The Glitch V: Taste of Fear (Episode 1)

[Dark Silver]

The television was on in Poe's outer office, tuned to the local 24-hour news channel, the Crystal City New Network, as a courtesy to any would be clients of the infamous Private Detective. Or it was supposed to have been anyway, at the moment, Lenore had the station changed to the local 24-hour Home Shopping Network, while the group had their meeting in the office proper.

The otherwise placid calm scene in the outer office/reception area was broken by Lenore's voice in excitement, "Oh what the....Boss? You may want to turn on your vid... Channel doesn't matter, all of them"

On the screen on the television, no matter what channel it was tuned to, the same image was greeting the viewers. A splash-image with the words "Breaking Report" filled the entirety of the screen, the smaller watermark logo on CCNN was seen in the lower right hand corner, a calming musical piece played in the background, but you could tell already that the image was shown for to long.

Moments later, the image dissipated, replaced with a busy newsroom, interns could be seen rushing about in the background, computer monitors alight in the distance behind the news desk; all in all, a very convincing illusion of business. The man who sat behind the desk was one of the junior anchors for CCNN, a man people admittedly liked when asked about him in polls, but not as well liked as the primary news anchor - a fiery red headed Maltusian whose near human looks settled well with many species and demographics - it helped that her father was one of the various human breeds found scattered amongst the remaining Gameworlds - Rhianna Menchez.

The man sitting behind the desk was indeed that, a human man, his skin dusky and his dark hair close trimmed, his goatee was well maintained on his face, and his green eyes - indeed a oddity considering the rest of his ethnically Earth Mediterranean like features - were sharp and clear, something just seemed slightly off about the man.

"Good afternoon, I am Hotrah Mendolzar - Rhianna Menchez is out on assignment," being industry speak for her being unable to make it to work yet, "we apologize for interrupting your programming, to bring you this special update. Due to the nature of this update, we are preempting all," the word all being emphasized in Mendolzar's voice, "broadcasting within the Crystal City area."

The news anchor straightened himself in his seat, looking down for a moment to a shief of yellowish paper in his hand, the classic "copy" that carried over despite the otherwise advancedness of the rest of the newsroom - people seemed to trust the news more if the anchor was shown with a shief of paper in hand, as if he was reading from it polls showed - before looking once more into the camera, "A few minutes ago, a package was delivered to our studios here in the Megatropolis. Inside was a vid-disc, and instructions that the vidfile was to be played on air. The package claimed to be from the serial killer known throughout the Old Town District, simply as "The Cannibal". Please be advised, the following video has not been edited or viewed by any of us here at CCNN - parental discretion is advised for any of you with younglings present."

A few precious moments passed, before Mendolzar inclined his head, signifying for the video to be played.

The video cut out then, immediately swapping from the news room, to another, more alien place. The very air seemed darker, it was difficult to see any details beyond the dim light which followed the camera's lenses. There was no sounds at first, the air being deathly still, and the camera showing nothing but faint blobs of shadow in the distance. the sound of whimpering soon began, the cries muffled by something, sounding pitiful and desperate and so very close. The sounds of metal clinking together and something struggling against a heavy solid object. The pitiful whimpers and muffled moans increased to terrified screams as the camera panned down, revealing a ornate wooden table, thick and ancient looking, standing beneath a beam of white light - just bright enough to give perfect detail. A womanly form was chained to the table, her arms stretched out to the sides of her, parted from her body at a 45° angle. Her mouth was muffled with a ball gag, being held open, so no words could form properly - a precaution apparently taken because a normal gag would still allow her mouth to move some. Every inch of her and the table was completely visible, her body was laid bare, with only the most necessary of clothing on her to conceal modesty - as if the captor would not let his prisoner be humiliated or that he cared for decency in the least. Her milky smooth flesh was unmarred, there were no bruises, no holes, no cuts on any portion of her body that was yet displayed, her green hair was neatly arranged, fanning out beneath her head and shoulders. She was undoubtedly Hylian in features and stature, lovely and almost pixie-like in her way.

