10:53 PM 9/12/2013 === My girlfriedn sent me a strange text saying "Wear you fav dancing dress tonite". I have sort of been looking forward to a quiet night at home but it seemed she had something big planned. <> "Hey, you!" She dragged me off into the gloom of the club and parked me at a table. "Don't go away! This party needs to warm up!" I had a drink, then another, followed by a chaser to track them down and make them behave. I caught sight of her... making out with some guy? I had another drink. Over then next hour I caught glimpes of her grinding up against several guys or enthusiastically making out with them. My mood was getting darker and my frustration rising every time I saw her somewhere in that crowd. Finally I had enough; I didn't want to be here in the first place and apparently she didn't want to just dump me quietly, she had to do it in one of the worst ways possible. I got to my feet, anger burning off the alcohol, and stalked to the coat check. "45." The girl working the counter pulled back a bit when she saw me and hustled to retrieve my coat. I spun around pulling it on and had I not been in 4" stilettos I would have stomped out. === Sandy snapped to attention internally when Karina walked up. "she's not happy, wonder what Manda did this time? Got to be a doozy..." "45." She handed over the coat, and watched for a few moments as Karina stalked out. "Oooo, this is going to be *messy*." //Manda. Talk to me. Your beau just stalked out looking like the world's worst case of PMS. What kind of stupid did you pull this time?// === "Taxi!" Check purse... Shit! Of *course* I don't have much cash on me tonight, Amanda was supposed to be paying! Just when you think it can't get worse... I opened the door to the cab. "I'm sorry, I was suppsed to be going home with friends but they've ditched and I've just discovered I'm short on cash. How far can you take me on $40?" "Maybe around Baseline and Woodroffe. Where you headed?" "... Out near Amberwood Golf Club, of course. *sigh*" "Hey, let me call you a ride from the Hazeldean transfer station at least; you'll be walking for an hour" ".. thanks." The rumble and hiss of a bus caught me ear. "Better run; I'm not in the mood to wait for the next one." === I handed the last of my cash to the cabbie, and staggered up to my door. "Key." Crossing my eyes a little I concentrated on the pattern and released the wards before unlocking the thoroughly mundane deadbolt and relaxing a little as I slipped through the door and collapsed on a bench. I kicked my shoes off into the dark, and twisted and contorted my way to my bedroom tossing removed clothing as I went. A quick rummage in a drawer and under the bed and I was reclothed in a comfy tshirt, sweatpants and a pair of very obnoxious bunny slippers. I came back down the stairs looking to drown my pain in chocolate. freezing my arms off in the freezer finally brought to light the perfect dish; a container of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. I stacked up four full scoops, topped it off with some pecans and walnuts. Retrieve a spoon and now to stream something ridiculous or violent. 10:33 PM 11/18/2013 Maybe both. Something felt off but I put it down to the impending hangover multiplied with the disaster of a relationship. The moment I set foot in the living room I knew it wasn't nearly that simple; another step and "SURPRISE!". Even expecting trouble I still started, equal parts "WTF?" and fury at having my personal retreat invaded, tonight of all nights! The confection in a bowl making a beeline for the worst possible landing zone didn't help. Eyes flicking around brought to light yet another little piece of unpleasant; half a dozen of the muscleheads Amanda had been sucking face with and.. yes, an assortment of the bimboid hangers-on, too. "Get. Out." I saw red. "GET. OUT." I saw white. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!" I was gone. === [Amanda] I was so worried when I got back to the table to find it empty, then got a mindtouch from Sandy that Karina was leaving, looking like an explosion waiting to happen. //Sorry folks, change of plans; we'll do this the old-fashioned way at home.// we all trooped out of the club and split off for transport; forty minutes later I was releasing the wards and trying to remember where we hid the spare key. //Everyone in, gotta lock back up. Living room's on the left, There's lots of couch to hide behind, and you can hang the banner from the mantle.// We settled into place and waited.... and waited.... and an hour and a half later I was wondering if she had gone to another bar instead, when the wards wobbled down. //Places!