IC - 26 - Calm Before the Storm - Everyone

[Philulhu]

”Well done, Mr Hastings,” said Kris. “Hopefully that will give Balfour something the think about!” He pulled out his phone and placed a quick call to Malone, to update him on the outcome of the court case.

[Mephistophilis]

Johnny is clearly angry that Ms Acharya's gambit has failed. His hands grip the edge of the dock, his knuckles white. Mrs Williams shouts out, 'John!' But he doesn't even turn to look at her. He's staring at Simon again. A penetrating, relentless stare. Full of hatred. Hatred and something else. Triumph?

Johnny is clearly unhappy that he's lost his bail. It doesn't seem like frustration at any plan being prevented. Just like he wanted to get out. But the way he stares at Simon, it unnerves him, like he knows something Simon doesn't, like he's got one over on him somehow. It makes his distinctly uncomfortable.

-----

Hastings looks quietly pleased at all the plaudits, while Acharya is visibly fuming and can be seen outside the court room making several intemperate phone calls. Chaudhury slinks away with his tail between his legs, while Dr Hussein seems to be trying to console him. This isn't helped by several journalists trying to take photographs of him on the steps of the court.

Malone is pleased to hear that Johnny has been remanded into custody. 'Looks like money can't buy you everything. Well done. Now get some of that paperwork sorted or you can relieve Grey & Adebayo on surveillance.'

[Silver Priest]

Simon just returns John's look with a quick smirk.

He's more troubled than he lets on, though, and he tells the others quietly. "Johnny's angry, especially with me. But he still looks triumphant about something. I'm not sure what. All I know is that he's been obsessed with me for some reason since we first brought him in.He seems more annoyed he won't be let out than any real fear we foiled Balfour's plan. As far as he knows, it seems like he still firmly believes the apocalypse remains on schedule.

"He believes he's tricked me somehow, like I'm missing something... mind, that seems impossible, but his sheer confidence in the notion unsettles me." he admits.

"On a lighter note, at least we wrecked that hack Chaudhury's career."

[Mr. Handy]

"I'd love to hear what she's saying on the phone," says Jocelyn, "but there's no way my boss would sign off on a wiretap. We should conduct the surveillance on Balfour ourselves. Acharya probably made one of her calls to him, and he must be getting pretty desperate about now. We need to be able to head off whatever Plan B he's got."

[Silver Priest]

"Well, Zero seems to still think Balfour has an ace in his pocket. And he heavily alluded to them going forward even if they don't have Regina around to sacrifice.My fear is he'll just use one of his followers children. But there's a lot we still don't know. What Johnny was up to, for one. I suspect he was instructed to kidnap Regina so her father could sacrifice her, but that would have caused a lot of attention that the reverend would likely have wanted to avoid.I'm in agreement with watching him ourselves and thinking up ways to disrupt his plans."

[Philulhu]

Kris would rather have gone for a beer to celebrate but it seemed that they had just won a battle, rather than the war, so he sighed and said, ”Surveillance it is then…”

[Mephistophilis]

Moving here.