Andrealphus 2.0, Prince of Lust: a pushover.
Ares, god of war: an ethereal of ambiguous motivations.
Asmodeus 2.0, Prince of the Game: not a pushover.
Baal, Prince of the War: an interested party.
David 2.0, Archangel of Stone: we are David of Borg.
Dmitri, PC-sort-of: resident of Eli's Hell.
Christmas Tree Monsters, Servitors of Stone: guardians of Overlook Castle.
Eli, Archangel of Creation: teaching the world to smile a little brighter.
Ethan Howe, Seraph of Trade: Seneschal at Jack's House.
Ezri, angel of the Sword: secretary at Adelaide, acting Seneschal.
Falendric, Malakite Master of War: leader of an attack squadron.
Gaia, goddess of the Earth: a victim of Samingan malice.
Gerar, Malakite of the Sword: PC.
Irijah, Ofanite of War: PC.
Jamin, Seraph of the Wind: an old ally, returned.
Jeezer, familiar of Trade: fast, but not enough to keep up with an Ofanite in a Camaro.
Josiphiah, Kyriotate of War: a facilitator and a mouse.
Kobal 2.0, Prince of Dark Humor: a jester of one stripe or another.
Laurence, Archangel of the Sword: cleaning up loose ends.
Lyta Aram, Soldier of infernal Fire: Scale-hunter and book-translator.
Marc 2.0, Archangel of Trade: conspicuous in his absence.
Meremoth, Lilim of Death: she'll be important later.
Melinda, angel of Flowers: worker at the National Botanical Gardens.
Melisande, angel of Flowers: the same.
Michael 2.0, Archangel of War: a reasonably decent copy.
Novalis 2.0, Archangel of Flowers: dryad and flower girl.
Nybbas 2.0, Prince of the Media: Is that an ace in Andre's pocket or is he...?
Pimpernel, Malakite of Trade: horseman and trader.
Sakyamuni Buddha, Archangel of Perception: the valorous Buddha.
Shannen, Mercurian of Flowers: healer at the National Botanical Gardens.
Tancred, Ofanite of Trade: cargo pilot.
Triam, Malakite of Trade: the man with the burning hands.
Unnamed angels, damned souls, demons, dragons, military armament, mooks, regenerating beasts, and relievers.
Gerar: a fairly straightforward Malakite sworn to give challenge before making an attack and never to lie for his own sake only.
Irijah: a freewheeling gun-fu Ofanite.
Endless Blade: a dagger that keeps doing damage long after it hits.
Everfull Guns: who needs bullets?
Heartstone of Overlook Castle: the key to the Tether.
Scales of Baal: deadly weapons!
That Glove Thing: it has one of Christ's hairs in it.
The PCs go back to their "abandoned" car, swap license plates with someone else, and follow the Scale. The PCs trace Dmitri to the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy on the Johns Hopkins campus. The place is deserted, although this is less than completely surprising at 9pm. They touch the door handle, and it shocks them. They touch the glass of the door, and it shocks them. They shoot out the glass, and it no longer shocks them. Inside, the Scale leads them through darkened halls, a secret door, a ruined blast door, and into a Vapulan lab. Irijah notes that the 'feel' of this, the heart of the Tether, is not precisely infernal. The two decide to try Descending, and they do so, appearing in Tartarus. Irijah immediately assumes Vessel shape.
The two are unchallenged as they head out of Tartarus, following the Scale's lead, into Shal-Mari, and into Andrealphus' headquarters. The Scale points off at a thirty-degree angle past the throne. Andrealphus asks their business, and they explain that they're looking for someone. He reacts poorly to the Scale, although he attempts to act bluffly about not being afraid of the Prince of the War. However, he refuses to allow the artifacts into that particular corridor (the Heart room, as is mentioned at some point), and is hesitant about allowing the angels there either. Irijah attempts to zip past the two Calabim stationed by that door as a wheel of fire, and is surprised when one of them catches him and loops its hands through the main ring. Irijah attempts to buzzsaw through the Calabite's fingers; the Calabite switches orientations ninety degrees, pulling the saw off course. Andrealphus intervenes with a Dark Desire, arranging for Irijah to realize that he rather likes being held by this Calabite. Irijah changes tactics at this point, attempting to encircle the Calabite instead. Meanwhile, Gerar negotiates with Andrealphus, who seems remarkably easy to intimidate, and eventually Gerar and Andrealphus manage to call the fight between Irijah and the Calabite off. Irijah stays in the throne room orbiting around the Scales while Gerar heads back to talk to Dmitri.
