[Whitehall Motel]

Echo didn't bother to look over at the woman beyond a non-committal glance of the sort that peripheral motion usually attracts. "Noted," she said. Then, speaking very quietly in light of Gev's presence, "Let's review: you and Kommissar scout inside. Your partner and the other keep outside watch. I deal with target. Efficient." She looked back over at Gev, studying her coolly. She looked pretty advanced but presumably still had to breathe.

The hotdog vendor gave Gev the price: basically, it came down to "pretty cheap, perhaps suspiciously so".

[PENTHOUSE]

Joshua's first instinct was to immediately hide the paper from Kyana's view. If it were possible, he'd much rather spare the girl from further trauma. However, he did his best to control himself, letting the note remain in his hand. Stuffing it away would only look more suspicious, and there was also the chance that Kyana would think it was just the drawing she had made him earlier.

"Yes." He answered, "That would be best."

[CLARKE HOSPITAL-CAFETERIA]

Lara blinked a little at Moreena, caught off guard by what exactly she had ordered. The mental image of a horned goddess of death, having teeth sharp enough to draw blood, eating an unremarkably innocent type of food, was unexpected at the very least. At least the tea from the night prior made some sense in context, with her being a goddess, technically making her royalty.

"I'll have what she ordered." Was all she said to the cafeteria intern.

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

"I am glad to hear that," Qrlil replied sleepily. She took another sip from her water glass, which soon changed into a longer slurping swig - a slightly less refined behavior then those around her might have been used to. She wasn't all that concerned about how it appeared, though, particularly given how tired she still felt.

After drinking the flavored water a bit more, though, she soon found herself more awake. Blinking again, she brushed off more of the shed scales from her robes, then swiveled around on her cushion to look at Angua. "I agree as well," she said, "on both counts."

She stood up and stretched slightly. "The first step in making any plan, of course, is information, and you are probably our closest thing to an expert on the Commonwealth, so -" She paused. "Or is there someone else you know in here that might be better?" Something told her Angua would never go anywhere for long without developing some type of contacts.

And speaking of contacts, I should probably consider seeing if I can get in touch with mine. She turned and began making her way towards the terminal, still moving a bit slowly.

[West Side - Whitehall Motel (Exterior)]

Gev returned the human woman's stare with one fixed silver eye, before remembering somewhat belatedly that too much eye contact seemed weird to humans.

Which I guess you can't blame them for, given how they look.

She reprimanded herself for the thought - if nothing else, it was unprofessional - though she couldn't help noticing now that from what she understood of humans, this woman actually did seem to have a curiously bland appearance. Maybe even deliberately bland?

Still, it was none of her business unless something happened to make it that way. She returned her attention to the 'hotdog' vendor, now more than a little suspicious of his prices. I think I'm going to be much happier not knowing what's in these things...

"All right," she said, somewhat warily, "I'll take two."

[Quantum Hotel - Alliance Suite]

Angua shrugged without turning around. "Iunno how useful I'll be, actually." She found a box of alien cereal, it's front adorned by a colorful mascot, and pulled it out of the cupboard. Turning, she found a bowl and set it down on the countertop, her tail flicking upwards to close the cupboard behind her.

Angua began pouring the sugary cereal into the bowl. "Besides that wizard I told you about earlier- an' he's not exactly all there in the head if ya get my meaning- I don't think I know anyone who'd be of that much help with this kind of problem." She walked over to the fridge, retrieving a carton of juice and adding it to her cereal. "No offense to the both of you, but part of why I asked you two was that I had no one else to turn to."

Angua took a crunching bite, chewed for a second, then swallowed. "Hm. Not bad. Anyway, I can't go with you to the embassy and risk the Commonwealth recognizing me- which is a bit of a problem given that the embassy seems to be our only lead right now."

On the suite's terminal, the browser program was open but minimized, it's icon blinking softly on the task bar at the bottom of the screen. If Qrlil were to click on it, it would expand to show an online encyclopedia page with dry, educational descriptions of Qrtxian reproduction and erogenous zones. Numerous tabs were open along the top of the window, listing online searches involving keywords such as, "Gifts for a Qrtxian", "Qrtxian culture and mores" and "Qrtxian sexuality".

