A middle-aged Kobold woman prowled the streets of London, staying covert and underfoot with little effort. She held a phone in her hand, rapidly mashing out the number of her employer—or rather, the first number of four or five proxy numbers and obfuscating encryption systems in order to eventually reach her employer, Job the android. Her leader, too. She had 4 bricks of C4 on her, but it was Job that was going to actually point her where to go.
The Maid
Somewhere on the city, a suit clad young woman rested her back against the wall of a church, omnicell out in her hand as she quickly wrote commands into it. After a few seconds, Jayneth Owen appeared as available on a couple online registries and recruitment sites for bodyguard duty. She currently didn't have many plans besides hitting the gym later on and some money would be welcome.
With that done, she slid the device back onto her pocket and then pulled lightly on her enchanted half gloves to fit them neatly, brown eyes looking over the passing crowd looking for trouble. In a corner of her mind she acknowledged that it would be best at all if there were no trouble at all, but she kind of lived on putting a stop to it.
With all the new species and races pouring into the world after the death of all men, a human wasn't really the most intimidating thing to walk the streets... hell, most races were either big, strong, regenerated, had magic or some other trick up their sleeve. At one time, humans could wave around their technology, but once again it seemed like there were races hiding with even better toys hidden. Now, in this integrated world technology was at hands of everyone with the cash to get it. Magic, to a lesser extend, was too...
Still, there was something to Jayneth that hinted at someone not be messed with too lightly. A hint of competence and grace in the way she moved through the crowd, how her keen eyes constantly took in the world around her... And to those who knew of her, her reputation as a fierce, if reckless, enforcer of the law.
"Hmmm..."
On the rooftop of the University College of London, there napped a young woman. Or rather, a demon wearing the skin of a rather important young lady. That of the heir apparent of the Crois family, who battled politically for the rights of humanity and their place in the council, all the while advocating for equality and tolerance for the magical races. A polished and kind lady, beloved by all who met her, bright and smart with a shinning future ahead of her...
Until the moment she was violently murdered on a dark, smelly alley.
Since that day, her pet kitten had worn her face and nobody had realized the grave crime that was committed that day. Nobody but Kali and the murderer who must have been shocked when Marielle De La Crois had shown up to class the next day without a single scratch.
Kali didn't mind if the murderer tried another go at Marielle... indeed, she was anticipating it to happen. Then she could finally unleash the revenge that burned within her heart every single day. But meanwhile, living as Marielle was a bit hard... she was such a busy girl and frankly, Kali couldn't bother to do all her Mistress accomplished every day. Today she went to class to attend a test... thankfully, she had inherited her Mistress knowledge and smarts, otherwise it would have been highly suspicious how the top student of her class suddenly took a dive to answer all questions in the test with a meow.
However, after that she turned down all invitations to go out, bowed out of her club with the excuse of working on a new proyect and then... went to the roof to nap. Who could blame her? The sun shined marvelously and a cat can hardly resist an evening spent in lazy sleep. Besides... now that the sun was starting to dip in the sky her 'proyect' could begin.
And that was baiting. Walk Marielle's fragile looking body around town... baiting the murderer or his minions to go at her. Then they would be met with Kali's claws.
With that in mind, the girl jumped off the top of the building, landing as expected on her feet, and then started to walk around town.
If I'm sure of something it's that I'm not sure of anything.
-♌-
Passerby as one would spare at least one glance aside, if not many, for the girl that was happily skipping her way down a bustling open air market set up in the thoroughfares of one of London's expansive parks. It was actually hard to discern happiness from her, however, given that all three of her heads were those of a dog, barring the occasional fellow canine that could properly read the subtleties of the facial cues of this beastly woman. Even a canine would find it hard, however. Most dogs didn't have the glowering red eyes and abundant 'rip you in half and then some' jawline of a hellhound. Something of a cultural difference, which is an understatement.
