Seaside 7: Seven's the Shark

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker’s Home

Up the stairs, on the left. Past the TV room and the guest bed and the ridiculously lavish bathroom.
The bedroom is neat thanks to the constant efforts of Owena. Codebreaker has managed to hang some posters of actually tasteful things after all this time at least.
Speaking of the man, the rotund wolfen is asleep in the bed at the moment. His senses aren’t as overtuned when he’s unconscious.
However that could change the moment the intruder enters. What does she do?

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

Ugh. The boss didn't say anything about Codebreaker being so fat. Or hairy. Or a wolfen. But fat is her biggest concern. Moving something that big and heavy is going to put her balancing systems through the wringer; it'd be hard enough if he was, say, around a hundred and fifty pounds, but he looks to be nearly twice that. It doesn't matter how strong you are, try carrying something thirty times your weight and see if you can keep a good balance!

The woman sighs and shakes her head. Maybe she'll luck out and this is Codebreaker's heretofore unknown boyfriend or something. These rich, brainy types could be a bit... eccentric in their tastes. And if this isn't the target, she has leeway to convert him into paste, too.

With that in mind, she shuffles quietly into the room, looking for some way to confirm his identity. A wallet on the nightstand, perhaps? Or perhaps a dog tag?

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker’s Home

If he was conscious CB would be extremely offended that two groups now have planned his kidnapping without knowing what he looks like.
Also half this town’s population is overweight rich animal-folk. Did you really not plan for this?

Regardless, there is a pair of massive shorts sitting there on a nearby chair. She could check for a wallet.
”Hmm. What’s up, Owena?” mumbles the wolfen, eyes still closed.

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

"I'm just collecting laundry. Go back to sleep." Owena's voice comes back, slightly stilted. Damn. She really should have let the maid ramble on a little more before gooshing her. Her audio data is too limited to make an ultra-convincing soundclip. Hopefully, he's too drowsy to notice.

The woman collects the shorts and quietly turns her olfactory units offline. She can't tell if these are clean or dirty, but either way she doesn't want to risk a distraction.

Hm... wallet, wallet... it's in here somewhere, right?

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker’s Home

Don’t be silly. He can’t sweat so his dirty laundry wouldn’t smell as much anyway.
Kind of annoys him really. He hates walking around panting everywhere in the summer like a dopey dog.

Yup, the wallet does reside in the right pants pocket (despite him not leaving home in ages). And the photo ID inside does match the-
Very irritable looking wolfen sitting up in bed and glaring at the woman. Apparently a semi-conscious Codebreaker can hear the slight warble of a simulated voice.
There is a pressure in the air.
”You have five seconds to impress me with an excuse.” he tells the woman who is rifling through his things at three in the morning.

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

Oh, brilliant. So much for keeping this operation quiet.

"Well, why don't we start with 'I could crush your skull underfoot like I did your maid' and not do anything stupid, all right?" The woman points to the incriminating blood splatter on her leg that makes it painfully clear she is not joking or bluffing. She then tosses the ID aside and takes a step forward, pulling put a syringe from under the rubbery skin of her forearm. At least now she knew why they bothered to give her so much sedative.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker’s Home

CB goes very still. There’s an intense crawling sensation over the agent’s synthetic skin.
”You should pick a god and pray you’re bad at your job. Because if you actually killed her in any way that matters what I’m about to do will be child’s play compared to what her father will do.” Codebreaker growls.
Hm? What syringe? You don’t have a syringe under your forearm. Actually your forearm seems pretty normal, not sure what you mean by rubbery. It’s a shame you don’t have any augmentations. Nice visible obvious ones. Because Codebreaker’s perception is asserting itself as reality, and he only sees a very normal woman.

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

...Why can't she remove her membrane?

The woman looks down at her fleshy appendage and frowns. She feels... weird. Warm. And didn't she turn her olfactory sensors off a minute ago? Why can she still smell things? And why do her arms suddenly feel so heavy? What's that rushing under her skin?

