Chapter 58

~~Natasha~~

“Something ... h-horrible?” she said.

Art stepped forward into the buildings, into the civilian lobby, and sniffed the air. “Monica told us she found out that, apparently Jack managed to bust his way out of here, and kill a few hunters on the way out. I assume you know more. Can you spare us any more details?”

What details could she share that she’d read about? Antoinette had her ways, and especially so did Daniel, to get detailed reports about what happened here, more than what the Invictus were willing to share. Some things they read were vague, but her two bosses were both more than skilled enough to fill in the blanks based on implication. And Jack was her friend, he’d told her some things, things she’d managed to extrapolate from. Once she’d put it all together, it was a very scary tale.

“Jack ... was tortured, and I g-guess it ... it pushed him over an edge. He dominated three hunter minds, and summoned an army of rats.” She shivered at the image. Rats, swarming, overwhelming, killing? “It sounds like something Viktor w-would have done.” Oops. She’d meant to say that in her head.

“Right, his grand sire.” Matt shivered, and rubbed his arms, in the same way Natasha did. Made her smile, for a moment. “Avery had some stories for us about him.”

“D-Does she? I, um ... not sure, about what ... what happened back then. Avery showed up in the ... fifties, right? I was sired around the purge, in the sixties.” A wonderful ostrich tactic, conveniently ignoring the warning about the horrible thing right in front of her in the prison, to get information about the past. Typical Mekhet, need knowledge knowledge secrets secrets.

The two werewolves continued along through the lobby, sniffing, sniffing, sniffing more, picking up something her nose couldn’t, before moving on and heading down the hall toward the prisoner lobby.

“Mmhmm,” Matt said. “Don’t normally run into Ventrue who give Uratha much trouble. Hard to kill, but it’s not like they give us much trouble when the fists start flying. Except, this Viktor fucker, he could dominate Uratha easily.”

“ ... he c ... c-could?”

Art nodded as he circled around the center desk in the prisoner lobby. “Yeah. Uratha aren’t immune to you Kindred and your fucking mental powers and shit. Normally, the younger Kindred can’t touch us, mental powers or not. But the older ones, you get your fucking fingers into our brains? It’s ... never a good thing.” He stopped before the gate leading down one of the hallways, where another hallway turn waited, with cells waiting beyond, Tash imagined. “Christ, this wasn’t just Jack escaping and killing, this was a bloodbath. The whole place reeks of blood, human and rat, and gasoline. Death.”

She couldn’t smell any of that.

“According to Avery,” Matt said, “Viktor dominated a couple of her companions, at the same time. Forced them both to transform, full on gauru mode, and made them fight each other.” He followed after Art, eyes scanning up and down the bars, the floor, everywhere. All clean, all washed, all evidence gone, but whatever the Invictus did to clean it, it wasn’t enough to hide everything from the Uratha. “Not a secret, really. Your elders are fucking terrifying.”

“I ... I guess. I d-didn’t know Viktor did that though.” Viktor’s strength was well known. That combined with his growing insanity and paranoia — according to Antoinette — were the reasons Maria and Michael were afraid to challenge him. “D-Did ... anyone die?”

“To Viktor being a jackass? No, no one Avery’s told us about anyway.” Art shrugged as he continued down the hall, deeper into the complex, Matt and Tash following after him. “He couldn’t break Simon though, apparently.”

The gentle giant stepped ahead of her, and got down on his knees beside one of the cells. “ ... that kid really left a scar here.”

A rat squeaked, and disappeared into a large crack in the concrete. Where rats were once quite bold, she imagined all the rats for a mile in any direction would be afraid to be seen by anything on two legs, now.

“Scar?” she said.

Art came to a stop by one of the cells. “Yeah, the sort of shit that resonates, creates essence, creates problems. Seems like he’s tainted this prison with ... I don’t know. Rage? Hate? ... a lot of creatures died here, painfully.”

The rest of them came up to the cell door, and looked inside. Natasha could see nothing out of the ordinary, but both Matt and Art were twitching their noses and looking around, fidgeting fingers and snapping eyes. They didn’t like being here.