Angua, oblivious, was still busy with her breakfast.

edited 25th May '15 11:27:00 PM by Gault

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil craned her head back in Angua's direction as she sat down. "Well, anything you can tell us could help," she said. "As I said, information is the starting point for the development of any plan, and you are the only one here who knows anything about this Commonwealth." She blinked curiously at the cereal box. "And any information anyone else you have made contact with can provide would be helpful as well."

She turned back towards the terminal and, bringing her backup on line, brought the browser window back up - mostly out of curiosity, as the direct link would be more useful for searches. Then she sat still for the next several moments, eyes even bigger than usual at what she saw on the revealed tabs.

Er. Wow. I suppose... I suppose she really is being serious about this, after all. It was another pleasant surprise, even if she couldn't help but hiss inwardly in amusement at some of the information Angua's searches had turned up - or rather 'information'. Her people's long history of isolationism and reclusiveness had led to a fair amount of extremely inaccurate information making its way out into the galactic meta-civilization.

Still, the overall thought was extremely pleasing; finding out this sort of thing was a very comforting action for Angua to be taking. Smiling - and not saying anything - Qrlil minimized the window and opened a new one, beginning to search one more for the contact information of the other people she'd met here.

"You've been quiet, Zerrimus," she said after a moment. "Any ideas thus far?"

Night.

Dog and Goat Hotel

Varnas grinned at Koyel's jovial if a little tired comment, but at the poison comment, he wasn't sure whether he was being completely serious or utterly deadpan.

He cut into his crepes and smothered them in strawberry syrup. "I don't know what you mean by 'earned'. Like the majority of mages I attended school for several years before graduating and becoming licensed to practice."

Embassy Row - Quantum Inn (Alliance Suite)

Garkin was still a bit hungry, so he began making a second sandwich. "A plan would be good, yes," he said while digging through the fridge. "I sent the scan results to Rolph, but I don't know if he'll have any ideas. And we really do need more info on these Commonwealth guys. 'Know your enemy' and all that." As a soldier, he had been forced to study the Dance of Fire for hours at a time, so all the classic quotes were still fresh in his mind.

He stood up. "I think our best bet right now is that hidden cellar place, but we'll need a way to reach the elevator - and to get back out - without being noticed, and I didn't really um, bring any stealth gear. We'll need a distraction of some kind. And a way to deal with those masked guys if they show up."

Hotel Fantastique - Penthouse - Dining Area

"Then let's go!" Kyana said with a small smile, excited to have a good breakfast to take her mind off things. She didn't even question the paper in Joshua's hand, thinking it was the drawing she had given him. She grabbed her stuff and headed down towards the dining area.

Hotel Fantastique - Dining Area

The ninjas approached the magical girls, Kiyumi leading the way. "Hey there! Looks like we showed up at a good time." she said, seeing that the two girls looked done with their breakfast, "Shall we get going to the arena?" Midori was looking around, noticing all the delicious food everyone was eating. Even though she had already eaten she couldn't help but want some more breakfast. Naoko at first was looking at the two magical girls when she thought she saw a girl with a unique colored scarf heading towards the dining area. But she shrugged it off and turned back towards the others.

[Quantum Hotel - Alliance Suite]

"Well," Angua managed through a slurping mouthful of wet cereal, "maybe there's something we overlooked in that hologram layout thingy. How 'bout you pull that up again?" She nodded to Garkin.

Then, she craned her neck around to Qrlil, who she noticed was sitting at the terminal. Suddenly, Angua seemed to remember something. She hurriedly put down her spoon, throwing herself off her chair and scrambling over to beside Qrlil. She hovered anxiously over the alien's shoulder, seeming as if she wanted to get a good look at what was on screen.

Embassy Row - Quantum Inn (Alliance Suite)

"Sure," Garkin said, and began pressing the buttons on his holograph. He was interrupted, however, as Angua suddenly ran of towards Qrlil at the computer terminal. "What the..." he began, but then it became clear to him. He chuckled a little to himself. Forgot to cover your traces, huh?

