Part 8: VIII - Sibling Rivalry

We need to find Therese. Chances are that she's on the top floor of the club. First, however, there's a familiar face to talk to:





It's Knox.



He's that ghoul we ran into outside of the medical clinic. The one who has that 'super secret mission' for his master.

Hey, Knox. What's going on?

Eh, not much. I'm just waitin' around for my master.

The master you couldn't talk about?

Okay, okay. I guess I can tell you about him.



Speak of the devil, just the nosferatu we need to find.

No kidding? Small world. I'm looking for him.

[Listen] Aw man, I wish I knew where he was. I'm getting antsy waitin' around for him. I need to tell him some stuff, ya know. I dunno where he is or stays or anything. Aw man I- Whenever he needs me he just... ya know... appears.

What do you mean "just appears"?

It's crazy, he just appears out of, like, thin air. The first time he appeared - bam! - like to give me a goddamn heart attack. Aw man! Especially how he looks, blech.

Knox must be referring to the Nosferatu's ability to obfuscate.

What do you do for Bertram?

Aw man! Well, Bertram had me keeping an eye on this guy, this Asian dude who's been pokin' around Santa Monica. Bertram thought he might be a vampire or... something like a vampire, I dunno.

"Asian dude"... Knox may be trailing a Kuei-Jin, a "Kindred of the east".

Tell me about this "Asian dude".

Aw man, this guy, this... this thing... got wise to me. Now instead of me watchin' him, he's watchin' me, you know. I see this guy appear around me all the time, like off in the distance watchin' me, he'll... warp up next to me... aw man... then "whoo" disappear.

If Knox knows more, he's not saying.

That must be unnerving.

It's freakin' me out! I know this thing is totally toying with me. I want to put a bullet in its head but who knows if that'll do anything. So I was waiting till I talked to Bertram but... well... hell if I know where he disappeared to. It's messed up!

It does appear to be that way, Knox.

Look, I didn't wanna ask you but since you're a kickass vampire and I'm just the lowly ghoul, would you mind getting rid of this thing?

Is there anyone in an RPG that confesses their troubles to you and doesn't ask you to solve them?

Care to make it worth my while?

Aw, c'mon girl! What could I possibly have that a frickin' vampire would want? When I hear from Bertram, I'll let him know you're lookin' for him, how's that? C'mon hun.

Well, it'll be an interesting diversion, at the very least.

I guess I can look into it.



Driver's license? Shouldn't that tell you who he is?

No... the picture on the license isn't him. I don't know why he had it, but... well it might help you find out where he is and what he's doing. Here, take it.

You already gave it to us, but okay.

Alright. I'll take care of it.

Right on! Just come back and let me know the job's done so I can stop freakin' out. Oh man. Maybe I'll see Bertram by then.

One more sidequest to do, then. We could use more information about Bertram, though, if we're going to be dealing with him.

Sounds good Knox. I have a couple of questions.

Aw man, yeah, sure! What do you want to know?

So what is Bertram like?

[Listen] Oh man! Well he's, like, the only vampire I know but, well, he seems pretty damn powerful. Aw man, w-when he's lookin' at you it's like he's really scanning your brain, you know, it's like trippy, it's crazy. Ho man! But I guess that's the Nosferatu's thing, yaknow. They like, know everything I-I guess.

Knox's voice actor does a good job, but listening to his lines over and over is a little grating. As they should be.

I've gotta get outta here. Later.

Let's check out this license Knox gave us.



Virgil Crumb? Now where can we go to search through a list of names in a database? Kilpatricks. We'll head there later.

Now, there's a woman standing near the bar.



[Seduction]Since I walked in here, I haven't been able to able to take my eyes off you.

No....

Yes!

Mmm...!

I have something I want to tell you, come closer....



Blood doll. Useful for filling our blood meter up, and that's it.

Anyway, we need to talk to the bartender next. He'll probably know how to find Therese.



I'm looking for Therese. Where can I find her?

Therese? She's upstairs. She said she had business to attend to, but I can hear her and Jeanette bickerin' from here. Why do you need to see her?

[Persuade]I called earlier. I have an interview for the part-time hostess position.



Thanks. Bye.



Into the elevator that Jeanette went into, and up to the second floor. It sure looked like there were more than two floors from the outside, but this is the highest we can go.



The door leading further in is locked, but we can hear some sort of argument going on:

The door unlocks, and we can go in.



That must be Therese.



If you say so. I guess that means you're Therese?



She's the prince of Santa Monica, the head honcho, the "queen bitch", if you will. Notice that we're given the option to dominate her. Let's see how that goes.



Not well. I just wanted to show that off, now I'm going to reload and choose another response. For reasons.

I need you to call off the feud with Bertram Tung.

Tung's exile is self-imposed, I assure you. But then, what reason would I have not to hate that loathsome Nosferatu scoundrel. Bloody Nosferatu. They're so... unclean.