“Hard to make out their scent anymore. So many vamps came through here, and washed the place down.” Walking into the cell, Art cringed as he approached the metal chair, and knelt down in front of it. “ ... something happened here. Jack must have been in this chair. He ... was in pain, a large amount of pain. Panic, pain ... then ... revenge?” He got up, and turned to face the gate of the cell. “He ... broke two minds here, I think. Took them over.” He walked back out into the hallway, before turning to face the direction they came from. “Two humans died here, shot down. Then...”

Natasha did her best to not imagine a music montage, of a song shrinking an effort of days down into seconds, like typical TV forensics drama scenes. But, she stared on, wide eyed, as she listened to a bass-heavy alternative rock song play in her head, while Art managed to come to conclusions from utterly nothing.

“Then the madness started. You said rats, right? Lot of ... lot of dead rats. Hundreds ... They started here.” He motioned to the crack in the wall. “And from similar holes in this old place.” He gestured around to the others cells too. “ ... they didn’t die quick either. Most of them died in pain.”

“That’s what it is,” Matt said. “Christ, kid was in pain ... and inflicted a lot of pain.”

“The hunt-t-ters, they ... used fire, and ... burned all the rats,” she said.

Art nodded, and followed the hall back out to the lobby again. “Yeah, death death and more death, all marked with pain. All starts with that chair. And, everything has a generous, heaping pile of hate on it, like ... tar.”

“ ... in the report, it said ... that J-Jack, that um, he had to cut off his hands, t-t-to get out. He d-dominated the two hunters watching him ... despite, um, enchanted hand cuffs, designed to work on vampires we think. He forced them ... t ... t-to cut off his hands so he could escape.” A Mekhet would have used the situation to get a quick phone call out, not cut off their own hands. But she wasn’t there, maybe it wasn’t reasonable.

Both werewolves winced, sucking in their breath between their teeth. “Damn,” they said.

She winced as well. Yeah, damn. “He, um, summoned rats. All Kindred know animalism, you p-probably know, b-but, Gangrel and Ventrue are good at it, naturals at it. And ... Jack, he’s ... he’s Julias’s childe. Julias is a p-prodigy, sort of. Very, very strong. Viktor was ... also very, very strong, and ... and J-Jack is...”

“Is following in his sire and grand sire’s footsteps.” Art knelt down by the desk in the civilian lobby, the three of them almost back out of the building. He ran his fingers along the tile of the floor, and smelled them. “He’s not the first vamp to have an explosion in skill at a young age, but this is pretty big. This whole place reeks of death, pain, and panic. And ... disgust.”

Matt nodded as he walked around, wincing every so often. “We’ll have to keep an eye on it, in case any wraiths show up.”

“W-Wraiths?” Wait, didn’t that secrets spirit thing say something about wraiths? Something about them, and Black Blood?

“Yeah. Not ghosts, though I wouldn’t be surprised if ghost wraiths existed. No, these wraiths are a type of spirit that have grown in Dolareido. Mix of death and fear. There’s not many of them, but enough to be a problem.”

Ok, moment of truth. Tell her boyfriends she knew about Black Blood? Don’t tell them? They might not like her knowing about it, and she didn’t want to become another Minerva. But, Antoinette knew of it, and the werewolves weren’t trying to break down her door or anything.

“ ... d-do they ... do bad things?” she said. Ok, so she wasn’t going to tell them. Yet. She had good reason though, because, secrets and stuff. Mekhet needed their secrets, and it was part of her job to acquire information. If they didn’t know that she knew about Black Blood, they’d be more likely to accidentally tell her things, things she could deduce conclusions from that they wouldn’t expect her to be able to.

Harmless information gathering. Harmless.

Matt nodded. “Yeah, they can get involved in some pretty dark stuff. Seems they’re working together with some other shit, and we’re not sure why.”

“David knows more, but getting straight answers out of spirits is never easy. Always comes with a fucking price tag.” Art shrugged, and continued along until they were back outside, the outer gate they climbed over before them. “And ... you might want to talk to your buddy, Jack, about this. To leave a scar like this, from one incident? It was nasty. I doubt the kid is even aware of how badly this must have fucked with him.”

“I ... I’ll t-talk to him.” She wasn’t sure what she could say that Antoinette or Julias couldn’t, but there was no harm in checking up on her friend anyway. And, she was sure Antoinette was doing her best to soothe the boy’s soul.

