HALO 183: The Not Remotely Gritty Reboot

[Felandria]

Entrance Hall

Felandria worriedly looks around and immediately spots Holly.

Holly!

She goes to Holly and hands her the note.

We have an urgent mission!

Are you up for it?

[Zefir]

It would seem he’s threatening all three of us, Nurse.

What shall we do?

Nurse blinks a few times.
"O-oh! Is, is he threatening me?" She asks, confused, taken aback, and stepping back a bit, hand raised against her chest.

[Negotiations]

Mr. C nods in agreement to Fel's words which is funny since he has to move his whole body due to having no neck.

"Guess he is a fur type carnivore." he comments. "I'm not sure. If he is right then there are at least a few more, what throws the question. Where did they come from? And how did they come in? And who send them. Even a hand full of Mimics is far more then you usaly meet in a dungeon."

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

Show

[The Fourth Tower]

Some time after Halo and the Fourth Tower finalized their agreement everything has been arranged the final preparations to integrate are underway. Vax stands alone in one of the rooms they're occupying, looking at a new Ring Transporter that's been installed here. She stands there patiently for a few moments before someone steps through the transporter. The young woman cracks open an eye. Oh hey, she's alive. She relaxes her shoulders and runs her hands over her frizzy hair to make sure it's still there.

"If you're finished cowering like a fresh initiate, Onyeka, inform the others they can come through."

"Yes ma'am!" Onyeka promptly turns around and steps back through. A moment later more people come through carrying various boxes and pieces of furniture. Onyeka comes back through as well and Vax gestures for her to follow her out of the room.

"This is the entrance space." Vax says as they enter a larger room. A pair of vanara maneuver around them and roll out a large rug in the middle of the room. "The front entrance will be open, welcoming. The door to the transporter room will typically be closed. The entrance to the tower is for members only. Are you writing this down?"

"Oh, you bet." Onyeka retrieves a notebook from a pocket on the inside of her poncho and a pencil from down the front of her shirt. She starts to write. "Go ahead."

Vax gives her a look, but continues. "The other four rooms are to be laid out as such. One office, protected by two spirits of silence. Bontu and Korinna have been instructed to summon them."

"Korinna? She's barely been around since she hooked up with that goblin in Riverside." The woman wrinkles her nose. "If I gotta hear one more time about how she wants to have his green ba-"

"Should I trust someone else with your task? I could put you in charge of waste management on the island." Vax interrupts.

"Uh, right. Drag Korinna's ass back. I can do that."

"Good. Two of the other rooms will be summoning chambers. Olumide will need to install inlaid base circles in the precise centers of the rooms. Make sure he understands that if he makes another mistake like he did yesterday I'll put a hex on him such that his descendants will be cursing his name six generations from now."

Onyeka grins. "Six generations. You got it."

"The last room will be for storage. Candles, sconces, incense, thuribles, chalk, the basics. We're not likely to do anything too complex here."

"Anything else?"

"Make sure the decor gives the right impression. This is a public face. It should reflect our history and maintain our dignity." She gestures to the few people who have been working around them to put tapestries on the walls.

"Just leave it to me." Onyeka stows away the notebook. "And what if some of those Halo people come snooping around?"

"Greet them graciously. They are our partners and they should be treated with respect. If someone is out of line report them to me."

"I hear you loud and clear. I better get to work then."

Vax nods and walks back toward the back door and the transporter. She steps aside for a chandelier being carried in and then slips through the door.

[The Fourth Tower]

Someone comes snooping around!

Well, it's less snooping and more making sure it's all going all right. And snooping at the same time. Might as well do both. It's not a matter of distrust. It's just that Reinholdt is very naturally curious. Poking around things is one of his favorite hobbies.

So he knocks upon the door. Merely a man. A really, really amazing man. Screw Jazirian, Harth, Fanboy, even... Wait. He's probably, in fact, the most attractive humanoid to have ever walked the universes, in an over-hyped, inhuman, Stephenie Meyer described, kinda way. Take Amour’s intrigue (without the weird loner, and lover, issues), Nomlas’ boldness (without the uncouth idiocy, and ignoring the occasional bouts of OMG-cowardice), Vespe’s flair (without the moral weakness – don’t try and deny it), Butler’s sexiness (without the overtones of rank easiness), Fanboy’s gothic impressiveness (without the tendency to get on your nerves), and everyone else good looking you can think of’s attractiveness (without that ugly stench of mortality). He has slightly pointed ears, pale, almost luminous skin, big, red-pink eyes, lacking pupils, and a wiry, muscular physique, that screams effortlessness. He's flaming hawt.

