Home 24: A house in this market?

[billtodamax]

Fel's House

Hot damn. Violet mumbles to herself as she scoops up any valuable small enough to fit in her bag. That's a hot statue.

She eyes the rifle and sidles over to it, trying to scoop it up and look down its sights. Blankets are not high on her priority list. Guns? Guns are.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

You know what's fun?

Zee suddenly flickering as wounds pop up all over her. Little gashes and bruises and deeper injuries that have rusty colored plates or small triangular black scales under the ruined skin depending on where they are. She looks like she just had a bomb go off next to her.

"Oow..." she mutters, doubling over a bit. "So. The pod people know how to use sniper rifles and plastic explosives. Wee..."

Which...

Is apparently because a bomb went off next to her.

One of the downsides to all threads being now for Zee?

Damages echoes between all versions of her.

"Today could be going a lot better..."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah doesn't notice Zee's plight until she actually says something. Her eyes go wide with surprise.

Zee!

She drops what she's doing and rushes over to Zee.

Are you okay? What happened? Hang on, I'll get the first aid stuff.

She goes to the kitchenette and fishes out a red plastic case from a cupboard, bringing it over to Zee.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

"I'm ok-" she begins.

And then coughs up some blood into her hands. She scowls at the blood, looking a bit tippy.

"Oh hey. I didn't get all the hemorrhaging yet. Should probably do something about that..." she mutters as she focuses her power inward, working on mending all the various ruptured organs and burst blood vessels.

And then the first aid kit!

Those are handy.

"I am going to need," Zee says. "All the adhesive medical strips. All of them."

Because everyone knows you can fix any problem with enough band-aids.

"One of the pod-people shot me with a sniper rifle. And then vomited rainbow goop all over some shoppers. And then ran into an alley. Set off some explosives when I chased him."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah digs through the kit, pulling out all the Band-Aids, gauze, and medical tape she can find. She even knows how to use most of it!

She winces a bit as Zee describes what happened.

You mean somebody infected by those worms?

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

Zee nods.

"Yeah. I guess they can put them inside these pod things, too?" she recounts. "I found three pods. I was able to remove the alien meat from two of them and heal them up. The other one... he was too far gone. The original person was dead."

Well.

Isn't that nice?

"I'm not sure of the specifics. I could probably figure out the biochemical basis of what they're doing with a bit of time to study, but I'm I'm kinda busy torching them and trying to avoid getting shot," Zee grouses. "I'm going to have to alter my appearance. Throw them off my trail, probably. Hopefully they don't have an easy way to track me like I can track them."

Otherwise that would be a really irritating issue.

And then?

Something occurs to her.

"...they may have seen me leave from here."

That could be a problem.

[Recaiden]

Fel's House

Hot damn. Violet mumbles to herself as she scoops up any valuable small enough to fit in her bag. That's a hot statue.

She eyes the rifle and sidles over to it, trying to scoop it up and look down its sights. Blankets are not high on her priority list. Guns? Guns are.

"Mrning already?" mumbles a voice from under the pile of blankets.
Which then shifts around and resolves itself into the shape of a person under a lot of blankets. Maybe. Close enough.
"Oh, you must be Felandria?"
And presumable as Felandria she is completely informed about who this person is and why they're here.

The rifle is a small caliber automatic made in a small island nation in the future. It has been well-maintained. The grip and stock have been replaced with materials able to withstand higher heat.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah does her best to help Zee dress the wounds.

Well, once I get a scanner made, you could probably spare one of yourselves to work on that? Might be worth looking into.


And then Zee realizes that Hannah might be involved now. Hannah pauses what she's doing for a moment. And then continues. Because getting Zee fixed up is important.

Well...I'll call Ravanys. Let her know. She can come home. Maybe help me make the scanner.

Also help protect the place. Two pairs of eyes watching are better than one.

Well.

One and a half pairs.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

"Thanks for fixing me up. I'm pretty fortunate, really. You know that old saying 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'? That's fairly literal with me," Zee says with a small grin. "Provided I'm not dead, I can heal."

Pretty quickly, in fact

"Hopefully I can find one of their pods when I'm not in panic mode. We'll see, I guess. It feels like I'm running around putting out fires and it's just me."

That isn't true, Zee.

Other people are helping, too!

You just haven't encountered them yet.

"I feel like I should do something, too, since I just blundered around and maybe pulled you both into this nightmare," Zee mutters. "I could... hmm..."

She glances around the room. "Do you have a bunch of organic stuff you aren't using for anything? Or a WHOLE bunch of inorganic stuff? Chemically. Not, like, organic gluten free non-GMO broccoli."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hey. Hannah puts a hand on Zee's shoulder. You helped saved my mom. She's alive because of you. So of course we're going to do what we can to help you.

