Vampire: The Requiem - Lordenshaw Metro

[Loredoctor]

Please post in here for Stories relating to Lordenshaw City's subway system.

[Jonathan Belmont]

As Drake bade him a cheerful farewell from Powell's home, Jonathan checked his watch. It was 11.30 pm, giving ample time to get over to Old Albert's. Not that there was any great rush, but Jonathan knew that this was probably going to be the easy part of the task he'd been given, so why not get it out of the way?

Jogging along Riverside Terrace he reached an intersection and turned towards the centre of Lordenshaw's government district. The subway was going to be the quickest way to get out to the industrial district, and the closest station was at City Hall.

[Loredoctor]

Ahead of Jonathan were the stairs leading down into the subway station. An iron frame rose above the top of the stairs, with the writing 'City Hall Station' lit up in pale yellow light. Behind him, a few cars drove along the circular road that surrounded City Hall, which loomed above him an icon of power and corruption. A man in an overcoat jogged up the stairs, his briefcase held tightly to his chest, sweat running down his haggard face. He briefly glanced at Jonathan as he passed him by.

The stairs led down into lengthy hallways and brightly polished escalators lit by stark fluorescent white light. A few turns past fading posters and young couples kissing, Jonathan reached the Central Line, marked by red text and arrows along the clean walls. The station tunnel was wide and almost empty, some of the benches occupied by late commuters and the homeless.

A few minutes later a subway trained decelerated into the station with sparks of blue light underneath its screeching carriages and the smell of ozone filling the warm air. Jonathan walked through open doors and sat down on one of the many unoccupied seats. The doors closed with a grinding sound and the train accelerated away.

[Jonathan Belmont]

Jonathan looked around discretely as he slouched in his seat. There were only three other passengers on board at this time of night - a short, white man, a young black woman and, right at the other end of the car, a homeless man so dirty that it was hard to tell how old he was or what his ancestry might be.

The man, who had thinning brown hair, was wearing a long threadbare coat and carrying a briefcase - obviously a poorly paid white-collar worker on his way home from the office. The girl would've been about 19 and was so skinny that he could clearly see the outline of her clavicles. Maybe she was too poor to eat well, or maybe she had a habit that kept her weight down. Either way she looked like someone who knew far too much about how cruel the world could be for someone her age.

That just left the homeless guy, who was sound asleep under an old newspaper and snoring quietly. He was unlikely to wake any time soon, which was good because Jonathan was hungry. He just needed the short man or the skinny girl to get off so he could drink his full in peace.

[Loredoctor]

"Liberty Station. Liberty Station. Change here for the Lordenshaw, South Direct, East Direct, and Northern Lines. Mind the gap when exiting the train."

The doors opened and allowed the worker and the young girl to leave. She looked at Jonathan for a second or two, admiring his good looks and then stepped on to the platform. At this time of night there were few people entering the train, yet a man stepped into the carriage and walked down the aisle, facing away from Jonathan.

The homeless man made a choking sound as he woke up, wiped saliva from his chin, and went back to sleep.

[Jonathan Belmont]

Jonathan studied the new arrival out of the corner of his eye. The man looked to be in his early thirties and had the build of someone who worked out regularly but didn't get any real enjoyment out of it - slender and probably a little toned, but definitely no body builder.

He slumped in his seat as if drunk, but Jonathan wasn't fooled. The guy's eyes were clear, betraying his lucidity, and he was too clean-cut, too well-dressed, to be the kind of guy that got wasted and then caught the train at Liberty Station at 11.30 at night. Hell, he even had clean finger nails.

What's a nice guy like you doing heading to such a bad part of town at this time of night? Let's find out.

Standing, Jonathan made his way down the aisle towards his fellow commuter.

[Loredoctor]

The train screeches around a corner, and the carriage shudders. Jonathan manages to walk towards the man without falling to one side. He eventually stands behind him, and he can look over his shoulder at the book the man has at his lap. Sensing Jonathan's presence, he looks around and looks at him with an exasperated expression.

"Yes?" He says tiredly. "Can I help you?"

"North Avenue station next. North Avenue station. Change here for the Great Circle Line."

[Jonathan Belmont]

Jonathan's smile was self-assured as he replied. "You certainly could have, but this is my stop. Maybe next time."

With a confident smirk he turned and made his way to the door of the car where he waited for the train to come to a stop. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the man watching him, clearly intrigued. As the door slid open in front of him he half-turned and raised his brows cheekily in farewell before stepping out on to the platform.

Noting the grey arrows on the wall, Jonathan followed them to his right until he came to the next platform where the night's last train on the Great Circle line was pulling in.

Good timing. I just hope there are some refreshments on this car.

Jonathan waited for those few whose journey was over to disembark before choosing the last car of the train, which was empty but for a young couple sitting just to the left of the door. They were clean-cut, but so clean that their was no chance of a little fun, and they'd obviously been drinking.

[Loredoctor]

The Great Circle train screeched off into the dark tunnel, the only light in the carriages coming from grimy fluorescent tubes. This train in particular was covered in graffiti; various gangs and symbols adorning the windows and walls.

Second Crew, 9Ken, effriti, and Uulgar Rises.

"Industrial Gate is the next station on the Great Circle Line. Expected time of arrival is four minutes."

[Jonathan Belmont]

Four minutes? Fuck! No time to do much of anything. I'll have to grab something later. Still, it wouldn't hurt to set something up for another night.

Pulling wallet out of his pocket, Jonathan dug around in it until he found one of the old business cards that he had had made before his embrace. The one with the fake name that he used when he needed to make a little extra money by visiting the various bars on Layson Street. The card was a few months old, and a little battered, but the email address on it was still valid and that was the important thing right now.

Slipping his wallet back in his pocket he rose to his feet just as he felt the train start to slow as it pulled into the Industrial Gate station. Walking up the young couple he smiled and introduced himself.

"Hey guys, how's it going? I'm Jeremy. Look, I've gotta run, but you two look pretty cool. We should all catch up some time and have a few drinks."

Handing the card to the boyfriend, Jonathan let the entrancing power of his personality sweep over the two drunken college students.

Activate Awe on the young couple.

"Looking forward to hearing from you", he chuckled as the train came to a stop and he walked out of the car.

[Loredoctor]

Awe (Presence + Expression [-1 unskilled] + Majesty) roll: 1 success.

The couple look up with genuine pleasure on their faces, as though Jonathan is the most important person they have met that night, and honoured to be given a card from him. The boyfriend stared at him with wonder.

"Hey thanks," he beamed. "Thanks heaps. See you soon, Jeremy!"