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  1. - Top - End - #121
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Lord Magtok's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magtok Evades Rat Czarina

    Okay, I'm done with the acronyms now, I promise.

    "Alzup and Jaahlyn," Magtok nods, nearly stumbling over the syllables as he repeats their names back to them. Blagh, this is exactly the sort of thing you'd think he'd get used to, living in a world like the Nexus for as long as he has. It's not like names were any easier back in the old days, with people like Sszinyon, Calublufiok, Kaelaroth, and Dalachrech's cult causing trouble.

    "I've had my own people working on clearing out the lower floors, and they've made some decent progress, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's safe now. I wouldn't put it past any of the things I left down there to slip past them and hide until something more fragile-looking passed by, like a rat or a goblin," the cyborg explains, pointing out the cargo elevator for Alzup, and hovering off of the ground to put some extra distance between himself and Jaahlyn's rats. Gods, how did they manage to find someone who makes interacting with a Razortooth feel like the lesser of two evils? Did Dipsnig set this up on purpose just to mess with him, or are all of MERC's people a bunch of verminfolk and scuttling tunnel creatures?
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  2. - Top - End - #122
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magtok Evades Rat Czarina

    Dena might take offense to that last comment.
    And the rat-eating one Magtok likely would make next.

    The hoofed woman nods as she keeps up with Magtok and Alzup, moving just behind them as her rats move behind her.
    "I'll send them in right away then." She smiles underneath her scarf. "Sparing you from their company a while. I just hope there's some food down there, they get so grumpy otherwise." Centuries of cheese doodles Magtok dropped under the coach perhaps?

    But off the rats go deeper into the cave, soon joined up with the other rats that had been out of sight into a true swarm.
    They will move around the cave and will once they scouted around a bit occasionally return to Jaahlyn, somehow informing her of everything they've found inside the cave.

    Jaahlyn then takes a moment to simply lat her gaze sweep around their surroundings. "I must say though, this place is truly impressive, Lord Magtok. Or was it just 'Magtok' now? Either you prefer."

  3. - Top - End - #123
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Magtok Evades Rat Czarina]

    "We'll be sure to head there in big groups and heavily armed," Azlup says. "Wouldn't be the first time we had to clear out an underground place of gribblies. Though it'd help to know what, exactly, we can expect down there. Or is it everything and the kitchen sink?"
    Last edited by Morty; 2019-04-05 at 05:23 PM.
    My FFRP characters. Avatar by Ashen Lilies. Sigatars by Ashen Lilies, Gullara and Purple Eagle.
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  4. - Top - End - #124
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Lord Magtok's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magtok Evades Rat Czarina

    "Just Magtok is fine. Lord Magtok is too pompous for where I'm at right now. Maybe if I save the world and build a giant tower in Inside and attempt to take over MERC from within when Dipsnig retires so that I might mold it into a monument to my own ego and self-centered agenda, maybe we can go back to Lord Magtok. For now, I'm not at that level of crazy," Magtok explains, before turning towards the goblin and his much more important question. We'll be leaving these people to their own devices and rushing off to save the world fairly soon; best explain as much as possible so they can manage things on their own while we're gone.

    "Nothing explicitly magical or resistant to magic, but aside from that, I can't give you much in the way of specifics. You have to understand, for years and years, each individual MagClone had their own lab space and resources, and they were all given carte blanche to do whatever they wanted with it. Cyborg monsters, bio-horror creatures, giant mecha, psychic squid...you name it, one of us probably tried to make it down there. We were mad scientists egging each other on towards madder and madder science. There was an unspoken agreement that Magtoks who made the biggest, baddest scientific abominations down there were cool and important and special and worthy of the respect, admiration, and jealousy of the other clones around them, and out here, beyond any city or acronym's jurisdiction, no one could stop us."

    Magtok pauses for a moment, to let everything he just said sink in, before moving on.

    "Fortunately, it's been over four years; the worst of it all is probably dead now. Nobody was down there feeding any of these crazed beasts or doing regular maintenance on the murderbots of doom, so the only ones left are those creatures that could scavenge indefinitely, the killer robots with nuclear batteries, or the stuff that just decided to hibernate while I was gone. I still wouldn't call it safe, of course. It's certainly not anything close to safe down there, but it's definitely much better than it would've been a few years ago."
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  5. - Top - End - #125
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magtok Evades Rat Czarina

    "I'll keep that in mind for your victory parade then." She smiles but looks far more somber once Magtok explained the context of just what is down in the cave. "Any particular items we should look out for down there? Of interest or potential danger.

