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GM Claremont Academy March 9th, 2020 Afternoon, after class Aside from Casanova and Stinger's grudges, things seemed to have calmed down considerably since the fight between New Young Freedom and the group of young heroes in October. New Young Freedom had resumed their patrols in December and, so far, they seemed to stay on the straight and narrow path. Well, things between the two groups had been mostly calm. A week or so before, Muirne, Luke's girlfriend, had been teamed with Sebastian for a project. Soon after, she had started talking about how maybe Sebastian wasn't that bad, that Luke and the others should try to give him another chance...

GM Just past midnight March 6th, 2021 In the shadow of the Doomforge The House of Usher had returned. The Raven had been after them for months at this point. He had researched the old Ushers that the previous Ravens had fought. He had been following any leads, stopped any of their operations he could find. All that he had learned was that they were back and their influence on Freedom City was growing. They had yet to meet another Usher directly. A recent operation had uncovered one new piece of information, at least: The Ushers' base of operations were somewhere in Kingston. And so, Raven and Nevermore headed towards Kingston, in the shadow of the Doomforge...

GM Night February 25th, 2021 Across the rooftops of the Fens Callie had spent a lot of time patrolling Freedom City since being brought to the this time. She had gotten used to this future Freedom, gotten used to this new world she found herself in, where she existed twice at once: The headmistress of Claremont and the time displaced teenager. Things had changed in the poorer parts of the city lately. The Fens, Southside, Kingston... The shadows seemed darker. Ever since Raven and Nevermore had learned that the House of Usher had returned, the Raven Family had found mounting evidence of the Ushers' increasing presence in the city, especially in these areas. Now, she had been patrolling the Fens. It had been largely uneventful when she caught sight of a mugging in progress on the street below, near a street corner. Three men against one hardly seemed fair.

ROCKET Atomic Tower, Midtown, Freedom City Early March 2021 The Atomic Tower towered in the Freedom City skyline. After its recent expansion, it seemed almost like it stretched into the clouds, which it just might do. A modern marvel of super science, it held the newly opened Atom Academy, the Atom Family's newest gift to the city, inviting scientists, explorers, heroes and just curious regular people to join, to explore everything and anything! Jay was late. Of course he was late. You'd think having super speed would have helped with that, but no. It just meant he had more time to do a ton of things and forget about appointments. He was a streak of black and grey moving through the city, running and rushing past everything. Black pants, running shoes, a grey jacket, currently hanging open to reveal his favorite white T-Shirt with a big black rocket on the front until. He finally came to a stop right in front of Atomic Tower, a gust of wind catching up to him, his blonde hair a mess from the run as he stumbled a step or two to regain his footing and almost tumbled into the woman that was standing there before catching himself and moving around her in the blink of an eye. "Sorry, sorry! Stopping's not always easy!"

Ghost's Apartment in the Fens A few days after he met Fleur de Joie Casper was pacing around in the apartment, looking at his phone. He had been thinking about this for a while now. Should he use Comrade Frost's number? It was a leap to make, skipping all those steps and asking about getting into the Freedom League, and he still wasn't sure if he even wanted to join, but Carrie would think it'd be cool if he was a member of the Freedom League, right? At least once she finds out about him being Ghost. Could be nice to have some support network, too. Did the Freedom League offer a stipend or payment or anything like that? Casper looked around his tiny apartment. That... well, it wasn't the important thing, but it wouldn't be bad, right? Probably not what he should lead with. Breathing out heavily, he sat down on his and looked at the phone. Alright, alright. Fleur had given him this number, he should use it. Worst that could happen was a no, right? It would probably be a no, but he had to try, at least. Punching in the number, he waited for Comrade Frost to answer...

March 20, 2021 HAX It was a quiet weekend at HAX. The boss and most of the staff were away with their families or working on projects at home, and for once the security director and her assistant had given most of the security staff the day off too. Drilling could come the next day, when they'd be simulating an attack by space pirates from the 22nd century on the building. When the door buzzer sounded in the main security office, Steve answered the message, holding the headset up to one ear and speaking into the microphone. "The building is closed." A pause. "Who may I say is here?" And then an even longer pause, with his eyes noticeably widening before he said with a tone that mixed reverence and a sudden, sharp skepticism. "...whose name shone brightly among all other in the branches of the Silver Tree?" The answer he got seemed to satisfy him, and he turned to Erin and said "There are Furions at the door. They say they have come to speak to the Dethroner."

