Inside 73: Holiday Rush

[5a Violista]

[Abandoned Hospital]

Fleeing won't help, so Carmen's only choice is to fight.
...
She chickens out a little, though, and decides to hide first. She looks around for something she can hide behind. Somewhere she can crouch, and wait until the robot gets right next to her.

She waits.
And, if it gets near her, she jumps out and places her hands on each side of (where she presumes is) its core, which should convert all the energy between her hands into the lust energy...and hopefully stop it from working.


[Silent Night]

Feeling the pixies are taking too long to return the dropped coins, June bends forward and grabs another of the coins. She picks it up and holds it out for the nightmarish-creature-wearing person.
She nods.
"Just a little cold," she says. "Would be better if there were more people here."

[Ironsmith]

[Friendly Meeting]

The help from HALO arrives as quickly as possible, but it did take some time. It appears that the help consists of a human woman in a hazmat suit and a clay golem about two metres in height. The golem is pushing a cart full of alchemy supplies and the woman is carrying a bag. They both stop in front of the cafe.

"Hello? I'm from HALO. We talked on the phone. Let me in so we can find out what's wrong and how to fix it."

Friendly Meeting Fox Outbreak
"I hope that suit is secure," Jade isn't worried about the golem. She opens the door quickly, sneezes away from Dorota, and shuts it behind the alchemist. "I'm Jade; I'm the one responsible for this mess." The nine-tailed fox gestures at the restaurant, where people are in various stages of transformation into more nine-tailed foxes.

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"Siana Redmont." Siana adds, extending a hand to the woman in the suit. "I'm the one who called you." She looks up at the golem curiously; she doesn't remember ever seeing its like before. Sure, there are a few statues that look like they're about to start walking around, but this would be the first one she's seen that actually does.

Neat.

[Silent Night]

Feeling the pixies are taking too long to return the dropped coins, June bends forward and grabs another of the coins. She picks it up and holds it out for the nightmarish-creature-wearing person.
She nods.
"Just a little cold," she says. "Would be better if there were more people here."

[Silent Night]

Yuvan waves her hand away dismissively. He's already given the coins away; it'd be bad form to take them back, even if he actually needed them.

"Well." The altmer begins, sitting cross-legged on the pavement. "Depending on how one counts your little friends, I'm willing to double attendance briefly." He holds his hands close together, a jet of flame emerging from them to ignite the ground between himself and June, producing an impromptu, kindling-less campfire. The mystic flames will give off a cozy warmth at this distance, enough to cook with if June is so inclined, but the magic will only permit them to stay for a few minutes.

"So." Yuvan begins, setting his mace aside and stretching. "How long have you been in Inside?"

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"My name is Dorota Séregon," the alchemist says by way of introduction. "This is Sizewell. We're going to start by taking some blood samples from you and the infected. And please try sneezing into a test tube. I'll have to run tests on that too. The suit is sealed and should hold. Coming back with a fox tail would be awkward to explain to my wife."

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

Michalson taps his notebook with his pencil. That's about all the dark he's going to get here, probably. Time to report back and see what the plan is. The real Hazel might be out there, in some form or another. And this... fake Hazel will need watching.

"Thank you for your answers, ma'am. That will be all for now. You'll be informed once the investigation progresses and if it changes anything about your situation."

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
"Sounds reasonable so far," Jade pulls up her sleeve to give Dorota easy access to draw her blood. "To be fair, it's not the worst change to come home with." But it would be a surprise, make no mistake. "Hopefully it doesn't come to that for anyone, and we can find a cure."

Abandoned Hospital
The machine clanks closer only to be abruptly interrupted by Carmen jumping out at it. It lashes out with a bladed limb, but it's a wild, unpredictable strike rather than a killing blow.
The robot crumples immediately afterwards.

[Ironsmith]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

Siana gives Dorota a bewildered look. Did she hear that right? This woman has a wife? What? How does that work?

...Presumably the same way it otherwise would, but it's still well outside the norm to her. She chalks it up to a cultural difference for now.

"Anything I can do to help?" The strigoi asks, switching her gaze from puzzled to apprehensive. At this stage, the worst thing she can be is idle. At least, that's what it feels like.

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"I'll let you know if there's anything, but for now you just need to stand back and let me handle things. I need as little contamination of the samples as possible," Dorota tells Siana as she draws Jade's blood. "Sizewell, please set up our workstation. We'll have to get some blood samples and compare them."

"At Once," comes a deep, rumbling reply from the golem.

[Rebonack]

[Midnight Park]

Typically the people who use these paths have four feet but they're not going to discriminate against Artie.

It won't be long before she encounters an earth pony tending to the flowers planted along the edge of the trail.

The periwinkle-coated pony is humming softly to herself as she works, completely engaged in her simple task.

Artie could probably ask for directions.

Or she could just keep using a footpath while having no feet.

What shall she do?

Will she interrupt the pony?

Or just continue on her way?

[Deathkeeper]

Midnight Park

Artie can't see the harm in asking for directions.
"Good evening, Miss. Do you know if the Princess is accepting audiences today? I assume this is the path there."
She can't see why the giant tree in the center would not be where the Princess would reside. It's clearly the most impressive and important.