As the camera moved down the supple womanly form, another sound was heard coming from off camera - not of the girl's terrible whimper of terror and anguish. The faint 'thunk' of something heavy and liquid filled being placed on the table, and the sloshing of it's contents, traveled to those watching, and the slight clink of thinner, light metal against the same form of metal 'tinked' in accompaniment. The camera panned down, below the pale, flat stomach, over the girls hips and lower. Upon her right hip, just above the knee, the tourniquet was wrapped around the flesh, cutting off blood flow, though no band was held on the left leg. As the camera continued to pan down, it was apparent, readily, why the right leg was so bound - there was no flesh or bone below the girls knee - where the knee should have been, there was only ragged flesh that looked to have been a cross between torn away, and the surgical slices of a very sharp blade. None of the exposed flesh was discolored, it seemed as fresh as a open wound - newly formed - could only be; yet the other leg had not been touched.

"Ssshhh, shhh, shh.." a voice spoke, faintly Bohemian and undoubtedly male in tenor, spoke off camera, as the image raised up again, to the girls face - terror stricken more than before, obviously struggling against her bonds. A black gloved hand stroked against the girls cheek, almost delicately, "It shall be over...all to soon..."

The girl's eyes went wide, her muffled screams echoing in the chamber they were in, accompanying screams were heard, with the girls own - the image shifting till another beam of light was seen, illuminating a series of cages within plain sight of the table - and vice-versa. It was filled with people - sentient beings human and otherwise, all bound in ways that would not allow them to make intelligent noise, their faces full of fear and terror and pain and suffering. Her screams echoed loudest though, so close was she to the camera, and the voice spoke again, "Yes, feel the burn...that's the garlic extract. Now we make our incision. Perfect.."

The camera once more passed down the girls body, focusing on how flawless, again, her body was, until it reached the right thigh - all flesh had been removed cleanly from the bone, leaving it gleaming and white from the mid thigh down - the tourniquet placed higher to halt blood flow again. Her cries where muffled again, the pain almost to much to bear for her, her eyes becoming slightly fogged by the pain which filled her entire being. "Worry not little ones.." the voice spoke again, as a black shadowy thing crossed before the cages - the camera once more having switched views to show the table and cages, the girl and table once more in the foreground. "Soon, you will all join the feast... So very....very soon.."

Those who noticed closely, would see on the table, near the recently defleshed thigh, the tools that were used, a gleaming set of metallic knives, glinting brightly under the unseen overhead lamp, next to it a metal bowl and a large syringe, half filled with a thick, blackish-brown liquid. Even as the camera remained on the girl, the sounds of tearing flesh and meat were audible over the screams of fear, terror and pain, blood and gore splattering into sight of the camera, marring the milky flesh as it landed on the girl's abdomen and the table, and the floor, and back towards the cages of future victims.

Slowly the camera panned over, away from the fight of the girl's leg, bringing a space just above her headrest into the framing. Hunched over, the flayed open meat of the girl's thigh was held between two bloodstained hands, fresh blood dripping from the mask obscured face. Very little detail could be made of the thing, it was of average height, and looked to be of similar build - though little else could be told - some form of obfuscation was in place which only gave the vaguest of ideas behind the thing which was known as the Cannible. "They call me the Cannibal.." the voice began again, clear and precise, even as another chunk of flesh was ripped away from the meal before it, a thin trail of meat stretching between cutting and mouth. "But a Cannibal is one who eats his own kind. I am not such a thing, for there are no others like Me in all of creation. But as a moniker...it shall do. And I wear it proudly.." The camera tightened in, bypassing the obfuscated figure and the girl, tightening in on the cages once more, the prisoners held in sudden clarity, woman and children and men, huddled together for protection they know is not available - they appeared broken by fear, at the horrors they had to witness, and resignation that they know, soon, one of them will be next.

