[ARCADE OF TIME]
"See ya there, then." Rick waved after them as the two left. Meanwhile, Lara had turned back to look at the arcade machine.
Rick gave a low whistle at what he saw. "Boy, I haven't seen this game in a while."
"I'm pretty sure they have everything in this place. Even E.T.." Lara scoffed.
"You remember how you complained about this one, right? You hated the fact that you couldn't play as the ghost girl?"
Lara gazed blankly at him for a moment. "Of course I do." After that, she shrugged, starting her own way back to the resort. "I'll just see what they have in terms of other sports. Skiing or something."
[BAR]
Kyle looked up in thought for a moment.
"Well, I just finished the orange juice, but..." He shrugged jovially, "what the heck, skiing's worth a busted bladder."
In a moment, he grasped the handle of his suitcase, adjusted the laptop bag, and headed through the warp door to find his room.
In retrospect, it would be hilarious if someone introduced an ET OC.
edited 23rd Apr '15 8:27:53 AM by TroPartner
[Lounge/Bar]
Virgil snorted again.
"I'm sure they'll have a restroom over there," he pointed out, and headed back to the bar after Kyle was gone.
"Hey, you do coffee drinks?" he asked the yeti.
"Of course," Mark replied. "What would you like?"
"Can I get an English coffee and..." Kyle hadn't given him a specific request, and he didn't know if the kid drank coffee. Best not to assume. "...and a hot cocoa," he finished. "To go, please."
"Sure thing," Mark said and got to work.
Virgil leaned against the bar, his thoughts turning inward again. It really had been a while since he'd done anything more recreational than listening to music and disengaging. That was a bad habit he'd gotten from Chopper—disconnecting from his surroundings might be cathartic, but situational awareness had proven crucial on more than one occasion. Still, the least he could do to remember his dead friend was keep his music around.
Mark was back, setting a paper cup on the bar next to him. "The cocoa will only take another second," he said pleasantly and moved off again.
...And there it was, the riff from "Back of the Coin", an ear worm that would take him hours to get rid of.
You've been dead for decades and you're still annoying the hell out of me, he thought wryly, raising the coffee to no one in particular and taking a swig. It was too hot to be drinking that fast. He stifled a cough; the gin was good, but strong.
edited 23rd Apr '15 8:33:14 AM by SolipSchism
Bar
"That's interesting," Molly commented. "Me, I'm from a big city. Millions of people living together, just going about their lives. Lots of hustle and bustle all around the clock. In fact, it's been called The City That Never Sleeps, and there's a good deal of truth to the statement."
"For now, anyway."
Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Whoa, sorry about the long hiatus. Too tired to post with Gon now, so I'll just do Amanda here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bar
Amanda seemed overly pleased at the bartender's wine selection. A grin spread across her face as Mark set the glass down before her. She was actually kind of surprised that he didn't take any offense to her, for she had an unfortunate tendency to make people feel uneasy around her, to emit a sort of dark aura that drove people away. Still, she didn't seem too concerned about it, and she just glanced around at the other bar patrons. Almost immediately, she noticed some guy note looking at her with a kind of worried look - that was more like it, Amanda thought, nodding her head and turning it away from him.
Still, a thought occurred to her - a thought that made her sink back in her stool a bit (she hadn't even touched her wine glass yet). A voice in her mind, echoing from the depths of the subconscious. And it made her feel... warm inside. It felt kind of strange to her, and yet she knew that somehow it might be important. Looking up for a brief moment, she surveyed the bar, noticing that pretty much everyone here was engaged in quite interesting conversations. One group seemed to be talking about firearms, which she found kind of amusing in a peaceful place such as this. For a while she turned to face that group, holding her wand in her lap as before, thinking about just what would happen if gunfire were to emerge within these walls, and what a bullet wound would feel like.