"...Did you do something to me?" She asks, an uncustomary warble in her throat. "What the hell did you just d-" She's cut off by a series of coughing fits, from inhaling more dust than she's used to, into a trachea that wasn't there a minute ago.

...This is going to end badly, isn't it?

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker’s Home

Codebreaker hauls himself out of bed. Nowadays he wears pajama pants to sleep. Mostly for Owena’s benefit.
”You seem to be having some breathing trouble. Maybe you should exercise more? By the way, random question, what are your most and least favorite animals?” he asks, shoulders shaking.
Yeah he might be kinda mad.

[Morty]

[Submarine Dock]

"You'll need to rest afterwards, sure... but it shouldn't incapacitate you all day. I guess we'll have to see." Chidi says, as he begins leading her towards the entrance to the submarine. He'd used his pass to allow both he and his companion entry into the sub, all that's left to do now is enter.

"Fair warning... the doctor can come off as arrogant. She's not a bad person by any means, see, but I feel I should warn you in case such things, however mild, annoy you." He stops at the entrance, leaving it open so that Olvisin can enter first, as a gentleman should. "Fun fact: her dad's people performed my bottom surgery."

"She can't be any worse than the tech-savants back home." Olvisin waves her hand. "A hermetic bunch, treating their knowledge as elite and in need of guarding... anyway, is her dad also a cyberneticist?"

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

The woman hastily backs away, holding her throat and coughing wetly into her other hand. Why is it wet? Why is that rushing sensation under her skin getting faster? Why is her skin getting clammy? Why is she shaking? What's that pounding in her chest?

The woman seizes ahold of the chair and shoves, attempting to throw it at Codebreaker and make her escape. What she manages instead is to wobble the chair slightly and not much else. What the hell? She's so much stronger than that!

There's definitely something bizarre going on here. She's more or less helpless, however, so her best bet is to keep Codebreaker talking so he isn't ripping her throat out.

"...That would be canis familiaris and homo sapiens, respectively. Why do you ask?" She responds as conversationally as she can.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker's Home

"Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you like what you are." Codebreaker says with a shrug. "Nor should I be surprised you manage to infiltrate this town. Anyone would mistake you for one of my neighbors. If you weren't so short at least." That feeling of crawling returns tenfold. It's distinctly unpleasant, but mercifully quick.
That said, the intruder's panic isn't likely to get any better as her sense of smell and hearing grow incredibly acute, her sight loses its ability to perceive several colors, and all those feelings of weight and frailty increase tenfold.
Because Codebreaker has visited upon her the fate he's suffered only worse: instead of a massive fat wolfen, he's rewritten her geometry into an similarly overweight but significantly tinier dog-person (with an equally terrible fashion sense). He walks up and looms rather dramatically over her. Well, he does his best. You can only loom so menacingly when someone is eye-level with your gut.
"Listen here you furry little beach-ball. I'm going to resist my intense desire to rewrite you into a pile of mush so you can bark back to your master. I am beyond your comprehension. I am a god for all intents and purposes*. If you capture me I can just do this to all of you and warp myself home for supper. Anything you can do to me to stop that would render me useless as an asset. None of your gadgets and spy-implants can stop my powers. So leave me and my family the [fudge] alone."

*provided that you ignore that he needs an intense amount of very specific fuel to work his powers and two uses has already entirely drained him, given him a migraine, and is causing a shake in his shoulders he's playing off as anger.

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

The chubby chihuahua-woman looks up at Codebreaker with wide, fearful eyes, before bounding out of the room as fast as she can.

Which is to say, pathetically tripping over herself.

In any case, Codebreaker's given her a way out of her predicament and she's be remiss not to take it, so she can have some momentary sense of safety. In the long term, though, her prospects don't look so great.