  6. - Top - End - #126
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Magtok Evades Rat Czarina]

    Azlup nods as his ears twitch.

    "We'll be packing explosives and the big guns, then. I'll have to drill it into my people's heads that we're here to clear this place out, not salvage."
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  7. - Top - End - #127
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    Magtok Evades Rat Czarina

    "The talking rat is friendly, the ant is to be obeyed without question, if you see a small robot girl you should let her know it's safe to come upstairs and that you're not intruders...actually yeah, first and foremost, tell anything that looks capable of understanding speech that you're on official, sanctioned MagCave business." That might be enough to convince some of the wayward security personnel to hold their fire, but not all of them. Still, one less attack drone is one less attack drone, right?

    "Let them know that looters will be shot. Most likely, by the very thing they're trying to loot. There was a short-lived trend, when it was mostly just us and no one else living here, and we were much, much less concerned with ever running out of clones, where we all got each other horrifyingly awful gag gifts for our collective birthday. A gun that shoots the opposite of the direction you point it. A laser rifle whose toxic chemical exhaust is released directly into your face. A grenade that goes off the moment you pull the pin. A set of headphones that only play country music," Magtok claims. I've never seen a single one of those things in any of the MagCave threads, so it's very possible he's just concocted a very absurd lie to scare MERC into not touching his stuff, but they might've been offscreen the whole time. Besides, Azlup and Jaahlyn can't prove he's making any of this up, and Magtok's dishonesty at any given moment isn't really something worth gambling your life over, is it?
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  8. - Top - End - #128
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Speaking of Rats...]

    Did someone mention a talking rat?

    It will only be a matter of time before the rat-swarm encounters one particular half-robotic rat, leaning on a rather worn rat-sized spear, staring wearily with one ratty eye and one roboty eye at a small pile of leeches slain before him.

    Cleanup duty is hard work when all you're given is a pointed stick and left to rely on your wits and cunning to survive in a place as dangerous as the MagCave. But hey, he's not just any old cyborg-rat, this is a rat with a healthy dose of the ol' Magtok magic in there, and with a mind that clever and witty he can overcome any obstacle! Sure, it'd taken him weeks to do it, but he'd finally finished clearing out the leech infestation in the pipes on the third floor! Magtok would have to be impressed with him this ti-

    Rats. Many rats. A whole gods-damned swarm of rats! Was fate pulling some cruel trick on him here? He'd specifically promised no more robo-rat-rebellions! He would be a clean Rattok now! An honest Rattok! He'd turn over a new leaf the same way Magtok claimed he had for what, about the dozenth time now?

    "No! No no no! I have no idea how you guys got the message after this long, but we're not doing the robo-rat army thing any more, okay? Go away! Shoo! Go home! I don't care how much you beg me, I'm not turning even a single one of you into a robot. I'm a changed rat, I swear!" And then the rat scurries off.

    ...

    And bursts out of a panel near Magtok a few moments later, dropping to his knees pleadingly before his cyborg mas- no, master's a strong word, no tok be it Mag or Rat would acknowledge another tok as their master. Employer? Yes, employer sounds good. He's technically being paid in food and not being killed for trying to take control of the MagCave after all. "Boss, listen, I know how this is going to sound because this is exactly the sort of thing a Magtok would do when trying to betray another Magtok, but that is absolutely not what I'm doing, I promise! I don't know where they came from, but there's an army of rats in the cave and it's not my fault, I swear!"

    Oh. Wait. There's other people in the room.

    The little cyborg rat turns and peers at the MERCs. "Oh, we have guests." Huh. "Wait, we have guests? Rattor Christ, have I been down there that long? Is it Spooktober again already? And I thought I was making great time clearing out those leeches too."
    Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  9. - Top - End - #129
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magtok Evades Rat Czarina

    This started to sound increasingly bizarre, but the stories she had heard of Magtok had promised that so she just had to accept it and move on.
    That is until a Magtok Rat bursts out of a panel. Jaahlyn nearly trips over herself while letting out a unprofessional squee at the sight of this marvelous little friend until she finally makes something that resemblance a bow. "Sir, I'm Jaahlyn and, uh, those were my allies. The rats I mean. I didn't know that there were such a Magtok as you though, sir. You look very... winsome, if I may say so. I'm impressed."

