A lot happened in the two nights following the raid on Brightstone, LA; Damsel healed up and with her strength back she resumed her duties as Sheriff, and Archie and Betty were almost back from Seattle. By then, Norton was in town, setting up to so his gig at the Pit, and he, along with Xavier had a couple of god palavers with the Rock Star from the Valley. On hearing how his little model worked up north, Tyler thought it sounded solid enough; though he knew very well that there would still be conflict amongst his Clan over it. Jack made this meeting possible in the first place, so he wouldn't be a problem; at least there was that. He wasn't sure how Damsel would take to it; it could go either way with her. Betty was kind of into the whole Camarilla system, strangely enough. Maybe it appealed to her ambition or something; or maybe it was because Betty was more of a thinker/philosopher type and knew the Clan history and their role in building the Ivory Tower in the first place. Archie was just about opposite Betty as anyone could ever get; when it came to the Movement, he made both Damsel and Jack look like soft touches. If you could get past his brogue accent, he could quote the Status Pefectus word for word, chapter and verse from rote memory. A system like the one Russell Norton was putting forward would come off as diet Camarilla to him; that would be getting dangerously close to outright treason in his mind. What was even worse, Tyler knew damn well that Archie had quite a few backers that tended to agree with his sentiments on such things. That was definitely going to cause some friction. On the upshot, Norton's gambit with setting up the protests seemed to be working; slower than Tyler would like, but gradually it looked like the citizens' outcry against the installing of a police state in various Metropolitan areas was forcing the government to cut back their financial backing to Brightstone. At least, that's what all media outlets were indicating according to Deb.
Now, Tyler was at the Pit; waiting for X to come out from backstage and finish up his role as Club owner. It might be good to cut loose a little tonight, even if this wasn't exactly his scene. The pressures of running a House divided...
Tyler sighed. The whole scenario with his Clan kind of reminded him of his life before the embrace. All his life, he was always finding himself in a sort of a peacekeeper role in one form or another. He grew up in a poor neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York; living in a cramped apartment with his parents and his little sister. Dad had a hell of a time keeping a job; and that had nothing to do with booze or drugs. In retrospect, Tyler reckoned maybe a beer or two once in awhile might have taken the edge off. Mom managed a low paying job as a cashier in a fast food joint, and often came home in a foul mood. Fights in that small apartment were an almost nightly event. All too often, Tyler found himself in the middle; playing the role that would help keep the family as together as it was. As was the typical tale, he didn't do all that great in school, but he could play ball. He also learned he had a talent for rap. He never really got in too deep with the gang scene; he didn't really have time due to ball; learning how to make plays and lay down tracks. The school team was emotional; and once again Tyler was the one keeping them together and functional. And then there was his constant effort to keep his sister out of trouble. She was the real rebel of the family.
Despite his hectic schedule, he somehow landed an athletic scholarship. His athleticism caught the attention of the right people and he found himself in University. Once there, he once again found
himself playing peacekeeper of the team. He was surrounded by potentially great athletes which held back only by their egos. Academically speaking, he scraped by; but only barely. While at University, he ran into that brainchild Tabetha Toussaint once in awhile; she was super quiet and lived in her books. One thing, though, that probably even the Egghead girl turned Tremere didn't remember; she always made to the games. Back then, Tyler had the idea she was a little bit into him. Now he wasn't sure if she was into guys. Not that it mattered much one way or the other.
Meanwhile, the whole time, Tyler kept finding himself getting involved in campus causes; mostly as a face to put forward – it was like a little bit of celebrity.
Somehow, under his leadership, his team won state championship. That got the attention of some talent scout here in LA; who in turn got his attention one night. Within days, Tyler was on a plane, about to sign a contract. He finally made something of his life that could mean something! Once on the real gridiron he could use his status as a playmaker to do some real good on a national level; folks tend to listen more to the famous. It showed just how stupid American culture had gotten, but it was the truth.
