(Nebula Lobby)

This place was amazing! The brightness of the lights, the smoothness of every surface... This hall alone blew away anything Ryya had seen before in her life. Her people surely were missing many wonders if the outside world was a tenth of wonderful as this place was.

Although, after she was done admiring the place, came the question: Where to go? The metallic creature had given her a 'key' for a room where to stay, but Ryya had no idea where that was. The girl took out the thing and examined it, but couldn't discern how it worked. She was walking around absent-mindedly while she thought this, so she didn't realize she nearly ran into someone else.

She pulled back at the last moment. "Oh goodness! I'm so sorry!" Ryya hurriedly bowed in apology to the stranger, a person wrapped in a red cloak. Ryya could not see her face properly, but what she could see was not very pleasant. Their skin was darkened and seemed as if it and the hair were falling off.

'Or maybe this is how this person normally looks?' That could make sense. It seemed that they were talking to what looked like a clay doll, wearing very garish clothing. All of this was very weird, but Ryya knew that things were going to be a lot different than she knew back in the Mountain. Maybe not as different as this, but she should start taking this in stride.

Ryya cleared her throat to break any awkward silence that may have developed, and adressed the first beings she had met that were not her own kind. "So... are you new here?"

Club Bizarre (Nemaforte, Horizons, Ethoya, "Digital Being")

Ethoya frowned. Considered. She thought aloud as she examined them, though this did not reveal her thoughts in their entirety. The Cosmic Potion: "no, no, I hear too much of it already." The drimariya: "I don't sleep... or am always asleep. Not clear which." And finally, the mushroom of time: "hmm... small things. I often advise mortals to enjoy... yes. Yes." She looked up at Nemaforte and nodded. "Just one moment," she said.

She effortlessly teleported over to the bartender and retrieved the card with her credits, previously left with him as part of her tab. However, she did not return to Nemaforte the same way; she walked back and handed her the card. "The turian-wishta, I think, will suit me just fine."

Then she turned to the One Who Brings Horizons and the formless... she mentally called it a Dead God, despite the clear differences, for lack of better term. "And you two," she said, "speaking of new experiences. Who are you?" There was something more than a bit odd about the way she intoned that last question, though it wasn't immediately identifiable what that was.

Spaceship/Pod Docking Area -> Nebula Lobby

The Pride of Rust set down in the expansive docking bay of the Carpe Noctem. An access ramp lowered from a ventral hatch and three figures walked down into the hangar.

Two of them were clearly identifiable as Human- a dark-skinned woman and a pale-skinned man, respectively- whereas the third was most certainly not. Standing at easily over seven feet tall, the alien somewhat resembled a bipedal fuzzy velociraptor. It's torso and arms were thickly muscled, and it's body was covered in a dense coat of short brown fur.

One of the local service droids walked up to them and, after a short conversation about directions, the three made their way though to the Nebula Lobby.

The space appeared to be quite crowded, and exotic even by the standards of seasoned interstellar travelers. Among those assembled looked to be a few Humans and several more creatures that defied categorization. The three of them hung back, content to people-watch for the moment.

Nebula Lobby - Ulf, Gwion, Terri, Wolfe

“For once?” he echoed Gwion and did his best to look slightly miffed. He shook his head with another smile.
“Suppose you have a point, aside form that ski resort things tend to go belly up around us. Ah!” he remembered and snapped his fingers. “Right, the Capital. Wolfe and…Teri right?” he said and gave them a bow.

”As for what I’ve been doing…I suppose you’d call it a…pilgrimage of sorts.” he struggled with the words.
”Ever since…that happened I’ve been integrating with others similar to me. Trying to work together with my furry side instead of constantly battling it. It’s been…odd but I think I’m making progress. I’m actually in route to a longer term project now, some planet exploration thing the Capital admiralty has been eyeing. I’ve missed being around green and hopefully I can make some credit while I do.”

edited 1st Mar '17 12:15:01 AM by Slysheen

Deck 1 - Nebula Lobby

At the sound of her name, Teri looked over. There was something familiar about the bloke Gwion was talking with - it had most certainly been he who had mentioned her name and he bowed in her direction, so obviously he knew her.

