Vampire: The Requiem - Industrial District

[Loredoctor]

Please post in here for Stories relating to the Industrial District.

[Jonathan Belmont]

Emerging from the subway on to Marquis Avenue, Jonathan quickly darted across the street to where a graffiti-covered bus stop stood like a lonely sentinel in the night. Checking the map attached halfway down the sign, he worked out the Harlequin Street was a fairly long stretch of road that ended in a cul-de-sac only five blocks north of the intersection just up ahead. Shoving his hands into his pockets he started walking purposefully towards the corner, making sure to keep his eyes and ears open and his mind sharp. Some strange people had been seen in the Industrial District recently, accompanied by some disturbing rumours, and he didn't want to run into any of them.

Reaching the intersection he turned right on to Jericho Road and made his way north. Unlike other parts of the city the Industrial District was still pretty busy, even at this time of night, with a steady stream of traffic keeping the streets lively. Delivery vans, container trucks and utilities roared through the darkness, briefly illuminating Jonathan with their headlights as they passed.

[Loredoctor]

Jonathan walked along the pavement, dead leaves and trash blowing past his feet. The night was warm and the smell of ash and chemicals a faint tinge in the air. To one side he passed empty houses with lawns covered in brown grass, rusted metal and broken dreams. Across the road, to his right, were warehouses and factories. Some were lit up with grey or red light, others dark and empty, collapsing slowly into ruin. The sounds of industry were pervasive, echoing into the distance of the industrial sprawl. Graffiti covered almost every surface, but it was faded.

Turning a corner dominated by a tall, old brick and mortar factory with immense chimneys, he faced a lengthy street. Factories lined both sides of the street. A broken sign a few feet away read "Harlequin St."

[Jonathan Belmont]

Remembering the extra directions that Drake had quietly whispered to him when as he left Powell's house earlier that night, Jonathan walked east along Harlequin Street towards the dead end. As he made his way along the road, the noise of the city gradually faded. The factories and warehouses in this part of the Industrial District seemed to do most of their business by day, and even though they were brightly lit, they were pretty much empty at night. The lights were probably for the security guards.

As he crossed the road on to Harlequin Street's eastern-most block, the factory at the very end of the street came into view. Unlike the others, this one was dark, dead almost, and it didn't look like it got any livelier when the sun came up. It was surrounded by high fence that had three barbed rows and a long slinky-like coil of razor wire running along the top. Beyond that was a massive concrete structure with three tall smoke-stacks that didn't appear to be doing much smoking. All the windows were boarded up and the building itself was completely graffiti-free. As far as Jonathan could tell, the only entrance was a large, heavy looking door, big enough for a small truck to drive through.

Abandoned factory? This place looks like a fucking fortress!

[Loredoctor]

As Jonathan nears the door he hears a muffled voice coming from behind the heavy door. "The latest configuration to the local net is not going to do it, Sophia," said a commanding voice. "Reset that router and we'll install the old drivers. I'd rather we have a working network than one that gives the cops a chance to trace back our explorations."

[Jonathan Belmont]

Jonathan looks around. He can't see anyone watching him, or any security cameras, but he's sure they're there somewhere. Anyone with a reputation like Old Albert wouldn't let someone get this close unseen.

Glad that he didn't bring his knife with him, he squared his shoulders and knocked on the heavy door in the pattern Powell had shown him. Inside, he heard everything go suddenly silent.

[Loredoctor]

A minute or two passed, and during that time no sound could be heard from the factory he stood before. The road was empty, and the air was still and humid. A faint tang of rust or sulfur hung in the thick, night air. In the distance, the sound of a gun shot rang out stridently.

Without warning, the door opened with the creaking of wood and metal scraping across concrete. Stark white flooded over Jonathan. A man in a tuxedo with an old-styled haircut stepped out into the night and nodded at him. Jonathan resists the urge to flee from the figure, sensing the potency of his blood and the fierce savagery of his beast.



"Ah," the man says with a bemused expression in his precise voice. "The impeccable Jonathan Belmont. Be welcome to my domain, my lad. Just be careful not to trip on the cables inside."

Jonathan's eyes adjust and he sees the man extend a hand. Despite his clean and respectful appearance, he senses something monstrous within. Something awful that makes Jonathan feel greatly uncomfortable.

[Jonathan Belmont]

Willing himself calm, Jonathan clasped the man's hand and gave it a brief, firm shake. He felt his skin crawl as they made contact and hoped that his greeter didn't notice.

Then again, maybe that was exactly the reaction he wanted.

"Thanks for the welcome. If this is your domain then you must be Albert. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[Loredoctor]

Old Albert stepped aside and made a small sweeping gesture with his right hand, inviting Jonathan inside. When he stepped into the supposed disused factory, Albert closed the door behind him and locked it. Jonathan stood facing a very large and open space. The concrete floor stretched into the distance, swallowed by darkness. Most of it was covered in Persian rugs or strips or carpet. The tall metal walls, at least fifty feet to either side of him, had been painted a deep green, and the windows boarded up. The thick iron pillars supporting the roof - which was lost in darkness - were wrapped in thick cloth or plastic, and cables and rope were strung up between them, upon which lanterns and globes lit up the centre of the chamber.

Lit up in faint light were three elongated desks covered in computers, printers, modems and other items of technology. Two of the tables had two plush seats each, now occupied, and one ancient, high-backed seat faced the third table unoccupied. Surrounding the desks were bookcases arranged in a u-shape. From what he could see, there were thousands of books crammed onto the shelves, and some spilled out on to the carpeted floor.

