24th March, 2003
All shacked up in Adiene's hotel room, the six licked their wounds. Lindsay and Andy were settled into drinking heavily to take the edge off when Lucas asked Francis if he could break into Josh's room. Francis agreed and Lucas went off to stall Josh.
After a few minutes of conversation, Josh (seeming creeped out by this middle-aged guy trying to hit hit on him) left the bar. Lucas tailed him and, to his surprise, Josh left the hotel instead of returning to his room.
He followed Josh for a couple of miles before Josh entered the gates of a secluded manor house. Lucas noticed that the cameras on the gates were Hollow Tech. He returned to the hotel to avoid detection.
That night, Adiene had a dream vision, which she deigned not to share.
The following morning, Connor looked out the window to see what the weather was likely to be like. He was surprised to find that he was able to say with reasonable certainty what the weather was going to be like for the next week.
All spent the day recuperating.
The day after was sunny and warm, belying the danger. Andy went with Lucas to scout the streets and confronted some Hollow People after Lucas pointed them out.
After the Hollow People produced Tacklers (Lucas' new name for the blasting gloves), Andy ran for it. Connor and Lindsay raced to him to pull his fat from the fire. Lindsay escorted him back to the hotel while Connor tracked down the Hollow People.
Connor found them in a short while and attempted to knock them out for later interrogation. He discovered that they most certainly do not fall unconscious but must be beaten to unravelling before they stop being a threat.
Connor raced back to the hotel bearing a Tackler, which he hastily thrust onto Lucas' arm so that it would not gate away. Lucas tried the glove on and it interfaced with his formatting. He saw a bright flash of light out the hotel window, in the direction of the manor. Lindsay and Connor, both looking in an appropriate direction to have seen it, witnessed nothing.
Lucas started worrying.
Ezri called Lindsay, Connor and Andy on their M-CARDs to tell them that she was unable to contact Susan.
Lindsay immediately attempted to call Susan and, getting no reply, started booking tickets back to London.
Meanwhile, far beyond M-CARD reception:
In the heart of China Piotr, Wong and Lam approached Peking. The city rose in front of them, as if daring them to enter.
Next session, the return to London and the forbidden city.
