Inside 59

[Rebonack]

http://i431.photobucket.com/albums/qq40/happyturtle-avs/avatars/insideflag2.png
Flag of Inside, flown over all Remnant and Government Installations

Current Events: The dastardly forces of the devilish Doctor Diabolical have been doing evil things all over Inside, like installing new public trash cans, improving park benches, building playgrounds, and rebuilding roads! Who will stop these madmen?

The title is a misnomer, of course. No doubt the moniker of this place was settled on after a brief conversation that started with, 'Wouldn't it be funny if...?'. But now the name has stuck.

But what is this place, you ask?

Inside is everything within the City Walls. As opposed to Outside, which is everything without. This strange, whimsical city is the centre of a planar Nexus, a crossing point between all possible (and some impossible) worlds. One can find just about anything in this wondrous place, dreams that defy imagination and terrors that freeze the soul. People and whole places are regularly drawn into the Nexus, added to the chaotic melting pot of all realities.

The city is surrounded by defensive walls, with an artificially and accidentally created moat outside the walls, a moat that has been diverted into a river-channel for one many bodies of water flowing through Inside. A gap in the walls and a bridge allow for entrance into the city proper, the main gate opening up to welcome newcomers Inside.

Welcome, traveller, to the City of Inside. The only boundaries you find within are the bounds of your own imagination.


Rules


Rules

1:Please Spoiler any Fanservice in this thread! It is accepted that there will of course be some, and that romance and curtains happen. However, please be courteous to others and spoiler any scene that goes on for a little while, and if it reaches the point, curtain. This is so you can stay within forum rules, as well as letting those uninterested in the scene, pass by. Thank you. :smallsmile:

2:Godmodding is not permissible! As stated in the rules in the FFRP Central Thread, (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=166066), godmodding is generally not allowed without permission. If you're shaky on what might be, and what might not be godmodding, please follow the above link.

3:The DOOM-Shield. Inside is currently equipped with a techno-magic shield that mitigates "global" effects to a survivable level. This is to prevent anyone from simply killing all the NPCs, or affecting the entire city. For example, a plot that envelops the entire city in subarctic temperatures, will find that the cold isn't as bad as it should be, and survivable.

4:Remnant. Please remember when doing any plots or large events, that even though it has it's own thread, Remnant - the Inside Police Force and Army - is located in Inside, and may respond to events, or may be asked to respond to them.

4:All Inside-Wide/Nexus-Wide plots need to be brought up in OOC first! We all want to have the entire city be cast into a frozen wasteland from time to time, but such things need to be brought up in OOC first, to allow players plenty of warning, and so people don't feel like anything is being forced upon them that they don't want to RP.

5:Inside is not Space! Anything involving massive spaceships, meteors, satellites, Lasers From Space, and the like, do not belong in this thread. Few PCs have the ability to fight off an orbital bombardment, so it is considered unfair to be able to call down such things inside Inside. It can be assumed that the Doom Shield prevents such things from occurring. The place for these sorts of things should be in Outside, or another thread all together.

Zones and Streets
Zones:
In the Zone(s): The City of Inside is separated into three zones that represent the general threat level color coded for your convenience.

The Blue Zones are upper-class, well to do portions of Inside. You're pretty darn safe here.

The Grey Zones consists of the more traditionally urban parts of inside. Certainly no gated community, but it isn't immediately life threatening either.

The Red Zones represents the parts of the City that are degenerate, destitute, or downright dangerous. Sometimes all of the above. If you're poking around a Red Zone be ready to get jumped by Orks or ghouls or killer robots or something.

Streets:

Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Hodgepodge Street? The City of Inside also has a number of Streets. The Streets aren't a street in the literal sense, but rather portions of the City with a particular theme. While one can find anything anywhere in the City there are none the less areas were certain settings predominate. The Riftline monorail public transit system allows for quick and easy access between the many Streets of Inside, as well as take your PCs to other popular locations within the Nexus. Best of all it's fast and free!

If you have an idea for a Street feel free to suggest it in the OOC thread. :smallsmile:

Hodgepodge Street: The generically modern setting! Hodgepodge Street is perhaps the most plastic of the Streets, displaying a decent mix of all settings, though modern predominates. Generally speaking most locations without a Street name will be found here. The most commonly seen locations here are the Streets and the Slums. Occasionally The Rooftops if someone is feeling daring.

Steele Street: Need a Victorian location with all sorts of choking industrial pollution? Need an always-night urban landscape with superficial resemblance to 1800s London? Well Steel Street is by far the best place Inside to come down with Black Lung Disease! With spooky stinky fog, gross waterways, and the occasional murderer who may or may not be spring-heeled. Come for the fish and chips! Stay for the gritty atmosphere!

Arkham Street: Spanning 1920s-1930s style fantastic horror, Arkham Street is home of such spooky locations as Philip Memorial Library, the haunted Carter House, and Dunwich Park. Ah Arkham Street, where the clustering gambled roofs sway and sag above the attics where witches hid from the king's men in the dark olden days of Town. The Town is gone, but the witches are still here! And the monsters, and the cultists, and the regular folks just trying not to lose their minds.

Metropolis Square: It's Atom Age or Deco Punk or whatever you want to call it! 1930-50s era retro science fiction with ray guns and mad scientists and nuclear powered robots who just want to learn the meaning of love. This part of Inside is known for its slick hats, era cars, smooth jazz, a robotic workforce, and square-jawed heroes.

The Skyway: High up above the tops of the tallest skyscrapes one can find The Skyway! A high future urban cityscape of floating buildings of glass and chrome and steel and plastic. And a space port too, if you feel like leaving the planet for whatever reason. Think Jetsons with more foot paths. Riftline, of course, grants access to The Skyway to for those not blessed with flying cars.

Need some cyberpunk action? You got some cyberpunk action! The gritty future of cyber-criminals clashing against government and corporate forces! With cyborgs and hackers and stuff! Grungy urban sprawl, a decaying job market, and an oppressed underclass mark this area of Inside. Burnt Chromes Street is the distopian counter-point to The Skyway's more optimistic vision of what the future holds.

Market Street: Market Street is the ye olde portion of Inside, complete with bards, fools, open market places, and the occasional damsel in distress. While products of any age can be found in the sprawling street booths everything is done ye olde style-e. If you need a chase scene to crash through a fruit-cart this is the place to do it.

Deadwood Street: The wild, wild west. Located on the edge of Inside this is the western part of the city. And that means any kind of western. From spegetti to steampunk to magical. Whether you need to hang around a saloon, have a duel a high noon, or go riding off into the sunset Deadwood Street is your best bet.

PokéStreet: By popular demand! This one should be obvious enough. PokéCenters and PokéMarts and PokéGyms and PokéParks and PokéNarwhals and everything else Poké-related! Great place to visit if you feel like watching some adorable animals beat the tar out of each other. Just watch out for the tall grass. You never know what might be lurking in there.

Carousel Court: So much pony. Carousel Court contains the majority of the City's pony population as well as a healthy helping of non-pony quadrupedal sapient races. Ranging from quaint thatched roof cottages to the towering mane offices of Roseluck Agrifirm to the opulent stables of the well-to-do Carousel Court has it all. The sweet tooth of ponies is absolutely legendary around Inside and if you're looking for a sugary treat, Carousel Court is the place to visit.

Locations
The Red Zones (Player: Rebonack)
Just because here are some nice quick descriptions of the various Red Zones that see some degree of use. Or at least the ones that I'll run NPCs in if I get prodded at or notice someone's PC poking around there. I don't control everything in these locations and other people are free to run things here, just keep the Lethality level in mind. Anyone exploring one of the Red Zones will find caches of magical or technological trinkets to make the danger worth their while. The higher the lethality rating the better the loot!

The Slums: (Lethality Level Low) Accessed from Hodgepodge Street. The Slums are a generally urban area of decay and disrepair. It's a pretty good place to run into muggers, thugs, vampires, random monsters, and other generically nasty things. People live in squalor here, but no one can really figure out WHY since the rest of the City is available for habitation and has fewer flesh eating mildew patches.

The Mispelled Cemetary: (Lethality Level Variable) Accessed form Market Street. The Mispelled Cemetary is fully of the restless spirits of the unded who have been ripped from there eternal rest due to the endless propagation of spelling errors on the Internet. The unded in the cemetary proper are pretty week, but catacombs below the cemetary can be accessed through the various crypts on the surface. The deeper into the catacombs ones travels the nastier the unded get. Beware the Eternal Bone Horrers.

The Dungeons of Doom: (Lethality Level Moderate) Accessed from the Sewers. The Dungeons of Doom consists of a seemingly endless descent of themed dungeon floors filled with generally silly monsters and puzzles. But don't let the silliness fool you, the place is plenty deadly if you get too careless. Remember to pay proper respects to giant marble busts of science fiction and fantasy authors that might block your path.

The Radiation Pit: (Lethality Level Moderate) Accessed from Metropolis Square. The Radiation Pit is exactly what it sounds like. A blasted crater full of radiation and the sorts of things you would expect to arise in 50's era films about radiation. So mostly giant irradiated arthropods. The danger here, aside from the radiation mutants, is mostly from environmental hazards. Make sure to pack plenty of Rad-Away.

Bombed Out Zone: (Lethality Level Moderate) Accessed from Hodgepodge Street. A ruined urban landscape of burned out cars, shattered skyscrapers, and crumbling overpasses. It is the site of an ongoing three way battle between zombies, killer robots, and aliens. Getting caught between the factions is pretty dangerous, but scavenging the remains after a battle can yield some great loot.

Black Goat Woods: (Lethality Level High) Accessed from Arkham Street. Black Goat Woods is a park full of awful eldritch abominations. If you go in un-warded you will almost certainly die a horrible death if you're fortunate. With proper warding by the Elder Sign this Red Zone is just dangerous and maddening rather than a complete death trap. If you need to collect some tomes of forbidden lore or repulsive idols try snooping around here. Just remember that Cthulhu eats 2d6 investigators per round.

Everfree Park: (Lethality Level High) Accessed from Carousel Court. This is a wilderness within the heart of the City that hates you and wants you to die. The laws of physics and magic shift here chaotically and without warning. Powerful monsters roam the trees hunting for anyone foolish enough to stumble in. Everything that exists in this park, even the very air you're breathing, is a malevolent force that seeks your destruction. Enter at your own risk.

Azik's Enchantments(Player: Harnel, Grey Zone)

Those in the area will hear a rumbling as the Nexus begins pulling in something larger than just a single person. Reality bends, and the shape of portal opens above a certain street corner. For a sickening moment, nothing happens, but then things start coming out of the portal - all of them are bricks, building up finally to a door and a roof, with tiny windows built in. There's even a large chimney sticking out of the center of this strange, conical building that begins puffing rainbow smoke almost immediately.

A creature steps out the front door, though many wouldn't consider it a creature - He is a warforged, a living golem. Covered in what appears to be adamantine plates, he looks up and down the street, his longcoat catching in the breeze. as it flutters, one can see a multitude of wands, schema, and scrolls all attached to several belts around his waist and upper legs. On his eyes he wears a pair of blue tinted shades, despite his lack of ears, and the metal orbs that serve as his eyes glow green behind these spectacles. He looks up and down the street. He doesn't seem to be particularly disturbed by the change in location, but he does take the time to call out, in a metallic voice:

"Azik's Enchantments is open for business! Come find a potion, a wand, a scroll to fit any need! We have spellbooks for beginners and experts! Weapons of all shapes and sizes, and armor unlike anything you've ever seen! Come find what you're looking for here!"

And then he heads back inside. So much work, so little time. Inside is as strange as outside, with magic trinkets lining the walls on shelves, but all behind the counter, to keep any stupid kid with the idea to steal something from doing so. You can find just about anything magical here, and that which you can't find, Azik the Warforged can make within a more than reasonable timeframe.

Emergency Bunkers

Eight bunker-like structures in a ring-like arrangement at about the midpoint between the walls (or the docks) and the center of the city have been completed.

The interior of each is rather dull, rather befitting a bunker, but there are underground areas beneath the visible bunkers. These are similarly dull and military-styled, but they also act as hospitals.

These are mostly designed with emergencies such as shelling in mind, and are usually closed.

Emergency Clinics
Like the bunkers the clinics are spread through-out the City and are equipped with technology akin to a modern emergency room. Since there's no magical healing available the speed of recovery is going to be noticeably lower than what is available at one of Inside's many temples. However their availability makes them absolutely vital in the application of life-saving care.

Erin's Emporium (Player: The Bushranger, Grey Zone)

Construction Gnomes have been hard at work renovating a small store along one of the various merchantile roads. Well, it was small. Now it's bigger on the inside.

And filled with every sort of weaponry imaginable, from across the multiverse. From blaster carbines to P-90s, surface-to-air missiles to ballistas, zats to nunchucks, they're all here.

Is that a siege crossbow sitting in the corner?

Evolution Industries Headquarters + Factories (Player: Darkcomet, Blue Zone)
The headquarters of the company known as Evolution Electronics and Power is a fairly standard-looking modern-day tower in appearance, not quite reaching the level of skyscraper.

The company owns a large factory nearby, used in production of its MACE units, and potentially other products, should it be desired.

The company also possesses a number of other factories around the city, used for production of weaponry and other military materiel.

Retail outlets for Evolution's products are scattered around the city.

Hastings and Sons Mortuary (player: Kid Kris, Grey Zone)
Near one of the older parts of the city sits a large and somewhat dour building of brick and mortar, built in the traditional sense, with a metal plaque by the door that reads (predictably enough):

Hastings and Sons
MORTUARY
For the preparation of the dearly departed.
And indeed, should one go in one should find all the trappings of a conventional mortuary, including several large visitation rooms, run by this guy:

http://public5.tektek.org/img/av/1008/d05/2213/715a669.png (http://tektek.org/avatar/38746382)
Though of course, usually without the zombie there.
In recent times however, the true business of the resident Mortician has branched into a more heretical bent, offering certain services to the living impaired (more commonly known as the foul Undead). These start at simple healings and flesh grafts (the flesh occasionally obtained 'legitimately', when a body comes in for cremation and the Mortician gives them an urn full of wood-ash, but usually corpses are obtained through donations from customers or good old fashioned grave-robbing). But services can also range into body part replacement and augmentation for the undead who wishes his creator had seen fight to give him a giant lobster claw or retractable venomous spines, or even full body/flesh reconstruction for the self-conscious lich (or lich in disguise, though making your new flesh look like someone else usually costs extra) or the zombie in his golden years. These customers usually come in through the back door, where there is a plaque listing the full list of services. Though of course some are brazen enough to come through the front door anyway.

((PM if you wish to interact with the Mortician, as Kid Kris may not always check the thread.))

MagMart (Player: Lord Magtok, Blue Zone)
An absurd mash-up of K-Mart, Wall-Mart, Target, and every other vile retail chain, MagMart is staffed by an unswervingly loyal Magbots, lobotomized talking cats that are too brain-dead to know any better, several voodoo spirits, and a pickle jar that everyone insists is a sentient being that only communes with those who truly believe in it.

Here you can find everything from curtains to carpets, macaroni to monkeys on motorcycles, groceries to zombies. The staff is always happy to help (or else), and if you aren't entirely satisfied with your shopping experience, you can pay a small fee to watch the MagMart employee of your choosing get fired out the MagMart complimentary employee morale cannon.

Magnificus Theater (Player: ThePhantom, Red Zone)
This large theater is an attempt to bring culture to the city of the Inside. Plays are regularly show here, and if desired other events can be held here.

The walls of the theater are colored with three shades of blue in a wave pattern. Inside the theater are a pair of grand staircases, with the railing colored gold, while the stone of the stairs is white. The stage itself is one of the largest in the Nexus, carefully designed for the greatest enjoyment.

Rules: Please, no violence. If you must have some violent action in a theater, pm me first.

MERC Office (Player: Morty, Grey Zone)
The building that serves as MERC's de facto embassy in Inside is now open for business (though there is a separate MERC thread that serves as a meta location to post in). It's a large, newly constructed office building with a very no-nonsense look to it. Its purpose is to do business, not more and not less.

Once inside, the prospective licensed mercenaries will be confronted with a large hall lined with tables, behind which NPCs work at filing and cataloguing the people who arrive to receive their certificates. At least one actual MERC member is also usually on a shift in the building.

Sable Spire (Player: Darkcomet, Blue Zone)
A great, black-colored tower now stands at the highest point of the Skyway. Appearing mostly similar to a modern-day skyscraper, albeit more futuristic, reinforced, and armored. Upon close examination, some parts of the tower appear to conceal compartments of some sort, likely something along the lines of concealed defensive turrets. the top portion of the tower is rather different in appearance.

It appears as a truly massive hatch, similar to what one might see over a missile silo under normal circumstances.

This hatch opens into the landing area of the aerial aircraft carrier Sanctuary, the main asset of the Altaran Irregulars. Said landing area is set to act as an elevator, capable of moving up to the top of the tower or moving back down to conceal whatever is landed (usually the aforementioned carrier) under the heavily armored hatch.

The Spire, constructed by Remnant in an alliance with the Altaran Irregulars, is now a major base for the the latter, who currently act alongside Remnant in protecting the city. Their troops largely use the same equipment as Remnant's, but use the old Imperial black-and-navy color scheme to distinguish themselves.

The The Temperance Teahouse (Grey Zone) Owned by Artemis

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/1783/temperanceteahouse3xphde.png

http://www.valleyofisk.com/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/teahouse.jpg

In an old section of the city stands a wooden building of ancient construction. From inside comes the sound of good conversation and, occasionally, music being played. The scents of exotic teas, spices, and good foods drift out onto the street. along with the scents and sounds come an aura of peace and comfort. It's a nice place here, you could definitely stick around for a while, to escape the general madness of the city.

Two wings extend out from the main building. To the north (the right side as you face the tea house) is an extension of the main structure, still made of wood, the architecture is slightly different and more brightly colored, and also noticeably newer. The west side of the building is surrounded by a stone wall, enclosing a garden. The garden ends at a low stone building running the length of the west wall.

[Restaurant]Inside the restaurant is filled with tables and chairs, spread out across the dark hardwood floors. Thick wooden pillars support the second floor and the roof, their tops carved with geometric designs. At the north side of the restaurant is a long counter, surrounding an open kitchen. Steam and smoke drift up from the fires and the woks used for cooking. A shelf along the back wall is filled with dozens of tins, each containing a particular tea or herbal blend. Interspersed among them are tea kettles, each one used to brew a particular type of tea.

The center of the restaurant is open to the second floor. Stairs lead up to more seating on the second level, which looks down on the restaurant below over carved wooden balconies. The ceiling above the open space is painted with a mural of a golden dragon floating through the clouds and circling the sun.

Seats on the west side of the building go fast, as they offer the best view of the gardens. The south and east sides offer views of the bustling streets below. The north side of the second floor has no windows and sits above the kitchen, so it is often darker and smokier than the rest of the restaurant.

Menu[B]Drinks

Herbal Tea
Green Tea
Black Tea
White Tea
Yellow Tea
Red Tea
Blue Tea - Mentally stimulating.
Purple Tea - Very relaxing and slightly hallucinogenic.
Iced Tea - Served sweet or unsweet, with or without lemon.
Sake - Available chilled, heated, or at room temperature.
Lychee Wine - A rich sweet drink with a deep golden color. Pairs well with seafood. Served cold.

Food

Dim Sum
Sushi
Stir Fry - Served over rice or noodles
Noodles
Soup
Rice Cakes

Sweets

Ice Cream - Vanilla, Green Tea, Red Bean, and Mango flavoured.
Dragon's Beard Candy - A spun sugar similar to cotton candy.
Moon Cake - A dense sweet cake around a salted egg yolk "moon".
Sun Cake - A crunchy pastry filled with a sugary cream.
Tempura Fried Bananas - Served over ice cream.

[North Wing]The north wing of the restaurant is of newer construction. It is more brightly painted and more heavily decorated than the main restaurant. Two doorways on each floor lead to a U shaped hallway that runs through the north wing. Sliding paper screens from the inner walls, so that they can be slid aside and make the spaces much larger. The lower floor holds private rooms that can be reserved for larger parties or special meetings. These rooms typically have a long low table surrounded by cushions. The second floor rooms have more flexible floor plans. Most have tables and chairs, often used to host card or board games. A few can be rented out for sleeping quarters, but patrons are reminded that the walls are, literally, paper thin. Disruptive behaviour will have you evicted without a refund.

[Garden]The west wing of the tea house is a large garden surrounded by stone wall. A circular gate leads directly from the garden to the streets, as well as doors leading into the restaurant. The garden itself is carefully kept, trees and bushes trained and cut into pleasing shapes. Stone lanterns and statues decorate the garden. Two pools filled with koi fish sit diagonally from one another, connected together by a stream filled with river rocks. The sound of trickling water fills the garden. A winding path leads through the garden and over a low stone bridge. On the far side of the bridge, the path passes through another circular gate guarded by two stone dragons on plinths. the pair stare down at any visitors, questioning their intentions in passing through their gate.

Beyond the Dragon Gate the path becomes perfectly straight. On either side are large black stones surrounded by carefully raked white sand. The path passes under a red Torii gate before encountering the low stone building at the far side of the garden. The building runs the full length of the west wall and is open to the garden. Large prayer wheels line the opening and are turned by the breeze or visiting people. The walls within the building are heavily decorated and covered in hanging scrolls. At the centre of the building is a shrine, covered in candles. Behind it is a mural depicting scenes of a warrior, a golden dragon, and the sun. Sitting on the shrine a wooden statue of a warrior, sitting in meditation, his sword set aside. The wood is lacquered and carefully inlaid with delicate patterns in gold. From the statue emanates a strong aura of peace, which spreads throughout the entire property.

NPCsHideki - A large man with a red face and a long nose, he is most often found in the kitchen, cooking up tasty things.
Hanako - An older woman, her black hair streaked with grey. She is Hideki's wife and most often found behind the counter serving tea.
Sakura - A lovely young woman and the daughter of Hideki and Hanako. She acts as a waitress and sometimes plays music.


OOC: Please Read. Important information.
The Teahouse and garden are protected by an aura of non-violence. Violent acts cannot be committed here. You cannot attack another patron or do anything that would cause them bodily harm. Anyone who attempts it will find it extremely hard to convince themselves to do it. If a particularly willful person overcomes this compulsion, something in the environment will intervene, as if by seemingly random chance, to protect their victim as if by divine intervention. Because that's exactly what it is.

Needle and Thread (Blue Zone, Player: Artemis97)
On one side of a wide cobblestoned street is a small shop. The sign hanging over the door depicts a simple spool of thread, pierced by a needle. No words were included, as a courtesy to those who could not read, nor were they needed. It was clear from the merchandise displayed in the two large windows on either side of the door that this was a clothing boutique. The right side displayed the latest in women's fashions, dresses and skirts in unique designs, all detailed by hand with beading and embroidery. The left window showed men's clothing, from a beautifully tailored three piece suit, cut from expensive fabrics, to the very best in adventuring style, rugged and sturdy, clearly built to last.

Inside, racks and mannequins display more clothing, split down the middle between men's and women's fashions. The back wall held rolls of fabric, some plain, others with obviously magical properties. A large, three-sided mirror sits in the back corner, next to a small changing stall. On the other side is a small counter holding a cash register, behind that the door that led to a small workroom.

The Needle and Thread is a clothing shop specializing in custom tailoring and speciality designs. It is owned and operated by Lillith Rock, and the kindly fiendish woman can usually be found behind the counter, or working on orders in the back workroom.

Pontius' Custom Constructs (Player: Earl of Purple, Grey Zone)
The caravan of 6 wagons (I never said 3! Well, I did, but still.) arrives at a warehouse, previously for sale. The gnomes lead the golems and other constructs inside, and get to work. The warehouse has an open yard at the main entrance, and several golems, like crude figures of worked stone or wood, stand in the yard. A gnome wearing an apron over smart-yet-practical artisan's clothes and puts a sign up.