As soon as Jonathan approached the area with Albert, four vampires looked up from their monitors and appraised him with impassive stares. Albert bowed to them and indicated him with a sweep of his hands. "This is Jonathan Belmont."

A short man with thick, black hair and a ruddy complexion pushed back his chair and looked at Albert. "What does he want of us?" He asked with a near-guttural voice.

[Jonathan Belmont]

Jonathan smiled humourlessly at the short ruddy man and his three companions. "I have been asked to perform a service for the Movement, and to do so I will require the aid of an able hacker. Tessa Kroger was suggested as an appropriate candidate." He didn't include Albert in his answer as he was sure that the old Nosferatu knew why he was here.

[Loredoctor]

A female with short-cropped hair and a lost expression in her eyes pushed back her chair and swiveled it to face Jonathan. "That's me, Jonathan. I do most of the hacking for our covenant. Who sent you and why?"

Old Albert moved to the third desk and flicked away an imaginary piece of dust before sitting against an edge. He looked at the visitor and licked his lips.

[Jonathan Belmont]

Jonathan looked briefly at Albert with a question in his eyes, asking if he should continue. When the Nosferatu gave an almost imperceptible nod, he turned back to Tessa.

"I need to bring down the servers of a local company named Identity Corp. so that you can upload a worm into the system. Apparently that'll only take a minute, or so I'm told. Once that's done, we should be able to make use of the tracking software that they've been developing."

He paused before continuing. "I was sent by Roland Powell."

[Loredoctor]

Tessa smiled grimly. "Bring down the servers," she repeated the words as though savouring them, although the look in her her eyes said otherwise. "You've been asked to help us do harm to Identity Corporation. Well, this will be interesting.

"Identity Corp is the most powerful software company in the city, and possibly the east coast. They design programs for the army as well as the government here, and most security systems incorporate their programming. I've seen their firewalls, and they make me nervous.

"And we've never managed to find out what's going on in the company; who's pulling the strings or if they do favours for some Kindred. That scares me."

She moved back to the desk and face the monitor. "I can understand and believe an excuse of ignorance; but I have to tell you that you are getting involved in something that is very dangerous."

Jonathan became aware of movement at his side. Old Albert leaned in to place his face near him, and Jonathan immediately felt uneasy; it was like standing close to a horribly entity wearing a costume of a respectable gentleman.

"Tessa," Albert said curiously, "the question remains whether we can do it or not. Whether we mount the mare bound for hell and steal victory from the devil's clutches."

She was silent for a minute, typing at her keyboard and had a look of concentration on her face. "Yes, we can," she replied as though talking to herself. "However, Jonathan needs to break into the Identity Corp building and shut down one of the machines so that we can break the firewall. He therefore needs a security pass."

"Ahhh," Albert breathed. "This will be a ripping adventure for all."

[Jonathan Belmont]

Determined not to be caught recoiling from Old Albert, Jonathan holds his ground in spite of the feeling of unease that emanated from the Nosferatu.

"It'll be hard, but I'll be able to get that security pass", he said to Tessa. "I was planning to head to the university tomorrow night and start my research into Identity Corp's board. I want to know as much about them as I can before I decide which one to target."

"Problem is, we don't have all the time in the world. Powell has given me a month, and I want to be ready in three weeks, just in case. Is that enough time for you?"

[Loredoctor]

Tessa scratched her head and was silent for a moment. She then resumed. "We will be here. Just send me a text message when you want the attack to begin."

She then sat still and looked at the screen, with a strange expression growing on her face. "Wow. Look at what I found. This was something I just stole from an-employee's drive. Unfortunately, he's in the nearest city - two to three hours away - so it's hard to talk to him. But look at the screen."

Refer to pm.

[Jonathan Belmont]

Walking carefully so as not to trip on the tangled knot of cables carpeting the floor, Jonathan walked around behind the table Tessa was sitting at and looked at her monitor over her shoulder.

"You stole this from an Identity Corp. employee? A current employee? Do you know what it means?"

[Loredoctor]

She scratched her hair again and released a sigh of frustration. "I did. But I have no idea what it is. Just ran a check to compare it to all known corporate logos and symbols, and have come up with nothing. Mind you, the scanner says that it matches weakly with Lordenshaw College. To some study by a Professor Kyle Marches. 'Semantics & Binary: Bridging the Cognitive Gap and Disputing Searle's Argument.'"

[Jonathan Belmont]

"Lordenshaw College? That's that posh private school on East Ave, right?"

The sharing Tessa's table, a tall, gangly man with unkempt hair and a goatee, gave a snort. "Your old alma mater is it?" he asked, chuckling at his own joke.

Jonathan shook his head. "Nah, my parents wished they were rich. They weren't actually rich. I've heard about it because I actually get out every now and then." He raised his eyebrows at the geek and grinned before turning his attention back to Tessa.

"Are you able to get me everything you've got on Lordenshaw College and the people who run it?"

[Loredoctor]

"Lordenshaw College is indeed a college within Howell University," Tessa said with a matter-of-fact tone. "It's the place for kids of the extremely wealthy of our city and the powerful. Notably, it's within walking distance of the head of Invictus. I'm not making connections, mind you, but Nwoso can probably see the place from his window or whatever. Anyway, the college is run by Tyson Sneedman, and there are currently twenty-four students in it, five of them post-graduates. One of whom is James Bachman, the son of a Lothar Bachman. He's on the board of directors for Identity Corporation.

"Now this is fascinating."

[Jonathan Belmont]

"And what else do we know about the young James Bachman? Any run-ins with the law? Substance abuse issues? Embarrassing sexual predilections?"

"Anything you can find about Marches and Sneedman would be helpful too."