Skyside 7: The Big Pizza in the Sky

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi nods and sets up the foggers, trying for one in every room. She notes the feeling, and it does feel good- she doesn't remember any giant vats of bleach, so this is the cleanest she's felt. So much so she's not sure she likes it.

When she enters the bathroom, Abbi eyes the red gel cautiously before walking up behind Hana. She's got light feet, even with the limp and a floppy foot, so the first Hana might be aware is the ratgirl speaking. "Do you want me to fold that for you, Hana? I also brought you a menu for your supper, milady." Abbi is holding it, in fact. There's not much on it, as the chefs here aren't especially skilled at their job. Three types of burger, four types of sandwich, six types of curry and all with a choice of chicken, pork, mutton or zebra. There's more option in sides, however.

If Abbi sees the tear, she doesn't comment on it. She probably doesn't, too unaware of the red gel filling the bath.

SPAAAAAAAAAACE!

Plan planned, the tech-priestess and the other members of the crew get to work on piloting the shuttle over and nudging bits of wreckage. In addition to piloting, the mechanicum adept is also calculating the trajectories and force required, assisted by the low-grav human, who has done similar things to this before.

There's several voidsuits that look like they should fit Zee. Most of them have some kind of problem. One, a hi-vis jacket yellow colour, has a small crack in the visor. Another, duller suit of heavy canvas looks a bit like an antique diving suit, though without the massive helmet- instead it's fitted with a surprisingly hi-tech glass bubble, but the suit isn't radiation-proof. Another, radiation-proof suit looking similar to modern space suits has been crudely retrofitted with air tanks, so it leaks rather badly.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana lets out a startled shriek and falls face-first into the bath, kicking up a viscous slap of gel against the sides with a loud splorp. A moment later, she re-emerges, slicking her gel-covered hair back out of her eyes and foisting the now-saturated jacket onto the floor, looking up at Abbi with a sad, sheepish little smile.

"Sorry. I didn't hear you come in." She says, pulling herself up to the rim of the bath on her elbows. "May I see that menu?" Assuming Abbi complies, she'll look over the food with a grimace. This stuff was atrocious. Bad for her metabolism, arguably worse for her figure. But... better than the recipes she had in her Hotboxes. For comfort value, if nothing else. Neither she nor Hazel were particularly good cooks. "I'll go with the double chicken cheeseburger, extra lettuce." She says, handing the menu back to Abbi. "Do you want anything? You look like you haven't had a bite since breakfast..."

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

When she startles Hana, Abbi's eyes widen and she steps back from the pool. She'll fall to her knees and bow her head. "Abbi's sorry! So sorry! Maids are not to be seen or heard, but to be ever present, that's what the manager says!" Abbi's going to calm down quickly when it looks like Hana's not going to punish her and nervously proffer the menu to her current customer.

Abbi remembers the order, and is then asked a question, and looks a bit... nervous? Or ashamed? It's hard to tell. "Abbi, uh... Abbi can't read." Abbi does look as though she's missed a fair few meals, though.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana blinks in surprise. "You... you can't?" She asks skeptically. Illiteracy was unheard of where she was from; the idea that Abbi genuinely couldn't read was incomprehensible to her. How had the local education system failed her that badly? "...Here. Just tell the cook you want two orders of that." She smiles. "If he asks why, say I'm just really hungry."

[5a Violista]

Aimless Drifting

Tetra doesn't even acknowledge the panther robot as a potential threat until it's already too late and a net is fired at her. Of course, why would she? She's figured out handcuffs now, that means she's basically invincible. It's not like there's some other form of capture technology that could still work on her. Nobody's ever made power-suppressant handcuffs, or a field of energy you can't teleport through, right? She demonstrates this mix of stunning ignorance and unbridled confidence by teleporting away, reappearing a moment later sitting on top of the net.

"I know you can hear me inside of that thing. Stop trying to capture me, I'm happier and safer here than in your cell. It won't work anyway," the Tetragrammatok glowers, pouting at the robot that just tried to put her in a net.

[Aimless Drifting]

The hoodie-woman, around a corner, finds a nook to hide in as she works on putting back together the watch. There's a lot of small pieces and she doesn't want to drop or lose anything, so she ended up having to stop running. She's really grateful that the robot, for some reason, has stopped chasing her, giving her some time to do this.


