VIgil: Return of the Geneva

[Purple Eagle]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

"That sounds good, sensei." Svetlana says, putting the sword back into her inventory. Thus, it disappears into thin air. "When do we begin? Will I be training against them?" She points to the trainees currently undergoing a hostage retrieval training drill.

[UncleWolf]

Ilphirmary

Ilphy looks utterly heartbroken by the news that she shouldn't be given any ale. Completely crestfallen even! She eventually sighs before giving a sweeping gesture at Ilpholin and laying back with her eyes closed. Given that her arms end barely below her shoulders, she can't really gesture, but the motion should be evident enough. "Not like I'm in any state to resist whatever the hell you're going to do. I'm not too good with puzzles when my throat's parched." She points out. "You've got her mysterious benefactor she won't name, another potential agent that decided I would be a good plan, and then the mystery of my own origin. If you take issue with my face though, then get me a new one. Or my original. I won't be going out for a while so there's plenty of time. If you really don't trust me, then put a tracker on me. Or you can just throw me into a cell."

[Ashen Lilies]

[Sword Introduction]

Wenomir nods with understanding as he shows Cass another set of stances and movements.

"Well, of course. Rapiers are completely different weapons. But knowing them will certainly help with learning something else. Where have you learned to use them?" he asks with genuine curiosity.

[Sword Introduction]

"It's... a long story," says Cass, looking uncomfortable. "Maybe I can explain it later... there's a lot of stuff I should explain, actually..."

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

"I'll ask for some volunteers to attack you during the exercise, yes," Wenomir says. "Not those, though. A few less experienced recruits. It'll be a lesson for them as well, in trying to bring down a more dangerous opponent with numbers and situational advantage."

[Reinholdt]

[Training Grounds - Martial Artists]

"Once a leader approves my assessment of your capability, you will be assigned living space here," Calm Reed explains. "It can be either a room of your own or a place in a shared one."

[Training Grounds - Martial Artists]

"Very well. I shall wait here then for your return." Jedrek can find a spot of ground out of the way to sit upon patiently. Or he could train a bit. Though since he's not official yet, he'd find that too imposing. Much better to wait and watch.

[Purple Eagle]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

Svetlana nods a few times. "That way, everyone is training. Hai... yes... that would be interesting. It would be an honour to train alongside other trainees of yours." She says, not adding that she thinks it should be an honour to the trainees to train with her. "I'll be gentle with them, as this is training." Lest she gouge out some poor sap's eyes, for instance.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

Wenomir gives some orders and various Vigil staff spring into action. Soon, an obstacle course is assembled on the training grounds. It's composed of walls and fences creating a labyrinth of sorts. Svetlana will be blindfolded and led to one side of it. Then her blindfold will be taken off, to be replaced by dark goggles. There's a mannequin next to her and her goal is simple - bring it to the other side of the course. The other Vigil members, whose goal is to stop her, aren't visible yet.

[Sword Introduction]

"We can discuss it another time, then." It's clear Cass would rather not talk about it now, and it's not really time. The practice continues, until Wenomir is confident that Cass has grasped the basics and focuses on showing the proper way to assume each position. When the sorceress has trouble keeping her sword in a proper plow-guard, he approaches her and gently corrects her stance, holding her by her wrists and elbows.

[Ilphirmary]

Wenomir folds his arms across his chest and frowns as everyone argues their case. All of this is giving him a headache. Why can't anything ever be simple with the demon vermin and AMEN? He sighs.

"It's true that AMEN and the demons are working together and that they could have modified someone to make her look like Ilpholin. Though I'll be damned if I know why. A sleeper agent? To target her specifically?" He breathes out. "She's also correct that she won't be leaving this bed for a while, so we can use this time to find out who she is, what was done to her and why."

[Shadowcaller]

[Ilphirmary]

Anika considers what's being said for a moment but she kinda tunes out what the others are saying as she got her own idea. "We should call Ilpholin's dad!" The druid suddenly proclaims with her finger raised. "He'd be able to tell them apart, no problem! Then we, uh, let her family deal with it. They should be able to figure out whose who." She glances between the two Ilpholin's and suddenly turns to Wenomir. "Waaaait, what if there's some body switchery going on? Like they did to us in Riverside, Wen. Maybe the real Ilpholin is actually in a false body since they- uh, since... um..." A beat. "I'll figure it out. But until then we should call her dad. Or... maybe my sister if that's not possible."

