Activity Log, January 5, 2001 After spending the day in their separate shelters, the subjects regrouped in the early evening, before their meeting with the Giovanni. They had agreed to meet an hour before the appointed time to discuss matters among themselves. Cliff and Ari arrived on time, while Ethan and Nathaniel were somewhat late. By the time all four of them had gathered, it was perhaps half an hour before the time of the meeting, and Parker was nowhere to be found. The group seemed concerned about his absence, calling him several times on Ethan's portable phone, but were unable to reach him before the meeting. The four subjects present repaired to an office building on Broadway, with a glass atrium on the top level. On entering the building, they had a small altercation when the security guards insisted they present identification and undergo a weapons check, but were ultimately admitted to see Lorenzo Giovanni. Lorenzo was waiting for them in the penthouse atrium, which had quite a lovely view south over the financial district and the harbor. I was concerned that the Toreador would fall into trance, but it seems that I overestimate his aesthetic sensibility. After they seated themselves around the table, Lorenzo told them why he summoned them. It seems that the Giovanni have significant business interests in the land the subjects have been assigned as feeding grounds, and they want to ensure the continued health of their interests. It seems the group has been interfering with the Giovanni business; Lorenzo mentioned that money had been stolen, a gambling operation disrupted, and a courier killed by Nathaniel (news that seemed to shake him quite badly). I found Lorenzo's requests to be quite reasonable, really: he asked that the group not feed on his employees or clients, and not interfere with the revenues of these businesses in any way. The area in question was not more than ten percent of their collective feeding grounds, and Lorenzo certainly seemed amenable to offering them significant compensation for their good behavior. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the group did not see their situation quite clearly. It seems to me that they are young and weak, and that they should consider themselves fortunate that the Giovanni did not simply oust them from their own land. I surmise that the Giovanni are concerned in larger struggles, which is why they would prefer to negotiate first and only later resort to violence. However, they did bring up valid concerns, such as whether they even had the authority to permit the Giovanni to operate on their land, or whether that was the right of those who spoke for their clan. They asked Lorenzo to give them some time to consider things, and spoke to their respective clan leaders. From their conversation afterward, I was able to reconstruct what they were told. It seems that Nathaniel spoke with Pitt, who told him that any official action would require the permission of the domain holders, but that unofficial arrangements were often reached. Ari spoke with the Tremere, who told him nothing of import; Ethan spoke with Isabella, and was told that she had no interest in his political dealings. Cliff was told that the Giovanni should not be given any rights that conflicted with the rights of the Camarilla in the situation, and that they were not empowered to make any agreements on behalf of anyone but themselves, by his sire Julia. The subjects had quite a tiff about who should do the talking when they returned to speak with the Giovanni as well, and agreed that Ethan should speak for the group. While I think that the Toreador can be quite persuasive, as I have seen him, the group did not come to any concrete decisions about whether they were willing to accept the offer or what they wanted from Lorenzo in return before they entered the meeting, and I believe this is why the subsequent meeting went so poorly for them. I will not attempt to reconstruct the meeting here; I admit that I found it hard to watch as the group failed one test of successful negotiation after another. I suppose it is not entirely their fault, as Lorenzo assumed they were somewhat more knowledgeable about the give and take of vampire society than they actually are. (It seems the Giovanni information network within the Camarilla is not as good as it perhaps could be.) In short, the group refused to restrict their feeding on the streets of northern Corona, and they were intransigent about their desire to clean up the area (which, I assume, would hurt the profits of the illegal businesses that are pursued there). They attempted to sweeten their side of the deal by offering to run the gangs for the Giovanni, but I suspect the Giovanni may already control the gangs, or at least have some form of détente, since Lorenzo seemed unconcerned. Lorenzo did offer to protect them against the Sabbat, who he claims are still in the city (something I must have Elizabeth investigate), and he asked them to make him an offer, which they failed to do. I suppose they did not understand quite how powerful the Giovanni business and information network can be. It is rather unfortunate for them that they do not understand this, of course. They managed to irritate Lorenzo (who they seem to be persuaded is the head of the local coven; they must greatly overestimate their own importance) to the point where he walked out of the meeting. I am not certain what ends the Giovanni will pursue against my subjects, but I am sure they have means to deal with them quite effectively. I do hope that I will not be called upon to defend them! Tainted data is certainly better than none, but I would greatly prefer to be an observer only. After leaving the Giovanni's building, they returned to their feeding grounds, where they encountered two rather impressive-looking individuals on motorcycles who called themselves Stephen and Jamie. As Nathaniel bought several gallons of gasoline, Stephen and Jamie talked to the group, revealing that they have not yet presented themselves to the Prince. When it was revealed that Cliff was Julia's childe, they nearly attacked him, but managed to retain control. Fortunately, the situation was defused by Nathaniel's return, since the group turned their attention to convincing him that he should not set fire to the gasoline he had bought in public. The group repaired to Linden Park, where Nathaniel lit the cans of gasoline on fire, producing a rather impressive fireball. He seemed to be gathering his courage to jump into the flames, but was unable to bring himself to do it (possibly because of the same vampiric fear of fire that sent Cliff howling off into the night). Finally, he explained to the others that he was testing a theory of his, that insulating tape would protect against fire. Ethan agreed to test the theory -- I am not certain why -- and thrust his tape-covered arm into the flames. Interestingly enough, it took nearly four seconds for him arm to catch on fire, three full seconds longer than Kinderman's figures indicate. I shall have to ask Kinderman to bring his subjects back out of their long sleep to test the effects of this new substance. After venting their destructive impulses, the subjects returned to the disputed area of northern Corona, where Nathaniel attacked another of the Giovanni couriers and stole his gun and money. (I am quite surprised that the other subjects allowed this to happen, but it seems he took them by surprise: one of the advantages of being mad, I imagine.) Ari and Ethan left in disgust, and rode back to Manhattan with Stephen and Jamie. After they were left by the pair, the two of them argued for some time about whose fault the evening's debacle was, and how they could repair Nathaniel's clear fault and provocation to the Giovanni. After some heated words, the two separated, and I could see little more. I do wonder: where was Parker? Transcribed and maintained Elizabeth Kent