Chunky was very talkative; especially with his trusted physician. Aside from several health issues the brother of Chunk was dealing with: depression regarding the loss of his brother, anger stemming from that depression, poor eating habits as a result of his combined depression and anxiety, the various physiological issues that come with poor diet, insomnia, and a budding drinking problem being just the start of them, Chunky was also very willing to talk about his involvement with the Brightstone group and what exactly the Brightstone was really all about; or at least as much of it as he knew.
"It's not really a government agency at all," he explained. "Brightstone is the name of a privately owned army that's now being funded by the NSA. They recruited me about a month after that Venture Tower went up. My brother was in there that night, enslaved by one of those bloodsucking demons!"
"So you joined the shiny rock out of revenge. They trained you up, and now you're on a great crusade to avenge your brother. Does that put it in a nutshell?" Marko asked. "I suppose the best part is that it's legally sanctioned murder, right? Government funding, all that..."
"You think we're stupid? The NSA doesn't know about the licks or how they run their world. They really do believe the anti terror group line. This gives them plausible deniability if nothing else. Besides; if the government knows about them, how long until it hits the press? It hits the press we have mass panic, untrained cowboys on the street; that would prove to make more problems, and that is exactly what we don't need."
Marko found comfort in knowing that the shiny rock people were operating under their version of the Masquerade; it meant they would have no choice but to keep their attacks at least somewhat contained. Maybe making an attack on some establishment look like a gangland violence attack, or maybe as a strike on suspected terrorists, that sort of thing. Stuff like that can easily be spun the other way. For now, the Masquerade was safe enough.
A pair of headlights filled the alley. It looked like their ride had arrived. He waited a moment, and his guess turned out to be accurate; it was Vandal. He called the dark daughter and requested transport to the clinic for a patient. Of course Therese understood what he meant; this was something they had worked out months ago.
"Well, Chunky one, it looks like your ride to the clinic has arrived. Remember to ask for my associate Dr. Malcolm, and tell him that Dr. Oxford referred you to him. I promise you are in good hands."
"Will you come with me to the clinic, doc?" Chunky asked- almost pleaded.
"Sure" Marko smiled. He and Vandal helped the patient onto the gurney and into the back of the hearse, and Dr. Oxford sat in the back of with the patient. "Now Chunky, let me tell you what's going to happen next. First, you're going to tell me everything you know about the shiny rock..."
After he got the Chunky one safely into the clinic at the Lady by the Sea, he hailed a cab to go back downtown. He had some important news for Tidy-Bear. The Chunky one was full of loads information. Tidy-Bear and Fenris were off to the bone yard, but the Network advised him that the Brujah would be at the Last Round soon. They told him things were too quiet in the graveyard; the silence was all too complete and sudden.
Ask about the missing bodies...
What about the missing bodies? Is there a grave robber? Were they Zombies that escaped somehow? Was this part of the Plan? Why do I need to know about the missing bodies? Does Tidy Bear even know bodies are missing?
The cab came to a stop right in front of the Last Round. Marko paid the cabbie and went inside to see the usual raucous crowd; for the most part they barely gave him a glance as he wandered in. He wondered if anyone in here other than him knew what happened to Damn Sail; what was probably happening right now. Should he say something? Were they already on it? The Brujah Clan are usually pretty good at taking care of its own affairs. It didn't look like anything was going on, but that didn't mean much of anything. A quick look around and Marko could see all too readily that Tidy-Bear wasn't here yet. He took a seat and decided to wait. With Confessions burned, Venus gone, the hotel sacked and Damsel in distress, (not broken the Network suggested), it was inevitable that Tidy Bear would come here to seek shelter. Hopefully he's not in Dutch with them to the point they'd shut him out.