[Wenomir's House]

"What's 'trogs'?" That question should probably answer Wenomir's. "Actually, doesn't matter. I can guess by the name and whatever inn she wants to meet in is fine for me." A beat and suddenly Anika is pointing dramatically at Wenomir. "Waitaminute! I think I saw your girlfriend on the beach way back! Or... at least I saw a blue pointy ear gal in a bikini!" Another beat. "There's... probably a lot of people like that." Anika frowns and puts her hand on her hip. "You should probably show me one of those magic goblin paintings of her. You know, those made by little imps hiding inside metal boxes? Especially if you got one of her in a bikini. That way I'd recognize her right away if it was her I saw." She leans over him as if was hiding such a photo behind his back.

Anika’s Room

"Oh." Anika laughs. "Hopefully it wasn't me being too loud. As I said, she's pretty great." The druid grins widely. "But whose 'Kal'? I never heard that name before. What did you wanna talk to him about?"

[Purple Eagle]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

Svetlana focuses on her breathing whilst everything is being set up, waiting until it's time to go. Once it's time, she gently but firmly grabs the mannequin while keeping aware of her surroundings with her other senses, then starts to run for the closest exit.

[Morty]

[Wenomir's House]

Wenomir does look surprised that Anika doesn't know about Trog's. Still, that's not important right now.

"No, I don't have a photo of her with me," he says. "In a bikini or otherwise. But you certainly might have seen her at the beach. Plenty of people went to Kal's party."

[Training Grounds - Arena]

Svetlana will hear movement before long. As she passes by a wall, a large ork woman will pounce from behind it to try and push her back with her shoulder, then try to wrestle the mannequin away. It's not very subtle or quick - the ork is relying on her strength, weight and element of surprise, though Svetlana is unlikely to actually be surprised. There's someone else lurking nearby, behind her, that she might hear.

[Zefir]

[Ilphirmary]

"With her father we should be able to clear some things. They do look simular expect of the missing arms so I don't think he will be of help with that, but with his DNA we might at least do something." Mia says. Sure there are only 50% and DNA is not that correct but at least they might see if one of them is more different from him then the other. Still an old sample of her would solve that faster.

[The Clinic - After Checkups]

"I'm more concerned of how to find them out." Mr C says. " I mean the blood thing is neat but nothing you can do on the run. We should try to find a more portable way even if it is not 100% safe."

[Lending Awen a Hand]

Awen is a little surprised when it waves at her.
She stops, pauses, blinks at it, and then waves back.

"It looks nice," she says to Mia. She looks at it again, analyzing it: "It looks pretty real. Like, very real."

"I do have a question though: it won't move around on its own, will it?" Since she just saw it wave at her, she's a little concerned that it won't listen to her. "Do I have to, like, tell it what to do and train it?"

[Lending Awen a Hand]

"Well thats the thing. I will attach it to you directly so you will be the one controlling it. Kinda like a real one. i just need to make an Operation for that."

[Arkhosia]

Anika's Room

That comment makes Blanche turn bright red as she recalls a couple very embarrassing nights, and she quickly moves to change the subject. "U-um, he's my other neighbor. Tiefling or half-devil of some sort I think, super charismatic. One of the guys I worked with on a mission mentioned that he's a bit of a Casanova, so, erm... I was kinda gonna ask him for advice about asking you out?" She looks fairly bashful as she admits this. "Just, uh, never worked up the guts to ask him about it."

[5a Violista]

[Lending Awen a Hand]

"Oh. I see," Awen says. "That's not as weird as I was expecting." She was, of course, expecting that the robot-hand would have its own mind and that she'd have to teach it to behave and to listen to her.

"So, um, what's this Operation you need to do? Is it hard?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Wenomir's House]

"I dunno if it was his. Just some beach party I knew a lot of people were going to. I do keep hearing about this Kal dude though. Sounds like a fun guy." A beat as Anika starts to wander across the room. "But anyway, so what does your old girlfriend showing up mean for us? Since I'm completely open to stuff. Been feeling pretty frisky ever since you called me to the office actually since... you know." The druid gestures at him as if it was the only argument she needed.

Anika's Room

"Charismatic? Is that just a fancy word for 'hot' or is there something else to it? Since it sounds like he's like a demon-hunter back home and they usually didn't wear shirts for good reasons." Anika wonders out loud but smiles as asking her out is mentioned. "Ohh, that's totally different though. You should still ask me out sometimes. I know a lot of places we could go to."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilphirmary]

The nymph shakes her head slowly at Adir's wishful thinking. "Really? She's just some victim off the street? If you were going to implant someone with memories and a fake body and loose them back into the world, wouldn't you use someone loyal to you? The demons have no shortage of fodder willing to perish for their cause."

Ilpholin places her face into her palm at Anika's derailing thoughts and clarifies for Mia as she's swept up in the unnecessary plans. "Which one's real or fake isn't even a point of contention. She knows she's a fake and has confessed as much. If you want to throw her at my family because none of you are willing to make a difficult decision, then fine. Do it. But do it properly and present her to the Xar'cha Matron. The only reason to involve dad in all of this is to ask him to bring Zee in. If anyone is the master of meddling in biological shenanigans, it's dear old step-mom."

