MERC XIX: Toss a Coin to your Goblin

[Reinholdt]

[Medical Wing]

The doctor's eyes grow wide. "It's a common procedure, quite harmless I assure you." They stand up and step back to give Siana some space. "I... oh. OH. Yeah, that was maybe some poor phrasing. I just meant to sedate her, not... Sorry. So sorry."

Super awkward. Even more awkward cause, "And I really shouldn't have told you all that medical information in the first place. Right. I'm... going to go now." They point at Olvisin. "You're in charge of medical decisions then. If you change your mind about sedating her let me know."

The doctor scurries out in a hurry. They knew they should have left this part up to Doctor Cricket. He had way better bedside manners and was just superior at dealing with friends and family. Where was Doctor Cricket anyways?

[Ironsmith]

[Medical Wing]

Stress eating claims yet another victim.

Siana lets out a sigh of relief. Whew. Okay. Sedation. That's... that's not nearly as big a deal. She can tell her heart to beat again now.

Siana leans back against the wall, the back of her skull hitting with an audible thunk. "...I'm really, really sorry about all of this." She says quietly. "I just came in for a license. I-I didn't expect it to spiral into a whole thing."

She closes her eyes and waits for the inevitable questions. No more time or energy to get all philosophical with the answers. If Olvisin wanted to know anything else about how we got to now, she'd just tell her outright.

...Ugh. Now she felt a little gross for pulling anything with Reina. She should have been honest about her name and age. Maybe if she'd been more upfront, the cat-woman wouldn't have been so skeptical of her abilities, she wouldn't have needed to test her and she could've gotten through this whole thing without accidentally putting someone in the hospital. She'd been a disgrace as a knight. Shame, Siana of House Maldwyn. Shame.

[Morty]

[Medical Wing]

This is indeed pretty awkward. Sedating her might actually be the right thing to do in this situation. Olvisin isn't sure yet.

"We might actually need to sedate her. But... I'm out of my element here. If magic is at work, we need a specialist. In this building it'd be Astrana Tyamer. Let's hope she has the time. If not, we can sedate Reina and try again later." She pauses. "And yes, license applications don't... usually go this way."

[Gullara]

[Demands of Snakes]

Dena seems to consider this for a moment but ultimately shrugs. "Well, she isn't here." She finally takes her seat, perhaps as a gestures of resignation to this fact. "So let's start."

Astrana seems a bit more hesitant however. "Any ideas of why she isn't here? She's technically a client. Would be good sport to at least wait an hour or so."

"Ehh... mind giving her a call, Kirk? If she doesn't answer we'll go ahead."

[Demands of Snakes]

Kirk shrugs and produces his phone. He finds Ambrosia's number and gives it a ring.

[Reinholdt]

[Medical Wing]

They'll release Reina to them, in a cat carrier (for her own protection), along with a statement of the results thus far and a sleeping pill for cats that they can give Reina if they feel it's necessary.

Of course, trying to give a cat a pill is a challenge of its own. Maybe Siana should have been tested for that. If you can give a cat a pill, you deserve a license.

Reina's still mumbling to herself, but it's quieter now. So there has been some improvement over time, suggesting that this is not a permanent situation at least.

[Shadowcaller]

[Demands of Snakes]

Not even one signal can go through before there's an answer. "Hello Kirk Locke. I'm afraid that my daughter can't answer right now but I'm more than willing to take this call for her. So why do I have the pleasure to speak with you?" An oddly familiar male voice replies, a hint of amusement in it.

[Ironsmith]

[Medical Wing]

This is indeed pretty awkward. Sedating her might actually be the right thing to do in this situation. Olvisin isn't sure yet.

"We might actually need to sedate her. But... I'm out of my element here. If magic is at work, we need a specialist. In this building it'd be Astrana Tyamer. Let's hope she has the time. If not, we can sedate Reina and try again later." She pauses. "And yes, license applications don't... usually go this way."

[Medical Wing]

They'll release Reina to them, in a cat carrier (for her own protection), along with a statement of the results thus far and a sleeping pill for cats that they can give Reina if they feel it's necessary.

Of course, trying to give a cat a pill is a challenge of its own. Maybe Siana should have been tested for that. If you can give a cat a pill, you deserve a license.

