Tag: misha kyle

#Lore24 – Entry #303 – Sentinel City by Night #29 – The Sheriff

From the Journal of Sheba O’Rourke, Private Investigator

“Hadn’t expected a full gathering of the local Kindred community last night, but that’s what I got when I showed up at Sokolova’s office.  Knew something was odd when she ushered me into the meeting room.  Never was one for public speaking, always feel awkward up there in front of everyone, all those eyes on me.  Always been a bit of a lurker. 

Still, turns out there’s some Kindred I hadn’t met yet, most specifically the Brujah clan.  Not sure where they hung out, assumed the Red-Light District given how they were dressed, looked like a bunch of whores to put it bluntly.  Didn’t get all their names, just the head of the clan, Tara Lynn Harper, and she didn’t look so happy to be there.  Or maybe she’s just always pissed off like that.  Don’t know her well enough to say.  Few other faces of other clans showed up that I didn’t recognize, too.  Even the Tremere sent Abigail and Liz tonight, hell, even Misha Kyle was here, sitting with Ankara. 

Hush came over the crowd when Sokolova came in at last, but I knew it wasn’t because of her.  Grim Fucking Jacobs was with her tonight, as were his Hounds, but all eyes were on him.  Looked like some of the locals hadn’t seen him in person till then, if I’d read their reactions right.  Can’t say I knew him that well, we’d done some work together back in San Diego, but I’d done some research into that reputation he wore so proudly.  Reckon he dated back to the American Civil War, had been fighting one battle or another, in some form or another, ever since.  Still had the same cocky grin, still wore the gray calvary hat, and still proudly wore that big silver knife on his belt, the one he’d taken off a werewolf some time in the past when he’d been sheriff elsewhere; knew that thing was magical, didn’t need to read his aura to see it.  Not just anyone could come into an Elysium packing something like that, but nobody was speaking up to tell him to take it off, either.  He made sure to meet the eye of anyone who eyed him, and never once was he the one to turn away.

Couldn’t say I knew exactly what he was all about, but I knew he was a dangerous enemy to have.  Woe be to whoever got on his bad side.

Managed to pull myself back to the moment once he’d taken his seat and kicked his boots up on the corner of the big table, and with Sokolova’s introductions done and the meeting called to order, I got to work presenting what I’d been digging into for the last few weeks, and my latest set of photos from the old distillery.  The sight of that thing I’d nicknamed Sasquatch caused quite the stir in the crowd, and the way the Tremere’s faces darkened when they looked at the woman with the fancy tattoos pretty much confirmed my theory that she was one of the Fiends’ sorcerers.  Saw some suspicious eyes turn toward Misha, too, but they didn’t linger long, maybe because of Ankara’s proximity to her.

Gave the lowdown on the Vamp Out drug, and its component sources in the Chinatown smuggling operation, as well as the Kuei-jin I’d photographed while I was there.  Think I might’ve gotten a few people nervous when they finally realized exactly where I’d managed to sneak in and out of.  Told them about my run-in with the ghouls and the mystery Lasombra that night, too.  That got Ramos’s fur ruffled.

Becky had been typing furiously on her laptop from the moment I’d started my presentation, and jumped in to continue with some information her people had managed to find that went beyond what I had on offer. 

I was good, but the Nosferatu were something else.

She had the name of the Tzimisce sorcerer, AJ Tibideaux, confirmed Sabbat shit-stirrer going back decades, was likely involved in the blitz that took the east coast back in ’99, helping to work on all the war ghouls and create new shovelheads for the assault.  Apparently, the big monstrosity was her brother, or at least that’s what word had been about it; the name she had on it was Gugwe, apparently another type of Sasquatch, a much more bloodthirsty variant.  Guess my call had been a good one on that nickname.  She even had the name of the Lasombra (no photos, obviously):  Selena Esperanza Delgado.  Ramos didn’t hide her growl well.

