Meeting of the Minds ((RP for
cannotbetraced))
Sep. 3rd, 2007 02:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Wesley's email to Logan had been terse, but the particulars, he felt, were a little too sensitive to discuss openly.
And so Wesley found himself in a bar once more, though one slightly more upscale than the demon-run or vampire-frequented establishments of his usual haunts. It wouldn't have done to ask someone like Logan, so uninitiated, to risk such a location. And so, it was a quiet and dark hotel lounge, but one that was sure to provide enough cover for what was sure to be an unusual conversation.
From: Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
To: Logan Cale
Priority: High
Security: High
Subject: A favour
Logan,
I was wondering if I couldn't interest you in that drink and collaboration you mentioned. I'm in the Northern California area on business, so I hope that's sufficiently in the middle for us to meet.
Sincerely,
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce
And so Wesley found himself in a bar once more, though one slightly more upscale than the demon-run or vampire-frequented establishments of his usual haunts. It wouldn't have done to ask someone like Logan, so uninitiated, to risk such a location. And so, it was a quiet and dark hotel lounge, but one that was sure to provide enough cover for what was sure to be an unusual conversation.
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Date: 2007-09-03 05:25 pm (UTC)He pulled into the parking lot of the hotel Wesley had mentioned, assembled the chair, and went inside, leaving the rest of his things in the car. He could check in later, if he wanted to crash.
The hotel lounge was dark and quiet, not particularly crowded, and upscale enough to be accessible. It didn't take long for him to spot a tall, brown-haired man who looked vaguely familiar. Logan smiled, pushed his glasses up, and approached him. "Wesley?"
[OOC: Is Wesley at the bar or a table/booth? Also, yay! This is going to be fun.]
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Date: 2007-09-04 06:12 pm (UTC)Wesley had chosen a table well in the less brightly-lit corner of the bar, and in consideration of his guest, had pushed one of the chairs aside to leave room for Logan's chair. He looked up as he heard the man enter and raised his hand a few inches to pull his attention. Wesley nodded and extended his hand.
"At your service," he replied. "It's good to finally meet you, Mr. Cale. Please order anything you like. I trust the trip down here was all right?"
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Date: 2007-09-05 02:12 am (UTC)At Wesley's nod, Logan pushed his chair up to the table and set the brakes. "Hi," he said, giving him a firm handshake. "It's good to meet you, too. And please, call me Logan."
He nodded his thanks about ordering what he wanted and glanced towards the bar, wondering if this was a 'go to the bar and get your drink' sort of lounge, or if they came and took your order. If it seemed to be the former, which would be kind of problematic, he figured he'd wait awhile.
"Yeah, the trip down was fine," he replied. "Surprisingly little traffic. How about yours? Have you been here long?"
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Date: 2007-09-06 04:38 pm (UTC)"Good, good. My trip was unventful, which is always good news," he replied, taking a long sip of the scotch. "I've only been in town a few hours, looking up an old contact or two and reestablishing those relationships."
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Date: 2007-09-07 03:02 am (UTC)"Uneventful trips are good," he agreed. "Though, given what you've told me about what you do, I'd assume we probably have different definitions of 'eventful.'"
The waitress came back after a moment with his beer, and Logan took a drink, regarding Wesley across the table. "So. You said something about drinks and collaboration?" He smiled a little and shrugged. "Well, we've got the drinks."
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Date: 2007-09-07 08:07 pm (UTC)"I've been tracking a demon," he explained, lowering his voice. "And this particular nasty is of an especially difficult nature, especially these days. Its name is Moloch, and it lives inside a computer." Wesley smiled, knowing just how outlandish a suggestion it would sound.
"More accurately, I'm told, Moloch is sentient information that is able to traverse computer networks. I've narrowed things down to one of the... what do you call them... server farms, here in the area, but I'm rather stuck for how to proceed."
Leaning back, Wesley waited for Logan's reaction.
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Date: 2007-09-10 03:21 am (UTC)He took a drink and nodded slowly as Wesley continued. His eyebrows rose at the 'inside a computer' bit, but he kept his mouth shut and listened.
Wesley leaned back, and Logan nodded again, feeling a little stunned and trying to digest this. After a second of just staring at him, struggling between an urge to ask if he was kidding and wanting to play it cool, he leaned back, too. "Well. Sounds like the worst computer virus ever." To his relief, he didn't sound quite as weirded out as he felt.
But, the thing was? Issues with demons being real, Wesley tracking one, and demons in computers aside, this was kinda cool. Logan's expression changed from stunned to thoughtful as he looked across the table again. "So, uh, what does this--this Morlock?--what does it do? And does it have to live in the same place, the same server, or can it spread itself out?"
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Date: 2007-09-11 06:41 pm (UTC)"Indeed. Some friends of mine encountered Moloch a few years ago and thought they had killed it. Unfortunately, they were wrong."
Wesley took a long sip before answering Logan's questions.
"It was not uncommon practice hundreds of years ago to mystically bind demons and other entities within the pages of books. Words have power, quite literally, and by crafting a book and writing the proper incantations upon its pages, one could easily trap a demon inside. One such book was scanned into a library collection, and thus did Moloch enter the computer age. His modus operandi is to seek out impressionable, lonely youths and manipulate them into believing he is a sympathetic romantic interest before using them as victims."
He smiled wryly. "You can imagine the bounty he has found on the internet. As for his movements, you find me at a loss. On this memory key is, I'm told, some kind of code that acts as a kind of digital scent, a... signature, I believe my contact called it. I'm looking for you or someone you know to use it to track Moloch down."