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil bobbed her head, although she realized after a moment that the others might not have actually seen it. "Speaking of Rolph," she said, "is there any possibility he or anyone else from your universe could provide some type of more direct assistance?" She was still waiting to hear back from Skrahsis on the request she'd sent along those lines herself - although in all probability the lack of a response was enough of a response in itself. They are probably just trying to figure out the most diplomatic way of saying 'Qrlil, what the zhrj have you gotten yourself into this time?'

"As for a diversion," she continued, "I am still wondering if perhaps I should try to engage in negotiations of some type with the Commonwealth in order to distract them, as I suggested last night. That's why I am particularly interested in learning everything about them..."

She trailed off as Angua came over to stare at the terminal screen. Apparently she would like to keep what she was doing private for the moment. Qrlil didn't have a problem with that - she'd avoided saying anything for a reason - and what Angua saw on the screen wouldn't jeopardize that desire either. All that was visible was a new browser screen in which Qrlil was searching for the contact information of the people she'd met yesterday, such as P'jwakh and Whistler; the browser Angua had been using was minimized and showed no evidence that it had been opened.

"Yes?" she asked with a blank expression.

Quantum Inn (Alliance Suite)

"I think getting the drone through was hard enough," Garkin said, slowly shaking his head. "I might be able to get a small combat model or maybe a supply crate delivered, but no people."

He got up and walked over to Qrlil and Angua, bringing up the map of the Commonwealth building on his holograph. "Hrm, Veseka and her marines would have loved something like this. They're weird like that."

[HOTEL FANTASTIQUE-PENTHOUSE>DINING AREA]

"I'll be there." Joshua said, folding the note back to its original state. Walking back to the living room, he took the band off from his eyes and activated the device to conceal the claw-marks once again. Afterwards, he took the band out of his air, getting rid of the ponytail to let down the mane that reached just down to chin-level. Finally, he disrobed the dark-grey chestplate off his torso, revealing a form-fitting, pitch black tunic that appeared perfect for supporting the armor piece he had just taken off.

Joshua Rent left the penthouse with band removed, hair let down, claw-marks concealed, chestplate removed, and appearing a bit more normal-looking. Hopefully, this had removed a sufficient amount of identifying features.

The brown-haired man walked down towards the dining area where Kyana was likely waiting.

edited 26th May '15 5:32:02 PM by TroPartner

[Shut Inn —> Ted's Canteen]

Roderick nodded Kommissar away, then, after a moment's pause, turned back to Kevin. "There's a place not too far from here. Ted's Canteen. The coffee isn't that great, but it's cheap, it's coffee, and it's also not too far from Whitehall. Personally, I say we head for that place. Keeps the amount of time the others are waiting for us down. I can take you there now, or maybe I can look for some other place."

You can write Roderick taking Kevin there if you want.

[Whitehall Motel]

"Yes, I know," muttered Nero. "But remember, we would prefer her alive. Yes, dead would be acceptable, but she needs to face justice for what she's done."

He didn't miss Echo's and Gev's stare-off. Gev's appearance made him do a double-take, but he quickly resumed his normal position. "And, look, try not to draw attention to yourself. I know she won't recognize you, but if she notices you acting strange, then she might see me, and she might recognize me."

As they were talking, Lydia glanced around for a few moments. Not seeing anyone, she began heading down the stairs.

Visitor's District - Hotel Fantastique (Dining Area)

"As soon as I'm finished here," Samantha replied, looking down at her food, "I just started eating when you came in. You got here surprisingly quickly." She glanced back at the ninjas. "So you might as well have a seat for a little bit. Unfortunately, I'm not that fast of an eater."

For her part, Sophie just waved in greeting before leaning back and listening to the others talk. While that was happening, a girl who just walked in caught her eye. Judging by the scarf and hair color she seemed like the sort that wanted to make a fashion statement.

