It's raining in London... again (RP)

- Jacob -

The urchin nods sagely, pleased that you know 'how they are'. They goggle at the 20 and become a lot more... well it might be termed 'polite'.

"Yeah, bruv. She knows me." They assure you confidently. "I will tell her." They turn to the statue and speak loudly.

"Hoy, Millie," they call, trying to sound familiar —possibly for your benefit— then they flinch and their posture changes as does their tone. "Sorry, Mrs Fawcett, ma'am. The guv'nor says... I know but he said ... OK. Jeeze."

They turn back to you before completing you message. "She says: "Who's 'James'? An' 'are you from the liberry?'" Then they flinch again. "Sorry, 'Lie Bra Ree'."

The statue did not move or make any indication that it was conversing with the urchin, but you if they are faking it they are an excellent actor and you should think about sponsoring them to RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) as a patron of the arts.

What do you do?

- Rhiannon and Benji -

Jordan deflates, and mutters something noncommittal, but, by then, Bev is opening her door.

Bev has changed her hair, instead of tight rows she is sporting an impressive puffball afro that must be a nightmare in the hospital scrubs and caps. She tries to be subtle, but it is clear she as hurriedly put some effort into cleaning up the place and even more effort into cleaning herself up. She looks good.

She also looks nervous, not sure whether to talk to Rhiannon or Benji as she invites you both into her flat.

What do you do?

While Rhiannon is finishing up her phone call, Benji takes it upon himself to introduce himself to Beverly. "You must be Beverly! I’m Benji," he says, sticking his hand out for a handshake. "Thank you for agreeing to take a look at me. I really appreciate it. Rhiannon might have told you already, but I got punched in the head." He gestures vaguely to the bruised side of his face and the dried blood caked in his hair.

- Benji -

"Hello Benji." Bev says, her eyebrow raising slightly at your clothes. "Any friend of Rhiannon's is... a potential patent of mine." She tries to joke, maybe to relieve her nerves.

Bev looks at your face dubiously, and starts to clean it up properly so she can see what is going on. "Punched?" She asks. "That as some punch, that looks bad. But, then, maybe demons punch hard?

"Are these the same demons that are messing up the weather?" She asks, out of the blue. "Are you guys," presumably she means Rhiannon's groups and assumes you work with them, "doing something about that?"

• Is this the first you have heard about 'demons' being responsible for the weather?

What do you do?

- Rhiannon -

It is hard to tell if Bev's face flushes with blood at your compliment, she is definitely pleased. She almost responds a few times, changing her mind each time, and appears relieved when you change the subject.

"I don't know about 'corruption'." Bev speculates. "But the weather is definitely affecting people's ... moods? And we have had some strange incidents that look like 'rage' —you know, 'road-rage' or other forms of spontaneous violence— in A&E. Just random, all over the place, occurrences that the administration has not noticed as a pattern, but made me think of you."

When you ask if she has heard anything else, she shrugs. "It is just what everyone is saying. Those who don't blame the government, or global warming, or the French."

She has Benji's wound superficially clean now, and asks you to hold the light. "Stone, you say?" She asks. "There does appear to be bits of stone in the wound, they are really in there. I will need to debride the wound to remove them and the dead flesh where they have... cut off circulation? Absorbed the moisture? You should have had this looked at sooner. And you really should get a scan to check for internal damage." She says to Benji.

Bev does not have anesthetic at he home, and debridement will hurt.

What do you do?

Benji is happy to sit quietly while Beverly and Rhiannon catch up (he doesn’t really know all that much about demons anyway and he thinks the weather’s been great). He only pipes up when Beverly admonishes him for not going to a doctor sooner.

"It only happened this morning," he protests. He doesn’t really know what ‘debridement’ entails but it doesn’t sound fun. He grimaces. "Do whatever you have to. This is probably the only medical care I’m going to get. Doctor’s appointments can be a bit awkward when you’re undead and all."

- Benji -

"No. I suppose not." Bev says sadly when you mention the lack of adequate medical care for those outside normal channels. "Someone should do something about that. It is not fair."

"Well you still should have come in sooner..." She starts to nag, as even hours can make a difference. Then she hesitates and looks again. "Really? This morning?" She compares the wound to other parts of your flesh, and is especially interested in any other, unrelated, scrapes or injuries and wants to see in side your mouth, maybe she is comparing what 'undead' flesh normally looks like so she can know what to expect. She does not look happy with what she found.

"This looks like it has been festering for days." She tells you both. "Maybe the demon-stone is... poisonous." You suspect she may have change to the word 'poisonous' from a worse, more scary word, for your benefit. "We need to get them out.

"Can you help me hold him down." Bev asks Rhiannon as she removes scalpels, forceps and sterile packaged 'sponges' that have 'Monofilament debridement pads' written on them.

• Benji: How do you react to pain? How hard is it for Rhiannon to 'hold you down'? Do you have enough self-control to 'take it' or do you need to roll to Keep Your Cool to avoid lashing out in pain?

What do you do?

Benji’s eyes widen as Beverly brings out the scalpels. He’s beginning to wonder if maybe he should have taken Rhiannon up on her mugger idea…

He takes a deep breath and grits his teeth, trying to prepare himself for pain… but all pretence of humanity vanishes the moment Beverly’s scalpel makes the first incision.

He hisses and snarls and bares his fangs as he tries to wriggle free of Rhiannon’s grip on him, desperately trying to get away from Beverly’s scalpel. For Rhiannon, it’s a bit like trying to hold onto a feral cat. It takes every scrap of self-control left in his body not to bite anyone…

- Jacob -

"'The slippery one?' She says." The urchin says, then pretty much confirms that you have the right place by stating facts that you have withheld from the conversation so far: "'Mary'? 'A fiction'? She says 'Winston probably took it' that's just like him."

What do you do?

- Jacob -

"Er... When they go silent like that it means they think we've asked a question they think is obvious. They don't think like us." The urchin 'explains' —if you consider an explanation to skip over the fact the someone you can't hear 'fell silent'.

"Churchill is over here." They start to lead you across the squelching grass where there are fewer people, but which will definitely mess up your shoes. "He is a prankster, inee?."

What do you do?

- Mark -

The museum is strange after hours, empty and booming. Some of the areas are still open to the public, but they are also mostly empty, probably due to the weather outside making people less inclined to go out. There are two boys looking at an exhibit down the other side of a long, empty passage, you can hear them talking: "No, look. This one's clothes are different to last time, see that stain? And he's bigger than the last guy." And the reply: "It's another 'con-piracy theory'. I don't see why they would move them around. Its not like they have shelves of them downstairs, or like they build them specially for the display, no matter what you say, Billy." It sounds like an argument they have had before.

There is a little reserved tension in Jena's posture and attitude, probably left over from the intimated accusation earlier. She did actually go to the museum, and there was actually a tour that she appears to have helped with, she does not say anything about it, but it is possible she insisted on the museum just to make her point to you?

What do you do?

- Jacob -


The statue of Winston Churchill towers high above you —its feet above the height of your head— looking imperious and not at all like a 'prankster' or someone who would steal another's book on a whim.

"Um..." The urchin says in a quite voice now that you have arrived. "I don talk to this one. 'e scares me a bit. Lookit 'im."

There is nowhere for Churchill keep a book, unless those pockets are a lot more flexible than they look. There are also a lot more people around this statue than near Millicent's.

"What's this all about, then?" The urchin asks, maybe hoping the statue will hear and reply to your words —as Millicent's appeared to, cutting the kid off before they could repeat what you said— and save them the need to address the former PM directly.

What do you do?