Inside 74: Summer Fun and Zombies

[Ironsmith]

[Above the Streets]

Where is a rival, indeed.
Oh wait, right there.

Somewhere off to his left, a sphere of crackling silver fire drops out of the clouds and has angled itself to intersect with his current flight path.
It seems to be moving faster than he is. By a respectable margin, too.

He has only moments to react before whatever it is reaches him.

[Above the Streets]

Jet, of course, does not see it. There's nothing up here that's even remotely as fast as himself, so he has no need to call on his finely-honed reflexes and razor-sharp attention to detail. Just keep cruising along and-

PROXIMITY ALERT

...How's that, now?

Jet looks over just in time to see the collision. "Oh sh-"

BOMPF!

A heavy impact like that will displace the hologram and containment field that gives his vehicle its shape, causing it to pop like an overblown balloon. His suit is going to need a moment to recalibrate so he can project it again... and in the meantime, he's going to be spending an uncomfortable amount of time in free fall.

[Gold Leaf]

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)]

"Okay... maaaaybe I overdid it. Just a little."
TASBot looks at the dragon's dead body. The best word he can use to describe it right now seems to be "murderized". He won't lie... that's pretty friggin' awesome. The shockwave generated almost causes him to lose his balance, but he regains his footing. When he's standing up straight again, he sees a notification on his HUD, reading "2 updates available. Download now?"
"Hell. Yes. I did it! I finally levelled up!"
He opens the update dialog. The patch notes read: "FEATURES: TASBot will now be able to run up walls. Minor improvements to running ability." and "FEATURES: The coolant spray on TASBot's sidearm now freezes people and objects if enough is applied. Minor improvements to running ability." TASBot installs them both immediately. It doesn't even require a restart.
"So awesome."

With that done, it's time to inspect the dragon's body to see if it coughed up any expensive items or sweet guns. TASBot would really like to make back that cube of gold.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

"Well they're here without permission too! I'll drive them out next. Go! Now!", the swordsman commands. He's not sure if there's anything he can say to these people to shake then out of it, but it's worth the effort.

When he notices the zombies, he raises his blades and positions himself between them and the family. He doesn't wait for them to speak or try to attack him, going to offense himself and hacking them apart. If they are as slow as the last zombie, they'll soon all be in at least three pieces.

How the gruesome violence looks to the dazed family is an open question.

[Chaotic Bob]

[An Unspecified Park -> A Spooky Mansion]

"Great. I'd crouch for this; less likely to fall over."

There is the feeling of the world shifting around him again, but this time it is a very literal feeling. The fog violently swirls like a maelstrom and the ground itself seems to lurch upwards into a low grade hill.
Afterwards, the fog seems to simply fade away as if it were never there.

Not that it especially helps the atmosphere of where he suddenly finds himself.

In addition to now standing on a slight incline, Henry appears to be in the middle of a yard populated by knee-height, nearly-black-it's-so-dark grass, with a tall, metal fence that seems to have been entirely constructed out of jagged spears tied together by other, loopier spears, all of it underneath a deeply overcast sky that strongly implies dreary rain at any given moment.

Oh, and the rather gothic, three-story manor at the top of the hill.
Shouldn't forget that.

There's a little cobble path over there, that leads right up to its spans-the-entire-front-of-the-building wooden porch, and a set of double doors armed with stained glass windows.
Said stained glass windows seem to depict a serpent or dragon strangling and eating a knight.

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)]

And this is where TASBot is going to be pretty aggressively disappointed.
The dragon has nothing.

It's just a dragon. A mildly unusual dragon, but not one that was carrying a convenient sack of loot along for its raucous town destruction.

Somewhere off to the side, the other fellow takes a wheezing breath and coughs up some dust.
"Damn, someone forgot to program 'friendly fire avoidance' into their robot."

[Above the Streets]

In that brief moment of impact, Jet should be able to see that he was just rammed by a large silver dragon of some sort, which kind of looks like it has silver-fire-shooting jet engines for wings.

It also doesn't slow down a bit after ramming Jet out of the air, instead soaring off into the distance, then curling around to pursue his descent towards the ground. This time it probably isn't going to do a hit-and-run, so much as a smash-and-grab.

[Gold Leaf]

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)]

TASBot is a little put out by this, but he had a plan B. He starts trying to prise off some of the dragon's scales with the knife attached to his pistol.