At that point, Amanda was starting to feel a little light-headed, so she turned back around to face the bar... only to notice something pink. With a bit of blue. Shifting around to get a better look, Amanda saw it was a young lady with pink hair and what seemed to be a crown of flowers... she thought the girl might be a faery at first, but didn't see any wings. But she did see some flowers starting to grow out of the seat beneath her, which she thought rather peculiar. At some point in the conversation, she summoned a butterfly above her hand too. Maybe some sort of nature spirit, or even a magical girl. And she was talking to someone who didn't look very lively, to say the least. Interested, Amanda picked up her still-full wine glass, cupping it in her hand with the stem between her fingers, and walked over to them.
The pink-haired girl was talking at that point about a castle, apparently, and of a flower shop, and then she apologized for babbling. Amanda saw this as a perfect opportunity to join in. "But it was rather interesting babbling, I must say," she mused, swirling the wine around in her glass. "Magic, you say? Well, it seems I have stumbled into quite an interesting spot. I use magic myself," and here she took a brief glance at her wand in her other hand, "although mine is more of the dark variety, I guess."
Then Amanda held her wine glass closer to her, almost at level with her heart. She gazed into it for a moment, and after a while, a little black flame appeared inside the glass. It looked like the antithesis of a normal candle flame, for it was blue where there should be red, purple where there should be yellow, and black where there should be white. As it burned, the wine did not heat up, but some wisps of a dark mist began to form from the surface. As it permeated the air, it brought with it an ominous feeling - Amanda wouldn't have been surprised if either of these two felt a chill from its presence. After a while, the flame vanished, but the little bit of dark mist above the wine remained (and the wine itself looked a bit darker than before), even as Amanda took a sip of it.
"Oh of course," she continued after a pause, tapping the red and black-winged ball at the end of her wand against her chin. "How silly of me to not introduce myself first. The name's Amanda, and... I would shake your hand, but I don't think it's a good idea for either of you to touch this," glancing at her wand, "though I won't blame you if your curiosity gets the better of you." She gave a tiny giggle, and took another sip of her wine. In the meantime, dark wisps similar to the ones floating above the black flame earlier looked like they were being sucked into the tip of her wand, which had that same ominous air about it as the flame did. In fact, the wisps were coming from Ai's direction...
Amanda noticed this and looked down... and immediately bonked herself on the head with her wand. "Whoops, bad Amanda," she commented matter-of-factly. Guess I was really hungry for all that cheerful energy you're giving off." (In fact, Ai may have felt a bit drained at this point.) "It is kinda how I sustain myself, after all... well, that and this," and here she bobbed her wine glass up and down. "So we have a princess and a city girl, but I never caught your names."
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
Bar
Ai sat in thought for a moment about a 'city that never sleeps' and wondered how they stayed awake for so long before saying, "That sounds like an interesting place. My own town is small and usually quiet." It was then another woman at the bar sat close to them and mentioned that Ai's babbling was interesting. At the mention of magic, the pink haired girl became curious, looking at her strange looking object in her hand that appeared to be a wand.
She listened closely as the woman explained her magic was of the dark type and conjured an interesting colored flame in her wine glass. Her blue eyes sparkled in wonder and shivered a bit from the aura though it didn't bother her too much. As the woman introduced herself she saw some wisps float around her and suddenly she felt a bit light headed. Shaking it off she took a quick drink from her tea before smiling at the woman. "That is pretty impressive. Don't worry, I'll be fine. It just felt a bit weird." she explained, waving it off.
When the woman mentioned them being a princess and a city girl Ai found herself blushing. "Oh, I'm not princess really. Just a simple girl from a floral shop. My name is Ai Malificia. Pleased to meet you Amanda." she introduced, bowing a bit while still sitting.
edited 24th Apr '15 5:45:40 PM by Sphinxyness
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
Lobby -> Upper Level Hallway
As they walked, Camille pulled out her map again and looked it over, comparing it to the path she and David were walking. From this she got the impression that her newfound acquaintance didn't have much of an idea where he was heading, although she decided not to actually point this out.
"We used to have a system like that," she said, "There was an upper and lower class with little difference between the two. But in the years since a middle class popped up and then the lines got really blurry. The extremes are still obvious, but everything in between is tricky to tell."