Pontius's Custom Constructs
Golems of Any Material* at Unbelievably Low Prices!!!**
You Won't Find a Golem, Gargoyle, Guardian or Homonculus Cheaper!!***
Come Now and Buy 1 Get 1 Full Price!!!****



*Flesh has an additional charge. **Define 'low'. ***Except at our competitors. ****Terms and conditions apply.

Sanctuary Fortress of Zoemaytare (Player: Rebonack, Blue Zone)

Like so many other prominent buildings in Town, or not so prominent buildings for that matter, this place seemed to pop up out of nowhere over night.

Buildings are like mushrooms in Town. Probably spread via spores, too.

Regardless, here it is. A rather sizeable campus marble hewn from the mountains some distance away. Carved and hauled here near the edge of the slums where they were no doubt assembled. Though... no one can quite place a finger on when this happened.

Though the buildings aren't of only cold hard stone, no. There are timbers as well. Not what one might expect, however. They seem almost organic. As though they had grown into place rather than being hewn.

Oddness aside, the temple is arranged in a rather interesting fashion. Several concentric wall and courtyards ending in a central temple.

The outer wall is lower than the rest, each tier of the temple built onto higher ground like a wedding cake. Each wall is topped with a roof supported on the inside by pillars, creating a sheltered walkway. The exact use of these porches depends on the section of the temple one happens to be in.

Anyone is allowed entry through the first wall and into the first court, the Court of Meeting. Beyond the second wall only worshippers of Zoemaytare are allowed admittance to the second court, the Court of the Blessed. Beyond the third wall only the priests are allowed, where they carry out holy rituals within the temple itself.

The Court of Meeting is dedicated to service of those the worshippers of Zoemaytare dwell among. Food is prepared for the hungry here and given out without expectation of recompense. Those without a place to lay their head are allowed to sleep within the porch. The grounds beyond the porch are devoted to a wondrous garden boasting vibrancy and spectacular color. This are is always comfortably warm and brimming with life. Wounds heal faster as the body is refreshed. Undead creatures will find that remaining here is decidedly uncomfortable.

The sky above the temple seems to be perpetually clear, filled with pleasant sunlight in the day and cloaked with gossamer stars at night. Benches are set up here and there, under trees with hanging branches and above fragrant shrubbery. A lively stream flows endlessly in a circuit about the Court, spilling into several larger pools and meandering up a small outcrop of stone before cascading back down the other side.

This section of the temple is tended by members of the faith. Not priests, though devote. They can be found tending the garden and serving warm food. When in service to the temple these devotees wear a white linen ephod bearing the symbol of a willow tree, ornately rendered in blue thread. They'll be more than happen to answer any questions. Priests tend to have stricter ceremonial garb, including a blue tunic and white robe in addition to the ephod.

Welcome, traveller. May you be more blessed when you leave than when you came.

New information that isn't readily noticeable at first glance at the temple will be added here.

The temple grounds are protected by a dampening field that blocks unauthorized teleporation and dimensional shifting. The place is something of a fortress after all. Being able to pop in and out at will would defeat the purpose.

Zoemaytare isn't a god of (fill in the black) but rather the patron and protector of her people. As such, her domain, if she even has one, is over all that her people do. The people in question are collectively known as the Zoeos, and this particular temple is their first major venture into Town. At present their stated goal is to set up trade relations and aid the city. This is ministered through the temple on account of the Zoeos government being a theocracy.

It just so happens that there's a dungeon under the temple, though the entrance to it is well hidden.

NPCs thus far:

Potentate of the temple: the head priest and administrator. He has yet to be seen 'on screen' though he has been referred to.

Regent Zachius: And elderly human with a coppery complexion and deep-set wrinkles, the sort of face one expects of a person who has spent a great deal of time in the sun smiling. He's a kind old fellow who is in charge of the Court of Meeting.

Regent Stephen: A younger human who smells rather distinctly of wolf. He's in charge of the dungeons of the temple and seems to be a rather caring and compassionate fellow. It's his job to bring the cases of prisoners before the Potentate.

Regent Thadeus: One of the priests who aids in minor upkeep in the temple proper. He usually isn't seen outside the temple and since his position doesn't put him in much contact with the common folk he tends to be somewhat aloof and judgmental. Also happens to be an elf. Those snooty elves!

Bognus Thundershield: a lay dwarf that operates the temple's teleporter, primarily from Trog's. Though people can be 'ported in from elsewhere as well. While it isn't commonly known, this device can send people over rather long distances, though it's somewhat inaccurate when doing so. Bognus is a bit gruff, though generally good natured. He speaks with a thick Scottish Dwarven accent.

The Statue of Vyrn (Blue Zone)
On a hill near Evergreen Gardens at an previously empty lot surrounded by spot lights now stands an over 300 feet tall (100 meters tall to be exact) mitharal statue of Emperor Vyrn. Whoever made it seems to have tried to come as close to his likeness as possible on a white mithral surface.
The emperor is dressed in his most most archetypical attire, one fist raised to the skies and another clutching a sword held against the ground. His face perfectly stoic as he overlooks Inside's harbor.
The statue is actually hollow and small groups of people are allowed to take the elevator up to be able to see the city from atop the statues head. Otherwise security is tight around the statue with a tall fence, guards and security cameras there to prevent people from defacing it.
At night the statue is still clearly visible thanks to the many spotlights illuminating it, still making it visible for anyone approaching the city, by day or night.

The Swordfish (Player: Ghar, Grey Zone)
A new shop has opened up in Market Street. The building is a simple affair. A brick building with a massive chimney that constantly billows smoke. On the inside a massive forge dominates the far wall from the entrance. All manner of smithing equipment is carefully placed around the large room that dominates most of the building. Lining the two side walls are many tools for his craft, while lining the far wall are the products of that craft.

Swords, swords of all shapes and sizes. Some brutally efficient, simple weapons and others pieces of art that are no less functional. Each and every sword is obviously the work of a master.

And the master is always present. A great robot moves around the room, always working and experimenting with its remarkable talent. The machine is a hulking, bronze coloured humanoid. The robot has a number of slides and doors, implying there's more to it than is immediately apparent. Finally, at its head is a glass dome, filled with water. Dominating the container is a great carp, as big as a man. It gazes at it's work with eyes that know little more than hate. Hate and its new inspiration.

Word travels quickly of this bizarre master swordsmith. Though it is quite fearsome, the quality of its blades are unmatched.

St. Guinevere's Sanatorium for Lunatics and Object Seekers (Player: Anyone, Gray Zone)
This insane asylum exists for people questing after Objects from the Holders Mythos. Anyone can run an Object quest, but please look at the community agreed guidelines first (http://tinyurl.com/5w42x5c) as it helps keep things consistent.

If you want to use the Sanatorium for other uses, feel free, but expect it to be a house of unspeakable horrors. :smalltongue:

The Temple of Dalachrech (Player: Earl of Purple, Grey Zone)
The first room entered is a foyer. On the walls are red drapes with silver, two-tailed scorpions embroidered on to them, and next to the door is an ornate font. The granite font stands about waist height, and is a plinth with a bowl of unholy water. Winding around the font are carved centipedes. A door away from this chamber leads to the main prayer hall. This room also has drapes with the two-tailed scorpion device on the walls, and a red velvet carpet flanked by wooden pews leads to an altar at the far end. The altar is covered with red velvet, with a gold statue and red candles placed upon it. The statue depicts a demon with a centipede's body, a scorpion's tail with spinnerets next to the sting, a stag beetle's head and the claws of a praying mantis.

Please PM Earl of Purple before entering this location.


Trollfinger, Ironpick & Greencheek, Mining & Engineering (Player: Morty, Blue Zone)
A run-down building near Trog's Tavern was bought by three goblin entrepreneurs with a large crew and now houses their mining and engineering company. Everyone who needs something dug, built, repaired or blown up is welcome.

Warwick Works (player: happyturtle, Grey Zone)
In the industrial area, a building is rented and has a new sign put out front.


W
Warwick Works

The building itself consists of a small office area in front and warehouses in back. There is no indication of what sort of business this is, but a certain cyborg with a satellite might recognize the logo and name.

Witch Which's Wish Shop (Grey, Player: Haruki-kun)

Welcome. If you have stepped into this store, it is because you have a wish.

The store is big, ancient and beautiful. It has a large garden with colourful flowers, a pond with fish and running water, and chirping birds. This is the outside of the store. The inside, however, is, to put it simply, gloomy. There’s burning candles and incense everywhere. From the hall where you enter you are led off into a side room with a low table and cushions around it. A tall, masked and unnamed stranger brings tea and snacks to the guests. The Witch sits opposite and rarely ever moves.

RULES (OOC):
This is a Wish shop. Your character will only enter this shop if he has a wish. Whether the wish is granted or not is a different issue.
Witch Which is in charge of the shop and will grant wishes to everyone who asks, regardless of intent or alignment, as long as the appropriate price is paid. Under certain conditions:

Condition one: Witch Which will not haggle. She couldn’t lower a price or overcharge even if she wanted to. A balance must be kept in order for the wish to be granted.

Condition two: When a Wish directly affects another player’s character in a way that would be considered godmodding, the other player must agree first.

Condition three: The Witch may not reject any wish unless the price is too high to be paid. Wishes to take a life or to destroy the world, for example, carry a price higher than anyone can pay. ANYONE.

Condition Four: The Witch will never engage in battle. Be glad. The Witch is the very definition of True Neutral.

Condition Five: The store is not hard to access; in fact, there’s a big sign outside and everything. However, the store’s grounds exist in a special separate dimension, protecting it from anything that could destroy it, up to and including plot.

Condition Six: Haruki-kun reserves the right to alter the conditions if he feels they’re causing problems such as godmodding or similar issues.

(Haruki-Kun wishes for a PM to be sent to him upon someone entering the shop so he knows about it.)

Inside's Defenses, Remnant, and The Council


Defenses

As stated above, the city of Inside is defended by the Walls, Moat and DOOM-Shield, but it is also defended by a more "mundane" force field that can be called upon in times of need, as well as a number of more conventional defensive capabilities, nearly all of which are manned and controlled by Remnant(Controlled for the most part by Wolfbane). These include things from Emergency Bunkers, Relief Stations, Anti-Aircraft Cannon, and the like.

Remnant

As stated before, Remnant is Inside's police force, army, and main defensive body. It is made up of the remains of what was once the Acronymian Empire, and consists of hundreds of men, women, and machines, both soldier and civilian, sacrificing their daily lives and time to make sure the city of Inside is relatively safe for it's citizens. There are Remnant Outposts all throughout the city, with the main HQ in Blue Zone, and less Outposts in Red Zone. These can be reached fairly easily, and allow people to report crimes, turn in criminals, collect bounties, and even ask to be recruited. Remnant controls most of Inside's defenses, but also controls Rapid Response Units capable of stopping fires, providing emergency medical aide, and even disaster relief to clean up debris and fix buildings and roads damaged by the day to day events of Inside.

Squads of Remnants patrol the streets "every so often" and should anyone need one, can interact with them (Please check in OOC upon doing so, however).

As a note, Low-Level Remnants can be Godmodded! They can be assumed to fight the fires that pop up, but can also be asked to provide basic information. This also means that they can be bribed for less well-known information such as someone's name and rank, or to look the other way for a small crime, such as theft. Anything more, please post in OOC in case there is something that needs clarified. The Remnants can be godmodded to be killed on occasion, but if it happens too fast, too often, one of the Remnant players may step in and RP it out. Once again, please post in OOC if you plan on killing a Remnant NPC.

What is NOT Godmoddable:

-Getting Security Codes
-Accessing Secure Areas
-Killing off more than one or two NPCs at a time, or killing a Named Remnant NPC/PC
-Stealing Identities
-Destroying Remnant facilities

It is not impossible for these to happen, but with proper warning provided to a Remnant player, it can be RP'd out and attempted. However, it should be noted that only Low-Ranking Remnants can be Godmodded in this way.

Council

The Council is the "ruling" body of Inside. A small group of individuals reside on it, and decide Inside Policy. People can go here for diplomatic relations, trials, or other activities that may concern dealing with an actual government instead of a police force or army. Usually these scenes deadtime long before anything of consequence is decided. Sort of like a real government. :smalltongue:

[Fenric]

[Smithy]

Myobu smiles and helps Garrett up

Now, we give it a hand guard.

He takes a plain disk of steel with a teardrop hole

You get to start with this. When you have defeated your first enemy, you may change it for a more embellished one.

[Rebonack]

[Streets]

Zippo missiles!

The dropship jerks several feet higher into the air when the super villain is tossed at it, causing her to slam into its armor and smash a rather unsightly dent in it. Seems the robo-legs are a little more durable than the plating on the rest of the robot, since that impact was apparently enough to punch through the stuff and expose the super-structure below. The ice blcok is snagged by the robot's tractor beam and funneled toward the bay on the underside. Thankfully for her the grinders aren't active right now, otherwise that would be a pretty awful way to go.

In like fashion, the ditched minions begin swarming back into the dropship to escape the wrath of... well... all the stuff that's shooting at them now.

It'll take a while for it to load up on the minions, though if it falls under heavy fire before they're all on board it'll accelerate away toward the Radiation Pit at a rate that should be all rights turn the organs of anyone inside into jam.

No one likes jellied organs.

They don't work well.

[TechnoScrabble]

[Smithy]

Myobu smiles and helps Garrett up

Now, we give it a hand guard.

He takes a plain disk of steel with a teardrop hole

You get to start with this. When you have defeated your first enemy, you may change it for a more embellished one.

"Right. And that's the bit that locks in the handle and the sheath?" Garrett looks over the disk, running his fingers over it to feel the minute details.

[Fenric]

[Smithy]

Myobu smiles and shakes his head

No, the tsuba is the disk. The locking part is the habaki, and it is always plain because it rubs against the wood of your saya - sheath, in standard Nexus-common.

[Recaiden]

Bombed Out Zone

Those unfortunate enough to be caught out of cover go down in a spray of otherworldly ichor, and the three that manage to survive the movement find themselves open to fire from the spider-bots. It doesn't end well for the aliens.

The figure takes this opportunity to hop up and run towards the cratery creater with the thing in it.

[Shadowcaller]

Configuration Clinic:

The wolf is swiftly replaced by a woman in her underwear. "Please tell me they're in a gun," she whispers as she rifles through the drawer for the tranquilizers. "Getting close to this thing is a pain, and I'm screwed if he actually grabs me."


[Where Vallery is]

"Years in the field," Thariza says, advancing in the direction of the Vallery in front of her, swinging her mace.

Configuration Clinic:

The dwarf politely shields his eyes as she changes form. "Syringe." He have to admit. Oh joy. He's telling the truth though, there are syringes and animal tranquilizer's in said drawer. Now is just the problem of injecting the ogre with them.

The ogre has almost managed to put itself up straight back up, swinging it's arm wide in case the wolf/woman would get the idea of attacking him again.

[Where Vallery is]

Ah, one sol'dier.
The Vallery in front of Thariza quickly dances away as the charr advances while the three other Vallery's once again lunges towards her. Thariza might feel a poke in her back by a dulled rapier unless she dodges the Vallery coming from behind.

[Morty]

[Where Vallery is]

Thariza isn't really much for dodging; she's a heavily armoured grunt. She staggers upon being hit, and then smashes her mace into the ground. It causes a shiny symbol to erupt on the ground, causing pain for anyone other than her and her allies.

[Shadowcaller]

[Where Vallery is]

All the Vallery's besides the one behind Thariza disappears as she suddenly falls back, not prepared for that sudden attack, her slouch hat even falling off her head!
Ahem, madame. I believe that the duel is over now! She insists mentally.

[Morty]

[Where Vallery is]

"Really?" The Charr soldier is confused. "That hit wouldn't be enough to stop me, even if the blade had been sharp."

[Shadowcaller]

[Where Vallery is]

The duelist get's off the ground and dusts off her clothes and hat. "My blade is much sharper than other blades. But it's a moot point, I always duel to the first strike. I was not aware there was another... tra'dition." Vallery insists as she tries to put her hat back on correctly.

[TechnoScrabble]

[Smithy]

Myobu smiles and shakes his head

No, the tsuba is the disk. The locking part is the habaki, and it is always plain because it rubs against the wood of your saya - sheath, in standard Nexus-common.

"Right, so this goes over the blade, right?" Garrett compares the blade and the hole. He's sure that:s how it goes, but he doesn't want to be wrong.

[Fenric]

[Smithy]

Myobu nods

Correct: slide it down over the blade until it rests against the handle, then slide the habaki down over the blade and press it tightly against the tsuba. It will become difficult to move near the end, as the fit is very snug.

[TechnoScrabble]

Smithy

Garrett gets to work, hesitating slightly before each action and making sure not to strain anything. As the parts join with the whole, they briefly flash with light and heat, the enchantment recognizing them as part of the blade.

[Morty]

[Where Vallery is]

"This is Iron Legion armour," Thariza says, snorting. "Made it myself. It won't be pierced so easily. And in the Legions we spar until one of us yields or can't stand anymore."

[Fenric]

[Smithy]

Myobu watches, impressed with the enchantment and somewhat at a loss for how it is happening.

Just like that. Keep it sharp, clean, and oiled, and it will serve you well.

[The Bushranger]

[Where The Ice Creams Are]

Natalie and Jamie, having come from GLoG, might well arrive Inside, approaching a certain small ice cream shop.

[Earl of Purple]

Where The Wild Things Ice Creams Are

Natalie is still following Jamie, so the only reason they wouldn't be is if Jamie's gotten lost. Natalie doesn't visit Inside very often, so she doesn't know her way around and isn't used to the way the streets change when one isn't looking.

[Shadowcaller]

[Where Vallery is]

"This is Iron Legion armour," Thariza says, snorting. "Made it myself. It won't be pierced so easily. And in the Legions we spar until one of us yields or can't stand anymore."

[Where Vallery is]

"My blade is as sharp as my wit, madame, literary." Vallery laughs at her own joke(?). "No offense to your armorsmithing ability of course, but my blade could easily have snuck in between the plates from behind. That poke was simply a signature of what I could have done."

[Devixer]

"You want to know what I've decided?" Asks Susurrus all of a sudden, still very much eyeing the vagrants as they toddle away, either lacking locomotive skills or the current faculties to use them. He speaks disjointedly, not even a second after the words finish pouring from Aiden's mouth.

He doesn't look at the little half-breed quite yet.

"I've decided you must be insane."

Sus's voice is quiet, and still, and it echoes like the crawling flesh-mumbles of a few dozen creatures that were never intended to make sounds beyond grunts, moos, or yowls.

Red Zone - Trash

"That so?" Aiden has his sword resting against his shoulder at this point, the edge somehow not ruining his jacket. "What, is it because I interrupted your meal or something like that?" The cocky grin on his face has yet to falter. "Because if I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I'd have..." he takes a moment to count out his fingers. "forty-five cents."

[Gullara]

[Pokémon Park]

"Well, that's at least better then Spidy. Your pokemon might know abit about it and, if he can use bug bite he might find what we search for."

[Pokémon Park]

"Maybe. I guess we can try it out." Becca goes over the the nearest tree and puts Bugsy in a low hanging branch. "Okay, I need tree resin. You know what that is, Bugsy?" The Spinarak just looks at her. "Hm, maybe we need to show him some so he knows what to look for?"

[TechnoScrabble]

[Smithy]

Myobu watches, impressed with the enchantment and somewhat at a loss for how it is happening.

Just like that. Keep it sharp, clean, and oiled, and it will serve you well.

Garrett does a full bow this time, down on one knee.

"Thank you. I will keep it close at all times."

[Rebonack]

[Inside's Public Restrooms!]

A shadow falls over gross, creepy public restrooms the city over...

Once more the monolithic form of a Dia-Bot-Ical drop ship overs overhead, its lower section spiraling open to release a swarm of minions upon the bathroom below! One of the bots heads inside, checks if there's anyone within, and then reports back its findings. "Blarp blarp blarp!"

Apparently that's an all-clear, because the robots begin to rapidly disassemble the bathroom, carrying the bits and pieces back up into the dropship!

~Citizens of Inside,~ comes a resonating, telepathic voice. ~Know that Doctor Diabolical has declared dominion over all public restrooms of the City.~

Drifting out of the dropship is a being with a chalky complexion clad in a simple, unadorned robe. His head is bulbous and bloated, his watery eyes half closed as though slumbering. The being's third eye, however, is wide and searching. Its gaze roves over all that draw near, piercing flesh and metal and mind alike. The being's mental presence is almost like a physical think, thick and oppressive as a humid summer day.

~I am the Solipsist, and the mind is all that is. And you... you are but a thought.~

[Darkcomet]

[Skyway, Blue Zone]

In an unusually clear area for a piece of floating city, a large stealth field, or perhaps many smaller stealth fields, spontaneously dropped to reveal a most unusual scene.

Assembled on the 'ground' was a large stage, its centerpiece a large holoprojector. The stage was surrounded by recording and broadcasting equipment, all marked with Altaran Irregular emblems, and the Irregulars themselves, as one looked out from the center of the area, were present in large numbers.

What must have been the Irregulars' entire complement of stealth-capable gunships and transports patrolled the area, and flight-troopers using EvA-5 powered flight armor patrolled right along with them, watching over the area with sniper beam rifles and precision laser cannons in hand. The ground, too, was not neglected, with the area already cordoned off by Irregular checkpoints, and the area within even more heavily patrolled by troops with various equipment. The rooftops around the area seemed bare, but even they were marked by cloaked snipers, and the IAV Sanctuary was not far from the city, ensuring that reinforcements could be deployed at a moment's notice.

The broadcast began on a channel previously used as the official broadcast channel of the defunct Empire, blankly focusing on the stage, with no explanation whatsoever of the reason why.

But one clue showed itself soon after. The holoprojector activated, displaying a single image.





http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/gg579/lordaltaran/altaranstarflag_zps44e9f63c.png

[Lost_Deep]

Inside's Public Restrooms!

There is a great difference between a thought and the physical world. who is that woman in that dress? Not a single inch of her skin is showing, she's wearing a black dress with long gloves and stockings to hide all her skin. Her hair appears to be black, and she's wearing a porcelain maiden mask. Her form is beautiful. There's magic at work here, making her appear to be whatever is most pleasing in a feminine form to the beholder.

However, chances are the Solipsist will instead notice her mind. It's well-defended. It's like a fortress, or a bomb bunker. Oh, he is not getting in there easily.

[Murkus]

Red Zone - Trash

"That so?" Aiden has his sword resting against his shoulder at this point, the edge somehow not ruining his jacket. "What, is it because I interrupted your meal or something like that?" The cocky grin on his face has yet to falter. "Because if I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I'd have..." he takes a moment to count out his fingers. "forty-five cents."

"I suppose I don't just mean you, little clown," says Susurrus, folding his large primary arms on the ground and laying his head down upon them, looking for all the world like an enormous cat. A horrible, skinless cat made of garbage, but the great soul-eater can certainly strike a pose. "But yes. That. You have, clearly, lost your mind. You should have listened to one of the last fourty-four."


Quarantine

Garrett looks over the hallway, tentatively allowing his mind to expand a small bit outwards and relieving the pressure on his head a bit.

He inhales deeply and looks around, licking dry lips.

"Everyone here is so beautiful..."


The gaggle of perfectly pretty Elexxion employees takes stock of Garrett quietly, a couple of the girls tittering at his patient's gown, a couple of the men trading low gossipy words.

"You cool?" Varianne asks him squarely, squeezing Garrett's fingers.

[Shadowcaller]

[Remnant Office]

In a bright flash of light an peculiar being (http://l.yimg.com/ck/image/A1655/1655297/300_1655297.png) appears outside the office. It enters and looks around for a person to talk about building permissions with.