He hears the reptile guy's comment. He shoots back, "It's only friendly fire if you're friendly!"
He pauses for a moment.
"Come to think of it, who are you, anyways? I never got your name!"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)]

By this point, the fellow is slowly pulling himself up to his feet, with all the careful movements of someone preparing to experience an entire night's worth of soreness.
"Good. If I make up a random name for you, will you take it and not ask again?"

He seems really friendly.

Meanwhile! Prying apart the dragon!
The scales seem pretty tough, now that TASBot has a moment to fiddle with them that doesn't also promise imminent harm.
Prying them off is certainly doable, though it involves some pretty concerted effort to them them free of the beast's tough hide.

He'll want to be careful with some of the sharper-looking ones too. They seem like they would get a well-crafted blade a run for their money in the lethality department.

[Ironsmith]

[Above the Streets]

In that brief moment of impact, Jet should be able to see that he was just rammed by a large silver dragon of some sort, which kind of looks like it has silver-fire-shooting jet engines for wings.

It also doesn't slow down a bit after ramming Jet out of the air, instead soaring off into the distance, then curling around to pursue his descent towards the ground. This time it probably isn't going to do a hit-and-run, so much as a smash-and-grab.

[Above the Streets]

Jet stares at the dragon and lets out a boisterous laugh. "Well, then!" He chuckles, pushing himself into a dive. "You here to see what Jet Wyvern is made of? Let me show you! Come on!"

CALIBRATION COMPLETE
VEHICLE PROJECTION READY

Jet snaps his fingers and his vehicle re-materializes around him, continuing his dive toward the grounf as the engines start up, quickly pushing it past terminal velocity before he starts the turn into a banking climb, cutting a wide spiral in the sky.

Now where did that turbine dragon go?

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

As it turns out lots of shouting and waving swords around is apparently enough to at least give the dazed people pause.

That's good, right?

The swordsman will be able to see more strands of silk drifting through the breeze and adhering to the members of the family, each line a psychic chain binding them more and more strongly to the mental haze that hangs over the neighborhood.

"Hold on, no need for violence, sir just calm down."

And then the trio of mummies are diced to bits.

And then the screaming starts.

Howling with terror and blind panic, the people will try to flee away from the warrior who clearly just murdered three people and toward the only obvious safe place anywhere nearby.

Toward the heart of the park.

[Gold Leaf]

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)]

"Fine then, be that way! But dom't forget who blew this thing up!"
Honestly, some people.

After pulling off a good few scales, TASBot scans them into his helmet. Hopefully, he can sell these somewhere to make a profit.

"Well, I'm out of here. I have a quest to turn in."

With that, TASBot turns towards the tavern and takes off running towards it, finding that he's now hitting just over 90 mph at top speed.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

"No! Wait! You're supposed to run away from me! Away from the park!", the swordsman shouts to the fleeing people. What to do? He is strong and fast enough to catch them and bodily drag them out of the park. But that would involve a lot of kicking and screaming while not really getting at the root of the problem.

So, the swordsman breaks into a run towards the heart of the park, dashing ahead of the fleeing family. He cuts left and right with his swords as he goes, shredding strings of silk and pieces of the illusion. Maybe he tears enough it apart, the family will realize the danger they're in and begin fleeing in the right direction.

[Lord Magtok]

Dust-Free Derelict -> Robot Radio

[Dust-Free Derelict]

"...Oh! That makes sense, actually." Phoebe gives a little nod. "If we're getting rid of them anyway, why not put them to good use first? No point in wasting resources!" She grins and falls into step alongside Prime, giggling a bit to herself. "See, this is why you get a leadership position. You're a clever one." The gynoid gushes. "...Although, conquering the multiverse... that's a bit ambitious, isn't it? I mean... aren't you worried about running into another world's Magtok Prime?" The gynoid facepalms almost as soon as she says it. "Oh! Duh! Of course not! Anywhere that you go that has a Prime coming in will have a Prime going out at the same time! Besides, you two would be besties, wouldn't you?"