In some ways, going to Claremont Academy was like going to any high school. There was plenty of academic work, meals in the cafeteria, sports, dances, all the same drudgery and fun that any teenager could expect from their education. In other ways, though, it was very different. Not all students, for instance, got signed up to do after-school study with members of the Freedom League! Patrol with the Freedom League was something of a pilot program this year. The Claremont students got to experience patrolling the city with experienced heroes who could offer tips and answer questions, and the League members got to serve their community and build ties with the school. It seemed destined to be a winning combination. At least, Stesha certainly hoped it was going to be. Fleur de Joie had been a vocal proponent of the program, and she was eager enough to see it succeed that she volunteered to take the first patrol shift. When she'd gotten the profiles of the students she'd be working with, well, it had been easy to decide who she'd ask to work with her. Tiamat seemed a natural fit, and it would probably be very entertaining to watch her interacting with the kids. Claremont patrols started fairly early, around 9pm, so at 8:45 Stesha was waiting outside the school gymnasium, wearing her costume and browsing through the League's text-tip line to see if anything might be brewing tonight. "Well, here we go," she murmured to Tiamat while they waited for the students. "Ready to teach the next generation?"

Danica was not a fast walker under the best of circumstances, but she did have a way of getting a crowd to part effortlessly for her, even without anyone noticing it happening. She walked with Elena out of the crowded Valentine's Day party and into the deserted hallway outside the gym. From here the music of the party was still faintly audible but the noise level was much reduced and the air was cooler and fresher. Most students entering and leaving the party were using the outside doors, so they weren't likely to be disturbed here. "How are you doing?" Danica asked, all friendly concern.

GM 11:30 PM February 12th, 2021 Jadetown, Emerald City The Night of the Chinese New Year Celebrations It was an evening of celebration in the streets of Jadetown, and on this evening, even the Takazumi-gumi seemed to be at ease, content to simply celebrate. It was the year of the metal ox. Some saw that as a sign, the year that the Steel Shogun would rise even further. Others simply enjoyed the festivities. Anyone and everyone in the city were welcome, at least for now. Perhaps the party, a smell of the supernatural at play, or something else entirely, would bring heroes to this night. While a parade made their way through the streets, a group of Takazumi-gumi that were defintely not in a party mood, led by a young man, led a young woman through the streets of the city...

GM Heading West across the endless oceans... Heading towards destiny... The Forever Boy and the Thunderbird flew fast, across the endless oceans of Neverworld. On and on, as far as they could, and then, perhaps, a bit further. They had passed islands, lands and sea, ruin and wonder. And yet they did not stop. They could not stop. They must not stop. They had to fly, forevermore, not to rest, until their goal was in sight.

GM Some time between the story of then and now... Heading to Victori... Eira had left her companions behind. Her angelic form soaring across the skies of Neverworld, she had a first row seat to the destruction that the Hooked Man and his Sky-Pirates had caused across the world. Beneath her she saw ruined cities, displaced familes doing their best to survive in what had once been their homes. She saw slain beasts, passing by a capsized turtle the size of an island between New Avalon and Victori. And soon... she saw Victori, and Tham, the great factory city. The factories were still alive. Still producing the endless soldiers needed. Perhaps she would find the Mad Doctor that the Great Detectives had mentioned, or perhaps she would make do on her own. How long had the journey taken? It was difficult to tell. Time was, after all, strange in Neverworld.

Saturday, February 27, 2021 10:21 AM "Well, the schedule says it was supposed to be here at quarter after," Ryder confirmed, scrolling down the page on his phone and confirming he was looking at the right day. He and Danica had left the Claremont Academy dorms with plenty of extra time to get to efficiently titled Lab for their 10:30 rendezvous with Eira and whomever was working that morning but after disembarking to switch crosstown buses they'd been waiting a good ten minutes. "Maybe it was a little early and we missed that one?" It seemed unlikely since the other commuters standing at the bus stop had already been there when they had arrived. A stout man with a bald head turning pinkish in the cold winter air was tapping his foot impatiently while a young mother with a stroller covered by a weather shield did her best not to make eye contact with the leather jacket and studded choker-wearing teenager sitting beside her on the only bench, idly tuning a black cherry electric guitar. Even with his bright red scarf sticking out of layers of canary yellow hoodie and jewel tone windbreaker Ryder could feel the cold seeping in and he got the impression Danica was feeling it more acutely. He tossed his phone back into his satchel, catching muted annoyed clicking from within. Craning his neck to look for signs of the bus coming down the street he did some quick math in his head. They weren't far from the Lab now but even hurrying he wouldn't make it there on foot for 10:30 and it would be a pretty miserable walk for his classmate. "Well, guess we get there when we get there, huh?"