~~Julias~~

He really wanted to go back to his home, the mansion, lay in bed with Triss — and Jen — and stop thinking about all this garbage. He was going to kill these hunters, if only so he could take a single day to truly, wholly relax again. No matter what he did now, the hunters were on his mind, squirming into his thoughts, until it ate at him.

The Primogen meeting room. He was there, as were all the Primogen. No one had missed a meeting since Tony’s death, since he was the only fucker who had the nerve to ignore them at his whimsy. Good riddance.

Christ, he was sour. No word, no sighting, nothing about the hunters. And it was all he could think about, all his mind was concerned with; which made it hard to focus on what Jack was saying.

“Carter and Clara will be staying in the Carlava Villa soon,” the kid said, looking to each elder around the table as he updated them on Invictus business deemed shareable. He stood at its end, opposite of the Prince, hands at his sides and posture rigid. If he’d been wearing a military uniform, the hair would have fit even better. “For an indeterminate amount of time.”

“This some desperate ploy to make friends with Avery?” Garry said, rolling his eyes as he leaned back. “You Invictus are fucked in the head, especially if you think you can bribe her.”

Michael frowned, leaning forward to put his elbows on the table, eyes cutting into Garry. “We offer her a roof, same as you. And we want what you want, Tones, to encourage her aid in dealing with these hunters.”

The two Gangrels frowned at each other. There’d be barking soon, if someone didn’t do something.

Jacob, of all people, leaned in first, and swept the antics away with a hand gesture. “Jeremiah is a deadly beast, to be sure. I spoke with Azamel myself, and while that old bitch refuses to be straight with me, she was obviously afraid of the man, in some capacity. It would appear we’re stuck in this problem she’s created. I don’t blame the Invictus for trying to get some extra help on our side.”

The Prince sighed, tapping a finger on the glass table, the other hand gently combing waves of hair over her bosom. “And we are certain that the damage is done, and the Kindred are bound to this conflict?”

Everyone else sighed, and looked to Jack, knowing what the kid was going to say. He winced, and nodded.

The Prince met his gaze, looked down at the table, and sighed as well. “Merde.” With a growing frown, she gestured for Jack to continue.

“Avery isn’t against helping us,” the boy said, “just ... she doesn’t want a repeat of the last incident, with Simon.”

Maria sighed and shook her head. “She is paranoid. Viktor and Lucas are no longer with us, and they were Simon’s two biggest antagonists. Even Tony didn’t cause too many issues with the Uratha when they were here.”

Jacob laughed and snapped his fingers once. “Were, they were her two biggest antagonists. She can fucking die in a fire for all I care.”

“We need her help, Jacob,” Garry said. “I know Avery did some horrible shit, but she was working for Simon and it was his call. She doesn’t work for him anymore, if he’s even still alive, and she’s here to try and fix some of the crap Simon left behind. Cut her some slack.” If there was anyone on the Primogen council who could convince Jacob of something, it was Garry supposedly, at least according to what Julias knew about them. But Julias wasn’t so sure it was that simple, that Garry and him were simply friends helping each other out. Nothing was ever that simple with Jacob.

But, with a few moments to ponder, the old Nosferatu offered Garry an understanding nod, before leaning back in his chair again. Poor Jack was standing closer to Jacob than others, due to the position closer to the door, and Julias could see Jacob’s quick tongue got the boy anxious. Elders arguing with each other was not a sight his childe was used to.

“In the mean time,” Jack said, “she’ll continue ... pruning the weeds, I suppose is the best metaphor, hunting what Uratha hunt. She says she’s happy with the state of the city, though.”

“And yet, she does not leave,” Antoinette said. “In fact, she intends to stay.”

“ ... yes, my Prince.” Jack rubbed his hair, before snapping his hand back down once he realized he was doing it again. “Issues with the Circle of the Crone aside, there are many advantages to her staying, and she’s being quite reasonable ... about most things.”

Sticky situation for the kid to be in, having to argue and make points on behalf of the Uratha, without pissing off his superiors, particularly the Nosferatu with the Joker smile. Julias hid his smirk. He didn’t envy his childe, but he was happy with the job he was doing nonetheless.

“Reasonable?” Antoinette said, glaring at him. “She has taken residence in my city, without my permission. What is reasonable about that?”

A pin drop would have shattered glass in the silence that followed, as the Prince glared at the boy. If there was any concern Antoinette would play favorites with her lover, she was successfully crushing them.