She frowned and shook her head before shifting the subject back to the place David came from, or at least tried to. "...Does anyone else feel that strongly about such a big divide? Maybe there's enough to try getting reforms through or something?"
While she didn't state it outright, it looked like the conversation was veering towards an area she'd long stopped caring about for lack of need, and an area that she didn't feel that knowledgeable in anyway. At least it was better than trying to explain the internet, something she barely understood herself, to someone who had never heard of it.
At that point they reached what appeared to be the way to the rooms, at least according to the map. She was expecting stairs, but apparently this place opted for something of higher technology. She glanced at it apprehensively for a moment or two, but she then recalled that she hadn't felt much of anything upon arriving here. If that was similar to this, then why would she feel anything here?
At that, she nodded at David before stepping through. As she expected, it was no different than going through a mundane door; step in from one place and step out at another. She stood off to the side as to not obstruct David before attempting to figure out how to navigate to her room.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
PAINKILLER
[Upper Floor Hall]
David, no real stranger to being teleported, stepped up and arrived in a hallway. There was no one there, but it was where the rooms were.
He did catch that Camille was less than interested in economics (he didn't blame her). He decided to press upon another topic, "Well uh, there's opposition all right. But after the second world war, everything was- there was nothing. No structure, no jobs. Corporations stepped in, and gave people jobs. Later, new governments led by the corporations and groups of 'em- called monopolies. But, once everything got back on track, people started realizing who was on top."
The blond man scoffed, "But I'm the one to talk. I had a good job on top. I uh-" He paused. "I lost it, though. Rebels are to blame. They want the old world to come back, you know? But they have issues in their ways of doin' it. Not like greedy bastards most CE Os aren't any better, investing in militants to shut them up," He shook his head. David finished, "Well, I'm tryin' to stop it from getting worse, which is what's happening. But, I gotta take a break."
"So uh, I think my room is around here somewhere," He eyed the doors. He didn't recall which room they got. David scratched his head, and went further down the hall. "Uh, try to look for yours. Should be around here somewhere."
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
[GUEST ROOM HALLWAY]
Before he gave them to Zak, Kyle got a look at the key numbers. The rooms were 271, and 272.
He turned a corner, and there was Zak, unlocking 272. However, "unlocking" would be a loosely used term, as the door apparently wasn't accepting the key, leaving Zak with no choice but to yank on the knob relentlessly.
"Can't get in?" Kyle asked. Zak paused for a moment, caught his breath and rolled his eyes. "No, it challenged me to an arm wrestling match and I accepted." He said sarcastically. Zak reached into his pocket and pulled out the other key. "Anyway, here's yours."
Kyle caught the key in his hand, turning to face room 271. Inserting the key, Kyle turned it and...
"Huh? Mine's stuck too." Kyle pulled it out and looked at it. Slowly, his face melted into chuckles at what he saw.
"Sure you wanna use that key?" He playfully asked Zak, displaying the 272 key in his hand. Zak looked at his own key. Sure enough, there was 271 in his hand.
The two quickly switched keys and entered their rooms, both ready to unload.
Bar
"I'm Molly Barret, it's a pleasure to meet you." She took a sip of her own wine. "Couldn't help noticing that there was some smoke coming from your wand, Amanda. You might want to get that checked. Backfiring spells can be very nasty."
Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!
[ARCADE OF TIME->BAR]
Lara had walked back into the lounge, her eyes looking out the window. She had heard there was skiing here. Skiing was actually one of the things she still did.
Her thoughts started to slow down, trying to remember what was so important about her being near the bar. As soon as she connected the dots, she whipped around.
Ah, crap...