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Date: 2007-09-14 06:04 am (UTC)He reached for his beer bottle, took a drink, and remained leaning forward slightly, listening intently. After snorting quietly at the 'bounty on the internet,' he sat for a moment, thinking, when Wesley finished speaking.
"So, okay," he said slowly, "yeah, it sounds like we could track it--I mean him--down. But why not make him come to us?"
He looked at Wesley and raised an eyebrow. "I mean, maybe this is me being stupid since I'm not up on demons and how to kill them, but if he can go into a book, surely he can get, uh, his entire self into a single machine via the internet, right? Like a download? Could those incantations you mentioned be written into a text file?"
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Date: 2007-09-14 04:17 pm (UTC)At Logan's suggestion, though, Wesley mirrored the man's movements and leaned forward. "Come to us? You have my rapt attention."
Listening closely to the explanation of Logan's idea, Wesley's mind immediately began to race. "That could work... it could certainly work..." He drummed a finger against his chin. "You see, words simply shape and focus magic. They have no intrinsic power of their own. Some sort of electronic text might work, and to make doubly sure, it would probably help to write the proper incantations physically on the outside of the machine."
Smiling and leaning back, Wesley waved for the waitress to come by and refill their drinks. "And that, Mr. Cale, is precisely why I asked for your assistance. Thank you."
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Date: 2007-09-15 08:25 am (UTC)He still had about half of his beer left when Wesley signaled for another round, since being careful about drinking anything, especially in public, was getting to be habit. But, again, he didn't want to be rude by refusing, so he took a long drink of his first beer, trying to get closer to finishing it off. He swallowed, then smiled. "No problem. Anytime."
"So, okay," he continued, after the waitress had come by with fresh drinks, "am I right in thinking that we should probably get him to come to us willingly? Be easier, right?" He grinned. "Might even be kinda fun. We could create an online persona, some really pathetic, lonely teenager, and dangle the bait."
[OOC: If you wanted this to go in a different direction, just let me know. Or if you want them to try this way and have it not work so they DO have to track him down and figure out a different way to get rid of him, that's cool, too. I'm easy to get along with.]
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Date: 2007-09-16 06:01 am (UTC)"But," Wesley continued, "considering the unique situation here, it could definitely work. I doubt that an electronic being would be able to smell a lack of fear or sense an air of confidence, the usual tells." He nodded. "It could definitely work."
"I suppose there's no time like the present to start casting bait, yes? Unless there's more you'd need to prepare for creating this particular false front." Taking a sip of his second drink, Wesley worked to recall more information about Moloch. "Ah, yes," he said, remembering, "apparently Moloch has a favorite feeding ground: I believe it's called 'MySpace'?"
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Date: 2007-09-19 08:00 am (UTC)He took a drink, finishing his first beer, then shook his head when Wesley asked about needing more time. "No, we can start now," he said, reaching for his bag, which was hooked over the back of his chair. He unlocked the brakes and pushed back from the table slightly, in order to have room to set the bag on his lap and get his computer out. "Assuming I can get online from here, that is."
Logan looked up from unzipping the bag. "MySpace? Yeah, I'm familiar with it, though I don't use it. People--mostly teenagers--create personal profiles. Pages with pictures of themselves, what music they like, that sort of stuff."
After moving his drink aside, he moved closer to the table again, opened his laptop, and booted it up. Then he looked around the screen, over at Wesley, and gestured with a nod to the space beside him. "You want to move around so we both can see the screen? We can go to MySpace, see about getting some inspiration."
[OOC: *is so amused by all of this* Yeah, they can get it set up now, then maybe one--or both?--could get a different computer for the spell? I think Logan would prefer his laptop to stay intact. And you know, I think I'm going to email you before this OOC note gets longer than the tag.]
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Date: 2007-09-20 05:07 pm (UTC)"A great number of teenagers, all in one place? Moloch would consider it a farmer's market. Definitely the place to start."
As Logan paged through some of the site's content, Wesley noted the time on the computer's clock. He checked it against his own watch and cursed quietly.
"My friend, I'm afraid I am about to be terribly rude. I have something of a working appointment in half an hour, and the individual I'm meeting is particularly unsavoury. I trust we can continue this tomorrow?" Wesley laid out a few bills on the table. "And I insist on covering your room, as I was the one who did the inviting. I'll let the front desk know."
Wesley patted himself down, insuring he hadn't left anything behind. "I'd invite you along to observe, but I think we'd both rather your very first encounter with a demon not involve having to wipe ichor off of your glasses. Trust me." He stood and put a hand on Logan's shoulder. "Give me a ring when you're ready tomorrow. Room 1123."
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Date: 2007-09-22 05:46 am (UTC)Logan paused halfway down a page and turned, raising an inquiring eyebrow, as Wesley checked his watch and swore.
"Sure, no problem," he replied, nodding, when Wesley asked about continuing tomorrow. He wanted to refuse Wesley's offer to pay for his room, since the politeness wasn't necessary and the other man had already bought the drinks, but it wasn't exactly an offer, and what was he supposed to do, go tell the desk clerk no, he'd pay for it himself? Instead, he just nodded again. "Thanks."
Logan looked up and gave Wesley a small smile when he stood to leave. "No, it's fine. I understand." He shrugged and nodded at the laptop. "I'll keep browsing MySpace, maybe write up a list of ideas we might want to use."
He turned slightly and extended his hand. "Will do," he said, in response to Wesley telling him to call in the morning. "And good luck tonight."