Well, that's an intruder successfully repelled. Just in time for Owena to come up the stairs, holding her hand against her still-very-messed-up head, having to lean against the wall as her legs refuse to work properly. "...y' o'ay?" She mumble-groans, looking at Codebreaker with dead, bleary eyes.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker's Home

CB groans, tottering back now that he's alone again. He reaches into a case he keeps under his bed and pulls out...a blood bag?
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that on my account. Would something to drink help you recover?" he really didn't want to admit he keeps a plan for "if Siana/Owena try to eat me again" but this is a bit of an emergency.

He admits he wishes he could see the look on that ex-robot's face when she gets ten feet out the door and starts panting like a tiny dog and gets drenched in the rain. He'd feel a twinge of sympathy if he wasn't looking at what she did to Owena.

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

Owena figured he had something like that laying around. He'd be stupid to not plan for the eventuality, even if he could otherwise trust her to behave herself. Expect the best, be ready for the worst, and all of that.

Of course, it's probably still the least useful form Codebreaker could have stored it in. The blood itself does nothing; Owena would draw sustenance from the life stored within it, either by drawing it from the veins of a living creature or by suckling the various microflora and fauna that would take up residence in the blood. Storing it in a sterile bag accomplished neither, though that could at least be partially remedied by popping it open and letting it rot just a bit.

Owena reaches for the blood bag, her hands tembling as her fingers fumble around the edges and she tries to get a good grip on it. Given her current state (which still involves bits of bone dangling off the back of her head), it could just as easily be a matter of brain damage as nerves, though if she's only suffering from one of them, it'd be nothing short of a miracle. "...I... s'rry." She slurs, running a nail against the side of the bag in a very futile at poking a hole in it. "...s'ouldn' a' ledder 'n... 's d'm a' me..." She blinks back tears and leans against him, her sense of balance momentarily lost in the aether somewhere.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker's Home

"It's okay, Owena. Just sit down for a while." He guides her to the bed, heedless of the bloodstains he'll leave all over it.
"Just sit tight and I can get you some meat, too.
...You want to sleep here for the day?" he asks.

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

Owena nods and lays on the bed, as she was told, finally having the wherewithal to realize her jaw had been dislocated by the attack, which is something she notices when it snaps itself back into place. Physically, she'll probably be fine within the hour, especially if Codebreaker is diligent about getting her the necessary food.

But the idea of walking back out of this house, either around morning or sometime before then, in near-total darkness and rain? Forget it. It's not safe. At least not tonight.

Owena looks up at Codebreaker and takes a little sip from the bloodbag, her teeth stained red by the drink. "...What about you?" She asks finally, gingerly plucking her freshly-growing hair out of the wound on the back of her head before it seals up. "Aren't you going to sleep?" She'd better not hear that he's going to crash on his own couch.

...Not that she can really do anything if he does. It is his house and she can't quite work up the nerve for a rebuke if it's needed.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker’s Home

CB probably does the baffling thing by going into his closet, plucking out a few little crystals from a particularly gaudy earring he’s never worn, and…swallowing them?
”Wow that tastes nasty. I’ll be fine. Just going to lock up and stay up for a while longer just in case.”
He can’t really sleep while there’s killer robot ladies out there maybe and Owena is still recovering. So he takes a minute to lock everything again.
…and text Arthfael. CB rarely uses his number but he has it.
Some1 tried to kidnap me
Yes again.
Your sister got hit but she’s fine. Stay by Kyrie 2nite 4my sanity.
If me or her dont text again in 1 hour send Kyrie.

There. Potential backup if someone else shows up without telling Kyrie right now and starting a werewolf rampage down the street.

[Zefir]

[Expedition into the dark]

It doesn't quiet work that way for her, or more I don't have that interpretation of protection spells. It's a rather game like thing which offers additional mental and physical protection against enemies with certain allignments. Hard to bring into the real world since we define good and evil based on our perspectiv.

"It appears there is an 'evil' force inside this building." Mia replies "I know this sounds omniouse but I have the feeling an evil entity has been put to protect the place. I used a protection spell to shield us from it and prevent it to spy on us. So don't get to far away from me as it has a limited range."