North Bay was very nice, Danica decided as she putted along the edge of the immaculately-paved road past the huge houses, but she definitely wouldn't want to live there. The houses were beautiful and the big old trees and sprawling gardens were probably super nice when the weather was warm, but everything was awfully spread out. Also there were no bus stops because it was a rich area, and there were very few sidewalks, because same. She'd had to find the nearest bus stop and then go on two wheels for nearly a mile to the actual place. Trying to keep her balky old borrowed scooter out of the slushy puddles at the edge of the road and also not get hit by cars was a little bit challenging. At least there wasn't much traffic! She was relieved to finally reach the address and turn down the long driveway. The driveway was pretty cool, lined with tall old trees whose branches arched high overhead and probably made a ceiling when the leaves were on them. It was also immaculately paved, without a pothole or a smidgen of gravel anywhere to be seen. It was also-also a bit of a wind tunnel, making Danica tuck her face a little further down into the scarf she'd wrapped around her neck, over the hood and knit hat she was also wearing. Between that and her sweater and two pairs of pants and puffy coat and mittens, she barely felt underdressed even without her shell on. Still cold, though. Freedom City was always so cold in winter! The Segway did not like the cold, either. It was in much poorer condition than her lost one had been, and was making sad rattling Segway-noises. At the end of the driveway she found a huge old handsome house, even bigger and handsomer than most of the ones she'd ridden past. Attached was a garage that looked like it could fit at least four cars and probably more, with its own little door out front. Ellie had said Mr. Hunter worked out of his garage most of the time, so she headed that way. Carefully dismounting from the Segway of Sadness, she adjusted the straps of her backpack and rang the buzzer by the door.

GM Approximately 90 km southeast of Cairo, Egypt Tuesday March 23, 2021 (11:36 AM local time) The sun was approaching its zenith over the flat, rocky landscape of the Western Egyptian Desert. The mid-day sun had warmed the air until it was now in the low 90s. Suddenly, the quite calm of the rocky desert was broken as a blue and white Mini Cooper sped across the terrain, kicking up a trail of dust and sand behind it as it went. The Danger International logo (consisting of a globe with the letters DI across it) was prominently displayed on the hood and doors of the Mini. Lulu Beaumont was seated in the passenger seat of the Mini, dressed in a blue and white jumpsuit with a DI logo on the upper left side. A matching helmet with built-in headset competed the redheaded teenager’s outfit as part of the Danger International rally team that had been organized by her friend Veronica, who was seated in the driver’s seat, similarly dressed. A small IPad was in a holder affixed to the dashboard in front of Lulu, a satellite map with various GPS points up to track the Minis’ course as it began the first leg of the 2021 Dakar Rally. Lulu and Veronica had arrived in Cairo three days ago aboard a Danger International private jet, along with their friends Micah Roebuck, Davyd Palahniuk and Elizabeth Grey, to prepare for the start of the rally. Although there had been a lot of work that needed to be done, the group had managed to find time for a bit of sightseeing, in particular the Giza Necropolis with its massive pyramids, Great Sphinx and other ancient wonders. "Everything is seems to be working perfectly so far Micah." Veronica said into her headset. "I am up to 192 kmph without any issue but will probably easy back a bit until the way stop." Approximately 128 km to the southwest/south Micah was riding in the Kamaz support truck that was similarly painted blue and white with the DI logo on its sides. Elizabeth was currently behind the wheel of the massive truck, with Davyd in the cab as well. The trio had set out about an hour ago along with other heavy trucks that made up the T3 and T4 class vehicles in the rally. In addition to running this first leg of the rally in for those vehicle classes, the support trucks left earlier in order to reach the midway mandatory stop point of the first leg before the rally cars to be set up for a pit stop. Normally this would include refueling of the vehicles, but in the case of the modified DI vehicles, it would involve Micah helping to swap out the power cells for freshly charged ones. Elizabeth had gotten the truck up to a cruising speed of just under 80 mph and been holding steady at that speed as they crossed the mostly flat, rocky terrain. The desert around them was empty save for another support truck a few miles ahead of them, mainly visible by the dust trail left behind in its wake. The route had turned due south over half an hour ago, and the trio still had just under an hour until they reached the waypoint.

