Inside 69: Nice.

[Recaiden]

Stuck Square

"It's the air. Magic in the air." She's quite fascinated by the animals swimming through the air. Particularly since none of them are panicking, which she'd expect from a fish that didn't feel wet. Illusory fish really would be easier. Jack wonders, briefly, if it would be possible to drown in the aquarium, despite the lack of water.

In a two dimensional environment, does 'above' really have meaning? Does the shadow get bigger and blurrier as it gets higher, blocking more light at the cost of definition? Not that it stops Jack's shadow.

"Over this whole place. Woah. I mean, I wouldn't have any idea where to start, doing something like this."
Well, nothing stops one from sticking their hand over the rope and into the water.
If you do, you meet all the resistance and coolness you'd expect, but when you draw your hand back, it's dry.
It'll also being fish over to investigate and make any nearby aquarium employees frown at you.

You might expect the shadow's size to jump and grow in accord with the light falling on Jack. But it doesn't. The thing about shadows is that they also exist in three dimensions - but only two of those dimensions align with those of normal objects, and it's motion along that axis (naturally according with the angle of light) that makes them big and diffuse. Now that Jack's shadow has flown free of Jack, it can move in that way on its own, a same sized patch of darkness drifting up in the air, a shadow cast onto nothing.

Hive Sewers

"It's from a world called Scadrial. Mistings are Allomancers, but we can't burn all the metals. Just one of them. Tin, in my case. A full Mistborn can burn pewter, iron, steel, brass, zinc, copper, bronze, and atium too." She's missed out gold, but as the ability is widely regarded as useless, she's not alone. Atium happens to also be very scary.

"How does one become a full 'Mistborn'?" Is the next question the stalker asks.
More of the strangeness of the Nexus, all these different worlds that reach it. This was either the best or worst place for them to have ended up.

"I'm going to let go of one of your arms. Walk with me." She doesn't explicitly say "Don't try anything", but hopefully it goes without saying.
And then she does, and tries to lead the Tineye back the way they came, towards the T-intersection with the blue light.

[Rebonack]

[Lot]

A catwalk is indeed a good place for a cat to walk.

From his vantage point way up high, Nick will have a good view of... parts... of the complex below. It's still really dark in there. He can make out what looks like a mechanic shop. A... dairy of some kind? Or maybe a dairy chain store. There's a goofy looking cow face on the sign, as faded and marred as it is. Also a hotel which appears to be one of the taller buildings. The remains of a school. And of course the blasted remains of some kind of factory that appears to have had its roof blown off, now filled with that baleful green glow.

Lots of options!

Nick should be able to leap down to the roof of any of these buildings, though obviously it is a longer fall with some.

He can't quite make out the source of the glow, though.

Whatever is making it is obscured by the gutted husk of the factory.


[Creepy Victorian Deathtrap - Above]

Finding the book in question isn't terribly difficult.

However, they're all VERY esoteric. They seem to assume that someone reading them already knows a whole bunch of stuff about magic.

Clearly not for a novice.

There really isn't a next room, mostly because Jack has finished checking this floor. But given that the stairs-

Oh wait.

There they are.

And it sounds like there's a bit of commotion coming from the first floor.


[Creepy Victorian Deathtrap - Below]

There comes a thump at the smoking room door.

Then another, louder thump.

Then a thump along with the sound of splintering wood.

Oh hey, the stairs to the second floor are back.

Maybe it's time to flee?

[Deathkeeper]

[Lot]

Nick...well the giant glowing thing is obviously the source of what he’s looking for.
But.
Sometimes you just don’t want to run straight into the hornet’s nest without a plan or information.
So maybe he should try to find someone to interrogate. Or some other clues that aren’t quite jumping quite into a big glowing monster. He’ll start by taking a quick look through the dairy and the hotel. Probably the most likely places to find an adult or maybe an animal.

[Earl of Purple]

Dry Aquarium

Jack does, and pulls her hand back again. "That feels really weird. I reckon you could drown in that air." She waves and grins at the frowning attendant, wondering if they've had special training to ignore the air's effects or something. "I don't have a clue with magic, I just picked up some wings that can see it in a dungeon." They're quite fancy wings, too. Good at swimming. Which is handy, because Jack isn't.

Well, then. That's quite cool. Just a puddle of jackdaw-shaped shade flying around. Jack's shadow sticks to nearby surfaces; it's not used to the big wide world yet.