[TechnoScrabble]

Quarantine

The whispers and laughter grind at Garrett's ego, but he knows better than to lose face over something so small.

"Yeah, I'm good."

He straightens his back out and squares his shoulders, taking a strong stride despite his slight limp. His face practically dares anyone to give him too much trouble over his state of clothing, or anything else really. When you're half-god, you tend to give off a natural air of power.

[Rebonack]

[Inside's Public Restrooms!]

~You trust your senses in this matter,~ the thrumming, psionic voice replies. ~That is unwise.~

The Solipsist doesn't have a mind guarded like a fortress, no. Instead its mind billows forth from its frail-looking corporeal body, causing reality around it to ripple and sway. It's mind is no fortress or bunker, instead it is guarded merely by its own vastness. What threat is a fortress to a world?

But the minions?

Well...

The minions really don't care about philosophical debates regarding the nature of reality.

They're more concerned with taking this gross, tacky bathroom apart so they can build what they've been instructed to assemble.

New bathrooms! Better bathrooms! Eeeeeeeevil bathrooms!

[Lost_Deep]

Inside's Public Restrooms!

It's far better than the alternative. If you really were the center of the universe, you would be less keen on it. a sword appears in her hand, and from it a red laser fires at one of the minions. But your view on how things are is less important than the fact that you are going about improving the public services in the wrong way.

He might get the feeling that was a casual insult. In fact, the telepathic message come with the undertone, "Casual insult, intended to be slight"

[Morty]

[Where Vallery is]

"My blade is as sharp as my wit, madame, literary." Vallery laughs at her own joke(?). "No offense to your armorsmithing ability of course, but my blade could easily have snuck in between the plates from behind. That poke was simply a signature of what I could have done."

"Hmph." Thariza snorts. "It still doesn't make much sense to stop a duel after only a single blow. It takes more than that to stop an Iron Legion foot-slogger."


[Remnant Office]

In a bright flash of light an peculiar being (http://l.yimg.com/ck/image/A1655/1655297/300_1655297.png) appears outside the office. It enters and looks around for a person to talk about building permissions with.

She is greeted by a short, skinny bald human officer.

"How may I help you?"

[Vhaidara]

[A Street. An Ordinary Street]

Nalin exits MERC and finds himself walking. Simply walking. The kind of purposeless walk that a person who has a lot to think about walks.

[Devixer]

Red Zone - Trash

Aiden sighs. "The last eight, I didn't say penny. Ugly and deaf, not a great combo." Aiden places the tip of his sword on the ground and holds it up like that. Sus will probably see at this point that the sword is almost as tall as him. "Besides, I beat all of those guys down. And buddy, you don't look like much compared to at least three of them."

[Rebonack]

[Public Restrooms of Inside!]

~Objects begin to be and cease to be, bubbling in and out of existence like the passing visions of a dream,~ the Solipsist replies. ~Such is the nature of this thought. So it will be.~

One of the minions gets a hole blasted in it by the beam, causing it to drop to the ground with a pathetic sounding, "Blarp!" Another minion grabs the ruined minion and hauls it off into the drop ship, no doubt to dump it into the ship's assembler plant and break it down to build a new minion.

Ants do that too, don't they?

Seems like a thing ants would do.

Anywho!

Iridescent pink bubbles begin drifting away from the Solipsist and toward the robed woman at a lazy, bouncing pace. Reality warps around them with fluid shape and swirling color.

[Recaiden]

[A Street. An Ordinary Street]

Nalin exits MERC and finds himself walking. Simply walking. The kind of purposeless walk that a person who has a lot to think about walks.

A character who vaguely remembers walking along the Streets that were streets of their own is wandering. The sort of wandering of a person who isn't sure where they're going. They should really go back to VIGIL, but there's this whole new mountain to get used to, and a whole new group of people she's never allowed to eat. It's so discouraging.
While she walks, she amuses herself listening to the thoughts of other passersby.

[Vhaidara]

A character who vaguely remembers walking along the Streets that were streets of their own is wandering. The sort of wandering of a person who isn't sure where they're going. They should really go back to VIGIL, but there's this whole new mountain to get used to, and a whole new group of people she's never allowed to eat. It's so discouraging.
While she walks, she amuses herself listening to the thoughts of other passersby.

She will find the horned man's thoughts are closed to her. Then he passes an alley, and stops for a moment. A pair of glowing red eyes appear behind him. A clawed arm reaches out from the shadows, and slowly sneaks towards him.
Hello, Gartilaxshian. Surprised it took you so long.

[Lost_Deep]

Public Restrooms of Inside!

Ah-ah-ah, that is neither the nature of thoughts nor matter. The woman emits a strong psychic static, specifically made to disrupt the psychic effects of anyone else. She lets the telepathy through, but will do no such thing to reality-altering effects.

Now, her attempted negation is more than just a simple attempt. The area around her becomes a psychic maelstrom, and affecting that area is going to be much harder than it should be if not impossible. It's more than just chaos, it's controlled chaos, specifically designed to be the worst chaos to work with, and when it comes to strength? She will prove to be much, much stronger than she seemed to be at first. The funny thing about a proper fortress... you don't know what's inside.

She proceeds to casually bombard the bots with lasers.

[Zefir]

[Pokémon Park]

"Maybe. I guess we can try it out." Becca goes over the the nearest tree and puts Bugsy in a low hanging branch. "Okay, I need tree resin. You know what that is, Bugsy?" The Spinarak just looks at her. "Hm, maybe we need to show him some so he knows what to look for?"

[Pokémon Park]

"I think I got the rigth tool for that." Vis says as he puts his backpack down and searches for something inside of it.

After a few moments he drags out a pocket PC.

"This is a Guide my father bought me. He said it contains information about the areas and all. It should help us out."
After a while he will get a few pictures and shows them to Becca and her Pokemon. For a boy who wears chainmail and sword he got high technologie.

[Recaiden]

[Streets]

How intesresting. Arlem turns towards this alleyway and watches. Apparently this ominous fgure is known to the shielded man.

[Vhaidara]

[Streets]

How intesresting. Arlem turns towards this alleyway and watches. Apparently this ominous fgure is known to the shielded man.

[Streets]

The claw slows, and a large, bulbous, red-skinned creature steps out of the alley. It's voice is sloppy, like someone who's talking with their mouth full.
Nalin, my old friend. Funny seeing you here. How long has it been, ten years?
Nalin turns to face the beast.
Yes, I thought it was odd that you didn't come to collect. And it's been twenty.
Gartilaxshian shrugs
Time moves differently here. But still, you do owe me your soul.
Nalin shakes his head.
Except that you didn't hold up your end of the bargain. You sent me to the Abyss, not to my home. And before you say anything, the Abyss has never been my home, no matter what my father may be.

Arlem, if she is perceptive, may notice a number of smaller misshapen figures slowly creeping up on Nalin from behind.

[Shadowcaller]

"Hmph." Thariza snorts. "It still doesn't make much sense to stop a duel after only a single blow. It takes more than that to stop an Iron Legion foot-slogger."



She is greeted by a short, skinny bald human officer.

"How may I help you?"

Remnant Office

Whatever gender the ethereal is, it isn't showing. Even it's voice is painfully gender neutral. "Ah, greetings honored lawkeeper. My name is Rivizhir and I am here to seek permission to build a statue of emperor Vyrn in Inside." The being taps a few buttons on it's wrist computer and a holographic image of an enormous statue of Vyrn appears. "The statue is actually already made, we simply need to teleport it into this location here. Near Evergreen park. The surroundings need to be remade of course and the statue has to be reinforced into the streets, but we have already arranged most of that already when we bought the property."

[Vallery's Location]

"It's really sharp!" Vallery insists, her voice slightly higher pitched than usual, why wouldn't this person just agree that she won?! All duels she had fought before went the same way. "I could have cut your throat from this position if I had been a common thug."

[Recaiden]

[Streets]

Arlem approaches the group, twirling a dagger on the end of a chain. Despite the mirrored mask covering her face, her voice should be pretty clear.
"What do we have here? Trying to ambush someone while discussing a deal? How unsporting."

[Vhaidara]

[Streets]

Arlem approaches the group, twirling a dagger on the end of a chain. Despite the mirrored mask covering her face, her voice should be pretty clear.
"What do we have here? Trying to ambush someone while discussing a deal? How unsporting."

[Streets]

The little demons squeal as Arlem approaches them, huddling together.

Nalin glances back
Really, Gartilaxshian? Trying to jump me? And with those? You used to have standards.
Gartilaxshian looks sullen
When I was trapped here, I lost most of my prestige and power. But with the power of a soul like yours I can afford a ride home. Now give it here!
He lashes at Nalin, who steps back, his arms twirling in front of him. A staff of energy appears in his hands, and his eyes widen as it cuts off one of Gartilaxshian's fingers. The finger falls to the ground, where it quickly decays into nothing, giving off a truly foul smell.
Looks like this place has done me a favor or two. Sure you can take me?

[Recaiden]

[Streets]

Arlem reaches out to try to pick up one of the tiny demons, curious.
"Think you can take him and me? I recommend you get used to life up here instead."

[Vhaidara]

[Streets]

Arlem reaches out to try to pick up one of the tiny demons, curious.
"Think you can take him and me? I recommend you get used to life up here instead."

[Streets]
The little demon opens its mouth, fully unhinging its jaw and attempts to chomp on Arlem's finger. It telegraphs its intent pretty thoroughly, though, so if she's paying any attention she won't be bitten. If she is, though, she might lose part of the finger

Gartilaxshian backs away.
You make a good point, Madame. I suppose I must rebuild my power base here. A shame, after so many centuries of work.
The demon turns to leave. Nalin clutches his staff ad a blade appears at one end. He spins it to be parallel to the ground and thrusts it through the demon's back, then rips upwards.
Sorry, old friend. But I know you, and you'll just jump me first chance you get that I'm on my own.
The demon falls to the ground, then begins to dissolve. Its essence flows into Nalin's weapon as he turns to face Arlem and the pack of little demons.
Thank you. I am Nalin.

[Morty]

[Remnant Office]

The officer blinks and cannot hide his deep surprise.

"Well, uh... I mean. If you purchased the property, there's certainly no reason for us to stop you from putting what you want there, provided it's not dangerous."

[Vallery's Location]

"How many real fights have you been in?" Thariza asks, somewhat sceptically. "Against armoured opponents who wanted to kill you?"

[Recaiden]

[Streets]
The little demon opens its mouth, fully unhinging its jaw and attempts to chomp on Arlem's finger. It telegraphs its intent pretty thoroughly, though, so if she's paying any attention she won't be bitten. If she is, though, she might lose part of the finger

Gartilaxshian backs away.
You make a good point, Madame. I suppose I must rebuild my power base here. A shame, after so many centuries of work.
The demon turns to leave. Nalin clutches his staff ad a blade appears at one end. He spins it to be parallel to the ground and thrusts it through the demon's back, then rips upwards.
Sorry, old friend. But I know you, and you'll just jump me first chance you get that I'm on my own.
The demon falls to the ground, then begins to dissolve. Its essence flows into Nalin's weapon as he turns to face Arlem and the pack of little demons.
Thank you. I am Nalin.

Arlem jerks her empty hand back and scowls at the thing.
"Pay evil unto evil, eh? It was a demon, I suppose."

She bows to Nalin. "I'm Arlem. Pleased to meet you, and no thanks needed. Just part of the job."

[Vhaidara]

Arlem jerks her empty hand back and scowls at the thing.
"Pay evil unto evil, eh? It was a demon, I suppose."

She bows to Nalin. "I'm Arlem. Pleased to meet you, and no thanks needed. Just part of the job."

Nalin grimaces.
He's had it coming for decades.
He fires a few blasts of dark energy at the ground near the feet of the little demons, and they scatter and flee.
What, precisely, makes it your job to intervene?

[Recaiden]

[Streets]

"Being a member of Vigil. It's what we do."
Intervene where no one wants them.

"Help people out. Do good. Kick villains."

[Vhaidara]

[Streets]

"Being a member of Vigil. It's what we do."
Intervene where no one wants them.

"Help people out. Do good. Kick villains."

Sounds like an organization of vigilantes, which, I suppose is where the name comes from.
He looks the woman over.
What kind of rules do you put your members under?

[Recaiden]

"Not very many, honestly. You should come out to the base and see."
Arlem holds out a hand to the potential recruit.

"Oh! Why can't I read your mind? Are you an android?"

[Vhaidara]

"Not very many, honestly. You should come out to the base and see."
Arlem holds out a hand to the potential recruit.

"Oh! Why can't I read your mind? Are you an android?"


Where is this base? Mind showing me?
Nalin takes her hand, shakes it, and releases.
What the hells is an android? I've been trained to keep things out of my mind, and trained well. Most dangerous enemy is the one that can attack there.

[Darkcomet]

[Skyway, Blue Zone (Public Broadcast)]

The broadcast continued in its unannounced, bewildering silence, the giant holographic flag hanging in the air like a storm cloud. The Irregulars began to allow civilians into the area to watch, and this mystery continued until Commander Vyrn Altaran floated up from below, returning to corporeality and landing on the stage.

With a snap of his fingers, a podium deployed from a concealed hatch in the stage, complete with a mic, and he stepped up to begin.

"Three years ago, the Empire I forged spontaneously and inexplicably collapsed. And yet, in the three years since, despite rebuilding our power base and in many respects becoming superior to the former Imperial military, we have sat in this city, too afraid of retribution to look beyond, to the citizens we abandoned.

This is no less than betrayal, and we are already paying the price today. One former holding, one of the most loyal to the Empire, has already aligned with the Chimera Syndicate to pay us back for abandoning them. We have allowed fear of retribution and isolationism to cloud our judgment, and now there is a great enemy knocking on our door, with us in no position to fight it. A city, however great, cannot defeat a nation, and the divisions of the Nexus will make it all too easy for our enemies to simply surround us and wait until we give in.

To that, I say nay. Today, we step out of our own shadow! Today, we embrace what we all know we are, and end the appeasement Remnant began! The Council of Inside is a dilapidated wreck of a 'government', formed to appease our enemies and outside 'powers,' and I have already worked to end it. All ties to AMEN and its supporters have been removed. The mercenaries left, and with the merge between Watchtower and HALO, only four members remain. It is a dead system, made only to placate our foes and put a veil on our allies' faces so they wouldn't notice, and we shall cling to this pathetic pretense no longer!

I hereby disband the Council of Inside. We shall strike out and embrace what we truly are, as the Union for the Defense of the Nexus. We shall meet our foes not as a divided city-state or a bickering Council, but as a nation. The Altaran Irregulars shall be reorganized into the core of the UDN military, and members of the UDN will have a significant degree of self-rule, with their own civilian police forces and local laws, so long as they follow the core laws under the UDN charter, to be published imminently. Remnant shall continue to police Inside under this policy, and changes to daily life in the city will be minimal." Vyrn waves at the giant holographic flag behind him. "Under this banner, we shall no longer ignore our failures, and we shall work to unify the Nexus against all that would threaten it and its people. Whether it comes in the form of a foreign power invading, a misguided band of 'heroes' sheltering a threat to reality, anarchist rebellion, or a gigantic animated toilet, we shall be ready to stop it."

[Recaiden]

Where is this base? Mind showing me?
Nalin takes her hand, shakes it, and releases.
What the hells is an android? I've been trained to keep things out of my mind, and trained well. Most dangerous enemy is the one that can attack there.

"There's a couple, actually. One by the sea, one across the mountains, and one up in the sky. We'll be taking a submarine."
Arlem nods and starts leading the way to the Vigil thread shore.

"Android's a machine that looks like a person. Best allys, too."

[Vhaidara]

"There's a couple, actually. One by the sea, one across the mountains, and one up in the sky. We'll be taking a submarine."
Arlem nods and starts leading the way to the Vigil thread shore.

"Android's a machine that looks like a person. Best allys, too."

Nalin looks at her incredulously.
So it's like a golem? And what is a submarine?

OoC: Let me know when/if you make a thread swap.

[Recaiden]

"How long did you say you've been here, and you don't know that?"

It's not long before they're at a dock with the shuttlepod, and Arlem demonstrates how to get inside.
"For the sad many who can't breathe underwater."

((Next post of mine will be the last here))

[Vhaidara]

"How long did you say you've been here, and you don't know that?"

It's not long before they're at a dock with the shuttlepod, and Arlem demonstrates how to get inside.
"For the sad many who can't breathe underwater."

((Next post of mine will be the last here))

Me? I've been here about a day. I made the deal with that demon back in my world.
Nalin stares at the sub for a minute.
This looks completely like something my colleague Maern would design. Minor failing of being made of rock is that he sinks.

[Recaiden]

"My mistake. Come on, get in so I can close the hatch. It's a fairly short trip."

Arlem chuckles.

"I bet he still needs to breathe, right?"

[Vhaidara]

"My mistake. Come on, get in so I can close the hatch. It's a fairly short trip."

Arlem chuckles.

"I bet he still needs to breathe, right?"

Nalin chuckles as well.
Yep. First thing he did when we had to go to sea was track down a copy of a spell called "Float". I was there. The merchant took one look at him and charged him triple. He paid it, too.

[Shadowcaller]

[Remnant Office]

The officer blinks and cannot hide his deep surprise.

"Well, uh... I mean. If you purchased the property, there's certainly no reason for us to stop you from putting what you want there, provided it's not dangerous."

[Vallery's Location]

"How many real fights have you been in?" Thariza asks, somewhat sceptically. "Against armoured opponents who wanted to kill you?"

[Remnant Office]

"Most generous, lawkeeper." The being states as the holographic image disappears. "We will inform tunnelers and fliers of the new construct of course considering it's size. But it's fitting to put it in Inside now with the resurface of the empire yes? With it Stormspire hopes that the future relation with Inside will bring nothing but good fortune on either side." The ethereal bows before the officer and will then leave.

[Vallery's Location]

"Are you insisting I haven't been in real fights madame? I'm not lying about my reputation or the sharpness of my blade." Vallery raises the rapier so Thariza can have a closer look at it. The charr can see that a faint blue glow appears around the edge of the weapon as she focuses on it. "See that? That's me reinforcing the sharpness of the blade with my mind alone, making it extremely sharp." She insists. "Sharp enough to cut through armored foes."

[The Statue of Vyrn]

On a hill near Evergreen Gardens at an previously empty lot surrounded by spot lights now stands an over 300 feet tall (100 meters tall to be exact) mitharal statue of Emperor Vyrn. Whoever made it seems to have tried to come as close to his likeness as possible on a white mithral surface.
The emperor is dressed in his most most archetypical attire, one fist raised to the skies and another clutching a sword held against the ground. His face perfectly stoic as he overlooks Inside's harbor.
The statue is actually hollow and small groups of people are allowed to take the elevator up to be able to see the city from atop the statues head. Otherwise security is tight around the statue with a tall fence, guards and security cameras there to prevent people from defacing it.
At night the statue is still clearly visible thanks to the many spotlights illuminating it, still making it visible for anyone approaching the city, by day or night.

[Morty]

[Vallery's Location]

"Fair enough," Thariza says with a shrug. "I guess we just have different experiences. You're a duellist and I'm a soldier."

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

Someone is...taking a stroll through the radiation pit. Someone in Irregular/UDN armor and colors. Someone certain locals will probably recognize.

"Any moment now."

Said locals are liable to notice that she is heading straight for where certain bugs told them their base was.

How fun!

[TechnoScrabble]

The figure takes this opportunity to hop up and run towards the cratery creater with the thing in it.

A few stray shots head that way, but none make contact, thankfully.

The pillar can be heard to hum and whistle as the figure nears it, though not to any sort of tune or pattern. The light throbs gently, little motes of white light escaping through the same cracks as the orange light.

Metropolis Square

Jakkal evaluates his options, quickly coming to the conclusion that he can't beat the Blot in his current state. He'll need weapons, an upper hand, surprise, a better understanding of his foe...

With a heavy sigh and a face with a whole world of '**** you' in it, he throws his hands up in the air.

[Recaiden]

[Bombed-Out Zone]

The figure extends a hand to touch the pillar, seeing if anything happens.
If not, they start deploying more of those shields, until a hexagon-trapezoid dome has covered the crater.

[Rebonack]

[Metropolis Square]

"Ah, excellent," the Blot says in a rather personable tone. "I'm glad that you've come to your senses."

And with that he touches his... head? probably? and speaks again. "Gyre, I know you're watching at the moment. If you would be so kind, please provide us with a door to the high security wing of the compound. We have a gentlemen who is interested in leaving the Nexus."

That done, the Blot leans on his cane.

"It will take some time for the door to arrive," he states.

[The Radiation Pit]

Wow. Sure is desolate here. Almost as if someone had set off a couple nuclear bombs in the middle of an urban area. Which... is probably more or less what happened. While everyone is pretty sure that no nukes have gone off Inside that would have ever caused this much destruction, it isn't too much of a stretch to say that nuclear-devastated areas were simply grabbed from elsewhere.

There really isn't much out here. Burned out husks of cars. Buildings blasted off their foundations. Pitted streets. Shadows forever inscribed on walls. And the occasional twisted steel skeleton of some large structure slowly corroding into nothing.

It doesn't look like there's anything noteworthy in the direction of wherever the robot went all those months before. Aside, of course, from those cow-sized ants skittering toward the Romulan.

Aim for the antenna! They are helpless without them!

[Restrooms of Inside!]

Several more hapless minions get holes blasted in them. Those poor, innocent minions. As with the others, they get collected by their fellows and hauled off into the dropship.

The weird bubble continues drifting toward the robed woman, seemingly oblivious to the clashing static. Once it draws near it lets loose a lance of spatial distortion that can rend, rip, and sheer whatever it strikes.

~How do you expect to endure when you deny the true nature of reality? Information... thought... a passing fancy. That is all that is.~

[Lost_Deep]

Restrooms of Inside!

As soon as the bubble shows itself to be immune to her static, the maiden changes tactics. For a moment, faint shadow-like tendrils snake around her, and then launch her up, away from the sphere, toward the villain. She intends to punch the villain in the third eye as hard as she can!

Are you even listening to me? Or do you just spout Solipsistic nonsense at regular intervals?

[TechnoScrabble]

Metropolis Square

Jakkal growls quietly, nicking one of his lips on his sharp, badly arranged teeth. He keeps his hands in the air and his eyes closely on the Blot. He's still pretty sure the Blot is either a daemon or a witch.

Bombed Out Zone

The spinning top portion stops and peels open at four points, revealing a small, cylindrical container suspended in the air inside. The container has transparent sides, and inside it a sloshing orange liquid that seems to move to try and get closer to the armoured figure.

[Halae]

Well, the Luggage will be able to pick up Certain's scene here, and, if it is exceptionally good at smelling, her scene will also be in a theater across town.

Luggage's scenting isn't astonishingly powerful, but it is similar to a dog, and thus tracking can commence.

It'll be a solid half hour before Trick arrives though, given the time it takes to track with a companion.

[Ionbound]

Luggage's scenting isn't astonishingly powerful, but it is similar to a dog, and thus tracking can commence.

It'll be a solid half hour before Trick arrives though, given the time it takes to track with a companion.

When Trick arrives, a woman who, while matching Certain's scent to the Luggage, looks nothing like the descriptions the tiefling has received. Instead of a black-haired scholar, she's a young woman with fiery red hair, but is otherwise non-descript.

[Fenric]

[Theatre of Masks]

And Certain is in the company of a middle-aged man with chiseled features, black hair, and dark eyes. If the pile of bills and invoices on his desk is any hint, this would seem to be a business transaction of some sort.

[Halae]

[Theatre of Masks]

Luggage, a chest mimic who is clearly overgrown, will move over to Certain, and growl at her.

Trick places a hand on the pommel of the pact blade at her waist. She's wearing a leather duster over a pair of jeans, a nice blouse, and steel-toed boots. Deep, blood red skin covers her, though it's dotted with freckles. She moves a strand of black hair from her solid red eyes as she says, "Ms. Certain? I've been hired to track you down."

