Ellie was curious about The Cinder. She DID hear about the place but she was too young to go in. 'Worth a shot anyways...' She said, making her way down to The Cinder. Ellie stood in front of the double doors, but not before pulling out her cellphone and texting.

"Get Sally to cover the rest of my shift for me." She texted, sending to a man by the name of 'Johnny'. Ellie shut her phone and pushed on the door, entering The Cinder. 'Right, just act like you're 21. You look the part I guess you can act the part. Just don't order any alcohol...' Ellie muttered as she took a seat up at the front. Immediately Zeke came up to her. 'New here?' He asked. Ellie nodded 'Just a cola please.' Ellie said. 'Coming right up.' Zeke replied, pulling out a glass bottle of coke and a bottle opener, opening the bottle and giving it to her. 'Thank you.' Ellie said, taking a sip from it. Zeke leaned close to her. "You new here?" he asked "Not all conduits get out of this bar without showing me what they can do. Best do it now and get it done with." Ellie nodded and lifted her hand, flowly light energy emitted and twisting down her arm. Zeke stepped back and smiled. "Niiice Kid... What's your name?" Zeke asked. "Ellie" Ellie replied, taking another sip of her coke. "Well Ellie... Welcome to The Cinder."

Scorn smiled at the girl and gave her a slight hug before backing up."Oh yes, that's the plan the Syndicate will be wiped off the map, that's part of the plan at least," she said happily and then looked back at the billboard ",Ah yes our calling card. Rather then just be called conduits, we need a name, a group and I re-found this little gang, the Reapers. Old group from Empire City apparently before it was destroyed, these others were what was left of the old gang but that isn't really important. What's important is that you are here so you are interested. My only question whats your power?"
Scorn then realized that she hadn't wiped the tear off of her face and then did."Ah yes I cry blood," she said with a smile as if it was normal for people to do that and then slightly frowned at how the girl seemed nervous, at least judging by her hands.
"Ah there is no need to be afraid of me," she said ",We are both conduits after all, and we conduits need to stick together, especially with the Syndicate about trying to ruin us. If it makes you feel better my name is Scorn. You?" Scorn never used her real name. Her past self was weak, she was dead, she died when she killed her parents, Scorn was what she was reborn as.

JUNE 16th, THURSDAY, 2018, 10:12 AM

---

Jen glanced at the two conduits who had just arrived. One was a man. He looked old enough for a drink. He had tried to order some rum, so he must've been used so the strong stuff. Occasionally she would see him at the Cinder, so he knew must've known Zeke just as well as she did. He was also from the Rogue Twister. He was the one who launched the lightning bolt that disabled the rogue. However, the other girl just ordered a cola. Seemed pretty small. The girl was also part of the battle. She launched some blasts of glowing energy, and now she had a swirling light of glowing energy around her arm. Probably had a power involving light. But Jen didn't think she exactly looked old enough to be in a bar.

"Hey, uh, Zeke." Jen said, waving over the bartender. Zeke walked over, and leaned in close. "You, uh.. you really think she's legal age?" She said in a hushed voice, glancing at the girl.

"Jen, you gotta have some fun sometimes." Zeke whispered, grinning. "'Course she's not legal age. Sure as hell don't mean she can't get a drink." Zeke being Zeke again. He also knew that if he turned the girl down she could easily just blast him in the face and he couldn't do a thing.

Jen shrugged. "I guess." Zeke just chuckled, and rubbed her baseball cap, raising himself and walking back to the empty glasses. He grabbed one and began to polish it with a fresh tissue. "So. What brings you fellows to the Cinder? Cause I know you sure didn't come just to say hi to old Zeke."

Jen sighed, rubbing some dust off the old hard wood counter. "I just need a drink." Jen said bluntly. She grabbed the glass and sipped down some more. The TV was playing Conduit 6 News right now, one of the main news channels for all conduit news. It was also the same channel that the Syndicate footage had played originally. They had lost some credibility after the incident, but it was still the most popular by far. It was playing some news about the aftermath of the tornado. Apparently, some greased up rogue had appeared soon after, and blown up some car.

