maskormenace | 004 | Video (Backdated to 11:05pm Tuesday June 5th)

004 | Video (Backdated to 11:05pm Tuesday June 5th)

[ Starr kicks off the video in Chilton's office, sitting at his desk. Chilton's nameplate has been replaced with another one reading: Dr. Herr K. Starr ]

It seems Doctor Chilton has ported out. So until further notice, I will be taking over the Maurtia Falls Psychiatric Hospital for Abnormal Conditions. Staff is to immediately report to me for evaluation and policy updates.

For the time being, we will not be accepting patients unless in the most dire of circumstances -- in which case, I will be able to implement shock therapy. In my humble opinion, such therapy does work best when placed upon ones genitals, but I will leave that up to the patient.

[ He pulls out a notepad, puts on Chilton's reading glasses, and picks up an entirely too fancy pen. ]

Now simply because we will not immediately be taking patients does not mean we cannot get you in the system. So let's start this with the basic question most psychiatrists are sure to ask: what is your deepest, darkest sexual fantasy?

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I'm free tonight. Maurita Falls? I know a bar.

I will be a bit busy for a few hours. Going over things here. But if you do not mind a late evening, I could arrive once I finish.

I'm a bit of a night owl- I certainly don't mind a late evening. I'll text you the address.

Much appreciated. I shall see you there.

[ It's a surprisingly quiet bar in Maurita Falls. More of a lounge type than a dive bar. He keeps to the corner, back to the wall, watching and waiting for Starr to enter.

Idly, he checks his phone, re-reading the warning messages from Chauncy. The man, supposedly, is dangerous.
And so is he.

He orders himself a whiskey, sipping slowly as he waits and watches. ]

[ If Herr Starr makes plans, he damn well keeps to those plans. And so, after he's had as much reading and invasion of Chilton's privacy as he can stand, he sends David the message that he's on his way and arrives shortly thereafter -- dressed in a finely tailored white suit with a red tie, striking and unmissable as he enters.

It takes him a moment to spot David, the man having taken to the corner, and Starr heads over to him -- a hand offered for a shake. ]

I am surprised you are still alone.

[ He keeps to German, which also awards its own sort of privacy. ]

[ It's hard to miss the stranger who approaches him. That immaculately tailored white suit, a splash of red from the tie like a hidden gash oozing his lifeblood down his chest.

He stands, polite, one hand on the table as the other reaches out and shakes his. Firm. Self-assured. David projects strength, as he does with all things, when he takes this stranger's hand. ]

I tend to go out of my way to avoid unnecessary attention.

[ Which is to say, he turned down anyone who tried to sit with him, returned any drink that might have been offered to him. He isn't here for idle flattery or seductions.

This is simply business. ]

May I buy you a drink, Herr Starr?

[ He nodded after David's question, not asking where the man accumulated enough money to treat people to drinks -- those details weren't really something he cared about. David could be murdering people for cash and well, Starr wouldn't really bat an eye. Instead, he simply requested a whiskey on the rocks before settling down opposite the man.

He kept a one-eyed gaze on him, unblinking for a moment as he took him in, assessed him, wondered if David was far more lax than his counterpart Chauncy. ]

So you are not someone who enjoys his time wasted. Good. I tend not to be either. So. What is your asking price for your services? Particularly ongoing services? Would it all be a cash transaction? Or. Do you tend to expect other forms of currency?

[ Some people wanted influence. Some people wanted unlimited access to whores. Some people played another game entirely. Was David as straight-laced as he appeared to be? ]

[ A whiskey on the rocks- a man after his own heart. The next a server passes by, he grabs them at the elbow and whispers the order into their ear. Top shelf. The good stuff. It isn't that he has the money- oh, no, he's still on the government stipend that they gave him. But, well. He has always enjoyed the 'kindness' of strangers.

A little manipulation also helped.