// I felt Karina stagger up the walk and pause at the front door for an interminable minute before she turned the key and tried to stomp in. Left shoe off under the hall table, right shoe skidding down the back halll... I spread a fine sense net and nearly smashed the vase I was in in shock. Up the stairs, jewelery tinkling here and there, dress halfway off halfway down the hall. I winced as I felt the fine stockings literally ripped off and tossed like so much cheap tissue. I desperately wanted to reach closer to find out what was going on but I knew I'd either alter her or suffer a nasty backlash. Probably both, from what I could feel. Back downstairs, into the freezer... <*giggle* You *girl* you.> //10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2.// Just outside the living room. //1.// Into the living room. //Now!// One of the TKs, Dave I think, flicked the light switches I pointed out earlier, and then "SURPRISE!!!" I felt a moment of amusement, then my sense net evaporated under the spike of anger as she scanned the room. "Get. Out." Was that... *visible* aura? "GET. OUT." This is.. Oh, NO. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!" === [Dave] Amanda wanted to throw a surpise party, at a club. I thought it was a bad idea but last time I tried to convince her she was Doing Something Dumb all it got me was a dislocated shoulder and a bloody but not quite broken nose. I tried to stay away in the background but she kept flitting around almost looking like she was flirting with half a doze guys from the larger Circle, including me. Now, I know she knows I'm gay, and she's firmly attached to her beau, but... Oh, *joy*. Finally she vanished off towards the tables again, leaving me to breathe a bit easier, but then I picked up the broadcast mindtouch. //Sorry folks, change of plans; we'll do this the old-fashioned way at home.// We made our way out of the club, sorted out drivers and passengers, and headed for the guest of honour's home. On arrival Amanda let down the wards (I don't think I've seen any that heavy outside the level 5 traning chamber) and spent a minute rummaging in a plant pot for a key. //Everyone in, gotta lock back up. Living room's on the left, There's lots of couch to hide behind, and you can hang the banner from the mantle.// Bob and his girlfrend, Mei-Li I think, hung the banner and melded with the shadows behind some plants. I found a chair to lurk behind, and watched Amanda fold herself into a big vase. The place glowed with mage energy; I don't know how a Sensitive could live like this. Maybe the really high-level users could sheild against it without impairing anything. Some of the folks from the tracking squad settled in to their stakeout trance after about ten minutes; most of the rest found little things to occupy them without digging deep. I swear Fred was counting dust mites. Great guy in a fight but a total nutter to live with; no wonder he never kept a girlfriend more than a few weeks. [10:06 PM 11/24/2013] About an hour, maybe an hour an a quarter later I felt the wards go down, and heard a key in the lock. A mindtoouch from Amanda, //Places!// I stopped my review of and started paying attention to the rest of the room. I couldn't see much more than thin slice of the entry but I saw Karina stomp by after I heard something sliding and rattling along the floor towards the stairs. The footsteps went up, maybe 10 feet down a hallway. I heard minor commotion that was probably closet doors and dresser drawers sliding and slamming, then the footsteps came back down, and into the kitchen. I heard the freezer open, som rustling, and another round of drawer and door open and close with a little more force than necessary. Footsteps back through the entry hall, and then a mindtouch from Amanda. //10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Now!// The lights went on, and everyone jumped with with "SURPRISE!!!". I was watching a little more closely than I think I might have some other time, with the "bad idea" feeling still lurking in the back of my head. So the "Get. Out." from Karina wasn't *quite* a surprise, although the dead voice it came out in was. My "bad idea" feeling was getting a lot of friends all of a sudden. "GET. OUT." ... Visible Aura. Serious alarm bells from distant memory; I knew I had heard something about this aura pattern once, probably from gran'ma. