Unfortunately, standard video doesn't capture magical traces very well. It'd have to be live or imprinted directly onto the medium, accidentally or deliberately.

What she does see, though, is fascinating. The golem is a tall, well-built female figure. There's no sign of a 3D printer, but it seems like she must know Matter, or something like it. Maybe she's a Moros - it seems like she's totally indifferent to base matter.

"Ah'm working on the brain now, and the problem I'm havin' is that good ol' fashioned copper just ain't good enough. I've tried makin' my own ceramic superconductors, but they just don't handle the kinda temperatures they're gonna be exposed to." She points down at a pile of discarded material, different bits of ferroceramics and copper wiring. It's amazing - she appears to have created 3-dimensional transistor matrices. Wire catches a glimpse of a fab unit in the back that looks like it was bought or stolen from IBM, then modified with what she can only describe as mad science. "If that stuff of yours can do all you say, I bet she'll be up and runnin' before you can spit."

You're just as nice as your screen presence, Wire! =) I've watched every episode since you started way back. You got me into this stuff.

All that about Stygia and Paths - wow, I thought this was just mad science shit. My mind is blown. Is the Assembly like the Consilium? What kind of Path are you?

It's kind of awesome how she's run into more fans as a mage than age ever did as a normal girl. Then again, she found it hard to get out of the house. Even going to VidCon last year just about gave her an attack, and she hurt worse after. She knows now that was the result of a degenerative abyssal disease.

There's a bit of a delay before GreaseGoddess responds.

I don't get it. How does that work? I mean - I get the forces thing. Are Thyrsus, like, biologists? And what does mind have to do with space and all? They're mesmerists who teleport? NowayHome is a time traveler, but - Fate isn't even real.

Okay, yes, it's a golem and I'm carving magic symbols into it, but, like, that's just programming. Symbolic logic, operating on higher dimensional principles. Almost none of the rest of that makes sense. There's no randomness in dice, it's totally deterministic based on the input forces and the material it's made of. How do you even build a device to manipulate fate? I have trouble enough making the tools I need for the stuff I already do. I guess I could build some sort of tesseract lens somehow to look through time. Dunno where I'd even start with that.

She seems a little defensive, even slightly upset.

That's impossible, she flatly declares. Wire has a lot of experience in reading emotion through text.

-----GM-----
-----------------
There's another pause. For a moment, Wire is certain she's backed off completely, but then her Skype window rings with a call. Answering it, she finds Grease on the other side - hopefully she picks a new Shadow Name - looking a little miffed.

"All right," she says. "I'm givin' y'all a chance, Miss Wire, even if'n I'm pretty sure you're pullin' my leg." She rotates the webcam down to point at a home-made drone, painted matte black.

-----Valerie-----
"Hey, if I end up wrong, then I'm the one looking foolish." Valerie cracks her fingers and draws her rod out. She chirps out a few beckoning words and points at the image of it on screen. (Remote control! To get its rotors going at hover-speeds. Gnosis 2, Matter 3, rod 1, high speech 2. One reach sensory, one reach remote, one reach instant cast. No paradox at all. rpgroller.com/nwod/ two successes.)

-----GM-----
It works flawlessly. Her impromptu imago slides her consciousness into the drone's system and figures out where to turn it on, making it buzz and pull just above the surface of the table.

Ethan's ear twitches, and he lifts his head, groggy.

Grease stares down at the drone for a goodly while, then back at Wire.

"You've got a remote in there. You - hijacked the line here somehow."

-----Valerie-----
"You got something that has zero remote-control components?" she asks. "Like, say... a dremel? Corkscrew? Heck, just a switch component not connected to anything."

-----GM-----
She pushes the drone away, which continues to stubbornly hover, and empties out a box of screwdrivers. Her belt is littered with odd little tools - does she have one per spell? Hopefully not one per imago, that would be horrifying. Maybe she can reconfigure them for imagos

-----Valerie-----
Valerie looks through the pile until she finds one that has a mechanical component - an adjustable wrench. Once again she brings rod and high speech to the fore. (-2 for duration, so the turning of the adjustable wrench is seen. 0 success.) ...finding herself a bit short. She clears her throat, and simply tries again. Hopefully Grease won't have noticed. (and 5!)