She excused herself from Sophia and Junko and headed towards Gwion and the other bloke. As she walked towards the counter she finally remembered - he'd been at the Ski Resort and in Capital City; didn't have the beard then.

She arrived at the counter in time to hear the comment about working together with his "furry side" rather than battling it and wondered what he meant.

Gwion smiled. "Glad to hear things are going well for you." A thought struck him and he chuckled. "I wouldn't say the resort was all that restful - there was too much falling over for my liking. Thankfully, I don't think there's much opportunity for skiing around here."

Teri looked at the bearded man. "So - Ulf, isn't it? Are you currently busy or are you pretty much on holiday until you reach your destination?"

Deck 1 - Arboretum

Pearl was captivated by the spectacle of the indoor garden. It certainly felt restful.

The grass and ground felt firm and dry, like a lawn on a summer's day so she settled down on the grass without worrying that her skirt would get damp. Aubrey hesitantly sat down beside her.

Aubrey was mindful that it would not be wise to say anything that might compromise the safety and security of Terra Nova but there were plenty of things that could be safely divulged in the interests of goodwill. "Well, we were both originally from Earth but we were somehow transported to a different world, which we call Terra Nova."

"It's kind of an unofficial colony," said Pearl, "unplanned, too. None of us expected to find ourselves on another planet. One minute we were going about our business, the next we were coming 'round out of a giddy spell on a different world. It was as scary, as you may imagine, but you cope, you know, you just get on with it and cope; make a new life as best you can."

edited 1st Mar '17 3:37:02 AM by Wolf1066

Square Root of Pie (Max, Robin, Cecilia)

Square Root of Pie is pretty crowded right now. Mainly by kids and their families. One of the kids, a six year old human boy who got separated from his family of nine when they weren't looking, is running towards the exit. His attention is drawn towards the arcades, and he, not seeing where he is going, bumps into a man in black shirt and white summer trousers. Who, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a frowning demon. A high-pitched shriek fills the interior of the pizza parlor, and the boy runs back where he came from, to his mother, leaving a wet trail behind like some overgrown slug on amphetamines.

"Aww, look what you did, Chief," says the demon's female companion, the redheaded one, in a playfully mocking tone.

"So, this is a family establishment, Bergmann," growls the demon at his other female companion accusatively.

"Teleportation doesn't affect the eyesight. Good," deadpans Bergmann.

"I think I owe the kid an apology," says Max the "demon" and, trying to not step on the "trail", which is already being cleaned up by a servant robot, heads in the direction the boy ran away to.

"I'll go with you, just in case," says Robin and follows him.

"And I'll go take a seat for us," says Cecilia. Looking around, she heads towards an unoccupied table near the stage.

So, I'm putting these three to the background for now. If anyone wants to talk to them, assume they're gathered at the table near the stage.

edited 1st Mar '17 5:04:17 AM by Millership

(Nebula Lobby- Carlotta, Rebecca)

"Neither do I. Small world." Rebecca rolled a kink out of her shoulders. "Yes, normally it's all throughout the body, but I put mine in a crystal. Needed someplace to put it where nobody would find it, but I could always keep an eye on it. So, I... kind of ripped out my heart and put the crystal inside me."

A thought came to Rebecca. "Most people I know can't see souls. In fact, the only ones I know are all mages. So, if it doesn't seem too impertinent, what aspect of The Art do you study?"

[Deck 1, Arboretum - Joshua, Aubrey, Pearl]

"Neat," Joshua said with a nod. They knew of spontaneous teleportation, they'd seen it once of twice, but en masse moving to whole new worlds was something new. Still, it wasn't that odd.

"That whole, staying on your feet thing rings true everywhere I guess," In response to Pearl's comment, "Starting a whole colony from scratch must have been something else though. I got to experience a whole new world, and I can say that it's tough to get everything familiar ripped away from you. I know the feeling."

Joshua took another deep inhale to take in the atmosphere of the Arboretum, slowly exhaling before continuing, "Though I never really left Earth. Still that third rock from the sun, just a lot different than I thought. I will admit, moving from pharmacy cashier to field agent, was a bigger step than being forced into any new world to be honest. In my experience."