"The Heroes, have failed this world. Utterly and entirely," the voice began again, the camera withdrew from the cage, focusing once more on the obfuscated dark creature which called itself the Cannibal, no longer did it have the slab of thigh-flesh in it's bloodstained hands - it's eyes were clearly visible behind the placid blank mask, glowing brilliantly like a predators in the night. "Once upon a time, they strode this land, walking amongst you, protecting their flocks like good shepherds."

The mask slide upwards slightly, the mouth opened slightly, revealing a row of sharp, razor like teeth, as the hand came upwards, revealing a small sliver of red flesh, tearing it apart with great gusto, the voice continued, "Once they walked as unto gods amongst mere mortals, wielding their powers over those who had none."

The camera moved again, as the words were spoken, traveling along the quivering body of the Hylian girl, stopping for a few horrid moments upon the bear white thigh bone. The bowl is caught in sight of the camera, it's contents revealed, floating bites of fruit and vegetables within some thick broth, the same color and consistency as the contents of the nearby syringe.

"The heroes have fallen to the depths of those they once railed against - those they fought against to protect their sheep." The camera once again showed the dark figure known as the Cannibal, slurping the last bit of stringy Hylian meat between his lips and smacking them together lightly, before the mask slide down again, covering his face in full. "They are corrupt and vie for power and greed and desire. They have failed - failed in their duties and their desires. There are no heroes left on this world. No heroes remain to halt what has begun, and what shall transpire shall be glorious and terrifying. Such sights you all will behold...such wonders I will show all of you. Oh the harvest I shall reap..."

He stood before the head of the table, one blood smeared hand caressing the girl's face, leaving the shiny red trail behind on milky flesh, "I will show you."

The hand left the face, and the sound of hands coming together matched as the Cannibal brought his blood stained mits before him at chest height, energy crackling for a moment, the sounds reverberating in the enclosed space. He brought his hands down, placing one against the girl's forehead, and other against the table, as the etched lines began to glow in the table. It was obvious some form of magic was at work then, as the light brightened, bleaching and washing out the image from the camera in dazzling whiteness.

When it passed, the Hylian girl no longer struggled, no longer twitched, no longer whimpered. His chest rose and fell in time with normal breathing, yet her face had loss any expression, her eyes, previously so bright even in their pain and anguish, where dull and glassy.

"I will complete my tasks...and grip your hearts in fear..." He spoke the words, even as a hand traveled to the girl's chest, hovering over her heart for a moment, as the camera shifted angle, showing in startling detail, what occurred. His hand moved down, and as it touched the Hylian's bosom, the flesh peeled back, moving itself away as if of it's own free will, revealing the still beating heart and functioning organs within. The hand grasped something, and pulled it upward, revealing a brilliant red crystal the size and shape of her heart, pulsing as if it still attempted to pump blood, "Before I consume them all for my desire..."

The heart pumped again, even as the mask slide upwards, once more revealing the row of sharpened teeth in the fine formed mouth. The sounds of tearing flesh and crushing of crystal was audible, not unlike the sound of someone biting upon a lollipop.

The task finished, the gemstone gone within his gullet, the stray splinters that splattered from the eating appearing to soak right into his form, the brilliant yellow eyes looked directly into the Camera, "I come for you next, Dark One. Soon there after, I shall become Incarnate. Nothing shall stop this. Make your time."

With this, the creature disappeared from the camera, moving away from the table and back into the darkness of the rest of the room. The camera itself zoomed forward, passing the body of the Hylian girl still upon the table, and focusing instead on the cages. The sound of clinking keys were audible, and the beings in the cage huddled closer together, their eyes widened in renewed fear. The camera stopped upon the face of one man in the middle cage, focused upon him and his reaction - a older man, face grizzled and weather worn, his age looked every second on features, from the graying beard and hair, to the hard, blue eyes. Shortly after, horror and realization crossed his face, as the sounds of the keys working the lock made the distinctive click - and the man took a step forward, resignation in his every feature - the video turned to static as soon as the man was out of frame.