-----Valerie-----
(Regain Arcane Inspired!)

-----GM-----
That felt awesome! She watches the corkscrew spin, bouncing on the table - and Grease starts to break out in a sweat.

Ethan gets to his feet, shuffling over.
"What's going on?" he asks, yawning and watching.

-----Valerie-----
"One of the contest entries proved to be magical. She's a fresh Moros, and has been making a golem. It's pretty sweet. ... I've been explaining to her how the magical reality work, and she needed some convincing that I'm not talking out of my ass."

-----Valerie-----
"Cue wrench."

-----GM-----
As she explains, she grabs the wrench and throws it with a loud clang against the side of the mineshaft.

-----GM-----
"That was just - just some sort of induced magnetism!"

Uhm. Oh dear.

-----Valerie-----
... that's the most Sleeper Mage she's even seen.

-----GM-----
Ethan frowns.
The girl doesn't seem to be suffering Quiescence, she's certainly not triggering the darkness of the Abyss, but her anger doesn't seem right.

-----GM-----
"I don't know how you're controlling my things, but - " she freezes, and quickly reaches forward to smack the webcam, sending it spinning to face a wall, her breathing hard

-----GM-----
Then the feed turns black as she loses video

-----GM-----
then the call ends

-----Valerie-----
"...well shit."

-----GM-----
"...I have a bad feeling about this," Ethan murmurs

-----GM-----
He squeezes her shoulders.
"Maybe you should call Ikenga."

-----Valerie-----
"Yeah, I was about to say that." She checks on the Skype account's location, to see if there's anything there so she can figure out where she was calling from. All the while, she texts Ikenga with the other hand. Weirdness alert. Don't suppose you're free to talk a bit? ... and are awake?

-----GM-----
The region is listed as "United States" which isn't helpful at all.

I'm up. Keep late hours. I'll call.
Her phone buzzes.

-----Valerie-----
She answers the phone, putting her on speaker. "Hey, good evening. ..thanks for taking the time."

-----GM-----
"It's all right. I try to be available to my favorite student."

-----GM-----
Ethan smirks. "Isn't she your only student?"

-----Valerie-----
"Aww, shucks. I'll still take it."

-----GM-----
"What's up? You seem worried."

-----Valerie-----
"So, I put out a new episode, where I showed a bit of magic subtly using the brontium you got me, under the guise of calling it 'fresh copper.' I was running a contest during it to win the gaming unit I made... Mainly to see if I got any responses of people who noticed that it wasn't natural.

"I got a bite. A girl somewhere in the US, 15 or so, told me she was making a golem. Clearly a Moros from Stygia, but self-taught." She sends Ikenga the video through e-mail. "Sending you the video she sent me. So we got to chatting, and I started enlightening her on things she was missing. But she had a really, how to say... unbelieving stance about some of it, like the symbology of magical reality was offending her. I offered to prove you didn't need tools to do magic.

"She loaded her webcam up so I could prove it, and I did, twice. And she got... like, really upset. Like, I was half expecting her to generate quiescence. I'm kind of worried about her, and Bagheera and I feel like something is really wrong. Heavy breathing, oddly upset despite that she's literally using magic herself, even if she's channeling it through what looks like tools."

-----Valerie-----
"She shut off the feed and logged off Skype right after calling my magic 'induced magnetism' or accusing me of hacking the radio waves near her somehow."

-----GM-----
She can hear her play the video in the background.

-----GM-----
"...the video seems okay, but..."

-----GM-----
Ethan scrunches his face. "It was pretty freaky and I only just saw her."

-----GM-----
Ikenga is quiet for a moment while she thinks - or, maybe, hesitates.

"I don't want to throw this around without knowing for sure, but... Wire, she might be a Banisher. They ever tell you what those are?"