@RocketLord@Nerdzul GM Saturday the 20th of February, 2021 Supernatural goings on were not uncommon in Freedom City, and neither were gangs. The combination was a bit more rare though, especially when the supernatural goings were demons fighting alongside gangsters. With their fiendish assistance the Cardinal Rats rapidly pushed the other gangs out, driving them off of their ground by bullet and by claw. It didn't take long to draw attention from outside. As one of the latest in a line of Ravens, Charlie kept his ears to the ground, making it hardly surprising when he heard of the situation in Southside. For Luke Landers the matter was brought to his attention via a more personal avenue as earlier that day one of his old friends had called him about this new gang running them off their turf backed up by shrieking fiends. As these thugs and their demonic posse ran amok in the neighbourhood the question was simple. What were the heroes going to do about it?

December 2020 The Smoothie Shack - Riverside, Freedom City Continued from Monkeys on Parade In the heart of Riverside the juice bar Ryder led Natalia to was afforded a little more street front real estate than it might have been further downtown, enough for a large arching sign with the name Smoothie Shack in bright capital letters, flanked by stylized palm trees and fruit silhouettes in a multitude of colours. Through the big front windows diner style booths in pastel colours could be seen, occupied by a smattering of patrons of wildly differing ages and aesthetics. The second storey of the building was given to more understated red brick and windows with shutters, presumably living space. Ryder stopped on the sidewalk to heft his bag over his shoulder with one hand and gesture proudly with the other. "Tada!"

"Well," Paige asked puckishly, looking down at the sullenly unresponsive camera, "have we tried hitting it with something yet? That usually works." Fred gave her a look of unutterable weariness. "Paige, my dearest darling, I know you are a psychic, but that doesn't mean you need to channel Richard for us when he's not here." "Oh no!" Paige took two steps back, laughing, both hands over her heart as though mortally wounded. "Why would you say such a hurtful thing to me? Now I'm going to have to redo my makeup before I can go on camera." "That's probably okay, it's looking like we're going to have some time," Dave predicted glumly. "Damn thing was fine yesterday." "Are you sure you didn't drop it?" Eamon asked, mock-solicitously. "Cause mine's still working just fine, and the only difference there is operator skill..." Dave gave Eamon an eloquent reply by way of finger, though his heart clearly wasn't in it. "Can we do the interview with just one camera?" Vivi asked anxiously, hugging their elbows and looking from person to person. The youngest member of the team by a couple of decades, Vivi was not quite used to the on-set byplay. Paige took pity on the intern. "It'll be tougher, but we'll do all right," she said reassuringly. "We'll set the camera up over my shoulder to focus on the guest, and just cut the final together so we don't need any footage from me in this one. If we absolutely have to, we can cheat and edit in a shot or two of me from another interview we did in here, since I'm asking a lot of the same questions anyway. We just can't afford to waste time getting the camera fixed today, and Cobalt Templar is presumably well on his way here already. Everyone ready to go?" "Wait, wait!" Dave called, "I think it's starting up! The red light- no, it's gone again." He sat down at the offstage table with a defeated look. "How's your camera phone?" Eamon suggested. "You could always try filming with that." Dave's response was just as eloquent as before.

Danica Holmes loved Valentine's Day. It was one of her favorite holidays, behind Christmas, Easter, Arbor Day, and Labor Day, so when it came up, she got very excited. A holiday all about love and friends and candy and giving gifts, what could be better? And with several decades worth of saved up extra cartoon Valentines cards, she had lots to give away! When she found out that the school was sponsoring a party this year after several years without one, well, that was just the icing on the cake. A week before the big day, she could be found riding up and down the halls of the dormitories on her Segway, red and pink paper hearts dotting her black and gold shell. On every single doorway, she hung a bright pink flyer and two mini-bags of Skittles. Valentines Party! Saturday Night, Feb 13, 7pm, Gym Food, Games, Music, Prizes! And a big (good!) surprise! School Rules are in effect The night of the party, the gym was festively decorated with pink and white helium balloons, streamers, even an ice sculpture of a heart thanks to a particularly industrious ice-controlling student. A DJ setup was currently unoccupied but playing peppy music, and three whole tables of snacks and punch had been set up along the wall. Danica arrived early, along with several other students who had helped set things up, and was busy assembling a little plate of snacks. Her shell had even more hearts plastered on it now, and was edged with a fanciful lace ruffle, making her look rather like a Valentine herself.

