring him in, let's work out a way of doing it, that doesn't involve bullets, claws and blood. No need to have a scene in the street, you know?" Jeremy says.

Natalie sits on one corner of the desk, spreads her hands. "Suggestions? There's a good old-fashioned kidnapping, only I don't think any of us own a black Caddy with tinted windows. Salem's Yugo just won't have that same... je n'est ce quoi."

Thinking for a moment, Jeremy asks. "We need to talk to Cutter, first, or Jarred. Konstan isn't in our tribe, so we need permission first."

Natalie says, "Give them warning that we're doing it? OK, to play devil's advocate, what's to stop them from telling him and having him light out of town?"

"Cutter's a Shadow Lord, too; why would he want to aid someone that might've had a hand in attacking him?" Tony asks, getting back into the conversation after a pensive lull.

Jeremy tilts his head to the side. "Cutter wouldn't. He's a straight arrow."

Natalie shoots back, "He's a Shadow Lord."

"So was Salem." Jeremy shoots back.

"The less people we talk to about it, the smaller a chance someone'll say something dumb," Tony says. "I don't think we should go around announcing our plans right now..."

Jer's announcement causes Natalie to do a doubletake. "...Was," she manages after a moment's floundering, and a quick glance back at the open bedroom door. "There's a world of difference between is and was. I agree with you, Tony. I don't think we should tell anyone what our plans are, especially considering the big ol' leak we've got going on now. Telling one of them that we're planning something might even be enough to send Konstantin for the hills. It's a damn fine line, but."

Natalie adds, "I might go ask Megan for her opinion - or blessing - as Sept Alpha."

"Well, you know what, call me when you guys wanna work out some plans; I'm gonna go take a walk," Tony declares. "I gotta think about some of this stuff a little more."

"Think all you want - and then come talk to me about it" says Nat as she stands. "You've got until, oh, tomorrow morning to give me more info, and then I'm going to Megan. Inter-tribe kidnapping - or even interrogation - is definitely something she needs to know about beforehand, I think. Oh - and if you want to write in wet concrete, now's your time. If it doesn't rain today it ought to be cured enough by tomorrow night that I can start drilling holes for the frame."

Anthony nods at the deadline, then steps back out of the office.

Jeremy glances over towards Natalie and offers a slight smile. "You know.. without John and Roger, I think we're fucked."

Natalie's face darkens like a cloud drifting over the sun. "Well thank you for that vote of confidence. Anything useful to add?"

"That is useful. Its obvious that they have technological means over us. We either have to find out who they are, and bring the entire Sept in on one smooth, coordinated attack, or be picked off one by one." Jeremy says bluntly, arms crossing over his chest. "One thing Roger taught me, was that you don't sit on pins and needles and wait for them to come to you. Obviously the spy stuff isn't working in the house, so, I suggest we follow this Boris character, or his son, and see where he goes on a daily basis. If Leala is lucky, she would have got snap shots of his day planner or the paperwork inside the files. We need to know where they go, who they are dealing with, and the best time to hit 'em without us being caught off guard."

Natalie says only, "Hmnh. I've got more to say on that, but it's for Leala's ears first. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go grab lunch. My blood sugar's dropping, and it makes me cranky." A flash of teeth and she's heading for the door.

"Pff. If that is what it takes, I"m going to start shoving candy bars down your throat. Maybe I'll see you in a dress or something." Jeremy says, right on her heels with a grin on his face.

[End of log]