A moment later, Mendolzar was back on screen, his face ashen at the images displayed to himself, and the rest of the populace of the entire Crystal City. His eyes were attempting to focus, some primal fear seemed to have set in him, and he looked shaken. Words were lost to him for several moments - dead silence filled the airwaves, as no one in the newsroom even dared to speak. Suddenly, Mendolzar spoke, in soft, whisper like words, the question which seemed to have been burning on his mind, "Wha...was that James Raynor?"

Someone gasped off the camera, and it brought Mendolzar back to reality, shaking his head, his complexion still pay and ashy, scrambling for the words, "Ladies and gentlemen....we...we apologize for those images you just witnessed. We'll...we'll...oh gods.."

Mendolzar rushed off from behind the news desk, off to the closest waste receptical and the sounds of his retching filled the air.....

[Charon]

Matt's reaction to the horrific display was eerie, some would say inhuman, though it was not as horrific as what they had just seen.

He seemed to be entirely unphased. He studied the horrific event with a detached and clinical view that could only be born in having witnessed or committed atrocities. What was worse, he had started recording the video almost immediately.

He was silent as the video continued, his eyes flickering across the screen as though trying to take in every detail as it happened. His mouth twitched once when he recognized Jim Rayner and he glanced at Greg, but said nothing until the news segment was cut off.

With a steady hand Matt lifted the remote and stopped the recording. "He's not just crazy. He's smart, and worst of all he has a plan. It's not easy to grab a man like Rayner, it's harder to grab him without there being a big fuss about it. Suggests he's not only good but he has help. Worse, I think he's trying to take these people's power into himself to grow stronger. Good odds that's exactly what that magic is for."

Matt laughed a little, an idea dawning on him. "Anyone know how to contact the Shadow Don?"

[frigidmagi]

"Christ in Heaven, he has a fucking... That!" Jeremy took a deep breath. There wasn't time to feel. There wasn't time to be human. He was a cop. He was a professional. He had to be. His hand came up and gripped the bridge of his nose.

"He's been building up to this. The victims? He didn't need to grab them if he has all of those people locked up already. He didn't need to leave them out. It was all done on purpose. He wants fear. He's trying to terrorize your city. You're right Matt, he has a plan. And he has help. It can't be to big of a group though otherwise there wouldn't be a need for this. Double digits, no high mucky mucks... Maybe mid level people who could help hide this... Okay. Okay. How many places could he be with that set up? Let's answer that question first." He said.

[Agent Fisher]

Jack stared, transfixed by the screen. "Not magic." he said. "Alchemy. He's performing human transmutation, condensing sentient being's natural energy into a single item. In this case, that stone. But it shouldn't be that big, it's just one hylian." He mumbled the last part. "He's also eating the stones. That's bad. It'll give him ridiculous regeneration abilities. Chop an arm off and it grows right back."

[B4UTRUST]

Poe watched the video, not turning away. If the people in that cage could watch, he damn sure could too.

He watched it, face grim, anger in his eyes. He was a cop and had been for many years. He had seen the darkest sides of humanity, the coldest and cruelest things done to another human being in the name of lust, love, greed, anger. He had been wrong. This.. this was worse somehow. Then he understood.

"He has a plan. He has a couple of them. I think I see one or two of them. In Old Town he has free reign. The cops don't give a shit what happens here as long as it stays out of Crystal City. It's why I've been working on this myself. But now he's going to move into the city and open this thing up to a whole new level. It's not just about fear. The fear, I think, is a means to an end. He's manipulating this whole thing.

"The whole video is a stage, it's a setup to get everyone jumping through hoops and following his lead. To accomplish his primary goal he didn't need to do half of what he did. It was a show of brutality and gore to cow the audience.

"The eating of the flesh? The other prisoners? The eating of the flesh? It's all a ruse. It makes your average citizen disgusted and afraid. It cows them into locking their doors and barring their windows. And those that it doesn't start running to the council and the police to do something about this.