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
Jade grimaces as her blood is drawn, but says nothing about it. She will wait to see what tests are performed and what their results are.

[Ironsmith]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"Right. I'll just, um..." Siana steps back away from Dorota, letting her get to work. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Neither of them really need anything from her, so she can just sit back, relax, and-

Absum's beard, this is the worst.

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

Dorota draws Jade's blood and proceeds to do the same with some of the infected. She brings the samples to a field testing station Sizewell has unfolded out of the cart he'd been pushing. It's not quite the same suite as she has in her laboratory but it'll have to suffice for now. She takes some of the samples and puts them through her standard filters, to see if there's any consistent enchantment or microbe she can pick up in them. She needs to know just what is causing this first.

[Fenric]

Yeah, it's not that the portion was too large; they're just not good food.
But now they're out of the way, and the teeth will grow back before you know it.

"Do you have any more of those guns?"
Dissolving them into particles should be good for just about any danger down here.
Except all the poisons.

Fenric's Quest
"Uh, just the two, and, uh, I can't give them away. They just return to me." The sword too, but Omiko didn't ask about it.

Noope: not good food at all.

The pair are once again alone and all is quiet but for the occasional echoing drip into the oddly satisfyingly painful water.

There are now three directions to go, though if a certain somewhat cheaty device is used it will say to go to the left.

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
Jade's blood is... Interesting. It's perfectly normal, if she were a red fox and not a humanoid. She does have a slight cold. On the other hand, her victims have human blood, and also the same cold, but there's a sort of magic clinging to the cold viruses, presumably causing the change.

[Ironsmith]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

And still nothing for Siana to do. She knows better than to try to mess with the professionals while they're doing their jobs, but since no attempts have been made at breaking quarantine, either, she's sort of just sitting around being useless.

Which is just the worst feeling.

Hoping to find some way to help, she leans over to Jade and mutters in her ear. "Hey, you said your brother got sick, too, right?" She asks. "Maybe I should go track him down, if you guys don't need me here..."

[Vahnavoi]

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

"Hazel" says nothing as Michalson departs. She's escorted back to her cell, to wait for the next time. All the time, she's thinking - what to do now? She suspects the detective has figured out enough to guess her original plan, or even if he hasn't, she might be held under close watch well past Jackie's release date. It's unlikely for things to return to normal, or whatever passes for it in prison, soon enough for her to get an opportunity to swap places with Jackie.

So, she needs another vessel. Small and innocent enough to hide and escape detection as. Problem is, it's unlikely she'll find one just lying around. She might have to make one - and that won't be easy either.

Think, think, think. What materials does she have at hand? What can she do behind the backs of prison staff?

[Ironsmith]

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

Fortunately for "Hazel", the warden isn't exactly big on the notion of solitary confinement, believing it to be an extraordinarily cruel punishment that's far too easy to abuse. As such, when word inevitably gets back to him that she isn't who she says she is, she's still allowed her usual access to the prison's facilities, with the exception of being taken off of laundry detail.

The primary difference is that she's now followed and watched by no fewer than two armed guards at all times; they don't carry any lethal weaponry, but they're all fairly good with their tasers and won't hesitate to use them if she does anything suspicious. Unofficially, they provide a little more of an obstacle than even that; the guards function as a bit of a deterrent against further socialization, resulting in less frequent interaction with the other prisoners. They're also not above just shoving her back in her cell early if she annoys them too much, even though they're not officially supposed to do that.

Ironically, the only person who comes around with any degree of frequency is exactly who she wants to see, but can't exploit with the guards following her around.

"What is going on with you, girl?" Jackie hisses. "Kissing that poor Bunny lady to death... I knew you were as crazy as the rest of us, but godsdamn, that was cold. Why'd you do it?"

[Vahnavoi]

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

"Hazel" has to glance at Jackie's name tag to figure out who exactly she is talking to. If Jackie's in an observant mood, she might notice that. Then, "Hazel" gives Jackie a deadpan stare. "Don't be daft. There's no why 'cause I chose nothing. That girl just pulled one over me and landed me in trouble. That's all."

[Ironsmith]

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

Huh. Hazel's accent is gone. Jackie's noticed that she tends to enunciate more when she's trying to sound calm and professional... she might still be doing it from her pair of interviews. Then again, her tone doesn't match with that; she's not trying to be formal with Jackie, clearly. The obvious conclusion is that Hazel's trying to sound calmer than she is. But what's that actually mean? An admission of guilt? Or just a sense that she's screwed but doesn't want Jackie worrying about her?

Jackie sighs and gives "Hazel" a concerned frown. "Some trouble. They've pulled you in for questioning twice now, and now you've got escorts everywhere you go." She shakes her head a little. "Talk to me, hon. If you didn't do it, what's going on?"

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"Hmm, interesting. It seems you have a common cold, but there's a magical component attached that might be what we're looking for," Dorota says after observing the samples, then looks to Siana. "I'm afraid letting anyone out from here is too risky now. You might be carrying the infection despite not showing the symptoms. But I do need to draw your blood as well."