Reina's still mumbling to herself, but it's quieter now. So there has been some improvement over time, suggesting that this is not a permanent situation at least.

[Medical Wing -> Astrana's Office]

Siana takes the carrier carefully, trying her best to be delicate about handling it. As anyone who has ever carried a cat carrier knows, the weight inside can shift rather quickly, and while Reina isn't moving around in there, Siana doesn't want to accidentally buffet her around.

She hops down from the stool (much easier than getting up onto it) and starts heading toward the door. "Well, come on!" She exclaims. "Let's go see her right away!" Should Olvisin follow her, she'll follow this up by asking, "Also, what's this Astrana lady like? Nice?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

To go to Astrana's office they have to descend down in what could be called the basement of the base. More accurately however its more subway-like with tunnels leading off into different directions.
Thankfully, they don't have to get lost in these tunnels as the office is right besides the stairs leading down into this subterrian section of the base. Impossible to miss due to the large plaque on the door.

ASTRANA TYRAMERA'S OFFICE
Occult Consultant

[Morty]

[Astrana's Office]

"I don't actually know." Olvisin's answer might not be reassuring. "I've never met her. I've just heard she's a warlock and the resident magic specialist. A warlock is someone who communes with spirits, apparently. But she seems to have broad expertise. And spirits do mess with people's heads." As she knocks on the door to the office, it becomes apparent that her knowledge of spirits and related matters isn't exactly in-depth.

[Ironsmith]

[Astrana's Office]

"...So she's a witch, then." Siana concludes.

That was not a good sign. Witches were inherently untrustworthy, she knew. Not necessarily evil, but fickle and selfish by nature and not likely to cooperate with more civily-minded folk.

Siana sighs and shakes her head. No, no. This is the Nexus. There are many kinds of magic users here. Why would this Astrana be exactly the sort of folk villain that would show up in her old homeland? She was judging this woman way too harshly based on way too little information. Siana's going to knock on the door, she's going to be perfectly normal, everything's going to be fine.

knock knock knock

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

It takes a moment before Astrana opens the door. As she does the tiefling simply steps aside and gestures for them to enter. She recognized at least one of these people as a member so she wasn't going to argue with them carrying a cat into her office. "Come on inside. Is this an emergency? I wasn't briefed on anything so i'm not sure what I can do at a moment's notice..." With her tail she fetches a notebook which seem to have stratigically placed on a place where it could easily be reached by such an appendage.

[Morty]

[Astrana's Office]

A hot red-skinned lady with horns and a tail. Olvisin wasn't sure what she expected, but it wasn't that. To business, though. At least Astrana is on the shorter side for a topsider. Or is she a topsider? Her office is underground...

"A bit of an emergency, yes. This here cat is a MERC member, Reina, who is unconscious for unknown reasons. We suspect it might be supernatural, because a medical examination turned up nothing."

[Ironsmith]

[Astrana's Office]

It takes a moment before Astrana opens the door. As she does the tiefling simply steps aside and gestures for them to enter. She recognized at least one of these people as a member so she wasn't going to argue with them carrying a cat into her office. "Come on inside. Is this an emergency? I wasn't briefed on anything so i'm not sure what I can do at a moment's notice..." With her tail she fetches a notebook which seem to have stratigically placed on a place where it could easily be reached by such an appendage.

[Astrana's Office]

A hot red-skinned lady with horns and a tail. Olvisin wasn't sure what she expected, but it wasn't that. To business, though. At least Astrana is on the shorter side for a topsider. Or is she a topsider? Her office is underground...

"A bit of an emergency, yes. This here cat is a MERC member, Reina, who is unconscious for unknown reasons. We suspect it might be supernatural, because a medical examination turned up nothing."

[Astrana's Office]

Oh.

No, Astrana wasn't a witch.

She was so much worse.

All Siana needs is one glance at those horns for her hand to immediately fly to her cane, and her blade is about half-drawn when Olvisin says her piece.

Did... did she not understand what was happening here?

Siana slowly re-sheathes her blade, eying Astrana warily. "...You're a fiendling." She says skeptically.

MERC employed fiendlings? Why did MERC employ fiendlings? Didn't they know those things are dangerous?