"He called out the Council. Told the public they were impotent and unable to stop him. Told the public the Council was partially to blame for all of this anyway and that they had been using them.

"You're going to have a stampede to the police stations and the Council's chambers in Crystal City with people demanding action. The heroes are going to come out of the woodwork to band together to show that they're still around, useful and on the public's side. The council is going to have to make a show of force to quell the panic. They'll call a press conference, get some big names and faces to stand with them in front of the cameras. Get a good police presence as well. The chief of police, some lieutenants and captains and detectives 'working' the case. You're going to have all these people in a show of force in one spot that will be announced before hand to make sure the press is there. And then the Cannibal is going to stage an ambush and an attack. And people will die and it will be brutal and savage. It will send the message he wants. He can't be stopped by the Council. The heroes can't stop him, the police can't stop him and everyone is fucked. There will be panic in the streets and the Council will have a nightmare on their hands along with the police and every would-be hero they can dredge up."

Poe laugh. It was dry and bitter.
"Even the last bits about the Dark One are just one more layer in this. There is no Dark One to go after. If there was, he wouldn't announce his plans to kill him. That would give his target time to strength his defenses and prepare. No. It's a game to get us to run around in circles following useless theories. We'll exhaust resources trying to figure out who the Dark One is and have to monitor and watch every one of them we figure out to wait and see if we can catch the Cannibal in the act. It's empty boasts, empty promises and clever script writing. The video's not going to show us where he is.

"If you want to find the Cannibal, wait until the Council tells everyone they're going to respond to him and then figure out where the best place for him to strike to cause maximum fear, terror and PR asspain for the politicos is going to be. That's where you'll find him. He wants everyone out there gunning for him. It's going to lead to everyone tripping over themselves to find him and fucking up the investigation more than helping it.

"I think he's done with this penny-ante killing spree of the homeless. It's accomplished his goals, and as Jeremy said if he had prisoners he didn't need to do it. It was to get attention and spread fear and panic. That's done. Now his real targets start getting hit. Raynor was to show us that no one is safe and everyone can be taken. The Cannibal's next target will be another big name. Probably someone on the Council or famous enough that people will sit up and take notice. That's why the Council's response will be such a sweet target. With so many people and faces he can damn near walk right in and get what he needs."

[SirNitram]

"One high elf, one of those stones. Is it transmuting the soul? Or some essential power in the flesh?" Malkamar rubbed his head slowly. The sound of the young daughter of two heroes puking was politely ignored. "If I know what it is, I might be able to taint these stones.. TUrn them against him, perhaps. But I don't think we should let him get to the big show he wants.. We need to work out a plan to stop him."

[LadyTevar]

Lizbet had held out as long as she could, trying to be adult, trying to be Heroic. The sight of the missing leg had caused a gasp, quickly swallowed. The sudden removal of the thigh made her swallow hard, fighting back the bile that rose in her throat. As he ate the raw flesh, Lizbet was forced to deep breaths, fighting the urge rising with every bite.

She wanted to look away, she had to watch, Uncle Jack and Matt and Greg were watching her, she would not puke she would not puke she would not...

The skin and bone over the Hyrulian girl's heart twisted and peeled back, and Lizbet hiccuped in fright, then all but teleported to the closest washroom, emptying her stomach in loud heaves. Tears burned, leaking out of her eyes, but not even Lizbet could say if it was shame over breaking, or for the poor Hylian.

[General Havoc]

"Oh God..."

Gregory tried to remain objective, he tried to remain detached, professional, in control. He had seen people die. He had seen them blown into pixelated bits, and then later into bits that were not so pixelated. Never in person, always at a remove, but was this not also at remove? A screen showing horrors, this was nothing new. He had seen what the Zerg did to their captives, what befell GDI troopers exposed to raw Tiberium, what horrors lurked within the Nostromo, the Von Braun, Rapture. It didn't help. His head swam and he crumpled over, joining Liz-bet, though he didn't know it, in vomiting what little he had in his stomach up onto the floor.

