[Desiccated Refinery]

"Waterfront," she said, thoughtfully. Place tasted like Varrick had been given an entire district to play with. Still, it wasn't here. "Sure. Tacky. Bit pricy." Then she tilted her head thoughtfully. "Actually, smart. For you. Only thing more common in Waterfront than hair gel is ambition. Might find someone to pay you for something. Morally questionable, probably. But lack of innocents convenient."

More later, but doing something at least.

Old City

"That's what I'm hoping for," Sophie replied, "I mean, there's this great big city here with lots to do, and it'd be a little disappointing to do nothing else but look for pendants or Pleroma fragments." She frowned. "Especially when that's looking to be a bit of a wild goose chase anyway...."

She shook her head. "Maybe we could talk about ideas about what to do? Or is that something Kiyumi would know more about?" She glanced around again. "Well, as much as we can do both that and look for a store at the same time. I think I might have gotten a little distracted." She made a small self-deprecating chuckle after those last words.

---

New City - Meiko's Cafe

"Noted," Samantha said, still politely, "Those'll be out in a few, I imagine."

At that she turned and rejoined the others for the time being. She shot a quick death glare at Kiyumi before focusing on Linxy.

"How was that for you?" she asked, "Also, do we get notepads or anything like that? I'd like to believe that I have a good memory, but it'd be nice to have somewhere to store orders that's a little more reliable."

---

West Side - Following Sabaoth -> Nearing Desiccated Refinery

"...I'm not sure," Eliza responded to Lara as the group rapidly neared their target, "To me it just feels like delaying the inevitable. And on top of that it'd also give him the chance to do whatever it is he's trying to do, and we probably don't want that."

The district they found themselves in looked was worn down even by the West Side's standards. At one point it was likely very industrial, but now all that remained were lots of abandoned, falling-apart buildings. Yet, by the sounds of Sabaoth's footsteps, it seemed that his destination was somewhere in here. He also seemed to be very close by; if one looked closely the form of the machine could be seen through the buildings.

Eliza stopped for a few moments, mostly to let Lara catch her breath. "Looks like we're almost upon him. Hopefully, even if we don't get any information out of him, we'll at least slow him down." She turned to the others. "...If worst comes to worst and we wind up getting into a fight, there's something you should know about Archon units: they're effectively invincible." She looked at Moreena. "I imagine you'll be able to muster up the force necessary to actually hurt him, if you can't just phase through the mech and hurt him directly, but for you...." She glanced at Lara. "...I don't know what else to say other than that you should probably just run for it rather than try and fight him."

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!

Visitor's District - Visitor Terminal

Gwion had exited the taxi when Seon had and now stood between it - and his protectee - and the one unsecured point: the portal.

He was strongly aware of the increase in activity of the feral part of him and compared it with previous jobs - yes, it was definitely a familiar feeling and he remembered now, in hindsight, how it had always been there in such occasions, including the events of the previous evening.

He was aware, too, of the feeling that both the Morrigan and Ceridwen were close and that Ceridwen's presence was also familiar and tied, in his memory, to previous times of potential combat. The Morrigan was understandable, being the Goddess of Battle, but Ceridwen, the Goddess of Change, well...

He had never before taken the time to note it or analyse it, but now he spared a brief few moments of thought to take note and then filed it away to reflect on later.

The hand off of the case went well and the courier started walking away without asking for payment, not even a tip. Evidently the hotel had built the courier's fee into their final settlement figure.

"If I might ask? It's, er, possible that my employers will send another agent through to try to finish what I started with the Resistance; is there a way you can - they can get in contact with you?"

Gwion nodded and extracted a business card from his wallet. He handed it across the top of the taxi without taking his eyes off the portal. "That's got my number on it, which should reach me if they make the call from here."

As he stowed his wallet again, he was mindful of passing time and the possibility that the trio of pursuers or some other team could arrive at any time. "It'd pay to settle up with the cabbie and me so you can get out of here as quickly as possible before anyone turns up and things start getting costly." He risked a brief look over at Seon and smiled before resuming his watch of the portal. "It's been great meeting you and you're most welcome, but it's time to get you safely home." He hoped that it didn't come across as too brusque but he didn't have time for a lengthy speech.

