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"All right, let's be go." Siber snatched the seeker and headed out the door in its first general direction.

((Ah, actually, the snipers are the Shadowmen. They can't use Chameleonics. However...))

They took the bait at gamma point. We've confirmed, path six. Multiple hostiles. We can follow them to the new target and wipe them all out.

You really think so?

Probably. Where else would they be going?

Huh. So have we established a range on where they're based out of?

Yup. It's a pretty big area, though. By the way, do you think we should strike now?

Actually, no. Let them seek out their newest addition. Then, if our brothers have him, we can execute him from under their noses again. If they clash, we can start knocking the Warlocks off in the confusion. If they beat our brothers to the scene, we'll pin them down with sniper fire until they do fight. You like that plan?

I do, sir. I like it very much.

Right then. Execute it.

Thy will be done.

~~

Within the building:

Sindhlot checked the body, felt for a pulse. Nothing.

Wait. She hadn't killed him, though. That wasn't nearly enough to kill a Shadowman sniper-

It was a dummy. It had to be. He left the building via Shadowstep and communicated this notion to the others.

Two Shadowmen sat on a rooftop, fingering amulets. One had a sniper rifle, scope lens still covered; the other had a pair of binoculars hanging around his neck. They were both clad to blend in with the buildings they were on, about nine-tenths of a mile from Samuel's hotel.

"Think they can sense us, up here?" the spotter asked.

"Nah. Their magic can't work against us. Therefore, they can't possibly detect us," the shooter answered. "Besides that, as non-magic-users, they can't seek us by a magic signature. We feel like normals to them."

"I know, but... like... couldn't they tell there's just a pair of guys up here?" the spotter asked.

"You're new enough not to get this entirely, but the effective range of their magic-sensing is well below how far away we are. Besides that, it would take a very skilled Warlock to sense us being as far above them as we are, if we were magi - which we are. We're pretty much invisible up here, and since most of the warlocks are cripplingly dependent on magic, our decoy units have little to fear as long as they maintain their anti-magic capabilities."

"Eh. Whatever you say."

"Don't need to..." She shadowstepped to a higher rooftop and set her sniper rifle against the waist high edge of the roof, using the scope to get a better view of the man Siber had sensed. He was standing vacantly in the shadow of an aluminum ventilation duct, posed so that he'd be just visible from the street below. She rotated the gun, and saw from what he was diverting attention: Two men, well hidden from the street and aparently confident enough in this fact to be chatting idly.


Kayla didn't reply. The two of them were in full sunlight and it was still within an hour of noon: their shadows were nearly nonexistant.

she had to put a heavy damper on the volume of her toughts next, so she woudn't let Vassily hear her telling herself how terrified she was of the prospect of taking a life. Angrily, she shadowstepped down under an awning at street level and strode over to Siber and the others, and explained the sniper situation.

Siber thought for a moment. "An alternate route is the easiest solution, taking us behind a building, but then, they could be herding us. If they're good enough to have one decoy, we need to assume they'll have their own idea of where we're supposed to go. Kayla, I hate to ask this, but you're the only one who can shadow-step and the rifle needs to go back where it was. Without fingerprints, if possible, though how much of a problem that really is I don't know. My only other solution, besides attempting to come up with a route they haven't thought of which probably means..." he stopped. "Mass transit. If we get on a bus, or taxis, even though it's risky, it's better than just walking out there. So my second only solution involves Kayla being able to take one of us with her when she shadow-steps and somehow getting behind the snipers, both parts of which are highly unlikely. Thoughts?"

"Oh, really?" Sindhlot asked. "That's interesting to know... I'll take a note of that. That's not the point, though... the real point is, this thing is in no way safe to handle. It could be a trap of some type. Keep in mind, these men have a little bit past the epitome of modern technology. It could be rigged to detonate the scope. Hell, if you want to get into more painful ways of dying, it could have a large spike in the scope. I say we ditch the thing as soon as we can.

"Public transportation, I think, is our best bet. They could never get away with sniping us where there are a lot of people. Besides, the Shadowmen are good. For every decoy, there'll be several snipers. For every sniper, there'll be several more supporting them and each other. If they wanted us dead, we'd have been dropped easily by this point."

He paused.

"Actually, public transportation is too time-consuming. We just have to trust that they don't want us dead, for some reason or another - which is odd, because Shadowmen don't take prisoners."

Paul nodded briefly. "I don't like the feelings I'm getting. Like... we're closer to danger than we think we are," he said, glancing around. "How much time do you think we have?" he said, absent-mindedly rolling the Nano's scroll to "Mag1ks". The other hand was busy resting on the grip of his Glock.

It was bright out, and looking up was hard. And for some reason, he thought that up was where most of the danger would be coming from...