Uh...not a lot of organic stuff. Just what's in the fridge. Do have a lot of scrap steel in the back, though. Lots of carbon in that.

[billtodamax]

Fel's House

Who's asking? She retorts, spinning around (slightly grogily) and peering into the blankets, rifle held loosely at her side. ...were you here last night? She thinks for a few seconds. Did I... did I hit that? She asks, mostly to herself.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

"I'm sure she would have been okay without me," Zee replies. "It was just some minor scuffing. And faerie bites. Did she ever take my advice and do a bunch of boring chores to help heal the faerie bites? Baking bread is probably the BEST way to fix that faerie nonsense."

They just can't stand something so mind numbingly mundane.

"Scrap steel, yeah. I can work with most any matter. Biomass is easier, it takes less since I don't have to spend energy on conversion. But I don't want to eat literally everything in your fridge."

Because that would be rude.

"Where's the scrap at?"

So...

She's going to eat random metal junk instead?

Nifty.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah gives a snort of laughter. If she went about baking bread, we wouldn't have a kitchen anymore. I love her, but she can't cook at all. No, she's been spending more time than usual cleaning out her guns. She figured that'd be boring enough.

Hannah will lead Zee towards the back of the shop. A whole wall of shelving has a lot of bins labeled Scrap.

[Recaiden]

"Name's Neverest." A deep blue eye set in porcelain white skin peers back out of the blankets from behind a sleeping goggle.
Just the one eye? Oh there's the other one. Way over there. More than a whole head's length away. That's probably not a human.
Whatever Neverest is, she seems pretty bundled up, like she's wearing three winter coats and several hats on underneath the blankets.

"Yeah, I was here." Probably only arrived after Violet fell asleep. "Maybe. I feel like I got pretty toasted at the holiday party. You wanna make sure?"
The eyes glace around the room. Independently, like a chameleon.
"Oh! Hey, you found my gun."

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

"Sounds good that she didn't bake bread, then, burning your house down would be WAY too exciting to count," Zee reasons as she follows Hannah. There's a little bit of a limp, but she's getting better! She regards the Wall of Scrap with an appraising look and then gives a little nod. "Okay, this should work. It'll take a little time, though."

And then?

She'll begin taking stuff out of bins and arranging them in a heap on the floor.

"Just let me know if something's important and I'll put it back," she says as she works.

If 'works' could be an accurate description of what she's doing.

Mostly she's just making a pile of stuff.

As she goes that weird rusty-colored organic plasma stuff will occasionally come creeping off her hands and wriggle between two chunks of metal. When it's gone, the scrap fragments will be cold-welded together. Apparently this works better if, conceptually, whatever she's working with is one large 'object'.

"Seraphim like me are aligned with matter and energy and stuff," she says as she fiddles with her scrap heap. "Matter, energy, shape, and uncertainty. In the quantum sense," she quickly adds. "All angels have four alignments. Four faces, sort of? Usually not literally. Usually. Chayim are are aligned with data-related things. Information, language, life, and growth. I've got two alignments from both. Matter, shape, life, and information. Put those concepts together, and you've got a representation of the physical side of living things. Body plans, adaptation, biological information, stuff like that."

More heaping, more fusing.

"I can do stuff related to any of my alignments, like manipulating matter and information. Bending the physical shape of something. But what I'm really good at? Is the creation and modification of living systems."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Most of the scrap metal seems to be broken contraptions. Probably stuff Hannah was working on. Till it exploded. Some do have scorch marks...

Hannah nods a bit. Reminds me of Ravanys' magic a bit. Some ritual in her village determined she was aligned with fire, so she got fire tattoos and fire magic. She's pretty good with it, too.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

Zee is assembling a pretty good sized pile of stuff here.

"Maybe a little?" she replies. "We don't really conform to the classical elements. Since, I mean, you're an engineer, right? So you know that stuff is made of up quarks down quarks and electrons. Not earth, fire, wind, and water. Real things."

And then there's a pulse from her as her Glory surges over the heap of scrap, a twisting, living mass of rust-colored plasma. Ribbons of iridescent yellow and green light flicker through it.

"So! I was thinking," she begins as the pyre slowly shrinks in size. As it gradually solidifies. "I sorta dragged you and your mom into this mess. So it only makes sense that I make sure neither of you get killed and replaced for the crime of being my friends."

Shrinks and solidifies until it has become a crystalline cocoon.

"I can't just hang around forever. If I stay here more than two days your time then temporal paradoxes happen. Then we would probably have ophanim rolling in here and demanding to see your paradox permit," she continues.

A crystalline cocoon with something moving inside. Something alive.

"Which means someone else will have to stick around. Hopefully you don't mind too much. Hannah?"