Inside the cab, at the mention of "settling up with the cabbie", that worthy gentleman looked at the meter with glee - that little tour of Capital City had proven to be quite lucrative. It was almost a pity that it was coming to an end, but the cabbie had gathered from the strange instructions that his fares had been evading pursuit and he had no desire to be around if the pursuers caught up. He wanted to get his money and get the hell out of the Terminal.

once paid, the cabbie will pull away from between Seon and Gwion and get out of the Terminal as fast as possible. I'll leave it up to nrjxll to determine whether Seon gets away before Gev's reinforcements arrive.

[Visitor's District - Visitor's Terminal]

"R-right. P-paying," Seon stammered. He glanced over at the taxi driver's fee, and assessed the amount of local currency he had withdrawn earlier - it should be just enough for both of them. He'd rather not take the time to check if he could make a connection to pay Gwion electronically, not when every moment potentially counted.

He first paid the 'cabbie', then glanced once more at Gwion as he handed the bodyguard the equivalent to the previously agreed-upon sum of 'euros'. "It's been - well, different," he said. "Let's not ever do this again."

Clutching the metal case to his chest, he turned and scurried for the portal, moving just fast enough that it looked as though he was in a hurry to get somewhere for a meeting, and not as though he was running for his life. He didn't look back at the alien city he was leaving behind, simply feeling relieved to get out of there.

Not my best couple of days ever. But I'm alive and free, so not my worst either.

Seon is out. I tried to leave both options open up until this point, but if I'm ever going to use him again in the CDTs it's best that he gets away before Gev's backup team arrives.

[Waterfront (Beach)]

Qrlil sat up slightly and looked in the general direction of Zerrimus, tilting her head in the equivalent of a shrug.

"I used to feel that way," she said, "but, after all, 'normal' is ultimately a rather subjective thing. Eventually - around roughly the time the war began, almost two years ago - I simply had to accept that my 'strange' had become my new 'normal'." She hissed. "Though these last couple of days have certainly been strange even by my current standards."

She looked more closely at him, wondering. "But you... said something about the last couple of months being strange, in your case? What else has happened in them" - she hesitated - "er, if you wouldn't mind telling me, anyway?"

Got nothing for Trekesser right now. Later.

[Market Street-Mall]

Jackson had to admit; these really did look super impressive—though they seem a little big. Usually, he would settle speaking through a watch. Or a Bluetooth.

"That's...very generous of you." Jackson said.

"Thank you, sir." Adam said, "Don't worry, though; we won't travel too far."

Marie looked at hers wearily. It was nice to have something to communicate with the others...but it wasn't attractive to look at. Maybe if it had another color, she wouldn't be so bothered by it. Or stickers; those made anything look adorable.

"Don't you guys have cellphones? Or Walkie-Talkies?" Nick asked, "Just my opinion dude; it'll be lighter to carry around."

[Museum Park]

Trekesser blinked. He didn't think he'd been expecting any particular answer to that question, but now that he'd gotten one, he knew he definitely hadn't been expecting that.

"Er," he said, then repeated it. "Wow. I can..."

He paused. "I was about to say that I can only imagine what that must have been like, but actually I don't think I can even come close. Nothing like that exists in my reality. I know - a human I served with on the Javish a while back was all into that kind of stuff, and he told me that no one's ever found any proof of psychic or paranormal abilities, not even the big SRI study centuries ago."

He paused again, this time longer. "Also: souls thing?"

Visitor's District - Visitor Terminal

When the cabbie had been paid, he took his leave with almost unseemly haste, undoubtedly - in Gwion's mind - well aware that he had been engaged in the evasion of some threat and not keen to tarry long enough for the threat to catch up.

Gwion partially turned so he could see Seon and keep a watch on the portal out of the corner of his eye. So far so good, no sign of any hostiles.

As Seon handed over a wad of local currency that Gwion could see at a glance was equivalent to two hundred Euro. Seon had discharged his other obligations, having paid the expenses along the way, so the deal was concluded.

As Seon handed over the money, he said, ""It's been - well, different. Let's not ever do this again."

Gwion grinned. He could understand the sentiment. "At least it was achieved without resorting to violence." So far, anyway.

He watched as Seon scurried to the portal, his case clutched to his chest, and vanished without a look behind.

Instantly, the tension in Gwion's body started easing. His shoulders relaxed, the knot in his gut released. The feral part of him that had maintained its near eagerness throughout the escapade faded along with the tension.

