A
Real Friend
There's a bit of a problem. To be specific, there are lots of bits of
about eight or so problems.
You see, about seventy years or so there was a bit
of a firefight in a construction area.
It was one of those fun, zany little adventures that was fraught with
enormous weight at the time - the Destiny/Fate of nations hanging on a thread,
the future of humanity itself at stake, the usual stuff - but is not currently
noteworthy except as the metaphysical equivalent of a Trivial Pursuit question. Indeed, it wouldn't even be that if
it weren't for the fact that the event spawned a minor record: 'most Vessel
replacements made during a single combat lasting less than twenty minutes'
(thirteen).
The holder of this record is Vern, a Malakite of
Trade who happens to have extraordinarily good contacts among his Word's
logistics organization. That night, he
needed them: he kept getting shot out of his vessel by an incredibly obnoxious
piece of Vaputech, and the usual Malakite rapid-response teams were busy
putting out other fires, so he kept grabbing spare vessels and jumping back
into the fight. Well, eventually Heaven
was victorious, the demons defeated, dead or fled and Vern and his allies had
won the day.
They had also won the dubious honor of having to get
rid of a lot of bodies, many of whom looked just alike (Malakim tend to favor
using identical vessels: for them, Trauma isn't necessarily the Role-killer
that it is for other Choirs). They did
their best, but no matter how many they were able to cram into various forms of
transportation, they ended up with eight vessels still to be moved and the sun
coming up. Luckily, there was a
handy-dandy concrete foundation, still liquid enough to receive some unusual
additives - so they dumped the vessels in, smoothed it over and got the heck
out of there. Problem solved.
Fast forward seventy years.
Vern just got a call, and he's not very happy about
it. It seems that the aforementioned
foundation is starting to show its age, and there are plans afoot to repair
it. The humans are going to be very
surprised to find a skeleton in there: one can imagine how they'll feel when
they discover eight of them, all of which incidentally share the same DNA and
dental patterns. It should also be
noted that said DNA and dental patterns are identical to the vessel that Vern
is currently wearing, and using to support his Role as a quite public
financier. Sloppy tradecraft, but Vern
always liked that particular vessel's lines: the elbows never felt quite right
on any other model. Obviously, the
bodies have got to be removed. Simple
enough for a metaphysical being, right?
Wrong. The
foundation in question happens to belong to the Empire State Building. This makes the whole bloody mess political.
Allow me to explain. The Empire State Building does not currently possess a Tether (in
this setting, at least), but every Superior on both sides of the War would like
to have one there, except maybe Jordi.
It's smack dab in the middle of one of the five most important cities on
the corporeal plane, is iconic in its own right and, of course, every Superior
on both sides of the War would like to have a Tether there, which is probably
the most important consideration.
Needless to say, having this kind of interested attention is pretty much
interfering with the possibility of any Tether forming... which is an
acceptable second prize. Still, there
are still rules against causing Disturbance in the vicinity. Quite draconian ones, all things considered. But Vern needs to get those bones gone
anyway - and he doesn't have a clue about how to do it without attracting
either corporeal or celestial attention.
Luckily, being in Trade means being able to hire the best... or at least
the best available.
This is where the PCs get sucked into this little
exercise, of course. Do they owe any
Servitors of Trade any favors? Do they
want a well-connected Servitor of Trade to owe them a favor? Do they need assistance in a problem of
their own? If they don't currently have
any problems, can one be arranged (not that any reputable Servitor of Trade
would do such a thing, of course)? Do
they recognize the Plot Wagon when it comes trundling up? If the answer to any of these questions is
yes, then there's your hook.
This is meant to be a 'stretch the brain' scenario:
the idea is to work out some way of doing this job quietly and quickly, not
re-enact that really good slow-mo foyer action scene from The Matrix.
If combat is absolutely required, then add another team from the Other Side
who want the bones found.
They're from Saminga, who with typical arrogance is sure that the
revelations of 'Satanic building sacrificial rituals' will be just the thing to
turn the Empire State Building into a Tether to Death. The team knows better, so when it doesn't
happen they're planning to appease the Dead Prince by racking up a ritualistic
body count. Hell, that even might work.
Other complications include the tenants of the
Empire State Building, who are fully aware themselves that they work in an iconic
building, and that there are people out there who would quite like to knock it
down (which makes them fairly suspicious these days, alas), and the building's
security force, who differ from the tenants in only in that they are rather
better armed. And let's not forget the
tourists, who pretty much act as background / sacrifice fodder / general
distractions. Well, you could include
some actual terrorists, if you like. What
else could complicate this mess?
Don't answer that.