Speaking of the robot.
Seeing that its net failed, it tries to determine what went wrong and how it can compensate. The target seems to have teleported forward in time, evading the net that way. Standard practice is to either jam whatever device she used to do this, and failing that, target the device with an attack. But while scanning Tetra, the robot couldn't find the teleporting frequencies or even find what device was getting used. It sends a message back to home base that their current scanning technology is insufficient.

And it begins calculating the best way to deal with this teleport-to-the-future problem. Luckily, the target seems to be trying to buy time through monologuing, so this also gives the robot time to decide on and create a new weapon.

The robot sends a smaller mole-like burrowing robot into the ground through its foot. The robo-mole drills through the ground, to flank Tetra from the side. Once it believes it's out of her view, the mole-robot digs up and then fires something like a sticky-grenade at Tetra's back. The sticky-grenade won't explode; instead, it's designed to detect space-time disruptions (such as time travel, but also including teleportation) and then send a large electrical shock through Tetra, sort-of like a stun gun.
((It's intended to short out whatever electronic device she's using to teleport, but, since Tetra isn't using one, muscle spasms is a good consolation prize.))

The larger panther-robot buys time for the mole-robot by...doing nothing. Once the digging-robot is in position, it informs Tetra, "Your happiness and safety are irrelevant." After the sticky-grenade has been launched, the panther fires another capture-net from its mouth. puff "You are to cease this destructive spree."



[having left the Temple of Lead]

June takes off and starts flying back.
She takes a detour to make sure she's not being followed, of course, but she makes it back soon enough.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row]

"I see." Klaus strokes his chin as he considers the deal. It seems pretty straightforward to him; the King in Rags grants him some supernatural powers, and in return, he works for the man. Simple enough in theory. In practice... well, there was quite a bit thay could go wrong.

Which is why he adds to the proposal:

"What do you say to a trial run?"

"Yes, seeing your abilities first-hand will be useful. As a start to our partnership." His eyes dim slightly as he thinks. "I will fashion the mask now. With it, you will slay six people before the week's end. Choose them as you will, as long as their deaths are visible. Once this is done, you will keep the mask and I will call upon you again once the moon has changed its shape. Do you agree to these terms?"

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi looks down and shakes her head. "No, mi-Hana. Sometimes, Abbi almost recognises the letters, but... never all of them, for long enough." She takes the menu and drops into another curtsy and scurry-limps off, hurrying enough the limp and her misbehaving foot, which isn't as floppy as Earl thought, having looked at the intended injury. It's painful to walk, and she can't move her foot as far, but it doesn't flop uselessly like Earl thought.

She'll return very shortly, as she's using a phone in the bedroom to order from room service, rather than go all the way down and come back again. As she expected, the chef didn't ask any questions about the amount of food Hana's ordering. If she ordered enough beer to fill the bath, that might cause a few questions to be asked (and possibly a slight additional charge, as they empty their bar) but two meals for a lady and her maid isn't surprising to them. "The chef said the food will arrive in approximately fifteen minutes, milady. Hana. Would you like to take your... bath? Abbi will answer the door and bring the food to you when it arrives." The ratgirl looks at the gel-filled bath rather apprehensively.

[Ironsmith]

[Tempest Row]

"Yes, seeing your abilities first-hand will be useful. As a start to our partnership." His eyes dim slightly as he thinks. "I will fashion the mask now. With it, you will slay six people before the week's end. Choose them as you will, as long as their deaths are visible. Once this is done, you will keep the mask and I will call upon you again once the moon has changed its shape. Do you agree to these terms?"

[Tempest Row]

Klaus smirks. Only six? Was the King In Rags setting him a quota or a limit? "Consider it a deal." He says, his hand going to the Hotbox at his side as he starts considering what else to wear alongside the mask. It'd hardly be an ideal disguise if he only covered his face, after all. He's thinking something... priestly. That seemed to be about the right aesthetic for Skyside.