Gwion took out his cigarettes, lit one and exhaled slowly and with great satisfaction; an audible sigh. He turned and grinned.

Shona looked at him and returned the grin. She abandoned her perusal of the pamphlets and started walking towards him, closing the side pocket of her pouch and opening the top one to extract a blue-anodised cigarette case and matching lighter. She lit one of her signature Marlboro Light 100s.

Cally, Hunter and Connor also abandoned their posts and converged on Gwion.

Cally gave one of her cheeky grins. "Interesting place you've found here, Gwion, it's the first time I've had to make a right turn from reality to get somewhere."

Gwion laughed. "You ought to see what passes for reality around here." He traded handshakes and hugs with all of them. "Great to see you guys and thanks for coming at such short notice. I was worried that you'd be busy working."

Connor affected a tone of reproach. "Well, it was one in the morning when you called."

Gwion was unabashed. "Which probably means you were all at the Shamrock trying to out-sing - and, in Cally's case, out-drink - the Warrior Rockers."

Cally looked scandalised. "Certainly not! We'd just finished having dinner at Café Catacombs." She paused for a beat. "So you caught us just before we headed off to the Shamrock."

Hunter and Cally both got out their cigarettes and lit up then as a group they all headed towards the door, laughing and chatting.

None of them asked Gwion who the client was - they were far too professional for that. Instead, Hunter asked, "Did you have much trouble getting here, e hoa^note [my] friend?"

Gwion shook his head. "Yeah, nah. We picked up a tail but no direct altercations."

Connor looked at him. "That'd be those off-world cops you mentioned. Any chance of them coming after you?"

Gwion shrugged. "The guy they were after is gone. There's no point in them coming after me unless they want to exact revenge on me for doing what I was paid to do."

Shona nodded. "Which, as LEOs, they shouldn't be inclined to do."^note For all she's Chinese, her accent is indistinguishable from the New Zealand accents of the others

Hunter laughed. "That makes a change from the scumbags you normally manage to get fucked off with you."

Gwion couldn't disagree with that. Not that Hunter - or any of the team of Black Knight Security, for that matter - was a stranger to fucking off scumbags.

"You promised us a meal," said Shona, "but we've just eaten, so how about you buy us a drink or three to tide us over until we feel hungry again?"

Gwion nodded, he could do with a drink, himself. He spotted a taxi van parked by the curb and started making his way towards it

Market Street - Mall

"Don't you guys have cellphones? Or Walkie-Talkies?" Nick asked, "Just my opinion dude; it'll be lighter to carry around."

Wolfe blinked. How small are cell phones and walkie-talkies where these guys come from? He wondered. The intercoms were marginally smaller and noticeably thinner than the ones he'd known back on Earth, and even those hadn't been especially bulky. "Sure, we've got cell phones, but they're no fucking use on a motorcycle. These basically are walkie-talkies and connect to the headsets via either Bluetooth or the local equivalent. They have a VOX - voice activation - mode so that they can be used hands free. Once we set them up, we'll all quite literally be on the same wavelength and you can tell us if you spot something interesting from on high." Because the last thing I'm going to be doing while riding down the road, is answering my phone.

He paired up his own intercom with his helmet's integrated microphone and earpiece. If it wasn't actually Bluetooth, it was very similar to it, especially in the procedure for pairing the units.

Teri turned to James. "It looks like you've got the choice of three bikes and three riders now."

James nodded. "I think I'll go with Kris, if she'll have me, since I've already travelled with you and Wolfe." In truth, he wasn't keen on the narrow seat of Wolfe's bike. The wider seat of Teri's bike had been a lot more comfortable and Kris' bike also had a nice wide pillion seat.

Kris smiled. "No problem. I'll be glad to give you a lift."

Wolfe looked like he was ready to go so Teri helped James put on his helmet and showed him how to fasten and adjust the strap.

Fully suited up in helmet and gloves, James followed as Kris went and mounted her bike and swung himself on behind her. Teri and Wolfe both suited up and mounted their bikes as well and, after a quick check that everyone was able to hear one another through the intercoms, Wolfe looked over at Marie, Nick, Jackson and Adam. "OK, lead on, guys. We'll follow."