[Morty]

[Wenomir's House]

Wenomir was expecting the question... not so much the follow up. But it's a welcome one, so he smiles as he takes a step closer.

"For now, nothing has changed. In the long term... that's what I want to figure out, but Cass has been with other people as well and we're trying not to rush into things. So I think I can give you a hand with your feeling."

[Purple Eagle]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

Svetlana senses the ork, which is easy since she's not even trying to be stealthy. "Too slow." Gripping the mannequin tight with one arm, she easily dodges away, bending and spinning so she isn't touched without losing balance. She smells the other person, focusing her hearing so she'd be able to track that person's next moves.

She doesn't stop running, sniffing the air to pick out any other surprises.

[Murkus]

[Ilphirmary]

Adir runs out the string of his suggestion, glancing at Ilphy. "Maybe they couldn't use one of their own kind? Or maybe it was easier? Hell, I don't know. It's worth looking into, though. Why rule anything out?" He looks around the room. "This stuff about contacting Ilphy's dad is a waste of time. She's not Ilpholin. If she somehow is, I think it will come out while we look into everything. Bringing in Zee sounds like a great idea though."

"And what was this about your sister?" Adir asks Anika. "What we could really use is someone who can poke around in her memories... maybe her dreams. We got any mentalist specialists around VIGIL? Psychics? Hell, I know it's probably less likely we have a real professional rather than some complete weirdo, but an actual psychotherapist might help in a pinch."

[Arkhosia]

Anika’s Room

”Er, kinda? More of a fancy word for being, like, charming,” Blanche answers, only seeming minutely surprised that Anika isn’t familiar with the term. There’s more surprise when the night elf casually encourages her to ask her out.

“Well then, uh, do you wanna go out with me? Like, on a date?” It seems like a really dumb question to ask the instant she says it, considering she’s already in Anika’s bed.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

The ork misses Svetlana and curses under her breath. However, she takes off in pursuit soon after. The other person also makes a disappointed sound and leaps from behind cover. He turns out to be a slim male human with very dark skin and wearing a robe. He's holding a wand but doesn't cast anything from it. It seems he was waiting for Svetlana to be tied up fighting the ork woman. Even though their initial ambush failed, they're not out of the fight yet.

Svetlana will find herself making her way between two fences. The path is strewn with soft, rubber balls that might cause her to trip and lose balance and are dark, so spotting them could be difficult. The two Vigil members are hot on her heels, but she will be able to smell another one waiting for her ahead.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Sword Introduction]

"We can discuss it another time, then." It's clear Cass would rather not talk about it now, and it's not really time. The practice continues, until Wenomir is confident that Cass has grasped the basics and focuses on showing the proper way to assume each position. When the sorceress has trouble keeping her sword in a proper plow-guard, he approaches her and gently corrects her stance, holding her by her wrists and elbows.

[Sword Introduction]

Cass nods, and returns her focus to the sword lesson. Well, returns her focus as best she can. She tenses a little as Wenomir gets close and takes her by the arms, nodding awkwardly as he corrects her posture.
"R-right. Thanks."

[Shadowcaller]

[Ilphirmary]

Anika blushes as Ilpholin points out the flaws of her logic and scratches the back of her head as she looks down at the floor. "Um, no. That's true. I just figured that... in case there's been memory alterations and stuff. But then in that case your family might not be able to help." She reasons with some dismissive hand gestures until she overcomes her temporary shame and manages to look the others in the eyes again. "But yeah, my other idea was to send her, or both of you, to my sister since she can dream walk and I think that means she could tell false memories from real ones. Just like Adir said." She gestures at the stag.

[Wenomir's House]

Anika giggles. "I'm very glad to hear that..."
And the curtain can be drawn there.

Anika’s Room

"Yeah, but have you met a charismatic person that's not also hot? I think looking good gives you the confidence to be charming in the first place or something." Seems like Anika asked more of a philosophical question? Maybe?

"And sure, a date. Sounds sweet. Just on the condition I get to pick the place we're going to." The druid grins widely and ruffles Blanche's hair playfully.

[Zefir]

[Lending Awen a Hand]

"Oh. I see," Awen says. "That's not as weird as I was expecting." She was, of course, expecting that the robot-hand would have its own mind and that she'd have to teach it to behave and to listen to her.

"So, um, what's this Operation you need to do? Is it hard?"

[Lending Awen a Hand]

"Let's take a seat" Mia says pointing at a desk. with two chairs. She unpluggs the arm and puts it on the desk as well next to a Laptop.