Sure enough, the old codger from the Capital was just yards away from her, though she was behind him. Hopefully he hadn't noticed her?
edited 25th Apr '15 9:10:27 PM by TroPartner
Crazy Kiwi
Lounge/Bar - Gwion
Even in a reportedly safe place such as this, Gwion still kept up his regular occasional sweeps to check his surroundings. "Watch your 'six'" had been been a survival mantra for years.This time, the routine check of what was behind him revealed that Rick's daughter had returned and was looking directly at him. He smiled and nodded acknowledgement and raised his Lemon, Lime and Bitters in a friendly salute.
edited 26th Apr '15 6:50:59 PM by Wolf1066
[BAR]
Shoot, he did see me...
Lara cleared her throat. "Interesting to see you again." She said to him, making a deadpan face. Then it melted into an expression of confusion. Did this guy just raise his glass to her? She almost wondered if this was the man's twin. Definitely not the man she remembered from the Capital...
[GUEST ROOMS->LOUNGE]
"Yes, you are gonna say, 'oh, I had such a good time, I forgot about unpacking.'" Zak mocked teasingly, stuffing his clothes, in a very disorganized fashion, into the provided dressers of his room. "I just like to get things done fast as I can."
Kyle raised an eyebrow at his friend as he stood in the doorway. "Uh... Sorry?"
Zak deadpanned. "Without going...y'know, fast fast. Someone could walk right in on me running all over the room. They'd freak out!"
"They'll freak out?" Kyle snickered. "You're gonna scream like a little girl when a stranger walks in here."
"If I do, promise you won't talk about it?" For a moment, Zak blinked at what he just said. Suddenly, he shook his head, dismissing it. "Wait, no, nevermind. You can't even shut up about Milly."
"I was just pulling your leg!" Kyle pleaded.
Zak sighed, picking up a pair of rather heavy-looking, mechanical-looking boots. "Yeah, I know you were but here's the thing: There's lots of different people here. Someone's gonna take it literally, and assume I am married to her."
"Is that a bad thing?" Kyle asked with a knowing smile. Zak stood there speechless, his face turning red again. "Uh... E-excuse me?"
"Nevermind." Kyle rolled his eyes, taking his leave. "I still say I'll remember to unpack."
"Put your money where your mouth is?" Zak challenged.
"Done!" After that, Kyle walked back through the warp door, and into the lounge.
edited 26th Apr '15 5:01:19 PM by TroPartner
Crazy Kiwi
Gwion noted the look of confusion and thought back to their last encounter. Understandable, he thought.
He smiled. "Interesting indeed. I was just talking to your dad a few minutes ago - before he wandered off looking for you. He came up and introduced himself and returned to me something I'd loaned out to Joshua in Capital City." Less than ten minutes before I first met you, he thought. "Sorry for delaying your transport. The beast was still close to the surface after the events in the diner and Felix got my hackles up, blaming the innocent victim for the stuff that went down."
[BAR]
"I was just talking to your dad a few minutes ago"
Lara tensed her muscles, resisting the urge to make an annoyed face. Still isn't stopping with the "Dad" thing...
After relaxing some, she thought more about the man. To her, it was either a twin screwing around with her, or this guy goes through unbelievable mood-swings.
She finally shook her head, leaving the question for later and replied, "Okay, here we go. Firstly, I already sorta know what happened. Secondly, it's Lara Ryken. And thirdly, Rick's my mentor, not my dad."
Upper Floor Hall
"...So you've got some kind of revolution going on?" Camille asked, frowning, "That must really suck for the ordinary civilians, at least if it's really widespread."
She was awfully thankful that, even if her situation wasn't the best, it was at least mostly peaceful. She couldn't even remember if there ever was large scale fighting where she lived. She hoped there never had been.
After another moment of silence, she said, "...I'm sorry for you. Whenever you get back, I hope you have luck in quelling all that."
Afterwards, she glanced down at her key and noticed the number "251" on it. She looked up at the rooms and noticed similar numbers on the doors. Apparently, the number on the key marked the number of her room. She didn't have much experience with hotels and their ilk, so this whole thing was taking some time for her to get used to.
"Anyway, I think I'm going to look for my room now. Are you going to go check on your girlfriend?"