Of course, that turned out to be ruse. The scout met him at the airport, then introduced him to a hot little number and left him to her. At first he presumed this was supposed to be a perk – a benefit of signing up on this team. He was wrong. She took him to a super-sleazy apartment in Hollywood and told him she had something to show him...
...and then he woke up like this. Within minutes the doors crashed in and they both were staked and next thing Tyler knew he was on a stage; a suit was greeting everyone and explaining how Kindred law worked in cases of embrace. Seven heads were taken off for breaking this law, and his, along with six others would have taken too if not for Nines Rodriguez. Then he and what the Kindred took to calling the 'Super Seven' got their crash course in what it meant to be a vampire. There were the plague bearers, the Sabbat, the damned Quei-Jinn, and last but not least that suit Sebastian LaCroix and fucking box. Later, Tyler learned that his embrace was deliberate; Isaac was working in collusion with Nines to build up a force to take out LaCroix. The idea was to let Therese and Jeanette keep Santa Monica – for those so institutionalised they couldn't let go of the Ivory Tower. It was meant to be a long game; it was still in play up until that Assamite killed Isaac and framed Damsel and then got Skelter and Nines while he was at it. Tyler's bet was that fucking Ventrue Cameron caught on to what Isaac, Nines, and even VV were up to and set up the whole thing. His problem was lack of proof. So now they had the hot mess they had now: Therese was Prince, Cameron was her right hand man, and the only ones who had the balls to do something about it were him and X. X tells him that VV is on board, but now she wants to basically be free state that does things Cammie style. Tyler had a feeling that wouldn't wash with the Brujah too well. Still, things seemed to be going in the right direction.
"Having heavy thoughts in that thick skull of yours, man?" Xavier said, plopping into a seat beside him on the bar. He had a good natured grin on his face; it was clear he meant no animosity in his barb.
"You're a funny guy." Tyler replied. "So tell me, what's the latest with the man backstage?"
Xavier told him. The latest was the Japanese were quietly backing out of Brightstone, so that meant the hunters were losing ground fast; Tyler already knew about that. As for the deal with Norton, it turned out he was in pretty tight with Debbie and had a good relationship with some of VV's friends, and knew Kaila very well. The way he told it, she was working Cameron on behalf of the Anarchs; she'd been doing the exact same thing all up and down the coast for some time. Her strategy was, apparently, to set the whole Hastings line up to fall as a direct result of their pride getting the best of them. They were supposed to get all fat and then complacent, making their Domains all soft targets for a synchronized coup.
"Meanwhile, VV, Norton, Toreador all over the continent and even I will be focusing their influences and alliances on up and coming leaders in social, corporate, economic and political arenas." Xavier laid out. "This way, when the Hastings Dynasty falls, we can push their people out of the mortal forefront and put our own people in their place."
"How are you gonna manage that?" Tyler asked.
"We're putting our energy into educational facilities." X replied. "You know; schools, Universities, Colleges, Technical Institutes, that kind of thing. This way, by the time we get to the coup, the paradigm of the public will be one of our designs. There's an even better part; once we have control of the educational system, we can continue to shape the minds of the future to suit our needs. See, it's one thing to take control; it's another thing altogether to keep it."
Tyler wasn't sure he quite followed what he was talking about.
X tapped his temple, trying to think of a way to word it. Finally he brightened. "It's one thing to win a championship in sports. The real trick is being able to defend that championship. Think of Norton's strategy as a way to make sure we keep getting first pick in the first round of Draft Day. More important than that, all the drafts share our ideals even before they come in to play."
Nodding lightly, Tyler curled his lips into a smile. "It's starting to look like a win all around in the long run." He said. This strategy of Norton's sounded pretty solid; it might work out to be long game, but once it got moving it should work out just fine. The best part was the whole concept of setting up for allies, contacts, and influences for generations to come. Not only that, but with the success Archie and Betty had reported, the whole Brightstone anti-kindred army bullshit should be pretty much finished with. The branch in Seattle was done, other branches were going down fast, and the LA branch was shutting down as he and Xavier were speaking; the protest thing X and Deb set up following Damsel's rescue was working pretty much like magic.