Agnes ignored the looks being tossed her way with two of her three tongues slightly lolling in the wind, the heads dragging behind her wake as if asleep. Having all three brains active typically wasn't necessary, and only would serve to confuse the woman more than she usually was confused to begin with. So one head took the lead, the one conveniently positioned in alignment with the front of her body, in all it's seemingly pristine shape. Only at the exposed hands could one tell the undead nature of this creature, the greying of flesh whose necrosis was arrested only by dark magics. Between the three hellhound heads and the fact that she was a walking decaying corpse, it was amazing the girl wasn't set ablaze by some stray priest in the name of some deity.
However, at least in this city, a wandering undead was an accepted sight. Perhaps not welcome, but surely accepted. There were few necromancers active in the city and none were especially known as enemies of the public. Enemies of inflexible morality, perhaps. So it was the nature of passerby to blindly assume that this walking automaton representing two species was simply a harmless servant of one of the cities registered masters of the dead.
Ah, but it was far from that simple.
Agnes, unfortunately, was having trouble at that moment remembering what precisely it was that Master had told her to do. It involved going somewhere and doing something. Maybe somewhere and doing some things. Or multiple places and doing one thing. Agnes wasn't the epitome of brain power. Wasn't even average in that regard. The cadence of her footsteps stalled, passerby who had been oncoming were now passing around a still figure in the center of a crowded marketplace, bobbing slightly in place as she struggled to recall what she was trying to do in the first place.
♌
Too Orky For You
Cassie made her way around her penthouse suite, preparing things for the guest she was expecting. Taki was always a blast to have around even if the harpy wasn't exactly the brightest. And she was just so adorable!!! Cassie doted on her young ward ever since he other girl had kidnapped her in an attempt to find someone to propagate her race, the poor thing.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ Will you make a contract with me?
Discordian Agent
The Skies of London
Taki was practically humming with excitement, as she darted through the skies, small brown bags carefully clutched in her talons. She was still wearing the cheap vest, with 'Susan's Couriers' emblazoned across the back, as she approached one of the taller buildings in town. The end of her work days was always a great time for the young harpy, as it usually either meant she was free for visiting one of the many nice people around London or that she was finally free to hunt down a proper mate. Her boss had made it quite clear that she was not supposed to become 'romantic' with anybody when she was carrying packages around, after the first couple of incidents. Her boss had even threatened to tan her hide if she did it while on the job again, whatever that meant.
Anyway, the important thing was the nice vendor down by the corner had introduced her to some new kind of food, that she promised was delicious. It was kind of hard for her to tell, as she couldn't really pin down the smells coming through the boxes, but she figured the nice Miss Cassie would know more about it.
Moments later she was hovering outside one of the windows, to the snake-woman's suite, pondering a small problem. With her talons full of this new 'Chin-y' food, and her wings occupied with keeping her in the air, she wasn't sure how she was going to let herself in through the window. A moment later, Cassie would likely here a thumping sound, as the snow harpy tried to juggle the food, flight and the latch to the window all at once. Though she hadn't gotten the window part down, she seemed to be doing a pretty good job of keeping everything aloft, for now.
edited 2nd Feb '14 4:43:33 PM by dungeonguy88
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
Night fell, and the sad flock came to her, as she knew they would.
"Here, please eat," Cirnaea said quietly, handing out a bowl of thick potato soup to a bedraggled, filthy old woman wrapped in rags. "Imperfect as our mortal forms are, we must take care to maintain them, Bess," she admonished her gently, folding her arms back across her metallic stomach. "We cannot rely on the Machine God to constantly repair the damage our own hands have wrought to Its creations." Bess didn't seem to be listening, her eyes focused on the soup as she slurped it noisily; Cirnaea smiled wistfully and moved on, leaving the old woman to her meal.
