[Begin transcript recording of audio bug 211453287: Laser Microphone, Atwaters Quadrant A, north window. Transcript verified and supplemented by Agent Norris and Agent Spencer. Emphasis has been added to select phrases to signify inflection, sarcasm, etc. and extraneous noises have been removed, as warranted by Agent Spencer]

[Targets: 1) Ramon Gonzales (RG); 2) Erica Goodchilde (EG). EG arrived at 5:31pm, RG arrived 22 minutes afterwards.]

RG: Where did you get that shiner?

EG: The one in my hand or the one on my face?

RG: I’m talking about the giant bruise where your right eye should be

EG: Why don’t you ask your “gentlemen soldiers”?

RG: I would if they weren’t still in the hospital in ICU.

EG: Well, there ya go…

RG: Why exactly are two of my soldiers in ICU, btw?

EG: The same reason you’re having to remodel your bathroom.

RG: I sent them with you to protect you.

EG: I didn’t need protection, and I especially didn’t need two assholes trying to make a pass at me while I’m in the middle of a shower!

RG: You were flirting with them all day; they thought you wanted some stress relief. Not an uncommon request at our place, ya know.

EG: Maybe if they thought with something other than their dicks then they would have noticed the difference between flirty and polite niceness.

RG: Those were two of my-

EG: NO MEANS NO, RAMON!

[Silence: 4 seconds]

RG: Fine. When they wake up, I’ll check their side of the story. I’ll wait to make a Judgment until then.

EG: Judgment?

RG: On whether you broke the Laws of Hospitality by attacking two of my uh… ’Sworn’, I believe.

EG: Self Defense. They assaulted me first.

RG: Like I said, I’ll check on that when they wake up. In the mean time, maybe you shouldn’t come out to the Den anymore, for your own safety.

EG: Fine.

[Silence: 20 seconds]

EG: Nicely played on the Laws of Hospitality angle, by the way, you picked that one up pretty fast.

RG: Thank you. Years of similar rules from the police force helps.

[Silence: 7 seconds]

EG: Does all of crew stand to attention when you get up from the table?

RG: Uh, yeah. Luisa’s idea, seeing as I’m in charge and she’s running a semi-military outfit out there. As an ex-cop, it grated at first, but it really helps maintain the Alpha persona that the Wolf in us craves without me needing to beat down every single whip and pup that thinks they can take me. That gets old after a while, so the new recruits see who’s in charge thru little displays and protocols like that one and fall in line and I don’t have to dominate each one individually.

EG: Didn’t Carlos challenge your hum… status when I was there last?

RG: Carlos challenged me to a homid only wrestling match, not for command of the pack. He may have been trying to subtly exert himself over me, but since he lasted all of three seconds, it would have backfired on him.

EG: “If” he had been making a power play for Head Wolf

RG: yes, “if”. Speaking of matches, how did you fair in your drills with Luisa?

EG: Not that it matters anymore, but I managed 3 for 3 minutes, then 5 for 20 seconds. Plus the second group learned to not bunch up from the first group.

RG: Good. I’m sorry things are the way they are now. Having a wizard on hand to teach the pack how to better deal with magic and the like really helps in their training.

EG: I’m not a wizard; wizards are a hundred times worse than me, remember that.

RG: You’re close enough.

EG: (cough) yeah, well I’m sorry too; I haven’t had that intense of a workout since my Mom was training me…

RG: Your mom trained you?

EG: Yeah, she said that if I wanted to survive in a world of monsters and self-righteous assholes that I should know how to defend myself, and deal back as necessary.

RG: Given your previous displays I don’t imagine these training sessions involved tea parties and dress up.

EG: No, they involved me creating Jupiter level gravity fields on steel drums, conjuring bullets and basic tools, and throwing balls of lightning at clay models of ogres and trolls, mostly while getting hit by BB’s and baseballs trying to hold a shield at the same time.

RG: I thought you could only deal in sound, Sonomancy I believe you called it?

EG: Haven’t always been just a Sonomancer.

[Silence]

RG: May I ask a personal question?

EG: Sure, you got 5 minutes left on your allotted time.

RG: How did you lose your eyes?

[Silence]

EG: I…made a mistake…

RG: You made a mistake and lost your eyes?

EG: I made a mistake with Magic and lost my eyes.

RG: Impressive. I wasn’t aware that magic was that dangerous to the caster.

EG: Anything is dangerous when you’re stupid. But Magic especially.

RG: Fair enough.

[Silence: 4 seconds]

EG: Can I ask you a question?

RG: Shoot.

EG: Where did you get your magic necklace?

[Silence: 3 seconds]

RG: How did you know about my necklace being magical?

EG: Uhm well I can feel the magic, like a really strong uhm power chord being strummed with the amp turned way down, but in my umm head.

RG: Ah, so you can feel that sort of thing regardless of what magic you can do?

EG: Sorta, yeah.

RG: Huh. Well, to be honest, I don’t really know. I fell asleep one night at home, and the next morning I woke up naked in the Ft. Wolf Zoo wolf pen with this on my neck.

EG: Aren’t you afraid that, you know, someone did this to you on purpose and that the other shoe will eventually drop?

RG: Of course I have, I barely wore this thing for two months after my blackout. It wasn’t until I put it back on for a date that I realized what it was capable of teaching me. I haven’t looked back since. I figure if the other shoe were to drop it would have happened by now.

EG: That’s…dangerous. Some of the fey can take decades to work a plan piece by piece, and the vampires can be just as patient from what I hear.

RG: So I should give this up? Give away my power and let every scumbag and monster kill my people?

EG: No, no, I’m um just saying…you are going into that Power blind. You have no idea who is holding the receipt on that thing.

RG: You would know about being blind, wouldn’t you? Well, that’s why I like our little deal: you keep me in the know. Your info will keep me from making your mistake.

[Silence: 3 seconds]

EG: Not sure if I should take as a compliment or an insult.

RG: Take it how you like. (chair moving sounds) I don’t really care, just so long as you honor the deal.

EG: I‘ll honor it. I’m good to my word.

RG: Good. Your little psycho-murderer of a cat’s life depends on it. See you next week.

EG: Yeah. See ya.

[RG leaves Quadrant 1. RG signals to David Webb (4th tier “soldier” in FWP), DW and RG exit Atwater’s establishment.]

[Silence: 48 seconds]

EG: He really doesn’t like you.

[Unknown Source]: Indeed. The Feeling is mutual.

EG: Think he noticed you were here?

[Unknown Source]: Doubtful. He may have smelled me on you, although I doubt he would have viewed that as particularly significant.

EG: Why is that?

[Unknown Source]: Because you always smell of cat.

EG: Hehe, true. (sound of chair movement. Dialogue grows fainter as source of sound exits Quadrant 1 thru standard entrance. Unknown source appears to be originating from EG, with zero signs of ventriloquism)

[Unknown Source]: My gift to you.

EG: I’m so appreciative.

[Unknown Source]: As you should be.

EG: Uh huh.

[Unknown Source]: Midori and Claret don’t appreciate me like you do.

EG: You peed in both their closets.

[Unknown Source]: I was marking territory! Malk scent is a powerful deterrent to mice and rats.

EG: Midori lost a $400 pair of shoes, I doubt she feels the ends justify the means.

[Unknown Source]: She is so busy doing Shugenja magic these days I’m surprised she noticed. Besides, I paid her back.

EG: Putting a dead bird on her Xbox does not count as reimbursement.

[Unknown Source]: Pff! Humans…

[Conversation lost upon EG exiting Atwater’s establishment. End Transcription.]