-----Valerie-----
"...no, I haven't heard about those."

-----Valerie-----
"That sounds bad. What is it?"

-----GM-----
"It's... well, a lot of times, hopefully most, it's just a mage from some Nameless order who hates magic and wishes it was gone."

-----GM-----
"But."

-----GM-----
"Sometimes - it's when an Awakening goes wrong."

-----Valerie-----
"..oh jeez." She frowns. "So, the trauma of it could have left her hating magic that isn't her own?"

-----GM-----
"No one really understands it," she admits. "A lot of mages are scared that it's infectious. No one's even sure if... if it can be cured. The thing is, Banishers are supposed to be terrified by their own magic, like they never stopped being Sleepers on some level."

-----GM-----
"She seems cool with her own magic, though," Ethan says

-----Valerie-----
"Yeah, she seemed pretty comfortable about improving the golem."

-----GM-----
"Yeah, but she's - recontextualized it? I might be overblowing things, maybe she's just really invested in the idea of magic as super science," she says, hopefully

-----GM-----
"Some mages honestly feel that someone who went through a bad Awakening - really ought to just be killed and hope they start over."

-----GM-----
"I dunno, sometimes you hear a rumor about one being healed."

-----Valerie-----
Valerie pops open the browser, starting to look for any report of assembly machine being stolen in recent hits, or prison escapes using explosives enough to make a big hole in the wall. Particularly in the Apalachian area.

"I hope so... if it's not, and you're right, I told her about Consilia and the orders, and brontium, which she might want to try to get. I'm not... super worried about what she might do to other mages, but.. yeah, that. I'd rather try to find a way to heal her than to see her destroyed."

-----GM-----
It's quite a few states, but she can search by state.

Here we go - she finds a wall that was melted 'by a powerful form of acid.' No one's sure how she could possibly have made it, but it has traces of urine and table salt.

-----Valerie-----
She checks the city name.

-----GM-----
Funny, since salts are basic

-----GM-----
Pikestrail, a small town near Nashville

-----Valerie-----
"Looks like she channeled Shaping through a home-made wouldn't-work-as-an-acid-at-all acid out of salt and her own urine. ...Might want to send an advisory to Tenessee if you can, to the nearest Consi or Free Council assembly to Pikestrail, or Nashville. ...though, if possible, I'd.. prefer not to involve her death? If there's a way she can be cured... I dunno, I might be naïve about this, and I don't have much agency over how they'd run this manhunt.

"But, y'know..."

-----GM-----
"What worries me more right now is if she's indeed a Banisher with an awry Awakening - and she's fixated on you."

-----Valerie-----
Val frowns at that, leaning back in her seat. "... I ..hope not. I'll have to bring this up to the assembly, won't I?"

-----GM-----
"You have to do very little, but for the safety of others at least, yes."

-----Valerie-----
"I'd rather it be out there, if it's going to be a problem." She frowns. "..damn, this sucks. I thought I was going to get to be 'the teacher.'"

-----GM-----
"Don't fret. She seems to be able to work magic okay, I might just be overblowing it. She could just be scared and not know what to do."

-----Valerie-----
"Hopefully I'll get to talk to her again and we can figure out from there." She sighs. "I'll still bring it up to hear the assembly's thoughts on it, but fair warning, I'll be pushing for compassion."

-----GM-----
"I wouldn't have it any other way from you."

-----GM-----
"Mostly, I want you to take some precautions."

-----GM-----
"A motivated Matter and Forces user can be dangerous if she's willing to use technology creatively."

-----Valerie-----
"Yeah... Been meaning to look into ways of beefing up my apartment a bit, make it a bit better for magic, and, y'know.. keeping bad surprises I don't want looking in from poking their heads in."

-----Valerie-----
"I'm open to suggestions."

-----GM-----
"Well, once we get you making Imbued items, you'll find that a lot easier! For now, I'd honestly suggest maybe staying with someone else as the simplest form of security."

-----GM-----
"You could rig a few things if you like."