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

As she grabs the notebook out of her tails grip he tieflings yellow eyes become fully focused on the cat. She had already suspected the feline to be the reason they were here in the first place. Why else would they carry a cat down here in such a manner?
"Well-" She starts before Siana interrupts her.

She hadn't even notice that the girl's, since she was very much a girl, hand was now resting on the hilt of a weapon. An act that caused her to frown. Not out of fear but out of sheer disapproval. She wasn't mucch shorter than herself so she couldn't be one of those shorter races so either she just looked supernaturally young or she really was just a girl threatening her.

"And you're a bit too young to be in this office, miss." Astrana replies in a dry tone, not feeling like arguing the term she had used for her. Tiefling, fiendling, pretty much the same thing. "So unless you have a reason to be here, could you please leave as I attend to miss Reina? I could do without all these people around." She showed no respect for the fact Siana that had almost pulled a weapon on her.

[Morty]

[Astrana's Office]

Olvisin looks up at Siana, frowning. What in the world? You don't draw weapons on a co-worker. Or a prospective co-worker, anyway. Or anyone else without provocation and/or payment, for that matter.

"Wait outside, Siana. I'll explain everything to Mrs. Tyamer." There's no time for explanations or apologies.

[Ironsmith]

[Astrana's Office]

As she grabs the notebook out of her tails grip he tieflings yellow eyes become fully focused on the cat. She had already suspected the feline to be the reason they were here in the first place. Why else would they carry a cat down here in such a manner?
"Well-" She starts before Siana interrupts her.

She hadn't even notice that the girl's, since she was very much a girl, hand was now resting on the hilt of a weapon. An act that caused her to frown. Not out of fear but out of sheer disapproval. She wasn't mucch shorter than herself so she couldn't be one of those shorter races so either she just looked supernaturally young or she really was just a girl threatening her.

"And you're a bit too young to be in this office, miss." Astrana replies in a dry tone, not feeling like arguing the term she had used for her. Tiefling, fiendling, pretty much the same thing. "So unless you have a reason to be here, could you please leave as I attend to miss Reina? I could do without all these people around." She showed no respect for the fact Siana that had almost pulled a weapon on her.

[Astrana's Office]

Olvisin looks up at Siana, frowning. What in the world? You don't draw weapons on a co-worker. Or a prospective co-worker, anyway. Or anyone else without provocation and/or payment, for that matter.

"Wait outside, Siana. I'll explain everything to Mrs. Tyamer." There's no time for explanations or apologies.

[Astrana's Office]

Siana looks between the two of them, not entirely sure what to do here. Now that she knew there was a fiendling in the building, leaving her alone with only one other not-helpless person in the room seemed grossly imprudent. On the other hand, Olvisin was still part of the chain of command around here, at least as far as she could gather. Not listening to her was bound to cause even more trouble, and getting thrown out entirely would be worse than stepping out of the room for a few minutes.

Having weighed her options out, Siana backs toward the door, making a "I'm watching you" gesture at Astrana. "I've got my eye on you, Ty-Amer." She growls, baring her fangs and letting out a deep-throated, menacing thrum that had absolutely no business coming out of a teenage girl. (She was going to have to remember to thank her uncle for teaching her how to do that, even if she was going to have to leave out the circumstances of its use.)

With that, she steps out into the hallway, leaning against the wall and tapping her foot anxiously while she waited for them to conclude their business.

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

Astrana raises an eyebrow at the bared fangs and the growl coming from Siana's throat. So the 'girl' was some manner of beast then. Elshar, the region she was from, didn't exactly lack wolves in sheepskin like that. Monsters pretending to be human just to get close enough to close their jaws around your throat. If you were lucky that is. A quick death was often preferable to the things those creatures could do to a man-

Her thoughts came to an halt.

No, Siana hadn't hyst been an unknown beast. She was a vampire, very similar to Val. That was it, wasn't it? She would have to ask to be sure but that seemed quite likely now.

"Farewell." She tells the girl as she leaves the office, making sure the door was properly closed before turning to Olvisin. "While I would love nothing more than to start treating miss Reina right away, I feel like I deserve an explanation for what just happened. Does that girl even work here? I've never seen her before but suddenly I'm told she's going to stalk me. Hardly appropriate office behavior. I could easily file a complaint right now just for that." She had read the office's code of conduct on paper in the office and she knew that this kind of behavior wasn't covered by it.