"So what else is there to say about that Brightstone crap?" Xavier asked. "You have any more news from Seattle?"
""Archie and Betty report they've done all they could in Seattle." Tyler said. "They're heading back now."
"Good to know" the Toreador said, he paused, looked around, and raised his glass towards the entrance. Tyler followed his gaze and saw Tabetha wave back. Soon enough, X turned his attention back to the Brujah, as if ready to resume their conversation. Suddenly Tyler didn't much feel like talking. Yeah, that Tremere witch was one of the 'super seven', and he knew her back in New York, but lately she seemed off; he liked her well enough, but just couldn't bring himself to trust her.
From backstage, Kaila slinked her way towards them.
"Are we done, here?" Xavier asked in a non-hostile manner. The Brujah took the cue and left the Toreador Primogen to confer with his Clansman. Scanning the scene, he spotted Damsel just wrapping up with VV. She waved him over and went to her.
"Come on" she ordered before he could get so much a word in. "VV's set up a meet in X's office; I'm not thrilled with her proposal, but it does give up some latitude to get LA back to being a Free State. We're gonna work out some of those points with her now." She stomped across the floor towards the stairs. Tyler followed.
"Wait a minute," He said after her. "Let me see if I got this right; you're actually ok with Velvet claiming Praxis?"
"We're gonna make sure she ain't claiming shit!" Damsel replied. "If anything, once we compel her Majesty to step down, VV will be more like a Baron than a Prince. Like I said, it ain't perfect, but even a system like Isaac's was is a step in the right direction. If we gotta play the long game, then that's the way it's gotta be."
Tyler scanned the Club from the overhang that led to the office. Across from him, Cameron was seated at a Prime table on the patio overlooking the floor and the stage. Fenris was standing sentinel at the front door. VV wandered backstage as Kaila finished whatever matter she was discussing with X and made her way to the patio access steps. X was stepping up onto the stage; Tyler figured the show was about to begin. He looked around to see if he could get a position on Tabetha; gave up when he couldn't. It struck him as weird that she would be here in the first place. This wasn't normally the kind of thing she would come to; normally she'd be deep in her books or something.
"Hey, Tye, get the lead outta your ass!" Damsel called from behind him. He turned his head to see her standing at an office door. Taking a final glance around the floor and taking a quick note of the skylight overhead, he followed her into the office.
The room honestly put any office Cameron had to shame when it came down to it; a guy could pretty much live in it, let alone run a nightclub. One thing could be said for Xavier Vega; he knew how to decorate. With a touch of disdain, Tyler wondered if maybe VV had a hand in the decor and design; and then quickly dismissed the notion. X was a Toreador, after all; one couldn't really hold against one what was in their Blood.
"It's disgusting, ain't it?" Damsel asked. "What the hell does he need all this shit for, anyway?"
Tyler shrugged. "We can't really hate him for being a Toreador." He said. "If we do that, then we become the biggest hypocrites of all Kindred."
Damsel mumbled her begrudging assent to the point.
Beyond the door and downstairs, the band began to play. The crowd got into the show.
"Hey, you got people on that skylight, right?" Tyler asked.
"What do you think I am?" Damsel shot back. "Of course I do!"
Tyler put his hands up, palms out in a warding gesture.
"WHAT THE FUCK?" they heard Norton bellow from the mic downstairs; followed by the sound of breaking glass and the shrieks of the crowd. It wasn't the sound of excitement; those were shrieks of terror.
Tyler rushed to the door to investigate. Behind him, he heard the window behind Xavier's desk break as a grenade crashed through and rolled to his feet; he started to back away from it as it exploded, sending him charred and flying out of the office and onto the dance floor one floor down.