[Club Bizzare]

Akira sighed. "Just as I thought...thank you anyway-"

Very quickly, he noticed her behavior. He blinked several times, then looked back at John, who only gave a shrug, then back to Sakura.

"Uh, are you quite alright?" he asked, "You need any sort of help? Cause it looks like that bean bag is giving you some trouble."

John, meanwhile, was trying to get some sort of cell phone reception, but so far, got nothing. He gave a heavy, annoyed sigh.

"Even better." he muttered under his breath, "Damn it; am I going to go through one of my nephew's weird adventures?"

[Nebula Lobby-Level 3/Henry and Lauren]

Henry and Lauren got their room key and had their stuff taken to their room for them, and were now walking around the lobby on the third floor with Henry walking in front of Lauren.

Henry was reading the holographic map that was included on the room with great interest as he read through some of the areas on the ship. "Perhaps we can check out the Library, or the Casino, or Holo Deck, or hell we can even check out the Abandoned Theater."

Lauren however wasn't really listening to what her husband was suggesting, instead she was constantly looking around the lobby in hopes of finding a way to get away from this forced vacation. "Sure Henry that sounds fun."

Henry turned around to look at Lauren causing her to snap out of her observing in order to fake enthusiasm. He laughed, "You have to try better than that dear." He said as he started walking backwards. "Okay if you will not decide then I will. We're going to the theater." He said enthusiastically continuing his backwards walk until he accidently walked into someone. "Oh shit, sorry about that."

[Deck 1 ~ Nebula Lobby] (Ayako, Junko, Mari, Sophia, Teri, Wolfe)

Mari turned her head toward the person calling her name. It took a moment to register exactly who it was she was looking at. "Oh, yeah. You're Wolfe, right?" she grinned. "Long time, no see. Excuse me for a moment, 'ave t'give these t'me mates," she pointed over towards the two girls with the remainder of Wolfe's party.

Junko nodded her head in response to Teri's concern over her companion. "She's alright, just fell asleep on the flight here." She gently shook the comatose girl on her back lightly, eliciting a soft snore from her. "Sound sleeper, that girl," Junko said, rolling her eyes.

Junko snapped her head to the side when someone tapped her on the arm. "Oh, it's you. You seem to know these folks..." she said to Mari, glancing over towards Wolfe.

"Yeah, met 'em when I was at a Frontier town" Mari said. Junko's blank look caused the oni to shake her head gently. "That time when I woke up in a strange desert—"

"Again?" Junko said, raising an eyebrow, "Was there a koala this time?"

"Nope. There was a minotaur, though—" Mari paused, frowning at them, "Oi, enough of this, got yous two keys for t'room. It's up on deck 6, room 202. You should drop Ayako off and let 'er sleep in an actual bed," she handed Junko the pair of keyphones, taking Ayako off her shoulders for a moment so the other girl could put the devices away. Upon draping the sleeping girl back on Junko's back, Mari grinned and waved with her keyphone before gesturing over towards the elevators, "Well, if you need me, you know where t'find me." She walked off, giving a parting wave to Wolfe.

Junko sighed as the oni left, leaving her with the two women she had just met. She gave a polite bow, "I'm sorry, but I really should get Ayako to our room. I guess we'll meet again later." She left the group, heading towards a different elevator than the one Mari had headed towards

(Minerva, Anna, Gabriel, Tigris)

"Oh," Minerva covered her mouth slightly as her eyes widened at what Gabriel said. "While I know some who might be capable of that, I'm incapable of reversing time," she said. AEGIS should know about this, so we can be prepared for whatever threat this man had to deal with, just in case it shows up in our world, she thought to herself. Also, I owe 2,000 yen to Ms. Shibata. Looks like she was right about vacations.

Minerva shook her head at what the girl said, "Oh no, I'm not a cyborg. I'm a cutting-edge military gynoid with an advanced artificial intelligence. I am called Minerva, pleased to meet you," she smiled softly, extending a hand to Gabriel.