Evelyn had not moved much from the spot where she had observed the rogue conduit getting a death sentence from The Syndicate, instead she had stayed put, observing the rest of the group of conduits that had saved the day disband - two of them even helped the rogue to the hospital, something that Eve found to be rather hysterically funny to such an extent where she nearly choked on her cold drink.
“Mmm… but at least I have seen some interesting individuals” she commented only for herself, “and interesting powers - what an interesting group” she grinned as he added the last comment onto her sentence. An interesting group, with interesting people. Sounded like the perfect session of fun and troubles all combined into a perfect little dice - and it all started at the place known as ‘The Cinder’.

Biting her lower left lip Eve lifted her left leg over the edge of the roof in order to wrap her hands around it and finally allow her head to rest on her knee. Should she go? She couldn’t hide it for herself: she wanted to go, it would be just what she liked: fun and adventures - she would even have a new set of people to annoy!
Well mostly new she added in her mind, she thought she had seen some familiar faces down below in the crowd of conduits, although she couldn’t be sure: memories were such frail and inaccurate things. But on the other hand; it would be a lot of trouble to go through, and she would have to find herself among mostly pro-norms conduits… But it would be fun.

With a groan Eve took the last sip of her Frappuccino, tossing aside the now used cup and got on to her feet. Of course she had to go, she just couldn’t say ‘no’ to such things. She tossed her grey hoodie over her head, hiding her flashy hair from clear view, and started to run towards the other end of the roof: the direction of the place known as ‘Cinder’. She jumped high into the sky as she reached the edge of the roof, but like earlier she never hit the street below her, instead she disappeared without a trace, like the air had swallowed her whole.

Her feet landed on the street outside The Cinder; she was well aware of these streets for the obvious reason that they were in the conduit-part of NYC, but also because she could quite easily point out places where she had either gotten herself into trouble or where she had spewed the contents of her stomach out after having one (or more) too many drinks at The Cinder. Standing in front of the double-doors leading into the bar Eve was rubbing her left arm just above her elbow with her right hand, for some reason she felt nervous: the last time she had been here was a few weeks ago, and it hadn’t really ended all too well, Zeke had had to throw her out, which in hindsight was quite ironic; a ‘norm’ tossing out a conduit - especially one that was so against ‘norms’. However both Eve and Zeke knew that she would never hurt him; she owed him too much for that, a debt that had only grown bigger over the years.
Clearing her throat and mentally forcing herself to open the doors Eve entered the thick air of the bar: she knew it all too well, the lighting, the smell and the people - oh yes, she knew quite a few here, however for most parts it was strangers today, or perhaps Eve just didn’t focus on the people around her because her focus was on the man behind the bar-counter.

“Hey Zeke” She said with a weak smile, wondering how he would react, would he be angry? Annoyed? Indifferent? However before she could ponder anymore about that Zeke’s laughter brought with it his first words she had heard in weeks.
“Hey kiddo!” he grinned, “sure took you some time to get back to me after our last encounter, huh?”
It took Eve a second in order to comprehend what had just happened; he acted just the same as he always had. Just the same… Just. The. Same…
“Hey!” she yelled back at him, “haven’t I told you not to call me ‘kiddo’!?”
His laughter only made her blush that much more, she really hated being called ‘kiddo’, afterall she was twenty-one years old! That’s a whole year more than being just twenty! Waving her hand through the air in between them before she groaned.
“Just give me a beer, will ya’?” she mumbled loudly, clearly annoyed, but before he had taken one step towards the cooler a few feet to the right of him she added with a grin; “oldie”
Zeke’s laughter was still in the air when he returned with an ice cold beer, “here you go” he said, placing the beer in front of her, “an ice cold beer as usual”.

Grease arrived at his apartment, swinging open the door, before going limp, and crashing down on his couch. The power that ran through his blood was amazing, and rather easily refilled, but he still felt like he had just run a marathon. Wearing leg weights. That said, it wasn't surprising for him to be tired. However, he managed to keeping himself awake, as there was business at hand. Downing a half-empty (half-full?) can of Red Bull, before looking down at his laptop, back at the names. He had a feeling that they would be dead-ends. Two rules. Never go on blind dates, and never trust anonymous sources.