[Fenric]

[The Theatre of Masks]

Thorvard retains all the loyalty he had as a wererat - none at all

What's this, now?

[Ionbound]

[Theatre of Masks]

Certain smiles, dropping the facade of humanity and revealing her true form, and says, "Ah. Well, there's no point keeping that up any longer, is there, since you already seem to know who I am. Still...I suppose another new convert can't hurt." With that, she lunges at Trick, trying to grab the tiefling with a clawed hand while black tendrils emanate from her and streak towards the other woman, trying to attach themselves and pull at her soul.

[Fenric]

[The Theatre of Masks]

Thorvard watches with undisguised curiousity, not moving an inch to help either party

Ah... so that's what you did...

[Halae]

[Theatre of Masks]

That may be difficult for Certain to accomplish. As soon as he sees his mistress might be in danger, Luggage springs into action, moving far faster than his bulky, rectangular form looks like it should be able to to get in certain's way, his extremely sharp toothed lid attempting to close on Certain's hand.

Trick herself will take the pact blade out of its sheathe, and within a second it will be alight with sickly green fire. Which then shoots towards Certain. It's clearly very hot, and if it strikes anything, it'll cling to it and begin burning away at it; particularly if whatever it's clinging to. if there's a magical shield or ward in place, it'll even begin burning away at that.

Trick's other hand, under cover of the distractions provided by the green fire and the huge white mimic, will take a vial off of her belt. No throwing it just yet.

[Ionbound]

[Theatre of Masks]

Certain, when she sees the mimic attack, balls her hand into a fist and punches the side of the Luggage as hard as she can, which, with her demonically enhanced strength, is pretty hard. When she sees the pact blade, she swears, ducks the spell, and then begins a quick spell of her own, hopefully heating the blade hot enough that it's owner will drop it, or deal with having a nice, hot puddle of molten silver in their hand. Meanwhile, the tendrils streak to Trick, trying to attach and pull out her soul.

[Fenric]

[The Theatre of Masks]

Thorvard abruptly turns into a rat and flees through a hole.

Your problem: see ya!

[Halae]

[Theatre of Masks]

The tendrils will have a hard time of it, if they can get through at all; there's three layers of wards her, each specifically crafted to defends against magic assaults, one crafted and attached directly to her soul to protect it. So, while the Tendrils might get close, they're going to have a lot of trouble getting through the different layers of defense.

But perhaps they won't get the chance; while Certain is attempting to deal a blow, Trick's left hand tosses the vial she pulled out, and she mutters something under her breath that will cause the vial to shatter. a rapidly expanding yellow goo shoots out of the broken vial, on a collision course with Certain's outstretched arm. it'll cast out wide like a net, making it very hard to dodge.

Luggage, meanwhile, is leaning against a wall trying to get his bearings. He's not out of the fight, but damn if that didn't stun him.

As for heating Trick's blade, Trick grunts, and the blade will vanish; Certain may notice the essence of it travel into the ring on her right hand. Magical storage, most likely.

[Ionbound]

[Theatre of Masks]

When she sees the net, Certain gets a brainwave. She extends a hand in Trick and the net's and unleashes a blast of pure antimagic, in theory Disjoining any spells, be it the one holding the goo-net together or the ones holding Trick's soul in place.

[Halae]

[Theatre of Masks]

Trick drops to the floor when she realizes the antimagic is coming, out of the direct line of fire of the antimagic. Unfortunately, it'll still tag her boots and her left hand as it spreads in a cone; that shuts down the enchantments that were on those. Damn, and she liked them too; it's going to take a month or two to add them back. at least the storage ring on her right hand is safe.

However, what Certain failed to realize was that the glue concoction wasn't being held together by magic. As a matter of fact, it's not magical at all; it's a fast hardening alchemical polymer, and where Trick is from alchemy isn't magic, even if it's somewhat related. Certain may very well suddenly find herself coated head to toe in glue so sticky, she'll have trouble moving her limbs, much less her lips and fingers for the casting of another spell. It's doubtful she could even breathe through this stuff ((though if it covers Certain's nose and mouth, Trick will make sure to cut some holes to breathe with.))

[Gullara]

[Pokémon Park]

"I think I got the rigth tool for that." Vis says as he puts his backpack down and searches for something inside of it.

After a few moments he drags out a pocket PC.

"This is a Guide my father bought me. He said it contains information about the areas and all. It should help us out."
After a while he will get a few pictures and shows them to Becca and her Pokemon. For a boy who wears chainmail and sword he got high technologie.

[Pokémon Park]

Bugsy looks at the pictures of resin and Beccca points at the tree. Something seems to click in his mind, because the Spinarack crawls from Becca's arm and onto the tree. Around the back of its trunk, he stops where some resin is leaking out of the bark. He doesn't do anything to get it out, however. "You think that's what we're looking for?" She asks Vis.

[Shadowcaller]

[Vallery's Location]

"Fair enough," Thariza says with a shrug. "I guess we just have different experiences. You're a duellist and I'm a soldier."

[Vallery's Location]

"Indeed, fair Madame. I have not in war if that's what you're asking, merely smaller conflicts which of course doesn't reduce their importance. Now, if you do not know where I could find adventure, perhaps you can direct me to a place where I might?" Vallery asks.

[Zefir]

[Pokémon Park]

Bugsy looks at the pictures of resin and Beccca points at the tree. Something seems to click in his mind, because the Spinarack crawls from Becca's arm and onto the tree. Around the back of its trunk, he stops where some resin is leaking out of the bark. He doesn't do anything to get it out, however. "You think that's what we're looking for?" She asks Vis.

[Pokémon Park]

Vis looks at the pictures and back at what the spider found.
"Well, it looks like on the pictures so it should be correct." Vis replies. He only knew about resin from the dex and never used it befor to catch a pokemon. Joltik like electricity.
"I think we need to open it and then hide."

[Ionbound]

[Theatre of Masks]

Certain is entangled by the webbing but simply laughs, amused and says, "Impressive..." as her body heats into an inferno, hopefully melting the goop. If she's successful, she'll unfurl her wings and fly at Trick, trying to tackle the tiefling.

[OrchestraHc]

Configuration Clinic:

The dwarf politely shields his eyes as she changes form. "Syringe." He have to admit. Oh joy. He's telling the truth though, there are syringes and animal tranquilizer's in said drawer. Now is just the problem of injecting the ogre with them.

The ogre has almost managed to put itself up straight back up, swinging it's arm wide in case the wolf/woman would get the idea of attacking him again.

Configuration Clinic:

"Damn it," she says gripping syringe. "Fine I'll make do." She fills it with the tranqs like she's seen on TV. When she's filled the syringes, instead of straight up confronting the ogre she hides behind the drawer and keeps her eyes on him.

[Darkcomet]

[The Radiation Pit]

Wow. Sure is desolate here. Almost as if someone had set off a couple nuclear bombs in the middle of an urban area. Which... is probably more or less what happened. While everyone is pretty sure that no nukes have gone off Inside that would have ever caused this much destruction, it isn't too much of a stretch to say that nuclear-devastated areas were simply grabbed from elsewhere.

There really isn't much out here. Burned out husks of cars. Buildings blasted off their foundations. Pitted streets. Shadows forever inscribed on walls. And the occasional twisted steel skeleton of some large structure slowly corroding into nothing.

It doesn't look like there's anything noteworthy in the direction of wherever the robot went all those months before. Aside, of course, from those cow-sized ants skittering toward the Romulan.

Aim for the antenna! They are helpless without them!

<"I'm certain the theories about mutated giant insects were debunked centuries ago...though considering this place, I really shouldn't think of it that much."> N'alae rambles in a distinctly alien tongue, seeming utterly unconcerned by the ants.

That is, until a vicious-looking plasma arm cannon with four menacing prongs and a glowing sickly-green glowing 'barrel' apparently gets beamed onto her right arm and pointed in the ants' general direction.

Cue the barrage of equally-green plasma fire, with a burning intensity you'd expect of something mounted on a light vehicle at the least more than a personal weapon with that rate of fire. Considering the cybernetic augmentation and pointing green plasma arm cannons around, she's probably not one to talk about the radiation mutants.

<"Underground base, maybe? Should search for a hatch.">

She's just going to keep on moving towards where that base is supposed to be.

[Murkus]

Quarantine

The whispers and laughter grind at Garrett's ego, but he knows better than to lose face over something so small.

"Yeah, I'm good."

He straightens his back out and squares his shoulders, taking a strong stride despite his slight limp. His face practically dares anyone to give him too much trouble over his state of clothing, or anything else really. When you're half-god, you tend to give off a natural air of power.

While the chrome-brained people of Elexxion aren't very well attuned to such mystical properties, they sense his will and his strength. Once he and his wire-haired escort are closer, the employees fall silent or go back to work.

Then they're beyond the offices, through a portal of liquid metal that simply oozes aside as they approach, giving way to a large common area. It seems to be styled after an indoor park, with a Chinese motif for color. Paper lamps in soothing colors dangle from unseen wires, and a pair of bridges cross a holographic stream in the center of the room. From there two paths wind their way amidst temporary plants and foliage, occasional visual bugs or flashes of chrome the only indicators of this place's temporary nature.

Employees and customers alike move here, whether they're eating, working, or merely blathering amongst themselves.


Red Zone - Trash

Aiden sighs. "The last eight, I didn't say penny. Ugly and deaf, not a great combo." Aiden places the tip of his sword on the ground and holds it up like that. Sus will probably see at this point that the sword is almost as tall as him. "Besides, I beat all of those guys down. And buddy, you don't look like much compared to at least three of them."

"Come here then," Susurrus coos at Aiden, his voice and breath a mildewy caress. Sus starts knocking his claws together, casting white sparks onto the pavement beneath his treacherous hands. His mighty frame, now engulfed in the alley's shadows, begins to tense with a creak of bone upon metal. Sus's enormous back is ridged, arched, and his tail wriggles to and fro. "I doubt you're of as little use as those dregs, but you'll do."

[Devixer]

Red Zone - Trash

Aiden steps toward Susurrus, repeatedly tossing his sword up a few feet and catching it. That doesn't seem like it'd be a safe thing to do, but whatever. He tosses the sword again just when he gets within Sus's reach, but when he catches it that time, he immediately rushes forward to stab at the creature. This action is fast enough to make him look like a blur, until the end of it when he thrusts his sword forward.

[Morty]

[Vallery's Location]

"Well... I get my adventure, if you can call it that, as a member of VIGIL. It's a group of vigilantes, sort of," Thariza says. "We lay the smackdown on bad guys who make trouble."

[TechnoScrabble]

False Garden

Garrett looks in awe at the holographic garden around him and Varienne, the light reflected and glittering in his eyes. He reaches a hand out tentatively at a plant, never quite making contact, almost afraid to dispel the awe it instills.

"How...how do you do all of this?"

[Shadowcaller]

Configuration Clinic:

"Damn it," she says gripping syringe. "Fine I'll make do." She fills it with the tranqs like she's seen on TV. When she's filled the syringes, instead of straight up confronting the ogre she hides behind the drawer and keeps her eyes on him.


[Vallery's Location]

"Well... I get my adventure, if you can call it that, as a member of VIGIL. It's a group of vigilantes, sort of," Thariza says. "We lay the smackdown on bad guys who make trouble."

[Vallery's Location]

Vallery gives Thariza a curious look. "I have heard the name but see, that is a problem when it comes to groups madame. They are known by their collective name only. The individuals, except perhaps the leaders are usually known under a collective name when they done a deed. I myself fully admit that I'm into this business for fame and glory. My name is already widely known in my homeworld but not so much here yet." She pauses. "But I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth though. Our meeting was clearly fated so please take the lead madame and I shall follow!"

Configuration Clinic:

The dwarf seem to take the cue and is about to take a glass container when he hesitates. "I ain't daft, that one's priceless!" Then he grabs the one next to it and throws it at the ogre who have managed to get up. "Come her ye filthy bastard! I'll give you a whopping so hard ye will run home to ye momma and cry!"
The ogre growls around starts moving towards the dwarf.

[OrchestraHc]

Configuration Clinic:

She today wasn't giving a cue, but she appreciates the dwarf's courage. She holds her hand to her neck for a moment to remember where her arteries are. Then she walks a little longer hick the ogre is between her and the dwarf.

Then she rushes big creature, aiming to stab and inject the tranquilizers into him.

[Morty]

[Vallery's Location]

Thariza shrugs. Sure, what the heck. It was fated.

"It's true that we act more as a collective than individuals, a lot of the time," Thariza says. "But it doesn't bother me. Now, we've got two bases in VIGIL... one up in the mountains and one under the sea. Which one would you rather see first?"

[Recaiden]

Bombed Out Zone

The spinning top portion stops and peels open at four points, revealing a small, cylindrical container suspended in the air inside. The container has transparent sides, and inside it a sloshing orange liquid that seems to move to try and get closer to the armoured figure.

The intruder reaches out and takes the cylinder, holding it in a tight grip to keep it still despite the moving orange liquid. How curious. Then they leap out of the pit and start racing across the battlefield with it, running in between a spiderbot and a band of aliens.
Finding out whether it's alive or just creepy can wait.

[Rebonack]

[The Restrooms of Inside!]

The floating guy gets punched right in the eye!

He pops like a poked soap-bubble. Or rather, he pops like a soap bubble that was filled with high explosives. A rippling blast wave of painfully yellow psionic force erupts from where he once hovered!

One of the weird pink bubbles he had created earlier warps and waves and twists and resolves into the Solipsist! This guy's a slippery jerk...

~You lash out blindly at what you do not comprehend.~

He's also an arrogant jerk.

He's also blowing more weird pink bubbles as if this were the Lawrence Welk Show or something.

[Metropolis Square]

"You do not trust me, but believe me sir, you have little choice in the matter. Unless, of course, you feel inclined to take up a trade other than crime..." the Blot states.

And wait, what's this?

A weird purple ball just came zipping out of nowhere!

The ball in question expands into a galaxy-like mass of spiral arms with a central 'portal' of blackness. A room is visible on the other side, but it appears as nothing more than stark white outlines.

"Ah excellent," the Blot says. "Gyre proves herself ever-useful once again. After you, sir."

The super gestures to the portal.

[The Radiation Pit]

PEW PEW PEW!

As it turns out, giant ants don't stand up very well against high powered plasma weapons.

Poor, poor giant ants.

Once those pests are out of the way the Romulan should be all clear to-

Wait.

What was that?

There was a sound.

A sound that sounded distinctly like something following her.

[Lost_Deep]

The Restrooms of Inside!

The blast certainly doesn't seem as effective as it should be, not even moving the Porcelain Maiden. She lets herself fall towards the ground... but doesn't seem to be surprised, and is showing no signs of metal distress from over exposure to yellow.

It's called science. Try to keep up. Hypothesis two!

She barely touches the ground before the shadows surge around her again, launching her upward... toward the underbelly of the Diabolical ship!

[TechnoScrabble]

Metropolis Square

Jakkal looks at the port, circling it to get a view from all angles, periodically looking back at the Blot, a mix of anger and apprehension in his eyes.

Eventually he shrugs, and takes a running start before leaping headfirst into the portal, rolling to a stop and springing to his feet wherever he lands.

Bombed Out Zone

The pillar stops spinning, and the seperated pieces fall inert and clatter to the ground. The cylinder seems to vibrate and pulse with life and power, and when it is grabbed, a scorching hail of alien fire is sent towards the figure, the aliens panicking. One of the larger spiderbots moves to put up a heavy metal shield and cover the figure's escape, the others falling back with them.

[Shadowcaller]

Configuration Clinic:

She today wasn't giving a cue, but she appreciates the dwarf's courage. She holds her hand to her neck for a moment to remember where her arteries are. Then she walks a little longer hick the ogre is between her and the dwarf.

Then she rushes big creature, aiming to stab and inject the tranquilizers into him.


[Vallery's Location]

Thariza shrugs. Sure, what the heck. It was fated.

"It's true that we act more as a collective than individuals, a lot of the time," Thariza says. "But it doesn't bother me. Now, we've got two bases in VIGIL... one up in the mountains and one under the sea. Which one would you rather see first?"

[Vallery's Location]

Vallery gestures into the horizon. "I will you decide my agent of fate, whatever you think of first is where we should go! For now I am but a follower to your lead!"

Configuration Clinic:

He thought it was a cue at least!
The dwarf stands in a defensive fighting position, shaking his fists in the ogre's direction that aims to swing at him as the still not named woman comes to the rescue and sticks the needle into one of the ogres veins. He screams and attempts to grab onto the woman, it probably while take a little bit before the tranquilizers take affect.

[Morty]

[Vallery's Location]

"It's probably closer to the ocean base from here," Thariza decides. "So let's go there at first." She turns to lead the way out of the city.

[5a Violista]

[Pub of Jondrette]

This pub, years ago, was full of harsh music and swindling. It was filled with cold wind because of the shabby walls. It was filled with laughter and watered-down beer and mystery meat. Actually, it's probably not somewhere you wanted to be.

Music echoes throughout the room. Deep, dark music. It is reminiscent of everything that used to be here - the law students in the corner, the guy who dresses up as Santa Claus every other week, the woman who came here on weekends to escape boredom, and so on. The chair that squeaks whenever someone sits on it. The rancid smell of rotting meat.

The woman whose eyes bleed darkness stops playing her cello. She stands up, and looks around the room. Emptiness. Exactly as she wants. Everything gone.

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

Attacking the ship!

That just won't do.

The minions continue with their construction, the original bathroom all but gone and a newer, cleaner, and far more classy looking building is being erected in its place. Like the trash cans, it has a sleek look to it, but the Doctor seems intent on keeping the bathrooms in line with the areas they're built in, aesthetically speaking. Wouldn't want a futuristic looking building on Bedrock Street or some such nonsense.

The ship doesn't blast the gal with an electro-lasers, which is probably nice.

Though she may suddenly find herself getting tackled by a previously invisible, leopard-sized robot. Thankfully, the robot's skin is made of GOBN foam, which means the thing has a fair bit of give to it and is like getting jumped on by a several hundred pound nerf-bat rather than several hundred pounds of metal.

"Please refrain from attacking the dropship," the Dia-Bot-Ical stalker requests politely as it attempts to wrap its limbs around the woman and then stab her with one of the manipulator limbs on its back. Should the poke hit home the machine will inject a powerful sedative agent. "They are very expensive."

And the Solipsist? He keeps blowing bubbles.

What a weird guy.

[Metropolis Square ==> ????]

OoooooOOOOoooh! Mystery location!

Certainly somewhere Inside, though, since the topic hasn't changed.

Jackal leaps through the portal and lands on-!

Some nice carpeting? The fancy sort, like you might find in a hotel lobby. In fact, the room he just landed in looks an awful lot like a hotel lobby. There's even a continental breakfast table sitting over there in the corner with a pair of thugs perusing it. Fancy couches and chairs, some pictures hanging on the walls of various surreal Nexus landscapes, and a big screen TV currently showing a documentary on killer whales.

...this place really doesn't look like an evil lair.

The Blot soon walks in behind Jackal and the weird portal closes before dissipating into nothing.

"If you wish," the Blot begins. "You can fetch yourself something to eat. Or read some magazines. Or whatever suits your fancy for the next twenty minutes. Doctor Diabolical will then address you on the telly."

[Metropolis Square]

Back in the land of chrome, glass, and progress, Geneva is winging her way to the balcony of her high rise apartment. Most people might find being on the forty second floor aggravating, but when you can fly that little fact really isn't much of a problem. There comes a dull *whumph* of air as she comes in for a landing, announcing her presence to the neighbor above.

"Evening Geneva, you have a nice day?" inquires an elderly woman watering her ferns.

"I did Miss Gilliham, thank you for asking," the hippogriff replies brightly. "I made some new friends and I think I have some real leads on making that bridge between the Nexus and other places."

"You're doing good work, child," the nanna says. "You just keep that up and don't never lose hope."

"Thank you, Miss Gilliham. I won't. Have a nice evening!" Geneva says whilst unlocking her door and heading inside. The apartment is a little cramped, at least for her. It would be downright spacious to a human, though. Even more cramped by various half-finished machines that clutter several of the rooms. There's method to the madness! Or at least Geneva likes to imagine that there is.

Thus begins a (hopefully) quiet evening of compiling ideas, rejecting concepts that probably won't work or otherwise remain infeasible, and finally passing out on her desk and drooling all over some schematics.

[Ionbound]

[Pub of Jondrette]

Actually, not quite. Another melody floats through the air. It's soft and mournful, yet somehow full of life, carrying all the things the pub was, but also all it could have been. A place where the woman could have meet a cute law student, and the family that would have come from that. The taste of odd, yet delicious meats. The smell of many myriads of delicious cocktails and beers, floating and mingling, somehow being appetizing.

And so, the Light Cellist approaches, playing through the emptiness, and says to the other woman, her opposite in the great symphony of the universe, "Can't you see it? All that might have happened here? Why do you try to end such things?"

[Lost_Deep]

Restrooms of Inside!

The stinger hits the dress and doesn't pierce it. Something about it stops the stinger. The maiden responds with, "I was hoping so." And a single-shot derringer appears in one hand, which she proceeds to (try to, but I'm not sure how she could be stopped) fire into the invisible robot, in the direction of the dropship. Said bullet is high-caliber and, oh yes, made of solid adamantine and shaped to be armor-piercing. A little bit after it stops moving it will vanish, the magic that created it stopping. After that, the maiden will try to push the stalker off of herself with a mix of her own strength (she's athletic, but not amazingly so) and some telekinesis. After that, she takes a second powered jump toward the dropship, this time feeling the air around her with her telekinesis to get some warning if anything else invisible tries to stop her.

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

Not invisible now!

The stalker became quite visible when it tackled the gal, probably because it figured that keeping up its stealth at this point was kind of... well... pointless. That probably helps, since it means the woman can actually see what she's shooting at. Rebo has no idea where she aimed at since it wasn't specified, but into the center of mass seems like a good bet.

Anywho!

The stalker gets shot!

The bullet actually manages to punch through its GOBN armor, but it loses most of its kinetic energy in the process. This results in a bullet rattling around inside the robot's super-structure and generally making it sad. There's some damage, but not enough to 'kill' the thing. It continues to hang on tenaciously! And this time around tries head-butting the woman square in the face to disrupt all the shoving. Considering how much give its armor has this is far from life-threatening, though it could probably daze someone.

"I don't appreciate you trying to kill me," the robot says. "That isn't polite."

[Lost_Deep]

Restrooms of Inside!

She doesn't seem to finch from the head-butt. "Says the person who tackled me while invisible after showing up in a dropship." She then proceeds to one-up her own rebuttal by trying to reach into the robot, telekinteically, feeling around, and trying to disconnect its motherboard. Maybe multiple motherboards. Hard drive, cameras, motor control, RAM... she's tech-savy. In addition, she will continue shoving.

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

The insides of the robot are rather complicated!

Its 'brain' and nervous system are fusion of organic and non-organic components optimized for performance. The 'brain' itself is a neural network and over-sees most of the robot's functions. There's a secondary digital processor as well to carry out calculations that a neural network isn't quite so skilled at performing. Signals are carried by graphene ribbons with techno-cellular components strung along them like a string of pearls, affording inhuman reaction time. The robot has no motors, but rather synthetic muscles and ligaments to afford mobility. The thing's skeleton is some kind of titanium-graphene composite material and probably really durable.

Ripping out the robot's nervous connections is quite possible, though obviously the ribbons take a fair bit of tugging to ruin them. Given what the gal has displayed so far it should be well within her ability. Should she decide to just start ripping stuff apart the stalker will make a rather pathetic mewling noise before spasming violently and then falling still.

He's dead, Jim.

Meanwhile!

There are lots of bubbles now.

Like...

Seriously.