[WEST SIDE (FOLLOWING SABAOTH)]

It took a moment for Lara to process what Eliza said. When she did, she looked at the buildings, where there were glimpses of Sabaoth's mech.

'Til now, she had no intention in running away. She had, more or less, come full circle, but now the cycle was about to repeat.

Eventually, she began to think about her place back home. Would fighting Sabaoth be the right thing, or just stupid bravado?

"Fine." Lara said, somewhat disgruntled.

[Market Street ~ Open-Air Bazaar (Near Apothecary)] (Akira, Buso, Kyana, Luíseach, Miyuki)

Buso's mask shifted, facing Kyana, then Miyuki, then Kyana, then Miyuki. He did this a few more times before asking in a suddenly groggy-sounding voice, "...what...?"

While the four continued to converse, Luíseach glanced back down at her hand, where she still held the scrap of paper she'd withdrawn from her jacket earlier. Pulling out a fancy little fat red pen from the same jacket, she circled something on the paper, then turned it over and began writing on the back, using her palm as a desk. When she had finished, she glanced up, eyeing the others, but they were still sorting things out among themselves. She rolled her eyes and sighed, but continued to wait patiently. Patiently enough.

edited 21st Aug '15 12:00:17 PM by Ryuhza

this place needs me here

[New City —> Meiko's Cafe]

Koyel looked up at the sun, blinked, then said, "well, so it is! Ah, I guess my thorough breakfast still endures. No matter; as you can clearly see," he patted his paunch, "I do not lack for room."

And there it was; a pair of sorcerers, positively buzzing with dark magic, merrily walking into Meiko's cafe and casually taking a seat. "Although," Koyel added as he sat, "I find my hunger grows now I have been reminded of it. No more... adrenaline, I believe it is called."

Waterfront (Beach)

"Well..." Garkin began, leaning forward into a more upright position. "My crew and I are supposed to explore the outer edges of the Empire's reach, running tests on potential colonies, maybe scaring off the occasional raiding party or two... but we keep getting interrupted by all these strange things."

He scratched the side of his head. "At first we barely noticed it. A few weird accidents, unusually aggressive alien wildlife, crewmembers having nightmares and such. But it just keeps ramping up! Two weeks ago we found an abandoned Murpak mining ship, two hundred lightyears away from were it was last seen, with not a single clue as to where the crew went. And right before I got here we were tracking down a criminal who's been doing experiments with alien tech on pre-contact planets." He sighed. "And none of it is connected. We just seem to have an extreme case of bad luck. Or um, good in some cases, I guess."

West Side - Nearing Desiccated Refinery

"I've fought worse things than humans in giant armored suits," Moreena said matter-of-factly, trying to catch a glimpse of Sabaoth through the gaps between the rundown buildings. With her eyes, in this case, as her true form had already reached out from within her body and was busy searching through the area.

edited 2nd Aug '15 12:34:41 PM by Corvidae

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

[Waterfront (Beach)]

Qrlil hissed. "I would certainly hope I would fall under the category of 'good luck'," she said. There was a slightly artificial undertone to it, though - the story about the abandoned murpak mining ship was genuinely rather unnerving. It was almost like a stock 'frightening tales of space' story, in fact.

Actually, now that I think about it...

"It almost sounds to me," she said lightly, "as if you have fallen into one of those old space exploration entertainment serials that we are both fond of. Encountering different, unrelated strange things every week was the formula most of them operated on - though I suppose that the better ones did not follow it as much." Her head quirked sideways. "I am not certain what that would mean for your case..."

While her tone was light, inside she was actually a little nervous at this line of conversation. She remembered that Xavier had always been somewhat irritated whenever anyone compared the events of his life to a fictional series, and she admitted that she could easily understand why. Hopefully Zerrimus would take her comments in the lighthearted spirit in which they were intended.

"I do wonder what the real explanation for it could be, though," she added. "If there is one."

Waterfront (Beach)

Garkin smirked. "Heh, yeah the thought has crossed my mind," he said. "Especially now with this whole 'alternate universe' thing. And magic being real, apparently. At least things haven't gotten that weird back home." He chuckled, but kept a somewhat serious look on his face. "If it turns out that a wizard was behind it all... I'm retiring."

