Tag: Emi Koike

#Lore24 – Entry #299 – Sentinel City by Night #25 – A Growing Conspiracy

From the Journal of Sheba O’Rourke, Private Investigator

“Blumenthal’s people came through on some IDs on the mysterious Johnson family, even if it took a little help from the FBI; reckon they’re big-time drug smugglers down south, known for their use of the Louisiana bayous in their distribution operations.  Five brothers, with some rather…thematic…names:  Harry, Richard, Willy, John Thomas, and Peter.  The “Pillbilly” remained anonymous, though the alias was a known element.  Which meant the FBI probably knew who it was but wasn’t saying.  Still, apparently, they’d gone quiet over the last few months, assumed to have been laying low, though now it seems they were shifting operations a few states north.

Not sure if they were part of the Tzimisce’s operations before now or not, though.  I’d only seen three of the brothers so far, and those two war ghouls that had torn me up looked awfully similar once you peeled back the layers of thickened bone and exoskeleton.  They had a Lasombra with them lurking in the shadows too, apparently with ghouls of their own if Ramos was to be believed. 

Then there was the eastern connection, the Kuei-jin and the triads or yakuza or whatever is running out of that district.  They seemed to have quite a bit of information on the Sabbat, and were working with them to some extent, though how far that would go, who could say?  Despite her appearance, my gut told me this Koike girl was dangerous, and whatever plans the Kuei-jin had for Sentinel City couldn’t be good.  They’d apparently kept to themselves for a good long while though, and I don’t think Sokolova is ready to try and push them out of town on my suspicions, especially with them having that massive underground operation going.

My corkboard was filled with names, photos, and a web of red string, and I couldn’t make it all make sense, not yet.  Too many question marks, too many unknowns, too many uncertainties, a big one being that “Sabbat leader” hinted at by the Kuei-jin.  Who was it?  One of the big names that had been involved in the taking of the east coast back in ’99?  Had they survived whatever it was that happened twenty years ago, or were they just as scattered and disorganized as the Camarilla had been after the reckoning?  Gehenna?  Whatever it was we were calling it; had we even come to a decision on that?  Had anyone even cared?

Only thing I could say for sure was that this stank of a Sabbat destabilization operation.  They usually tended toward as much violence as possible, just overwhelming brute force and surprise attacks.  Here though…maybe whoever it was in charge now was using a different kind of cunning, was being subtle, elusive, careful.  Didn’t seem in character for them, but maybe even the Sabbat could evolve.  The Camarilla had evolved, or whatever it was that Sokolova was calling her experiment, at least here in Sentinel City. 

I could only be sure of one thing with any certainty:  I was in for some very long nights as I worked on this puzzle.”

#Lore24 – Entry #298 – Sentinel City by Night #24 – The Kuei-jin Element

From the Journal of Sheba O’Rourke, Private Investigator

“Knew the three that got out of the limo were Kuei-jin the moment I saw them.  Was hard to hear what was being said from my hiding spot over the din of activity in the place but picked up a few words here and there.  Even though the trio looked young, the old man referred to them as something like “most esteemed elders” or something like that.  I ain’t so good at the language, especially this far away.

The first one looked like a teenager; could easily see her in a school uniform instead of that business suit she wore.  Thinking she was Japanese, shorter than the others, dark hair cut straight and neat to her shoulders, the glasses she wore giving her a scholarly look.  Couldn’t quite get what the old man was saying to her, but think her name was Koike.  The other two were twins, man and a woman, not quite identical, but close enough that they might pass for one another had she not been a fair bit curvier than him.  Think they were Chinese, got the name Teng, but that was about all I got, damn truck drove by loaded with scrap metal.

I thought awfully hard about getting closer, but the way the guy kept looking around as if he were on high alert told me to stay put.  I had no clue what kind of extra-sensory abilities these three might’ve possessed, and I didn’t want to find out if I could help it.  The old man, Mr. Wong I gathered, began relating details of the operation I think, escorting the three atop a catwalk, swept his arm over all that could be seen.  Might consider getting a parabolic microphone after this, not that it would be easy to sneak in when I pulled these stunts. 

Still, managed to get some more bits of the conversation here and there, heard some very familiar words being spoken by the Japanese girl:  Cainite, Tzimisce, Sabbat.  Heard her say something about continuing the shipments, about letting them have their fun while it lasted I think, that whatever was going on wouldn’t affect their goals.  Think she might’ve mentioned something else about a Sabbat leader, but I couldn’t get any more cause they’d moved out of range.  The fact that the male twin’s gaze lingered in my direction a few seconds longer before he followed the others gave me plenty of reasons to not try and get closer.

Waited until they were out of sight before I made my exit.  Wasn’t real sure exactly where I needed to go, but going up seemed the best choice.  Wound up coming into the basement of a fancy Korean restaurant.  No Kuei-jin in sight, I slipped out unnoticed by the staff; saw a couple of familiar faces, two of the guys Mr. Wong had spoken to before the elders had showed up, yelling out orders in their native language. Figured this must have been his place. 

Got my bearings once I was outside, got on the first bus I found, left a trail as hard to follow as I could manage.  Don’t think I was followed but couldn’t be too sure.  Was nearly dawn by the time I got back to my apartment, so I’d have to leave my analysis of what I might’ve learned till tomorrow night.”