The needs of the many homeless people of London never really changed. Fewer were coming in now that the ravages of the winter were over and the nights were at least slightly warmer; some had found shelter elsewhere, perhaps, or found good fortune and been employed. Some had died in the freezing cold, perhaps never to be identified, listed only as Jane Doe at the LPD morgues. That group was probably the largest, and it made Cirnaea's heart ache beneath her breastplate as she looked around her small mission. There weren't enough beds or bowls for everyone who needed them, and that was a fact as inescapable as the perfected segmentation of time counted out by the Gear Clocks in the chapel. Materials were short already, even discounting the immense costs incurred by every ensouling; that the Clockmistress expected her to also give financial aid and support to the Traitor Mechanism was unthinkable. But it was not the place of a mere mission head to question orders, any more than it was the place of a gear to question the mainspring. The Traitor Mechanism would receive his money from her hands, and she would pray that the Machine God would forgive her.
It's been fun.
Too Orky For You
Cassie definitely hear the thumping sound, though it took her a few moments to track down precisely which window Taki was hovering outside of. Once she did, she gave an affectionate sigh as she opened the window to let the young harpy in. "Taki, it's so wonderful to see you!" the serpentine woman said as she gave the harpy a powerful hug. The serpents that made up her hair were either adding to the hug by wrapping themselves loosely around the younger woman or playfully hissing and flicking over her face with their tongues.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ Will you make a contract with me?
Discordian Agent
Cassie's Suite
By the time Cassie had gotten to the window and worked it open Taki had somehow managed to move one of the paper bags from a talon to mouth. It seemed she was still trying to pass it to her other talon, so that both would be held in one, rather than just taking advantage of her free talon. Looking up from the flapping tangle of limbs, as Cassie opened the window, Taki grinned around the bag in her mouth before chirping "Hello, Miss-..." Not keeping mind of the bag in her mouth, she soon watched as the bag of Chinese food plummeted to sidewalk down below "...Awww."
Soon caught up in the hug from the affectionate snake-woman, as she was pulled into the apartment, the harpy started giggling before hugging her back. A moment later she held up her other bag of food "Guess what I found? There was this nice lady with all kinds of noodle-y food. And un-noodle-y foods too...but, I dropped those, I think." Noodles were probably one of the few 'bland' foods that Taki enjoyed. She often ended up playing with the food in all kinds of messy ways as she ate it. It was by far one of the most fun foods she had discovered since leaving her clan.
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
Kyrka Nynha approached the Machine Church poor shelter, hand resting gently on the pistol hidden beneath her sweater. This place itself wasn't an issue, but the controversy it attracted made her always think there'd be some self-styled heroic adventurers looking for a fight every time she came here. Weaving through the crowd, she slipped behind the food line and tugged on the high priestess's dress—Cirnaea. "Eventful night, Cirnaea. Thanks for the donations to the cause. If I don't have any orders from up on high, you got room for another worker here?" She tightened her grip on her gun. If there was any time the Council would strike, it would be now.
Deranged X-Mas Figure
Just then, Kyrka Nynha's cellphone rang...
Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around
Cirnaea turned around to face the kobold tugging on her robe, her face settling into a neutral mask. The Traitor Mechanism's plans were always short-sighted, it seemed... though she felt a brief flash of sympathy for the misguided creature. Comparing the Gearmistress to the Traitor Mechanism was tantamount to blasphemy, but the feeling of simply waiting for orders... that she could sympathize with. "I appreciate your offer, but your assistance is unneeded," Cirnaea replied, letting the thanks go without comment to simply hang awkwardly in the air. "Your money is in the usual place in the alley. Use this key and leave it in the lockbox." She handed Kyrka a tarnished brass key with her lower right arm.
It's been fun.
Kyrka grinned and nodded. "Thanks. I believe the phrase in my own tongue is Arrp'oww-ee Heerroww Markakh Pre'koww. The Machine Is Not Just A Tool. Keep an eye out. No idea what the Council's going to pull."
She turned and headed down the alley, answering her phone. "Hey, Job, what's going on? How's my favorite Deus Ex Machina doing?"