The top of the cocoon splits open and a little dragon-like critter about the size of a leopard pops out with a, "Guuuuh!" gasp of breath. Solar plasma is rolling off him, crackling and fizzing and filling the room with incandescent heat. Thankfully not enough to catch anything on fire. Most of his lithe, feline-shaped body is covered in sun-set orange plates that glow with internal light while his underbelly is shod in metallic black, interlocking triangular scales. He's got a nubby pair of horns and his front limbs look like a cross between a cloven hoof and a dragon's claw.

His eyes are absolute jet black ringed in stellar white, like the accretion disk of a black hole. And he's got a whole bunch of them. Seven on his head. More running down his flanks and probably tail.

"Meet Sardus!" Zee says proudly, gesturing at the young seraphim.

The little drake takes a few more tentative breaths and climbs out of the cocoon, his limbs a bit shaky. "Wow..." the little critter breaths in awestruck wonder. "This must be existing. I think I like existing." Then he glances back at Zee. "Oh... mother? You're so pretty."

"Thanks! Sardus, this is Hannah," Zee says, wrapping her arms around the putti's neck in a hug. Then she gestures back at the mechanic. The little drake regards her curiously. "It's going to be your job to make sure no gross bugs come in here and try to hurt Hannah or her mom. I made sure to encode the memories of their scent, so you'll know them if they try to come in."

Sardus nods, taking in the instructions. "Um... okay, mother, I can do that." Then he offers a toothy smile at Hannah. "Umm... hi? Miss Hannah? Nice to meet you."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah nods a bit. Well, yeah, fire's just a product of a reaction. But, fire magic still happens. She shrugs. I'm not gonna think too hard on it.

She watches the process with interest. This was something she definitely hadn't seen before.

And when another being stumbles out? Her eyes go wide with surprise. That was...different.

Oh...uh...hi. Nice to meet you. She offers her hand to shake. Wait...can it shake hands? Maybe she should reach up to pet it...but that might be rude.

Hannah's hand hovers in the air, not quite sure where to go.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

Sardus looks at Hannah's hand for a moment.

Then leans forward a bit to smell it.

Zee makes a coughing noise, drawing his attention, then holds her hand flat and shakes it up and down.

Sardus responds with an, "Oh..." then reaches out with one of his wings to grasp Hannah's hand. Said wing has two little clawed fingers and a thumb, so hey! Great for manipulation. The young seraphim will feel quite warm to the touch.

And the weird cocoon?

It's already busy disintegrating.

Zee's busy standing over there, smiling like a dork. This is clearly the best possible solution to the problem at hand.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah will complete the hand shake. Little weird with claws, but that's okay.

So...uh...wasn't expecting a new person living here. Don't really have much for bedding at the moment. Clearly this is unexpected and a bit awkward for Hannah. But she's trying.

But, I can ask Ravanys to get some on her way back. Still need to call her.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

Literally a new person living here.

As in, a few seconds old.

"Bedding?" Sardus asks, looking back at Zee curiously.

"For sleeping on. Extended unconsciousness to allow for neurological maintenance," Zee explains. "Mortals have to sleep and dream, otherwise their souls will start climbing up the walls inside their brain. It gets messy since real things and unreal things don't mix that well for very long."

"Oooooh..." Sardus replies. He's still holding onto Hannah's hand, not quite sure what to do next.

"It'll probably just be a temporary thing," Zee says with a nod. "Until we're sure these pod-people are all exterminated or driven out of the Nexus. In the mean time, Sardus can probably help with chores and assistance. He's pretty bright, no pun intended. He'll pick up on things pretty quickly."

"That's learning, right?" Sardus asks. "I think I like learning, too."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah will have let go of the wing claw by now.

She nods a bit. Uh, yeah, sure...Um, let me call Ravanys. Then I should get back to work on that scanner.

She still seems unsure about all this.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

To be fair, it IS pretty weird.

It's one thing to hear Zee talking about making people.

It's a totally different thing to see her actually do it.

Just... POW!

Sapient, intelligent being. Outta nowhere. And Sardus seems about on par with an older child. Inquisitive and bright. Apparently he was created with some degree of knowledge base to begin with. And in that fashion, he'll be busy asking Zee what various things are and why various things are while Hannah is making her phone call.

Zee will do her best to answer all the questions.

But there are lots of questions.

Just so many questions.

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

The questions are not exclusive to Sardus.

Seems Hannah has to answer a few from Ravanys.

Eventually, she comes back, having finished the call. Okay. Ravanys is on her way back, and she'll get stuff for you to sleep on. In the meantime, I'm gonna get back to work on that scanner.