It was a momentary seizure, and then it passed and was over, leaving him only with the shame of it as the others continued discussing what was happening and what they thought this lunatic would do next. He couldn't follow any of it, too busy cursing himself. He wasn't supposed to react like this. Lying like a boned fish on the ground next to a puddle of vomit, all because of images on a screen. Karen S'jet had watched her entire world burning from within the confines of the Mothership. Anduin Lothar had done the same, then fought a fighting retreat clear across Azeroth and then a fighting assault all the way back. Raynor himself had had to deal with far worse, and then command armies while in the thick of fighting.

Thinking about Raynor made his stomach start to quiver again.

He closed his eyes and tried to force himself to calm down, replace one image with another, letting himself go limp and motionless as he retreated into clairvoyance. His consciousness divorced from his body, he no longer had to contend with the rising bile in his throat, and tried to calm himself down, tried to think, tried to analyze.

Raynor...

How had the Cannibal captured Raynor? He had been with Raynor just hours ago! Had they snatched him away in broad daylight? Had he been following them while Gregory was meeting with the Marshal? Had he seen the Cannibal on the street and not even known it?

He fought that thought aside. Even if he had, there was no benefit in stewing over how close he'd come to being fodder for the maniac as well. But the image of Raynor's worn, taut face kept dancing before his non-existent eyes. Why wouldn't it go away... Why couldn't he think of anything else, some clue, some background matter. Puzzle games were not his forte. He was supposed to be a strategist, not a detective. He needed an army, set it loose into Old Town and scour the place clean, find Raynor before the cannibal could -

He practically kicked himself, or would if he'd presently be embodied. This wasn't a game, puzzle or otherwise. This was reality. He had to stop fixating on Raynor's gaze. He'd met Raynor only hours ago and now he needed to...

...

Wait.

Raynor had looked horrible, haggard, a semi-broken victim of the Cannibal, exactly what would have been expected, but he'd sat down at a bar with Raynor not four hours ago. How could the Cannibal possibly have captured and done all that to Raynor in that short a period?!

Was it a lie? Did he not have Raynor? Was this all just an elaborate hoax to coax some reaction? No, that was impossible. All it would take was Raynor coming out in public to announce the hoax to torpedo it. So then what happened?

A chill passed over him. Had that been Raynor he had met with this morning?

"How long could they have had him?" he asked out loud, his voice projecting itself into the conversation telepathically. "I had... I was with Marshal Raynor before I ran into you guys. How could the cannibal have gotten him that quickly? How could he have been in the cage that long?!"

[Charon]

Matt looked over at Poe and shook his head. Then looked back at Liz and Greg.

"S'alright. Let it out."

He glanced back at Poe. "Maybe you aren't as familiar with the dark and nasty things of this world as you like to think, Detective. Whatever the Cannibal is, it doesn't eat flesh merely as a ruse. It does it because it enjoys the act and it was letting us know it. Sure it falls in well with whatever it's plan is. But that part wasn't what I would call a ruse."

Matt scratched at his chin. "And whatever the Dark One is, he's real enough. This thing just picked Jim Raynor off the street without anyone noticing. He isn't scared of his target having some time to prepare themselves. Hell, he probably thinks it adds to the fun of the whole thing."

Matt was quite for a few seconds as he thought. "I don't know. But I just don't think he's working alone, whether he knows it or not."

[frigidmagi]

Jeremy looked over at the kids puking and didn't blame them. He like to puke himself, but they couldn't afford that.

"Let's concentrate here. We need to figure out where he could hide those people and that equipment. We need to figure out where he's gonna hit next. If he is gonna ambush some group of heroes like Poe thinks, we can counter ambush. I think we have to operate on the assumation he isn't alone. This Raynor guy is a big shot? You don't get to nick him if you're a lone unwashed crazy. We all agree fear was his big goal right?"