Hive Sewers

"Um, you can't. You either Snap when you're in a pressure situation, or you don't. And you don't know whether you Snap as a Mistborn or a Misting until you do it." The Tineye doesn't try anything, following the Stalker... Not quite willingly, but without struggling. She really should get out of here, but if she runs she's unarmed and the sewers are dangerous. Plus, she was lost before, and she's still lost now. Maybe she'll be taken to a prison where there's others and they can escape together; there's safety in numbers, for the unarmed and helpless.

Creepy Victorian House

But it said it was a fundamentals! That's not fair. If even the beginner's guides are full of jargon, what's the actual point?

Oh, hey. Staircase is back. And it sounds like somebody's in trouble down there. Jack puts the Relics in her satchel and pulls out her wand, transferring it to the other hand, before pulling out the shovel. She also starts to change. Feathers erupt from her hair, her face changes shape as a large black beak erupts from her face, and she spreads her wings wide. A crest of black feathers adorns the top of her head; those, and her wings (which are relatively stubby and short, being an auk's swimming/flying limbs) are the only parts of her neither human nor jackdaw. Jack's feet and legs haven't changed, and neither have her eyes, but otherwise she's looking quite intimidating.

[Ionbound]

[Creepy Victorian Deathtrap - Below]

Melissa's eyes widen and she grins, ending up looking somewhat predatory as she rushes up the stairs, shouting, "Up! UP!" as she sprints away from whatever is downstairs because honestly getting as far away as possible from that thing is probably for the best.

[Rebonack]

[A Lot Spookiness]

Nick lands on the roof of the dairy chain store, causing it to groan under his weight.

This likely isn't very encouraging.

There is indeed a roof access up here, a hatch that likely leads to the inside of the building. Otherwise he would have to fly down over the edge into that freezing cold, sucking sludge that coats basically everything at ground level. Judging from what he can see up on the roof, the building is up on a slight hill, meaning the muck would only be an inch or so deep rather than up to a human's knees. That makes a pretty significant difference.

In front of the store he can make out a car, though a few things might strike him as odd about it. There are no tires, for one. And the rubber seals around the windows seem to be gone, given that the windows are all sitting at awkward angles. The seats inside the car are likewise just bare metal, all the cushioning gone. No plastic on the headlights, either. It isn't that the plastic and rubber parts are broken. There aren't any bits scattered around. They're just gone.

The tables in front of the dairy are in a similar state, rusted metal bases for cheap tables with no plastic top.

There are no animals, not even flies or roaches. No weeds.

Nothing alive.

At all.

The unnatural cold seems to get deeper the closer Nick gets to the unearthly green light in the distance.

[Deathkeeper]

[A Lot Spookiness]

Well. That’s...even more than he was expecting. He wasn’t really expecting any signs of life but...he thought maybe some signs of a struggle. Things around. Not just things erased.
Nick goes back to the roof and then the hotel, flapping to a second floor window to check for signs of life there.
If there’s nothing he’s going to have to check out that glow.

[Earl of Purple]

Quaint Victorian Deathtrap

As Melissa charges up the stairs, she's spotted by Jack who tries to tell the other woman to stop. Except... Jackdaws can't talk. So the words are transformed into an alarm call as a bird-shaped spectral missile streaks past her and into the wall behind her. Jack was aiming to miss, just in case this was her previously unnamed companion doing something similar to what she's doing.

Melissa might not recognise Jack in her current shape; it's one she doesn't use often, because it lacks most of the advantages of pure human or pure jackdaw... Not that Jack's actually able to be 'pure' either.

[Ionbound]

Quaint Victorian Deathtrap

Melissa swears and ducks as the magical blast goes past her and when she hears and sees the screaming jackdaw person, she screams, "AHHHH!" in response, more out of shock than anything else. After a second she takes a breath and pauses, asking, "W-wait, is that you?" referring to her previous companion.

[Hattish Thing]

Prison

The stench of sulfur hangs over the prison, although Marco may not be able to smell it through his suit. The structure has no windows on the outside, making it appear like a featureless block of concrete from here. As the pair approaches the gate, a security guard stationed there calls out, "Stop! What are you doing here?" to which the gith cowers away from the guard post and cries, "No! No! You were eaten up, eaten up!"

Although this suit was hardly as complex as the fully armored powersuit he was accustomed to, its advanced filtration systems managed to keep all but the most acrid of scents away. However, the information display beneath his helmet does pick up on the presence of the gas, causing the vigilante to grow somewhat uneasy. How unusual.