Dmitri's Experience
Eli opened the cell, examined Dmitri, attempted to fix him with a touch, went, "Oh, man!" and vanished, leaving only a golden ladder through the bottom of the cell behind. Dmitri descended the ladder, eventually reaching a cleared-out section of Shal-Mari, where he was met by Kobal. Kobal referred to Eli as his 'Boss,' and over the next few minutes explains that this Hell, created by Eli, was created as a kind of "magnet" for damned souls. Somewhat harsh measures would be used there to give souls a last chance at redemption before the real Heaven and Hell opened and God rendered final judgment. Dmitri is given an Impudite Vessel, so that he can assume Impudite form and blend in. Apparently, Eli sent a 15-word Celestial Tongues warning Kobal that Dmitri was coming and needed to be stashed.
Gerar's Experience
Gerar went in. The Hearts, he noted as he passed, resembled angelic hearts greatly. Then he talked to Dmitri, who was, evidently, having the time of his life. Lounging around as an Impudite, enjoying all the pleasures that the Pleasure Pits offer, he politely refused the offer to go home, citing Eli's wishes that he stay put.
Irijah's Experience
Shortly after Gerar left into the corridor where the Hearts and important guests were stored, a bunch of demons in boots tromped into the room and announced that Andrealphus was under arrest at the Game's orders. Andrealphus, perhaps because neither he nor Asmodeus were demonic, was enormously surprised at this, and got the Servitors and damned souls out of the room so he could get the real story. At this point, the Game demons opened fire on Irijah -- evidently, they want the Scales, which may have prompted this entire affair -- and piled on Andrealphus, who liked it.
Gerar rushes out at the gunfire. Irijah, rotating swiftly, manages to spang most of the bullets that hit him back at the demons that fired. One lucky shot severs part of a ring, very painfully. He tears apart the few demons that come closer. Gerar slams a fist into a Djinn, the one with Christ's hair on it, and it doesn't particularly notice. A Habbalite grabs him in an armlock. A Calabite continuously fails to do any remote damage to Irijah. Nevertheless, our heroes are being worn down, when ... Allies Arrive!
The dim lighting in the room turns into the brilliant white of a stage set, and a voice tells the room, "Surprise, gentlemen! You're on Candid Camera! Yes, this battle is going out live to every Prince and major demon in Hell! Sir, sir! You, in charge! Do you have anything to say about your purpose here?"
Half the demons, the smarter ones, ascend to Earth, hoping Nybbas doesn't have footage of their features. The others nervously draw back, because the political climate has just changed. Andrealphus becomes visible through the pile. After a moment, Asmodeus walks into the room and presents the claim that this was a 'practice exercise'. His men salute Andrealphus in military stance, and then march away with Asmodeus. (He probably didn't expect anyone to buy this, so much as to accept the excuse not to have to mobilize.)
Irijah and Gerar return to Earth to figure out their next step. It's morning when they leave the Bloomberg Center, so they head back to Jack's House for their apartment with Marc. Triam informs them that they have 32 minutes before Marc will be stopping by; Irijah gets a drink and kicks back, and Gerar does miscellaneous things. Then they go upstairs to await Marc in the master suite. The clock jumps ahead three hours, literally. The glove and the Scales are gone. Gerar has the "Head of a PIN" Attunement. (Modified, in this game, so that you get Essence plus one times a hundred dollars, so that it's useful for our poor Essence-starved PCs.) Irijah has the Malakite of War Attunement and some sharp-looking guns that work without bullets. Marc 2.0 has left a note for them. Evidently, Laurence (1.0) and Janus (1.0) knew of Lyta's affiliation; they planned to let her get in too deep with the Scales and Baal himself and cut a deal with her for reformation in exchange for protection. Under the current circumstances, the PCs have authorization to either kill her or turn her over to a Reprocessing Center for a more conventional approach.
Irijah and Gerar head up to talk to Lyta, who is taking tea with Jamin, and Irijah offers her a quick death or reprocessing. After some discussion, she reluctantly agrees to the latter. Gerar attempts to resonate her into telling him her plan, but fails. The angelic men in black haul her away. The PCs chat with Jamin, who is feeling better, if weak, brainless, and imperceptive. They pick his brain nicely and learn neat things like his part of the key that opens that Saminga treasure storehouse and the current zombie command code (which should be good for about 9 more months.)
