Dinner Discussions

JP with Jaxx, mdman, Trustno1 and Cindy

Evening approached the darkened city. In the confines of this mansion there was security on the outside, darkness and depravity could be Lurking at every intersection.

Sartre had ordered everyone minus Dahlia and Choi, a filet mignon.

"So; where do you all suggest we go from here?"

He looked around the table at the team, giving the hacker a smirk.

By the time Alyssa had woken up from her nap, evening was quickly approaching. She had taken a shower and gotten cleaned up, then went downstairs. Peter had taken to ordering steaks for everyone, along with baked potatoes with toppings on the side, salad, and rolls. Looking up at the monitors, Alyssa mentioned that Choi's car was gone, it was likely him and Dahlia had gone to dinner.

It took about 40 minutes for the food to arrive, then they let everyone who was there that dinner was ready.

As night drew near they sat around the table discussing things, but Alyssa didn't understand Peter's question. "What do you mean?" Alyssa paused. "We investigate, meet with the Prince, figure out what we need to do after that.”

"Do you mean investigate the Prince of Gary, or do you mean The Prince of Chicago? " Peter asked.

"Both and really anything we can find out about vampires and werewolves." Alyssa replied, taking a bite of her steak

"Can you look into ‘The Imbued’ and ‘The Heralds’? They were mentioned at the theater." asked Sartre.

Moments later Ekaterina led Agent Powers down the stairs as they smelled the food. As usual Agent Powers was hungry and Ekaterina found it amusing. They were talking about different ways to fight monsters based on movies, games, and comic books. Then as they entered the dining room to see the food and the others talking over a steak meal. Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she said, "Oh what a lovely spread. Thank you for dinner."

Agent Powers gave the people and table a smolder before he nodded and said, "Smells great."

Then they took their seats as Ekaterina asked, "So, is this just a nice dinner or are we having a meeting as well?"

Agent Powers just started cutting his steak as he listened.

"Well, we can't have a meeting. Dahlia and Choi went out. I'm guessing for dinner. But we were discussing things, like what else needs to be done." Alyssa responded. "Peter just asked me to look into the ‘Imbued' and the ‘Heralds’. And yes, Peter, I will certainly do that, but I really need to up the security system first.”

"I must watch you set up the security systems Alyssa!" Peter said.

"If you want, but it'll mostly be me sitting at my computer." Alyssa smiled at him.

"It will be interesting.” Sartre remarked.

Ekaterina elegantly asked, "So is Alyssa the only one who does the computer work?"

Agent Powers swallowed his food and nodded as he replied, "Yeah. Eun-Ji sometimes brings in her own computer person but she is MIA a lot.”

"Eun-Ji has a degree in Engineering so that's where her computer skills mostly go." Alyssa explained. "And now Dahlia has access to the dark web, which will be helpful. But hacking is my real contribution to the team, work wise. I'm not that great at some of the things others can do.”

Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she looked at Agent Powers who replied, "Yeah and I am only good at punching and breaking things."

Ekaterina smirked as she said, "Don't sell yourself short Mr. Powers. My skill lies in hand to hand, fire arms, spying, infiltration and espionage on top of my Princess duties. Our skills may be diverse but do come into play when needed.”

Walking in and taking a seat, Sung greeted everyone. Hearing the question about computers, Sung smiled. "I can turn on a computer; does that count?" Sung said, wondering where that question was going. “Choi and Dahlia, where did they run off to?" asked Sung, looking at everyone.

"I think they went out to dinner," Alyssa smiled. "And not exactly but you certainly have other skills.”

Sung grinned slyly. "Oh, I did not notice," Sung replied sarcastically. "So did anyone think to ask when Choi and Dahlia would be back? I know they are adults, but still, we are on a mission. The risk factor is high, so we need to make sure all of us know the locations and times of the team members," suggested Sung. He took a bite of his food and waited for anyone to answer

"I don't think they told anyone they were leaving. Ekaterina, did Dahlia say anything to you?" Alyssa asked..

Ekaterina looked at her phone then replied, "No, but I can text her if you need me to.”

Sung raised his hand to stop her. "I am not the team leader. I have hinted at that a few times," he said. "I don't think our other organizations would like that, most likely. I am here to make sure you guys do not kill one another, don't get yourselves killed, and to give some guidance when needed." Sung said, looking at everyone. He spoke in a stern tone to make his point.

"I think they'll let us know if there's a problem but maybe we all can agree, in the future, to let someone know if we're going anywhere. Just in case something happens." Alyssa wasn't going to be ridiculous about it but just letting someone know wasn't asking too much.

Agent Powers then gave the team a smolder before he replied, "I know everyone here was trained to take care of themselves, but we are dealing with a lot of unknown enemies here. So we need to keep in touch for emergencies." Then he went back to eating.

Ekaterina elegantly smirked then said, "Very true. We do live in troubled times.”