[Gullara]

[Demands of Snakes]

Not even one signal can go through before there's an answer. "Hello Kirk Locke. I'm afraid that my daughter can't answer right now but I'm more than willing to take this call for her. So why do I have the pleasure to speak with you?" An oddly familiar male voice replies, a hint of amusement in it.

[Demands of Snakes]

Kirk pauses for a long moment. Dena and Astrana can see a sour look cross his face. "As I recall Ambrosia took over this matter, didn't she? I don't believe there's anything you and I need to discuss."

[Shadowcaller]

[Demands of Snakes]

"You're quite correct, Kirk. But this instance, consider me more of a middleman or a messenger. The message I carry however is that it has been agreed upon that the Orobou, the beings you're planning to contact, should not become aware of my daughters true nature. Since I don't think I have to tell you how untrustworthy and cruel the fey are, correct?

Therefore, it's considered in her and the child's best interests to not even disclose that she's involved in this. Instead, whatever demands the Orobou will have shall be paid by calling this number again once you're bartering with them. Since I think we both agree that the pregnancy itself is enough of a price for MERC to pay, yes?"

Astrana's expression is neutral but Dena can't seem to help but to look concerned. "That's not Ambrosia, is it?" She whispers just loud enough for Kirk to hear.

[Morty]

[Astrana's Office]

Okay, Siana is not helping her case. Not with such an obvious threat. Where did those fangs come from? Humans shouldn't have those.

"She's not working here... yet. Whatever happened to Reina happened during some kind of aptitude test she was giving Siana. I only got there when Siana started calling for help because Reina had passed out." Olvisin shrugs expansively. "So I have no idea why she decided to antagonize you for no reason. If you make a complaint, I can corroborate what happened. I just want to find out what's wrong with Reina."

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

She wasn't even a member? Then why... ugh, better not think about it.

Astrana let's out a small sigh. "Then I'm afraid you will need to go out there and convince Siana to explain what happened to me. I can't just wave a wand and tell what's wrong with her. I need more information as any kind of tools I use might just make things worse if I don't approach this the right way. The fact they used 'magic' is far too broad."

[Morty]

[Astrana's Office]

"Siana doesn't have the first clue about what happened... but fair enough." Olvisin walks over to the door and opens it again. "Come back inside, Siana. Mrs. Tyamer needs as much information as she can get, so... tell her everything you told me and anything else you can think of."

[Ironsmith]

[Astrana's Office]

Siana is, understandably, hesitant to come back into the office, especially so soon after being expelled. Had Astrana put some kind of mind-whammy on Olvisin? Was this a trap? A trick? Were they getting ready to punish her?

She knew never to trust a fiendling. They had to be the trickiest creatures ever to walk the earth, bar none. Going back in there was going to end badly for her.

...On the other hand, Reina was still in there. And tricky or not, Astrana seemed to be the only person qualified to help her. So it really came down to which was more important; not advancing the fiendling's agenda (whatever it may be) or helping an innocent.

Any knight of Maesda could answer that in a snap.

Siana sighs and reluctantly hobbles in, making a point of not meeting Astrana's gaze. Even knowing she needed her help, she still felt a strong urge to stab the tiefling. Avoiding eye contact helped her play down Astrana's presence in the room, which helped a little. Even so, she keeps a white-knuckled grip on her cane, ready to draw in a heartbeat if something went wrong.

And she was absolutely certain something would.

"What do you need to know?" Siana asks, doing her best to keep her voice steady.

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

Astrana regards Siana calmly as she enters but her calm disposition is broken once the vampire puts her hand on her weapon.
"...I'm not going to do this if it looks like you're about to cut me down the entire time, miss. Can you please be reasonable about this?" Amateurs, why in the name of all spirits did they just let an insane non-member just roam around the base like this with a weapon? This was just unacceptable. She couldn't work in these conditions.

[Ironsmith]

[Astrana's Office]

...Uh-oh.

Siana looks down at her cane, which she's holding shakily, a little moreso now that Astrana's refused to work while she was still holding it. Siana did not want to part with it and be left more-or-less helpless while in Astrana's office.