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

[West Side -> En Route to Desiccated Refinery]

Kevin made a nod. "Again, sorry about all of this." He turned around, and headed somewhere within the West Side. They'd passed some industrial area on the way in, so he went on it.

He ignored Gev trying to make her mission work, as he figured there was no time left anymore.

Kevin muttered, "I was just doing my job."

He screwed up things before, and had to deal with police protocol through his investigations, but he still felt a bit of guilt. It was good for him to walk away and focus on his own task.

---

[Desiccated Refinery]

Kommissar chuckled, which sounded machine-like as it bounced off within his mask. "That's what I thought. Let's um- head there."

He turned to leave, but there was a distant sound of large steps. It was like thunder, but there was a blue sky overhead.

"You hear that?" He took a step forward, and tried to listen. The thundering noise got louder and clearer. "Something's coming our way." He went for his gun, but didn't remove it. Not yet.

Just making a hint that Sabaoth is coming their way. IIRC, Eliza is also in her mech, so it could be her too.

---

[Spire - 60th Floor Conference Room]

Jac yawned, and rubbed an eye. "You think we could get someone to manufacture something from another universe?"

Jade whispered, "I'm sure we can. Keep your voice down."

The Mezzarean said more hushed, "It's not like I'm gonna be racist towards them. I'd be insulting you too."

Kegan's hologram turned to Jade for a moment. "I'd hate to not at least try. Asking you for something and not do anything in return. Did you come into this city to look for these er, items? I'm sure these two can find them, if you have any lead as of now," he inquired. He then sighed and crossed his arms. "Of course, if not, we can just pay upfront."

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

West Side - Nearing Desiccated Refinery

If Moreena bothered to poke at Eliza during her examinations, she would find that there really wasn't much outstanding about either the girl or the mech. The machine could probably have been assembled in a factory, and Eliza herself was an ordinary human apart from a number of cybernetic implants.

Sabaoth, however, was a different story. The man inside the machine was more or less the same as Eliza, but the materials composing the machine hardly matched up to any normal materials. It was as if they were supernaturally created, and they may very well had been. Whatever the cause, the end result was unnaturally strong and practically indestructible. On top of that, the machine was constructed in such a manner to leave almost no vulnerabilities. Whoever had crafted it clearly wanted it to last.

"All right," Eliza said, before turning in Sabaoth's direction, "Let's get this over with."

At that, she quickly made her way through the buildings, quickly finding herself in the same area as Sabaoth.

"Sabaoth!" she called out to him, voice firm and determined.

Sabaoth was simply walking at what was for him a rather leisurely pace, although given the amount of space his footsteps covered it was still rather fast. Just as the earlier damage had indicated he wasn't going out of his way to cause destruction, just heading for a certain destination and only harming what got in his way.

"You clowns again?" he asked, not bothering to slow down or even look at Eliza or her companions, "I thought it was perfectly clear that I wanted nothing more with you. Can't you take a hint?"

Eliza quickly ran and positioned herself in front of Sabaoth, before grabbing her sword and pointing it at him. "I demand to know what you're trying to do, Sabaoth."

Sabaoth scoffed, before dropping down to all fours so that his face was on level with Eliza's. "Aw, would you look at that? The little scout unit thinks she's Master Samael. Oh, how adorable." At that, one of the limbs that made up the right half of his lower jaw unfurled. He then held the sharp end of it right at the throat of Eliza's mech. "You never did learn your place in the hierarchy, did you?"

Eliza didn't budge. "You know full well what's going to happen to you if you hurt me."

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!

[Waterfront (Beach)]

Qrlil tilted her head again. "If it is any consolation, I do not believe that these places, places like the one we are in now, operate on the same rules as normal - er - universes. It seems that anything that is possible in the realities that connect to them is possible within them. So just because magic is... is real here, does not mean that it is real anywhere else."

She lay back on the sand again, wriggling slightly to absorb more heat. "Personally, I try not to think too hard about it. My normal life is strange enough as it is, at least by most other people's standards."

Idly, she wondered when Angua would be back. She was starting to think more seriously now about going into the ocean.

Waterfront (Beach)

"I guess that sort of makes sense," Garkin said before leaning his head back down onto his backpack. "Different rules for different universes, blending together in between... heh, I bet Rolph is having the time of his life studying the rift."

He closed his eyes for a moment, relaxing in the sun.