Irijah goes to pick up his tuxedo and check its fit; then they head out to the local Tether of War in Arlington to get Gerar a better body. Irijah calls up an old Kyriotate friend, Josiphiah, since Kyriotates of War can make Vessels without Superior involvement, and Josiphiah agrees to the trade. Gerar now has a lean 18th-century fencer. Gerar goes somewhere to practice and Irijah ascends to talk to Michael. Michael evidently was at the meeting with Marc and general debriefing that the PCs don't remember, so Irijah cuts to the chase. Irijah wants to know if he should attend the ball; Michael thinks it's a good idea, since Baal is the best potential ally and the worst potential enemy in the current world situation. Irijah also wants to learn a Numinous Corpus. Michael sends him to a teacher, but tells him he'll have to develop skill on his own. (That is, Irijah is spending xp on this.) Irijah learns the basic principles for a technique that will let him create a prehensile ring of fire that can uncoil into a lash -- NC: Tail. Then he goes back down to Earth.
They stop at an ATM to get money, using Gerar's shiny new Attunement, and Gerar hears more voices on Saminga Net. Saminga has discovered that the Thanatorium has been raided, and asks "Mary" if she's all right. Baal's voice, which Gerar now places as the same voice he heard in Adelaide, answers "Of course." Saminga swears vengeance on those responsible. Gerar explains this as they drive away, and Irijah U-turns to get to the Capitol building. An enormous number of demons have materialized within the Thanatorium (beneath the Capitol). The disturbance leaks out in a coherent beam through the hole Midian made in the metal that seals the Thanatorium off celestially; Gerar catches the echo of this. The two head in, in celestial form, Irijah ranging ahead at 60mph. He assumes Vessel inside the attic, asks a few questions to determine that the ten armed thug demons there are Samingan, and opens fire with his automatic weapon, killing a number of them. The others prove more troublesome, particularly when one rolls an Infernal Intervention and lands a bullet right next to Irijah's heart, putting him more or less at the brink of death. Gerar, meanwhile, at a slower pace, zooms into the attic and through the wiring again, hoping to get to the control room and Balseraph all the demons into submission. The demon who shot Irijah signals the others, and they offer to let him go -- apparently there are signs of Baal's presence and they really don't want angels involved. Irijah agrees, if they are willing to call the combat a tie. The demon sardonically admits that Irijah has proven their equal and fought them to a draw. ("Fooled again, Mr. Croup.") Irijah patches himself up and leaves, staggering to the car and flopping. Gerar, meanwhile, has a very inconclusive fight with three demons in the control room, in which nobody gets seriously hurt until the Habbalite possesses him and Gerar finds himself in the Marches. He slogs off towards the siege at Blandine's tower, and gets to talk to Ares again. Ares doesn't let him enter the Tower; in fact, Ares puts guards on the tent he's in and orders them to let Gerar talk to no one. Gerar attempts to resonate Ares into letting him go, but fails. With a supreme effort, Gerar manages to escape by manifesting his snake Vessel back at Jack's House, through whatever barrier held around the tent.
Gerar, with some help, gets Irijah on the phone. Irijah isn't happy that Gerar took off rather than backing him up. The two conclude that Irijah should head to the National Botanical Gardens. He does so, gets in touch with the angels there, and then passes out. When he wakes up, his chest still feels funny, and Shannen explains that the bullet was lodged too close to his heart; taking it out would probably kill him, and their Songs weren't good enough to extract it. Irijah's danger sense is warning him, so they decide to get rid of the bullet in the way that least risks Trauma: putting that Vessel in a body bag and borrowing someone else's while they operate and use healing Songs on the preserved Vessel. This takes much time and Essence, but when Irijah throws the bullet away, the sense of danger slowly recedes.
Meanwhile...
Gerar notices that Triam and Pimpernel are quietly evacuating the restaurant's patrons (and, presumably, the businesses on the upper floors, although those people would go to an underground parking lot and drive away, most likely.) He asks Triam what's up, and Triam explains that Saminga has emptied his castle, which had a lot of demons in it, and all his headquarters' military hardware, into the city. His forces are heading out towards the three local angelic Tethers and the local Baal Tether like a wave. Gerar mopes a lot because a boa is not the ideal Vessel for slaughtering hordes of demons in, and instead goes upstairs and watches the approach. All he can see is the oncoming helicopters, at a distance, one Vapulan ultralight, and a lot of smoke roughly keeping pace with them. Then he heads downstairs.