[5a Violista]

[Near Labs, having escaped from quarantine]

Juliana has grown bored in the quarantine, so she breaks out. It's not that hard, having already demonstrated the ability to create and dissolve various materials and objects. It'll only be for a moment! she says, justifying herself. And she can still try to think human thoughts, even outside of the quarantine room. In fact, it might even be easier! she claims, because humans don't like being trapped. And she doesn't like being trapped.

...
She has a large white sheet wrapped around her to make it harder to spot and recognize her. Normally, she wouldn't bother but if somebody notices her they'll probably try to bring her back and amp up security or something. ...I guess it's also helpful because it makes it so people can't see her when she talks, which makes it so she can't spread the Memez to them. But she probably didn't think of that.

So, Julia spots Nigel. She gets mad enough to break her cover - hey, getting mad is a good thing, right? Humans get mad.

"It-it's you!" she shouts out. "It's all your fault I got infected!"

Entrance Hall

Felandria worriedly looks around and immediately spots Holly.

Holly!

She goes to Holly and hands her the note.

We have an urgent mission!

Are you up for it?

[Entrance Hall]

Holly, who was initially planning on just going home and taking a break for once, looks at and reads the note. "Really?" That's...not good. So that's what that mysterious person here was about.

"Well, we've got to go right now, then. I'm ready." On the way there, she'll have time to think about what kind of force they'll need to stop the 'villainous plot' or whatever's going on.

[billtodamax]

Labs

Here we go just very delicately titrate the uh... Aqua Fortis, right, that's just nitric acid, very delicately over the fox hair, watch for the colour change, watch for the - Gah! Nigel says as he's shouted at, ruining his fledgling start at a remove curse potion. That fox hair was very expensive.

Wait you're... His eyes flick across to his bag, sitting on the far side of the table. You're infected? What uh... what are you? Why is she Why are you wearing a sheet?

[5a Violista]

[Labs]

"I'm the -" She really wants to say 'the ghost of Thanksmas past' right now but decides against it. After all, she did promise to be serious.

So instead she pauses and has to take a moment to think up an answer. "I'm Juliet. It's so they don't notice I'm not in quarantine anymore," she finally says. Where was she going with this? Oh, right, she was mad.

Julie points back behind her, with the sheet rising to show her feet. "I promised her that I'd think human thoughts which is why I can't let anyone see me out here, but it's so boring there! How am I supposed to get better when I'm lonely?" Factually speaking, though, it seems like it might have the best chance of working. The meme disease, due to making her act stereotypically, would make her more emotionless and uncaring but that conflicts with how being lonely and sad and mad and everything else.

[billtodamax]

Lab

Oh good she just walked out of quarantine. Glad that that's... something that can happen. Did we just forget to lock the doors or what. If you're just bored I can like... bring you a boardgame or something. A deck of cards or whatever. Nigel says. If she just walks back into quarantine this would be a lot easier than having to tranq her. He can't even see what she is maybe she's got a bunch of hard scales or whatever. Or wait... was she the woman that didn't really help him catch Reinholdt? Oh, god, sorry I meant to check back up on you, did Honeysuckle find you? Oh actually, do you want to go sit in quarantine with Felandria and Reinholdt? They're both in Felandria's room right now. She might turn into an actual god or something soon though so... y'know at your own risk.

[5a Violista]

[Lab]

A boardgame or cards? "No thanks, I already played billiards and had some instruments and had a knife to play that one game, y'know, the one where you try to not chop off your fingers."

Not remembering all the names, Juleka chooses to not talk about Honeysuckle and Maria who found her.

"Wait! Stop trying to make me less mad!" she says. "I've got a good reason to be mad, okay? And I'm going to get better in a few hours anyway so there's no point in me going back to be alone, anyway."

She pauses.
She thinks.
"Wait, Reinholdt's that cat, right?" He is the whole reason she came to HALO in the first place. "Sure, I can hang out with him. He's so cute that it sounds fun."

[billtodamax]

Lab

Uh, yeah. He's sick too though, so he's currently just acting like a cat. Felandria's looking after him. Nigel says, still processing everything Julia's telling him. Does he have enough fox hair left to... wait. What do you uh... what do you mean you're gonna get better in a few hours? That isn't uh... how this works. As far as he knows at least. It'd be a pretty crappy engineered disease curse if it just expired after like a day.