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi looks down and shakes her head. "No, mi-Hana. Sometimes, Abbi almost recognises the letters, but... never all of them, for long enough." She takes the menu and drops into another curtsy and scurry-limps off, hurrying enough the limp and her misbehaving foot, which isn't as floppy as Earl thought, having looked at the intended injury. It's painful to walk, and she can't move her foot as far, but it doesn't flop uselessly like Earl thought.

She'll return very shortly, as she's using a phone in the bedroom to order from room service, rather than go all the way down and come back again. As she expected, the chef didn't ask any questions about the amount of food Hana's ordering. If she ordered enough beer to fill the bath, that might cause a few questions to be asked (and possibly a slight additional charge, as they empty their bar) but two meals for a lady and her maid isn't surprising to them. "The chef said the food will arrive in approximately fifteen minutes, milady. Hana. Would you like to take your... bath? Abbi will answer the door and bring the food to you when it arrives." The ratgirl looks at the gel-filled bath rather apprehensively.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

By the time Abbi gets back, Hana's again changed things around in the room. The bath is now filled almost to the brim, with just enough wiggle room for Hana to submerge herself completely without spilling gel all over the floor. She's also eschewed the rest od her clothing, lending credence to the idea that she was, indeed, just having a weird bath. She has her clothes in a pile near the jacket, and her Hotbox is lying open on its side, with Hana herself near the edge of the bath/pool, holding a device resembling an electronic razor with the blades removed. She touches it to her jacket, producing a little flash of sparks, followed by a puff of red smoke, which wafts over in Abbi's direction. The jacket is now totally dry.

"That's fine." Hana says nonchalantly, setting the device down and looking up at the ratgirl. "I don't mind if you stick around. I'm probably going to be in here the rest of the night." She shrugs. "Actually... could you come here a minute? I want to see that leg of yours. You've been walking on it kind of funny."

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi blushes slightly when she sees Hana's state of dress, but doesn't avert her eyes. The ratgirl heads over towards Hana, before sitting on the edge of the bath and taking off her shoes and socks. There's an old scar on the back of her left ankle, rather a neat one- it looks surgical, like someone knew what they were doing, and what they've done is cut one of her Achilles tendons. It looks to be at least three years old. "It's... an old injury, Hana. Can... can you fix it? Abbi hasn't walked straight in years." She's also nervous; getting the leg fixed would be great, if it's possible, but she daren't get her hopes up- and she'd have to hide that she's been healed or else they'd just do it again.

Abbi also notes the clothing. "Abbi can send that to the laundry, if mil- Hana would like. Return it tomorrow, clean and dry and fresh. Or Abbi could wash it herself, if you'd prefer."

[Reinholdt]

[Searching for Truth]

"... I'd have been great at it," Ilpholin admits, not wanting to divulge any more than that. Anika didn't need to know that none of the priestesses of Lolth agreed with Anika's assessment.

The nymph looks around the shop as lost as Anika at the moment. "We're looking for a lie detector, remember? You... you tell me what one looks like." Since this was Anika's idea, she's probably seen one before, right? Ilpholin walks down a row of baubles, looking for any kind of distinguishing tag but finding none of use. Like this thing is some kind of '-ble oscillator' but the first half of the tag is too mangled to be certain of what it was saying.

[Misty Velvet]

Raven's face lights up. "No one would try to stop it! That... That's so BORING." Raven Ebondark seems to have only feigned excitement as her chipper attitude falls into gloom. "Sounds like something my dad would say." She makes a disgusted face.

"Like we're not even coercing them out of the lease with blackmail or something. Just buying the place? That level of evil is acceptable evil! There's nothing worse than acceptable evil. No one learns your name or shows up to try to kill you in your sleep. No one trembles when you're mentioned, no one hides their kids when you walk down the street, no dark prophecies revolve around you. There's no dramatic fights in chemical factories, no superhero swearing to get you next time as you escape with your plans foiled, no intimate moments of pure fear and loathing as you go too far and cross the line into something everyone thought too dark for the genre. There's just... what? Raw, unfettered capitalism? In which everyone just quietly loathes you but no one has the spine to do anything about it because it's socially accepted and all the zombies are metaphorical?"

"Ugh. No thank you."