Mia won't be the first one to go in and only follows Calm Reed if needed. If She just retrieves a drone, Mia will wait at the entrance to provide the protection.

[Purple Eagle]

[Submarine Dock]

"She can't be any worse than the tech-savants back home." Olvisin waves her hand. "A hermetic bunch, treating their knowledge as elite and in need of guarding... anyway, is her dad also a cyberneticist?"

[Submarine Dock]

"When you put it like that, I feel like I should clarify that she's not that bad. We're on friendly terms at least, see?" He quickly says, fearing that he's already given his companion a bad impression of a woman she's yet to meet.

In response to her question, he nods once. "Yuuuup. It's a family business kind of thing, though she's the only member of her family to be in the Nexus. She used to be a figure-skater too, but left a promising career in order to focus on cybernetics, as she tells it."

The interior of the submarine has a predominantly white and blue decor lined with seats arranged much like in an airplane, with circular windows designed to give passengers a nice view of the ocean (once the vehicle is submerged, that is). There's an archway at one end, beyond which a ladder leading up to the cockpit can be seen. The area appears to be mostly empty, and the few passengers nod to Chidi in greeting, but otherwise don't pay them any mind.

Chidi follows after Olvisin has entered, and he leads her towards a free seat, giving her the window one and sitting beside her. "Ever been underwater? It gets really pretty."

[Morty]

[Expedition into the dark]

"Very well. The Dragons will be with me."

Is it possible to make Calm Reed uneasy? If so, it's certainly not easy. The monk strides into the darkness and tries to retrieve one of Geneva's drone. Once she has it, she will get back immediately, not lingering inside longer than necessary.

[Submarine Dock]

"Not this way," Olvisin says as she sits down. "I've been diving, sure. But never been in a submarine. Figure-skating... something to do with ice, right?"

[Purple Eagle]

[Submarine - Interior]

"Then get ready to have a show, just as soon as we l-" Chidi's interrupted by an alarm sounding, followed by an announcement telling everyone they're about to leave. "... very soon, then."

He places his hands on his knees. "Yes, to put it very simply, it's acrobatic dancing on ice with skates. Quite fun to watch, too... but not as much as soccer, see? I like soccer."

[Ironsmith]

[Expedition into the Dark]

It's definitely not possible to make Khafir uneasy, but the interior of this structure still seems to cause her some amount of concern. Without the reflection against the floor, the glowstick just looks like it's floating in the void, as does Calm Reed when she goes in. It's never a good sign when she can't readily parse what she's seeing.

Still, from here, there's not much she can do other than offer Calm Reed a redundant "be careful". Not by going in herself, at any rate. The lot of them were effectivelt going to be going im blind, even if they brought their own illumination.

...Blind.

Now there's an idea.

Khafir turns and steps away from the obsidian structure, making her way over to one of the nearby trees. After confirming that there isn't anything nasty waiting to drop on her, she reaches up and starts breaking off branches, which she passes around to the group. "The interior is rather disorienting to navigate by vision. I would recommend a tactile approach." She explains, giving her own stick a little tap against the floor the emphasize her point.

[Codebreaker's Home]

I'm not home yet, but I'll get there as soon as I can. I'll keep my uncle busy; he's not going to be happy about this when and if he finds out.

Owena nods quietly and lays her head down on the pillow, wincing as the broken part of her skull makes contact. Unsurprisingly, that's rather painful.

Meanwhile, Codebreaker is going to recieve another message from a number he's probably been meaning to block.

I did warn you this would happen, didn't I?

[Rebonack]

[Expedition into the Dark]

"I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'evil force' in this context?" Geneva inquires as she takes the drone Calm Reed and does a manual download of its readings. "Hmm... I thought so. It recorded just fine, but the skin of the structure is preventing any signals from reaching in or out. The drones inside are all able to maintain communications with each other, though. So-"

She begins altering the behavioral programming of the machine before releasing it again.

The drone will fly back into the structure, though it won't stay there long. Every minute or so it will fly back out of the mysterious alien building to broadcast the collected findings of the drone swarm to Geneva's equipment.