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
Crazy Kiwi
Lounge/Bar - Gwion
"...And thirdly, Rick's my mentor, not my dad."Interesting. Gwion recalled Rick's hesitation before saying "my daughter" and put the two facts together.
He extended his hand. "Pleased to meet you properly, Lara. I'm Gwion." He indicated Ulf. "And this is Ulf. Felix and Rose are both wandering about somewhere, if you can believe the coincidence."
edited 26th Apr '15 11:40:50 PM by Wolf1066
[Bar]
Vizirik shook his head as he scanned the array of glowing machines through the portal. "Your proposal is noted, but the significant traffic of this location makes it more amenable to my purposes of social observation." A pause, then his eyes lit up. He made a furtive gesture to Ketlak, who turned the camera off. Then, "you have mentioned you are a trader?" Of significant technological ability, it seemed. "My government possesses an interest in certain difficult-to-obtain goods. It is said certain mechanisms exist to restore a fossilized being to the world of the living..."
[Bar]
Overhearing, Isaac looked over to Ila and, hoping the Kykzavi didn't noticed, shook his head and made a halting, don't do it gesture. In Isaac's opinion, selling the goddamn Party anything more advanced than a vacuum cleaner was an absolutely terrible idea.
Then he turned back to Maroko and said, "sorry, I might have to break up that deal. Hopefully not. Anyways." He frowned, but for now, had no intention of dragging her into his problems. She clearly had enough of her own. "I... hold on, did you say half-ghost? Like... comatose meat body, wandering spirit, or..." he titled his head, considering the reproduction-based possibility. "How does that even...? I mean... it ain't my business, but from a purely biological standpoint of meat and ectoplasm somehow... aw, shit, it's that goddamn magic, ain't it?"
edited 27th Apr '15 6:13:52 AM by KillerClowns
[Lounge/Bar]
Virgil stepped out the door to gauge the weather, double-fisting the hot drinks and using his shoulder to get through the door.
Balls! he thought for the second time. It is cold! But at least the air was still. Actually, aside from the initial shock of stepping from a warm lounge out onto a frozen path, this wasn't too bad. The exertion of walking alone ought to help stave off the cold, since there wasn't any wind. His ears were already turning red, though. He slipped back into the lounge and set the cocoa back on the bar to wait for Kyle.
edited 27th Apr '15 8:31:29 AM by SolipSchism
PAINKILLER
[Upper Floor Hallway]
David said in a low voice, "Yeah. Hopefully what I'm doing is in the right track. Thank you, though."
Before the man could figure out a plan to find where he was staying, Mariana came out of room 248. She changed into lighter gear and pulled her curly hair back. She noticed her boyfriend and grinned. "Missed me much?" She leaned against the open door.
"Actually, no." The blond man sassed and stuck out his tongue. More formally, he introduced, "She's Camille. A fellow guest."
The black woman looked up and noticed the girl. "Oh, hello. I hope David hasn't bothered you. I'm Mariana." She made a slight bow.
David popped into the room to check the interior. There was a double bed. After figuring everything was in order, he rested against the door frame and said, "Yeah, she needs a pair of shoes. Did you bring an extra pair?"
"Well, yes." Mariana looked confused but looked to Camille's feet. "Oh, I didn't notice. I'll go get them." She then disappeared. He kept the door open with his foot.
He then noticed Camille's own confused expression. "Do you need help finding your room?" He glanced at her key. "I don't think we're far apart." He cocked his head behind him. "Try down there."
"Here," Mariana appeared again, with a pair of boots. She handed them to the girl. They were tan and were more fashionable than functional. "I don't know if they'll fit but, it could do."
I guess you can decide if they fit or not, either way it doesn't matter.
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
[BAR]
"Hello there!" Kyle waved over to Virgil as he entered back in. "Miss me, sweetheart?" He joked.
—
Lara raised an eyebrow.
"... Mr. 70's, you mean? He's here?" She scanned the crowd quickly. The Afro was not difficult to spot—it was the only Afro in the room.