But that certainly didn't mean that Grease was about to give up on chasing the Syndicate any time soon. He sighed, trying to think of something. He knew one thing- he needed help. But most people wouldn't be willing. Even if they weren't scared off by the Syndicate, there was always the fact that most goody-two-shoes wouldn't deign to do the dirty business, ripping life from those pathetic mongrels who dared spread such destruction and bloodshed.

No, he couldn't get just anyone. He needed someone with vengeance to seek, and no remorse. What he needed was a psychopath, and he knew just where to get one. Not surprisingly, most conduits he knew weren't very sane. Nothing medical, but mere power lust. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too hard to find at least a couple of conduits willing to help, after all, the Syndicate was coming for them all, inFamous or not.

Groaning, he got up, and headed out to the one place he could find conduits willing to help him. 'The Cinder'. Not exactly a long trip, or a difficult one, Grease arrived in a matter of minutes, staggering in, breathing heavily, still not quite all recovered. As he entered the pub, he took a brief look around. No one in particular stood out- Well, that was a lie. Almost everyone stood out, and in the mess of unique people, a certain pattern blurred them all together. Grease sat at the bar, not paying much attention to anyone around, ordering a beer. He drowned the bottle in one large swig, and looked around, for anyone who he thought to be useful.

Ford snapped around and sent a bolt flying at the TV. Even through the drink he was more than accurate. He was breathing heavy and and look of rage upon his face.

" Eli you seemed to be a little angry buddy." Zeke said trying to defuse the situation.

Thousands of noncons die every week in the city. Yet none of that ever makes the news. Only the things we do every make the news. A man freaks out band goes out on a tear because he threatened in front of the world last night. Knowing no noncon will even try to help.... Yeah I might be a little pissed Zeke."

"A little reckless shoot ing the tv wasn't?" Zeke said still trying to make light of the situation.

"Reckless hell Zeke I hit right where I was aiming!" Ford said trying to calm down. "I'll get you another TV before tomorrow."

JUNE 16th, THURSDAY, 2018, 10:16 AM

---

"Eli." Zeke said, his voice taking on a sudden calm. His laughter with Eve died down. "I've had that TV. For a while now. It's not just a regular old TV that you can buy back."

Zeke sighed, turning his back to the room full of conduits. "That TV was the same little TV that I had back in Empire City and New Marais." He continued. "A friend and I would spend long bouts of time watching old movies and drinking some beers. He charged up the batteries with his powers. They were a lot like yours." Zeke took another glass and polished it absentmindedly. Jen sighed, and finished the beer. She slid the glass away from her, over to the end of the bar. Zeke seemed more disappointed then angry. Several of the other conduits left the bar at that moment, clearly not wanting to get into the scuffle, leaving only Ford, Jen, Ellie, Grease, and Eve. "That TV was one of the few remaining things I had left of him before he died." Zeke sighed, before turning around to face them. "And you just completely shorted it out."

Zeke turned back to them, his eyes hidden behind his set of shades. "I have a little something that I think I need to share with all of 'ya." Zeke reached into his pocket, and pulled out a phone. The phone wasn't exactly anything you'd find on the market. Zeke had modified the phone to his specifications. It could cut into any calls being made in the surrounding area. The police digital database was easily available, so he could get a match to someone through a couple of pictures. And most importantly, it could hack into most digital accounts, as long as it wasn't too complicated. "I have some important info about The Syndicate that you guys might like to hear." Zeke said, turning on his phone. He tapped at it for a few moments. "Though, maybe you'd like to zap this too, Eli. Hell, just zap down my place, huh? Just burn it all down."

Jen rolled her eyes. That Eli guy was trouble. If he was reckless enough to just destroy a TV, then why was he even here? She took another deep swig of whatever Zeke had served her. It was heavy, that was for sure. She was already thinking of the impending hangover before her mind started to slip.