There!

Problem solved.

"I'm noticing this imagery," Geneva says, tapping on the screen at the picture of the two naked women holding up their hands in forbiddence. "This seems like pretty clear warning message to me. Stay out. Obviously it doesn't communicate WHY staying out is important. It could be a simple ward against grave robbers or a warning that the location is factually hazardous. Given Mia's observation about an evil presence I'm inclined to suspect the latter."

That now known to her, she sends additional instructions to the drone swarm on the next trip out. Scanning for anything hazardous. Chemical, radiological, biological, and thaumatological dangers.

[Aurora Alchemi]

[Beachside Sunset]

"Too tame? Well we can't have that, can we?" The witch's tone is slightly teasing. "We guess we'll have to think of something more... exciting... for you. Perhaps a few of the rites of crawling flesh will do... We'll need to get some better insulated walls on the ritual tomb though." The statement isn't exactly said to Rein, as much as past him, as if the witch were given a problem to solve, and was making a mental list of everything for some convoluted step to get through it. Then, there is a sly, soft wink, the witch's expression leaving the whole statement in doubt, as if maybe it was some inside joke the cat only has half the information about.

"You can't be any worse for our stomach than what we choose to eat... Although we would much rather... keep you around to age well, like a fine wine." Ukry giggles softly, making no attempt to hide the gentle blush crossing their features as they sway slightly side to side. As the host of the evening embraces them, however, the light, lithe little body leans into his frame ever so slightly, head leaning just enough for the warm crackle of happy emotional magics to spark from horn to chest and cheek. Where the sparks pop, there is a brief warming sensation, the exact feeling of comfort that comes from laying in a soft sunbeam in a comfortable home. "Ahh... this is a nice way to walk..." The admission is quiet, only barely above the sound of the surf and distance thunder, clearly said unintentionally, more an internal thought bursting through the veils and secrecy around the witch.

As the yellows slowly dim, gold and amber enrobing the pair in warmth that smells softly of salt and sea, Ukry's eyes watch the sun's first echos of sunset, thinking quietly on Reinholdt's words for a bit. "All the more reason to see both, then. Perhaps a camping trip sometime, then? Pyrhr- w-we... we know a good pancake recipe." The glittering light from the surf reflects from the witch's glassy and glowing eyes, and it takes them a moment to realize where Rein's gaze has gone. When the eyes do drift up, there is a slight widening, followed by a dart to the ground, and a soft press closer into his side. "F-fool. You know not what you are saying... j-just stick with the pleasant sunset.." One of the witch's fingers plays with a lock of dark hair for a moment.

Finally, the tender moment of shyness passes, and Ukry remembers where the pair are headed. "Ohh... they have several flavors, look! Praline, chocolate cherry, pistachio, strawberry... they all sound good! What do you think?" There is a slight feeling of motion behind the pair, which quickly reveals itself to be the happy flick of gazelle tail, longer and stiffer then bunny fluff, but still warm and poofy all the same. "A-and do you wish for a cone as well? We have plenty of coins, though you are more then welcome to have a few licks from ours if you only want a taste." The witch laughs, eyes looking between the sunset and the wares of the ice cream vendor in equal parts. It seems like they are drifting toward a two scoop waffle cone with praline and cherry, but the poor witch is ever indecisive, much to the chagrin of the icecream seller, who seems like the least romantic or enthusiastic individual in the entire nexus at the moment. Not that the witch is noticing.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker's Home

thats y im texting u CB sends back to Arthfael.
The other message makes him actually audibly groan. He's close to screaming. He's so mad he texts with proper grammar.
No, you snide [bleep], you did not. You made me warn MYSELF with a bunch of paperwork which was a massive waste of my time because you knew the information anyway. You then pressured me, again, into binding myself into your debt with your astoundingly smug attitude. At this point this isn't matter of practicality or sense.
You are an insufferably arrogant [bleep] and I will literally die before I give you the satisfaction of joining your cause.
Please go stab yourself in the eye and die.