West Side - Nearing Desiccated Refinery

Moreena raised an eyebrow at the events unfolding before her, before letting out a hollow sigh. She disappeared from view, seemingly melting into the shadow of a nearby building, before reappearing on it's roof at level with the head of Sabaoth's mech, should it stand up again. She spoke, slightly amplifying her voice through magical means:

"Surely there's no need for all this rudeness," she said, very calm and casual as always. She looked at Sabaoth. "Just answer her question, will you?"

Going to bed now. Good night.

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

[West Side]

Roderick gave Kevin a nod as he left. Kevin had said he wanted to do it alone, so Roderick would leave him alone. Best of luck to him.

"You know," Roderick said to Gev, "after all we went through, I really hope your team gets here in time." He wiped a hand across his forehead. "Might just head home, once we hear from them, one way or another. I've got who I came for, so there's no real sense in me sticking around much longer."

[Museum Park]

Cima laughed. "I can't testify to anything; I was not looking in that particular direction, and like I said, I lack the ability to just feel things. But I was, technically, there. One moment the suit is almost torn to shreds; the next it's doing something it would have had trouble with undamaged. We have a few people with the ability there who swear they felt the presence of people who were dead around that suit, and the names they give are consistent. But no one saw it directly; they had their own fights, and the pilot was too much of a..."

Cima restrained herself after a moment and shook her head. "He was not a man to remain with his unit well, let's put it that way. We can't ask, considering he was...I don't know what he was. Jeannette could explain, she copied it only a few minutes later, but the closest I can explain it is that the person he was fighting inflicted severe but...semi-temporary brain damage. Not quite enough to kill. He's recovering from it, somehow, slowly." She added a quiet "and maybe that will teach him some humility" to herslef.

Nous restons ici.

[Market Street] (Bazaar)

"Yes." Said Miyuki, looking over at Buso. "I am flight-capable, and can lift over 3000lbs unaided. With the use of my Directed Antigravity Thrusters, I can lift over 60 tons. Three people on a bench will not prove to be an issue. I estimate the time to our arrival will be five minutes, possibly less." She explained, utterly serious. She soon spotted a bench and started walking towards it. "But if you would prefer to take a 'taxi' then I certainly will not stop you." She added. "Regardless, you can explain the details of your relationship with that Luíseach woman, as you promised, after we've secured the objective."

She stepped behind the bench and called over Akira and Kyana. The bench was quite ordinary-looking; wooden, maybe a few years old, with some slight graffiti on it but otherwise in good repair. The bolts that secured it to a concrete base underneath looked old and loose. "So, uh," Said Akira, walking up next to Kyana. "You'll probably want to hold on tight. I mean, I doubt it'll be a bumpy ride or anything, but, uh, well, y'know, we're probably going to be going pretty fast. And high up. So it might be kinda freaky. I mean, I've done this before - well, not this exactly, she doesn't usually ever carry more than one person, me, but still. I still find it a little, you know, scary, I guess... So yeah..." He trailed off, having botched his attempt to reassure Kyana so badly that he'd actually managed to make himself nervous.

Not entirely dead.

[Market Street ~ Open-Air Bazaar (Near Apothecary)] (Akira, Buso, Kyana, Luíseach, Miyuki)

Buso was silent and, as per his mask, expressionless. Still, it was easy to see that it was taking him a long time to process what he had just been told. His shoulders rose and fell with a sigh and a unusually high-pitched "...eish."

He continued to stand in place even after Miyuki had left, raising a hand—fingers outstretched in claw-like fashion—against the side of his head. Miyuki was planning on flying them on a bench to the park. Flying. On a bench. A flying bench. Or rather, a girl flying a bench.

His mask turned to look upon her again. Aside from the colorful hair, she'd seemed fairly average up to that point. A little surly, distrustful, but that wasn't terribly strange. But now she was claiming to be a human crane. A human crane that could fly. And, strangely enough, by means of technology, if he had understood her words correctly. To Buso's knowledge, the will of the world, in all its strange finesse, did not ever dabble in the technology of humankind. It would not have warped this girl with something as artificially designated as "Directed Antigravity Thrusters". So then, how?

A number of new questions flooded into Buso's mind, 'how' being only the first primitive but encompassing inquiry. Just where was this girl from? With the ability to fly and a need of money, why had she been riding the bus earlier? How could she possibly need money? What else could she do?