But what choice did she have, really? Astrana held all the cards here; her services were needed, she had seniority with MERC itself, and she was probably a fair bit more powerful than Siana if they did come to blows. She was in the perfect position to dictate terms.

Siana takes a deep breath and offers her cane to Olvisin. She tries to hide her face, but it should be obvious to any onlookers that she's terrified, even as she's cooperating.

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

Astrana let's out a deep breath of relief. "Thank you." She hadn't been subjected to this kind of treatment since she had left her homeworld.

"Now..." She dares to glance down in her notebook now that Siana wasn't brandishing a weapon. "I just need to know what happened before Reina fell into this state. What the both of you were doing as well as your state of mind at the time. Any detail you can think of can be helpful here, miss." The warlock chooses to ignore Siana's fightful expression. She had very little sympathy for people that threatened her like that and her youth just made the whole thing look worse in her eyes.

[Morty]

[Astrana's Office]

Olvisin accepts the cane and mostly... sulks. She was having a normal day, then she had to respond to a medical emergency and now she has to chaperone a crazy racist person who almost pulled a weapon on a coworker. And she'll be blamed for her antics. Hopefully they can at least help Reina so it's not a complete disaster.

[Ironsmith]

[Astrana's Office]

Astrana let's out a deep breath of relief. "Thank you." She hadn't been subjected to this kind of treatment since she had left her homeworld.

"Now..." She dares to glance down in her notebook now that Siana wasn't brandishing a weapon. "I just need to know what happened before Reina fell into this state. What the both of you were doing as well as your state of mind at the time. Any detail you can think of can be helpful here, miss." The warlock chooses to ignore Siana's fightful expression. She had very little sympathy for people that threatened her like that and her youth just made the whole thing look worse in her eyes.

[Astrana's Office]

Olvisin accepts the cane and mostly... sulks. She was having a normal day, then she had to respond to a medical emergency and now she has to chaperone a crazy racist person who almost pulled a weapon on a coworker. And she'll be blamed for her antics. Hopefully they can at least help Reina so it's not a complete disaster.

[Astrana's Office]

Siana's face falls further. She could admit to her mistakes, but now Astrana wanted to know what was going on in her head?! No! Absolutely not! There was no way she was sharing something that intimate with...

...

Siana glances down at Reina in her carrier and sighs.

Okay.

She could do this.

...

Nope, no she couldn't, it was way too risky, there's no end of ways Astrana could use that information against her.

Siana shakes her head slowly and closes her eyes. No, no, and no again. She knows what the right thing to do is.

"...Okay." She says finally, squeezing her eyes shut to try to distance herself mentally from the office. "I... I was taking a practical test. Reina gave me ten minutes to chase her down and catch her. I was struggling, because..." she slaps her bad leg, wincing in pain. "...we eventually got to a rope wall. She got up it easily. I chased after her. She jumped down. So did I." Siana winces as she recalls what it was like to splatter against the floor. "I was hurt. Badly. Reina panicked and almost went off to get someone to help. But I... I so badly wanted to not fail that test, I cut down that rope wall and used it as a sort of net. Reina... spaced out a little before it hit." She considers pointing out that the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with her, but decides that sounds too much like an excuse.

[Morty]

[Astrana's Office]

As grumpy as Olvisin is about the entire situation, she does step in to supply information that makes Siana look better. But... she fell down too? Why didn't she mention anything about it? And why is she unhurt? Spirit in Gears. Can this situation get any more complicated?

"We've found no injuries on Reina at all, though. External or internal. Just increased brain activity that can correlate with emerging psychic powers. But no sign of actual psychic powers."

[Shadowcaller]

[Astrana's Office]

"'Spaced out'? Don't suppose you could elaborate on that a bit, miss?" Astrana gestures at Reina. "She was a cat at the time, no? So I'm guessing it was hard to tell her what she was thinking. However... I am told that vampires can hear heartbeats. Is this true? Since if any of your other senses caught something about her that your eyes didn't that could be valuable. Especially if any kind of magic, however minor, was used. Otherwise I'm going to have to assume this was some kind of awakening and try to work off that." She spoke with more care than before. Clearly anything she was doing seemed to disturb Siana and while she normally wouldn't give such an awful reaction the time of day she felt she had to understand this mystery now.