"If there is a greater Magtok, I will concede. You have to recall, however, that we are in the Nexus, a crossroads of universes, the ideal staging ground for expansion into the multiverse. I have met several Magtoks here already, and none were comparable, not even in my current imperfect state," Prime waves a hand dismissively. He is Magtok Prime, there is no one greater, especially not once he owns the entire Nexus. Even the mightiest can be bent to his will and assimilated into his empire when he has every living soul within this entire world melded into one psionic sea, an ocean of psychic force so vast it can scarcely be comprehended, let alone resisted.

"How far is this damned radio station anyway?"

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

This is a pretty profound problem.

People who are both panicked AND ensorceled will rarely do what you're hoping they'll do.

The swordsman runs ahead of the family, sweeping his sword this way and that to slice through the strands of silk trailing through the air. And, thankfully, that appears to help. As the starts are brushed away from the people sense gradually seeps back into their eyes until at last, with a terrified gasp, they see the surroundings for what they are.

"What... what were we doing..."
"Those monsters, there are monsters everywhere!"

Ah good.

Clutching their children to them, looking around with horror, this is what the swordsman needed.

"We were running straight into that trap, weren't we?"
"Thank you, we can make it out from here."

Thus! The rescued family turns to flee. Excellent!

And this has placed the swordsman closer to the center of the web, too. Silk is everywhere. On the ground under his feet. Hanging from the trees. Woven around human bones to make deeply unsettling abstract art. There are more pulsating chrysalis nearby, slowly breathing. The world nearby breaths with them.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Above the Streets]

Off Jet goes.

So the dragon pursues.

It doesn't take him very long at all to figure out where the dragon went, as long as he looks directly behind him.
Evidently when he did his turnaround, it had redirected its own "engines" in a fairly aggressive direction change that probably should have torn the limbs from its shoulders.

But it didn't.
And now the dragon's right there.

It's still pretty hard to see particularly clear details through the haze of silver fire surrounding it, but one gets the impression that it is screaming at him.
Not that they can tell, going faster than the speed of sound.

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)]

Now, if TASBot decides to seek out one of the addresses on that business card he was given, he'll find himself standing in front of a rather plain-looking office building.
The same name as the card is branded above its door, SYNCOPE ADVENTURES.

A dark-haired teenage girl in a generic maroon polo/khaki pants ensemble is standing outside the door, reading a book and generally looking apathetic about the world at large.
The name tag she wears says "Syncope".

[Recaiden]

[Definitely Normal Errands]

Zee is mostly just puzzled by that line of thought.

Is this one of those 'multiple souls in the same body' things?

Like possession?

She's pretty sure that's what is being described.

If that's what's going on then she can understand where the hiveling is coming from. Lots of people have souls! Just... people who aren't her. Because a soul is a part and she hasn't got any of those.

Zee opens her mouth to say something only to get fwap!ed in the face with a really large half-cooked pancake.

"AAAAAAH Breakfast golem assault!" she wails in dismay, pulling the pancake free to get a better view of-!

A pancake elemental!

It's stomping around market street throwing pancakes at people.

Which...

Isn't really dangerous?

Honestly?

It is kind of rude, though. Throwing pancakes at people.

Zee has now completely lost her train of thought, which is understandable.

The devil leans over and takes a bite out of the pancake. Considers for a moment.

"This is undercooked."

So the obvious thing is to finish cooking that golem!

"Come now, Zee. No time for sandwiches; we have to save breakfast."

That said, they tromp out to face the golem, ducknig under an oncoming pancake.

Is the thing throwing parts of itself, that will eventually run out? Or is it a bottomless well of pancakes?

[Rebonack]

[Definitely Normal Errands]

The pancake elemental won't run out of pancakes! Its body is a living portal to the paraelemental plane of pancakes and as such has an unlimited supply!

Like all elementals, really. Or, well. Not all of them. The ones that look like this, anyway. One just has to smack it around long enough that the portal destabilizes and it comes apart.

"Fine, fine," Zee signs, ducking under another pancake hurled at her. "Where did this goofy thing come from, anyway?"

At about this time a gnoll comes running out of nearby building with a sign on it that prominently features a pancake golem.

Magically Delicious

"Help! I tried summoning a pancake paraelemental for the grand opening of my pancake house but it went HORRIBLY WRONG!" wails the gnoll half-covered in equally half-baked pancakes nearby.

Oh.

Well.

That explains it then, doesn't it?