His hidden eyes scanned the other two. What else didn't he know?

Well, it wouldn't do to become so greatly flustered over this one revelation. Or, withstanding that, it wouldn't do to show it. There was also the chance that this girl was just pulling his leg. Hoping to set him off. To see if if he was a gullible fool. Buso knew that he wasn't. Of course he wasn't. Perhaps this was just an outlandish story to the girl, but Buso had met with less plausible truths. The joke, really, was on her. And he would tell her so. He would. Should it... actually turn out to be a joke.

Slowly, he walked towards the others, approaching the bench and standing before it. He crossed his arms. Behind him, the trailing back of his robe danced about slightly, as though there were a small child playing beneath its folds.

"This bench business," he said cooly, mask bobbing very minimally with his words. He turned his mask to Miyuki again, "this plan of yours. I don't much like it. You want to fly three people high into the air on a tiny bench, secured by... what?" He held his hands out in question. "Prayers? Trust? Whatever our hands can lay a hold of while you rush us across the city?" He shook his head disapprovingly. The suspicion in the back of his mind continued to pester him. You are being had by a little prank. Her face is going to crack, and she is going to start laughing at you. But this is reasonable. This is perfectly reasonable. "And if one or more us bench-ridden were to fall off, how do you expect to respond? Can you fly faster than one falls? Moreover, how is your balancing act?"

Buso crossed his arms again, waiting patiently for whatever was to come next.

edited 2nd Aug '15 11:25:01 PM by Ryuhza

this place needs me here

City Center - Spire (60th Floor Conference Room)

"Not necessarily," Darius responded, "My primary reasoning for coming here was to see if we could forge an alliance or two, going off a tip from one of our scouts. The scout in question is also exploring the city, so the duty of finding items currently falls on her alongside another pair of individuals we met with earlier."

He clasped his hands together again. "But if you wish to assist in that search while you are here, you are welcome to. The items we seek are the shattered fragments of a powerful artifact known as the Pleroma. We already have one piece of the artifact while knowing the location of another, so what we need help with is tracking down the remaining fragments."

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!

Meiko's Cafe

Every additional moment Varnas was in this place, the more he wanted to leave.

It didn't seem like a bad restaurant...just very otaku. A hangout for teenagers and college students. While Varnas was still college-aged, Koyel certainly wasn't, and he couldn't get the idea that Koyel might be giving the impression of a creepy old man oogling young girls in costumes out of his head.

"You know...maybe we could go somewhere else to eat? I'm not starving, we could go somewhere else to eat..."

edited 4th Aug '15 9:17:50 AM by Tehpillowstar

"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond

[WEST SIDE (NEAR DESICCATED REFINERY)]

"Really, is it that hard to just answer her question, already?" Lara muttered under her breath, massaging her temple in annoyance, "You're not even using a lot of muscles. Unless using your lips tires you out, it shouldn't be hard."

Rolling her eyes, she continued, "And I know it can't be that, since you love to talk."

West Side - Near Desiccated Refinery

"It wasn't a question. The little scout unit flat out 'demanded' it of me, and I have no reason to adhere to the demands of someone at the very bottom of the chain of command," Sabaoth replied, without bothering to even look at either Lara nor Moreena, "Just because she thinks she's Mr. Goody Two-Shoes's darling sister she thinks she has the authority to boss around Archon units."

"Or you could have just told me what you're doing so you could get rid of us and move on," Eliza said, "All the threats and posturing are just wasting more time."

Sabaoth pushed himself back up to two legs and returned the limb to its usual position before curling his hands into fists. "Then you're going to tell Mr. Goody Two-Shoes and then you'll wreck my entertainment plans. Don't think I don't know you." He gestured to his surroundings. "Just look around you. You're standing around a bunch of ruins. You seriously think anyone's going to actually miss this hellhole?"

"No. I think you're going to try and burn the whole city to the ground starting from here," Eliza replied, bluntly and simply, "Because that sounds like exactly the sort of thing you'd do."

Sabaoth growled. "Okay, fine. I'm here because I want to smash a pair of miscreants that no one's going to miss." He leaned a little closer towards Eliza, giving the distinct impresion he was giving her a glare of pure venom. "There, happy? Now get out of my sight."

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!