[5a Violista]

[Lab]

"That-that's what she said," Juliana claims. She adjusts the sheet so it's no longer like a ghost-blanket but instead is more of a really long shawl that lets her face be seen. She's got glasses on, but they don't have any lenses for some reason. "Y'know..." She mimes Honeysuckle's ears. "The one with the weird glasses. She said she'd be back in a few hours and sign the release papers then. And obviously she wouldn't do that before I get better, because she's probably afraid I might eat her or something."

Note: that's just conjecture. Julia can't actually read minds, so she's just guessing.

[billtodamax]

Lab

Honeysuckle, yeah. Is uh... are you in danger of eating people? Nigel asks, pulling out some more fox hair and getting ready to start his remove curse potions again. What's the stereotype I should be looking out for, here. Sure let's just let her think she'll be cured in a couple hours I guess. Couldn't hurt.

[5a Violista]

[Lab]

"N-no," Juliet says, probably suspiciously. "In spite of what others may say, I've never eaten anyone in my life." Just joked about it a couple of times.

To answer his question, she bares her teeth and makes a biting sound, hitting her teeth together. "My grandma's a shadow monster. Seductive, kinda evil, wants to conquer everything, likes wearing dresses, and a total jerk."

There's a beat.
She adjusts the fake glasses.

Then she adds something else: "But I'm obviously mostly human so you're safe."

[Felandria]

[Felandria's Room]

Rein ignores the laser on the ceiling, standing when Nigel approaches the door and clearly making a few attempts to get through, but they're all false starts with Nigel's body in the way. If Felandria picks up Rein anyways and scritches his belly, all his claws will come out and latch on, accompanied by the hardest bite Rein can manage. Better let him go before he rakes too.

No one scritches the belly.

Ow!

Bad kitty!

Fel lets Rein go and gently naps him on the nose.

Do that again and I’ll smite you!

- - - Updated - - -

[Near Labs, having escaped from quarantine]

Juliana has grown bored in the quarantine, so she breaks out. It's not that hard, having already demonstrated the ability to create and dissolve various materials and objects. It'll only be for a moment! she says, justifying herself. And she can still try to think human thoughts, even outside of the quarantine room. In fact, it might even be easier! she claims, because humans don't like being trapped. And she doesn't like being trapped.

...
She has a large white sheet wrapped around her to make it harder to spot and recognize her. Normally, she wouldn't bother but if somebody notices her they'll probably try to bring her back and amp up security or something. ...I guess it's also helpful because it makes it so people can't see her when she talks, which makes it so she can't spread the Memez to them. But she probably didn't think of that.

So, Julia spots Nigel. She gets mad enough to break her cover - hey, getting mad is a good thing, right? Humans get mad.

"It-it's you!" she shouts out. "It's all your fault I got infected!"

[Entrance Hall]

Holly, who was initially planning on just going home and taking a break for once, looks at and reads the note. "Really?" That's...not good. So that's what that mysterious person here was about.

"Well, we've got to go right now, then. I'm ready." On the way there, she'll have time to think about what kind of force they'll need to stop the 'villainous plot' or whatever's going on.

Then we need to take the next shuttle to Inside right away!

Come on.

And Fel will head to the shuttle.

[5a Violista]

[=> shuttle]

Holly follows her into the shuttle, so that they can arrive at the appropriate location in Inside.

[billtodamax]

Lab

Right, hold onto that. Nigel says, fiddling with his titration setup again. Have you been having any headaches, hallucinations, any impairments to your thoughts recently? He asks, gently twisting the knob to let the liquid pour out of the long tube. After a few seconds the liquid in the bottom container sparks and turns a brilliant purple colour and he quickly shuts off the flow.

[5a Violista]

[Lab]

"Okay, I can hold onto things for you," Julie says. She moves towards him and reaches out to help hold things, possibly missing what he meant. "Which did you want me to hold?"

"No headaches," she says. "No hallucinations."

Julia, however, has had impaired thoughts recently. "So, I've been thinking some things that aren't really what I want to think, you know? That ever happen to you?" Even while describing how she feels, she tries to rope him into it as well. "Like, sometimes I'm doing something but it's not me. If that makes sense?"

[Morty]

[Labs]

A young woman with long, blonde hair, glasses and a labcoat comes walking from another section of the labs.