GM A Friday evening in late February, 2021 The Boardwalk, outside the Diamond Clover Casino It had not been a evening for Raina so far. Eddie had seemed like a nice enough guy at first. He had taken her to a magic show at the Boardwalk. The magician wasn't exactly good, but he was trying at least, not helped at all by Eddie's heckling and talking over each and every thing that he did, loudly explaining to Raina how he would have done the trick so much better. No, Eddie had turned out to be quite insufferable, and Raina had left, leaving the Diamond Clover Casino soon after. It had been a good day for Casper. No trouble at all so far, he had been hangng out with Carrie and had taken her to a kids' show at the Boardwalk, and she had absolutely loved it. He could have sworn that Jessie had looked a bit differently at him when she picked up Carrie, too. All in all, a good day, and he had spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out at the Boardwalk, just feeling good about himself for once. Of course, either of those feelings wouldn't last. In the cold clear night, the roar of bikes echoed through the Boardwalk. A biker gang tore through the Boardwalk, all wearing jackets with an a horned skull with burning eyes and a pentragram on the forehead that identified them as "THE DEVIL's ADVOCATES FREEDOM CITY". Few wore helmets or any kind of protection, laughing and shouting as they drove amongst the people that had to leap for their lives to get out of the way. Of the two riders in the lead, one looked almost unnaturally pale, a red bandana tied around his forehead, his rapidly thinning black hair pulled back by it, and the other, with a full light brown beard and long hair, wore a helmet in the style of an Imperial German Pickelhaube officer's helmet.

GM Claremont Academy February 5th, 2021 Afternoon Coach Armstrong was pacing around in front of a tree at Claremont, looking at his watch. Elena was already there. She had been at Claremont for a few days now, getting papers and everything in order for staying ever since her rather explosive arrival. "Damn kid was supposed to be here by now..." Elena could stay at Claremont for now. If they hadn't been able to figure out a way to get her home by the next semester, she could join the school by then. Even if she was certainly experienced, she didn't know much about this world. She was hardly the first interdimensionally or chronologically challenged student at Claremont, and she would probably not be the last. So the school had chosen a student to show her around Claremont, give her the big tour of everything. And he was late. "Listen, I need to go, got an appointment I can't miss, just... wait right here, and he'll show up. Or go find some other teacher if he's not here in 15 minutes, alright?" Shaking his head and muttering something about a dumb kid, Armstrong marched off, leaving Elena alone by the tree.

January 2021 FCTV Studios Richard had honestly been a little surprised when Kinsley and Darin York had agreed to meet with him at the FCTV Studios instead of the home studio-cum-library where they usually shot their Tiktok videos. Normally conspiracy theory types liked the homey atmosphere of where they usually did their work, and got nervous about coming into the lion's den of a professional television studio, particularly the types who were worried about mind control rays on the television (which was BS, Paige had checked) or secret conspiracies in the media (which was right but they usually had no idea about who was conspiring to do what). Of course, that didn't apply to the two young Millennials who were out there in the studio getting set up with the crew right now. As they'd mentioned on the way in, they didn't even have a television. They were a married couple, a couple of years older than Will, who favored the sort of casual business attire (Darin, for example, was in white dress shirt and red tie) that made them look ready to work in one of the TV offices rather than be interviewed in it. Karen the social media girl (as Richard called her in his head) had sent their messages to the show's staff for years and Richard had found some of it, well, some of it interesting! For two kids who didn't have powers themselves, they'd figured out at least a few things that Richard knew for a fact were true. When his own makeup and hair were done, he thanked the staff because only an asshole doesn't do that, zipped out to the seat he preferred, in front of the green screen background that would provide color for the kids, then waited for them to make their appearance.