I'm sorry Zeke, but you as well as I do that you're friend would just as pissed as I am right now. All I did was blow the power circuits. It'll be easy enough to fix." Ford did feel bad about what happened. He shouldn't have lost his temper. He felt worse that be took it out on of the few friends he had.

"What's on the phone Zeke. Please tell me something that will hell stop all this Syndicate madness before ot gets any worse. Falling g short of that. I could use another." Ford held his glass up.

Grease hadn't been fazed in the lightest by the dispute going on, as he calmly took another swig of beer, watching, with a rather amused, albeit condescending look on his face as he saw them squabble. He flexed his hands a bit, allowing tar to seep over them for a moment. A light chuckle drafted out through his lips, as he pulled his cap down lower, covering his greasy hair, and putting a bit of an ominous shade over his eyes.

However, he perked up, sitting at attention, when he heard that Zeke had something on the Syndicate. Now, that was more like what he wanted to hear. Although, he wasn't too sure about the lightning-y guy. Had he heard Zeke call him Eli? Whatever. The point still stood, he didn't want to work with someone like that. There was a fine line between powerful and unstable. It looked like this guy was quite a ways into the unstable zone. However, he stayed silent, not wishing to stir any trouble.

Ellie took another sip of her cola just as a text message came in. She picked up the phone and read the message

Dad: Are you ok?

Ellie quickly pressed REPLY and typed: "I'm fine. Rogue conduit was taken care of. Have you heard of The Syndicate?" And pressed send. Ellie shut her phone and looked down at her drink. She looked up to see Zeke and Ford have a small, heated discussion about the TV. She noticed Jen sitting there, staring at whatever drink she had. Ellie slowly and quietly slid over next to her. "You ok?" She asked, holding her Cola in hand. "You look like you're about to pass out." Ellie was sure that Jen was about to slip into a blackout, or whatever her body did when she was drunk. Her phone buzzed again with: "I only heard of them once on that TV report. So No, not really." Ellie replied with 'Ok, I'll be home at the usual time.' And pressed send.

Part 1:The Messege

10:16am, Thursday, 2018, New Marais, Acension Perish-Apartment C



Who would had thought that this guy could be helpful with finding out more about the Syndicate. After teleporting to Acension Perish in New Marais Roman opened the door to apartment c.

Every apartment atleast had a fair amount of decency to it except for this one, it is littered with trash and half eating donuts sprawled across the dusty ground. Either this guy doesn't care or is just plain disgusting. I expected that this guy didn't keep his place filthy for the sake of guest that would visit. I walked out of the apartment not long after the smell had caused me to cough multiple times.

Turning to my right I saw a latin face it must be Antonio, on the window his face projected off of it. "Please excue the mess."

"You couldn't have left a note." Roman commented.

If your a conduit listening to this I won't be returning to my apartment, upon my search to find the Syndicates base. I was caught by its leader who imprisoned me in Curdon Cay. Since Harry Meadow had his powers stolen I have been trapped here without a way to escape. For anyone that has found this, be careful the Syndicate might be hard to track down but they are always watching, waiting for there moment to eliminate us, conduits remember the efforts of Cole Macgrath, and Delsin Rowe. Messege terminated."

I had heard the combined efforts of Delsin Rowe and Cole before though this only confirmed it, it couldn't have come at a better time. In New York, a conduit, had his powers stolen from him this caused alot of distress amongst the community. Though I hide my sensitivity at times, it effected me but not for long because the messege was clear.

To Be Continued...

JUNE 16th, THURSDAY, 2018, 10:24 AM

---

Jen shrugged. "I've had.. harder drinks before." Jen said, taking a deep, shuddering breath. Her face was pale. Jen rubbed her head under her baseball cap. "It's uh.. just.. really strong." She turned to Zeke. "What the hell did you put in this?" Jen asked, pointing to her drink. "

Zeke chuckled, keeping his eyes glued on his phone. "I wouldn't worry about her, Ellie." Zeke commented, tapping away at it. Jen glared at Zeke. "She's way more fun when she's drunk, you know."