As he approaches the gate, he'll call up towards the guard.

[Moonrise]

Orrey's cigarette flares, and for a moment reveals the curdled curve of his mouth. Smoke rolls out onto the table and climbs toward the ceiling.

"Sounds fine," he says plainly. "I've got people who can back us on this - muscle, mostly, but I'm not going to waste them if the job looks too crap or too dangerous. Got suppliers, too, if we need special gear... or something for this demo guy of yours."

"When do we start? How are you planning to start?" Orrey cracks his knuckles under the table, his burning cig jostling left and right in his mouth.

With a small smile, Deadlight will proceed to snap his mask back into place. "As do I. Gazher everyzhing you have. A forward assault upon zhe base."

"I suspect little resistance."

Chalcedony House Gemstone Museum

The laser cutter disables the alarm! Hopefully. Given it's a silent alarm, there's no sound this end if it didn't work. But the unconscious guard's radio remains silent, with nobody asking him what's going on. So it probably worked.

Now Larza just has to pick which case she wants to open first and get to looting. Rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings or the big and fancy clearly magic crown?

Larza waggles her clawed fingers before cackling in a most unflattering fashion. She quiets down after a second, though, realizing that now was hardly the time to start celebrating. But what a haul! Rings, earings, bracelets, all of this stuff would be worth quite the pretty penny to a good fence. Maybe she could sell to those AMENite people, they'd accept stolen stuff, right?

Still, back to the task at hand... The goblin will proceed to clear out each and every display case, piling everything as carefully as she can into her bag of holding.

"He he he..."

--

Kathy's Cybershop

Dropping from a nearby building to land just before the workshop ahead is a man of slightly above-average height and build clad in a suit of futuristic kevlar. Layered plates of some high-tech metallic material form a kind of breastplate upon the vigilante, with the same metal having been cast into bulky gauntlets and greaves to allow for additional protection. A number of small rectangular panels have been built into the armor, most of which glow with a soft white or red LED light. A black helmet rests upon the figure's head, supported by a kevlar cowl which obscures all but the man's lower face, which is itself secured by a metallic chin-strap.

The vigilante drags a hexagonal-patterned cloak behind him as he strides forward into Vigil, and a powerful looking firearm can be seen at his belt. He'll quietly attempt to enter the shop, carrying himself calmly and peacefully. Should he notice the keeper of the building, he'll speak softly, his voice soothing, albeit mechanized.



--

Spoiler: Vigilante Reference

Show

[Halae]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

The shop itself is a well lit, with a beige tile floor, rows of electronic gizmos on shelves, all visible from behind the counter on the far side of the room to prevent anybody with grabby hands from making a move. Given the lack of visible security, one has to wonder where the actual security is, though. One of the glass shelves, near a wall, has rows of cybernetics inside - limbs, eyes, and similar implants on pillows under the protective glass. They're all show pieces, and a trained eye can tell they don't have the proper connectors to actually be installed in someone, as an extra precaution.

Behind the counter is a woman who appears to be in her early twenties, with dyed dark-green hair and a horrible scar surrounding one cybernetic eye. She stands just under five feet tall, making her extremely short. She's wearing a lavender blouse with short sheeleves, the better to show off that her arms are entirely cybernetic, though her lower body is hidden behind the counter and its wares.

"Good afternoon!" Kathy says to the newcomer, "Welcome to my shop. You seem like the sort that knows what he's looking for, hmm?"

[Hattish Thing]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

The vigilante continues to move both calmly and deliberately, hardly bothering to look around the shop but rather striding directly towards Kathy. In response to her friendly greeting, the man nods silently before resting his large, gauntlet-clad hands upon the counter before her, metal clinking into place as his digits straighten.

He breathes in for a moment before speaking.

[Halae]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

Kathy leans forward, resting her elbows on the countertop as she looks up towards the heavily armored man, "Nice voice modulator," she says with a slight smile, "Yes, everything in this story is technology of my own design. I design and produce everything myself, so quality is assured. What can I help you with?"

[Hattish Thing]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

The figure nods with the slightest of smiles before continuing, seemingly appreciative of the compliment.

[Halae]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

Kathy gives the man a flat look for a long moment, "That doesn't actually help. If I were to recommend upgrades, I'd need a list of your current loadout, the kinds of materials and weapon systems you're using, and their specs, and something about how you're doing the voice modulation thing even in here is telling me you don't want me finding out so much about your stuff. Is there anything specific I can help you with?"