[Lost_Deep]

Restrooms of Inside!

Unless those bubbles are in between her and the dropship, they don't matter. The Maiden will try to push the robot off, and do a power jump up into the dropship, again using her telekinesis to give her some forewarning of any incoming invisible impacts.

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

The robot gets tossed away. It flops through the air like a rag-doll and hits the ground with a thud. It doesn't look like it'll be moving any time soon, barring some pretty extensive repairs.

Anywho!

The gal leaps inside the drop ship whilst minions scoot out of the way to let her past, oblivious to her presence as they continue carrying out their tasks. The drop-portion of the drop ship is dominated by a rather large assembler bay that the minions are feeding materials into and then carrying off finished components. No doubt for the purpose of rebuilding the restroom they had taken apart. There's also a small card table with three lackeys gathered around it. They seem alarmed by the woman's presence!

"Hey! You aren't authorized to be in here!" one of them yells as he tries to dramatically leap out of his chair, only to bang his knee on the table and face-plant on the floor.

Well.

That wasn't very inspiring.

Meanwhile! About half a dozen weird looking camera things set in various positions around the drop room turn to focus on the interloper.

[Lost_Deep]

Dropship of Inside!

"Mmhm." She focuses on one of the not-on-the-floor ones. "Hey. Didn't expect to see you here. They catch you cheating yet?"

She then casually turns to examine the assembler bay. She uses her technological know-how (helped by a bit of genre savy) to spot one device, or a few componets, to wreck and bring the assembly to a screeching halt.

Not paying attention to the lackeys. I will say that she's keeping tabs on their location with her psychic senses, but only on their location.

[5a Violista]

[Pub of Jondrette]

The woman whose eyes bleed darkness just stares at the Light Cellist for what she‘s doing. She has a blank look on her face, as empty as the void between them. With these happy memories returning, people just might return here. The law student just might buy the old pub, the woman might repair it up, and laughter might return here one day.

“Why are you delaying the inevitable? Everything came from nothing. Everything will return to nothing. There is nothing left but emptiness. None will receive what it deserves, and then everyone will finally be equal,“ she says. “That is our fate.“

Her own dark cello starts to fade away, and her chair starts to rot and fall apart.

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

Well...

The assembler bay uses molecular assemblers to build stuff. It is, in essence, a Star Trek replicator. Just with fewer flashy lights involved in the assembly process. Obviously it needs to be fed raw materials in order to function, which are broken down and reassembled into whatever the machine requires. The machine is grotesquely complex, taking advantage of everything from micro-teleportation to nanites to deposition nozzles to carry out its task. Of course, grossly complex machines typically mean that smashing stuff inside them makes them stop working in a hurry. Most complex systems don't take kind to randomly rearranging them. The simplest action would probably be to just yank the power on the device. It's extraordinarily energy-hungry.

Might not work out that way, though.

Why?

Probably something to do with those six wall-mounted electro-lasers aiming to zap her into unconsciousness.

Dodging projectiles that propagate at about four thousand miles per second can be difficult.

"Blast the super!" one of the lackeys yells as they likewise trail their own lightning-tossin' guns her way.

ZORP ZORP ZORP!

[Lost_Deep]

Dropship of Inside!

"This is the wrong place." the electricity hits her, and she stays standing, and even whirls around to look at her aggressors. "WELL! That was different! I learned something new today!"

Then, all at once, she springs into action. She tries to telekinetically wrench the electrolasers from the lackeys' hands (specifically twisting them in the most efficient way to do so), and then use them and her sword that shoots lasers (which appeared in her right hand) to blast the electro laser cameras.

Just because it didn't make her pass out does not mean it was pleasant.

[Ionbound]

[Pub of Jondrette]

The Light Cellist continues to play as she fades as well, but not without delivering a final retort, "Because humans hope. And hope is a beautiful thing. Hope can change everything, even fate."

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

When fired upon the laser mountings slide back into the walls, panels moving into place to protect them. One of them isn't quick enough, however, and gets scrapped. A second battery of seemingly randomly placed laser cannons emerge from still other hatches into the wall and begins firing on the cloaked gal, this time increasing the power output of the lightning bolts a full order of magnitude. There are only five of them, this time. So maybe it's the same turrets, just in different positions?

One of the lackeys hangs onto her rifle, getting pulled along the floor with it.

The other two quickly release their weapons and draw their side-arms, taking aim and opening fire.

The side arms, unlike the lasers, are not directed energy weapons.

They're Gauss pistols that fire ferro-magnetic spikes.

Suffice to say these are not 'non-lethal' weapon options.

Several minions have begin repairing the assembler bay, mostly because the machine doesn't appear to be functioning and they can't do their job if it isn't working!

[5a Violista]

[Pub of Jondrette]

The woman whose eyes bleed darkness fades away into nothing. Net even into darkness. Only into oblivion.

“Nothing can change fate.“
Her voice echoes through the builing until it falls silent. It won‘t be heard again until the next time she appears.

[Lost_Deep]

Restrooms of Inside!

Shadowy wisps course around the Porcelain Maiden. Some protect her, forcing the electricity to stop before it gets to her. One whips out with the force to knock three grown men off of their feet, and tries to do exactly that. Telekinesis tries to grab the lackey's weapons and simultaneously frisk them of any other weapons. The weapons currently under control (and any more she gains) try to blast the electroturrets. And shoot them again when they pop up next, taking the telltale signs of the hatches popping open as the directive of where to shoot.

That's a lot to happen at once. Yes, it is. One of her superpowers is multitasking. Add that to psychic powers? Scary stuff.

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

Well!

That's certainly a lot of stuff.

The inside of the dropship is designed to get blasted with electro-lasers without any real ill effect, mostly because they were more or less expecting supers to infiltrate them, which oft results in fire fights. The lightning bolts travel through the highly conductive GOPaper sheeting that covers much of the interior of the ship, down the dropship's landing gear, and into the ground. The turrets continue to fire!

Then the lackeys get their pistols stolen after getting knocked on their butts!

That one female lackey is still clinging tenaciously to her rifle, though. One of the lackeys that had been knocked prone reaches inside his hip holster, lifts a little ring, twists it, and yanks it. A brief hum is the only warning his two stolen weapons provide before they explode violently. The second disarmed lackey, apparently reminded that the self-destruct exists in the event of being disarmed, is frantically trying to remember how the procedure goes!

And the minions? They keep repairing stuff. Go minions, go!

[Recaiden]

[Bombed-out Zone]

The intruder was kind of expecting that. They duck back into the crater for a moment, adn then scramble up behind the shield. Not that they want to accept the help of the spider-bots, but it beats getting this armor all shot up. And the enemy of your enemy is your friend, right?

So this stuff seems to have belonged to the aliens. That makes it probably dangerous. The armored figure takes an instant to turn and hurl something over the shield towards the largest group of aliens they can remember. A little not-quite round metal thing, two halves twisted slightly apart, with a red ring of light flashing faster and faster.

That's actually all it does. It won't explode or anything; the intruder is fresh out of proper explosives.

[Lost_Deep]

Restrooms of Inside!

"Ugh, I'm trying to have fun, but no! Fine. Fine! Let's be efficient." The shadows lash out, swirling around her, propelling her off the ground. One shadowy wisp toward each noggin, one for each weapon to crack it in half. She is pushed toward the hatches and their turrets, and here telekinesis reaches out to play havoc with the stuff in the walls. Every bit of Diabolical tech within ten feet is subject to an attempt at telekinetic undoing. First, the walls and their turrets. Second, she floats over to the assembly area, trying to wreak utter havoc with the assembly. Any minions that get top close have a shadowy wisp with a shadowy blade headed toward them. At the same time, the Maiden tries to identify any doors to either an armory, a control room, or a power room.

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

The lackeys get knocked out! They really didn't stand a chance. Poor lackeys. The minions will continue trying to repair things, but they're getting overwhelmed in a hurry. Turrets get ripped apart and a bunch of general mayhem is caused. At this point there isn't anything else in the room to attack her.

There are five swooshy doors, four off to the sides and one built into the ceiling above a ladder. And of course there's also the iris she flew through in the bottom as well as the front door of the ship's storage/assembler area. There's a pretty decent chance that they're sealed by now, though. Why would the ship want to allow her to get through?

And yes, the doors in question are sealed sealed. They've all clamped shut and emergency measures have welded them closed.

If she has sufficient TK strength she could probably just rip them out of the walls. That's always an option.

But otherwise she's locked into storage area, which might be a pain.

Since all the machinery in the walls has gotten messed up the ventilation system isn't working properly anymore. Good thing there aren't any fires in here 'cuz suffocation is a pretty lousy way to die.

[Lost_Deep]

Restrooms of Inside!

The woman climbs up toward the top hatch. "I'm still not having fun! Still going to be efficient!" She feels the hatch with her telekinesis, tries to find the most important manual lock, and then blast it with that magic-admantine-bullet "single-shot" derringer. From there, the shadows try to eat at the hatch welding, sharp points gouging along it. She might be strong enough to rip the hatch out, depends on the size and thickness of the hatch, but she might as well make it easier for herself.

"I should swap my laser pistol out for a cutting torch."

Wait, she has a laser pistol?

[Rebonack]

[Restrooms of Inside!]

The hatch's lock basically consists of a bunch of hooked finger-y bits that fit through slots along three sides to hold the whole thing in place. Said finger-y bits have all been welded into place. So there really isn't a deadbolt to shoot. More like oodles of deadbolts to shoot. The thing is pretty heavy duty, almost as if Doctor Diabolical had been expecting heroes to board his dropships and start raising a ruckus.

Hey!

Felt that lurching sensation?

And hear that sound of landing gear being pulled up?

It sounds like the dropship is taking off! Due to the machine's warp-wave drive it would be a nice, smooth ride wherever it ends up going once it lifts off. And it's totally lifting off. With a potential prisoner no less! How very neat.

Boarding the machine might not have been the best plan...

Meanwhile, outside the dropship!

The Solipsist is still blowing bubbles and rambling pseudo-philosophical nonsense. What a blowhard.

[Lost_Deep]

Restrooms of Inside!

"Starting to get annoyed..." the Maiden tries to reach into the cracks between the door and the wall and begin to saw away at the deadbolts with hacksaw-like shadows.

"No, not annoyed. Just bored. You're trying to make a city of heroes? You're going about it wrong. Seriously. At this rate the heroes are going to move to riverside."

[Rebonack]

[Flying off somewhere I guess?]

Too be fair, she DID stop fighting with the puzzle-villain and decided to jump into the dropship instead. There aren't any super villains in here, just a few mooks and machines to mess up.

And no one can respond to her, either, since she ripped apart all of the machine's important bits!

But yeah.

Now she's sawing through the bolts and doing thiiiiings. Though she is making progress!

Just...

Not very interesting progress.

And I thought most of the heroes were in Skyside?

[Lost_Deep]

Flying off somewhere I guess?

The Porcelain Maiden is patient enough to saw into the bolts slowly. Eventually she'll get through.

Either that or another henchman will come up, or a robot will come up to bug her. Any which way.

[Rebonack]

[Flying Somewhere?]

After quite a bit of effort the Maiden manages to hack her way through the hatch and will find the power core room on the other side!

It's a big, fancy looking room with an enclosed chamber which, in turn, contains the power generator. Inside the chamber room minions are feeding socks into the reactor core.

...

No.

I'm totally serious.

This robot apparently runs on socks.

How silly!

[Lost_Deep]

Flying Somewhere?

The Madien chooses something about the core that looks important and shoots it with her "single-shot" derringer. Even if it is phenomenally hot inside the room, the high-caliber armor-piercing adamantine bullet should be able to survive long enough to ruin that part and maybe a few others. What to do from there is up in the air.

[Darkcomet]

[The Radiation Pit]

PEW PEW PEW!

As it turns out, giant ants don't stand up very well against high powered plasma weapons.

Poor, poor giant ants.

Once those pests are out of the way the Romulan should be all clear to-

Wait.

What was that?

There was a sound.

A sound that sounded distinctly like something following her.

N'alae glances around, shifting through various vision modes in that helmet to try and find whatever made that noise. The plasma weapon remains readied in case a fight breaks out.

"I'm not actually here to fight, but I will defend myself if necessary, as you might have noticed with the oversized irradiated insects. Assuming this is one of you, anyway, you won't kill me, and theatrics or no, I think you are probably smart enough to realize that abducting the Union Vice Commander is a recipe for the kind of attention you cannot survive.

Unless, of course, you are a mutated spit in the face of nuclear science, in which case you have no idea what I just said."

[Rebonack]

[Radiation Pit]

Something had kicked a bottle, apparently. Made it clatter and stuff.

When the Dia-Bot-Ical stalker de-cloaks the robot has somehow managed to look sheepish. "I didn't actually mean to make that noise," the robot points out in its synthesized sounding voice. The thing looks rather like a displacer beast. You know the sort. Panther with six legs (though this thing only has four) and a pair of tentacles on its back (manipulator limbs, in this case). It's eyes look organic, though it doesn't have a mouth. Just a flat surface with some kind of fancy optical sensor built into it. A line of holes run along the thing's longish muzzle on either side, probably some combination of olfactory and heat sensing pits.

"The Radiation Pit is not healthy for organic life," the robot points out. "Unless you have proper radiation shielding you should leave at once."

They probably already know that she has radiation shielding.

But it's still polite to to point it out.

You know. Just in case.

Huh... Is that a dropship coming in for a crash landing? That sure looks like a dropship coming in for a crash landing.

[Falling Somewhere!]

BLAM!

"Radiation shielding compromised. Emergency HDC shut down. Switching to auxiliary power. Executing emergency landing protocol," drones a voice from the walls. "Waring! This room has been contaminated with dangerous levels of gamma radiation. Please seek medical attention immediately."

And then there comes a rather nasty lurch as the dropship crashes into a burned out pickup truck in the middle of the Radiation Pit.

[Lost_Deep]

Falling Somewhere!

"Mmhm, that's very nice." the Maiden looks for a door into the next area... preferably a control area.

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"No, I'm fine, thanks." N'alae looks over at the crash-landing. "Anyway. I would like to speak with this leader of yours concerning the conflict between our organizations. I'd go on, but I feel like it would be rather rude given...that. Is anyone on that thing?"

[Rebonack]

[Radiation Pit]

What, like a control room?

There isn't anything like that. The dropship is wholly automated and its 'brain' can be found on the next level up. Though of course the shutter at the top of the ladder leaning to the CPU chamber is sealed shut as well. This thing just doesn't make anything easy, does it?

And to make matters even worse all the lights just went out. Looks like the dropship has completely shut down.

What a wholly non-exciting robot space ship thing.

Meanwhile, outside the dropship...

The stalker impassively watches as the dropship hits the ground in a (somewhat) controlled crash. Technically it was an emergency landing, but it could only be called a landing in the most generous of terms. Before the machine has even stopped moving the stalker is bounding toward it, firing up a cutting torch on one of its manipulator limbs. Once it reaches the downed craft it begins cutting into a steel access panel disguised to look like the rest of the ship's much more durable armor.

"There are four survivors inside," the robot says as it slices into the panel. "Three lackeys and the vigilante that disabled the dropship."

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

N'alae snaps a helmet cam photo of the crashed dropship. Mostly, for intelligence's sake. If that access panel is consistent on the other dropships it'll be useful for any potential future hostilities, given that it presents a weak spot.

"Here, allow me." The Vice Commander's plasma gun dematerializes, and is swiftly replaced by a disruptor pistol in her hand. If the stalker bot backs off she'll just blast the panel with it at a high setting.

[Rebonack]

[Radiation Pit]

The stalker backs away a few steps and-

PEW!

The access panel gets vaporized and some of the surrounding GOP armor warps a bit. Within a matter of seconds the armor has already cooled down to levels safe enough to touch. Craaaazy thermal properties on that armor. Seriously.

Without missing a beat the stalker climbs into the access tube not particularly unlike the sorts of crawl spaces one might find on a starship. It heads straight in and grabs onto an interior panel, shoving it open and allowing it to clatter to the floor. The whole drop ship is laying on its side, causing the interior of the (rather ripped up) craft to have a somewhat disorienting look to it.

Several lackeys are piled against the wall/floor of the chamber.

"I have found the injured lackeys, they appear to be unconscious. The vigilante appears to still be inside the reactor chamber. The chamber is located through the hatch on the next level," the robot says.

[Lost_Deep]

Radiation Pit

"Give me a minute, I'm trying to get to the good stuff. Also apparently this area is irradiated so fiy on that."

The vigilante is trying to get into the next room, working away like she did on the last door, but honestly expecting that whoever it is won't just let her do that.

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"This-"-UNTRANSLATABLE PROFANITY-"-mess is going to get a lot of people killed, between us, your Doctor, and the 'heroes.' Messes like this crash are only the beginning." N'alae sighs. "I will go have a talk with our vigilante. Engaging scanners." She proceeds to do a limited scan of the dropship with the helmet's various vision modes and a mapping system in her helmet's HUD. Provided nothing in here (or the radiation) interferes with that, she's going to skip ahead and beam right up to where this vigilante is.

Unless the beam is blocked or something I guess, but given that the dropship is pretty much dead, that seems unlikely.

"Hi, I'm the Vice Commander of the UDN, here on a diplomatic mission," she introduces herself, as if that was the most casual thing to drop in the world. "...First off, what absurd nonsense did they get up to this time, and second, what are you doing?"

[Rebonack]

[Radiation Pit]

Gamma radiation is transient radiation! It doesn't leave radioactive fallout all over the place, so once the reactor was shut down the reactor room was safe. Besides, it seems like everyone is able to shrug off rads these days.

Scans indicate that something has really ripped up the inside of the ship pretty badly. Enough so that distinguishing what various components were supposed to be doing is difficult.

"The vigilante posses tactile telekinesis and the ability to manipulate objects outside of line of sight, exercise caution. She vivisected and lobotomized one of my counter-parts when she attempted to restrain her," the stalker cautions as it checks the vitals on the lackeys. Was that... anger? The robot sounded angry while reporting that particular incident. What sort of crazy person gives automatons emotions?

Apparently crazy persons like Doctor Diabolical.

As for the gendered pronouns, that's probably just there to make them more personable. Calling something an 'it' and thinking of it as an object often makes it more difficult for a person to make an emotional connection.

That, or these robots are self-replicating. Which would probably be a terrible idea.

[Lost_Deep]

Radiation Pit

Upon hearing the Vice Commander's title, the woman drops to the floor and stands up straight.

She's wearing a black dress, and has black hair. Not a single inch of skin is exposed. She looks beautiful; like whatever the viewer thinks of as the feminine epitome of beauty. This is an illusion effect, and the commander might notice this given that she likely ends up looking differently from how she looked in the scan.

"Replacing public bathrooms. Supervillain: The Solipsist. I assume his powers are psionic, given the psionic pressure he exerted, but I didn't bother to engage him for long. Lots of pink bubbles, some kind of teleportation or decoy power? I honestly expected to find the real him in here, but it seems that I overestimated him."

"As for what I'm doing, I'm trying to get into the next room. Find information, etc. I was intending to write a detailed report and submit it anonymously to Remnant. Perfect memory; I could even include information on how the tech looked before I messed with it."

"Finally, yes, I am prepared to cooperate with law enforcement."

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

<Oddly cooperative.>

N'alae...snaps a helmet cam photo again. The camera might get the true form, which could be useful for identifying this one later. "I see. I would prefer it if you left now. You're near their base, and they already have someone here retrieving the injured from the ship. Sticking around is inadvisable...as is resorting to lethal measures in a conflict so ridiculously pointless."

<...Who wears a dress like that into combat, anyway? Eh. Probably not worse than the insects.>

[Lost_Deep]

Radiation Pit

The maiden nods. "Agreed. I wouldn't kill unless I literally didn't have any other choice, and that would save at least two lives. Should I leave you out of my anonymous report to remnant? Also, do you want some sort of contact information for some reason?" My, she is quite eager to cooperate, isn't she?

Plaza Meeting
(Closed scene)

Kate arrives at the designated spot. She's unsure about the why... Copi told her that there was someone she should meet, but left out who it was. Kate assumes that it was someone who she met in her previous life.

...that the previous her met? Eh.

A small garden plaza, with flowers, benches, a fountain... overall, this place was very beautiful, and not too far from the apartment. It's a nice place to meet someone. Kate hoped that whoever it was would recognize her, because Kate might not recognize them.

[OrchestraHc]

[Vallery's Location]

Vallery gestures into the horizon. "I will you decide my agent of fate, whatever you think of first is where we should go! For now I am but a follower to your lead!"

Configuration Clinic:

He thought it was a cue at least!
The dwarf stands in a defensive fighting position, shaking his fists in the ogre's direction that aims to swing at him as the still not named woman comes to the rescue and sticks the needle into one of the ogres veins. He screams and attempts to grab onto the woman, it probably while take a little bit before the tranquilizers take affect.

Configuration Clinic:

Unlike before, the woman, who is unnamed because I usually wait until the character introduces themself but if you need it, Lola, has no need to run away. "Thank you. Go!" Is all she can say to the dwarf becore engaging the ogre in a fist fight.

The ogre manages to grab her arm, but she retaliates by punching out at his face.

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"What you tell Remnant is not my concern. If they cooperate, it'll get forwarded to us anyway." N'alae shrugs. "That being said, I'll take the contact info."

She has kind of a record of collecting non-strictly-affiliated agents to call on when the need arises. Though mostly thus far it's involved giant robots.

[Lost_Deep]

Radiation Pit

"I do not currently have a method of contact that will permit me to remain anonymous. Understand that I desire this at this point in time, and know of a way to get one. I can get one within a week, in fact. Simply give me information on how I might get it to you, and you will be the first to receive it." That's... kind of odd. Why did she offer contact info if she didn't have any to share yet?

That said, she did guess right that N'alae would want the info.

[TechnoScrabble]

[Bombed-out Zone]

The intruder was kind of expecting that. They duck back into the crater for a moment, adn then scramble up behind the shield. Not that they want to accept the help of the spider-bots, but it beats getting this armor all shot up. And the enemy of your enemy is your friend, right?

So this stuff seems to have belonged to the aliens. That makes it probably dangerous. The armored figure takes an instant to turn and hurl something over the shield towards the largest group of aliens they can remember. A little not-quite round metal thing, two halves twisted slightly apart, with a red ring of light flashing faster and faster.

That's actually all it does. It won't explode or anything; the intruder is fresh out of proper explosives.

The spider bots brace themselves, expecting an explosion, but the aliens have no such experience with thrown devices. The fire continues, but one alien grabs the odd object and shows it too his fellow, eyeing it curiously.

ayy

lmao

????

Jakkal does not partake of any treats or offerings, no matter how delightful. Such things are not his forte.

What he does do, however, is start scanning the room for positions of cover, sources of information, and anuthing that could be useful as a weapon.

[Recaiden]

[Bombed-Out Zone]

The aliens acquire an empty shell with flashing lights!

The intruder keeps fleeing, checking that the shield is still there. Good, good. They should get behind that collapsed building and be out of direct alien fire soon.
"Can you talk? What is this stuff?"

[Halae]

Plaza Meeting
(Closed scene)

Kate arrives at the designated spot. She's unsure about the why... Copi told her that there was someone she should meet, but left out who it was. Kate assumes that it was someone who she met in her previous life.

...that the previous her met? Eh.

A small garden plaza, with flowers, benches, a fountain... overall, this place was very beautiful, and not too far from the apartment. It's a nice place to meet someone. Kate hoped that whoever it was would recognize her, because Kate might not recognize them.[Plaza Meeting]

"Kate?!"

That's a voice that Kate will likely recognize. It's not someone from "ky's" life. Oh no. It's someone from Kate's own universe.

"Kate!" Will likely find herself being hugged rather hard by a woman with somewhat droopy eyes, looking a great deal younger than she actually is, "I didn't think I'd ever see you again! How are you doing, cousin? How'd you end up here?" She's wearing a long sleeved shirt, jeans, and some nice combat boots on her feet. Her typical style, really.