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!" oh SHIT, I finally dug up the memory and this was BAD. I put everything into a Commmand Voice "Everybody OUT NOW! If you stay, if you move closer, you *WILL* die! Phase the wall, teleport, opena window, I don't care *how*, just move *away* from Karina. Do not try to damage the walls, it won't work and you'll end up dead. Don't go back for your shoes, your purse, or your jacket, by now you should have noticed you're having trouble moving towards her at all; in not too long you won't be able to move that way at all. Out, out, OUT!". I think it's a good think I have a reputation as a rock; we were all out and shivering on the sidewalk in less than 20 seconds. That's when the guys from the containment squad showed up. === "Fred [lastname] please" .... === [Magister Chair, Simon [lastname]] "The bare facts are pretty consistent. Did anyone follow up with Dave on his recollection as to what that aura was about?" "Ah let me see, yes, he reports it's something of a family legend but after tonight, obviously one solidly grounded in a great deal more fact than he had any idea. Essentially, a rage-fueled force field that, if people hadn't left, would have killed by simple physical force. Anyone caught inside that room - or quite probably anywhere on the property, from the sound of things, would have slowly been flattened into a thin red paste. The cleanup crew that finally managed to get in after - so far as we could tell - Karina collapsed found a number of small nuggets of matter in a couple of corners, extremely high-density matter. Not quite netronium, and the theorists are of the opinion that was mainly due to not enough foreign matter - a coupld pairs of shoes and a jacket, according to the "missing items" report. A pair of shoes that was left on the port were literally pushed down the sidewalk out to the street. The field is generally spherical, and in the early stages you can more towards the person creating it. As the phenomenon contines it becomes harder and harder; it also becomes deeper and deeper. However, it's clearly a self-defense mechanism; once outside the formal property boundaries nobody felt anything. A handful of off the cuff tests showed an incredible force density right at the property boundary before she collapsed. What's interesting is that it's a highly selective field; only "foreign" matter was pushed around. There was actually evidence in one place that the househod dust was left undisturbed, but a jacket in that room was compressed to next to nothing in the middle of the dust under a dresser." "The cause of this.... incident?" " Well, ah, this seems to have been something of a personal spat between Amanada and Karina, but we're not sure of the specifics. I, er, well, you know Amanda..." sigh "Yes, sadly I'm all too familiar with her.... blind spots and their consequences. Is Karina awake?" "Ah.. yes, the report was just logged that she just startled upright in bed, glanced around wildly, and, er, swore at room..." "I get the picture. I'll be down in a few minutes then; I'd like to get my own impressions from a few people after." === [Hospital wing] "... and fuck the horse you rode in on!" What a way to wake up. I looked around. I floated a sense net out. I fell back to the bed and looked up. a young-looking nurse was staring at me waving his jaw. "Er, sorry, last night... this morning? Er, how long...?" "I-It-It's Tuesday morning, about 8:30. From the reports you've been, er, gone since Sunday late night around 1am, although you only got checked in here at around 9pm last night." "Peachy. I don't think I want to do... whatever I did again any time soon, I feel like I should have slept for a week instead of a bit more than a day." "I, ahm, yes. Well, you're flagged for release as soon as you're up to it, but only after.. well, some non-medical need to know flag has been cleared." He stared at me in puzzlement. "I've got a high clearance just to work this floor, but I've never seen such a locked-down case. I'd better log that' you've woken up and hopefully that should bring in whoever needs you for.. whatever they need you for." swipe, tap, tap, swipe "Logged, and I'd probably best get going. Need To Know generally means I don't." "A'aight. Is there a chance of breakfast or do I have to stagger home again before getting that?" He pointed to the bedside table. "Looks like someone either expected you to wake up today or was just playing the odds; there's some slop-of-the-day and a ." "Thanks. Hopefully someone will decide they don't have to kill me before telling me what happened." He smiled briefly and left me to my "slop" - oatmeal with a jug of maple syrup, and the (magically) preserved fresh apple juice. I was just finishing and debating licking the bowl and glass when the door opened again and in walked the Magister Chair.