[Rebonack]

[A Lot Spookiness]

Nick flies over to a hotel window! He'll quickly discover that there's no window frame, the windows having fallen into the room. No wallpaper. No sofas (just a pile of springs and screws). The pattern here is pretty consistent.

Absolutely everything organic in the cavern is gone.

Even organic in the chemical sense.

No oil. No plastic. No wood.

Just rusted steel, pitted concrete, and shattered glass.

How very cheerful.

And flying toward the green glow is certainly possible. It's getting colder and colder the closer he gets. Pretty easy to see his own breath, even here in the dim, eerie green light.

Really adds to the spookiness factor.

[Deathkeeper]

[A Lot Spookiness]

Oh, dear.

Nick finds himself forced to confront the creepy glow in the factory.
He does so by approaching from the roof, though, on the slim chance of getting some measure of surprise out of it. He's still holding out hope that this is just some highly specific pokemon's diet or something and he won't have to shoot his way out of this one.

[Recaiden]

[Stuck Square]

"Well that's doesn't seem safe."
But Anchor has to try feeling the watery air herself, regardless.

The aquarium is fairly small, so it won't take too long to see all the different sorts of 'fish'. Given the difficulties of keeping sea creatures like this, they can't have too many tanks.

After a little more looking, Anchor says "Shall we try to get out of here?"

[Hive Sewers]

The hound follows along after them, leaving a few scraps of metal that it didn't finish eating.

"Perfect." The Stalker purrs. "What do you say to working for us? There's more to life than just running around stealing things on your own. Right?"

[Hattish Thing]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

The vigilante nods before producing a small tablet-like device, passing it along across the counter. The tablet is entirely empty save for one folder containing a number of fairly massive files containing schematics for a particularly imposing suit of bulky power armor. Included within the folders are pictures, videos, and specifics of the current suit.

[Halae]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

She'll take the tablet in hand, and then spend a short while flipping through different schematic images to learn what she can about the power suit. She takes it all in with ready, practiced ease, and before too long, nods, "Yeah, I should be able to work on this. If you want some of my best work, it's going to cost you pretty deeply, though. Custom systems designs, ceramic inlays, bonded internal meshes, an upgraded power system, and carbon realignment to make the metals tough aren't cheap. If you're good for it, I can get started on producing it tonight and have it ready by the end of the week."

[Earl of Purple]

Quaint Victorian Deathtrap

Jack squawks again as Melissa speaks, folding her wings back as the feathers retreat back into her hair and her face changes shape again as her beak returns to a normal human face. "Yes, it's me! Is that you? Um, I should have asked your name sooner. I'm Jack" It slipped her mind! Her transformation also hasn't damaged her clothes at all. "Quick, come up here. I found two parts of a thing that got broken into pieces. Four, I think. They want to be reunited." And Jack's decided that's a good idea.

Chalcedony House Gemstone Museum

And all the loot is, well, looted! A few things might catch her eye. An assassin's ring with a capsule for poison made of gold. A heavy bronze ring set with an enamel tree. A pearl stud earring. A necklace made from an obsidian chain. There's also a gold chain bracelet, with three charms on it; a silver fish, a lapis-lazuli flower and a tiny silver bell. As unlikely as it seems, that bracelet looks to be the perfect length for Larza's wrist... Though she might not remember it being in the cabinet before she broke in to it.

Stuck Square

"At least the air probably won't be able to fuel a fire." Because that would be the worst, fish burning to death in a fire. "Sure, let's go." Jack's about ready to go down the hole and see if that leaves out. Hopefully the schoolchicks weren't lying.

Hive Sewers

"Um, I guess? I quite like my life, though. Gets a bit lonely, but I can handle it." She doesn't sound too sure about the opportunity being offered, but she's also not entirely sure it's a choice she will survive turning down. She's really worried about where they're going.

[Hattish Thing]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

As Kathy is navigating through the tablet, she'll also find videos of various combat simulations centered around the power suit. The final sub-folder contains recordings of the suit in the field, including footage of the vigilante's recent attack on Harley Zorzo. The style of the suit, as well as the way in which it is employed, suggests that above all, the vigilante requires brute strength and bulk.

[Halae]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

"Yeah, just one," Kathy responds as she's watching the video, "Is this going to be an everyday suit that you can wear constantly, or is it going to be the sort of thing you pull out when you need to throw down with something big? Each style takes different ideas into consideration."