Irijah assembles the available Flowers staff and piles them into his car, whereupon he zooms towards Paris at triple-time. He manages to get to Jack's House a modest amount before Saminga's army, which is moving at significantly less than single-time. Military folk also beam in from Heaven and start setting the place up for the battle. Michael's warleader admits that Heaven expects to lose Jack's House, and, in fact, the whole city. The plan is simple. Leave Overlook Castle to David, because it's dangerous to talk to him -- he's gathered enough Stone Servitors into his collective that he might start on other angels. Do as much damage as possible at Jack's House, then fall back. Do the same at each bottleneck between Saminga and Adelaide, and then do everything Heaven can to hang on to Adelaide. If that fails, abandon the city until the global situation changes.
Not too long before Saminga arrives, the PCs hear a large Essence expenditure on a Driving roll, and shortly afterwards a red Camaro squeals into view, the driver's face taut. Gerar attempts to resonate, and cannot find anything to resonate on; this is either a machine or a Remnant. They aim their guns at the door as the driver bursts in. Gasping with panic and exhaustion, he identifies himself as Philip, once and still of Trade, and explains that someone has to stop Overlook Castle from being overrun. As Gerar knows, Malphas' Heart was being stored under the Theft Tether there -- and Philip explains that Malphas was brokering Redemption. If Saminga holds the Castle when Hell becomes reachable again, things could get ugly.
After confirming Philip's affiliation with Trade (via Triam), the PCs decide to head that way. Gerar discovers that he has his Vessel back, which helps. Irijah drives, very fast. (He soon loses Jeezer and Pimpernel, who decided to follow, even though Jeezer is quite speedy compared to an ordinary horse or cheetah.) On the way, Philip explains that Malphas came to the realization one day that he was a victim of his Word in a way that the other Princes were not. Andrealphus controls and savors his every encounter; Vapula uses others in his experiments; Saminga is alive. Malphas, however, was completely alone. He didn't precisely mind, but the notion as a whole bothered him. So he contacted a Remnant, who no angel could read and no demon could coerce, Marc through that Remnant, and Yves through Marc. That's most of what Philip knows.
Irijah's car screeches to a halt outside Overlook Castle and they race inside. David recognizes both of them, as various Servitors have met Irijah at various points. David doesn't really buy the notion of Malphas Redeeming, but welcomes the PCs' help. They set up in a high window with guns and grenades. The Stone Servitors mostly stood around with powerful fists clenching and unclenching, although the Christmas Trees shuffled out windows, plummeted into the moat, shuffled out again, and stood in a defensive line.
The Samingan army comes into view. Helicopters (which were in view for some time beforehand), tanks, APCs. Using the Song of Celestial Motion, Irijah teleports a grenade into a helicopter and another into the hypothesized empty spaces in a tank. The tank's ammunition catches the blast and produces a nice crater. A bunch of bullets and nice shots send the other helicopter into a nose-dive and a ball of fire. Through it all, the tanks and such keep advancing.
Unfortunately, Saminga is very angry. The tanks, the APCs, the helicopters -- it's all a feint. They're transmitting coordinates and images to give the artillery precise targeting information. When they have it, the demons inside Sing Corporeal Shields. Some Sing Celestial Motion to teleport into the castle behind the main defenders. And the first of the big bombs is launched, arcing over a swathe of city towards Overlook Castle.
Irijah, only because he's an Ofanite of War, has a moment to react, and uses Celestial Motion to adjust the bomb's course so that it drops onto the tank rather than the center of the castle. Unfortunately, this is an implement of mass destruction. Vast chunks of castle shatter, the tanks and one APC go up in a blinding flare of light, and the catacombs have been partially opened. Then the demons come charging at the PCs (who are now on the first floor, along with much of the second and third floors). The Stone Servitors brace themselves back to back. The demons fire -- "Bang!" say the flags on their guns. Saminga's willing to lose tanks; he's willing to lose Servitors to distract David. Because the regenerating demon with granite yo-yos has turned aside from the rest of the group as they fired and is charging up a nearby set of stairs towards the heartstone room. And, of course, the Stone Servitors simply can't attack these demons or go through their line.