She glanced over at Anna, a look of genuine pity crossing her face. Gabriel had said she had been designed for a specific purpose. Alice... Minerva looked up, and upon closer examination, one could see the soft, spinning glow coming from her iris. "There appears to be a sickbay up one deck. We should take Anna there."

edited 1st Mar '17 8:04:22 PM by WillDeRegio

Club Bizarre (Nemaforte, Horizons, Digital Being, Ethoya)

Upon hearing her question, the strange digital being materialized into a progressively more familiar form, and then spoke. Strangely enough, Nemaforte couldn't make out its aura that well, if it even had one. But the being seemed to take a very analytical approach, even going so far as to call the touching an experiment. But "reaction to matter"? The celestial being even advised against her touching it, but on their other suggestion, Nemaforte pulled back the jar containing the Mushroom of Time.

"For medicine these herbs are!" she spoke in only a mild astonishment, even looking the slightest bit amused, though her expression was flat as ever. "If you want a thing to touch..." and here she retrieved one of the only green leaves on the table (and even then a lighter hue of it), running her fingers over the leaf several times before handing it to the digital being. "Eldamor is cheap, and most a potion ingredient." As an afterthought, so that the being did not have to touch her hand, she let the leaf go, carrying it psychokinetically over to the being, so that it appeared to drift on a nonexistent breeze.

With that out of the way, she uncapped the jar containing the Mushrooms of Time and looked up at Ethoya. "A very good choice this is." With that, she very carefully pinched one of the mushrooms between two nails and lifted it onto a metal dish, where she withdrew a knife the size of a razor and neatly cut the mushroom in half. Then she placed the two halves in a tiny drawstring bag. This she gave Ethoya while pulling out her card reader, which she was still getting used to. "Very odd this is to use when prefer I would to use coins. But anyway, most people use a quarter of a cap at a time, but I thought such a brightly-aura'd being like you would need more. Start with a half to be safe. Recommend I can being in a quiet place with nearby activity, as things will happen very slowly. Be especially careful when walking or speaking to not rush yourself. Once it wears off, your senses may seem disorganized as time catches up, and though sleep usually cures that, it too after a while will disappear."

She turned to the One Who Brings Horizons, rubbing the jar of mushrooms in her hands with a bemused look on her face. "Knowing that, would you still want to use them in art? For visual art, the flowering sunlit plants of Rumia may be better, but I do not supply those. But a feeling I do have that your art is not visual. Am I correct?"

Nebula Lobby 1F (Carlotta, Rebecca, Ryya)

Carlotta looked visibly uncomfortable when Rebecca mentioned ripping out her heart. "I... hope you didn't eat it afterward." That was one memory she would have preferred to not see. "And I'm not very good at seeing souls - or rather ether, the stuff souls are made of, but..."

Before saying anything further, she glanced all around the room, making absolutely sure that Lucina and/or Emille had not decided to follow her into the lobby. While looking around, she saw someone approaching her and Rebecca, and her appearance was... bizarre, to say the least. Scales all over her skin, limbs that were more reptilian than human... and the red eyes told her that she was either a demon or a vampire (or something similar). Hoping that that... creature wouldn't start a conversation with them, she turned back to Rebecca, taking a moment to try and remember what question the zombie(?) woman asked her.

"It is impertinent, but..." and here she spoke in more of a whisper, "as long as you don't tell any other dolls, or a queen who is dressed like one... I am good at seeing traces of black magic. I'm not a mage myself, but I was created by one."

And then, just as she dreaded, the scaly woman spoke to them, asking if they were new around here. Again Carlotta felt that sense of unease, but she quickly composed herself and spoke. "I did just arrive here a short while ago. What... exactly are you supposed to be anyway?"

Beyond the strange scaled lady, she noticed a young man in the lobby standing alone, also gazing in their direction.^note This being Kaswaesa. She cocked her head to the side and blinked, as if to say "what are you looking at".

edited 1st Mar '17 10:21:19 PM by ladytanuki

Nebula Lobby 1F (Minerva, Anna, Gabriel, Tigris)

Smiling weakly as the first woman expresses her concern for Anna, Gabriel freezes when the cybernetic woman answered his question seriously. "Oh god, she's working with them, is she going to kill us? Did we get sent through a time warp instead? That makes more sense for how I ended up on a cruise ship..."