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

"Good plan," Zee replies with a nod. "I'll stick around until Ravanys gets here. She'll probably want a few explanations."

Zee thinks that's a totally normal thing to want. And that's exactly what she'll do! Stick around and watch. Watch and occasionally answer questions.

What will she be watching?

Well...

"Can I help?" Sardus asks, his nose poking over the edge of the workbench.

Could he?

Probably not with the technical parts.

But he can probably fetch tools, right?

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah smirks a bit. Uh, yeah. Definitely wants explanations.

Hm. No hidden meaning in that statement. No sirree.

Hannah will get back to her designing phase of this project. Not much Sardus can do here. But, soon enough, she's starting a prototype. Here she asks Sardus to fetch things for her, or hold things in place.

It's not too long before the door upstairs opens and shuts. A moment later, Ravanys comes down the stairs, holding a box full of blankets and pillows. She goes to an open area and sets them down, then approaches Zee.

So...heard you've kinda roped us into some more shenanigans. No anger in her voice. Yet. But...there's a note of at least annoyance.

She crosses her arms over her chest. So lay it out for me. What's happening?

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

Sardus seems really happy to help. Every now and again he'll ask a question about something, but more in a 'I'm actually wanting to comprehend what you're doing' sort of way rather than the typical childish 'ask why chains forever' sort of way. As in, given a week or two there's a pretty good chance the young seraphim will actually be able to assist in meaningful ways.

Zee watches Ravanys enter, trying to get a read on her body language.

Sardus peeks around to look at this other person he's supposed to be protecting. Ravanys might not he looks like a smaller, more childish version of that weird dragon thing Zee turned into. Though not quite as eye-watering to look at.

"Short version. Body-snatching monsters have infiltrated the Nexus. Near as I can tell, they're basically The Thing, except a bit less infections. They make up for this by being able to vomit magical carcinogen all over people and the ability to use magic. Or at least some of them can use magic. I first noticed them when I was shopping for Trog's and discovered all the meat at a local super market was infected with evil flukes that would devour people from the inside out and then wear their skin as a disguise."

Oh.

Well.

That's fantastic.

"The second time I bumped into them I got into a scuffle with a wizardy one and it hit me with a Banish spell. That's why I disappeared all of a sudden a while back. When I finally managed to get back to the Nexus I popped up here. And they're actively looking for me. Which means if I leave your house and they notice, then you and Hannah could be in very real, very lethal danger. These things are malevolently Evil, Captial-E. I wouldn't put it past them to go after my friends out of spite. So...."

She gestures at the young seraphim, who's currently busy poking at one of the pillows.

"I put Sardus together. Sardus, this is Ravanys. She's Hannah's mother."

"Oh, um, hello Miss Ravanys," he speaks up from his pillow examination.

"He's equipped with my nose for these monsters. I was hoping he could stay with you and Hannah for a week or two until other defense are in place to keep the pod-people at bay."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Hannah will explain anything she can to Sardus. She seems glad to have somebody to share this with.

Ravanys listens to Zee patiently. At the end of it, she gives Sardus a quick wave, then lets out a heavy sigh, turning back to Zee.

Ya know, there's a reason I try not to involve myself in business like this. Her eye flicks towards Hannah for a brief moment before returning to Zee.

So, how involved are we now?

[Rebonack]

[Ravanys' Place]

"Everyone's going to be involved one way or the other," Zee says, her expression quite serious. "They mean to kill everyone in the Nexus. And then spread to every world the Nexus touches and kill everyone there, too."

That, obviously, would be the Bad Ending.

"But right now? I've only got a really ugly feeling. Nothing concrete. I'm going to try to be as discrete as I can when I leave."

Technically she already left.

But... uh...

Not very discretely. At least she wasn't then. Or wasn't eventually?

Because she hadn't realized the danger.

Yet.

Time is weird.

"Sardus is meant to be a precaution. He's-"

Chewing on the pillow.

"-more formidable than he looks."

Sure he is.

"I gave Hannah some starting points for building a means to detect these nightmares. It should get into Intersection's hands as quickly as possible. The greatest strength these things have is stealth and infiltration. Once the element of surprise is gone I don't think they'll be long for this world."

[KerfuffleMach2]

[Ravanys' Place]

Oh good. Another world ending event. Ravanys was starting to get tired of those. She just wanted to live a simple life. Hunt down targets. Earn money. Provide a good home for Hannah. Go out occasionally. That's all she wanted.

She sighs again, shaking her head a bit.

Yeah, that figures...Okay. Well, thanks for giving us a heads up. And helping protect us. I'll keep an ear to the ground. Let you know anything I find out.

She'll go to pat Zee's shoulder. She really did mean the thanks. Nice to know somebody was helping. She just wished said person also didn't bring so much trouble with her.