Deranged X-Mas Figure
"Funny," said the voice on the other end of the phone. "...Actually, it is kind of funny, now that I think about it... Anyway. I know you're raring to stir up some trouble with the Council, but I'm afraid that will have to wait. After all, if we attack them without they having made the first move, we would only look like the enemy in the eyes of the masses; there's something to be said about letting the other players move their pieces first. In the meantime, there's something else I want you to do. There's an android production facility, just a few blocks down from where you should be. I want you to head down there; as it is, any androids that come out of there are nothing more than slaves without any free will of their own, and I've still been unable to locate whoever gave that to me to start with. As far I know, there's nothing to be done, except to prevent those poor souls from being created in the first place. It'll also show that we mean business without drawing too much ire; we don't want to bring the entire government upon us now, do we? And it'll also show the people part of what we stand for. You copy?"
edited 2nd Feb '14 6:48:10 PM by kkhohoho
Doctor Who — Long Way Around: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13536044/1/Doctor-Who-Long-Way-Around
"I copy. I know the place. I'll make sure to scare off any workers before I set the charges off." Kyrka said back into the phone. "Maybe they'll consider why we do what we do after this attack." Skittering into the back-alleys, she made her way up onto the rooftops, using the natural claws all Kobolds have as climbing picks. From there, she darted across town, headed for the android factory.
Cirnaea went back to handing out soup and bread after the kobold left, making her way carefully through the lost and scared with bowls in each of her many hands. "Please, eat," she told them, setting the nourishing food before them. "You are all welcome to this food and to our beds." As many as they had, anyway. Soon they would be reaching capacity, and those who came later would have to be turned away, back into the chill of the evening. There really was nothing to be done for them... "Remember that the Machine God urges us all to higher heights of perfection in form and thought," she reminded her sad flock, her mind still lagging behind on other things.
It's been fun.
Too Orky For You
Releasing the harpy, Cassie swayed back slightly on her tail to give some room to the other girl. Looked like she had brought in some Chinese food. Hmmm... hopefully she hadn't dropped the box with meat. "Well come on Taki, let's dig in and eat!" waving Taki on ahead of her to the dining room while her tail jabbed a button on the wall to call the front desk, "This is Miss Cassiopeia, please send someone to clean up a box of Chinese food that fell from my eastern windows please."
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ Will you make a contract with me?
Discordian Agent
Cassie's Suite
At Cassie's direction Taki quickly took flight in the apartment, towards the dining room and dropped the bag off on the table in a smooth motion. A moment later she was already back at the other woman's side, before she chirped "I put it in there. And you don't need to worry them, I'll get the rest of it. In fact, I drop my food all the time!" Another moment later, the harpy was starting to head back towards the window, apparently with every intent of collecting the Chinese food from below, and bringing it back up to the apartment.
edited 2nd Feb '14 10:26:12 PM by dungeonguy88
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
King of Lame-Style
The cement of the city's sidewalks and streets clopping under her hooves marked the march of the woman of the Royal Guard. Her watch on her hand and the head of an old stern gray haired woman projecting out of it in hologram form. The woman had just briefed her in of changes in the patrol routes and schedules, saluting before signing off. She pocketed her watch and carried on marching. Hounds of the Queen, Puppets of the State, Glorified Cops, she snickered at those names and worse for she was also admired, respected, trusted. To protect the city directly, deployed by the Crown, the elites serve, such is the duty of the Royal Guard.
edited 3rd Feb '14 1:02:07 PM by sanojutsu
The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.
Too Orky For You
Cassie's Suite
Giving a near inaudible sigh, Cassie's tail swept around the harpies waist and spun her around to face Cassie. Cassie put a finger to her lips and pouted, "Ahh... but if you leave to pick it up... then you'll leave me here, all alone and hungry without you."
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ Will you make a contract with me?