When he turns to Starr to see himself fixed with that single eye, he smiles. Calm and cool and collected. Even if he is closed off, he does not present himself as such- no need to chase away potential allies. ]

Gods, you speak of me as if I'm a hitman. [ He chuckles, amused ] I've yet to establish an hourly rate for those paying with cash, credit, or check. But I've come to believe that the most valuable currency available to me in this new and strange world is favors.

[ Perhaps a little more blunt that he'd prefer, but he senses Starr is honest when he says he is not a man who enjoys his time wasted. Good. He may as well unveil what he wants- an in.

This Chilton runs a psychiatric hospital. One that, supposedly, houses or treats the dangerous imports. And Starr runs his security. Works as a temporary leader while Chilton is away.

There are vague plans. Notions. Perhaps a bit of a push on the right people to cause a disaster. Perhaps a shove in the right direction to get some proper legislation rolling. Ends, means. David intends to build something worthwhile. Devil hang the details. ]

Are you not in a sense? Lawyers can be ruthless, out to defeat their opposition for the right price -- doing whatever it takes. Defense lawyers in particular have to make the difficult decision to forego what might be morally right and instead support their client.

[ Starr glances up when his whiskey arrives, accepting it in his hand and raising it to his lips for a hearty swallow. The liquor is set on the table before them. ]

Also the way you say this, I am inclined to believe you may mean sexual favors.

Ah, but all men are supposed to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Hence the morality of the Defense. They should receive a fair trial.

[ He pauses at the last comment, however. Brings his own whiskey to his lips. Buying his time to think of an appropriate answer.

There is, of course, the righteous indignation. The outrage of the very question, as if David is prostituting himself- or asking Starr to- for his services. There is the quiet laugh and categorical denial, clarifying what he means. And there is the last-

He smiles. And sets down his glass. ]

I must say, I should have been clearer in my meaning. [ He's all smiles now. Amping up his natural charm. He doesn't rely on his supernatural abilities- oh no, not with this man. ]

It would be immoral of me to demand sex as payment. Merely a meeting with the right people, or a word in the right here. However... [ His fingertips trace the rim off the glass, his eyes do not leave Starr's. ]

What you propose isn't off the table outside of my office hours.

[ Starr is mildly entertained by the display -- the charming smile, the stirring of David's fingertip on his glass. He says nothing to the part about presuming innocence. Starr is often the judge, jury, and executioner in his line of work back home. But he does understand the necessity of what David does. Particularly here, where he doesn't have the backing and protection of the Grail. ]

You must understand I care little for morality or immorality when it comes to two, consenting individuals. All that matters is discretion. Of which I am certain both of us have.

[ David seems far less prudish than Chauncy, at least!! Although Starr does have to wonder how adventurous David is when it comes down to it. ]

Tell me, do you tend to be more of a sadist or a masochist?

[ Discretion may be the better part of valor, but it still won't save him before an ethics board or the Bar Association. All the same, he does have t in him to keep a relationship a secret. Had he not, for two years? And then, that was even more ethically questionable than sleeping with a client. ]

I have to say I haven't really had the chance to experience either. However I am quite open to new experiences.

[ Even if he usually preferred taking control. Grasping it and pinning his lover down. Tying them, choking them, claiming them as his... ]

That is more than can be said for most around here.

[ Spoken with a hint of disdain. For the large part, Starr found the imPorts here rather lacking in interest. Chilton had collected some of the better ones at his hospital, but Starr wouldn't fuck any of them. With the exception of Chilton. And potentially Harley. And maybe Jack. ]

You will find a large amount of our numbers are dull, not open to new experiences, living within their own self-made box. A comfortable prison of their own sins.

I find most of humanity to be as such. Seldom do people risk the unknown until they are forced into it. And then their reaction is to flee, to run back and hide in their little shells. To return to normalcy. Rarely do the tested actually rise to seek greatness, even if they have the opportunity thrust upon them.

[ Its very blunt, the way he speaks. His own experiences tempering his mood. Many of his companions had been afraid. Few had taken up the call to greatness as he had. Niko had only joined him out of fear of his own death. Ximena for her bloodlust, Charlotte for her greed. The others had scattered like ashes to the wind.