[LadyTevar]

Gregory's cry brought LizBet out of her own funk. She closed the toilet lid and flushed it, rising to her feet. At the sink, she ran water and splashed her face, cupping some of the water to wash her mouth out until it felt clean. Only then did she walk outside.

"When... when was that video taken?" Lizbet asked quietly.

[frigidmagi]

"If Gregory did met Raynor, then it was taken today. Is there anyway an impostor could have replaced Raynor for your meeting Gregory?" Jeremy wanted to curse and rubbed his hand across his face before continuing.

"Look this is literally my first day in this place. So I don't know what is impossible or possible for you guys. Do you have... Methods that would let a person completely impersonate another?" He asked.

[LadyTevar]

"Mimicry comes in all flavors," Lizbet answered. "Some just mimic the powers, others become their target." She took a seat on the arm of Uncle Jack's chair, unconsciously seeking comfort and protection from an adult. "I only mimic abilities. I don't change my looks. My father absorbed essences and his form changes when he calls on one of his essences. But all mimics need to have had some physical contact before we can mimic someone. Dad fought and beat his Essences."

Lizbet hadn't seen what the Cannibal did after splitting open the girl's stomach. If she had, she'd have no doubts eating the gem would work for Mimicry.

[frigidmagi]

"In that case, Greg we have to assume the Raynor you met wasn't the real one. Now those of you who know the city, start laying out places that he could hide a cage. Poe, figure out for me the smallest group of people our suspect would need to hide his crimes. We are low on time folks, so let's move." Jeremy said.

[Charon]

Matt looked over at the new guy and whistled a bit. "No small order there. If he's holed up in Old Town there's no shortage of places."

[LadyTevar]

Lizbet grimaced. "Old Town's as big as the rest of the City put together. There's abandoned property everywhere, and no one's sure if the old maps are still true either." As far as Lizbet knew, no one had bothered making street maps of Old Town since the cops decided to let it rot.

[frigidmagi]

"Best get to work narrowing it down then. We don't have to many options." Jeremy replied.

[Agent Fisher]

Jack looked over to Jeremy. "A place that size, could be in almost any building in old town. There's no way we're gonna be able to narrow it down to where he is on our own." He frowned, looking at the TV. "Poe, you got any favors you think might help?"

[frigidmagi]

"I gotta disagree. He needs a place where he can keep over a dozen people in lock down and torture them unnoticed. If that's all of Old Town, then frankly the place would look more like those old pictures I've seen of Kandahar or Mogadishu. It also has to be a place where the power and water work without needing to much maintenance. And where no one would notice the smell. Come on guys, focus." Jeremy said.

[SirNitram]

"Well." Malkamar said after a moment. "Water, power, set up for things to die bleeding and no one noticing. Slaughterhouses?"

[Charon]

"Slaughterhouse is a good start. Factories too, big, away from people, and plenty of power which might be siphoned into a small room." Matt scratched his chin. "Jack's got a point though. We can do this faster if we manage to bring in help. More eyes is rarely a bad thing."

[frigidmagi]

Jeremy looked at the map.

"This island has only one entrance and exit?" He asked pointing to an island between Old Town and the City.

[Agent Fisher]

Jack looked at the map he was pointing too and blinked. "Oh shit." He mumbled.

"Look, that's the Scar. You do not what to go there. Whole place has been de-rezed. Think the most shit hole third world country you can, then fill it with anomalies of space and time. That whole place is a minefield. One wrong step and an anomaly will tear you apart, or age a chunk of your body so rapidly it turns to dust. No one goes there."

[LadyTevar]

"Wouldn't that make it the best place to hide?" Lizbet asked innocently.

[SirNitram]

"If you like your life being a throw of the cosmic dice." Malkamar said gruffly. "If I could back to the Land Of Shadows, I might dare it. But otherwise, no. I could send a ghoul."