NEW YORK [The Greatest City in the World! 1/23-?]

Arden thinks long and hard for a moment. Then looks Jude straight in the eye.
"hmm been saying all along, would this have been before I ran into you all like what twelve hours ago subjective. Cause i only remember it being said once, just now. I don't KNOW any of you, I only know a minute fraction of what's going on, I'm handling this how i know.  Here is a question, there is a problem, find the answer.  But here is part of a problem that every mage still alive has spent a CENTURY trying to solve and here I am a Disciple of my arcana in the midst of things Archmasters have been trying to solve.  But this, this i can handle just a little better.  Space, Time, Fate, Magic and applied science.  This i've studied.  I've literally studied every Arcana of magic there is to try and understand.  So when i'm in a situation that could kill me without ever thinking, or worse unravel my existence so i never was and I find something I understand I grasp on to it.  So don't you go snit at me . Now, yes i repeated what Cinnamon said,  I AM sorry for that i missed it while i was over here trying to figure out complex alchemical calculus and lost in the realization that you all have met a literal Genius of a Mage, who, by what i can see, made this up on the fly.  I'm trying to not only survive but stay sane and this is how it happens with no time to plan.  So, can we do this thing? because apparently having an unknown unknowable threat lurking just around the river bend is starting to get to me."

        It's the little things which make a difference sometimes.

        Like who puts a key in a lock. I mean, really, how much could that matter? It's a key. There's a lock. You put the key in, you open the lock. What could be simpler, right?

        But the world's not always like that. Sometimes that key is bent, or that lock is a little squirrely, and you have to jimmy it just right. So, sometimes it's not what you do, but how you do it, even in the mundane world. It stands to reason that in the occult world, that rule would not only hold true, but even expand.

        So Crux had a vision, seeing herself as the true and destined agent of change. She didn't question it, and neither did anyone else. The Tesseract wasn't handed to her; just relinquished to the group... but no one else claimed it. So it claimed her. Fate really is a funny thing.
    You show up, you get the job.

        The Tesseract glides into the tear with minimal resistance, its blue glow dissolving into the strange swirl of colors. Static begins to crackle at the edges of the tear. The lights flicker and dim; everyone steps back out of reflex. A force, like the inverse of gravity, pushes outward from the tear against the arch. The device groans and bows until it breaks, the metal falling away like paper. The tear grows, its light rising in intensity until it is difficult to look at directly. The room is filled with a sound like glass shards cascading against each other; from nowhere, dozens of precision clockwork components appear in midair. They fly together, reassembling themselves into a familiar silver pocketwatch just in front of the tear...
    A resounding bass rumble erupts from the tear along with a flash of light so bright it momentarily blinds you. When your vision clears, the woman in blue is standing before you, exactly as she was when she vanished. She takes stock of her surroundings; the somewhat damaged laboratory, the two mages, the changeling, the sin-eater... and the vampire. Exactly as predicted, she shows a restrained fear towards Crux, and only Crux. From a pocket somewhere in the folds of her dress, she produces... a flare? Yes. The end ignites with a quick hand motion and a whispered word - Daedalan magic - and she shields the argent flame with her hand. Crux can feel the Beast within recoil in horror - as it is prevented from shining on you directly, the flame does not trigger the Rotscreck, but you know it could if brandished to that end. "I have no quarrel with you, child of Malkav," She says, holding her voice steady. "I'd like to think you're here as a friend. Am I wrong?"

In the moments before the woman in blue emerged Cass had a lot of thoughts racing. He was stupid and said he liked Jude... That was supposed to be a private thought. No taking that back now. He'd have some explaining when things calmed down no doubt. He was also going to say something to Arden. Dude was losing it. While he couldn't blame him all that much he still wanted to add in. He'd have to buy the guy a whiskey and sit him down to let him know just how weird this group dynamic was. Wasn't long ago Cass had fucked up and was on the receiving end of the sass/aggression. Crux, however, beat him to the punch and shoved the mostly, sometimes cube into the tear. His grip tightened on Jude's hand. He was scared, but he relaxed a bit as Jude moved closer to him. Whatever was going to happen was what they were here for. No turning back.

When the woman in blue showed herself he felt a giant combination of relief, but also surprised. I mean, he thought she would be the one to come out, but you really never know with these things. It could have been Debbie/Cheryl from the hedge. Weird shit happens. He was glad though... Until the fucking flare! His eyes darted to Crux. He wanted to say something, but he noticed that the canadian vamp was staying relatively calm. Good, he wasn't sure if a passion boneyard would help with something so ingrained to a vampire as their fear of fire. Still, he was holding that plasm ready.