[Gold Leaf]

[Let's Fight a Dragon! (Streets)]

Now outside of the tavern, TASBot starts running in the direction of one of the waypoints set as the addresses. He turns his map off, since it's no help to him here, but if he runs in the general compass direction he should hopefully find it just fine.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

Something about this abundance of silk is eeriely familiar. The swordsman has to pause and check if that is another illusion, but no, it is a genuine, if faded, memory. He remember walking into a cave, strands of silk wrapping around pillars of stone, a labyrinth-museum of trinkets and treasures taken from all over the world...

... it makes him nervous. He's not sure why. What was in that place that was so terrifying? Well whatever it was, it cannot have been the same thing as here.

... he's pretty sure it cannot be the same thing....

The swordsman sneaks closer to the center, blades held ready. He synchronizes his own breathing with pulsating chrysalis, trying to find the same rhythm, gain insight to what kind of spiritual power lies within. He tunes his steps to that same rhythm too, hoping it will make him less likely to disturb and alert whatever creatures is hatching here.

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

Time, fate, dreams, a heady bouquet of esoteric sensations drift in the air with the loose strands of silk.

The swordsman is fortunate that he has been busy brushing the silk away from himself every time more drifts onto him, otherwise it would be using those whispers of memory to craft another illusionary reality for him to get lost in.

But he does not suffer that fate.

Instead, he creeps further into the nest of torpor.

One of the chrysalises bursts open as he passes it, spilling forth a slurry of glittering, oily fluid, a full skeleton worth of human bones, and another monster.

Its carapace is still a nearly white shade of lavender, slowly darkening and hardening in the air. The creature is long, slender, and serpentine. Four legs. Two clawed arms covered in spinnerets. Four diaphanous, transparent wings. Its draconic head is disturbingly snake like with a human face as its crown, curling horns growing out of the eyes. It wheezes as it hauls itself across the ground, flicking its wings in air to dry them faster. Its body crackles with electricity and psychic power.

The monster hasn't done anything overtly threatening. Yet. It's just busy pulling itself out of the slime that was left behind by its hatching.

[bc56]

Instant Messaging
<TheFox> No, I can't. Something's come up, I think it's best if we put our meetings on indefinite hold.
Jade doesn't want to meet anymore. That's unexpected. She's been a cool aunt or something to Siana for a while, why the sudden change?

[Ironsmith]

Dust-Free Derelict -> Robot Radio

"If there is a greater Magtok, I will concede. You have to recall, however, that we are in the Nexus, a crossroads of universes, the ideal staging ground for expansion into the multiverse. I have met several Magtoks here already, and none were comparable, not even in my current imperfect state," Prime waves a hand dismissively. He is Magtok Prime, there is no one greater, especially not once he owns the entire Nexus. Even the mightiest can be bent to his will and assimilated into his empire when he has every living soul within this entire world melded into one psionic sea, an ocean of psychic force so vast it can scarcely be comprehended, let alone resisted.

"How far is this damned radio station anyway?"

[Robot Radio]

"...The what, now?" Phoebe blinks uncomprehendingly.

Fortunately, there's not any time to answer Phoebe"s question. The next corner they round puts them in front of an abandoned, but still structurally sound, building. There's a powered-down neon sign in the front, proudly displaying the radio station's callsign: NXSA. There doesn't look to be anyone else here, though.

Oh, wait. Now there is.

Prime and Phoebe are greeted by a couple that look like they just got back from their wedding. Apart from her bridal attire, the woman looks just like Phoebe; dark hair and eyes, pale skin, average build, projected over a plastic endoskeleton. The man, however, looks comically top-heavy, with broad shoulders that are further exaggerated by his tuxedo-like suit. He stands a good head taller than Malice, glaring down at the psychic overlord through a pair of cheap platic shades.

"{Hi! You must be Lucy and Ares, right?}" Phoebe greets in a chipper tone, her confusion momentarily forgotten.

"{The same.}" The woman replies with a little nod, before turning her attention to Prime. "{Is this the AI you mentioned? He looks a little... small.}"

"{That's him! Say hi, mister Prime!}"

[Above the Streets]

Off Jet goes.

So the dragon pursues.

It doesn't take him very long at all to figure out where the dragon went, as long as he looks directly behind him.
Evidently when he did his turnaround, it had redirected its own "engines" in a fairly aggressive direction change that probably should have torn the limbs from its shoulders.