A swirling stream of sand ran through Jen's fingers and up her arm. That was one problem with drunk conduits. They usually didn't have much control of their powers. If the power is too strong and uncontrollable, you wake up the next morning and your little town's just been attacked. Imagine. The voice rang throughout her head. Harry gets drunk. He gets mad. The next morning, Macon is ravaged. She sighed. "Are you going to tell use the Syndicate info or not?" She asked, watching as Zeke tapped at his phone. "I'm trying to get to it right now." He replied, still tapping. "My phone's a minefield of apps. Hopefully we get some more people here, too. I'd like as many conduits possible here to listen to the news." Zeke lowered the phone, glancing at Eli's glass. "I don't think you need another drink, Eli." He said, glancing at the TV. Several sparks flew from it.

The hug from Scorn was awkward, Sam tried to be warm and friendly, but the other woman was like a a snake. Scorn felt a little cold, and Sam was almost glad when she left. Even thought the woman was saying nice words, that didn't make the whole crying blood a red flag. Then she mentioned forming the Reapers. Sam had heard of the Reapers. Something about drugs and being run by a conduit. It wasn't much of a story that she'd heard, it was mostly vague details and allusions to Cole McGrath.

"I…" should she tell Scorn? This could go downhill very fast if Scorn was bad. However, Scorn was also a very powerful conduit on her own. Sam wanted to pick the winning side, and it looked like Scorn was it. "I control blood." if she wanted to keep her powers and take down the Syndicate, she was fairly okay with being friends with Scorn. "And my name is Sam, it's nice to meet you, Scorn."

Not to mention, she'd been the nicest to her so far. Scorn didn't seem heartless or cruel to her, just something didn't sit right in Sam's stomach with this partnership. It was probably nothing to be worried about. Sam always worried about silly things anyway. Scorn just dressed weird and that was it. Sam relaxed a little, not letting down her guard completely, but being more open to conversation.

"Oh blood that sounds cool," Scorn said with some excitement. Which was true, she had seen many powers since the release of Curdon Cay and roaming around before settling in New York but blood was a new one so it would be interesting to see how those powers worked.
"Well, Same, I thought meeting her would be nice so you could see the rest of our little gang. None really have names, mostly they are silent and do there thing unless they are called upon. Now that you've seen them, how about we go to a more friendly place like The Cinder, I'll buy the drinks and we can talk more there as well. Just between us girls."
Scorn was trying to see how Sam was reacting to her though it was hard to say, she had a good management over her emotions, only her hands had given away about Same being nervous and now it was tough to know what she thought about Scorn. No matter, Scorn planned to make good friends with her or try at least. She needed to start somewhere and Sam was perfect for the starting position. A conduit of neutral siding it seemed, and not seemingly to thrilled of there powers. Oh Scorn had plans to show her that there would be nothing to fear that blood powers were probably the coolest she had seen yet of a conduit.
"Oh maybe you can even show me some of your powers a bit later? You choice but I think it would be fun, I'll even offer my blood if you can control others blood," she said happily again as she waited for an answer about the bar, playing with some shadows again.
She also waved at the other Reapers, a sign that they could go. The orange coated Reapers took to the stairs while the white coated Reapers picked up the bags and teleported away though she knew they would be back when Scorn and Sam were gone to finish the billboards little touches.

"Um, sure. But I'm not going to drink. It never ends well if I do. You can imagine why." Sam smiled a little. She hadn't really had a 'draining buddy' or anyone like that before. Also, she'd never met anyone who cried blood before either. Maybe this wasn't as bad as she thought. "I'm new in town, so you might have to lead the way…" her hands stopped fidgeting, and instead hung limply by her sides.
"Yeah, but you don't need to worry about bringing blood or anything. I usually keep a pack of my own on my back. I usually stir it with my powers and keep it fresh the same way. It's gonna expire soon, though. Might as well use it to show you how I can use my blood." Sam didn't want Scorn to donate blood just so Sam could just show off. Sam's powers only worked well if you had a decent amount on hand. If she remembered right, she needed half the amount in a human being just to form her blood double.
She only knew this because of trial and error, and not to mention how much the bags of blood had said on them. She didn't want to needlessly hurt her new friend either. Scorn would probably bring in other Conduits like her and maybe it wouldn't hurt to hang around them. She might figure out some new moves to use her powers to their fullest extent. Besides, she was getting a little tired of always being alone.