As for the Kuei-jin, Becky had much less information, given the usual wall of silence and close familial bonds of the east Asian culture they sprang from, but she was fairly sure she had at least the names to go with the faces I’d managed to capture.  Emiko Koike was the Japanese schoolgirl, and the twins were Chao Feng and Qaio Lihun Teng, suspected to be heading some of the Triad groups operating all over the world.  Unfortunately, that was pretty much all she had on that front; Mr. Wong and his family were known smugglers working for the Triads, running anything illegal, up to and including human smuggling operations, but his ties to the Kuei-jin had only been suspected until now.

Grim took the floor after our info-dump, speaking every bit like the military commander he was.  A lot of faces didn’t like the idea of taking a militant stance on matters, but he was adamant, and quite right, that when it came to the Sabbat, a no-tolerance policy and dropping the biggest hammer with as much force as possible was absolutely required.  He related that he’d seen what they can do to a city firsthand, had to retreat from DC in the ’99 blitz in fact, not to mention the mess in San Diego.  He was right to call the Sabbat terrorists.  He didn’t go into all the details, but confirmed he was already working with his people and Sokolova’s security force, led by Laura Conway, to build their own forces in town. 

The way Grim suggested everyone get very good at defending themselves very fast left no room for argument, however many people wanted to.  He’d be working up a rotation for even the likes of Kyou to spend time with his Hounds training.  Once some voices finally spoke up against it, Sokolova stomped them right down.

On the one hand, I was glad to see such decisive action being taken.  On the other, I could only hope it would be enough.  The Sabbat sure seemed awfully damned organized already; couldn’t help but feel like we were trying to catch up.  For a wonder, the Tremere were eager to help.  Suspected some bad blood between them and this particular line of Fiends, but Abigail and Liz related that their chantry was already working on countermeasures to known Tzimisce methods, and trying to come up with some for those they didn’t know. 

Once all the complaints had been addressed and the meeting adjourned, Grim pulled me aside out in the hall and told me I was first in line to get some hand-to-hand training from Ramos and Winters; if I was going to be skulking around as a scout in this war, I’d damn well better be able to defend myself.  He asked me if I was still carrying my “peashooter”, and then handed me a pistol case when I confirmed it.  Inside was a new 1911 pistol and a quartet of magazines, already loaded; he told me to get started practicing with it too.  Wasn’t much against a vampire, but would do well enough against some ghouls, and packed more of a punch than my .38. 

My next few nights were booked up, it seemed.  Couldn’t exactly say ‘no’ to Grim Fucking Jacobs, could I?”

#Lore24 – Entry #284 – Sentinel City by Night #10 – The Fleshcrafter

From the Journal of Sheba O’Rourke, Private Investigator

“As I would shortly discover, my revelation that there was a Tzimisce in town wasn’t nearly as surprising as I’d originally thought.  I daresay I might’ve been the only one of my (admittedly limited) circle that didn’t know about her.  Should probably socialize more.  Noted.

Her name is Misha Kyle, works as a “plastic surgeon” in her own upscale business downtown, “Lovely Longevity Limited”, real posh clientele; reckon she’s done work on quite a few famous types, though she mostly deals in humans over Kindred.  She’s got a team that handles the little things while she works the real special jobs like my last victim, where there’s some major rearrangement to be done.  Definitely not your typical Fiend, that’s for damn sure.  Apparently, Sokolova approves of her being here, though she’s not a regular at the community meetings.

I setup a meeting with her to discuss the situation regarding Sidney Clark, and she didn’t even try to wiggle out of it, sounded almost saddened by what happened if I read her right over the phone.  Still, maybe she’s just that good a liar; can’t trust a Fiend, right?  That’s the case on the ones I’ve known over my admittedly short unlife, anyway. 