Rose, fortunately, has not personally offended Raven with this suggestion. Just hit on a very ideological difference about being evil that Raven must rant about. Which is fine, cause she likes to rant. Or at least hear herself speak. Which does mean shouting over the music a little. At least it's a relatively short rant.

[Ironsmith]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi blushes slightly when she sees Hana's state of dress, but doesn't avert her eyes. The ratgirl heads over towards Hana, before sitting on the edge of the bath and taking off her shoes and socks. There's an old scar on the back of her left ankle, rather a neat one- it looks surgical, like someone knew what they were doing, and what they've done is cut one of her Achilles tendons. It looks to be at least three years old. "It's... an old injury, Hana. Can... can you fix it? Abbi hasn't walked straight in years." She's also nervous; getting the leg fixed would be great, if it's possible, but she daren't get her hopes up- and she'd have to hide that she's been healed or else they'd just do it again.

Abbi also notes the clothing. "Abbi can send that to the laundry, if mil- Hana would like. Return it tomorrow, clean and dry and fresh. Or Abbi could wash it herself, if you'd prefer."

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana shakes her head. "I appreciate it, but no, that won't be necessary. I can clean them myself, and... frankly, I don't trust the laundry here." She gently grabs Abbi's ankle and examines it; an old injury, clearly, and possibly beyond the gel's ability to heal as a result, but it was worth the attempt. "...Here. Take a seat and soak your feet." Hana offers. "It should help. Not necessarily immediately, but..." She spreads her arms and turns around in place, showing off the conspicuous lack of scars or injuries of any sort on her body. "I've been using this stuff since the day I was born. In all that time, I've gotten hurt a lot." She gestures to her shoulder. "Broke half the bones here when I was five. Fell out of a window. The next day, you wouldn't know it. And here..." She holds up her hand. "Shot right through in a training accident. An hour-long nap later, all was well. So..." She gestures to Abbi's foot. "That should be fixable, yeah."

[Misty Velvet]

Raven's face lights up. "No one would try to stop it! That... That's so BORING." Raven Ebondark seems to have only feigned excitement as her chipper attitude falls into gloom. "Sounds like something my dad would say." She makes a disgusted face.

"Like we're not even coercing them out of the lease with blackmail or something. Just buying the place? That level of evil is acceptable evil! There's nothing worse than acceptable evil. No one learns your name or shows up to try to kill you in your sleep. No one trembles when you're mentioned, no one hides their kids when you walk down the street, no dark prophecies revolve around you. There's no dramatic fights in chemical factories, no superhero swearing to get you next time as you escape with your plans foiled, no intimate moments of pure fear and loathing as you go too far and cross the line into something everyone thought too dark for the genre. There's just... what? Raw, unfettered capitalism? In which everyone just quietly loathes you but no one has the spine to do anything about it because it's socially accepted and all the zombies are metaphorical?"

"Ugh. No thank you."

Rose, fortunately, has not personally offended Raven with this suggestion. Just hit on a very ideological difference about being evil that Raven must rant about. Which is fine, cause she likes to rant. Or at least hear herself speak. Which does mean shouting over the music a little. At least it's a relatively short rant.

[Misty Velvet]

Rose opens her mouth to object, to say she meant that the boring-yet-practical option of just buying the place would be a prelude to doing evil, and that she could do a lot more damage if she owns half the town, but stops. Raven had told her something much more interesting, and slightly disturbing.

"Wait... so you're telling me you want people to hate you?" Rose asks, brow furrowed in confusion.

It was hard to imagine why she would want that. But then, it also made way too much sense. Raven was obsessed with being an evil empress, after all. To the point that she hadn't thought about what she would do if she actually succeeded in taking over; that wasn't exactly what she wanted. She didn't have a goal, she had a weird pathological need.

Rose sighs and gives her a little smile. "...Okay. If you want to do blackmail, I can do blackmail. I used to be involved in a few of those." She gives a little smirk and gestures to her sides. "The old honey pot, see. We wouldn't exactly need the money, but once we're in a position of power, we could ask for anything we want. Like ownership." She shrugs. "...Maybe we don't try that here, since everyone who can hear us just got wind of the plan, but there are plenty of clubs in Skyside."

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

That request makes Anika internally eep.