However, once she corrected them that she's a gynoid, Gabriel's body softens. Looking up at her and her extended hand, Gabriel steps up to his feet. Taking her hand with his right, by touch anyone would be able to deduce there's bone plating underneath his uniform. Taking a deep breath and sighing after Minerva too shows her concern, he looks down at the young girl in his arms.

Looking towards both Minerva and the other, Gabriel speaks with bit of a depressed tone. "No... No, this is normal for a Mentalist. Hell, I only know of one guy whose Mentalists look normal, and he's been- He was aware of their true nature much longer than me. Not like knowing did me any good, as Seed Esper were the only ones to let me join..."

Settling his gaze on Minerva, Gabriel brushes back Anna's hair to more clearly show the 'band' she's wearing over her eyes. Though Anna then looks up at him, Gabriel continues with that tone. "People call you a gynoid instead of an android, so your friends must be rather open minded to use the right term. However, the legal rights of artificial beings is so... Stupidly incomplete, least from where we're from."

Throwing back his head and gazing at the elegance of the place, Gabriel's tone notably becomes softer. "I just... Had no idea what to do, and no faith in humanity to fix things. So sure, why not go see these doctors? Anna isn't gonna die anytime soon anyways..." Not long after he said that, did a digital voice call out from his left arm- Distinctly feminine at that.

~"Could someone check our VESTA? We'll need it operational, and Crimson Exosso means a lot to both of us."~ Gabriel blinking a few times when the voice spoke, he wasn't entirely surprised either. Adjusting Anna in his arms, his voice lacks that depressed tinge- Least it isn't as noticeable. "I got this smartwatch and Anna is technopathic, though I think our VESTA helps her focus it..."

Nebula Lobby - Third Floor

Leaving the empty staircase, Sii-razh stepped into the ardent hall with mixed uncertainty and poise, like a cheetah traveling through a lions' hunting ground. When he first walked through the lobby it was like all eyes tracked his shadow, all lights were blinding and all sounds roaring, and he braced himself for the same sensation. Instead, it was like no one noticed his arrival. And looking around at the flowing, moving lights and at the half-drunken masses moving along the curved walls and dying the musicianless music of the room with shouts and laughter, he understood that without the company of the other missionaries he was only another stranger in a strange land. To further defeat the fear he imagined himself in the streets of Tevirre, once a lost foreigner and now... an even more lost inhabitant? Yes, that could do, he thought and let himself grow more relaxed.

And so he moved through the crowd, hearing the music and letting the weird visions the place had to offer assault his senses, make their way to inside his mind. Once one of the mechanical servants offered drink or food either to him or to his shadow, but neither did answer as he let flow of the universe guide him. It was a very peculiar state of mind, this walking meditation, and a delicate one at that, from out of which he was distracted by a mirage in the air picturing what he believed to be a map. Approaching quietly as to not disturb those inspecting it, his interest was caught by the mention of an abandoned location, something he remembered being warned about earlier. An abandoned location inside a vessel? He turned his back to the map to look for one of the mechanicals, and distracted by his thoughts he didn't notice the unaware man approaching him until their backs collided, startling him.

"Oh shit, sorry about that", the older man said in what Sii-razh read as an apology. Turning to face him, Sii raised an eyebrow and massaged one of his own shoulders with a gloved hand, saying "No harm was done.", his mask muffling his voice slightly but not enough to render it less clear. "I do not wish to intrude, but were you talking about the abandoned theater nearby? Do you know why it is abandoned?", he said, hesitating a little before wording the final question.

Nebula Lobby -> Club Bizarre

After spending a few moments consulting one of the Carpe Noctem's convenient holographic displays, she turned to her two companions- the man and the large alien- and said, "Alright, I think I know where I'm spending today. If anything comes up, you can reach me by commset. Don't the two of you go and do anything that's liable to convince docking control to kick us out."