Kyle wasn’t what I was expecting; she looked normal, for one, her beauty seemingly all natural, even acted like a normal person.  None of that alien-looking bullshit with her.  She didn’t hesitate to fill me in on her backstory; got the impression she’d done it so many times it was second nature when meeting a new Kindred.  Sounded solid, didn’t feel like she was feeding me lies.  Reckon she was involved in that mess down in Atlanta back in ’99, one of the Sabbat shovelheads that survived the whole affair and managed to keep her sanity intact somehow, eventually broke free during the chaos that happened all over the place twenty years back.  Been clawing her way back to some semblance of her humanity since, and says she’s dedicated her abilities to helping those who want it, and those who really needed it at a greatly reduced cost.

Sidney Clark was one of the latter cases.  Girl was driving herself crazy between all the bullshit she’d been fed online and in school and the mental state that had come of it.  Reckon she’d had a come-to-Jesus moment and sought help afterward, and was on the way to a full recovery.  She’d been working with a local shrink on improving her self-image, chief head doctor over at the Edgewater Mental Hospital, Jennifer Tempest, and once she had progressed far enough, Misha was brought in to help with getting her physical appearance to match her evolving mental image.  Seems a real humanitarian but call me skeptical.  I’ve heard things about that flesh-warping magic, can’t confirm it, but rumor is it warps minds too, which is why the Fiends are the way they are.  Course, Kyle seems to be an exception.  Suppose anything’s possible.  Reckon she even attends church on the regular, the one ran by that Malkavian preacher I’ve started hearing about.  Not sure that’s a positive or a negative, honestly; haven’t had time to stop by and introduce myself.

Whatever the case, my initial theory that she was somehow involved in the deaths seems to have been shot down.  Couldn’t detect that she was being dishonest, even her aura seemed genuine, though those dark streaks were concerning, even if they were faded, so if she had sucked a vamp dry, it’s been a while.  If she went through that shit in Atlanta, then maybe she couldn’t exactly prevent it.  Whatever; I’ll keep my eye on her, but I’m willing to give her a chance.  Either way, didn’t learn anything useful about the case.  Won’t say it was wasted time, but I might lean that way. 

Till I can find out more about the killer, I’ll busy myself tracking Emmerson’s source.”

LORE24 ENTRY #45 – Supers Month #14 – Specialist Leopard

 

From the Personal Journal of Jennifer Tempest…

 

Ah, Specialist Leopard…what a delightful discovery.  I suppose my dear sister Gloria can be useful after all, when she’s not dallying with her boi-toy, anyway.  

Misha Kyle is the very epitome of a workaholic, going far above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to running her personal business, Latex Leopard Limited, perhaps to her own detriment, though myself and Maria are working on tempering this aspect of her nature; early indicators suggest our methods are having the desired effect.  I was certainly skeptical when Gloria suggested I look into her work; what need did I have of a fetishist making latex sex costumes, even if they were more advanced than the average catsuit?  In retrospect, I suppose my initial opinion was hasty and ill-informed; Misha has quickly become perhaps my most valuable team member here at Edgewater.  Without her, we would have only a fraction of the superpower-rated restraint systems we employ here to contain the most dangerous patients, after all.

After her initial demonstration, (what an interesting weekend that was), I immediately proposed a special contract for her, which she rather gratefully accepted.  Misha now works within Edgewater as ‘Specialist Leopard’ (she has no medical training to speak of perhaps aside from basic first aid, so I could not simply elevate her to the medical staff with such a title like I did Healslut, could I?), and she seems to enjoy the moniker, so it shall remain in effect.  If anything, being known as Specialist Leopard within Edgewater’s walls brings out some amusing quirks to Misha’s personality, namely displaying a more snarky attitude compared to her normally polite and professional demeanor.  This tends to come out most often when she sees other staff displaying a lack of respect to others when it is due, or if they are not properly focused on their tasks.  As expected, Doctors Bayne and del Vecchio are the most common recipients of Misha’s snark, given their own personality quirks and the amusing reception they gave Misha during the extended demonstration of her work.