She had heard about lie detectors and knew what they were capable to do, it was in the name after all, but she had never actually seen one.
But it couldn't be too complicated, right? It had to be some kind of... sound receptor, right? Something which could pick up words and tell if they were truthful or not? Since sometimes you could hear if a person told a lie... then again, maybe it was more like those imp-cameras where they could tell a liar by the way they looked when they said it?

Might be a combination of the two...

Just a glance at all this stuff made her feel uneasy. It was just so much of it. How could she possibly find anything in this mess?

As she saw it there was only one option.

She strides up to the counter and slams her hand into it to get the clerks attention. "Hey, dude. We're looking for a lie detector. You have any?"

[SPAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!]

((I feel like we might be able to hand-wave the disposal of the tyranids that are clinging onto the debris? Since we've already done the major part of the plot this is just destroying the last remnants of the hive.))

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi gasps and winces as Hana looks at her ankle. Even being gentle, it's still quite painful- especially testing its range of movement, or adjusting it to examine the scar. She'll sit on the edge of the bath and rather nervously put her feet in the goo, and sighs as- at least to her mind- the pain eases slightly. The ratgirl smiles, slightly... though given the faded bruises on her armsand her black eye, she might appreciate a full bath. She won't ask for one, though; it's not her place to do so.

Abbi blushes a little as Hana twirls, her eyes trying- and failing- to stay on Hana's face where possible.

SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

So the shuttle shunts chunks of rubble out of their present course, sending them plummeting to the world below where they are destroyed by the fires to re-entry. Zee can use some of the debris to build a proper airlock, and together Zee, Minerva, the gunslinger with her large coat over the space-suit she claims and the cosmonaut with one of the razor-disc launchers to replace her survival gun clear out the larger pieces, occasionally aided by the deep-sea diver who carries a crossbow.

The genestealers are mostly entering hibernation, and most of the chunks of wreckage aren't large enough for them to wake up again before the group discovers them and destroys them. They are able to clear up the rest of the infestation much more easily, as even with the difficulties of void-warfare, dark tunnels, and disorientating small spaces with no gravity, the tyranid menace are sluggish and sleepy, rely on getting close and just aren't as able to effectively fight- especially if Zee can blast plasma through any particularly dense populations.

[Reinholdt]

[Misty Velvet]

"Hate, Fear, Worship, Revile, Adore. All that really matters is that the peasants know who I am and know just how far above them I am. And all intense emotional states involved with that. I honestly feel pity for anyone who has to live their humdrum lives without me in their every waking thoughts." It is truly a shame. Raven spells it out for Rose because Rose is clearly in that adore and worship section of lucky people and she doesn't quite understand why everyone doesn't want to adore and worship Raven. Nor why being hated and reviled is a good thing. It's a good thing Raven could clear that up for her.

"I don't want to do any of those things. Just let it go. The moment's passed." Raven is not shopping for a club any longer. This one was convenient enough to be close by, but most of the clubs are even further away in the Tempest Row proper. "Besides, this is their best track." Ah right, the music blaring out. Deicide's 'Fall of Kronos'. A classic.

[Searching for Truth]

The clerk jumps a little at the hand being slammed down. He was already paying close attention to both women, but admittedly wasn't looking at their eyes in the least. That changes after the forceful slap, though reluctantly. It also looks difficult to tilt his head up that much for Anika's tall frame with all the things attached to his head.

"Yeah, sure, we got one of those in the back I think. With the other torture equipment we don't flash up front. You want it?"

"Yes, we want it." Ilpholin steps up beside Anika. "Hurry up. Go."

The clerk hesitates to leave them alone with all the merchandise, but also can't bring himself to argue with two women who look like they could snap him in half if they wanted to. So he awkwardly nods and runs through a door.

[Shadowcaller]

[Searching for Truth]

"Torture equipment?" Anika asks out loud as the clerk hurries away. A question asked to no one in particular but also everyone in the room.

"Lie detectors... aren't torture equipment are they?" She asks Ilpholin, it's more of a rethorical question as the nymph knows even less about lie detectors than her but just the word 'torture' made the druid uneasy.