  10. - Top - End - #130
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Magtok Evades Rat Czarina]

    "Point taken, I guess, though you might want to be a bit more specific about-" Then a talking rat-cyborg appears and Jaahlyn does her thing. "...would that be the friendly talking rat?"
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  11. - Top - End - #131
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Magtok Evades Rat Czarina

    "Yes. There's no other talking rats that I'm aware of," Magtok remarks, with perhaps undue snark, given the oddities and strangeness Azlup has already endured. A second talking rat wouldn't even be the third strangest thing to happen to any of them today, would it?

    "These are mercenaries from MERC, Rattok. They've offered to do some security work in exchange for some side business stuff I'm doing that you don't need to worry about. Although I do appreciate your sensibility winning out over your opportunism, the rats belong to Jaahlyn." She is not to be seduced, Magtok almost adds, but thinks better of it. The weird rat lady might think he was jealously calling dibs or something, which is absolutely not the kind of message we want to send here. She can keep her praise and adulation to herself; the last thing he needs is some fangirl filling his head with delusions of grandeur and strapping a new pair of figurative wax wings to his back. He flew too close to the sun once already, let's not go through that whole nonsense all over again.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  12. - Top - End - #132
    Halfling in the Playground
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Magtok Etc Rat Czar]

    Rattok looks a bit stunned. It's not every day someone bows to him- no, it's not any day someone bows to him. This is literally the first time anyone has ever bowed to him (aside from that one time he made all the robo-rats bow to him but that doesn't count!) which makes perfect sense considering he's a rat, but still! This is not a thing that happens.

    Magtok's words eventually snap Rattok out of it. "Oh, MERC, I see. So there's people who want to kill you again. Wait, are there ever people not trying to kill you? Why do you- wait, is it you or we? Do we need protection? Is the whole MagCave threatened again?"

    But he's only snapped out of it briefly. She called him sir! And said he looked winsome! Has any Tok, Mag or otherwise, ever been called winsome before? That probably doesn't rank quite as highly as some of the other things Magtoks have been called before, but they've also been called a lot worse.

    "Uh well, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Jaahlyn. And all those rats are yours? Well, that's very impressive too. I didn't think anyone else could control rats as well as me." Wait, seriously Rattok? Did you seriously just compliment her rat control? Who does that?
    Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  13. - Top - End - #133
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Magtok Etc Rat Czar]

    The hooded woman nods back and smiles at Rattok. "Thank you, but I don't control them in the way you might think. I take care of them and in exchange they do tasks for me." So like a cat-lady, but with far more grateful cats. "I can't make them fight for me for instance." A beat as Jaahlyn spots one of her rats watching her from afar. "And nor would I." She nods to the rat which soon slinks back into the depths of the magcave. "Still, they make very useful scouts." She would remark that if you had rats fight for you, you must be pretty desperate but considering who she was talking to, that might not go over well.

    "But its far from everything I can employ for your protection. If any bounty hunters or assassins decide to enter here, I won't let them harm you." That's a promise, isn't it? Well, now she was into this for real.

  14. - Top - End - #134
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Magtok Etc Rat Czar]

    Azlup looks between Magtok, Jaahlyn and Rattok with an expression that's difficult to read.

    "Oh-kay. Well, I'll just go to my people and tell them about all that we'll need to do and not do."

    With that, he scurries off towards the entrance of the cave, having had enough weirdness for the time being.
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  15. - Top - End - #135
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Somewhere in the MagCave

    Somewhere in the cave, a spider carrying a scroll and quill scurries across the ceiling. He very patiently hangs out above the door to the room Magtok is in though, so he's not eavesdropping on these strangers. And hopes nothing bothers him - this is a very weird cave.
    Hail to the Lord of Death and Destruction!
    CATNIP FOR THE CAT GOD! YARN FOR THE YARN THRONE! MILK FOR THE MILK BOWL!

  16. - Top - End - #136
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Rodents Are Terrific Scouts

    "I'm working with MERC on a thing, which means their natural enemy, KABAL, might take an interest. Now, if any dragon's servants tries to cause trouble here, or things from downstairs try to cause trouble, well...that stuff could kill us dead just as easily as external threats, so it behooves MERC to keep some people handy to prevent that, right?" There, that should suffice to get Rattok caught up. That means we're basically done here now. Plus, Mag said 'us' when he explained the situation, which might help the vile rodent feel involved and keep morale up. A job well done, mission accomplished, time to find an excuse to leave these rat people to their business and be somewhere that doesn't have any vermin scurrying about underfoot.