She seemed interesting enough, but the timing was unfortunate. Pretty soon their group would be heading off for the ninjas' initiation, and she doubted they'd have enough time for another interview. Maybe they'd bump into this girl again later, but for now all Sophie did was make a mental note of her before turning her attention back to her own group.

"I'll take a cheese danish," Eliza said, in a perfectly normal tone of voice. In contrast to Lara she didn't find anything strange about Moreena's choice of meal. She did partake in the perfectly mundane drink of tea last night. Besides, if she was truly a goddess, and Eliza had no doubts about that, then what mortal was going to stop her from eating whatever she pleased?

The drone, for its part, didn't move from its spot. It did rotate in place and examine as much as it could from the room, both searching for signs of the energy signature and examining everyone and everything else for people and objects of interest.

[Hotel Fantastique - Fourth Floor] (Outside Room 413)

The scene was quite hard to miss, and the man in the purple clothes seemed like he was at fault for... Whatever that noise had been. She was reluctant to approach him, however, as despite his vaguely human shape he was still decidedly not a human. In fact, she found him quite grotesque-looking. Had he ever visited her homeland, she suspected he would have been swiftly killed, just for looking so terribly bizarre.

But, of course, this was not the Hakoda Empire, and she certainly wasn't about to start killing random people, no matter how grotesque they were. She took a moment to steel her nerves, then walked right up to him and said "Tell me about that howling noise."

As Akira was still in their room, no-one was around to add a 'please' to the end of her sentence.

[Whitehall Motel]

Echo had been practicing stealth for a while, and to the untrained mind, she was nobody. But she hadn't quite mastered the art of blending into a crowd, usually having to stick to the shadows against foes who knew loosely where she was or were professional paranoids. Lydia wouldn't notice her easily, but up close, Echo wasn't sure she could convincingly play the part of another anonymous citizen.

I've always stood separate, always been that not-quite-right figure on the edge of the crowd. Even in the Equalists, I never truly fit in — perhaps why I did better than most of my former allies when Noatok showed his hypocrisy. But still... the woman we hunt, she will know me, if she had gone this long without being caught. But will she understand that I am ready to hear her side? Perhaps. I don't stink like those cops and detectives, but that alone is no reason to trust someone. Of course, if it's me or her... there's too many idealists at the bottom of Yue Bay, and a reason I haven't joined them.

[Dog and Goat Hotel]

Koyel nodded with (his falsely presumed) understanding and said, "ah, then the usual. We Uelane, ever romantics, prefer the intimacy of an apprenticeship to the anonymous prattle of a school, but I think my years as an apprentice to the astoundingly brilliant Aseyu qo'Irala ul'Uelshu^* no relation to Aseyu ul'Valmonth vashon'Suela, who Koyel has never heard of and would probably either kill or be killed by if they met are a comprable substitute. Certain quirks of the apprenticeship system aside." However, there was one thing he wondered about, comparing their systems. "So, how many years of fundamental training was it before you were granted powers? Aseyu was quite slow about granting me mine, and I'll admit I may have used certain family connections to expedite the issue."

Koyel had devoured his food with alarming speed, and would likely want to go out and explore the city further soon; he was already visibly a bit antsy, and his headache was receding quite rapidly; he was no stranger to whiskey-tainted awakenings, and had many years' practice.

edited 26th May '15 8:50:11 PM by KillerClowns

Hotel Fantastique - Dining Hall

The ninja girls took a seat simultaneously, each of them thinking how awkward they would look standing for awhile. "It's alright if you eat, I admit we did get here kind of early." Midori said bashfully and her cheeks turned a bit red. "Yeah, we get up way early for some training with our master every morning and though we didn't have training today, we woke up early out of habit." Kiyumi added.

Meanwhile Kyana had taken a seat at a two person table and had already ordered some eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage, not noticing the strangely attired ninja girls and their companions nearby. Instead she was looking around for Joshua before spotting him walking over. Her eyes widened as he looked way different without his armor and everything else and she found herself blushing and staring again as she shyly waved him over.