“My Prince, she has no intentions of disrupting the Kindred world here, in Dolareido. She only intends to help. That Azlu monster in the sewers was here before she arrived, not because of her arrival, and she dealt with it. Apparently, other such dangers may exist in the city, and one of those Azlu monsters survived the encounter as well. She is doing all that she can to deal with these issues, without damaging the Masquerade.”

“ ... we did not ask for her help with these matters,” Jacob said, snarling.

Jack met the old man’s eyeless gaze. “Not everyone that needs help is willing to ask for it, elder Jacob. I wouldn’t ask for a werewolf to help in matters of nuance, of money or politics or controlling a city, but I know that we Kindred are barely aware of ... the strange things, hiding in the darkness. They are more aware, and more equipped to deal with it.”

And again, the silence was profound. Everyone knew about Jacob’s constant probing and exploring into such darkness, such secrets and madness, and Jack was straight up calling him out on it, saying the werewolves knew more. Ok, it was fine to be proud of your childe, but at a certain point Jack was going to cross a line; he was already flirting with it. One step too far and he was going to really piss off the old witch.

Jacob laughed, and winked at him. “True that. Much as I hope that Avery bitch dies a horrible death, she has her uses.” Winking with no eyes, a bandage covering them, was weird, and only noticeable from the muscle of the eyebrow and cheek moving.

“ ... you may continue to placate them, and perhaps recruit their aid with these hunters, my Primogen,” the Prince said, “but I assume you are all pursuing measures to deal with this threat without their aid?” The group all nodded. “Good. Keep me informed of any discoveries, as I will you.”

Much of this had already been said in the emergency meeting following the incident with Jack’s kidnap and escape, but Julias appreciated the Prince’s thoroughness. Pretty sure she was also doing it to remind everyone they were in this together, not against each other; nice to have her in his corner.

Maria leaned in. “What of Azamel? She and her subordinates have done surprisingly little, when it is they that have brought this trouble to our door. We pester the werewolves, when it’s the monsters that created this problem.”

“Azamel will help us,” Jack said, nodding with the statement. “She is ... concerned about the city, in her own, weird way. Not like the Uratha though, I wouldn’t trust her that much. For her it’s more a tactical thing. But, she’s more willing to form an alliance with us than Avery, and more committed to taking down Jeremiah than any of us.”

The Prince mirrored his nod, but her eyes looked into each Primogen as she tapped her fingers once again. “Then I must address the elephant in the room. If Azamel is willing to help kill Jeremiah, is she willing to help kill Angela.”

Julias almost said something, almost got angry. But, no, ill-timed and misplaced. As much as he was frustrated so many people were concerned with upsetting Athalia, Antoinette’s worry was about Azamel. That worry was justified. He didn’t want to deal with an angry Azamel, none of them did.

“I ... don’t know,” Jack said. “Athalia is torn. She says she ... she...” Kid scratched his head some more, giving up all pretense of being professional. No one minded, not at this point. “She doesn’t want to kill her own daughter, but if push comes to shove, I’m not sure it’ll be that simple. Maybe not kill Angela, but detain her or subdue her, maybe? As for Azamel, I get the impression that if the opportunity presented itself, she’d kill Angela, but attempt to detain her first.”

“ ... I suppose that is better than nothing.” The Prince leaned in, like many of them already were, and set her elbows to the glass table as she looked at each of them. “It has been weeks since they have shown themselves, these hunters. And the Begotten have become scarce, hiding in their tunnels — my tunnels — and hiding in their dream world. Everyone must both remain vigilant, and cooperative. That includes with the monsters and the werewolves, to an extent. If you see an opportunity to earn the help of these groups, consider taking it. We must expel these hunters above all else.

“That said, do not risk your own lives or the Masquerade for these trespassers. I do not want them in my city, but, they have not earned my wrath. Yet.” Her face steeled, and she looked at each individual with a long, determined stare, yet again. On the surface it was innocent enough, a disgruntled boss. Behind that, where the skin didn’t show it, where only the beasts in them could hear the silent growling, she bore into them with her gaze. “Not all of you agree with me, for enacting the purge. On that, your opinions do not matter. It was the correct option, and following it, we had decades of peace. Even Tony’s infantile meddling did not disrupt that. But now I find the city growing more, and yet more unruly, at the hands of these newcomers. If I have to, I will call upon a purge once more, to remove either the Begotten, or the Uratha, or both. And in that matter, I will demand the aid of all covenants should I decide to exercise my right. Do I make myself clear?”