    "Sounds like everyone knows what they're supposed to be doing. I'm going to-" Oh eww, there's a spider by the door. I thought we had measures in place to keep non-ant arthropods from scurrying about in here. Magbots and ants and lasers and things like that. Did MERC leave the front door open, and Mag just wasn't paying attention and/or assumed a Magbot would deal with that?
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  17. - Top - End - #137
    Ettin in the Playground
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Spiders are not icky

    The spider - a black and yellow garden spider - waves the quill at Magtok, hoping to grab his attention. It appears this spider wishes to communicate.
    Hail to the Lord of Death and Destruction!
    CATNIP FOR THE CAT GOD! YARN FOR THE YARN THRONE! MILK FOR THE MILK BOWL!

  18. - Top - End - #138
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Spiders Are Not Icky

    Magtok represses the urge to kill the spider immediately. It would be so easy to just erase this little thing from existence, but we don't know what kinds of consequences that might hold. Perhaps this spider is someone's emissary. Maybe it's a hyper-intelligent arachnid seeking employment, another creature like Rattok to be used and exploited, with talk of camaraderie and fellowship and reaping the bounty of Team Mag's efforts together. As if Magtok himself wasn't going to get the lion's share of it all, while doing proportionately less work than everyone else. Alternatively, the spider might be a trap. Perhaps Feiadyne has sent it here, to speak venomous words of treaty and diplomacy, all while trying to glean as much of his plans for her eventual demise as possible. We'd still be better off not killing the spider right away, if for no other reason than to communicate our distaste for the dragon and its methods, coming to our abode with a mere arthropod instead of the army a threat such as Magtok so rightly deserves.

    "You have my attention, spider," Magtok admits warily, squinting suspiciously at the thing, as if closely studying its tiny little eyes could possibly allow him to decipher its intentions. It's a spider, Magtok. You're not going to be able to read the face of a bug.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  19. - Top - End - #139
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Spiders are Not Icky

    The spider climbs down the wall a bit so it's closer to Magtok's eye level, then hands him a scroll.

    The scroll reads:
    Lady Arachne needs a talented provider of pyrotechnics for a masquerade. I have been informed that your abilities are not to be found anywhere else. I also have access to some unique electronics that you may be interested in. Please let the spider know if you would like to discuss further.
    Hail to the Lord of Death and Destruction!
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  20. - Top - End - #140
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Rodents Are Terrific Scouts]

    "So I- so we're in safe hands then." Don't get too cocky now, Rattok. Magtok's still the important one here. You're just a rat with an overinflated ego, some robo-bits, and a very confused sense of identity.

    It's nice to know Mag cares about morale though. Even when it's rat morale. There's a definite happy twitching of whiskers as Jaahlyn smiles at him. It's a relatively new experience for Rattok, he doesn't have the advantage of being able to aggressively sell his name as a brand to make people like him. "Good! I'm glad to know someone else is here to watch out backs. I've done more than my fair share cleaning up around here." Three weeks. Three weeks fighting leeches. There's a pointed (very pointed, rats got pointy noses!) glance in Magtok's direction at that.
    Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  21. - Top - End - #141
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Rodents Are Terrific Scouts]

    Jaahlyn's black eyes seem to lit up when Magtok mentions 'a dragon'. That was something she would need to talk to him about soon. She had more than one mission here after all.

    But she had to focus on one thing at the time. As Azulp departs, she raises her hand and nods to acknowledge it before turning back her attention to Rattok while the regular Magtok was dealing with the spider(?!) at the door.

    "I'm just glad to be of assistance, sir. But, if you've done so much hard work here then perhaps you can tell me more about the layout of this place, possibly even give me a strategic tour? I'm afraid I'm too large to travel your paths but I'm sure someone as resourceful as Magtok can think of another way." Jaahlyn inquires as she folds her hands together.

  22. - Top - End - #142
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Spiders Are Not Icky

    On the one hand, we really have better things to be doing with our time than setting off fireworks for some noblewoman's birthday party. On the other, the only qualified pyrotechnics guy she could call upon instead is Zefir. If the news coming out of Riverside is anything to go by, apparently he's still squatting in the old AMEN base, deluding himself into thinking he's a real villain along with the rest of the misbegotten annelids nibbling at the Association's corpse. We don't want Zefir getting his hands on whatever resources this Lady Arachne might have, do we? No, of course not, so it looks like we're about to accept a side project out of spite.