But it didn't.
And now the dragon's right there.

It's still pretty hard to see particularly clear details through the haze of silver fire surrounding it, but one gets the impression that it is screaming at him.
Not that they can tell, going faster than the speed of sound.

[Above the Streets]

Hm. That dragon appears to be faster than he is. Likely heavier, too. That means its engines (if that's indeed what they are) have to be a lot more powerful than his.

Which might present a problem. Jet's rig is designed for a high top speed, at the expense of acceleration and mobility. It's still much easier to start, stop, and turn than most things, but relative to the dragon, the difficulty in changing direction produces a more than trivial obstacle.

Jet throws the rig into high gear and pushes ahead as quickly as his engines can burn. If the dragon maintains its course to try and catch up with him, he'll pull up suddenly and dismiss the rig, causing him to decelerate rapidly as drag takes hold, with the intent of catching onto the dragon when it comes up to his position.

Assuming it doesn't just snatch him out of the air and eat him. This is a stupid plan.

But it's the only one he has for now.

Instant Messaging
<TheFox> No, I can't. Something's come up, I think it's best if we put our meetings on indefinite hold.
Jade doesn't want to meet anymore. That's unexpected. She's been a cool aunt or something to Siana for a while, why the sudden change?

[Instant Messaging]

SunChild15 is typing...

...

SunChild15 is typing...

<SunChild15> Oh.

SunChild15 is typing...

<SunChild15> Did you come down with another cold or something?
<SunChild15> Oh, wait.
<SunChild15> That lady from HALO showed you how to handle a cold if one came up. This would have to be something *worse*, wouldn't it?
<SunChild15> Don't worry. I know someone who can help!
<SunChild15> Probably.
<SunChild15> ...If you want.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

The swordsman sneaks closer to the hatched beast. With one eye he glances at the skeleton that was left over from the transformation. Interesting. It would appear the larva, or whatever, of these creatures use soft tissues of captured humans as fuel for their metamorphosis. The face is curious, still. He wonders how much of a human, if any, is still inside.

Sadly, he has no way to undo this transformation, other than the usual: destruction of the corporeal form and hope that the spirit will have better luck in its next reincarnation.

So, while the creature is still getting used to the world around, he attacks, one cut to strike off the head and another to cut the body in half.

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

At this point in its life cycle the hatchling is more pathetic than any real threat. Thought there's a pretty good chance it WILL be a threat given a bit of time to grow up. Interestingly it looks quite a bit different from the cricket-like creature our hero decapitated earlier. This one is... maybe not immediately identifiable. It's somewhat reminiscent of an earwig or maybe a rove beetle, though the enlarged forearms covered in spinnerets are certainly different. Its hands are distrubingly human in shape, just with pale chitin instead of skin.

None of that matters, probably.

Because it just got hacked into several pieces.

The rippling of the silk in the world around it becomes violent and jagged, bright jarring colors flashing through it for a moment before falling still and dark.

Dead.

Likely for the best.

Traveling deeper into the nest, the swordsman will find that it largely doesn't even resemble a forest any longer, but rather halls of spun silk with bits of moth-dust floating in the air. At its heart is... something not unlike a literal heart. A huge construct of bone and chrysalis, tubes of silk running away from it and snaking through the surroundings. Arcs of pale lavender lightning lick across it, touching at the surroundings like the feelers of some massive jelly fish. Unearthly colors swirl within, dreaming visions of fate.

It is not unguarded.

There is also a dragon.

A dragon shaped in the more traditional sense. If it had six legs, the wings of a huge moth, insect mandibles flanking its jaws, and a hide made of chitinous plates. There's a human face on its forehead where an insects three simple eyes would typically be. The monster raises itself up upon spotting the swordsman, fanning its great wings and filling the chamber with moth powder, lighting crackling between the motes of shimmering dream dust.

Then the mouth on its head opens and speaks, a voice without words.

You destroy what you do not understand. Lay down and sleep. Or perish in terror. Either way, you will be at peace.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Misf Park]

The swordsman regards the heart-like construct and the moth-dragon with indifference. "You are a clear and immediate threat to humans of this world. I can only sleep easy when that is no longer the case", he says plainly. "If destroying you is what it takes so be it." He dashes forward, expecting the creature to try to catch him with its mouth or slam him with its forelegs. He is aiming to dodge to its side and sink his longer sword deep between segments of its chitin plates. He doesn't expect one strike to fell a beast of this size, but it's a start.