"Uh, is everything okay here? I've heard yelling."

[billtodamax]

Lab

No I don't, we're probably looking at the early stages here. Nigel says, not bothering to clarify what he was talking about and instead handing her the flask of purple liquid while he sets up a bunsen burner. Don't drink that. He adds. I should be able to make like 4 of these - oh, hi. Nigel says, looking up from his work as Dorota comes in. Keep the sheet on. Hi are you human? Like, 100%? Nigel asks Dorota.

[Mee]

It would seem he’s threatening all three of us, Nurse.

What shall we do?

[Negotiations]

Mr. C nods in agreement to Fel's words which is funny since he has to move his whole body due to having no neck.

"Guess he is a fur type carnivore." he comments. "I'm not sure. If he is right then there are at least a few more, what throws the question. Where did they come from? And how did they come in? And who send them. Even a hand full of Mimics is far more then you usaly meet in a dungeon."

Nurse's eyes go wide.
"A- a- . . .
A fur carnivore?!" She asks, horror in her voice. A large, large mass of tail swishes in front of her, and she hugs it possessively. "Nnnooooooooo, we- we can't have that."

[5a Violista]

]Lab[

Juliana, who is wearing a bedsheet like a cloak, turns away from the blonde labcoated woman so that she's not seen. Getting seen by somebody she's not mad at might lead to them taking her back to quarantine.

She nods and holds the flask. "But it looks so good," she says even though she has no intention of drinking it. It probably tastes awful, to be honest. Most purple things do.

...To be honest, it's probably good Jules is looking away, because she'd make some weird comment about those glasses.

[Felandria]

Nurse's eyes go wide.
"A- a- . . .
A fur carnivore?!" She asks, horror in her voice. A large, large mass of tail swishes in front of her, and she hugs it possessively. "Nnnooooooooo, we- we can't have that."

Fel instinctively leans down and hugs Nurse.

Don’t you worry, Nurse, we’re gonna give these mimics what for.

Mr. C, shall we continue parlay or proceed to the next step?

[Morty]

[Lab]

Dorota blinks slowly.

"Um, yes. Is this about the virus afflicting non-humans that I've heard about?"

She's never been terribly good at talking to people, but she has dutifully read any and all news and reports related to science and health.

[billtodamax]

Lab

Spot on! Nigel says happily. He'll finish setting the bunsen and take the flask (let's call it one of the conical ones that looks very sciencey) from Juleka and starts to heat it on the burner, holding an electric thermometer in the mixture and carefully paying attention as the temperature rises. Juliet here is part uh... shadow monster? So I'm brewing up some remove curse potions here and hoping they'll hold it at bay or she might try to eat me. Hasn't happened before but we all do crazy stuff when we're sick. He doesn't seem... overly stressed about that?

[Zefir]

Fel instinctively leans down and hugs Nurse.

Don’t you worry, Nurse, we’re gonna give these mimics what for.

Mr. C, shall we continue parlay or proceed to the next step?

[Negotiations]

"I don't think we get anything else out of this creature." Mr C says. "We need to find the others and find out who got them here."
And he is sure Felandria can show what the next step is.

[Felandria]

[Negotiations]

"I don't think we get anything else out of this creature." Mr C says. "We need to find the others and find out who got them here."
And he is sure Felandria can show what the next step is.

Well, then.

He has no further information and he is threatening our lives.

I also know mimics have no specific talent for long range communication, so

Felandria pulls out a wand and fires a barrage of Magic Missiles at the door.

[5a Violista]

Lab

Julie nods, causing the sheet shake up and down. "Meanwhile I'm trying to not eat him. Luckily, I'm mad at him so I think that makes it easier." She's not sure, though. "But more likely I'm just waiting, trying to lower his defenses or something like that. Sounds like something I'd do, especially recently."

Recently, however, every attempt she's made at injuring someone other than herself has been horribly incompetent.

[Morty]

[Lab]

Dorota steps further into the lab.

"Right, the virus makes non-humans behave in stereotypical and expected ways, yes? Shadow monsters are known to eat people, so trying to eat you might happen. Are you sure the potions will work?"

[Gullara]

[The Fourth Tower]

Someone comes snooping around!

Well, it's less snooping and more making sure it's all going all right. And snooping at the same time. Might as well do both. It's not a matter of distrust. It's just that Reinholdt is very naturally curious. Poking around things is one of his favorite hobbies.