"All right," she said disappearing in shadows and appearing on another building ",Just try to keep up." She laughed and kept going. She of course let Sam catch up to her before leading all the way to the bar."I behold to you the safe haven of conduits," she joked and entered the bar opening the door for same before heading over to her usual spot at the bar. No one else touched the chair because last time someone did they found themselves thrown across the room with a broken nose. It was her spot and no one else could touch it, not unless they wanted a fight. She sat down but then disappeared and reappeared briefly, grabbing a bottle from behind the bar.

"Chloe, what did I tell you about stealing behind my bar when I'm not looking," Zeke said as he messed with his phone, for an unknown reason to Scorn.
"Hey I pay you Zeke for the bottles I take, plus you look busy so I helped myself," she said putting money down on the bar for the bottle in exact change ",Also Zeke don't use that name. My name is Scorn."

Unfortunately for Scorn she had let slip to Zeke her true name when she had had one to many drinks one night and she had to remind him not to call her by that name. Of course she never threatened Zeke. Zeke was one of the few norms she liked, besides those in her gang. He knew his place and if he was a friend to most conduits it meant he must of been good for something, whatever it was. Plus where else could she find a bar that let her in, most of the others had kicked her out.

"Ah the TV is busted," she pouted seeing the mess of the sputtering TV ",Phooey, I wanted to see some news." She had partially hoped that while she talked with Sam at the bar someone would of noticed the sign and the news would of been on it but now she would just have to wait and see when she got home if they noticed the billboard. She doubt it would take long though for people to notice a billboard painted over with a dead body hanging from it.

"You sure you don't want anything to drink Sam," Scorn asked taking a drink from her bottle and offering it to her.

Grease looked up from his drink when the two others entered. One he recognized from earlier. What was her name? He thought to himself, before deciding that she hadn't told him. Silently, he decided to refer to him as Draculette, until he could put a name to the face. The other person... He was unsure of her. From the unusual clothing, he guessed them to be a flamboyant conduit, or a fan of some weird anime. She almost looked familiar, something on the news, perchance? It was definite that she was a conduit when he saw her vanish, then reappear.

He opened his mouth slightly to comment on what Zeke said about Eli not needing any more beer, but he had seen what Eli could do. It was not something he wanted happening to his face. "Right now, I don't think any of us need alcohol. If this info about the Syndicate is anything useful, we don't need any drunk fools stumbling around, and ruining it for us all." He said simply, pushing his beer bottle away, even though it was empty anyways.

Sam was exhausted. She didn't use Plasma Shift to run across towns, and for good reason. Every time she stopped using the power she was left disoriented, as though she were suddenly petrified by a basilisk and blind in an eye. She kept going though, stopping at the bar with Scorn. Once they were both inside, Sam rested her head on the counter. "I'll have to take a cab next time…"
She tried to relax her muscles, but they still felt tense and stiff. "I'm gonna need a moment…" she used her power to quicken the blood flow to her muscles and 'cool' them off, pulling blood out of the bag on her back and flowing it into a cut on her hand. It also sounded like she was a vacuum cleaner when she was breathing, trying to take in as much oxygen as she could. When she was done, she leaned back a little and eased some of the blood in her hand out, back into the bag. "Jeez, I've been running around town so much today… and Mister Zeke, I'll just take a Sprite, if you will. I have an extremely low tolerance for alcohol."
She couldn't drink much because of the low amounts of blood in her system, and couldn't remember when her last fight was when she had to cut her hand open to fight. Not too long ago though, and she tried to make it a habit to not drink anyway. If she drank a lot and was out of control… that would put a lot of people's lives in danger, including her own.
"Uh, sure, kid." Zeke replied, sliding a can over to her.
"So, Scorn, what did you want to talk about?" Sam asked, taking a sip of her soda. She was still a little stiff and sore, but mostly better now. She didn't like moving the blood from the bag on her back into her skin like that and moving it around only to take different blood out. It felt strange and like there were bugs under her skin.