Jack’s eyes were wide, but everyone was looking at Antoinette. The kid hadn’t expected those words. Hell, Julias hadn’t. But, they all nodded, and let the implication sink in. If such a thing happened and one of the covenants disagreed, vampire ashes would rain down on the city as much as blood and bone.

After a few more minor points to clear up, she dismissed them, and everyone got up. Jacob first, offering a small wave over his shoulder, then Garry, grunting and putting his hands in his jean pockets, and then the council triumvirate.

“Mister Mire, Mister Terry, stay a moment, s’il vous plaît? For a personal matter.”

Personal matter, hmm. He could understand her keeping the kid around, but him? They had no business outside of Jack, so he thought. But, he nodded, and stayed seated as the others left. They offered Jack grins, smirks, even a nod or two. Hell, Garry chuckled and pat the kid on the shoulder; which put Jack on edge like nothing else, to the point Julias had to hide his smirk.

But, eventually, the three of them were alone.

“Jack,” Antoinette said, small smile, small grin. Subtle, like she was comfortable with the gentle expressions. It was cute. “I hope my words did not stir your malcontent. Please understand that I would not remove, or kill, your friend Fiona unless she stood with Azamel in such a circumstance.”

“That makes me happier, yeah.” He scratched his head, and came in a little closer until his hips touched the other end of the table, him looking across it to his lover. “I’m trying to keep everyone happy, getting along with each other, and talks of purge ... yeah. Scary.”

“And such a circumstance would be unusual. Even when Azamel was a larger thorn in my side, I did not call for such an act. And when the Uratha caused chaos in the corners of my city with their trespassing and uncontrolled hunts, I did not call for such an act. Only on Lucas, who had every intent to ... well, I am sure you can remember the man’s zealotry.”

“Yeah, no forgetting that.”

“And ... I will see you tonight, non?” she said.

Julias couldn’t help but let out a little grin with that. Big, bad, dangerous, intelligent and confident Antoinette, worried about Jack not being there. It was delightful to see. God damn it made him miss Triss. He hadn’t seen her in a couple nights, and fuck, he really wanted to see her, hold her, forget all the troubles in the city for an hour or two before their daily sleep took them.

And Jennifer could watch. He didn’t mind that Jen seemed infatuated with watching Julias and Triss be romantic with each other, and Triss seemed to actively enjoy it, if anything.

“Yes, of course, my Prince.” Jack offered a small bow, and the same sort of subtle smile. Smooth.

She nodded, and a small finger wave sent the boy on his way. He returned it, before he stood up straight as Julias caught his eye. Yeah, your sire is still here, kid. But Julias shrugged, and smirked at Jack as the boy disappeared behind the door.

“Now, Mire.” She turned in her chair to face him, leaned back, and set both her hands around the knee atop the other. “I had been meaning to speak with you of personal matters. There has been little time as of late to catch up, and I thought, perhaps you could share fifteen minutes with me?”

“Of course, yes Prince.” Strange. The first time this happened, she’d just showed up at his new mansion randomly, expecting the conversation. Now she was asking.

“I ... had hoped to grow my relationship with your childe. But I am worried.”

“Worried?”

“Oui. There are a host of reasons that I should keep my relationship with the young man the same as it is now, permanently in its waves of honeymoon bliss. When such dreamy thoughts fill our nights, it is easy for the boy and I to rest in each other’s arms. But, when realities seep into the air, and crawl under the door, I grow ... afraid. I worry for the past, of how my relationship with my own childe went. I worry for the future, and how the strife my city suffers will extend to our relationship, if such topics entered our dialogues.”

“I see.” The woman did love to consider the future. It was why she was a good Prince; that, and the strength to back it up. Where was Daniel anyway? “Jack has never been in a serious relationship, and his relationships before were not relationships at all. You’re treading new ground in his life.”

“ ... do you have any suggestions, Mire? I feel like a fool, worrying about this. Natasha herself has suggested that I am fighting inevitability, keeping my relationship with the boy focused solely on ourselves and each other, and not letting the affairs of the city or the harsh realities it brings taint our personal time. But ... but I held that boy in my arms, and watched him struggle to not break into tears, as he recounted the details of his torture.”