And he... He had been Icarus flying towards the sun. Only to have the woman he considered a sister to pay for his hubris. ]

[ Starr found himself fascinated when David spoke. For a man who had come across as polite, for a man who served as a prosecutor -- he certainly had some dark thoughts about the people he served. It could be chalked up to becoming jaded -- to seeing the worst of humanity in courts and growing used to foolish criminals who were not even good enough at their crimes to avoid being caught. Or it could be something else. ]

You seem a bit disenchanted.

[ Something Starr knew well. Something he had experienced multiple times in his life. ]

Is it your professional career that led you to this point or some other disappointment?

[ It's both, isn't it? He'd become so jaded by his career. Had seen so much evil in the world. It had been the catalyst, the reason he had lept at the chance to serve the gods. To become something greater.

Compassion Fatigue. Secondary Traumatic Stress. Whatever you wanted to call it, it had been the catalyst for pursing greatness beyond mortal means. ]

I've been a prosecutor for nearly 15 years. It takes its toll.

[ A sigh, and he sips his drink. ]

Unfortunately, the law is what I'm good at.

I understand. It is simple to become jaded when all you see as part of your job is the worst humanity has to offer. I've felt the same way for much of my career. You are part of the effort to make a cleaner world, but all you see is the same thing day in and day out.

[ Starr shakes his head, finishing off his drink and signaling the server for another. Once the drink is in hand, he returns his attention to David. ]

Tell me. Are you a religious man, Mr. Klein?

[ It's a question he finds himself unable to answer, really. For the majority of his life, he has been an atheist. And yet, he had been thrust in front of the gods. Multiple gods.

He knows that they exist, and yet he doesn't believe in them. Doesn't have faith in them. So what does that make him? Deist? ]

I believe that Religion and Ritual have their purposes, but I haven't exactly found myself drawn to faith, no. Then again, stranger things have happened.

It's something that could be worthwhile until you find God or the gods are nothing but a disappointment. There are plenty of them here in this world.

[ And one back home. Along with the Christ child. Both disappointing. But Starr won't get into that much because it doesn't matter. Only this world matters as long as they are in it. ]

And I have yet to find one who inspires confidence in deities. When you look at the teenage gods especially, you find yourself a bit embarrassed on their behalf.

The teenage gods? Demigods you mean. Children of, but not true gods.

[ He would know. He is one of them himself.]

... The gods of my world are nothing but a disappointment. Each and every one of them. Self-serving. They leave the world to rot and ruin and then summon their children to clean up their messes.

[ Starr shakes his head. ]

Not quite. They are actual gods -- at least in terms of their own universe. A generation of godlings who rise up every few years or so, bring their insight to the world and then vanish for a time. That vanishing is obviously delayed for as long as they are here. But examples of these supposed gods include Persephone, Lucifer, Baphomet, and a few others.

[ With an idle shrug. It's clear Starr doesn't think too much of them, though. He had yet to see Baph in concert, though. ]

But it sounds as though this is fairly consistent with gods in every universe. In my own, we have one. The Christian God. And he has since run off -- abandoned the world in favor of doing god knows what.

Ah. Those gods. I am familiar with Woden. [ The egotistical prick. ]

... I suppose that if he's run off, he would be the only one knowing what he's doing.

[ It's a joke, if a bad one. Terrible.
But still, he supposes that answers the question of if he was a religious man...]

[ Woden. Aka you mean Starr's BFF???? He had purposely left Woden out of his list, but since David brings him up -- Starr cannot help but pry a little. ]

Have you met him? And what are your thoughts?

That, like most gods, I hope he chokes on his own ego.

[ There's some cynicism in his voice, and he drinks the rest of his glass. Gestures to the waiter for a second round for both of them. ]

Personally, I would rather keep my distance from those calling themselves gods. All they bring is suffering and ruin.

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004 | Video (Backdated to 11:05pm Tuesday June 5th)

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