"Not talking from too much experience, vampires can sneak up on you and bite you, no pun intended," remarked Sung, still eating. "Our opponents are cunning, let's not let our guard down," warned Sung.

"Agreed. However, I don't really know that the vampires are our enemies. I think we wouldn't be invited to the offices of the Prince of Chicago, if that was the case. Or at least maybe he isn't." Alyssa thought. "It's very possible that the werewolves are our bigger problem.”

Agent Powers swallowed his food before he looked up and said, "It's been my experience that one can always find enemies anywhere, even in one's own group. Who knows how many traitors I was sent to hunt down when I was working solo. I would not be surprised if the vampires and werewolves fought among themselves as well."

Ekaterina elegantly nodded as she replied, "Mr. Powers is correct about internal struggles between groups, since it's constantly mentioned in history books.”

"True, it is very likely as well." Alyssa stated. "And while, it will help us to know as much about the infighting as possible. I still think that our main danger is the werewolves." Alyssa thought for a moment. "We should certainly find out what kinds of powers both the werewolves and vamps could possess. Which was one of the main reasons that I wanted to watch those movies. Is anyone else up for that tonight?”

Sung looked frustrated. "I do not know much about werewolves. All I do know, from other monster hunters, is that they hunt in packs and have a pack mentality, much like wolves. Vampires are predators but will go out on their own. Werewolves normally hunt in numbers, but they can be even more cunning," said Sung now playing with his food, thinking. "Alyssa, I owe you an apology for not getting what you were saying about the vampires. Werewolves normally give our organizations a wide berth," Sung continued. "Which makes me wonder if the pack leader might be young and inexperienced," suggested Sung, wondering about the idea.

"Interesting. It is certainly possible the pack leader is inexperienced." Alyssa responded. "Mostly my thinking is that we were invited to meet with the Prince of Chicago. I don't see that happening if they didn't want to work with us." She took a bite of her potato, to think for a moment, then blurted out. "Unless, of course, it's a trap.”

“The vampires and their different factions seem to operate with different motives. Each clan, as they are known, seem to have their own interests and seem to have their own ideas about how the overarching organization ‘The Camarilla’ which governs them, should be run. They all have different interests, as far as humans and other factions go. I'm interested in learning about "The Imbued,” "The Heralds,” and "Hunternet," said Sartre.

"Well, I'm sure everything will get researched." Alyssa commented. She turned back to Sung. "Sung, when you explored the property earlier, what vulnerable areas did you find?" Alyssa did ask if he had found vulnerable areas because there likely would be some. After all, not most people think of the kind of threats they were up against as real, let alone a threat.

"I will research with you Alyssa. Can you put on your hoodie and sunglasses while you research so you look like a hacker?" asked Sartre.

Alyssa rolled her eyes at him, not sure why he said that outloud. "The hoodie sure. I don't usually wear the sunglasses inside." Made it harder to see the screen. Still she gave Peter a smile.

"Alyssa is a great researcher." Sartre said, then asked. "Alyssa, shall we go research?"

Agent Powers quietly ate as he listened to Sartre and Alyssa talk. It was obvious that they were close by their conversation. He looked at Ekaterina who was also listening to the others and smiling as she nibbled at her food ever so gracefully. She was smart, beautiful, seductive and Agent Powers had no idea why she liked him. He never saw himself as a popular guy with either guys or females. The word friend was something he could only imagine or see among others since he was raised like a super soldier by his strict father. However after being assigned to this team, guarding Alyssa, experiencing life and death with the others as well as being seduced by a princess, Agent Powers has been asking himself a lot of questions.

Ekaterina then elegantly looked at Agent Powers and asked, "Would you like to help me do some research as well, Mr. Powers?"

Agent Powers looked at Ekaterina as she smiled ever so gently at him and nodded as he chewed his food. He didn't know why yet but he found himself wanting to be there for the princess.

Alyssa was sitting next to Peter and grinned. "After dinner, sure." She was still waiting on a response from Sung, however.

After some thinking, Sung drank the rest of his Coke. "OK, well I am not an expert at electronics, but with deer cameras, you can hide them in the plain sight, and if they do spot them, there is nothing about them. Put a few deer feeders out here and a deer stand. Sometimes vampires do not show up in them but the motion sensor goes off. I have used the stuff in the past with great success," Sung told the others. He was thinking of something that did not cost an arm and leg
,and could get put up quickly.

"Guard dogs, not big ones or even cats, work, but they might take too much time to train and get. Is anything enough to deal with werewolves and vampires?" asked Sung. “In the end, we have a lot of land to cover, so even simple things like trip flares might work. The weak spot for us was the water essayist's way of sneaking up on the house and us," added Sung.

Ekaterina then elegantly spoke up as she replied, "I can use the local insects and small rodents to act as eyes and ears in place of the guard dogs since they are not a threat and often ignored. I also remember the possibility that some vampires can not be seen by cameras or mirrors so we should not depend on only electronics."