He opened his mouth to address the woman, but was beaten to it by the Mage at his side. He smiled at her using the word friend. He figured she wasn't using it the way he thought she was, but the idea of everyone becoming friends made him happy all the same. 

"Yes, please," Cass begun in what he was hoping was his most charming voice. "We're all friends here. We've actually only been able to get here with Ysolda assistance... I'm Cassidy, the cute life mage here is Jude, The Malkavian is Crux, and I promise she is VERY friendly." He looks over at his friend remembering the most friendly detail about her. "She's canadian, like me. Her Otter friend is Karen." He smiles. He missed Canada. Maybe they could visit when this was over. " Our changeling friend is Keely, but we call her Cinnamon... Oh! The other mage back there is Arden, he can be jumpy, but still a pretty good guy. We also have our Friends Gloria, and Joseph back in Chicago trying to keep things together. It's all gone a bit screwy haha." Cass takes a small pause to allow the introduction to settle in. When he feels like the Woman is ready he goes on. "We're here to help in whatever way we can, We come in peace I promise." (Nat 20 + 6 on a Composure/Socialize roll if that helps.

Her manic giggle subsided into a soft, nervous one as the flare was lit.
"Ooookaaay... yeah, I'm a friend, I don't bite without invitation. Uhhh... Hiii.. so.. fire off please,uh.. saw you in a vision- Karen says nice dress- eheh... uh.. Tycho, Ysolda, Tesseract, helping...we can't dawdle. ..The Nothing is in the round room at the corridor, or coming up behind us. Eeeeither way..." she stammered nervously.

"Gen is a friend and I'd like to. .not have him fucked up by the Nothing..so..fire go away? Please?"

(NAT20 on socialize)

She took Cinnamon's hand and squeezed it. Golly, friends were good.

Watching the tesseract unlock the space rift through his space sight Arden was entranced, it was... beautiful, the kind of beauty he remembered from Arcadia, Beautiful and powerful and terrible all at once. He knew, he would likely never witness it again so dispite how hard it was to watch he did, and with the swirls or color and power all his frustration, his fear, his anger, fled from him. And then it was gone. And in it's place was a woman who was at once out of time and still part of it.
"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Helena, and you aren't far off, the year is 2015, october the 21st. My name is Arden, and i have the suspicion you may know my mentor, Knyaz. Is there anything we can do for you?"

        Helena looks highly amused - and upset that she is amused. "Really, hun? Knyaz? My fucking son - he gets this from Tycho, you know. Taking the Russian for 'prince' as his shadow name when his mother's name is Bogdanova? That little shit." She can't roll her eyes any harder. "Anyway. 2015, huh? Damn. Well, this old thing won't do." She looks down at her clothes for a second, nods, spins once in place, and is very suddenly wearing something quite different; Black leather boots, black jeans, an azure tee, and a long dark blue cardigan. The only thing that remains unchanged is her silver half-moon spectacles, but other than that she could have walked in right off the modern streets from just about any city in America. She pulls back her hair into a loose half-up half-down style, held with a silver barrette. "That'll work, yeah?" She obviously thinks so. "Right! So. Things. Lots to do. Things and stuff. Yes, this is undoubtedly only the beginning. Thanks for getting me out, by the way! Sorry - manners again. Been a long trip, you need a top-up?" She moves over to one of the cabinets; opening it reveals bottles of many different liquids. "I've got Glamour Wine, I've got Distilled Ectoplasm, I've even got blood - I think it's A Negative - and for you mages I've got Tass." She whirls around, eyes wide, and slaps a hand to her forehead. "Oh, gods do I have Tass. No one's harvested my Hallow in a century! " She crosses to the other end of the lab, sparing a moment to say to Cass and Jude, "You two are adorable by the way," and throws open a door; it is now readily apparent why spells cost no mana earlier:




That is a hell of a hallow, and it is full to bursting with crystallized mana. After a moment of staring in disbelief, Helena just says, "Well, then. So that's a thing."

Jude grinned at Helena now that she wasn't brandishing a flare at Crux. "Lovely to meet you as well." She said, relaxing. She looked up at Cass and mouthed 'cute?' with an amused expression.

The life mage nodded at Cassidy's words. Whispering back, "I say it is a very good day, I'd say. " she looked at their hands. "Don't be. I'm not." She winked.

She watched as the other mage pull a wonder woman and nodded. "Chic." She blushed a bit and laughed, "uh...thanks?"

Jude's expression quickly turned to that of awe. "Oh dang." She breathed, her other, more proper words, failing her.