The two of them nodded their heads in their best attempt to look dutiful. It seemed to work as the woman, who was evidently their captain, gave a short sigh and a nod of the head. "Right. Sure. See you back on the ship." She then split from the group and made her way up the stairs. It was a fair few decks- more than half a dozen by her cursory view of the map- between the Nebula Lobby and Club Bizarre, but if there was a place she'd feel at home on this vessel, she figured that would be it.

Nebula Lobby

As soon as the captain left, the man cast his eyes about the crowded space, then rubbed his hands together.

Yes, this would do.

It had been quite a while since he'd last had this kind of opportunity.

He nudged the large fur-covered alien beside him in the arm with an elbow. "So, what do you think? Favorable odds or no?" The large, fuzzy biped lowed in what sounded like disapproval, but didn't speak. "Oh, come on!" said the man, "You know me better than that! We'll even get you somebody, how's about that? It'll be great."

With that, he stepped into the assembled mass of people and began to mingle. His furry companion however did not. The large alien continued to stand awkwardly off to the side, it's considerable size that much more noticeable now that it was alone, observing it's crewmate wend his way through the crowd and occasionally pause to surreptitiously watch and listen.

It wasn't long before a certain person caught his eye. A lizardy-looking woman who was currently involved in a conversation with what appeared to be a porcelain doll and a dead woman. Definitely the better choice out of those three, he thought to himself. I'll just wait to see how this goes. Don't want to be rude.

edited 2nd Mar '17 11:19:58 AM by Gault

[Club Bizzare]

"Oh, uh, me? N-no! No, no, I'm fine," she said with a nervous laugh. "Yup, totally fine..."

The bean bag chair was rather large, and she wasn't yet entirely sure how the damned thing worked. She was sitting quite oddly, and more pressingly, her katana was starting to dig in to her side. It was all very awkward and uncomfortable. Much like her attempt to get out of the thing, as she just about managed to roll off the side and stagger to her feet.

Now standing again, she get a bit of her dignity back. She straightened out her clothes, stood tall and smiled. "I'm Sakura, by the way," she said with a polite bow. "Nice to meet you!"

Nebula Lobby- Ulf, Gwion, Terri, Wolfe

The emphasis on his name was odd. Maybe she was just using Gwion’s namedrop to be polite.
”Oh, did I get it wrong? Sorry, thought I met you back in the Capital, then again my mental state wasn’t the best back then. If so, I apologize. As for why I’m here, new job is sending me to survey a new planet the admiralty has an interest on colonizing. My home planet was pretty much all explored by the time I came around and I was a little sad I never got a chance to explore some frontiers.”

Club Bizarre - Digital Being, Nemaforte, Ethoya, One-Who-Brings-Horizons

“For medicine these herbs are!” the small human said. The being reflected for a moment at the slight twinge of disappointment. The object they held out first had such an interesting mixture of energies. Emotions, even barely noticeable were novel as well. They remembered after a moment the attachment the beings of the third dimension had for material objects. Their logical side still bobbed with agreement to the unknown entities assertion beside them.
“Fragility of matter forms noted. A limited observation is also acceptable.”

The small human instead produced a thin green object the being vaguely noted as ‘’plant’’. It would do. Especially how the human seemed to direct it without visible force in any dimension they could note. The being made a thoughtful sound and the the leaf approached an extended tendril of morphing symbols. It hung suspended a few centimeters away and the being felt their mind shift. Their eyes switched from teal to a faint yellow.

The leaf began to move, swirling around the being’s body like the flow of a river or perhaps a complicated weather system. The being engrossed themselves for a moment in moving the leaf where they wished noting the micro currents of entropic energy resolving the chaos into an order powered by logic, somehow both and neither. The being finally made a pleased sound and let the leaf drift away back to the table relatively unchanged, but one might note some faint changes in its quantum structure from its journey if they scrutinized it carefully.
“Yes, order within chaos, this data is most delectable.” Their eyes faded back to teal.
“It is also valuable, what information would you wish?” They also noted the humanoid being shift dimensions from the table to across the club and back. Translocation capacity. Energy signature familiar yet not. Perhaps they were a rift demon? Most existed in the 4th or higher dimensions and made their presence in the third by energy anomalies and gravity distortions. Though before their transformation, the being noted that such a union was considered impossible. So perhaps rift demons could make material shells as well. The other being was also novel, humanoid shape but they sensed a mutableness to their form. With filaments like crystal they reminded them of Xyoli, but Xyoli were neither flexible nor small. Very interesting.