Gerar vaults over the demons and goes after the regenerating creature. Irijah, who does not serve Stone, sprays them down with automatic weapons. A goodly number of demons, specifically Calabim, roll forward and resonate, tearing him up quite a bit. The message is clear: their fight is with the guy with the gun. David's reaction is equally ambiguous; the stone rises between the two groups of Servitors, forming a small wall that Irijah gratefully hides behind. David's attention has also been attracted to the extent that he brings a Superior manifestation there, to stand before the castle and form another line that the demons ought not cross.
Gerar fires at the back of the regenerating demon several times, but does no serious damage, as they race up the stairs. He yells for David to seal off the heartstone room, which David does. (Yes, he does tend to follow others' lead some. After all, he has about twenty thousand POVs to concentrate on, and it's easy for details to get lost in the shuffle.) Another big bomb is launched at the castle. Fortunately for everyone, Sakyamuni Buddha has been called to the Castle by a Buddhic Intervention, and he attempts to intercept it. The castle is not blown to bits, although the bomb does thump against it, and Sakyamuni is not seen again.
A Stone Servitor heals Irijah up a bit, so he's not in imminent danger of death. David turns the stairs into a ramp, giving Gerar a couple more shots, but Gerar does not do terribly well. The granite yo-yo makes a big dent in the wall sealing off the heartstone room, and the lucky demon discovers a grenade on his person. He simply holds it by the hole and pulls the pin. Gerar gets beaten up and flung skidding down the stairs at the explosion, and the demon is shattered, but little bits of flesh begin swarming back into him like bees. Gerar staggers to his feet and struggles with the creature, managing to keep its hands severed so that it cannot get through the hole in the wall.
A Superior arrives outside. One of the Stone Servitors snaps to Irijah to get outside and look in 'his' eyes. "Whose eyes?" "You'll know. Tell me how much he's willing to risk."
...It's Saminga. A mass of ooze and spikes and blood, struggling with David. Irijah does this thing. Aside from the hugeness of death and murder and suicide and death and all that that fills his mind, he also notes that Saminga doesn't think of this as anything more than just one more Paris Tether, and is willing to retreat if hurt badly enough to forget his rage. Irijah yells up at David that Saminga's heart isn't in it. Then he goes and lies down and gibbers for a bit. Gerar and the regenerating creature struggle on. Finally, Gerar gets its hands and does nasty things to them.
Irijah decides to summon Michael. As it happens, he's at a Divine Tether, in the presence of an enemy Superior, and by a castle under siege. He succeeds, although he only gets Michael 2.0. David and Michael size up Saminga, recognizing one another as the two strongest "2.0" Superiors -- Michael because the original was very fine, and David because he has a vast collection of Forces directly part of himself. Then they join battle.
[Irijah's player took on the role of Michael, approximating him as a 9-Force angel with all Michael's Attunements. Gerar's player did something similar with David. Saminga was approximated as a high-Force demon with all Saminga's Attunements. Baal showed up, but did not actually participate.]
Michael charged into the fray with a howl of war, which actually fazed Saminga somewhat, long enough for the axe to take a great bite from Death's side. David gave the creature a granite fist punch. Saminga's body ... not actually a Vessel, just a thing constructed from liquefying corpses ... is unsalvageable in short order. Saminga, however, is a Shedite, and immediately rises from the corpse in a mad. Celestially, as a Shedite, he is nasty. Even with vastly more useful Attunements, the two heroes are bloody and soul-torn by the end ... but Saminga never really gets a chance to escape. He is rendered non-existent.
This is because Saminga is lame.
Baal golf-claps, expresses his relief that things can now get back to normal, and zaps away.
Michael and David are happy, to put it mildly. Michael makes Irijah a Vassal, warning him that he will need to confirm it with the true Michael when things have been reordered. David opens a bottomless pit beneath the regenerating creature, now that he can turn his attention there, and offers to give Gerar "the ultimate honor." Gerar refuses, but does ask for healing. David gracefully gives him Corporeal Healing/6. Then David's modifications, like the sloped stairs and the pit, start fixing themselves. The rest will be done by hand. Saminga's army is retreating rapidly. SamingaVesselGoop is schlurping around in the pit the first bomb made like an elder god. Irijah calls Ethan and lets him know what happened. The PCs get together and fill each other in. Then they hear an enormous disturbance, as of thousands upon thousands of celestials descending or ascending to Earth.