As one of the rare individuals who possesses a resistance to succubus charms, Misha is even more valuable to myself, and the family, in general.  She is able to give her opinion on various matters without our subtle influences affecting her thoughts, and isn’t always trying to fall over herself to please us as most do.  This automatically places her above the rest of the staff, and this distinction has not gone unnoticed, much to Bayne and del Vecchio’s consternation.  Maria has become quite enamored with Misha as well, the pair hitting it off almost immediately during Misha’s first demonstration.  The fact that the pair have a special love of petplay further cemented their bond, and outside of her work here and at 3L, the two spend much of their time together; I do believe Maria is absolutely spoiling Misha when she’s in her pet persona, but as long as it doesn’t affect her work, then so be it.

I must admit that I am consistently impressed with Misha’s remarkable creativity and ability to adapt the designs of her latex clothing and restraints into something innovative and tailored to the needs of individual patients, even those who are not necessarily superpowered.  Though she seems not to be aware of her true nature, she does indeed possess a mystically enhanced creative spark; what was it Claire called her type?  Artificer?  The term seems a bit archaic these days, but there are certainly plenty other examples cropping up across Sentinel City and the world now, the most prominent currently being Mecha Musume.  From my observations, each of these ‘artificers’ possess a unique specialty.  Mecha Musume has her robotics and related technologies for example, and Misha has her latex creations, clothing, restraints, toys, etc.  

Further regarding artificers…though I have only observed Misha personally, I can make some suppositions as to their nature; Claire has been avoiding the family for some time now, so I have been unable to speak with her to confirm any of this, so the follow should be taken with some amount of skepticism.  Misha has demonstrated repeatedly to be able to envision methods of construction that would seem nigh impossible given what was previously established as possible in this world, and can make these new creations, or modify existing ones, in a fraction of the time one would expect.  She took one look at Miasma’s prototype containment suit that was developed in-house, for example, and had the improved version ready in less than a week, complete with the strength-enhancing modifications.  Though the reinforcing frame is of a decidedly technological nature, pure robotics, really, the fact that it was so closely interweaved with the latex creation seems to have brought such a thing into Misha’s wheelhouse.  She has admitted no special training in robotics and advanced technologies, and couldn’t exactly explain how her creation process in this regard worked; in her own words, “it just clicked.”

Within their ‘focus’, their chosen craft, I would surmise that artificers possess superhuman stamina, able to remain focused on the task at hand for extended periods without suffering ill effects of exhaustion, either physical or mental, and are able to work on them much faster than a normal person could (though I am not entirely familiar with the nature of Mecha Musume, Bobbi has clued me into some details as to the advancements of her armor and weaponry over time that would help support this theory; her own advancements should have taken months to develop, if not years, according to him).  As an example regarding Misha, I have specified new designs and modifications to existing systems and she has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to turn in exactly what I requested, overnight in many cases, while managing her company’s normal operations, and seems to suffering none of the ill effects one would expect of being severely overworked.  A normal person simply could not keep up with the stress, but she handles it almost effortlessly.

Even if my suppositions are correct, I feel I must still intervene on Misha’s behalf.  Even if she is possessed of superhuman ability, I would be remiss in my duties as a medical doctor if I permitted her to continue indulging the obsession with her work without proper breaks.  I believe that I will begin making plans for her to have a series of mandatory vacations, perhaps here inside of Edgewater or another location held by my family, for a period that shall not be less than one week at a time, more if I feel she has demonstrated a higher than normal amount of work during the preceding period.  If Maria has anything to say against the idea, then I have absolutely no qualms about having her join Misha in enjoying the same comforts and relaxation; we do have suites for couples, after all, as the recent incident with Nurse Winters and Catherine Ramos demonstrated.  It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve intervened on one another’s romantic affairs, and I am certain it will not be the last.  What are sisters for, after all, if not to keep one another in line?