Ellie quickly took another sip of her coke and leaned her chin on one hand. "If she has trouble getting home I'll help her." Ellie said, looking at the tipsy Jen. She wanted to make sure Jen was ok and didn't get into trouble on her way home. Ellie's phone vibrated again with a text, But Ellie ignored it, paying attention to what was going on around her and her friends more than anything. "Zeke, another coke?" Ellie asked. "Yeah sure, coming right up." He replied, sliding another coke towards Ellie. She caught it, taking a sip.

JUNE 16th, THURSDAY, 2018, 10:32 AM

“Alright, kiddos, listen close.” He said, waving around his arms. He raised his phone high in the air, waving it about. “I got some important info on the Syndicate. I know now you all got your drinks, but I think that you should put them down for just a second. But I can only help if you just pause, and listen fo-“

His sentence was interrupted by a massive, swirling tendril of sand rupturing the floorboards. The wooden planks split apart like balsa wood, letting loose the massive sand tentacle. A large cloud of sand filled the bar as the tentacle swung around, slamming into an orange lamp. Glass shards flew across the bar. A few seconds later, the tentacle slithered back into the hole. Jen giggled. “Heh. Sorryyy! Sorry. That was me.” She said, giggling. “I’ll listen, I’ll listen.” Unfortunately, Jen wasn’t the best drunk. Some conduits reacted to it differently than others, as with humans. The only difference if that conduits had a lot more drastic changes. Some became uncontrollably mad, their powers blazing. Some conduits like Jen ended up more care-free and stupid. Some just got slurred speech and a dampened mind.

Zeke sighed, shaking his head. He kneaded his forehead. “I swear, sometimes.. I.. gah. Why don’t you guys just break the walls while you’re at it, huh?” Zeke complained, gesturing to his TV and floorboards. He just raised his hand suddenly. “Just cool it with the powers. I’ll start the recording.” Zeke tapped his phone.

---

The recording started up with a couple of raucous coughs and scratching. “How are things doing over at the Vintage District?” The voice was digitally distorted. “Market District Plan 3-A is going rather well. Rogue Conduit will be released in several days. The breakout plan is almost complete. Joe is still working out the details. Rogue Conduit we’ve chosen is Damon Funnel. Harsh Wind Conduit. Imprisoned for terrorizing a Texan town as a tornado. He’ll work nicely.”

“Nathan. You need to be more careful here.” The other voice scolded. “We could be compromised. I told you not to send info by wire anymore. We’re probably being listened to at this very moment.” The voice predicted it exactly. “But Vintage District Plan 3-B is.. in the works. ETA on it is probably a week or so, chances are Saturday. We need some backup, so send some extra grunts to the Vintage Syndicates.” Clearly, the man knew that they may well be being listened to, so he purposely revealed less info.

“Alright. Sorry. Just hard to remember.” Nathan said. Some awkward shuffling was heard in the background. “I have to go. Josh will be here soon. You know how he is.” The other voice chuckled. “Yeah. Say, have you seen Matt around any time now?” It asked. “You know, I haven’t. Heard he was sent to the Market District for some backup. Hopefully he isn’t ratting us out to some gang. Those crazy Reaper fellows might've squeezed him.” The other voice coughed. “See you, Nathan. And remember, ears are everywhere.”

---

The recording ended there. “Whatever the Syndicate plan on doing, it’s going to be at the Vintage District, in a couple days.” Zeke said, putting down his phone. “My guess? It’s going to be in the National History museum. What better place to hold an event then the most popular museum in New York?” Zeke walked over to the glasses in the shelves. They were one of the few things still left that hadn’t been touched by conduits. “I’ve been trying to make connections as to why they’d be there since I got the recording last week.”