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
"That is a good question. How are you not infected, Siana? You've been right by me this whole time." Jade thinks that's strange. She doesn't entirely know about Siana's vampire-ness.

[Ironsmith]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"Oh. I, um... I normally don't get sick." Siana replies dodgily. "It's a Maesdan thing. Most of us are, um... well, I guess you'd probably call us vampires, but it's not quite the same." She rolls up her sleeve and presents her bare forearm to Dorota. "So, I kinda need this for sustenance... please don't take too much, okay?"

If Dorota examines her blood, she's going to find absolutely zero microbes within; not just no cold virus, but none of the ten thousand species of symbiotic bacteria that normally live in the human body. Her blood's as sterile as bleach.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

"Hazel's" mouth twists as she ponders what to say. What should she tell to make Jackie act in a way that's useful to her? "The detective thinks I've been possessed! Some wild bull crap, I'd like to say, but who knows? Maybe that Bunny girl jinxed me or something."

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"That does explain it." Dorota doesn't seem perturbed by Siana's blood at all. "Still, unless I can be absolutely certain you can't transmit this disease in any way, you should stay here. Can you tell me how long you've had the symptoms of a cold, Jade?"

[Ironsmith]

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

"Hazel's" mouth twists as she ponders what to say. What should she tell to make Jackie act in a way that's useful to her? "The detective thinks I've been possessed! Some wild bull crap, I'd like to say, but who knows? Maybe that Bunny girl jinxed me or something."

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

Jackie eyes "Hazel" warily. She... very well could be possessed, actually. She's certainly acting strange enough. And that makes more sense than Bunny dying in her arms just to spite her, a woman Jackie presumes she's never met.

On the other hand, if she were possessed, would she tell Jackie that? She doesn't think Hazel could. Wasn't that, like, against the magic rules or something? Heck if she knows.

"She jinxed me" seems to be the most reasonable explanation. Though that creates the disturbing possibility that security messed up and somehow let a witch into Glass Lake... oh gods, did Bunny jinx anyone else? What about her? She didn't feel any different, but then, would she?

"That's... wow." Jackie scratches at the back of her neck nervously. "That's a bombshell. But why would she want to frame you? Do you know her?"

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
Jade thinks about it. "This morning, I think. Maybe late last night." She rolled out of bed late, brought Jason that thing he needed for his "meeting" and came here. Not much else.

[Ironsmith]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

Siana sighs. She doesn't agree with Dorota, but she is the expert, so there's not much to be said on the matter. She's just going to have to sit and wait until they can get this all sorted out.

Siana's vision swims and she puts a hand to her head, briefly losing her balance before mentally correcting herself. Sit and wait and eat. Dorota might not have taken much blood from her, but she needs as much of it as possible. Last time she had a shortage like that, she went a little nuts, and her life's been circling the drain ever since.

So she's going to sit down, close her eyes, and try to ignore the growing pit of pain in her stomach while she waits for the waiter to return with her food.

Too bad he isn't going to. He caught the pox and is now among those quarantined from everyone else, particular the people in the kitchen. Siana's food isn't coming.

[Morty]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"Have you ever noticed unusual symptoms when you were ill? It seems that this cold might be spreading the transformation, but I don't know why it might be."

The golem, meanwhile, moves over to Siana.

"Are You Doing Alright?" He asks in a rumbling bass.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

"No clue. The detective didn't even tell me anything about her. All I can guess is that there's someone outside who really hates me."

[bc56]

Fox Pox Outbreak
"No, this is the first weird thing that's happened. I haven't gotten sick before though. Not since I became a fox." So having a cold at all could be considered an unusual symptom.

[Ironsmith]

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"Have you ever noticed unusual symptoms when you were ill? It seems that this cold might be spreading the transformation, but I don't know why it might be."

The golem, meanwhile, moves over to Siana.

"Are You Doing Alright?" He asks in a rumbling bass.

Fox Pox Outbreak
"No, this is the first weird thing that's happened. I haven't gotten sick before though. Not since I became a fox." So having a cold at all could be considered an unusual symptom.

[Fox Pox Outbreak]

"Yeah, I'm f... I'm fine." Siana says shakily, massaging her temple with her fingers. "Just... just a little hungry, that's all. It's no big deal, I should be fine if I get something to eat soon." She grimaces and closes her eyes, mumbling to herself; a recitation to take her mind off her growing stomach pains. "Be faithful, be earnest, be committed, be generous, be happy. Faithful, earnest, committed, generous, happy. Faithful..." She squeezes her eyes tighter, her fingers leaving claw-like trails in the surface of the table as she balls her hands into fists.

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

"No clue. The detective didn't even tell me anything about her. All I can guess is that there's someone outside who really hates me."

[Glass Lake Penitentiary]

"But who could possibly hate you that much?" Jackie asks worriedly. "I mean, sure, you kidnapped a guy... or seven... but you're a great gal, basically. Why would anyone want to hurt you like that?"

It takes Jackie a minute to realize she might have just answered her own question.

"...Oh. Never mind, I guess I can think of seven people who might want that."