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... intrigued. You became a lot more open-minded about this stuff as soon as you accepted that you were a werewolf. If you can magically transform into a wolf, who's to say that there isn't a spirit world and a malevolent god who wants to destroy the world?
"So if werewolves actually exist, what about all of the other monsters and stuff? Vampires? Wizards? Zombies?"
"Some humans are given magical power by spirits," Murphy says, "I guess you could call them wizards. Some of the others back at the caern swear they've run into vampires but right now our theory is that they're just dead bodies that have been possessed by Banes, which sorta makes them zombies. So yeah, it's all real."
"Shit," is the only answer you can come up with. Your mother is still silently despairing over the situation that she's found herself in.
"A Bane is a lesser spirit that serves the Wyrm, you see. One of their most common tactics is to possess creatures in order to enter the physical world." Jasper's explanation has resumed. "This fusion of spirit and flesh causes their victims to mutate into horrid monstrosities that we call Fomori. Yet many of the Wyrm's servants are mortal! I speak of corporations and the villains in charge of them."
"What, like Zuckerberg and Musk?"
"Nah, those two are in the clear. He's talking about the ones that you don't hear about on TV - especially Pentex. They're a multinational with their fingers in every pie. Fossil fuels, fast food, big pharma, big tech, you name it. On the surface it looks like they're just trying to make a profit, but they won't stop until they've brought about the apocalypse. They're the ones who pull the strings of Hampton & Holt."
"So I gotta worry about evil spirits, mutants and corporate death squads. Anything else to add to the list?"
"BSDs," Murphy replies, "Black Spiral Dancers. It's a fancy name for the Garou who've gone bad. They're Wyrm-worshipping maniacs and if H&H got to you before I did, they'd probably turn you into one of them." So the bad guys have werewolves too. Great.
"Now, now. Let us not focus on the insurmountable odds." Jasper seems to eager to lift the mood. "I told you that I might be able to help you with your paternal conundrum! For you see, I can perform a little seance of sorts and ask the spirits what they know about your dear father. All I shall need from you is a little blood and it's off to the races!" The bum fishes a syringe out of his pocket and pops the cap off. "Now, why not tell us a little about yourself, Samuel?"
>You threw yourself at your studies so that you could get a place at a good college.
>You spent most of your time on the internet to try and escape from reality.
>You fell in with a bad crowd. It was the only way you could make any friends.
>You used sports and athletics as a way of getting your anger out of your system.
>Nope. You are not letting this hobo get anywhere near you with a fucking needle.