August 28, 2020 In the first week of August, a strange email landed in the boxes of certain graduates of Claremont Academy. It It had a scrambled sender line and was flagged high priority by whatever email system received it, with a header reading BIRTHDAY TIME, BITCHES!!! When opened, the email contained a truly obnoxious number of pictures of balloons and beer glasses, and the words Hey losers! Guess who's finally turning 21? That's right, basically all of us! But especially Raina! Come celebrate August 28, 8pm, the Evening Sky Lounge, Freedom City (it's lame but they don't care about magic, ha!) Monkey buys the first round, come dressed for fun. RSVP regrets only but you better not Those who looked up the Evening Sky Lounge would find a small bar in the Theater District, wedged in on the end of a whole street of bars and clubs. A small disclaimer at the bottom of the place's webpage said "cape friendly, no fighting!" Anybody who really dug in might turn up the fact that the proprietor was one Betty Munroe, a retired hero from back in the bad old Moore days, who'd once gone by the codename Evening. On the night in question the weather was clear and hot, the velvet shadows after sunset just beginning to close in by eight. The Evening Sky was not a huge place but it had a long bar, a half dozen tables and twice as many booths, and a small stage with a dance floor. A four-piece band was doing an enthusiastic cover of some nineties rock songs as they were largely ignored by twenty or so chattering patrons. In the corner was one very large round booth with a very large bunch of helium balloons fixed to one side and a monkey sitting on the table, eating pineapple chunks off a plastic drink spear.

Even though she knew full well what time it was, the dark and the cold were still a bit of a shock to Stesha as she stepped out of the largest knot in an ancient oak tree. She'd spent the past fifteen hours of a very long day much closer to the equator, helping out with a World Food Program/UNISON/Freedom League joint humanitarian project in Haiti. Evacuations ahead of the unseasonable tropical storm had kept casualties low, but the damage had still been extensive and a huge amount of arable land wiped out. She'd done good work helping put things back together, but it had been exhausting, miserable work in soupy humidity broken only by periods of pouring rain. By the time she'd finished doing what she could, her uniform was so soaked she could barely pull it off so she could change into somebody's spare UNISON jumpsuit. Even with as long as the day had been, even as tired as she was, Stesha wasn't quite ready to go home just yet. Ammy was out with her class on an overnight camping trip, and the house was so big and echoey with nobody else in it. She thought often about removing the extra bedrooms and going back to a cottage, but every time she considered it, some disaster or other filled all the rooms again. Tonight, though, it was empty rooms and tomorrow another tremendously long day of trying to organize the tax information for the 501(c)(3) that funded Sanctuary's needs from Earth Prime. Unless of course some disaster came up, she thought wryly, and wasn't it terrible and wrong to wish for a disaster just to avoid paperwork? Liberty Park, like most of downtown Freedom City, was never truly dark. Here on the footpath near the Children's Zoo, blue twinkle lights were strung along the path and through the trees, making soft shadows over the bench she sat down on. Just a few minutes to unwind, she figured, and she'd be ready to go home. Or at least cold enough to want coffee. With a rueful grin, she pulled a handful of seeds from her pocket and began flicking them across the path one at a time, letting them take root and grow into flowers as they fell.

GM Somewhere beyond the second star to the right, heading in the direction of morning The flying pirate ship tossed wildly through the everchanging rainbow lights of the path ahead. It tossed and turned, the pirates screaming and holding on for their dear lives as its bow crashed into the rainbow. The figurehead, a lovely mermaid holding a sword, was torn straight off, as the ship went into another wild spin. A couple of pirates fell screaming into the rainbow void around them, rocked by the hit. On the deck, holding on to the wheel, the Forever Boy was laughing.

A few weeks after the events of Everything They're Asking For And More It had been an eventful few weeks of show prep, interrupted by chaperoning Holly's very first trip to Sanctuary with the rest of her Claremont class and Bryant waking up with one of those high fevers that goes and comes quickly in small children. But Richard and Paige had gotten a lot done despite all of that. They'd talked a little bit about their respective interviews, but they had been too busy to do their usual repeated comparing of notes. Some of what Richard had heard and seen had stuck with him, hanging like a dark cloud around his head as he sat at the dining room table, coffee in one hand and yellow legal pad with giveaway ballpoint pens in the other, writing names and question marks, a frown on his face.