[Hattish Thing]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

The vigilante shakes his head, responding quickly.



--

Chalcedony House Gemstone Museum

Once the bracelet comes into view, Larza frowns, somewhat confused. She never missed anything, and yet... the goblin had no memory of this particular item. "Huh." She purses her lips before shrugging and promptly trying it on.

"Gotta remember to live a little..."

[Halae]

[Kathy's Cybershop]

The green-haired woman nods, and hands back the tablet the vigilante handed her, "Then yeah, shouldn't be an issue. Payment for this kind of commission is up front; don't want to waste money procuring materials and then find out you won't pay," She'll quote a rather expensive price, but probably reasonable for the kind of tech he's asking for.

[Earl of Purple]

Chalcedony House Gemstone Museum Result: 18

The moment the bracelet is put on, the bell rings. It's an astonishingly loud sound, so loud that- unless she's wearing ear protection- Larza may very well be temporarily deafened.

This is a particularly bad thing because the guard she knocked out? He was asleep. The bell's so loud, he's just woken up and is struggling to his feet with his hands pressed against his ears. Plus, there's a chance she's been heard by others elsewhere in the building, even though it isn't one of the museum's own alarms. I think it's time for Larza to make her daring escape. There's a window in the wall, overlooking the garden; it's shut, and locked, but if she smashes it she's outside the building again and closer to escape. Or she could try going the way she came, back to the attic.

[Rebonack]

[A Lot Spookiness]

So Nick flies.

Over the sucking mud which he is most certainly NOT walking through. And for good reason. Because it's awful.

Over the ruined streets.

Over dilapidated, pitted concrete buildings.

Over the blasted walls of the factory.

And as soon as he would get into a position to see whatever the source of the glow is-

-suddenly it is bright.

Suddenly he's outside.

Suddenly he's hanging onto a ladder fixed to the roof of the factory because he is inexplicably human again.

The quite intact and in well repair roof of the factory is now blocking his view of where the unearthly green glow should be. He can hear (and see, should he turn his head) traffic, both car and pedestrian. The people down there look to be in early fifties era attire and the cars match. Which in turn matches the gutted car he had seen earlier near the dairy. He's still dressed in his uniform, which is probably a little out of place compared to everyone else near(ish) but not as out of place as being a catbird would be. There aren't any nonhumans to be seen. At all. Which is probably odd.

What the heck just happened?

Nick could climb the ladder to the top, which leads to a catwalk running to a large silo attached to the factory.

OR!

He could climb back down to the ground level.

[bc56]

Prison

"Number 031, I see." The guard pulls out a walkie-talkie. "Hello? Someone's brought in our missing prisoner. You can call off the search." He turns back to the vigilante. "You can just bring her inside. Some guards will be along to take her to solitary, and there will be some paperwork you'll need to fill out." He types something into his computer console, and the prison gate slides open with a whir.

[Deathkeeper]

[A Lot Spookiness]

Nick shakes his head, disoriented. He runs a hand over his face. Yes, that’s his human chin. At least being a griffin for a while doesn’t spit out his human shape in need of shaving. But where is he? Some kind of projected simulation? Or time warping? Well, the problem here is that now it’s possible that the place will be guarded. And he’s mostly helpless like this if there’s a whole town now. Besides, if this is actual time stuff there’s a chance he might be able to save people. He doesn’t know if the town he saw was evacuated or- let’s not go there.

Nick slides down the ladder and tries to get into a casual looking pose as he enters the street. Maybe this time he can talk to someone, check from the ground if the catwalk is guarded. Though he can’t guess if his money is good.

[Rebonack]

[A Lot Spookiness]

Down to the ground level he goes.

There's a pretty decent amount of bustle going on at the moment, but given the apparent time of day most people are probably at work. No one appears to be outside the factory immediately nearby. Probably because the only people who hang out near the factory are, in fact, factory workers. That often how factories go.

However, there is something eye catching immediately near the front gates of the factory.

In typical 'illustration of astonished people' 50s poster style, there's an advertisement posted on the wall near the gate. Apparently there's going to be some kind of major presentation of an incredible new scientific advancement to be demonstrated at the factory come seven PM? Admission is free and apparently it will revolutionize the world. Sounds pretty fancy?

Judging from the position of the sun, it's a few hours at least before seven PM.

And if Nick wanted to question some folks, he would probably need to scoot a bit further away from the factory into the town proper.

Or!

He could walk through the gates into the factory. The gates are, after all, open.