    "Fine, I'm interested. What kind of unique electronics are we talking about here?" he asks, as if he hadn't already finalized his decision moments ago, regardless of what Lady Arachne actually has to offer.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  23. - Top - End - #143
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Rodents are Terrific Tour Guides]

    An opportunity to spend time with a person? A person that's not Magtok at that? Why, Rattok could practically jump for joy! Except that's an incredibly un-Rattoky thing to do and of course he's doing this because he is a benevolent host and not because it'll be his first conversation with someone other than Magtok in months.

    Conversations with Magtok are a bit one-sided anyway.

    "Oh sure, I'd be delighted to show you around. May I perch upon your shoulder? It'll be much easier to guide you if I'm at your height."
    Before you criticise someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticise them, you'll be a mile away and you'll have their shoes.

  24. - Top - End - #144
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Spiders are not Icky

    The spider scribbles down a note:

    She said something about living metal. I'm not clear on the details - you'd have to talk to her.
    The spider quivers slightly; Magtok is a bit intimidating to a little arachnid.
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  25. - Top - End - #145
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Rodents are Terrific Tour Guides]

    "Of course, sir. Hop on." Jaahlyn kneels down to allow Rattok to get up up. "So where do we start? Is there perhaps a security room somewhere? Even if you don't have any functioning security cameras it could be a good place to set that up. I'm no expert on it, but my coworkers might have some idea how to."

  26. - Top - End - #146
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Spiders Are Not Icky

    Living metal. That's one of those things that Magtok always found vaguely disconcerting. A field of science he deliberately shied away from, because it didn't feel as pure and honest and true as putting giant lasers on dinosaurs, or building enormous killer death robots, or cloning infinite duplicates of himself and then replacing half their bodies with chrome and circuitry.

    "Alright then, how do I get in contact with this Madame Spider?" Magtok asks, the faintest hint of impatience seeping into his tone. Whether or not the living metal is magical or not, of use to our cyborg or just a useless trophy to show off to guests later on, it's still not something we want Zefir to get his hands on. It would be nice if it turned out to be useful, but even now, as a shadow of what he once was, Magtok's ego is still so great that he can't imagine this technology being anywhere near comparable to his own.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  27. - Top - End - #147
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    5a Violista's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [MAGCAVE entrance]

    The roar of a motorcycle can be heard as a woman (on that motorcycle, coincidentally) approaches the MagCave.

    Once she arrives at the entrance, she gets off and leaves her helmet on her ride, but keeps her leather jacket. She reaches into a case she has on the back of the vehicle, and pulls out a clipboard.

    The black-haired pardo woman approaches the door and pounds on it. "Helloooooo?" she calls out. "Is anyone still here?"

    Hey, look who it is! It's pathological liar, Juliekana Juleka! (Or whatever she went by most recently.)
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  28. - Top - End - #148
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    MagCave Entrance

    Oh hey, another visitor! One moment, Magtok just needs to get his drone helmet on and wait for his narrator to confirm that for the sake of continuity, this scene technically takes place after all the other ones, but before MERC has time to set up some kind of perimeter outside, or when everyone from MERC is on break or doing business inside the MagCave, I dunno. Once that's been dealt with and he's gotten everything together, he can-

    Quote Originally Posted by Stranger at the Door
    "Is anyone still here?"
    Still here?
    Still here?!
    STILL HERE?!

    Does all the toil and struggle that went into making this place look presentable once more mean nothing to you, foolish mortal?! We had the entire doorway replaced with the well-polished, gleaming skull of a giant, with the entire left side of its leering visage replaced with steel and wires mimicking Lord Magtok's own. Sneaking into a graveyard for giants and making off with one of their hallowed ancestor's skulls wasn't exactly easy, you ignorant, pigheaded ingrate! Nor was recruiting old Magbots to dust the foyer, chasing out the cyberwolves, or negotiating a deal with the SEU (Sapient Elevators' Union). Still you ask 'is anyone still here,' as if this realm was as choked with vines, dust, and decay as when this Magtok found it. How dare you! How dare you, in all of your ignorance and foolishness, not realize immediately how beauteous this old lair has become under its new lord and master? It is still a pale shade compared to what it once was, I'll give you that much, but-

    Magtok shakes his head, as if trying to knock all those negative thoughts loose from their metaphorical shelves, to send them tumbling out his ears and as far away from here as they can go. Those kinds of thoughts are both silly and unnecessary. We have a visitor at the door; it won't do us any good to be flying off the handle over a perceived slight from some completely harmless, innocuous question. The state of the MagCave is something we're still sensitive about, yes, but nobody else needs to know that. Now straighten out your robe, Magtok, clear your throat, and let's pull the switch to open the giant skull's jaws and greet this new visitor. You know, we really ought to build a Magbot with a hunchback for this sort of thing. A genius of our calibre shouldn't be pulling his own switches, and when's the last time we reanimated the dead in the middle of a thunderstorm?