Irijah calls Ethan. "What's up?" he asks. Ethan explains that, due to the changed situation, Michael has decided to put the full weight of Heaven behind cleanup. That is, all of the Malakim who hang out in Heaven practicing and waiting for emergencies have descended to Paris. They're heading for the same place Saminga's army is heading -- Saminga's dread castle.
The PCs discover that the missing walls and floors give them access to Maven's parking lot (think Batcave), so they grab a car and roar out through a secret passage to a road by the sea, and then towards Saminga's castle. Irijah does a very good job on cutting corners, getting there before everybody. More than ten minutes ahead of everybody. They go into hiding on the hill, and stumble on Saminga's "hangar," which was left exposed to the air when Saminga's forces moved out. No interesting vehicles are there, but there are spare weapons, and the PCs steal grenade launchers. They estimate two minutes between Saminga-force-arrival and Malakite-arrival, and decide to fill up that time lobbing grenades at the oncoming vehicles from below (on the hill, that is.) This they do. Most of the demons are unhappy and panicked, and only three celestial-form down through the hill to deal with the PCs. Those are a Lilim, an Impudite, and a Djinn. Irijah hoses two of them down, but the Lilim rolls a successful Dodge and then an Infernal Intervention. She is wrapped in a funky black glow. Irijah offers to let her surrender. She asks for a minute to figure out what's going on first. Less than a minute later, she figures it out and descends. Guess who the new Princess of Death is? Guess what she is? :)
Then the Malakim arrive, blackening the sky with their wings, and descend. They use Corporeal Form or regular armor to simply smash through the roofs of the tanks and personnel carriers. In minutes, all the demons have descended to whatever Hell-substitute Saminga has been using or been killed. The PCs hook up with the Malakim, who are uniquely equipped to distinguish friend from foe, and a Malakite named Falendric gets them a ride into the castle. The zombies prepare to defend the place with their lives. Irijah and Gerar tell them not to, and, in fact, to spread the word that all the zombies should watch the nearest wall very carefully and react to nothing that happens. (What happens, usually, is that the Malakim hack them to pieces.) Everyone searches the castle, finding their way down to the dungeon and freeing a bunch of angels and ... Gaia, whose transformation into a vampire was tied to the world's vampiricization. After making sure that she's not going to attack them and that the Malakim aren't going to attack her, they free her. Word is sent upstairs asking them to try and figure out how to de-vampire her. Meanwhile, she suggests that she might be able to fix herself, given time, at her major Tether. She swears the Malakim to secrecy about this and informs the PCs that this Tether is (based on a quick player poll) Stonehenge. The PCs requisition an Ofanite of Trade, Tancred, to fly them there, and get there in short order. Improvised Malakite blackmail gets them in, and Gaia vanishes into the center of the circle.
The PCs decide to summon Eli, noting that with Saminga gone he might come out of wherever he was hiding, and the stone at the center of Stonehenge is unique -- the whole place was built around it. So they do, and he wanders up from among the stones. He's pleased to be called, once he catches on, and he goes over to help Gaia. Time passes. Then the cloud cover breaks, revealing rainbows and stars all through the sky. The air shimmers. The world is tripping.
Eventually, he's done. There's still a sparkle, like liveliness, in the air. There's still a faint rainbow translucence in the upper sky. But Heaven and Hell are coming back -- and the PCs now have two Hearts. Irijah discusses what will happen now with Falendric, who suggests that Michael 1.0 and Michael 2.0 will probably get along. They're enough alike to appreciate one another, and Michael 2.0 is probably smart enough to step into second place behind the infinitely older Archangel.
Gerar goes to the local Laurentine Tether with Irijah and possibly a Malakite or two. He drops by his Eli-Heart and sticks a note on it saying, "Please remove at your convenience." Then he has the Seneschal call Laurence down. Laurence, while deeply offended by what Gerar has become, doesn't appear to blame him for it. Unlike faux-Laurence, when he touches Gerar's head, he fixes things instead of melting. Then he crisply informs Gerar that the current situation is still being assessed, that Gerar and Irijah are to be commended, and he will have orders for Gerar in three and a half hours.