[Quantum Hotel - Alliance Suite]

Angua squinted hard at Qrlil, trying to measure her reaction. The last time they'd met, Angua wouldn't have really considered deception on her part to be an option, but it was clear she'd changed a lot since then, so Angua wasn't sure what to think. In any case, she failed to observe the behavior she'd expected.

Angua waived a hand dismissively and murmured, "Actually, nothing, I just- no. It's nothing."

She then turned and turned to Garkin, taking a closer look at the holograph his device projected. She said, "Y'know, Garkin, for how we oughtta handle this I'm thinking it's best if we don't actually hurt anyone. If someone dies, that's gonna draw the attention of local security forces, and we want to avoid that at all costs. Best if we just get in and out without being seen."

Angua traced a clawed finger along a secondary blue shaft running through the center of the building. "Here's our best bet for doing that, I think. Looks like a utility elevator running from a large banquet hall on the 20th floor straight to the sub-basement level with those freezer units."

[Hotel Fantastique - Fourth Floor (Outside Room 413)]

The staff all gave Miyuki Looks as she approached, though none of them seemed in a hurry to step in and answer the question for Seon.

Under other circumstances, Seon probably would have had a different - and stronger - reaction to the unusual-looking young human getting in his face. Discomfort at the close presence of an alien would certainly be high on the list of reactions. To say nothing of alarm; though she seemed too young for it, he couldn't help but register even in his distressed state that the human appeared to be military of some kind, or at least combat-capable.

At the moment, though, he was too caught up in misery and shame over his horrendous error to feel particularly bothered by anything else. "Oh. That. That w-was my intruder alert alarm devices. I set up - "

"He set up a bunch of them all over his room," the older female human staff member broke in, "and when housekeeping came by this morning to see if he needed anything, they all went off at once."

"It was a m-mistake!" Seon exclaimed, still stammering. "I just - um - forgot to set them to ignore hotel staff. Look, I was tired, and had had a really stressful day..." he trailed off, and groaned.

This was certainly a way to stay unobtrusive. Noxori is going to cut off my fingers and make them into a necklace.

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil glanced briefly at Angua, slightly concerned. If she realizes that I did see what she was looking at, will she be upset that I wasn't straightforward about it? Sometimes, she wished the line between being diplomatic and being dishonest was somewhat easier to draw.

Sighing in slight irritation, she closed her own browser window. So far, there'd been no response to her various efforts at contact, either with people here or those back home. Which means we might be doing this on our own. Though she hoped that, like Zerrimus, she could at least manage to have supplies sent here.

Standing, she walked away from the terminal to study the hologram, and the elevator shaft on it that Angua had pointed out. "That seems like a possibility," she said, "and I might be able to come up with a way to get someone into the elevator. But Zerrimus was right before: we do need a way to deal with the people in masks if they can't be avoided; I would... very much like to avoid finding out what they do to intruders."

edited 27th May '15 12:35:13 AM by nrjxll

Dog and Goat Hotel

"Granted powers? What do you mean by that? Mages aren't granted powers, they're born with them." Technically every single person has some little bit of magic in them, but only those who are mages are born with greater power and the potential to use that power. But maybe it is different where Koyel comes from. Varnas was no stranger to the inter-dimensional nature of this place.

Realizing that his companion was devouring his food at an alarming rate, Varnas picked up the speed. Mages, especially mages of his caliber, needed lots of fuel, and if they were going to leave soon he wanted to make sure he had eaten plenty.

[Clarke Hospital - Room 86]

Warmth.

That was the first thing the boy felt when he drowsily woke from his slumber. He blinked sleepily, looking around with bleary eyes. It took him a moment to remember where he was.

"That's right," he thought, still only half-awake "a hospital, huh?"

It was at this point he realized he had his arms wrapped tight around something, and he glanced down.

The girl was sleeping peacefully. Her mask was half-off, face only barely visible, with the rest buried in the boy's shirt. He smiled, affection blooming in his chest, before his eyes cleared and he was able to look upon her visage clearly.