[Ironsmith]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi gasps and winces as Hana looks at her ankle. Even being gentle, it's still quite painful- especially testing its range of movement, or adjusting it to examine the scar. She'll sit on the edge of the bath and rather nervously put her feet in the goo, and sighs as- at least to her mind- the pain eases slightly. The ratgirl smiles, slightly... though given the faded bruises on her armsand her black eye, she might appreciate a full bath. She won't ask for one, though; it's not her place to do so.

Abbi blushes a little as Hana twirls, her eyes trying- and failing- to stay on Hana's face where possible.

[The Trust-Worthy Hotel]

"See? That's so much better already, isn't it?" Hana smiles. Modern medicine is truly a marvel. Clearly a step or twelve above whatever primitive surgical techniques they used here. She wasn't sure what Abbi had been treated for, but bungling the job that badly, such that she had a hard time walking, did not speak well of her doctor's skills. In fact, between that and how messed-up her arms and face are, Abbi seemed to be recieving the lowest standard of medical care since... she didn't even know. Definitely pre-twentieth century. Which might as well be the caveman days, really.

"...You know what? Why don't you hop on in for a second." Hana smiles, retreating to the far side of the bath. "You look like you could use the rest. They must run you ragged around here."

[Misty Velvet]

"Hate, Fear, Worship, Revile, Adore. All that really matters is that the peasants know who I am and know just how far above them I am. And all intense emotional states involved with that. I honestly feel pity for anyone who has to live their humdrum lives without me in their every waking thoughts." It is truly a shame. Raven spells it out for Rose because Rose is clearly in that adore and worship section of lucky people and she doesn't quite understand why everyone doesn't want to adore and worship Raven. Nor why being hated and reviled is a good thing. It's a good thing Raven could clear that up for her.

"I don't want to do any of those things. Just let it go. The moment's passed." Raven is not shopping for a club any longer. This one was convenient enough to be close by, but most of the clubs are even further away in the Tempest Row proper. "Besides, this is their best track." Ah right, the music blaring out. Deicide's 'Fall of Kronos'. A classic.

[Misty Velvet]

Rose gives Raven a little smile. Okay, whew. Crisis fully averted, by the look of it. Nobody else had to get hurt.

Today.

These tendencies of Raven's were definitely going to present problems further down the line. But then again, maybe Rose could steer her in a less harmful direction, by cultivating those aspects which might get people to genuinely like her...

No, no, no. She's here to spy on Raven, not act as her personal therapist. That catgirl can unkink her own life.

Rose smiles and gives Raven a loose hug. For now, she just had to keep playing at being a good girlfriend. That meant quietly, unintrusively assuring her there were no hard feelings between them, and letting her enjoy the music she'd brought.

When the song ends, she'll give a little smile. "Well, I can see why you like them so much. I'm pretty sure my ribcage got turned into jelly listening to that." She jokes.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi pulls her feet out of the gel and limps a short distance from the edge of the bath, undoing her white apron before folding it and setting it down, then pulling her black dress up and over her head and folding it and setting it aside. Hana can see that there's more bruises on Abbi's back and ribs, and when she turns around there's more on her chest and stomach. The bruises have a rather distinctive shape, like she has been deliberately beaten with something hard but floppy, though they're a few days old. There's also a scar on her belly, from an appendectomy some years ago; it's long-healed, and has had much better healing than her ankle has; the scar's much subtler. She climbs into the bath and leans back, just resting her head on the back of the bath and stretching herself out. "Thank you, mi- Hana. Abbi does work hard."

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana frowns when she sees the excessive number of bruises. Up until this point, she'd assumed Abbi had just had a bad week; not-quite-safe working conditions mixed with a little bad luck. But this was starting to look more and more like someone was actively hurting her. Who, though? Skyside's police equivalent? Someone at home? The hotel staff, or maybe the clientele? None of those were pleasant options, but they all led to the same sentiment:

Poor girl.

Hana gives her a vaguely reassuring smile and leans back against the bath. "It's nothing. This is pretty standard stuff where I come from. Think of it as a tip." She shrugs, the motion ever-so-slightly hampered by the gel up to her shoulderline. "So... why don't you tell me a little more about yourself, Abbi? We're going to be seeing a lot of each other over the next week, potentially longer. It'd be nice to know who's taking care of me."