Agent Powers swallowed his food and nodded as he said, "Good point, Princess. Also remember they might have computer specialists, too.”

Alyssa took in what Sung said and thought about how to approach that. "The bugs are certainly a good idea," She agreed, as for the vamps and computers. "They do, have computer specialists. The Nosfartu created their own server and seem to be very good at tech. I really still want to talk to their Primogen." Alyssa sounded, kind of, impressed with what the Nosfartu had accomplished. She could do the same, need be, but it was just a lot to do correctly.

Agent Powers raised an eyebrow at Alyssa then gave her a smolder as he paused, then he spoke up, "Just because they may like computers doesn't mean they are friendly. I have met a lot of hackers in Russia and China and their files looked like a demon's resume. They believed they were like gods when behind their computers and didn't care that they hurt others."

Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she asked, "So did you arrest them?"

Agent Powers shook his head no then replied, "When I was a solo agent things were different. If I showed up at your door, you did something to bring me there."

Ekaterina elegantly asked, "And now?"

Agent Powers shrugged as he replied, "I will still kill my targets, but now I have to protect my team members as well. So if they are not a threat I back off."

Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she said, "Good to know, Mr. Powers.”

Alyssa, found it interesting that Ekaterina called Max, "Mr. Powers" despite there being a clear relationship between the two. The hacker, mostly, preferred to call people by their first name. She nodded towards Max, "Oh, I know. I wasn't planning on visiting with them by myself." Alyssa bit her lip slightly. "But to pick their brain... would be so great.”

"How is your steak, everyone?" asked Sartre.

"It's delicious, thanks for ordering the food." Alyssa replied.

Agent Powers gave a thumbs up as he was busy eating.

Ekaterina elegantly smiled as she replied, "It is a lovely meal. Thank you very much." Ekaterina then looked at Agent Powers and asked, "Did you have enough Mr. Powers? Perhaps we can have some dessert later on?"

Agent Powers paused as he looked at Ekaterina who was smiling ever so elegantly and then nodded as if he was being led in the conversation. Then she put her finger to her lips as she wondered what she wanted for dessert. Then she looked at Agent Powers and asked, "Do you think you can whip up a Chocolate Mousse with Cocoa Powder, Mr. Powers?"

Agent Powers ran the recipe in his head and compared it to the ingredients he remembered buying and then nodded his head as he replied, "Sure. It should take around 20 minutes to make it."

Ekaterina elegantly smiled as Agent Powers had the qualities she was attracted to. She liked his large powerful muscles, fearless bravado, skills in the kitchen as well as his innocence, and loyalty. She liked being in charge of their relationship and leading the young man by the nose. The more time she spent with Agent Powers the more she was inclined to elope with him and leave her family.

"That does sound like it would be delicious, but chocolate usually is." Alyssa said. "Oh, Max did you buy any strawberries?" Strawberries with chocolate mousse would be even better.

Agent Powers nodded and replied, "Yeah I bought a lot of fruits to make smoothies with. I need you to eat a bit healthier than chips and sodas. So you can eat all the fruit you want."

“Strawberries and chocolate would be great. Which Prince should we start with, the Prince of Gary or the Prince of Chicago?" asked Sartre.

"Oh, I'm starting with the security system. Then the movies. Then research, and I thought you wanted info on "The Imbued.", "The Heralds.", and "Hunternet." Any research on the Princes might have to wait, unless someone else wants to start it. And I'd start with the Prince of Chicago, because we're meeting with him." The hacker replied.

"It sounds like you kids have it under control. I will be around if you need me," said Sung, placing his rappers and boxes from dinner in the trash. "I guess the bugs have the watch then?" asked Sung.

Ekaterina elegantly smiled at Sung as she replied, "I will do my best to keep watch. However, it is reassuring to know Alyssa will be doing the same with her security system.”

"Any movie ideas?" asked Sartre.

"I'm up for suggestions Maybe, An American Werewolf in London, as one." Alyssa commented.

Agent Powers then said, "I saw Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was kinda funny when Buffy stabbed a vampire with a ruler."

Ekaterina then said, "I think we should watch "Nosferatu from 1929, since it is older and less glamorized.”

Alyssa nodded. "Well, those are good suggestions. Do we have one more for werewolves? I mean it's 7 now. I should be done in about an hour, with the security system, or as much as I can tweak until we get more cameras. Max if you don't mind putting together dessert and snacks that time. Whatever you like but hopefully we have popcorn, as well." Because movies needed popcorn. "So, we can meet in the living room in about an hour and start on the movies. It'll be a long night. Unless we want to just do two tonight and maybe two more another night.”

Agent Powers nodded as he finished his meal and began cleaning up.

Ekaterina joined him in the clean up. Then they moved to the kitchen to clean and make desserts.

Alyssa cleared her area, and then said to Peter. "Alright, I'm going upstairs to get started on the security stuff. Come up when you're ready.” She headed upstairs and got her laptop ready to get started.