Sharp pangs of guilt shook him, turning his contented smile into a bitter grimace. Sadness, rage, and another, darker emotion swirled through him. He didn't know what that last one was, his young mind unable grasp its form. It felt like his chest had been filled with cold mud, unpleasant and slimy, before being baked in a hot furnace. The end result was his heart feeling cold, hot, and hard at the same time.

He gently nudged her mask back in place, covering the source of his guilt, before gingerly untangling himself from his companion. He nudged his goggles back into place, hiding his eyes, before calling his orbs to him once more. The eight glowing spheres answered him, taking their positions slightly behind him.

Satisfied, Energy opened the door and walked into the hallways of the hospital. His head at the time was filled with the thoughts that any healthy young boy would likely have at this hour:

"I wonder what's for breakfast?"

[Clarke Hospital - Cafeteria]

He was able to find the place with ease, communicating with the various machines in the hospital along the way. The smell of freshly baked goods wafted across the busy place, and he took a deep breath and felt his stomach rumble.

He went to the counter and ordered (and paid for) breakfast for two, whereupon he was promptly served two steaming plates of bacon and eggs. The server gave him a skeptical look as she laid down the plates, wondering if a parent or other family member was going to assist the small boy in carrying the food. Energy smiled in response as two of his eight orbs went to work.

They zipped forward and took position about a foot over the plates. With a low hum, they each projected a holographic cone, trapping the plates and food in what looked like twin stasis fields. Then, like two UF Os with farm animals caught in their tractor beams, they took off, coming to hover above the boy's head side-by-side.

This spectacle did not go unnoticed, as several patrons of the cafeteria turned to look at the boy as he happily through the cafeteria with both his and his partner's breakfasts in tow. But, given the nature of this city, they quickly lost interest in the boy, turning back to their own food.

edited 27th May '15 1:57:32 AM by gameknight102xx

Embassy Row - Quantum Inn (Alliance Suite)

"Yeah, I'd rather not kill anyone either..." Garkin said to Angua before looking down at the holographic map. How could he have missed the second elevator? Maybe the results hadn't been fully analyzed and rendered the first time he looked? He had to get the device looked over later.

"Yep, that's our way in," he said, pointing at the faint outline of the elevator. "It doesn't look very heavily guarded. Faking some kind of diplomatic meeting like you said" - he looked up at Qrlil - "and then sneaking in might work."

Visitor's District - Clarke Hospital (Cafeteria)

As Moreena went over to the table she noticed an odd looking boy, followed by a formation of glowing orbs, walk up to the counter behind her. She didn't recognize him, but she could still fell something strangely familiar about him. Not really enough to follow up on, however.

She sat down with Lara and Eliza. "I'll start searching," she said, before beginning to eat her pie. Gradually, her movements became more rigid and mechanical, and her eyes somehow seemed even more dark and empty than usual. Her true form, visible to those with the right senses as a gigantic, writhing mess of shadowy tendrils, moved through the corridors of the building, occasionally reaching out to touch sources of magic.

[Quantum Hotel - Alliance Suite]

Angua folded her arms, looking between Qrlil and Garkin. "Or you could just pose as guests looking to book a room at the hotel, get in that way. If you pose as a diplomat, the Commonwealth's going to take notice of you. They're meticulous record-keepers, much better than the hotel itself I'm sure. Why risk it?" She shook her head, then shrugged.

"Either way, we've got an in. Now, iunno what to do about those OSI freaks- not sure there is anything to do, 'cept staying out of their way. If we wanna avoid killing anyone, I don't see that we got any other option. Besides, if Garkin's holograph can track their location in real-time, they shouldn't be too hard to avoid. Right?"

Quantum Inn (Alliance Suite)

"That's a good point," Garkin said. "We should stay as um, inconspicuous as possible." He tapped a claw against the protective glass sheet of the holograph's glowing projector, partially obscuring the image. "I can keep track of any guards with this thing, but there's a risk they might detect it. A small one, especially in the middle of a city, but still. I don't know what to expect with all the magic and stuff."

He sighed. "It's not like we have much of a choice, I guess. I'll request a supply drop from the ship." He turned off the holographic display and began typing in a message."