[Lost_Deep]

Plaza Meeting

No- it couldn't be!

But it is!

"Marley!" Kate hugs back. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here? Last I had heard you had up and vanished-oh." duh. "Well, I've up and vanished, too." Kate shrugs, and then thinks a minute.

"...let me guess, Copi set this up, huh?"

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"The contact information for the Office of the Vice Commander is public. Getting anything to me isn't the problem so much as dredging through all the nonsensical mail on my end is, but we deal with that all the time," N'alae explains. Contacting her isn't really hard, but officials like that get all sorts of hate mail and other nonsense. She seems pretty used to it, though.

[Halae]

[Plaza Meeting]

"Yeah. She said there was someone I should meet and didn't say anything else, and now here you are!" Marley's all kinds of happy, "Oh man, how've you been? I was looking forward to having you come over, but then I got swallowed up by the Nexus. My AC's currently being docked by the Irregulars, who've had it on Standby forever now. What about you?"

For note, she's still hugging.


[Theatre of Masks]

Certain is entangled by the webbing but simply laughs, amused and says, "Impressive..." as her body heats into an inferno, hopefully melting the goop. If she's successful, she'll unfurl her wings and fly at Trick, trying to tackle the tiefling.[Theatre of Masks]

The Goop wasn't hardened against heat, so turning on the flames will quickly force it to become brittle; pieces will still cling to Certain's clothing and body, but without the adhesive quality it had before it'll simply start breaking off like mud that's dried on someone, meaning Trick has to deal with a demoness rocketing towards her.

Well, that's easier to deal with than you might expect; the reason fighters only go for a tackle when they've stunned their opponent is how vulnerable it leaves them to a counterattack. Trick is heavily fortified against fire, both from her heritage and her remaining enchantments, meaning it's mostly the physical aspect of the other woman she has to worry about.

Trick will roll out of the way, and reach inside her jacket for something on either side of her body, though she doesn't have the time to pull it out just yet, given she's doing this in the midst of a dodge roll.

[Lost_Deep]

Radiation Pit

"Very well. I'll refer to myself as Porcelain Maiden in my message. And now, I think I should get lost." And unless stopped, the Maiden will rush out, trying to rush straight past the Stalker and out of the area.

Plaza Meeting

Kate, usually only able to take so much hugs, isn't going to stop Marley yet. "I was on my way, the Spacebus had just gone into T-drive, I'm putting my stuff in the room, and suddenly... everything goes odd and I'm on grass. Hard to think that everything has only gotten more confusing from there. Say, how did Copi find you? And how did she know that..."

[Halae]

[Plaza Meeting]

"I met her a little after the, uh, other you died. I heard about the funeral and wanted to make sure it wasn't actually my cousin that died. I'm glad it wasn't, and I got to meet Copi from that, so it all turned out well," she finally lets go, "There was a huge flash of light during an exercise, and then I woke up in an Irregulars bed, since my mech had apparently landed in their courtyard."

"Oh! and I found my dad!"

[Lost_Deep]

Plaza Meeting

Kate blinks. "Seriously? Forgive the saying, but once is an incident, twice is coincidence, three times is murder. Is there... is there just something wonky with that sector of space? Or what? I think that if that area has a missing person rate higher than the rest of the galaxy, even only trivially, we would know about it..."

[Halae]

[Plaza Meeting]

"No higher than any other part of the galaxy," Marley says, "It probably has more to do with the family than the part of space. Come on, there's an ice cream parlor nearby; real stuff, not the replicator crap that tastes like frozen rubber."

[Lost_Deep]

Plaza Meeting

"I heard that they've gotten synthesized soft-serve to be decent," Kate says, "I can't help but find it funny that we can travel between stars but they still can't synth milk right..."

Presumably they head toward the ice cream place, then.

[Halae]

[Plaza Meeting => Ice Cream Parlor]

Damn straight they do!

Marley will order a vanilla bowl for herself. Tasty tasty. She'll let Kate be the one to start up the conversation again once they're seated, though, consumed as she is by the frozen delight before her.

[Lost_Deep]

Ice Cream Parlor

Kate will get cookies and cream, and sit down. She has a few bites, and then says, "For once, I have a lot to say to you." Not usually one to start conversations, this is quite different from normal.

[Halae]

[Ice Cream Parlor]

"What makes you say that?" Marley asks around her vanilla.

[Lost_Deep]

Ice Cream Parlor

"Well, I want to tell you about, you know, back home, and how everyone was taking it, but there's something more important I should say to you that's connected to the nexus." Kate shrugs. "Both are complex topics that I have a lot to say on, so for once I'm the one with a lot to say. It's just... kind of an odd thought."

She's being awkward.

[Halae]

[Ice Cream Parlor]

"We never really did talk much when we saw each other, did we?" she says, "A few hellos, a 'how've you been' and then something would happen that would make it so we wouldn't talk to each other for another year or so."

[Lost_Deep]

Ice Cream Parlor

"That's how it is when you're on two different planets and one side doesn't want to spring for consistent T-net service." Kate shrugs. "But really, this is important. Let me start with the most relevant one. You mentioned you found out bout my... the other me's funeral? Apparently, when I got to the nexus something happened and now I have the memories from that Kate floating around in my head, too! And of course the other Kate's friends were right there, willing to help me, so it's almost like I fell into a support net almost perfectly made for me, apparently there's been people who are interested in me, romantically, and now you're here..."

She takes a deep breath.

"It's just... often confusing. And creepy when I think about it too much."

[Rebonack]

[Radiation Pit]

Fleeing past the stalker is pretty easy, mostly because it's providing first aid to the three lackeys and is otherwise indisposed.

Awaaaaaay!

[Barkhouse Bestiary]

Yep.

The old one. The one in that big tree. The one that was around before Mallside started existing. The place is still around, still offering custom animal creations, pet supplies, and totally mundane pets. And, of course, biological augmentation for those who are keen on that sort of thing.

That last one is the reason why Geneva is here. And the reason why the half-drow young man, Divaonar, is giving her a rather confused look.

"You want to know if I can turn you into a princess?" he asks, incredulous. "The Life-shaping abilities I got from Mom are pretty flexible, but I don't think they have the ability to confer royal titles."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't be a princess, exactly. It's just traditional that anyone who ascends to alicorn-hood would end up being named a princess," Geneva explains. "An alicorn, of course, being someone with the magic of all three pony tribes. And alicorn magic on top of that. It's pretty much the only way I would ever be able to cast a five allit spell for a project I'm working on."

Divaonar whistles. "That's a pretty tall order. I've seen the ponies around the Nexus, so I know how they work. But I can't say that I've ever bumped into one of their demigods before. Taking a stab in the dark would be really dangerous. Without a base-line I wouldn't want to risk your safety. I mean... if you could find one of these alicorns and bring them here I might be able to help-"

"But if I knew of an alicorn in the Nexus I could just ask her to cast the spell!" Geneva pouts. "That doesn't do me any good. What about a unicorn? Could you just turn me into a unicorn?"

Div scratches at his chin, "I could, but I can't promise your current magical potential would be intact, which still wouldn't help you. I'm sure Mom could have pulled it off easy, but I'm not her. Sorry."

Geneva heaves a sigh, her ears drooping. "It's okay. This was a long-shot, but I still needed to check. Thanks for your help."

And with that she heads out into-

[Hodgepodge Street]

"Well, that didn't work out," the hippogriff huffs. She steps off to the side a bit to allow a sapient red wagon to go rolling past. "That's another magical transformation place that won't do me any good. I guess I could start looking for a technological solution to the problem, but where would I even start?"

[Halae]

[Ice Cream Parlor]

"Hold on, I know that's all important, but there's a man in your life?" Marley brightens at that. She was never too greatly interested in finding someone for herself, but hearing about her family getting that sort of thing is big news for her.

[Lost_Deep]

Ice Cream Parlor

"No," Kate says with a shake of hear head, "I turned him down, and we're still friends. Apparently. I don't remember who it was, or the event, or anything. Apparently I have the memories, but it's still my memory, and my brain isn't real sure what to do with them, so... there's a lot of 'Wait, why do I know that?' or 'Why do I recognize that person's face?' Overall, really awkward."

[Rebonack]

[????]

Hmm...

Well.

Those fancy couches might be useful as cover.

And there's a candle stick over on that end table that looks pretty solid, that could probably be used as a weapon. There are a few butter knives over on the continental breakfast table. Those could be used for stabbing in a pinch.

But as far as information goes...

Well.

That's a bit on the lacking side.

"What are you in here for?" one of the thugs inquires through a mouthful of jelly-filled croissant.

[Hodgepodge Street]

Geneva eventually decides to find a place to sit down and settles on a small patch of grass between two trees. The trees, in turn, are between an old German style castle and a huge floating metallic sphere. She's about to call a friend on her wrist computer when suddenly-

"Hey! Watch what yer smurfin' doin'!" comes a tiny, irate voice.

Geneva glances down and notices some kind of tiny... blue person... that she had nearly sat on. Extra emphasis on tiny. This thing couldn't be bigger than one of her talons.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't see you down there," she replies, genuine concern in her tone.

"Yeah? Well sorry don't get me nothin'! Smurf you, ya freak!" the creature rails before scampering off.

The hippogriff gives a slight huff before dialing Jace's number. She figured it would be nice to share her findings thus far with him.

[Deathkeeper]

HodgePodge Street

Jace picks up quickly.
"Hiya Geneva. What's up?" he asks cheerily.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

"Hello Jace!" Geneva chirps back. "The tests I did on your blood sample came back negative. There wasn't anything I could find that linked anything in your blood to any kind of field. Which is a shame, I was really hoping for a breakthrough."

Learning new things about magic is neat!

"Oh! And I've got some leads on that bridge idea, thanks for pointing me to Cessie. Though... umm... In the course of my research I bumped into a being that calls itself 'Libra'. It answered a few questions and gave me a 'prize' which I'm one hundred percent positive is a cursed Ogres and Oubliettes artifact. A die of wonder?"

Pause for effect!

"I've been trying to find a way to get rid of the thing for good, but I haven't had any luck so far. Unfortunately there isn't a Mount Doom nearby with a sufficiently fiery chasm I could cast the die into."

Geneva really isn't sure how many people would get that reference. The Hobbit was an Earth Pony epic of the pre-classical era that seemed to have some really close analogs in a lot of other universes, so it doesn't hurt to throw it out there!

[Deathkeeper]

HodgePodge Street

If this wasn't a phone call, Geneva would be able to hear Jace stiffen.
"Libra dislikes causing harm to mortals, but she is nearly all-powerful and has basically no morals. She likes helping people, but never does it in a pleasant way. And you get rid of that die as soon as you can, okay? Those things are bad news, you hear me?"

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Geneva clicks her beak.

Amoral and likes 'helping' in an unpleasant way?

"It sounds like my comparison to Discord was spot on, then... Well, I've stowed the thing in my inventory spell, but apparently it can roll itself if it feels like it needs to 'help' me. Most recently that resulted in me having a nervous breakdown over... something. I can't really recall exactly what happened, which is weird since I usually remember everything that happened so long as I'm paying attention."

Really, though.

That particular fact is really creeping her out.

She doesn't just forget things.

"I don't think I can just throw it away. I tried ditching it and it just ended up in my inventory spell again. I don't suppose you know any good places for destroying powerful artifacts of chaos magic?"

Maybe give it to a grey knight? They're notoriously good at stomping on CHAOS.

[Deathkeeper]

HodgePodge Street

Jace sighs.
"Oh, boy. Mine was content to sit in a lockbox forever after it turned me into a kangaroo for three days. Uh, you could try going to Vigil or the Irregulars. The former make it their job to get rid of public dangers and the latter have tons of tech, even if they don't really share it they might consider destroying it for the same reason. I don't know of any public places, although specialists like Azik might be able to analyze it. I doubt it though. Libra's powers usually defy examination."

[TechnoScrabble]

Bombed Out Zone

The robots continue to cover the figure's retreat, showing amazing cohesion and tactical sense despite their size and unsubtle design. The one nearest the figure turns to him and bleeps a response, lights on the front flashing as a small arm extends towards the canister.

????

Jakkal stares at the thug. It's a predatory stare, with no malice, only a cool, calculative assessment of the man. It passes over any other thugs there, and his MIU, a heretical piece of bio-tech with a sinister intelligence all its own, scans the room for signals while simultaneously running numbers for combat, suggesting to Jakkal the best courses of action.

"Eez eet henny ahf hyoor bizeeniss hwy Hy am here?" he asks, his telekinetic field slowly moving the butter knives and other objects around wherever the thugs aren't looking.

[Ionbound]

[Theatre of Masks]

The Goop wasn't hardened against heat, so turning on the flames will quickly force it to become brittle; pieces will still cling to Certain's clothing and body, but without the adhesive quality it had before it'll simply start breaking off like mud that's dried on someone, meaning Trick has to deal with a demoness rocketing towards her.

Well, that's easier to deal with than you might expect; the reason fighters only go for a tackle when they've stunned their opponent is how vulnerable it leaves them to a counterattack. Trick is heavily fortified against fire, both from her heritage and her remaining enchantments, meaning it's mostly the physical aspect of the other woman she has to worry about.

Trick will roll out of the way, and reach inside her jacket for something on either side of her body, though she doesn't have the time to pull it out just yet, given she's doing this in the midst of a dodge roll.

Well, that's not nice. Luckily for Certain, she's gotten rather good at aerial maneuvering and so she air-brakes mid leap with her wings, possibly buffeting Trick before landing as close as possible to the tiefling and trying to grab her throat with a supernaturally strong, clawed hand.

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

And then N'alae beams right back to where she was before, and decides to give the stalker bot an update.

"She's leaving, though I was promised contact information. I also found out she uses personal illusions. Made sure to take a helmet cam picture, since it wouldn't be fooled. Are those three stable?" She asks. She's certainly being rather liberal with sharing the Maiden's capabilities. Might be some diplomatic sucking-up measure or something.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

"...a kangaroo?" Geneva replies, incredulous. "How could getting turned into a kangaroo possibly be construed as-"

She gives a sigh, rubbing her own forehead. "Actually, no, I'm not going to think about it. So VIGIL or the Irregulars, barring the existence of a volcano that's good for destroying artifacts in? I suppose that's better than nothing. Certainly better than keeping it on me and just hoping for the best."

Because you never know when it might strike!

"Maybe I should look into getting rid of the die now instead of focusing on my other projects... If that thing decides to roll itself it could spell instant disaster for whatever I'm working on."

That would probably be the safest thing to do, at least.

"Who's Azik? I can't say that I've ever heard of him before," Geneva inquires. Sure, she could just look it up. But Jace mentioned the guy and it's far more social to ask a friend.

[????]

The thugs appear to be normal (and disarmed) humans. There aren't any wireless signals of any kind coming into the building. In fact, the place seems to be somehow sealed off from any form of radio contact, too. Weird.

"Geeze, man, I was just making small talk," the thug says. "No reason to be a jerk about it."

[Deathkeeper]

HodgePodge Street

"Construed as what? Azik runs a shop in Mallside that specializes in magic items and artifacts. I've been to his shop once or twice." comes the response.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

"Construed as helpful, I guess," Geneva replies. "But maybe all of them aren't supposed to be 'helpful'. Maybe most of them are just supposed to be a nuisance."

Or downright dangerous.

"Someone specializing in artifacts could be helpful, they might know how to dispose of one. I think I'll check that place out next," Geneva decides, rising from her seat and poking at her wrist computer. After a bit of fiddling a new quest marker appears on her HUD, providing her with directions to both Mallside and the shop in question!

Hazzah!

Having an advanced phone/radio/targeting system/map/gps/inventory device sure is handy!

Geneva takes to the air and begins winging her way to Mallside at a leisurely pace.

"So a kangaroo, huh? Was that as absurd as it sounds?"

[Radiation Pit]

"They are stable," the stalker replies. "A transport is being sent to retrieve them and a crew will be left to salvage or repair the damaged dropship as possible. Moving the lackeys on foot would be hazardous. The Radiation Pit is not safe for unshielded beings."

It isn't safe for shielded beings, either. But that's beside the point.

"Doctor Diabolical has been informed of your request for correspondence."

[Deathkeeper]

The Skies of Inside

"Usually the things she does are just for fun or 'helping' but the Dice are random. I wasn't even sure they were hers until now; that's another thing to add to the list, then.
And it was more absurd than it sounds, since the curse in question was half-assed and wasn't even anatomically correct." he adds irritably.
Jace was an extremely cartoony marsupial.

[Gullara]

[Pokémon Park]

Vis looks at the pictures and back at what the spider found.
"Well, it looks like on the pictures so it should be correct." Vis replies. He only knew about resin from the dex and never used it befor to catch a pokemon. Joltik like electricity.
"I think we need to open it and then hide."

[Pokémon Park]

"Right, gotcha. Clawra? Claw that tree." Becca picks the crustacean up and holds her in front of the spot. Clawra doesn't hesitate for a second before swiping at it with her strong claws carving a chunk out of the wood. "Ack!" The swing throws Becca off balance and she tumbles to the ground with Clawra in hand. But if Vis looks at the tree, he'l see it's leaking resin. Success!

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

To be fair, getting turned into a cartoony kangaroo is probably better than getting turned into a real kangaroo.

"Well, at least you're fine now. Hopefully all of its effects are just as harmlessly inconvenient, but I wouldn't bet on it," Geneva reasons. "Chaos artifacts aren't exactly known for being stable. Or predictable. Or... anything like that, I suppose."

And then?

Geneva spots something that makes her begin laughing hysterically. One of those 'oh my goodness I can hardly breath' sorts of laughs.

It might be somewhat concerning for the person on the other side of the line.

It's somewhat concerning for Geneva, too, since it's hard to fly straight when she's laughing so hard.

What could be the problem! Dice of Wonder attack? Did she fly through a cloud of laughing gas? Afflicted by Tasha's Hideous Laughter?

Stay tuned to find out!

[Deathkeeper]

Hodge-podge Street

He was awfully glad to still be able to talk and hold things.
"Uh, hello? Geneva? What's up?" asks Jace worriedly.

[Rebonack]

[Hodepodge Street]

"I'm flying over a tiny version of Moarboar!" Geneva squawks between fits of giggles. "Filled with tiny people reenacting the War of the Ring. Just... different types of humanoids instead of ponies and boars. There's even a tiny Barad-dur and a tiny Mount Doom."

Geneva dips a wing and flies lower, circling above the dreadful (tiny) mountain belching ash and flames into the air like a (also tiny) furnace. The volcano is about as tall as Geneva is and the forces of darkness scatter when she comes in for a landing. Several random pedestrians boo at her for interrupting the show. She gives them an apologetic grin and mouths 'sorry' at them. "I've got an evil artifact to dispose of. It'll just take a second."

That seems to placate the onlookers.

Everyone knows that you're supposed to toss evil artifacts into Mount Doom.

Best hazardous magical waste disposal spot around!

"I think I'm going to try tossing the dice into Mount Doom. It might turn out to be useless, but it's worth a shot. What do you think?" Geneva inquires over the phone whilst removing the Original Die of Wonder from her inventory.

[Deathkeeper]

Hodge-Podge Street

"Well, you don't really have anything to lose, unless the Die lands on something solid and counts as rolling it." Jace responds.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

"I'm not sure how solid lava would count as being. At worst I'll have to put up with some random effect and find the thing in my inventory again later. At best the volcano will work and I can forget about this whole mess. It'll be nice to get back to doing something important instead of worrying about some chaos spirit's nonsense," Geneva huffs. She walks toward the lil' volcano on three legs, the golden die of wonder clutched in her talons.

And then?

She gets bit on the ankle by a tiny dragon. The dragon in question is only about the size of a squirrel, but that's still enough to hurt!

"Oow!" the hippogriff cries. She turns an angry look upon the miniature monster and begins swatting at it until it leaves her alone. "Go away, tiny dragon! Shoo!" It's only after the dragon returns to breathing sheets of flame over the last alliance of men and elves that she realizes she isn't holding the die anymore. "Oh bugger, I dropped the stupid thing."

With a grumble, Geneva moves to retrieve the die and can't help but notice it's displaying a number rather than a set of dots.

Forty seven.

Geneva gives a squawk of alarm when she suddenly begins shrinking and abruptly explodes in a cloud of feathers and white smoke. Smoke and feathers alike are blown away in a sudden wind, revealing Geneva's clothing and equipment as well as the emptied contents of her inventory. Considering how much stuff she has collected that's a pretty big pile.

And sitting on top of the pile of loot?

A normal white Die of Wonder.

At precisely the same time, the Golden Die of Wonder begins to expand, rapidly growing into a rather distinct hippogriff shape before it too explodes! Not so much smoke, though. Mostly just a cloud of obscenely golden glitter. Golden glitter that goes rushing away from the epicenter of the blast, covering everyone and everything in an annoying dusting of sparkles. Golden glitter that gets all over everything. Golden glitter that people will still be finding in their hair for weeks. Glitter truly is the herpes of arts and crafts.

And sitting in the epicenter of the glitter-splosion?

A very confused looking Geneva.

For whatever weird reason the red dye in her mane and tail is gone, revealing its natural slate grey color. Her darker feathers have taken on a rather distinct golden iridescence when the light hits them just right. What a mystery!

She sums up the situation in a single word. "What."

[Deathkeeper]

Hodge-Podge Street

At this point all Jace heard was "Ow," "I dropped it," and then a whole bunch of explosions. So buzzing over the Pipcolt is simply his "Hello? Geneva? Are you there? Please tell me you're alive."

[Halae]

Ice Cream Parlor

"No," Kate says with a shake of hear head, "I turned him down, and we're still friends. Apparently. I don't remember who it was, or the event, or anything. Apparently I have the memories, but it's still my memory, and my brain isn't real sure what to do with them, so... there's a lot of 'Wait, why do I know that?' or 'Why do I recognize that person's face?' Overall, really awkward."[Ice Cream Parlor]

Marley nods, "Yeah, I can imagine; that'd really screw with people." Se scratches her chin, "Well, do you at least know who he is? I imagine he had a lot to say when he heard you were back."
Well, that's not nice. Luckily for Certain, she's gotten rather good at aerial maneuvering and so she air-brakes mid leap with her wings, possibly buffeting Trick before landing as close as possible to the tiefling and trying to grab her throat with a supernaturally strong, clawed hand.[Theatre of Masks]

Trick will be far enough away that the wings won't buffet her, be she won't be quick enough to dodge the hand reaching for her throat. however, that leaves another problem for Certain. It seems she forgot about the mimic that as recovering over by the wall; as I said, he was only stunned, and now it's quite possible that Certain will find her leg in its icy maw; those teeth are like rows of daggers cutting into the flesh of her lower leg.

Regardless of whether Luggage is successful, however, Trick will finish pulling the two things from her coat; in her right hand, taken from a shoulder holster, is a Colt Anaconda, which is a .44 magnum revolver. In her left hand is a vial of holy water mixed with silver. A pretty simple anti-fiend concoction, really, purchasable from just about anywhere with a holy presence.

Trick is a quick shot once her gun is actually out, and Certain my find a very large, very painful bullet in the shoulder of the arm that she's attempting to grab Trick with. It's your ordinary bullet, given Trick wasn't expecting to fight a demon today, but that doesn't make much difference when a thick piece of metal is traveling at sonic speeds through bone, ligament, and muscle. And then Trick will crush the vial of holy water and silver in her left hand over the wound, to get it right into Certain's blood stream.

[Lost_Deep]

Ice Cream Parlor

"I haven't met him yet," Kate admits, "I think Copi is specifically spacing things out to keep me from getting overwhelmed, which I appreciate, given how much I have to get used to. However, a lot of it is taking... a surprisingly short time to get used to."