Julias winced, groaned, and looked down. Yeah, that must have been painful for her. Hell, kid hadn’t filled him in on every single detail, just the basics, and it was painful to hear, let alone see the kid struggle with the misery in his eyes. But at least Antoinette didn’t see the physical aftermath like Julias had.

“ ... I don’t know why you sired Tony, honestly, Prince. I heard he was a great artist when he was younger?”

“Oui, a great artist, passionate for so many things.” Like washing away a layer of dirt, she wiped her knee at the mention of the man’s name. “Why do you ask?”

“Jack is not that. Jack is ... well, Tony was juvenile. No offense.”

“Mire, I am glad my childe is dead. It had to be done. You need not mince words over his image.”

“ ... alright. Well, Jack is not Tony. Tony may have been a delinquent, but Jack is a surly old man in a young man’s body.”

That got a chuckle out of her. “Oh? How so?”

“Harsh and analytical, and very much with a ‘I ain’t got time for this shit’ attitude, when the man isn’t old enough to even know what it sounds like when a music generation changes.”

More chuckles, from the two of them.

“That does capture the harder side of the boy’s personality, I admit.”

“I knew Jack pretty well when I decided I wanted to sire him, Prince. I knew he’d be determined, intelligent, methodical, and I knew his small size was no indication of his tenacity. The kid ... can be ruthless, when he needs to be. And honestly, I think you sense that, and you want to keep him from becoming a key figure in the world waiting for him.”

She raised a brow. “And what world would that be?”

“Our world. Viktor’s world. Violent, and filled with responsibilities that wear on the mind. And ... the bitterness that comes with it, maybe the paranoia, maybe the jadedness.”

“ ... yes, I would prefer to keep Jack from suffering such a fate. Or at the very least, I wish to be a soft place he may rest from such tribulations.”

“I sired him for a reason, and as much as it looks like Jack’s getting pulled in that direction, yanked into the Danse Macabre well before others of similar age, he’s the one Kindred I trust to not let it turn him into a jaded, empty husk.” Christ, he hoped he was right about that. “I think you do him a disservice, by babying him.” Bad word choice?

Her eyes narrowed, and squinted at him. Ok, bad word choice.

“Do you think it is wise to continue burying the boy in responsibilities and trials, Mire? I find myself trying to pamper him, because every time I speak with him, he is buried in new pain. You promoted him to being a right hand of your Invictus council, which I agree is warranted, but not in the boy’s best interest. His reward for surviving, where most would perish, is to risk his life yet again.”

“ ... and you keep calling him boy.”

She opened her mouth to retort, but closed it with a hiss, sucking in her breath through her teeth as she glared at him. “He is too young to have such trials thrust upon him so quickly, Mire.”

“I disagree. I think, as painful as this is for me, as much as I don’t want to see him suffer, Jack will manage, and not only will he become a powerful Kindred for it, the city will benefit. Your city.” This conversation was turning sour, and he ran his fingers through his hair, back over his head, as he leaned in toward the Prince. How to fix this. “I understand you love him, but I sired him for a reason. I saw the grit in his eye when he was just a teenager, Prince, just a kid who looked around him and wondered why everyone else had so much trouble managing their vices or futures, when for him, it was as easy as flipping a switch in his head. I could put that kid into that chair again, with Jeremiah and Angela, and I know he’d do the exact same thing to get out, because he knows how to ... flip that switch, how to grab the cold hard truth of situations by the horns and get shit done.”

The Prince’s expression broke. The steel melted, her features softened, and her red gaze fell to her knees. “Yes, I am sure he would.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Prince. I’m doing everything I can to make sure shit like this doesn’t happen, but I’m making the right choice for him, the Invictus, and the city, by putting him in this position. Maria and Michael agree with me.” Fuck last names, they were well past last names. “Maybe he’s growing up too quickly. Maybe ... maybe it’s good that you’re letting him be young. But, Jack thrives on adult conversation too. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how useful his insights can be, and how much he enjoys giving them, if you talk to him about more mature things. He’s not Tony, he’s not going to get bitter or resentful if you call him out on something, point out a flaw in his reasoning or ignorance in his knowledge. Hell, knowing Jack, he’d thank you for proving him wrong; a trait I wish more people had.”