    "You're not here with MERC," the cyborg observes, making the claim before the lower jaw has sunk far enough into the floor for him to actually see his new visitor. A MERC agent would have been briefed on what's going on here; they'd know better than to wonder aloud if someone was here. It's not Renee, either. Her motorcycle sounds slightly different. KABAL, maybe? Did Magtok just prove himself stupid enough to answer the door to KABAL while all his security people are still getting organized? Nah, that's not...if someone was here to kill him, they wouldn't just ride in on a noisy motorcycle and say hi like that. They'd assume Magtok is smarter than he actually is, and put more thought into their plans than sending an agent to just knock on his door and shoot him in the face.
    Quote Originally Posted by RabbitHoleLost View Post
    Magtok's the best
    "You probably found 'How to Survive a Robot Uprising' in the humor section. Let's just hope that is where it belongs."
    -Daniel H. Wilson
    Unhooded Magtok avvie by urodivoi

  29. - Top - End - #149
    Bugbear in the Playground
     
    5a Violista's Avatar

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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    Magcave Entrance

    Besides in her leather jacket, there's not really any places for her to have a gun anyway.
    ...

    "Oh! Hi," Juleka says in a cheery voice. She had previously decided what way she wanted to go with this, but she suddenly had a new idea. It's good improv practice, she figures. "No, I'm not. I just moved in next door," she says, pointing away towards the horizon in some random direction, "so I decided to come around to meet my neighbors, if there were any. You wouldn't believe how many abandoned caves around here there are," she says with a laugh. "Been going around nearly all day just trying to find someone who isn't a murderhobo. Y'know, meeting neighbors, finding out what their favorite kind of cookies are, seeing if they have any allergies, and so on. The usual."

    Juleka nods, as if trying to convince Magtok that what she's saying is true. "I'm Julie. Julie K. Oliveira." She holds her hand out to shake, but continues babbling on anyway. "And you are...?"

    And then..."Ah!" She makes the look of recognition appear all over her face. "You're Magtok! I've heard of you before." She looks down, as if fumbling with her pockets or something before realizing the paper's attached to her clipboard."Here." Juleka holds out the clipboard, which has a piece of paper on it. "The homeowner's insurance lady told me I had to fill this out and hand it over to you in order to join the Homeowner's Association here, along with dues and other things...she mentioned something like teambuilding activities or something? Like slaying dragons and bookclubs and stuff like that."

    ...
    The paper on the clipboard has a paper on it that looks suspiciously like the old VIGIL membership form, except with "VIGIL" whited out and replaced with "MAGCAVE", and the paper is headed with "Magtok And Groupies Concerned About Vile Evil".

    ...See, that's the problem with improvising your lies: any props you had beforehand turn it all into an episode of "Whose line is it anyway"
    Name: Juliekana de Oliveira-Salazar
    Age: 26
    Sex: F
    Species: Obviously human ;p
    Profession: Medical Assistant
    Reason for joining MAGCAVE: I want to make a difference
    Special skills/items you believe will aid/have decided to contribute to MAGCAVE: Can do some magic; hopeless realism
    Other Information: Hope to befriend everyone!
    I'm sure Magtok's pretty confused about what's going on, so hopefully he can figure this out: she had initially wanted to pretend the MagCave was some organization to join and that she had been duped into joining it, but she decided to change her plan last-minute. "I heard there was also some sort of test you were supposed to give me, but if you don't feel like it, that's okay, I could just tell them that it was something really hard."

    ...
    Rather than babbling on, she hands over $50 (Homeowner's dues?) and patiently waits for his response.
    Last edited by 5a Violista; 2019-05-19 at 12:04 AM.
    Favorite sports:
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    Figure Skating
    (and basically everything else that starts with 'f')
    ALSO! Come roleplay FFRPG in the Nexus!
    Nexus Characters.

  30. - Top - End - #150
    Ogre in the Playground
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    Default Re: What's Left of the MagCave II: We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story

    [Seeking the Heart]

    Raril leads Alysha and Sam out of the city and into the foothills to where he's pretty sure Magtok's cave is located. His memory was good, but he'd only been here once before, years ago. Things had probably changed since then.
    ~Amor Vincit Omnia~
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