Kate sighs before eating a good amount of ice cream.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

The War of the Last Alliance looks pretty silly covered in glitter.

By now people are booing in earnest.

Geneva sputters and fluffs her wings, doing her best to dislodge all the glitter and generally failing. It's going to take some pretty serious wind magic to get her clean, but that's going to have to wait. The sound of a concerned friend is far more important! The hippogriff hurries over to her (now removed) wrist computer and speaks into it.

"I'm fine Jace. Even though I exploded twice. ...I think," she says as she runs her talons through her hair, pulling it to a respectable distance so she can peer at it. "And for some reason it removed my mane dye."

It was all really disorienting. The fact that there's glitter and feathers everywhere doesn't help.

She begins digging through her heap of belongings, shoving random junk aside and making neat little organized columns of objects until she finds what she's looking for! The tools for opening a PIPcolt. Geneva goes to work unlocking the device so she can put it back on.

"Near as I can tell I just swapped positions with the die in a really flash, messy sort of way. There's glitter and feathers all over everything. It also dumped all of my gear where I was standing," Geneva reports as she locks the PIPcolt back onto her wrist. That done, she boots up her inventory program and begins collecting her things. She's pretty sure her jacket is buried under that heap somewhere... Then she spots it!

The Die of Wonder!

However, something is different...

"Hey! I found the die. It isn't golden anymore. Maybe whatever it did turned it into a normal one?" she muses aloud as she snatches it up. "I bet that'll make it easier to dispose of."

[Deathkeeper]

Hodge-Podge Street

It dumped her stuff and a Die where she'd been? Erm...
There's a pause.
"Maybe you shouldn't. An ordinary Die isn't a danger since it's easy to contain, although contain it you should. Zebes says it might have substituted you with the die or something. Says he saw that in an anime once. You feel fine, right?" he asks.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

Geneva pauses when Jace suggests that she wait, the Die of Wonder and hand alike hovering over the smouldering mouth of Tiny Mount Doom. "Substituted me with the die?" she repeats. "Like... I'm not really Geneva, I'm actually the Golden Die of Wonder who thinks its Geneva?"

There's a brief stab of panic as she glances back at her cutie mark. Some small part of her was terrified that her own symbol would be gone and replaced with a picture of a pair of dice or something. Much to her relief it hadn't changed at all. It was still the same purple hurricane symbol set into a circle of partly red and partly blue with the little triangles and half-circles running along the edge.

Geneva lets out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"No, no I feel fine. And I still have my cutie mark. The magic of one's cutie mark is linked to the very spirit. It's our destiny. If I wasn't really... me... then the symbol would be gone. Or it would have changed."

She feels better just speaking it aloud.

That crisis averted, she turns her attention back to the die in her grip. "We don't know if it'll turn golden again and start jumping out of my inventory at the worst times," she reasons. "This might just be a temporary vulnerability. I think casting it into the lava is probably the safest thing to do."

[Deathkeeper]

Hodge-Podge Street

"That's not really what he meant, but alright. If that's the case at worst it just made itself into a body and transferred your spirit appropriately. In which case there would be no real issue as it's the same thing. Do what you feel is best, Geneva. With these stupid things there's no real right answer most of the time." Jace says.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

So the other possibility is that her old body turned into a Dice of Wonder and the Golden Dice of Wonder turned into a copy of her body and she was metaphysically transferred to said body. That seems... really weird and pointless. Simply swapping positions made more sense. It was certainly simpler. But how could one ever expect to be able to apply rational thought to a chaos artifact?

Even if that was true a copy of her body was still her. And her cutie mark attested to the fact that neither her magic nor her destiny had changed at all. She still remembered everything she had remembered previously. At least, she was pretty sure that she remembered everything.

"This is so ridiculous. I would really rather not risk getting turned into a kangaroo," the hippogriff grumbles whilst glowering at the Dice in her hand. "You've caused enough trouble, mister chaos artifact. Into the fiery chasm you go."

And with that she drops the thing into the volcano.

A plume of burning ash begins erupting along with a whole bunch of lava! That stuff is hot! Geneva hops away from the side of the mountain and quickly begins gathering up the rest of junk, slips on her jacket, and slings her rifle onto her back. The hippogriff spreads her wings, gives her haunches a good shake, and then springs into the air just in time to avoid the streams of molten rock!

She does not, however, notice that her rear made the unmistakable sound of dice being shaken. Nor did she notice that when she stopped there came the sound of dice bouncing across a table. Nor did she notice that the image of a golden dice appear briefly on her haunches, bearing the number three hundred eighty four.

She did, however, notice a storm of cotton candy clouds that suddenly swirled into existence above the plaza and began inundating the area in a deluge of chocolate milk rain. Mostly because she's all sticky and gross now.

"Hey Jace? Do you have a shower at your house? I think the Dice had one last gasp before it burned. It's raining chocolate milk."

[Deathkeeper]

Hodge-Podge Street

Jace sighs.
"Yeah, yeah. Sure. Just try not to get my carpet sticky, okay?" he says.

[Rebonack]

[Hodgepodge Street]

"I will do my best not to drip all over your carpet," Geneva replies with a wry grin.

Her HUD updates with a new quest marker while the Mallside quest is abandoned.


Scrub a Dub Dub: Locate Jace's house and take a shower.
Bonus: Complete this quest without dripping chocolate milk on Jace's carpet.

With that, Geneva takes a sharp turn to zero in on the new navigation icon and begins closing in on it!

"So, what exactly did you do with the Dice of Wonder you found? Just locked it up somewhere?" Geneva asks as she goes sailing past a sailing ship that apparently isn't aware that it shouldn't be floating in the sky. The crew of Age of Exploration navy folks wave at her as she passes, to which she waves back.

It's only friendly!

Anywho, on to Home!

[Ionbound]

[Theatre of Masks]

Trick will be far enough away that the wings won't buffet her, be she won't be quick enough to dodge the hand reaching for her throat. however, that leaves another problem for Certain. It seems she forgot about the mimic that as recovering over by the wall; as I said, he was only stunned, and now it's quite possible that Certain will find her leg in its icy maw; those teeth are like rows of daggers cutting into the flesh of her lower leg.

Regardless of whether Luggage is successful, however, Trick will finish pulling the two things from her coat; in her right hand, taken from a shoulder holster, is a Colt Anaconda, which is a .44 magnum revolver. In her left hand is a vial of holy water mixed with silver. A pretty simple anti-fiend concoction, really, purchasable from just about anywhere with a holy presence.

Trick is a quick shot once her gun is actually out, and Certain my find a very large, very painful bullet in the shoulder of the arm that she's attempting to grab Trick with. It's your ordinary bullet, given Trick wasn't expecting to fight a demon today, but that doesn't make much difference when a thick piece of metal is traveling at sonic speeds through bone, ligament, and muscle. And then Trick will crush the vial of holy water and silver in her left hand over the wound, to get it right into Certain's blood stream.

Well, depending on how fleshy the inside of the Luggage is, it might be in for a nasty surprise as Certain's feet are have talons and, lacking a better option, she pushes down hard into the mimic's mouth, though the experience is definitely painful, and Trick might notice black ichor running down the demon mage's leg. That said, despite the pain, Certain is able to try to catch Trick's gun arm and try to slam it against the wall, theoritcally disarming the Tiefling. And when the holy water and silver concoction smashes into her shoulder, Certain glares at Trick and says, "You will pay for that, Warlock," as she tightens her grasp and the her black tendrils snake towards Trick again, probing at her soul for any weakness.

[Halae]

[Theatre of Masks]

The same defenses as before protect Trick's soul from the probing tendrils, but with Trick subdued, Certain may have enough time to begin boring into them.

Certain will also find something off; there's no inside to the mimic or... there's an empty space where an inside should be. That's just strange. And since the talons aren't digging into any fleshy bits, the mimic merrily continues to chomp away at Certain's leg; if she doesn't deal with that soon, the mimic is going to chew straight through her bone, supernatural toughness or no.

Trick, Meanwhile, is mostly subdued. with her right hand held against the wall and a clawed hand at her neck, Trick only has her left hand out, which she seems to be flailing wildly with. Despite all this, she's staring defiantly at Certain, unable to speak due to the hand at her throat.

[Murkus]

Red Zone - Trash

Aiden steps toward Susurrus, repeatedly tossing his sword up a few feet and catching it. That doesn't seem like it'd be a safe thing to do, but whatever. He tosses the sword again just when he gets within Sus's reach, but when he catches it that time, he immediately rushes forward to stab at the creature. This action is fast enough to make him look like a blur, until the end of it when he thrusts his sword forward.

The lengthy blade buries itself in the flesh of Susurrus's neck, and can continue up to the hilt if Aiden pushes it that far. The thrusting attack seems to have no immediate effect - Susurrus remains upright, glaring and terrible and miserable.

The great beast's claws flash outward, embedding themselves in the walls of the condemned buildings on either side of him. With a pair of mighty crashes and the crumble of shoddy masonry, Susurrus brings portions of the walls down on Aiden, a tumble of mortar and brick meant to bury him alive. A cloud of dust descends upon the pair of them as well, though not enough to be totally obscuring.


False Garden

Garrett looks in awe at the holographic garden around him and Varienne, the light reflected and glittering in his eyes. He reaches a hand out tentatively at a plant, never quite making contact, almost afraid to dispel the awe it instills.

"How...how do you do all of this?"

"This is the cheap stuff," Varienne says with a snort, paying no more attention to their environs than she would to a piece of tinfoil. "Something me and the holo-techs cook up every other day or so. I mean, look at this crappy resolution. The visual bugs alone..." She shoots him a look. "What, you really like it?"

[Ionbound]

[Theatre of Masks]

Well. That is a problem. With the mimic chewing through her leg showing no signs of stopping, Certain heats her legs to incredible heat to try to do two things; Cauterize the injury, stopping the bleeding, and also discourage the Luggage from chomping on her leg. She also maintains the hold on Trick, and the black tendrils continue probing at her spiritual defenses.

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"They are stable," the stalker replies. "A transport is being sent to retrieve them and a crew will be left to salvage or repair the damaged dropship as possible. Moving the lackeys on foot would be hazardous. The Radiation Pit is not safe for unshielded beings."

It isn't safe for shielded beings, either. But that's beside the point.

"Doctor Diabolical has been informed of your request for correspondence."

N'alae pauses briefly to consider a response before replying. "I'll take what I can get. Should I expect a response at the public address, or a loud dropship making a scene at the Spire? I mean no offense, but the Doctor has a certain fondness of the dramatic, and I'd prefer the former."

[Rebonack]

[The Radiation Pit]

"Doctor Diabolical intends to interrupt the public address with a swarm of several hundred thousand minions forming a giant talking skull while playing the song We're Not Gunna to Take it over a distributed speaker system," the stalker replies in a completely straight faced tone.

Not that the thing can make facial expressions, really.

But you can certainly tell that the thing is absolutely serious.

...

If they're going to do that...

Then what's the point of announcing that they'll be doing so?

That seems a little silly.

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"...The public contact address for the Office of the Vice Commander, not a speech," N'alae points out, also with a completely deadpan tone. Like the stalker, it helps that one can't really see her face right now.

[Rebonack]

[Radiation Pit]

The robot quirks its head to the side slightly.

"You wish to speak with Doctor Diabolical yourself, rather than as a faction?" it inquires. Looks like it is going to wait for a reply before it does anything else.

[Halae]

[Theatre of Masks]

Well. That is a problem. With the mimic chewing through her leg showing no signs of stopping, Certain heats her legs to incredible heat to try to do two things; Cauterize the injury, stopping the bleeding, and also discourage the Luggage from chomping on her leg. She also maintains the hold on Trick, and the black tendrils continue probing at her spiritual defenses.[theatre of Masks]

Luggage indeed backs off, afraid of the flames. he sets to growling, waiting for a chance to act.

Trick, however, just finished doing something that Certain is almost certainly not expecting. That flailing with her left arm? That wasn't simply flailing. That was the pattern for the stupidest, single most impractical spell that Trick knows. It was, in fact, one of the first spells she learned for herself, which explains the impracticality; it's a simple banishment. Incredibly direct, and requires a few seconds to cast while touching the outsider that you're trying to banish, because it's such a heaving of blunt force into a single effect. A flick of her fingers brings her pact blade back out of the storage ring on her right hand, and into her waiting palm, struggling as it is against Certain's hold. The pact blade will become embroiled in green fire, blazing like a torch.

Now, most banishments take a pair of instants to cast, because any longer and whatever you're banishing might eat your face. Because of this, banishments favor precision to eliminate the threat, attempting to bypass whatever defenses the creature has and send them back to where they belong. Trick, while she was still learning, didn't understand this; her practice was with her familiar, Xrilbibth, a little imp who sat still while she was preparing her spells. He later instructed her on how to make more effective banishments, but for the moment, with her low power, this could theoretically overpower even strong defenses, though good luck ever getting it off.

Trick is now far, far more powerful than she was as a novice. Where before it'd be like throwing a brick at the outsider, this was more like collapsing a house on top of them; a simple suit of armor won't save you from the crushing weight of the effect.

This won't kill her, no. But if she's possessed, whatever demon is possessing her will likely be tossed like a ragdoll to the howling winds of the abyss. If she's so far gone that she may as well be a demon herself, it's going to be her that goes.

"Have fun getting back." Trick croaks past the hand holding her throat.


Ice Cream Parlor

"I haven't met him yet," Kate admits, "I think Copi is specifically spacing things out to keep me from getting overwhelmed, which I appreciate, given how much I have to get used to. However, a lot of it is taking... a surprisingly short time to get used to."

Kate sighs before eating a good amount of ice cream.[Ice Cream Parlor]

"Well, we lived in a few different odd places. Walking into a multiracial bar was no different than ending up here, really." aliens all in once place, various colors of humans and non-humans, bar brawls... really, it wasn't that different. Marley seems to be failing to grasp the difference in Kate's intent, however.

[TechnoScrabble]

????

Jakkal shrugs and continues to look around. Cameras, mirrors, windows, all these things would be useful for the next part of his 'plan'. He tries to keep up a dangerous air, something he's pretty good at despite the pink shirt.

False Garden

"I love it," Garrett says, his excitement awkwardly dying down as Varienne dismisses the plants as nothing big, "I've just...never seen anything like it, sorry."

[Recaiden]

[Bombed Out Zone]

Okay. That was probably some sort of code. One that the Intruder does not understand.
Reluctantly, they hand over the cylinder. That part of the request is obvious enough.

[Lost_Deep]

Ice Cream Parlor

"My roommate has the lower half of a spider. Literally, like... centaur. But a spider. And that only seems odd to me when I think about it. Living with a 6-inch-tall spider lady is only odd if I think about it. That's not normal. I... remember getting used to her, but that wasn't this life!" Kate shakes her head. "I should really stop thinking about this. I'll lose sleep over it if I do."

[Ionbound]

[Theatre of Masks]

With an inhuman scream of rage, Certain collapses into a singularity and with a wooshing of air vanishes into the nether.

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

The robot quirks its head to the side slightly.

"You wish to speak with Doctor Diabolical yourself, rather than as a faction?" it inquires. Looks like it is going to wait for a reply before it does anything else.

"I represent the interests of the Union, and my contact information is public. I was operating under the idea that, were I to set up a meeting, it would be coordinated through that. Unless he wants to talk to High Commander Altaran rather than me, but I do have the authority to act here," the Vice Commander explains. "I am the Vice Commander of the Union, and I speak for us until he overrides me. If the Doctor wishes to speak to him directly, he's free to forward this to the public contact address of the Office of the High Commander, but he is presently more focused on the problem of the Chimera Syndicate."

N'alae doesn't mention her more personal reasons for wishing to speak to him, like the implied involvement in the last case of holodeck nonsense, or the part where she's pretty sure these guys know about certain past affiliations.

[Halae]

[Theatre of Masks]

Trick breathes out, rubbing at her throat for a moment. Bloody woman, nearly strangling her, destroying some good enchanted equipment, and even hurting her poor mimic!

The first thing Trick does is kneel down to check Luggage's wounds. he broke one of his teeth, which will grow back, but the huge bruise on his right side probably has something broken inside. "Aw, poor boy. You did really well today, so you're getting a nice big treat!" Luggage snaps his lid open and closed happily several times. He knows that word!

Trick stands, and replaces her pact blade and gun back into their sheath and holster, respectively. during this, she realizes she's sprained her right wrist, so rather than fish her phone out with her right hand, she reaches into a right pocket with her left. She'll type in a number and... "Hello, taxi? I'm at the threatre of masks. How soon can you get someone down here?"

[Stream Corner Clinic]

Trick will get out of the taxi with luggage following behind her, however, the weight of her wounds have really hit her by this point. she has a bad headache, her throat is all kinds of sore, she twisted her foot coming out of that dodge roll, and she's fairly certain some kind of fracture or worse happened when her wrist was slammed up against a wall. Still, could have been worse. A lot worse.

So, Trick limps in, informs the receptionist that she needs to see the doctor, and finds a seat, Luggage choosing to sit quietly at her feet.

[Ice Cream Parlor]

"Kate, I have to ask... how is this any weirder than going to live on another planet?" Marley says. she acclimatized just fine herself, "I get the whole memory thing is wonky, but the Nexus is just another place, and the memories sound like they're quickly working themselves out."

[Deathkeeper]

Stream Corner Clinic

The dwarven receptionist takes her name.
There aren't many doctors in this little place, so there's a bit of a wait, but after about ten minutes she's called in to the second door on the left, and offered a hand getting there if she feels unsteady on her feet.

[Halae]

[Stream Corner Clinic]

Trick thanks them for the offer, but chooses to walk herself down to the second door, and inside, where she'll look for somewhere to take a seat. a whistled instruction has Luggage stay outside in the lobby to wait for her.

[Deathkeeper]

Stream Corner Clinic

There's a medical table to sit down on, and before long a brown-haired man comes in with a...black? labcoat and a tiny silver sword pin on his collar.
"Good afternoon, Miss. What can I do for you?" he says pleasantly.

[Halae]

[Stream Corner Clinic]

Trick smiles, "A few things. I just banished a demon, but not before it kinda screwed me up a bit. Strangled me a little, smashed my right arm against a wall, I twisted my foot during the fight, and to add insult to it all, I've got a headache." Trick sits patiently. Not like the pain is going anywhere.

[Beans]

[Back Alley]
A mugging is taking place, yay! This is a pretty common scene in this part of town, business as usual.

Then a lady with one arm and no legs lands on top of the mugger. He is very unlucky, and his switchblade is driven through his eye and into his brain.

The lady is not lucky either, because she is missing three limbs and the man she accidentally saved has left without so much as a thiank-you!

Oh gods...
She is in considerable discomfort.

[TechnoScrabble]

Bombed Out Zone

The robot beeps happily, scanning the container with an off laserlight device. After a moment, it beeps again, and hands the container back.

"IT'S A BABY. CONGRATULATIONS DESU!" a voice more German than biergarten roars from a crackling speaker on the robot.

Back Alley

A lanky young man rolls up on a battered skateboard and stops, turning to look at the scene and nodding in a way that implies he doesn't quite know why he's nodding. As he exhales, a bubble of gum forms and pops over his sickly, sallow skin, and a disturbingly green tongue darts out of his mouth to clean it up.

He steps off the skateboard and approaches, one hand scratching his messy brown hair wedged haphazardly beneath a moth eaten knit hat resembling a happy skull, the other stuffed into the belly pockets of his nuclear green hoodie. He sniffs, pushes up the cracked cheap sunglasses on his face, and nods again.

"So, like, you look like you could use some help, brah."

[Devixer]

Red Zone - Trash


The lengthy blade buries itself in the flesh of Susurrus's neck, and can continue up to the hilt if Aiden pushes it that far. The thrusting attack seems to have no immediate effect - Susurrus remains upright, glaring and terrible and miserable.

The great beast's claws flash outward, embedding themselves in the walls of the condemned buildings on either side of him. With a pair of mighty crashes and the crumble of shoddy masonry, Susurrus brings portions of the walls down on Aiden, a tumble of mortar and brick meant to bury him alive. A cloud of dust descends upon the pair of them as well, though not enough to be totally obscuring.

The grin on Aiden's face has yet to falter, even as his eyes jump to the rubble falling down on him. He's quick to pull his sword from Susurrus's body, and then he jumps upwards, leading with his fist to knock any rubble away. He lands on top of a pile of bricks and dusts off his coat. He barely even notices that his knuckles were bloodied a bit by punching stone. "Seriously, all that bravado and you're not even gonna take a swing? Man, I should've brought a music player, this fight's gonna be boring."

[Beans]

Back Alley

A lanky young man rolls up on a battered skateboard and stops, turning to look at the scene and nodding in a way that implies he doesn't quite know why he's nodding. As he exhales, a bubble of gum forms and pops over his sickly, sallow skin, and a disturbingly green tongue darts out of his mouth to clean it up.

He steps off the skateboard and approaches, one hand scratching his messy brown hair wedged haphazardly beneath a moth eaten knit hat resembling a happy skull, the other stuffed into the belly pockets of his nuclear green hoodie. He sniffs, pushes up the cracked cheap sunglasses on his face, and nods again.

"So, like, you look like you could use some help, brah."

The woman is mostly wrapped in a bloody towel, eyes squeezed closed in delirious agony. She looks pale and drawn, exhausted and half-dead.
Oh gods, am I still alive?
... Why am I alive?

[TechnoScrabble]

Back Alley

"Well, uh," the guy sniffles and scratches his nose, "You got, like, this heart...thing...and it pumps blood in and out, like if you squeeze a sponge, you know?"

He stares silently for a bit, then nods aimlessly yet again, "You're pumping it all the wrong way, though. It's supposed to be inside you're body."

[Beans]

Back Alley

"Well, uh," the guy sniffles and scratches his nose, "You got, like, this heart...thing...and it pumps blood in and out, like if you squeeze a sponge, you know?"

He stares silently for a bit, then nods aimlessly yet again, "You're pumping it all the wrong way, though. It's supposed to be inside you're body."

... What?
And then the bleeding woman passes out. Her limb-stumps seem not to be bleeding especially much, though---they've been wrapped up and possibly cauterized.

[TechnoScrabble]

Back Alley

"Huh. I should probably do something."

The sickly dude nudges the woman with his foot.

"Yeah. I should probably definitely do something. Doctor Noggin, Paying Doctor Noggin, you're needed in the operating theater!"

He pulls his other hand out of his hoodie pocket, and with it comes a horrific amalgamation of eight different small monkeys, its brain visible through a jar on its head and a crazed look in its mismatched, twitching eyes. Its hands are an Edward Scissorshands-esque array of surgical tools that would make any painboy shed a proud tear. The guy sets the monkey down on the lady and holds out a little yogurt treat for it.

"Aight Doc Nog, do your thing."

The monkey snaps up the treat, shrieks terribly, and gets to work attempting to suture the woman and treat her wounds, replacing the lost blood with a worryingly luminescent yellow fluid.

[Lost_Deep]

[Ice Cream Parlor]

"Kate, I have to ask... how is this any weirder than going to live on another planet?" Marley says. she acclimatized just fine herself, "I get the whole memory thing is wonky, but the Nexus is just another place, and the memories sound like they're quickly working themselves out."

"We live a grand total of two systems apart, the base culture wasn't going to vary a lot! Here, you have aliens, yeah, but you also have magic, some really odd cultures popping up and interacting, and a lot of alien races, a lot more than the 15 from back home. Wait... 16? Whatever, the point is that there's more races than that living in my apartment building!"

Kate might be clinging to a paranoid point of view here, she does that sometimes.

[Beans]

Back Alley

"Huh. I should probably do something."

The sickly dude nudges the woman with his foot.

"Yeah. I should probably definitely do something. Doctor Noggin, Paying Doctor Noggin, you're needed in the operating theater!"