That sounds like a phobia more than anything else.

Why do you hate him?

He meddles in my affairs. He's a bad influence on my sister, and she on him. If you were in my place, would you let him compromise your authority? You most certainly would not. I'd quite like it if I never had to hear that name again.

Then can you put out the word that you've got no feud with him?

Why would I do that? Let him think I mean to kill him - that way, I don't have to worry about him sabotaging everything. Do you realize how his subterfuge makes me look to the Camarilla?

That's unfortunate, but I do need to see him.



What co-conspirators? And what property? This dialogue seems like it's copy and pasted from another conversation.

Hmm... I'd be willing to put the word out that my grievances with Tung have been swept under the rug, but in return, you'll have to help me remove a particularly burdensome spirit from a property I'm looking to invest in.

A spirit? You mean a ghost?

Ah, I forgot, you're still new to this. Allow me to break you in - yes, ghosts exist. Werewolves, mummies, and I'd expect a whole lot of other things I've never seen share the night with us.

Sure, I'll do it. What do I have to do to get rid of the ghost?

I'm being all buddy-buddy with Therese for the same reasons I'm being buddy-buddy with Jeanette. You'll see.

Rumor is that a personal item of a ghost's may be used to draw it out or excise it from its haunt. While I don't put a lot of stock in hearsay, it's my last option. So I want you to go to the Ocean House hotel, find an item of the spirit's, and bring it back.

I'll do it if you promise to call off the feud.

Oh, I fully intend to do so. You'll find that dealing with me, on the whole, is appreciably more predictable than dealing with some of the egomaniacs that are my peers. So long as our business doesn't go sour, my word is gold.

I can respect that. And I appreciate it. Goodbye.



If that's what it takes to get this job done.

If you'll excuse me, I've got a situation to set straight.

We should see if she'll tell us any more information.

I had a few questions.

...

Tell me a little about your twin sister Jeanette.



I've got things to do. Later.

Sounds like there are some pretty serious family issues. I'm sure they won't come up again.



This giant painting dominates the room. Perhaps this is a portrait of Therese, Jeanette, and their father at an earlier time. Speaking of Jeanette, she must have run into the bathroom. She left her computer unguarded.



Which we can hack into. We can't do the same to Therese's computer since she's here.



We'll hack into her email first. The password is wishes.




Therese must be on a power trip or something. Could Jeanette be part of Tung's "co-conspirators" that Therese was referring to?


Jeanette sure gets around.


She sure is on a power trip.

Now we'll hack into her contacts. The password is callme.

mikey posted:

<310> 555-5337,
mikey@yahooligan.vtm - ****

That must be Tung.

arthur posted:

<310> 555-9829 - *

jeff posted:

<310> 555-9006 - ****

sara posted:

<310> 555-2216 - ****

jack posted:

<310> 555-8181 - *****

Jeanette is rating these people on a 1-5 star scale. I'm sure you can think of what basis the rating is on.


That's all we can do up here for now.



If you spend 5 or so minutes dancing on the dance floor, you'll gain a humanity boost. We're going to be heading back to our apartment.





We have two things to do here:

1. We left that pack of werewolf blood in our mailbox. The money should be here by now.
2. We need to find out where Muddy went. His girlfriend lives in this building.



Murrietta - that was the name. Muddy's girlfriend lives in the apartment directly across from ours.



Good, the money's here. Not as much as we should have got, having gone through all the trouble, but we shouldn't have expected anything else from LaCroix.

He must have sent us an email about it. Let's check.



Yep.

Now, apartment 507 is locked. However...



There's a spare key in the plant right next to the door. You can also lockpick your way in if your skill is high enough.



This apartment has no furniture! She must have skipped town, any clues she might have had she took with her. BUT!



There's a phone with an answering machine in the corner.

Hey, Marian, it's Mike. Look, I gotta head downtown for a few days, maybe longer. If Reno calls, tell him to meet me down there - we've got something to discuss, apparently. I'll be at Milton's place in the Skyline lofts, 2A. Sorry baby, I'll explain everything later.

Hmm... Well, better report this to Arthur.





We can also check the computer for Virgil Crumb while we're there.



Hey. I've got some info about Muddy.

So what'd ya find out about Muddy?

He fled someplace downtown.

Alright then. I'll have to call in some bounty hunters to help me find Muddy and a couple of other jumpers. Thanks for all your help.

You can thank me in American dollars.

Oh, right right right. Sorry about that. Here ya are.

Thanks.



I will. Later.

Well, if we ever head downtown, it might be worth pursuing Muddy.



Alright, now time to find this guy.



But first, here's Arthur's one and only email.

Crumb, v can be found under a-f in the "krimeputer".



Being held at the clinic? Interesting... if that's what we want to pursue, that will be our next stop. But we could also check out that hotel for Therese. I'll let the thread decide our next course of action. Which should we pursue first, the hotel for Therese or the clinic for Knox?