Love,
Codebreaker

Codebreaker imagines a lovely image of the person on the other end of that message suffering a similar fate to his most recent annoyance. He's reasonably sure he can't affect anything from that far away but he would adore taking this person down a peg. If only.

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

...Well, that's hurtful. From the moment we met, you've done nothing but ignore me. No matter what I put in front of you, no matter how I tried to make sure the message got through that thick skull of yours, you've always found a way to blow me off. Damn it, Alan, I'm trying to *help* you! What will it take for you to listen?

"Showing up in person?"

Huh. That woman in red is certainly quiet when she wants to be. Entirely for the purpose of setting up that entrance, apparently. Despite the extremely ticked-off expression on her face, she still seems to have some sense of theatrics.

"You're lucky. Another year of this tonterias and I probably wouldn't care enough to put in the effort." The woman grumbles, swirling a glass of some strong-smelling liquor in her right hand.

[Deathkeeper]

Codebreaker's Home

Codebreaker is actually so angry at being taunted shortly after an attempted kidnapping (second time by the way) that somehow the sudden appearance doesn't phase him.
Because yeah, this might as well happen tonight.

"Okay, so wow, you're an actual stalker? Because yeah, revealing that you frequently break into my house instead of just bothering me over the phone sure is going to convince me to trust you."
Just to be contrary CB reaches into the minifridge (separate from the minifridge he kept the blood in) and pour himself something. Despite being ludicrously wealthy, he never acquired a taste for expensive alcohol. Booze is still booze to him.
"So let's go down the list, shall we? Number one, you can't spell my name. Two L's." Codebreaker swirls his drink in kind, counting on his oversized wolfen fingers.
"Number two, it has always been framed as 'you need to get involved in my world's politics so you don't get murdered by my world's politics' which wow, find the flaw in that logic Batman. What exactly would you be doing to protect me if I said yes that you're not doing now? If you're so mad I find it hard to believe that there's this great force of protection you had but were holding out on me. Maybe I would if you ever explained anything properly.
And three, and the big one, not once has any of this been framed as for me. It has always been framed as 'oooh, look at me so mysterious and smarter than you. I know all these things that you don't so come with me if you want to live, moron.

Screw off."

[Ironsmith]

[Codebreaker's Home]

"...And you call me arrogant." The woman grumbles, slamming her drink on a nearby counter, miraculously not damaging either. "The world hasn't stopped turning because you've checked out of it, Allen. Hiding yourself away in a fancy mansion doesn't exempt you from reality. Whether you like it or not, ARC, GIN, and the Systerhood have all come to the Nexus, and they all have an interest in you." She shuffles her glass aside and steps forward. "I can help you stay alive. I've been helping you stay alive. But I can only do so much without your cooperation. Or am I to believe you would've been absolutely fine with my installing guards and scanners at every entrance to your house, as a start?" She scowls and pokes Codebreaker right in the middle of his flabby chest. "I'm a very busy woman and I can't keep taking time out to personally ensure you and your family's safety. The world is so much bigger than you, and as much as you might like to pretend otherwise, you aren't prepared for all of it. By necessity, I am. So, yes, if you want to live, then come with me, you moron."

[Morty]

[Submarine - Interior]

"Then get ready to have a show, just as soon as we l-" Chidi's interrupted by an alarm sounding, followed by an announcement telling everyone they're about to leave. "... very soon, then."

He places his hands on his knees. "Yes, to put it very simply, it's acrobatic dancing on ice with skates. Quite fun to watch, too... but not as much as soccer, see? I like soccer."

"Yeah, no wonder I haven't heard much about it. The climate back home doesn't go well with ice." Olvisin looks out the window intently as she talks. Seems the prospect of travelling underwater does interest her quite a bit. "We didn't have soccer back home, but we had something similar. Throwing and kicking a ball is something many people will come up with. I was an avid player when I was younger. With a reputation for ruthlessness."