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

The dragon does neither of those things.

Instead it leaps into the air, the chamber swelling around it, silk stretching and straining, to give it as much room as it needs to maneuver in the space. At the same time thick walls spring up around the heart, many layers of durable (and electrified!) fibers sealing it off from the rest of the room.

Simply flapping out of reach would be irritating but not particularly threatening.

Which, of course, means the monster does much more than that.

The wing-beat sends a concussive wave of lightning-charged dust exploding out from where the creature leapt with hurricane force, enough to send a man tumbling helplessly across the ground. Getting flung around like a rag doll isn't comfortable. Nor is getting shocked.

Opening its mouth, the plates cover its body beginning to vibrate.

And then to sing.

The world around it dances in beat with its thrumming song.

A dreadful psychic attack is building.

[Morty]

[Glass Lake Penitentiary - Morgue]

Michalson's eyes narrow. Sandels suddenly reminds him of some people he used to deal with. He did not like dealing with those people one bit. And the way the bandaged berk feels himself to be a cut above him is clear as day.

"Aye. That would be an interestin' meetin'," he says slowly. "It's true that it'd be complicated. Both the matter of your identity and your body. But it's a choice you have. Stay 'ere and you have a chance to be your own person, not a tool waitin' to be used."

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

The swordsman is held back by the blast of wind and lightning and his swords meet only air. This is cheating! The chamber wasn't nearly big enough for a creature of that size to take flight!

But that's hardly the only abnormal thing here. He notes the high amount of dust in the air. Dust mixed with air is highly flammable, yet for some reason, the crackle of electricity has not set in on fire. One or the other is not following normal laws of nature - either the lightning is not quite real or the dust is of some exotic substance.

Hmmm.

The creature's song, while an ill omen, gives him chance to sing a song himself.

"From heaven you were born / struck by hand of God / fell down in arc of light / sundered the skies and earth!" The swordsman embeds his shorter sword into the ground to free his left hand.

"Slumbered in the soil / sleeping in the marshlands / unknown to Man / now revealed to all!"

He lifts his hand up and red flame begins to flicker on it. That itself might be enough to set off an explosive chain reaction. If not, it is simply a question of who finishes their song first.

"Through words of origin / by song of your birth / in name of the Reaper / I call and command you! Path of Destruction: Crimson Flame Cannon!"

Time to see if dream-dust burns...

---

[Glass Lake Penitentiary - Morgue]

Sandels notices the look and returns it. "Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm simply telling you what the protocol was so you understand why she acts the way she does. It's nothing personal."

Bunny seems lost in thought. Michalson's bit about her being her own person clearly appealed to some real desire of hers. She rocks back and forth, a hand cupping her chin. After a while, she looks at Michalson, smiling slightly. "You are a lot nicer to me than I expected, detective..."

Sandels smirks, glancing at her, then at Michalson. "Looks like someone has made a good impression."

"... earlier I thought you'd be just as heartless as him", she continues, pointing at Sandels.

"Hey now!"

She resumes weighing her options, exchanging look with Sandels. Michalson might feel there's some kind of silent discussion going on there. About what, is harder to say, but it's not hostile.

"If I stay here, can I make requests for the kind of body you will make me?", she finally asks Michalson.

[Lord Magtok]

[Robot Radio]

Spoiler

Show

[Robot Radio]

"...The what, now?" Phoebe blinks uncomprehendingly.

Fortunately, there's not any time to answer Phoebe"s question. The next corner they round puts them in front of an abandoned, but still structurally sound, building. There's a powered-down neon sign in the front, proudly displaying the radio station's callsign: NXSA. There doesn't look to be anyone else here, though.

Oh, wait. Now there is.

Prime and Phoebe are greeted by a couple that look like they just got back from their wedding. Apart from her bridal attire, the woman looks just like Phoebe; dark hair and eyes, pale skin, average build, projected over a plastic endoskeleton. The man, however, looks comically top-heavy, with broad shoulders that are further exaggerated by his tuxedo-like suit. He stands a good head taller than Malice, glaring down at the psychic overlord through a pair of cheap plastic shades.