"What about the fire-spitter?" She asked, turning back to Gwion. She looked downward in thought. "The one who nuked the pizza, I mean... What was her name again? Katie... Karen... Kuku... Something with a K..."
[Room —> Hot Springs]
Qal and Izeri finally made it out of their room (in a strangely good mood), freshly showered and in the swimsuits they'd brought. Izeri's fashion sense was quaintly modest, a red suit that came complete with a dark brown skirt. Qal's dark blue two-piece, in contrast, was a bit more modern-looking, though hardly risque. They politely nodded at the others in the hallway, but made their way outside.
As soon as the warp door opened out to the outside, Izeri staggered back. "Why did I let you talk me into this?!" Then, after a moment's hesitation, she stepped back, conjured a blazing fire in her hands, took a breath, and dashed into the springs, extinguishing her flame at the last moment before leaping in.
Qal followed, mostly unperturbed by the cold, but slid only slowly into the springs themselves. "See," she said, sliding over to Izeri and affectionately nuzzling up to her, "was that so bad?" Then she looked over at Xia and waved politely. "Hey," she said, "glad we aren't the only ones out here!"
edited 27th Apr '15 9:27:01 PM by KillerClowns
Crazy Kiwi
Lounge/Bar - Gwion
Gwion gave a quirky smile at "Mr 70's" - he remembered his father's collection of old music videos and thought the moniker quite apt - then he shrugged at Lara's question. "I never caught her name. I called her Carrot-top - we could spell it with a 'K', I suppose... it could be her superhero name. Helluva way to make a flame-grilled pizza. I haven't seen her around here, but it's early yet, the place hasn't started to fill up."He took a sip of his LLB. "Anyway, want a drink? I'd buy you one but they insist on giving them away."
[Bar]
"Yes. But I'm not sure exactly what you're looking for," Ila said to Vizirik, "do you want something that will restore a fossilized species? Or something to resurrect someone from the dead? Or something else?"
"Either way, this kind of technology is generally not cheap," she said, ignoring Isaac's look for the moment.
[Bar]
"Okay, but just be careful when dealing with artificial humans standing next to dimension-bending portals," Maroko said, "even with the non-violence field, it can be dangerous to meddle in those sorts of things. Trust me, I know."
"And yes, it's goddamn magic is about right," Maroko said, "her father is alive, and her mother is a ghost, although she was made physical for one year through some kind of magic, I don't really remember how. So yeah, Kina is kinda a hybrid of physical and spiritual matter? You have to see her, I'm not very good at explaining these things that shouldn't exist." She rubbed her forehead with a look of frustration.
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
[Lounge/Bar]
Virgil smirked and held Kyle's drink out to him.
"You wouldn't happen to be into classic rock 'n' roll, would you? Just curious. You're really reminding me of that friend I mentioned."
[Bar]
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Maroko said, "I'm just not sure what their kryptonite is. And I honestly don't know how I could possibly experiment without raising suspicion."
"And yeah, there's a few who are sympathetic," she said, "Takuya and Yuuta believe us, but say we're from another alternate quantum reality. That explanation doesn't exactly add up, but at least they're trying. Kina tries to be nice and encourage us, but given that she was not a half-ghost earlier, I have a hard time believing she's sincere."
Maroko sighed, and said, "so yeah, if I'm honest... no, not really anyone else. I mean, why would they?"
[Bar]
"I am an artificial metamaterial construct," Ila said, "Ila Locera, at your service." She bowed at Vizirik slightly.
"I can alter my form to resemble a wide variety of physical species," Ila said, "which really comes in handy when one is an interdimensional trader. Currently I am operating this PartnerPort Interdimensional Gateway Demo. It is a doorway to other interdimensional locations, based on a new partnership network that has been recently established." Ila motioned to the door and control panel.
"I'm demonstrating its functionality, and availability for installation in other locations," she said, "currently it is connected to the Arcade of Time. Feel free to visit if you would like."
edited 22nd Apr '15 11:03:46 PM by Sonzai
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.