-----Valerie-----
"Mh... Maybe I can ask my sister, fake a fumigation if someone asks."

-----GM-----
Ethan rubs her side.
"For what it's worth, I don't feel any danger tonight, and she seemed frightened of even considering the idea of Fate - though, now we might have clued her into it."

"She can't learn Veiling that fast, I hope. Still, better safe than sorry."

-----GM-----
"Especially if she's crippling herself by a reliance on tools."

-----Valerie-----
"The problem might arise if she decides that not using tools is valid because I showed her, I suppose."

-----Valerie-----
"I have a hard time imagining what's going on behind her head."

-----Valerie-----
"I can't imagine magic not being some of the greatest thing ever. I mean... a rough awakening, sure." She takes Ethan's arm. "But the magic itself, being afraid of it?"

-----GM-----
"It's a reminder that we live in a world that's beautiful, and yet terrible, too."

-----Valerie-----
"..that about covers everything from this evening, though. I'll get plenty of second opinions tomorrow, no doubt. Thanks, Ikenga."

-----GM-----
"Take care, Wire. You know I'm rooting for you. Look forward to this weekend, too - it will be almost like a little second awakening for you."

-----Valerie-----
"I'm really hyped up for it!"

-----GM-----
----------

That was not a girl afraid of magic. That was someone who wanted to know how to make her magic better, to create and make something beautiful and remarkable. All spoiled by some speed bump on the golden road, a pothole to trip into, a trauma she couldn't reconcile.

"I hope someone at the assembly will have a theory that's more optimistic. ... She said she got arrested for her experiments, and that she had to escape her holding cell to stop her mother from destroying her work. Question is, what experiments did she do that'd get her arrested, and what did she do to her mother? The optimist in me hopes the answer is that she happened to steal stuff, and the solution was to take her stuff and run."

Because the alternative is frightening.

Valerie sighs, brushing her hands in her hair. "Well, my pride says I shouldn't run to sis, but I'm also well aware that I haven't been trained in the intricacies of making a defensible bunker out of my apartment yet, and I don't know how long we have until - and even if - she shows up. so... Ari it is, until I have a better idea."

She takes her phone out, texting her sister. I may have unknowingly gotten a *potentially* homicidal magic-fearing mage from Tennessee riled up and interested in me, and Ikenga says I should switch things up just in case she can't be found or talked down. I don't have the training to turn my apt into a fortress yet, so is it okay if me (and Ethan, but just tonight, can't send him home in the dead of night *^^*) crash on your couch until I have a plan and/or know how to make defences?

What keyboard is that??

"Yeah, she'll come by to pick us up. Also she says not to get in a fight with Rachelle's cat."

Valerie pouts. She likes using the swipey keyboard. It feels 'manual.' Still, she holds her phone up and gives it a shot, dictating her intended message in high speech. _{(Influence electricity praxis: gnosis 2, forces 2, high speech 2, rod 1. 1 reach instant cast.)}
YzZmG90w7d10

Well I'll make a high speech keyboard and put it on the playstore.


...that's not a bad money making idea, catering to the mage community world wide.7d10

Yeah, that's a good idea. I'm gonna go pack up some stuff. See you soon.

She wheels on out, pausing by Ethan. She reaches up to take his shoulder and tug him down to give him a quick reassuring smooch, then carries on to her room to get herself a duffel of stuff. Laptop, clothes, some projects and other necessities.

For some reason, she's picturing Arielle getting a muscle car. It'd be very her. ... maybe Val can soup it up with magic. Magic Force based siderite engine, enchanting flames into perfect white fire, plated and lined with decorative lunargent, with brontium wiring and adamant glass, using an alkhalhest based fluorinert solution for cooling?

Yes please.

These people who can see his true form without him being involved intrigue her, and it's interesting to imagine that they are, themselves, part of that world? Or at least, have some connection to it. She makes sure to save any usernames that hint at the supernatural - in this case it's for Ethan's own perusal - for later consumption. Otherwise, she provides commentary, retweets her favourites, and responds to a few questions.