The not-rift-demon asked them “Who are you?” the intonation was strange but they dismissed it as unfamiliarity with the nuances of their language.

“A novel inquiry, simple yet not.” they tried to untangle the logic into understandable terms.
“We were a Technomancer, perhaps we still are. But now we have integrated, plunged into it and returned…shattered.” The word didn’t invoke correctly but they continued. “We are less now, but maybe more.” they finally gave up.
“Audio communication is too limited.” they offered by way of explanation.

Club Bizarre

The doors to the club opened and a dark-skinned woman walked in. She spared a moment to take in the decor and frowned. The club's interior was positively garish.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Whatever, I'll at least see what they have on tap.

Though the interior design left much to be desired, the clientele appeared quite promising.

Whatever else I can say about this place, I am definitely not the weirdest thing in here. It'll do.

The woman walked over to the bar, picked a stool, and sat down. Waving the automaton bartender over and asked, "Gimme something light to start. Bitter, with tonic." As the android turned away to fix her drink, she cast her eyes about the room.

Tigris glanced again at Minerva beside her. A gynoid? That would explain the weak aural radiance she was detecting. She also had to hand it to Gabriel- his panic was subsiding and he was composing himself now. Although he continued to ramble a bit, that was a perfectly common reaction to distress.

And wait- did he say Anna was always like this? Always frail and weak? Always barely able to speak even one or two words? Communicating through technology? Tigris wondered whether Anna had made a conscious decision to exist the way she did. It was horrifyingly inconceivable to her.

And a mentalist, he had said, although she took that word with more than a grain of salt. So many peoples and cultures used that same word to mean wildly different things, and she had never heard of the mentalist arts taking such a constant toll on the user as to render them a near vegetable. But she did not know that whole branch. Not even close, in fact; she specialized in spellcasting and naturalist arts, not mentalism. The ability to sense auras was merely an overlap from her heightened-awareness training.

"I've only been on the ship for a few hours," Tigris said. "Can someone lead the way?"

edited 3rd Mar '17 11:44:30 PM by BrainSewage

[Deck 1 ~ Nebula Lobby] (Minerva, Anna, Gabriel, Tigris)

Minerva wasn't exactly expecting the sort of response Gabriel gave to her stating what she was. He seemed relieved that she was a machine, as if initially assuming her to be some sort of villain. That in itself was a fact to be stored away for future inquiry.

Helping him up, it became a bit more evident that this Gabriel was clearly not a mundane human. It was entirely possible that he wasn't human at all, after all, many things that weren't human could look human, herself included.

Minerva traced a circle with the toe of her boot. "My friends, my colleagues, are generally open minded. There are many who don't share that same opinion, but that is to be expected from people."

She shifted her gaze towards Tigris, "There are elevators over there," Minerva pointed to an area just past the giant staircases of the Nebula Lobby, "We can take them to get to Deck 2. I've already notified the staff, they should be sending a mechanic to attend to your ship," she said.

[Club Bizarre]

Akira blinked several times, before also returning a bow.

"Michi Akira." he said, "A pleasure as well."

Seeing that he wasn't going to get a connection anytime soon, John got out from his stool and headed over to Akira and Sakura. He, too, gave a bow.

"John Richman." he said, "Sorry to bother you with questions. My friend and I are pretty confused. We were at a camp site, and suddenly we found ourselves here! It sounds weird, but I promise you I'm not making this up."

[Observation Deck]

Enkar's expression, with the slightly raised eyebrows, vague nod of approval, and bemused quirk at the edge of his lips, vaguely suggested the face of a professor who was about to give out a B+ to a student he had previously doubted would pass the class. A newfound and unexpected polite respect.