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi smiles at the idea of a tip; this isn't one the guards can take from her, either. "Abbi isn't very interesting, Hana. Abbi has been here three years, working as a maid. It's... not a very exciting life, Abbi's afraid. If... if Abbi knew what you wished to know, Abbi might help more? Nobody's asked about Abbi before." And there's more than a few things Abbi isn't supposed to tell anyone- like where those bruises came from, amongst others.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

"Fair enough. I was a little vague with that." Hana raises a gel-covered finger to her chin as she thinks it over, trying to figure out what sorts of things to ask Abbi in order to get the best feel for what she was like as a person. "Well, here's a basic one, I guess... what do you like to do for fun?" She asks. "You know, when you're not working. You strike me as the type who would do a lot of readi-" Hana stops and reddens. "...who would appreciate a good story." She amends, taking Abbi's professed illiteracy into account. "Or maybe you have friends you like to hang out with? Boyfriend? Girlfriend?"

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

"...The maids do tell stories to each other, but Abbi cannot share them. They... aren't always polite about the customers. Abbi likes listening to those, and... and sharing some too. Mostly, Abbi works. Lots to do, not so many maids or valets to do it. Six of each. When Abbi started, was... eight maids, including Abbi and... four valets. Two maids since, uh, retired, and one valet too. Other maid died." Abbi isn't sure what happened to the maids that 'retired', but she's pretty sure it isn't enjoyable. "Abbi has a few friends, in the maids. The owners don't let the maids and valets mingle overmuch, Abbi can't say she knows them well." And currently also, half the maids are unavailable. One's pregnant, one was last seen leaving with a manager and another is sick and in the hospital. Hard to say what state the valets are in; Abbi wouldn't know.

[Morty]

[Tempest Row]

A pair of hands reach out from under the King's cloak. They look skeletal, but are made of black, twisted branches. The King tears out a part of his cloak, though it seems no worse for the wear afterwards. It hovers between his hands and slowly shapes itself into a mask, like he said.

"Promise to me, then. That with every shifting of the moon, you will undertake one mission of slaying or sabotage that I choose. In return for the mask that will give you my power. Speak, and the Wyrd will hear you and seal our pledge."

[Ironsmith]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

"...The maids do tell stories to each other, but Abbi cannot share them. They... aren't always polite about the customers. Abbi likes listening to those, and... and sharing some too. Mostly, Abbi works. Lots to do, not so many maids or valets to do it. Six of each. When Abbi started, was... eight maids, including Abbi and... four valets. Two maids since, uh, retired, and one valet too. Other maid died." Abbi isn't sure what happened to the maids that 'retired', but she's pretty sure it isn't enjoyable. "Abbi has a few friends, in the maids. The owners don't let the maids and valets mingle overmuch, Abbi can't say she knows them well." And currently also, half the maids are unavailable. One's pregnant, one was last seen leaving with a manager and another is sick and in the hospital. Hard to say what state the valets are in; Abbi wouldn't know.

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana sighs. Abbi's job had to be difficult. She spent most of her time working here, only had friends among the maids, the clients mistreated her, and...

And...

Hana's eyes widen as she comes to a rather abrupt realization. "...Abbi. Do you ever leave the hotel?" She asks quietly.

[Tempest Row]

A pair of hands reach out from under the King's cloak. They look skeletal, but are made of black, twisted branches. The King tears out a part of his cloak, though it seems no worse for the wear afterwards. It hovers between his hands and slowly shapes itself into a mask, like he said.

"Promise to me, then. That with every shifting of the moon, you will undertake one mission of slaying or sabotage that I choose. In return for the mask that will give you my power. Speak, and the Wyrd will hear you and seal our pledge."

[Tempest Row]

Klaus nods and accepts the mask, holding it in his hands. "So be it." He smiles. Not smirks. Not grimaces. He has an honest-to-god smile on his face as he holds the mask in his hands, imagining what he can do with this new persona. "One mission with every change of the moon. You have my word."