(Avatar by Coffee)
A young-looking centaur, her human body covered in a bright red uniform coat and her brown horse part covered with what amounted to a red blanket, strode through London's streets purposefully, her hooves click-clacking on the asphalt. She had a pack on her wide horse back, and saddlebags hung from her sides; a small bone talisman peeked out of one of them.
She was constantly moving her head, scanning the crowds both on foot and flying; she seemed to look for someone, but obviously she wasn't overly successful. Frustrated, she stopped walking. Taking the talisman from her bag, she twirled it around and muttered some words that sounded more like wind in the desert than anything else.
Apparently satisfied, she returned the little bone effigy to her saddlebag and continued walking, more purposefully this time. After quite a time of such walking, she skidded to a stop in front of another Centaur of all people. Puzzled, Darjeeling nonetheless bowed politely. “Excuse me?” she said.
Discordian Agent
Cassie's Suite
Yelping as she was suddenly pulled back from the windows, she blinked at Miss Cassie's words, before nodding as if suddenly understanding "Ooohhh...I hadn't thought of that. That-...that would have been terrible of me...right?" Taki actually seemed a bit distressed at her perceived thoughtlessness "You have to deal with all those stuffy people all the time, and Taki wasn't going to be here to make you feel better. Taki's sorry." The harpy also seemed to slip into referring to herself in the third-person when distressed. "That was very rude of me...especially, since Taki couldn't remember which side of the building it was on. Taki could have left you alone all night!"
edited 2nd Feb '14 11:35:39 PM by dungeonguy88
"It all depends on how we look at things, and not on how they are themselves." -C.G. Jung
King of Lame-Style
Noelle looked at the red suited centaur in front of her, her piercing blue eyes studying the girl. Fit, red uniform, possibly foreign military, very possibly legally within city borders, should check with the captain later. She swiftly snapped out of it and directed a polite smile "Good evening, ma'am, how may I be of service?" to the woman as she held her rifle to her shoulder.
The graceless warrior, wielder of the edgeless blade, prophet of the old religions, writer of fluent nonsense, saviour of soul and song.
(Avatar by Coffee)
Adjusting her own rifle across her back, Darjeeling took a fuzzy picture of a white-coloured winged humanoid and showed it to Noelle. “I am looking for this person,” she explained. “I have cast a spell of tracking, but it led me straight to you.”
She looked Noelle up and down, noticing the uniform and the various weapons on her person, as well as her decidedly non-winged appearance. “However, it seems I have botched the casting.”
Too Orky For You
Cassie's Suite
"Well no need to worry about it now, dear. You're here with me for the night. A sweet little bird in the den of a serpent." Cassie said playfully as she reached out to tickle Taki's ribs, carefully ensuring that her claws didn't rip the sweet girl apart.
／人◕ ‿‿ ◕人＼ Will you make a contract with me?
London Square
London. March 16, 2060. 6:36 PM.
Current runner-up for most populous city in the world, behind the big apple. Bustling with activity both magical and technological. A lot of the buildings and structures have been changed. Everything looks sleek, but with something of a steam-punk feel.
It's been 30 years since the mysterious death of every male sentient creature on the entire planet. And it's been 25 years since the magical and human races became integrated. Tensions are not as high as they used to be, but there is still strife. The humans are fighting each other over who to elect to the Magical Council. The Magical races are fighting over whether they should even allow humans in the council. And the humans and magical races are fighting each other over land and resources. So really, even though men are gone, not much has changed as far as fighting is concerned.
The sun was setting and the city streets were bustling with all kinds of life. A group of construction workers were developing a building (and hollering at beautiful women that passed by. Someone has to!) A large orc women just misses a taxi, and starts stomping around angrily. Somewhere, a master night elf thief is planning her big heist for the night. A nymph callgirl was getting ready for a night on the town, ready to go into bars to proposition potential "Janes", as they were now called.
If you look around, you can start to see the little things that are different with no men around. But overall, life continues, life is made, and someone somewhere is still planning to kill someone. If this night was going to be any more important than any of the others before it, was hard to say...