And then he look another look at Proseda, and dawning comprehension hit him. "Fair enough," Enkar said. "And I get the impression that you are not in the mood to hear any further ruminations upon the nature of philosophy or society. I've been working for some time in the bowels of government bureaucracy," he gave a wry, apologetic smile, "so my sense of what constitutes 'interesting conversational material' may have become quite dry."

It almost seemed as though he was about to continue on that topic, but caught himself. Instead he said, "so what brings you up to this quiet place?" He motioned to the darkness and the stars, then continued, "after all, a man of your appearance would have no difficulties finding far more attractive company than myself in one of the Solar Clubs, and you are certainly dressed for it."

edited 3rd Mar '17 3:12:02 PM by KillerClowns

[Observation Deck]

Tension leaves Proseda's shoulders as he realizes he's passed what was definitely some sort of test, his posture becoming more relaxed, "You're not wrong on either count. But it's a waste to not at least look at the stars." He chuckles, "Besides, I work in entertainment. If I come back from vacation and everyone finds out I took a cruise in space, and was constantly getting drunk in a room trying to get laid the entire time, they'll never shut up. What's the point of leaving the club if you're just gonna hang out in another one Proseda? Huh? Huh?" A mischievous grin appears on his face as he continues, "Wouldn't be the first time I spend a trip chasing tail, can tell you that much. Besides, I can do that at home if all fails. This," he gestures upwards towards the stars, " This is something new. And I don't see that kind of thing hardly ever anymore." He takes another swig of beer, the pint is already more than half empty. "This booze isn't half bad though."

(Nebula Lobby- Rebecca, Carlotta, Ryya)

"So you don't practice sorcery, but you know of it," Rebecca commented to Carlotta. She really wasn't surprised, considering how one of her covenmates specialized in animation spells, but one thing puzzled her. "I'd have thought a sorcerer would have chosen to animate something... bigger, no offense meant. I know someone who makes golems for heavy work and defense, but I've never heard of an animated doll."

A red-scaled woman came up to them. Rebecca instantly took a step back. She'd dealt with demons before- she'd even walked the damned ground of the Black Pit, on far more than one occasion. Yet she hadn't trusted one, not for a second, and this looked to her too much like one of Invidiel's underlings. Still, it couldn't hurt to be polite.

"Greetings, miss. Please, join us for a while."

(Starlight Restaurant- Lucina, Emile, Astaphanos, Phagora)

"The service is a little slow, then. I'll make sure to speed them up a little bit. As for my age, it's true that I'm far younger than most chefs, but my father's domain is food, and a good deal of his knowledge passed down to me." Phagora glanced at Astaphanos. Her eyes flashed to the crystal she was wearing. Many sorceresses used crystals to store raw magic, or even prepared spells, but she'd be damned if she knew what it did. Then again, with her bloodline, she be damned regardless, but that was another tale altogether. "An Archon, huh? Sounds like an important title, Astaphanos. What exactly is your duty?"

Club Bizarre

The dark skinned woman's gaze settled on the young shaven-headed woman wearing what appeared to be a dress composed entirely of golden feathers.

Bold fashion choice. I wonder what it means?

The girl in the golden feather dress was one of only two beings who were actually identifiable as people- as opposed to amorphous collections of anomalous energy- that were busy holding conversation on the other side of the room. As she turned to speak, the dark-skinned woman caught sight of her face. Her features were entirely too perfect, almost idealized. And those eyes, black sclera with irises the same color as her clothing- it was

Color-coordinated, too? Way to own your genes, I guess. How old must she be? Twenty?

Just then, the woman's drink slid across the bar, interrupting her train of thought. It came to a stop in front of her with millimeter-perfect precision that could only be courtesy of the bartender's sophisticated physics software. She spent a quiet moment ruminating on the absurdity of coding such a trivial feature. Some cubicle monkey had to have spent hours writing algorithms for the robot's arm, the mass of the glass, the density of the drink- and taking into account the friction of the bartop and how slippery it would get if it was wet...

Her eyes flitted back to the girl in gold, hardly being subtle.

Well, she thought, it's a start, at least. Shepard does always tell me I need to talk to people more. Yeah. I'll talk to her.

She looked down, then took a sip of her tonic.

... Just as soon as I finish this drink.