He pulls his other hand out of his hoodie pocket, and with it comes a horrific amalgamation of eight different small monkeys, its brain visible through a jar on its head and a crazed look in its mismatched, twitching eyes. Its hands are an Edward Scissorshands-esque array of surgical tools that would make any painboy shed a proud tear. The guy sets the monkey down on the lady and holds out a little yogurt treat for it.

"Aight Doc Nog, do your thing."

The monkey snaps up the treat, shrieks terribly, and gets to work attempting to suture the woman and treat her wounds, replacing the lost blood with a worryingly luminescent yellow fluid.

Ding! Success!

One-arm-lady is no longer bleeding and is looking a tiny bit less pale! She's still passed out, though.

[Deathkeeper]

[Stream Corner Clinic]

Trick smiles, "A few things. I just banished a demon, but not before it kinda screwed me up a bit. Strangled me a little, smashed my right arm against a wall, I twisted my foot during the fight, and to add insult to it all, I've got a headache." Trick sits patiently. Not like the pain is going anywhere.

The man nods with a polite smile.
"Well, let's take a look at that, shall we?" he says, kneeling so he can take a look at the ankle first. With any luck that and everything else is within his capacity of Healing weaves, although for the sake of saving his energy for other patients he'll probably just check her head and give it only a bit of power if there's no real damage. That she can take care of with some ibuprofen if there's any pain left.

[TechnoScrabble]

Ding! Success!

One-arm-lady is no longer bleeding and is looking a tiny bit less pale! She's still passed out, though.

The monkey shrieks again and clambers into the convenient and comfy pouch made by the hoodie's hood, chattering and quietly yowling to itself and looking around.

The dude on the other hand reaches down to try and pick the lady up.

"Looks like you don't have a leg to stand on," he chuckles stupidly to himself, "Lemme give you a hand."

[Beans]

The monkey shrieks again and clambers into the convenient and comfy pouch made by the hoodie's hood, chattering and quietly yowling to itself and looking around.

The dude on the other hand reaches down to try and pick the lady up.

"Looks like you don't have a leg to stand on," he chuckles stupidly to himself, "Lemme give you a hand."

She makes unhappy little noises in her sleep, as if she can sense the horrible, stupid jokes he's making.

[TechnoScrabble]

Back Alley

The dude puts the lady on his skateboard and pulls her along by her arm, trundling on down the sidewalk, getting a wide berth from the crowds of NPCs who'd rather keep all their limbs attached.

Eventually he stops in front of a raggedy old storefront with a big sign of happy looking red neon light letters long ago burn out. The sign reads 'LIMBER JACK'S', and looks ready to fall off at any time. The dude enters, waving at an aged lumberjack with a slasher smile frozen onto his face, and enters the back room, where a surgical table sits unused, surrounded by rack after rack of body parts. Heads, eyes, hearts, brains, but mostly limbs. And there are all sorts of those! Robot legs! Dinosaur arms! Wiggly fuzzy tentacle ticklers! Big, meaty claws!

"Aight, Doc, wake her up," the guy sets the lady down on the table, and the monkey shrieks, hops off, and jabs her with a small needle.

[Beans]

Back Alley

The dude puts the lady on his skateboard and pulls her along by her arm, trundling on down the sidewalk, getting a wide berth from the crowds of NPCs who'd rather keep all their limbs attached.

Eventually he stops in front of a raggedy old storefront with a big sign of happy looking red neon light letters long ago burn out. The sign reads 'LIMBER JACK'S', and looks ready to fall off at any time. The dude enters, waving at an aged lumberjack with a slasher smile frozen onto his face, and enters the back room, where a surgical table sits unused, surrounded by rack after rack of body parts. Heads, eyes, hearts, brains, but mostly limbs. And there are all sorts of those! Robot legs! Dinosaur arms! Wiggly fuzzy tentacle ticklers! Big, meaty claws!

"Aight, Doc, wake her up," the guy sets the lady down on the table, and the monkey shrieks, hops off, and jabs her with a small needle.

Vo wakes, levering herself up her arm and looking around.
She looks at her lack of most of her limbs.
She looks at all of the limbs and parts all over the place.
She looks at the guy and his hellmonkey thing.
She looks at the spell circles tattooed on her body, now uncovered by the towel.
Understandably, her heart gives out.

[TechnoScrabble]

Limber Jack's

The guy scratches his head and takes off his sunglasses, revealing eyeless sockets that still manage to express just how zoned out he is.

"Oh," he says, "Uuuuuh..."

Doctor Noggin makes an exasperated sounding squeak and flings himself about the room, arranging various wires and nodes and clamps on and around the lady and the operating table, then makes a questioning gesture at the eyeless dude.

"Oh, right! Rigggggght!"

The dude throws his sunglasses back on and grabs a huge, old times switch on the wall.

"Three, two, LET'S DO THIS SH-"

As he turns the switch into the on position, electricity arcs briefly through everything in the room, momentarily reanimating all the 'spare parts' and making the guy convulse.

"-IIIIEHEHEHEHEHHAAAAAAAAAIIIIITTT!"

[Recaiden]

Bombed Out Zone

The robot beeps happily, scanning the container with an off laserlight device. After a moment, it beeps again, and hands the container back.

"IT'S A BABY. CONGRATULATIONS DESU!" a voice more German than biergarten roars from a crackling speaker on the robot.]


"AUGH! WHAT THE-?"
The Intruder takes the container and hops back in surprise with a shout.
"IF YOU HAD A SPEAKER ALL ALONG WHY WAS THAT THE FIRST THING YOU SAID?""

[Beans]

Limber Jack's

The guy scratches his head and takes off his sunglasses, revealing eyeless sockets that still manage to express just how zoned out he is.

"Oh," he says, "Uuuuuh..."

Doctor Noggin makes an exasperated sounding squeak and flings himself about the room, arranging various wires and nodes and clamps on and around the lady and the operating table, then makes a questioning gesture at the eyeless dude.

"Oh, right! Rigggggght!"

The dude throws his sunglasses back on and grabs a huge, old times switch on the wall.

"Three, two, LET'S DO THIS SH-"

As he turns the switch into the on position, electricity arcs briefly through everything in the room, momentarily reanimating all the 'spare parts' and making the guy convulse.

"-IIIIEHEHEHEHEHHAAAAAAAAAIIIIITTT!"

She lives!
SHE LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES
Sitting up, the deathly-pale woman coughs blood, eyes softly glowing as she rubs them against her shoulder.
... This is stupid and I don't understand what's happening to me.
... I feel better, sort of.

[TechnoScrabble]

Bombed Out Zone

The robot stands there, engine rumbling and something inside it clicking monotonously while it stares at the figure.

A response finally comes in the form of the robot harmlessly thwacking at the figure's head before skittering off, shouting as it leaves.

"B-BAKA DESU!"

Limber Jack's

The guy throws his hands in the air sometimes, saying eeyyyy ooooh, I don't got no braaaains, yoooo.

"Aha-haaaaalriiiiight! It worked!" he grins and nods, "No misplaced murder charges for me!"

He walks up to the lady and holds up a hand.

"You were, like, dead! But now you're not! High five, brah!"

[Beans]

Limber Jack's

The guy throws his hands in the air sometimes, saying eeyyyy ooooh, I don't got no braaaains, yoooo.

"Aha-haaaaalriiiiight! It worked!" he grins and nods, "No misplaced murder charges for me!"

He walks up to the lady and holds up a hand.

"You were, like, dead! But now you're not! High five, brah!"

She sort of stares at his hand, flopping back on the table. ... So... uh... what's with the limb racks? And the... every single thing in here?

[Recaiden]

[Bombed-Out Zone]

It clicks there. The machine is playing from a selection of clips from like, one of dad's terrible animated drama-comedies. Someone should hook the thing up with like, a radio.

The intruder sighs and starts walking off with the canister.
"Let's get out of here."
Out of the bombed-out zone, hopping over the fences, and to the [Streets] of Inside.

[Halae]

"We live a grand total of two systems apart, the base culture wasn't going to vary a lot! Here, you have aliens, yeah, but you also have magic, some really odd cultures popping up and interacting, and a lot of alien races, a lot more than the 15 from back home. Wait... 16? Whatever, the point is that there's more races than that living in my apartment building!"

Kate might be clinging to a paranoid point of view here, she does that sometimes.[Ice Cream Parlor]

Marley shrugs, "Are you expected to memorize all their names, faces, and cultural aspects? Are you expected to do anything but be yourself in their presence? If not, then what's the problem?" Marley has something of a laissez-faire approach to life; if it's not actively hindering you, there's not much reason to do something about it, "the other you lived with them, right? So you know you can trust them to keep out of your hair."
The man nods with a polite smile.
"Well, let's take a look at that, shall we?" he says, kneeling so he can take a look at the ankle first. With any luck that and everything else is within his capacity of Healing weaves, although for the sake of saving his energy for other patients he'll probably just check her head and give it only a bit of power if there's no real damage. That she can take care of with some ibuprofen if there's any pain left.[Stream Corner Clinic]

The ankle is twisted, and swelling up slightly before any medical attention is given to it; it's an easy fix, just painful. Her throat is badly bruised from the strangulation, and that'll make breathing and eating slightly painful for a couple days, but with some pain killers it won't even be an issue to really worry about. For her head, there's no clear wounds, suggesting that it's fatigue from an adrenaline rush and possibly spells cast.

Her right wrist is another story though; a couple of the ligaments were pulled, and bones in her hand and wrist are fractured badly; if she'd moved her hand much more during the fight, they might have actually broken, but she's spared that particular pain for the moment.

[TechnoScrabble]

Streets

The orange fluid in the container continues to surge with life and power, sloshing about and pressing against the outside like a kid looking out the windows of a bus.

Limber Jack's

"You're, like, missing bits," the guy says like it's no big deal, "So I figured I'd give you some, you know, new ones. Could always upgrade some, too."

[Recaiden]

[Streets]

"I don't suppose I should let you out of that jar, huh?"
The blob's container is held out on one flat palm, so it has a good look around the city.

[Rebonack]

"I represent the interests of the Union, and my contact information is public. I was operating under the idea that, were I to set up a meeting, it would be coordinated through that. Unless he wants to talk to High Commander Altaran rather than me, but I do have the authority to act here," the Vice Commander explains. "I am the Vice Commander of the Union, and I speak for us until he overrides me. If the Doctor wishes to speak to him directly, he's free to forward this to the public contact address of the Office of the High Commander, but he is presently more focused on the problem of the Chimera Syndicate."

N'alae doesn't mention her more personal reasons for wishing to speak to him, like the implied involvement in the last case of holodeck nonsense, or the part where she's pretty sure these guys know about certain past affiliations.

The stalker just stares at N'alae for a few moments, then raises its manipulator limbs and cross them into a rough rectangular shape.

"Please hold," the robot states as a holographic screen is projected between its limbs.

Swanky!

In the middle of the screen a winged skull is rotating, apparently the emblem of Doctor Diabolical.

[Deathkeeper]

Stream Corner Clinic

Those kinds of physical injuries are not outside of the man's ability to heal, and if Trick can hold still for about ten minutes she should fine herself restored, if not quite up to full strength.
"Okay," says the man, getting to his own feet a bit shakily. "That should cover it. Anything else while you have me?"

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"Oh." Well N'alae wasn't expecting that. "That works too." She adapts fast as usual, though.

Not much else to do here but wait.

[Lost_Deep]

[Ice Cream Parlor]

Marley shrugs, "Are you expected to memorize all their names, faces, and cultural aspects? Are you expected to do anything but be yourself in their presence? If not, then what's the problem?" Marley has something of a laissez-faire approach to life; if it's not actively hindering you, there's not much reason to do something about it, "the other you lived with them, right? So you know you can trust them to keep out of your hair."

"I know, I know, it's just..." Kates takes a deep breath. "Yeah. Anyway, you want to hear how everyone was doing back home?"

[Rebonack]

[Radiation Pit]

After a few seconds of spinning logo the screen flashes with static 'snow' and is replaced by a black, humanoid silhouette with all sorts of crackling lightning machines behind it. Based on the way the form is moving it might be petting something, but since the thing is just a silhouette it's hard to tell.

"Ah, 'Ambassador' N'alae. How nice to finally speak to you. I've been told by my robotic friend that you wished to speak with me on behalf of your faction?"

The voice is obviously synthesized. There's a good chance that might not actually even be his silhouette. And the quantum encryption being employed by the stalker makes cracking the signal pretty difficult. That, and the signal seems to be getting tight beamed down from space.

This guy doesn't have satellites, does he?

Because someone should have noticed rockets getting launched up into orbit.

Seriously.

That kind of thing is hard to hide.

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

Well. They certainly know something they didn't before. That's probably going to merit some scanning around up there with the orbital array later.

"Vice Commander, now, but yes." N'alae twitches oddly, and her helmet collapses back into her armor, leaving her head visible. She seems remarkably healthy for someone who recently took an explosion to the face. She probably wants to seem more relateable than a faceless unstoppable Borg-enhanced cyborg alien.

"I've been looking at the information from the various encounters with your forces. None of the incidents were particularly threatening, though certainly illegal. One observation I've made is that care was taken to avoid fatalities, to the point of your cephalopod-themed friend using a taser against me and only attempting to delay Major Xanatov despite her attacking with a power sword. And I assure you that the Professor has not been harmed, because believe me, we noticed." She holds up her left hand, and a small, more primitive holo-projector of the same type historically used by the Empire materializes in it. She activates the device, causing it to project an image that appears to be the scene where DC and Zippo fought, taken afterward to show the damage.

"But whether or not we know that and act accordingly, the populace will not, and as Mr. DC and that one proved, sometimes the force required to resist reaches potentially lethal levels for others around by sheer necessity, and many of the locals will not hold back." The incident with Sockpuppet's face comes to mind. "You try to avoid fatalities and excess damage, and that is admirable, but this petty fighting can and will result in unacceptable deaths if it goes on. It already has. The synthetic relaying this message can verify that. And if not for my own enhancements, I would likely have been killed when the holodeck computer exploded. Even worse, your illegal actions, including the sabotage of a system under our control, have forced our hand.

I'm here to give you a chance to end this before it gets even more out of control. Surrender, and I will see to it that a place is found for you and your forces, be it within the Union's employ or in civilian life. If and when this escalates to us having to use force to subdue you, the amount of firepower necessary to use will not be pretty. War is not clean, Doctor, even if everyone involved tries their hardest to keep it that way. People will die, and no one should have to die over taverns, road work, or bathrooms of all things. Not civilians, not Remnant troops, not our troops, not yours, and given your behavior thus far I'm guessing that you are inclined to agree." N'alae scowls and deactivates the holoprojector, the device dematerializing as fast as it appeared. Her armored hand clenches into a fist. "Refuse this offer, and we will be forced to respond. We won't like it, but the law is the law, and you have directly attacked one of our assets already. The High Commander won't stand for that, especially not when we have the Syndicate to worry about.

Stand down, and no one has to die."

[Rebonack]

[Radiation Pit]

There is, for a brief time, silence. The back-lit figured in the image continues to pet the probably-cat in his lap.

"An impassioned plea. And you're quite right. I have gone to lengths to be certain those loyal to me will refrain from using lethal force unless absolutely necessary. There is a great deal of violence and death in the Nexus, perhaps far more than you may realize. But that is neither here nor there."

The figure leans forward, such that one can aaaaaaalmost make out vague facial features.

"However, I must decline your offer to peacefully surrender. That would require admitting that the authority your master claims is at all legitimate. A thug who came rolling into town with a band of mercenaries under his thumb who imagined himself an emperor? Please. A connection to some fanciful godling may carry weight in Vyrn's home universe, but believe me when I say it means less than nothing here. In fact, it's all the more reason to make sure that he is sent scampering back to his cesspool of a world where he belongs."

Well. That isn't a very nice thing to say.

"Gods. Tyrants. Monsters. Titans. Abominations. And, of course, the odd mad genius. Whether of the scientific or wizardly disposition. The Nexus has endured them all and they have fallen by the wayside, forgotten. And this marvelous place? It has endured. It has been far too long, I think, since the people of the Nexus last tasted what it felt like to be free. To struggle and fight against those seeking to dominate. It is my intention to remind them of the things that are worth fighting for. To see this place become a city of heroes once again. Like all good villains I don't expect to be victorious over them."

The voice drops, low and dangerous.

"However, I do expect the bad villains to be purged. A bit of advice to you, Vice Commander. Neither my side nor yours is the right side of this conflict. And when all is said and done, I doubt either side will be left, either. I suggest you get out of it while you can."

The screen then reverts to the spinning logo, which in turn fades as the stalker folds its limbs across its back. "Doctor Diabolical has requested that you be escorted out of the Radiation Pit for your safety, Vice Commander."

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"Altaran's way it is, then." N'alae sighs. "No escort needed. I will simply beam out, unless a defense against that has been raised since I last used it. I don't suppose you have anything to say about that before I go?" Guess she did notice the apparent intelligence after all.

Granted, she's not exactly unfamiliar with the concept, so it's not really surprising.

[Rebonack]

[The Radiation Pit]

The stalker quirks its head to the side at N'alae in a fashion rather akin to a dog. Maybe because people don't ask it for its opinion very often? Or maybe something else. "A sufficiently precise tightbeam quantum teleportation array should have no difficultly extracting you from this location, provided it can compensate for the ambient radiation."

Ambient radiation and Star Trek style transporters never seem to get along very well.

Results in transporter malfunctions that tend to be at least as hilarious as those holodeck malfunctions.

Anywho!

"I trust the Doctor's judgement," the stalker replies. "Simply abandoning the one called Vyrn would be the best course of action. A tyrant is powerless without those willing to die for his cause. Doctor Diabolical would be free to improve the infrastructure of the Nexus and then return his henchmen back to their respective home universes."

Wait.

That's a thing Doctor Diabolical can do?

[Darkcomet]

[Radiation Pit]

"If you'll accept all those deaths just to stick it to the only one bringing any kind of order here, be my guest. But rest assured that we will respond accordingly. And remember then, when it's all gone out of proportion, that we at least tried to prevent it." And with that, a column of swirling green light envelops N'alae, and she beams away.

Now it would be done the hard way.

[Rebonack]

[Little Bricksburg]

Geneva is singing along with the radio in her PIPcolt as she flies above Little Bricksburg. She had just noticed that part of Inside mentioned on a ground level map whilst delivering several tons of mashed potatoes to a soup kitchen. The name had reminded her of the strange plastic person she had met several days ago, and it seemed like as good a time as any to see if she could find her briefly-met friend again.

Also? She had gotten three people at the soup kitchen to roll her! The first got a 679, which caused any object they picked up with their left hand to turn into a saxophone until they put it down! They also gained the ability to play smooth jazz really well, which they seemed to be enjoying before Geneva left. The second had rolled a 593, which gave them a pirate hat, a parrot, and the ability to talk with a flawless pirate accent! And the third? The third was just the BEST! They rolled a 644 and loudly proclaimed that there was an incredible treasure in a nearby cave! Geneva didn't follow him him to see if there was really a treasure there or not, but the man was ecstatic over his upcoming adventure.

And seeing people made happy by rolling her made Geneva happy.

It felt wonderful fulfilling her purpose.

In short?

"Everything is awesome~!" the hippodicegriff sings, winging her way above all the brick houses and brick people and brick streets and brick cars. "Everything is cool when you're part of a team~! Everything is awesome~! When you're living our dream~!"

[Lost_Deep]

Little Bricksburg

Little "Bricksburg" is much less sensical than its namesake. Medival cottages sit next to modern houses and futuristic space shelters, people of all sorts stroll up and down the streets, strange creatures of various sorts are common... so it's like the rest of inside, but made of bricks.

Geneva might spot a certain scientist waving a small device at one of the few non-brick items in the area. A sapling has taken one of the few patches of normal dirt and is doing it's best to grow there... Cherry seems to be scanning it.

[Rebonack]

[Little Bricksburg]

Wow is this place ever neat! And I have absolutely no idea how any of it works. I bet I could make some interesting discoveries if I stuck around for a little bit. Oooh, I wonder if my chaos magic would be effected by my surroundings? If rolling me created something, would it be made out of bricks? Or would it be the same sort of usual objects it makes? Hehehe, there's only one way to find out! Experiment tiiiime~!

Geneva couldn't help but giggle to herself as she dipped a wing and dropped out of the sky, coming in for a soft landing near the conspicuous tree and the only minifig that was highlighted in her HUD with a name.

"Cherry!" the hippodicegriff chirps brightly as she lands. She folds her wings across her back and grins her best friendly grin. While her front half is still, her back half is bobbing to the beat of the super-positive song playing from her radio. "It's great to see you again! And you found other people like you, too!"

Oh this is just so great!

Getting to talk to a friend again and potentially getting rolled by a friend!

How could this day possibly get any better?

[Lost_Deep]

Little Bricksburg

"Geneva!" Cherry seems happy to see her. "I think I might have insight on the interaction between different universes in the Nexus! I was thinking about how difficult the cooperation between different realital structures would be, especially ones so vastly different as the LEGO one to yours, and while reading a dissertation on the topic I realized that the idea of the Nexus constantly compensating on a subatomic level was absurd! Then I realized that it might be closer to how building with bricks works: notion!"

"Technically speaking, you're putting parts together, but that's not what you're thinking of. You're thinking that you're building something! You're using existing pieces to make a pattern or result match a notion you have. And I realized, why wouldn't that work on a grander scale? Like trees!"

"Now, in our universes, the actual mechanics behind trees are very different, but we recognize them as trees! I look at your kind of tree, and it's still a tree, and you look at mind kind of tree, and it's still a tree! That is unity of notion: the recognition of objects under a single notion despite metaphysical differences! I think that the Nexus uses unity of notion as a method of causing, or even enforcing, realital cooperation! It also explains the translation paradox, at least in part!"

Cherry stops to take several deep breaths.

"AND it implies some sort of societal or conscious base behind the nexus, and that is fascinating in and of itself!"

[Rebonack]

[Little Bricksburg]

Geneva quirks her head to the side and gives a little, "Ooh," at that explanation.

"So you're thinking that the Nexus might be running off of a sort of collective Platonic Ideal of how things are supposed to work together and interact? That's really interesting! And it would have some equally interesting metaphysical implications about the nature of the Nexus. If it's using the generalities of ideals rather than the specifics of laws that would explain why such wildly divergent systems of cosmology can still interact with each other without catastrophic failure."

The hippodicegriff ponders that, and then ponders some more!

"You were able to eat food, even though it isn't made of the same stuff as you. The same is true of a person like me who came from a universe with sub-atomic structure AND a person who comes from a universe where everything is made of cardinal elements. Either everything would have to be fundamentally altered when you eat it, OR the Nexus is simply preserving the ideal involved and effectively translating the intended effect, or the notion, into something a different type of person can use."

She gives a little head bob.

"That's a really interesting insight, Cherry! It could probably be tested, but doing so would be really dangerous. There a place Inside called Everfree Park. It's a Red Zone where the various cosmologies of the Nexus don't harmonize with each other. Which makes in terribly hazardous for obvious reasons."

Seriously.

That place if awful.

"Oh! And another example of translating ideals?" Geneva adds, turning to the side to show off the die face sticking out of her hip. The gold and gemstones make a striking contrast to her fur and feathers. "This is, well, I guess the simplest thing to say is that I got a magical artifact fused with me. It originally used a type of magic that didn't exist in my home universe, but now that it and I are the same thing we use the closest analog from my home. Before it ran on... I guess you could call it warping? But now it uses chaos magic. The Nexus translated the notion of warping into something my native cosmology could make sense of!"

[Lost_Deep]

Little Bricksburg

"Exactly! I think it would be theoretically possible to use the notion as a base point and then alter the physical form into an alternate set of rules. The end result would be that what the thing IS is kept same, but how it works is alt-wait, you've been fused with a magical artifact?"

Yes, Cherry, that's what she just said. That's kind of important information...