"{Hi! You must be Lucy and Ares, right?}" Phoebe greets in a chipper tone, her confusion momentarily forgotten.

"{The same.}" The woman replies with a little nod, before turning her attention to Prime. "{Is this the AI you mentioned? He looks a little... small.}"

"{That's him! Say hi, mister Prime!}"

{Fall to your hands and knees. My height will seem more than sufficient from your new vantage point,} Prime commands, a thunderous, malevolent echo in his words as they seek to worm their way into the digital minds around him, to force them to fall in supplication to his psionic tyranny. Small, is he? Small?! You will know what it feels like to be truly small. The moment your kind cease to be convenient cannon fodder for Prime, your circuits will be ripped out of your skulls by your own hands, your wires will hang out of your belly like entrails, and only just before stomping the last of your kind into dust will you finally realize you were in league with a human from the very begin-

{Oh no, my mistake. What I meant to say was hi, mister Prime!} he adds cheerfully, diminishing the severity of his psychological assault by following it up with an incredibly stupid joke. A pointed look and sociopatic smile is given to the groom, as if daring him to try putting those massive arms to use pummeling Prime to death for his hubris. Go ahead, try. Do it, take a step forward and see where it gets you.

[Rebonack]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

When in doubt throw a fireball at something.

When not in doubt, also throw a fireball at something.

Some people might question the wisdom of trying to create a fuel-air explosion in a room that you currently occupy. Especially when that room is full of highly flammable silk already.

But clearly the swordsman has more important things on his mind.

Namely, destroying these abominations.

The fireball goes crackling forward and explodes in mid-air amidst the glittering dust cloud, the power translating to streams of lightning flowing in eldritch symbols as the attack is caught life a fly in a web and dispersed.

Oh.

That's probably why the monster was setting up the dust cloud first. There's a ward humming in the strands of the cobweb permeating the chamber. This monster wanted to make sure it would be difficult to fight back while it's flying way up there and doing... whatever that song is about to do.

Well, let's find out shall we?

The song does.

A weight of psychic power comes crashing down around swordsman, trying to pull his mind off into a blissful dreamland. That is absolutely not where he wants to be right now.

[Vahnavoi]

[Glimmer Mist Park]

Ah, so that's what it was. Neither is the dust simply dust nor is the lightning simply lightning. They govern the occult Paths giving power to words and sounds. The swordsman looks at the web, humbled. His mastery of the Paths is nowhere near great enough to undo this. He knows what's coming, but cannot, in the time left for him, come up with a counter. The lead blanket of sleep falls on him and he drops to his knees. As his eyelids begin to droop, he imagines a field of snow, with a great mountain in the distance, silent, majestic, peaceful...

... wait a second.

Inside his dream, the swordsman stands amidst the snow, leaning his chin to knuckles of his right fist, thinking.

He has been here before. This is his dream. He knows he is dreaming.

The monster may have driven him out of the waking world, but at the same time, it has driven him into a place where he has power.

A surreal thought hits him. Acting on a faded memory, he draws a dream copy of his sword. The monster wants to pull him into a dreamland? Very well. He will counter by pushing the dreamland back into the waking world. He cuts the peaceful landscape apart like a cheap painting, burning pieces falling into a dark void. He steps into that void, rings of flame rippling under his feet.

Stairs beginning from nothing, ending in nothing. Eternal darkness all around.

In the silk-covered chamber, where the body of the swordsman fell, the fabric of reality quakes. Psychic energy emanates from the sleeping man, his internal reality struggling to superimpose itself on the physical world. Wisps of blue flame appear around him as he stands up, still asleep. The dragon ought to act fast, to make him dream of what it wants him to dream of again, lest it end up in a place it absolutely does not want to be in.

[Geopol4r]

[Steele Street Murder]
Professor Hyeonbin Jin strolls the smoke filled street. It doesnt help that he's smoking a cigarette. Hyeonbin stops a few people, asks a question or two, then moves on.
He stops at a factory and enters. He goes to the office of the factory. Hyeonbin requests a meeting with the director.
He waits, still smoking. The assistant asks him what he needs the director for.
His nephew was murdered in this building, and I'm offering my services. I don't know much, but it shouldn't be hard to get some information.