"First of a short explanaition how you will experience the prosess. I will anaesthetize you, so you will fall asleep. Likly the next you will notice is when you wake up. There will be a bit of pain at your arm as things heal. I try my best to make it as less as possible, but from my knowledge it's different with every person. The hand will be attached to you and the feeling might be strange but after some training you get used to it." Mia says then she points at the differetn cable and rods that are on the lower side of the mechanical arm.

"For me it is a bit of work. To make it work properbly i have to attach nervs, arteries etc to the device. Since I want to make it right this can take up several hours. I also will look up if the sudden cutoff you imagined caused any major problems. I think going through the whole prosess in detail is not really enjoyable so unless you really need to know I skip that ok?"


[Ilphirmary]

"I doubt the demons could use one of their kind and make it so much like you." Mia replies. "They at least had to use soething simular. Something still bugs me. Whatever exactly they did they only took hours for that. Since it happened during the Riverside fight, between the moment they caught you and AMEN got her."

"But yes, someone who can look deeper into the mind would be a great help. I am more for physikal cure for non machines."

[5a Violista]

[Lending Awen a Hand]

Awen sits down at the chair.

She nods. "I...I see," she says. "I'm sure you've already seen this in my medical file, but my skin is a bit harder to cut through than normal skin, and resistant to magic too, so I just wanted to make sure you've got the right tools on hand." Mia has probably already seen this and prepared for it in advance, by picking the right kind of anesthetic and the right delivery method, and so on.

"I'm okay with it taking several hours," the witch says, "and as long as you understand it, you don't need to explain it to me." Even if Mia did explain what she was going to do, Awen wouldn't really understand it anyway. She just has education as a maid and apothecary, so most of it would just go right over her head. She does want to know, however: "If you're connecting arteries to it...that means my blood will be going through it, too, right?" she asks. If that's true, it's a relief. Having her own blood pumping through a robot hand is something she finds a bit relieving because then it'd feel more like her own hand instead of something separate. "What happens if it gets cut or damaged? Will it heal like normal, too?"

"You need me to move somewhere first?" she asks. Like, to lie down somewhere specific. She'll obey, and then just trust that Mia can make everything go alright.

[bc56]

Arriving

A man is ferried up to the island. He's clad in heavy, high-tech armor, and is rather scruffy looking, his black hair unkempt and ragged, and his face thick with dark stubble. A white, one-eyed creature is perched on his shoulder, occasionally bobbing side to side and chirruping excitedly. He seems impressed with the structure of the floating island, examining closely as his ride approaches the landing. He's not sure what to expect when he arrives.

Spoiler: Image References!

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[Morty]

[Sword Introduction]

Wenomir also seems a little awkward touching Cassandra, but he seems to move over it quickly and resumes the training. Things might get a little tense as Wenomir goes through the basics of longsword fencing and reaches the close-contact shoving and grappling techniques. When it comes to demonstrating them, he will of course be slow and gentle, but nonetheless end up in very close proximity to the elf.

[Purple Eagle]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

Svetlana is caught unawares by the rubber balls, and it's only by her acrobatic expertise that she's able to regain her balance. She runs through on her tippy toes, much like a ballet dancer, able to keep from falling. For the challenge alone, she's refused to activate her cybernetic balance enhancer, relying on her experience as a gymnast to pass through.

It proves a bit stressful moving as fast as possible while the ork and human chase after her, but she focuses on moving forward, her predator instincts kicking in to sense threats in front of her. She waits to see what the one ahead will do, ready to evade being caught or stopped.

[Morty]

[Training Grounds - Arena]

Svetlana will have no problem hearing and smelling the person ahead of her; they're not trying very hard to be stealthy. They turn out to be a lizard-person of some kind, armed with a shield and a practice-baton. They try to simply bar Svetlana's way and prevent her from getting through. Behind them she'll see the course widen and become a series of chest-high obstacles.

[Arriving]

The newcomer is greeted by... a very short person. He has grey skin, very large ears and is wearing a green-brown coat. There's also a glowing staff on his back.

"Welcome to Vigil," he says. "How may we offer assistance today?"

[Arkhosia]

Anika’s Room

”Could be - though maybe when you’re charismatic, folks don’t notice flaws in your appearance quite as much either.” Then again, Blanche wouldn’t state that she’s terribly familiar with many charismatic people in general. There’s the softest hint of a purr as Anika ruffles her hair, and she presses affectionately against the night elf. ”That’s probably for the best; I’ve never actually been on one,” she admits.

[bc56]

Arriving

The man nods curtly. "I'm an engineer. I was told there might be work here." He doesn't seem much surprised by the greeter's appearance.