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

"Not often. Abbi has, before. Multi-night guests have taken Abbi shopping, so she can fetch and carry for them. Abbi... Abbi was scared, sometimes. Skyside isn't safe, not for Abbi. Only protection is the hotel." They pay some money to anyone that brings her back, if she gets lost. If they try selling her to the Guild, Abbi tells them of the microchip in her neck and the people who tried selling her are arrested as thieves (and then sold themselves, most likely) and she gets returned to the hotel. Not that Hana is likely to understand any of this.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana lets out a little sigh of relief. Okay, so that implied Abbi was allowed to leave, at least. For the moment, it alleviated the worst of her suspicions. She just had the worst job, from what Hana could tell. Maybe she could do a little better than being an easy guest for the poor ratgirl.

"...I have an idea, then." Hana smiles. "Why don't we head out together somewhere tomorrow? Somewhere fun. You, ah, look like you could use an honest break and I know I could." Plus, she'd have to get in touch with Tau-99 at some point. "And if you're worried about keeping safe, don't... I know three different martial arts and keep a loaded helium gun on me at all times. You'd probably be the safest person in the city."

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi nods in acceptance, though she's looking a little nervous. She's not sure how much three martial arts and a helium gun would help against five gangers with knives or real guns, but so long as Hana feels safe and knows how to avoid trouble it's probably going to be OK.

The room's doorbell rings, and Abbi will- unless stopped- start to get up to answer it. She's not going to grab her apron, unless Hana protests her answering the door naked anyway.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana does object, kind of, opening her mouth to say something as Abbi approaches the door, but deciding against it and waving a dismissive "do what you want" gesture in her direction, since she's already halfway there and it's really only her own modesty at stake here (and even then, answering the door nude was totally expected even where she was from). She'll climb out of the bath herself, refreshed, and touch the sparker to her skin, causing any remaining gel to go up in a cloud of fruity smoke, drying her in an instant. By the time Abbi gets back, she'll have already printed off a pair of fluffy white bathrobes and be in the process of putting one on; the other, she's left neatly folded for Abbi's usage.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

"Calum has milady's food. Two double chicken burgers, extra lettuce." The speaker is male, a valet wearing a pair of tight black suit trousers, a short-sleeved white shirt and a black waistcoat. Calum is a young human with a close-shaven head and dark brown eyes. He offers the bag to Abbi.
"Abbi thanks Calum." She takes the bag and closes the door in his face; he looked at Abbi's body, but the gel made it harder to see anything. And Abbi's used to people looking, besides. Hana probably hears everything, though; the acoustics are quite good for that.

Abbi returns to the bathroom holding a clear plastic tray, with a single plate on it and only one set of cutlery. Two burgers are on it, as ordered, in seeded buns. There's also a bottle each of ketchup, brown sauce and yellow mustard "Abbi has food. Two double chicken burgers, extra lettuce." She's going to try giving the tray to Hana, or else place it nearby.

[Ironsmith]

[Trust-Worthy Hotel]

Hana smiles and accepts the tray, then promptly adjourns to the main room, setting the tray down on the central table. She didn't know why, but food always seemed about ten times fancier when consumed in a large, mostly-empty room. And these burgers were going to need all the help they could get.

She'll be polite enough to wait a minute or two for Abbi to join her, but if she takes too long to be ready, Hana will take a more proactive approach, in that she'll show Abbi how the shocker works and explicitly point out the robe. Not that she thought Abbi was too stupid to figure it out herself, mind. She just seemed a little too anxious to risk touching anything without permission; so, permission granted.

[Earl of Purple]

The Trust-Worthy Hotel

Abbi puts the tray down and then leaves the room. She yelps a little when she uses the shocker; it didn't hurt, but it did surprise her. She'll look a little embarrassed if Hana checks up on her as a result. The bruises have faded quite significantly, though not her black eye. She wraps herself up in the robe. She's... a little confused; she has her uniform right there, neatly folded up and ready to put on, or she could have taken a fresh one from the chamber she's intended to sleep in. She'll stand in the main room until told to sit, and then pull a chair out and sit down. She'll take her queue on how to eat the burger from Hana; if the guest picks it up and takes a bite, Abbi will copy her. If she uses the cutlery provided, then... Abbi is probably going to wait until Hana's finished so she can use the knife and fork. Or until Hana gives her some printed from her HotBox.