So he knocks upon the door. Merely a man. A really, really amazing man. Screw Jazirian, Harth, Fanboy, even... Wait. He's probably, in fact, the most attractive humanoid to have ever walked the universes, in an over-hyped, inhuman, Stephenie Meyer described, kinda way. Take Amour’s intrigue (without the weird loner, and lover, issues), Nomlas’ boldness (without the uncouth idiocy, and ignoring the occasional bouts of OMG-cowardice), Vespe’s flair (without the moral weakness – don’t try and deny it), Butler’s sexiness (without the overtones of rank easiness), Fanboy’s gothic impressiveness (without the tendency to get on your nerves), and everyone else good looking you can think of’s attractiveness (without that ugly stench of mortality). He has slightly pointed ears, pale, almost luminous skin, big, red-pink eyes, lacking pupils, and a wiry, muscular physique, that screams effortlessness. He's flaming hawt.

[The Fourth Tower]

The door to the greeting area is intentionally left open, but Rein can certainly knock on it anyway to draw attention to himself. Before that, though, he'll see a few people milling around. Off to the right a pair of people are hanging a tapestry. It's one of the largest in the room and needs to be hung near the ceiling. It depicts primarily a tree, though instead of leaves it has hundreds of eyes. At its base a handful of indistinct figures kneel with their heads tilted back, a torrent of blood pouring from each neck. The bright reds draw the eye in the otherwise muted piece.

"That's not even close to straight. Tilt it left more. Left." A young woman directs. She has her frizzy hair pulled together atop her head. Her dark skin has the sheen of someone who's been out in the heat, despite the climate controlled environment they're in now. Even from this angle he can tell she's wearing the same poncho-like uniform that he's seen Vax wearing.

"Yes, can I-" She turns when Rein knocks, but comes up short. Her eyes train on him, one a regular brown and the other a brilliant orange. "Oh wow, you're radiant."

"Halo." The second person says, from up where they're crouched atop the ladder. The person almost looks ape-like, if apes had teeth like needles and fingers like knives. They let the corner of the tapestry go and one side slumps.

"Oh, yes. Welcome." The young woman walks over to Rein and offers her hand to shake. If he takes it he'll find she squeezes far too hard. "My name is Onyeka. Can I help you with anything?"

[Reinholdt]

[Felandria's Room]

Reinholdt is shocked! Bapped! Him? Bapped?
His head pulls back and he just stares at Felandria indignantly like he can't believe that just happened.

[The Fourth Tower]

"Radiant? Radiant..." Reinholdt repeats, mulling over the word, trying to decide how much he likes it. He must have decided in the positives though because he ends up flashing a smile. "I can't say anyone's ever used that word to describe me before." It is an unusual choice. But usually because he's brooding or mopey or drinking his way there. It's true he's slightly more excited than normal for the Fourth Tower to be there. Maybe it's showing. Either way the flattery seems to work.

Rein looks at the near-ape, sizing them up as well, eyes flicking back and forth between the creature and the tapestry. "Please, don't pause on my account." Or at least, don't let the very large tapestry fall.

Turning back to Onyeka, he takes her hand and shakes, almost instantly filled with regret. If anything at least, he's learned not to show any positive reaction to the pain in front of strangers. Humans always seemed to the hand shaking too far when there were so many better ways to greet people. "Reinholdt, Treasure Hunter Extraordinaire." Rein performs his elaborate flourish, even with the damaged hand. He's far too practiced with it to mess up over a little squeeze.

"I'm just here to greet you. Meet all the new faces. Make sure everything's going smoothly." Rein smiles again before more deliberately looking at the tapestry. "What does it represent?" Reinholdt asks.

[UncleWolf]

Haunted Pool

Kin blinks a few times, then grins, and nods a few more times. "Sure, of course! I, uh, actually have a lot of pillows. Beds, turns out, don't actually work too well for me. But a bed festooned in pillows. That's the ticket.
And I dunno about that at all!" She rubs at the back of her neck, cricking the joints slightly. "The people here are pretty darn understanding and open minded. I think it'd be perfectly okay!"

Haunted Pool

Anja floats up a bit and lays down, settling her chin on her hands like she were laying on an invisible bed while she looks at Kin. "I'm glad to hear it. Mind showing me once you've finished swimming? Or bathing? Or both?" She guesses, finally taking a look around to figure out what the room actually was. For all she knows it was just a bath designed with the lamia's length in mind.