Chereads / earth orc / Chapter 617 - 93

Chapter 617 - 93

"A proper Prince would be here overseeing the investigation of such an attack, personally. In past nights, my masters and I would be inclined to allow local Camarilla to govern their cities as they see fit, but these are extraordinary times. We cannot suffer blatant Masquerade violations in the era of the Second Inquisition." She straightens her unusual hat until it rests in perfect symmetry above her brow. "Something must be done. But I have no interest in change for the sake of change. I need to know that the decisions I make will breed the desired effect."

You wonder where she's going with this and why is she telling you, of all people.

"You've had an interesting few weeks, Agad the Imperishable," she says after a lengthy silence. "And your nightly activities have raised more than a few eyebrows." She turns her back on you and crouches down by the burned-out desktop PC, fingers wriggling in its exposed wiring until they detach a small hard drive hidden deep within the chassis. She turns it over in her hands before pocketing it with a self-satisfied smirk. "There is very little hidden beneath the surface that I can't discover."

You take a nervous step backward, eyes sweeping the room for escape points. It's an instinctual reaction to a casual threat leveled at you by a vampire of such immense power. If Adeline notices, she makes no comment on it.

"So let's cut through the bullshit." The aggressive shift in demeanor startles you, which was likely its intended effect. "I don't care who you plot with or why. Your personal struggles are too far beneath my interest to be of any significance. What I do care about is putting a lid on these Masquerade breaches before you idiots bring the mortal intelligence agencies down on your heads. They'll burn the capitol to the ground and I refuse to be destroyed in this place! Do you hear me?" Her eyes blaze fire, and for a moment, you feel as though you're being consumed in their flickering flames. "So tell me what you've learned and make me believe you. Forcing information through compulsion is an ugly and imprecise business prone to failure. I'd rather secure your cooperation so we can get through this together without leaving you as a simpering sack of flesh and misfiring brain matter."

Rattled nerves aside, the Archon is presenting you with a rare opportunity. Whatever you tell her could help direct her investigations, even take down a powerful player! Of course, if she doesn't believe you, things could get ugly very fast.