Alastair nodded. "Hm. I see. It's starting to sound as if we don't have it so bad after all." Then he turned his head and spoke briefly to the two behind him. "See, I told you both. Not the worst of possible worlds by far."
"Sir, I don't think either of us were thinking of eldritch horrors from beyond the deepest fathoms as being on the list of plausible options." Aquila said in response. Corvine nodded his agreement.
"Well," continued Alastair with a slight air of sarcasm, "as long as Dagon doesn't slither up from the depths to devour us all, I think we should be fine."
edited 21st Dec '11 8:59:37 PM by Gault
yey"Oh right, I should be more specific." Hvpvdqia said, "I mean linguistic interface modes. Like languages, transmission protocols, etc. I've used this one the most here, but it's very different from my native mode of communication."
"Are you two from a place like this, or from a very different world as well?"
edited 21st Dec '11 9:45:30 PM by Sonzai
"I don't have any particular point of reference to give you for what we deal with, but, suffice it to say, the Army tends to have trouble with the least of the creatures."
Christine paused, and then chuckled. "I suppose I should be honest. The reason I don't have a rank in the military is because I'm technically not considered infantry."
"I'm considered a weapon."
I am now known as Flyboy.Sarcastically, Isaac said, "great fu— flippin' answer, Mr. Jones. So uh, speaking as a guy who knows people who show up wearing suits and sunglasses in dark places asking ominous questions... people who show up wearing suits and sunglasses in dark places asking ominous questions are trouble."
He laid back and said, "but I can guess this much: you ain't a spy. Spies are supposed to blend in. You're either a moron, or trying to stand out. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume number two. You're an enforcer, a thug, the guy who lays down the law when it's too late to play nice. How am I doing?"
edited 21st Dec '11 9:05:39 PM by KillerClowns
Christine tilted her head. "I'm not sure what those things are, or that they'd make a difference."
She leaned against the doorway. "The US Navy, at least where I come from, has what they call the Florida-class battleship. Large vessels, big guns, very powerful. I assume, Alastair, that this world has or had an equivalent?"
I am now known as Flyboy."Yamato... I know not of this ship, but I presume that it is Asian in origin. I do believe the Florida-class uses 16-inch weaponry."
Christine began to absent-mindedly motion with her hands. "On the last task I was given by the US Government, one of the lower-level monstrosities attacked my partner and I. Four Florida-class warships engaged the creature, and it destroyed two of them before my partner and I helped to send it back to the deeps."
She sighed. "I rather doubt that we killed it, as well."
"As for your 'atomic bomb,' I believe the military has such a thing. I have heard whispers, as it were. If we do, however, I am not privy to what it is or what it will be used for."
I am now known as Flyboy.Jones smiled. "Not hot, but warm, Mister...?" He left the sentence hanging. "Enforcer isn't exactly the right word. More like 'policeman'. As I said, we have reason to believe that there is something unusual going on aboard this train."
He glanced sidelong at the children. Normal kids didn't talk that way, in his experience. Definitely trouble.
Outside, Violet headed down the corridor towards the last compartment. She rapped on the doors.
Incidentally, it's option one.
edited 21st Dec '11 10:21:09 PM by nrjxll
Alastair's frown deepened, and his expression turned altogether darker. "No, I wouldn't have thought so. The Atom bomb is... A weapon of great and terrible power. Certainly moreso than a battery of 16-inch guns, or ten, or a hundred, or a thousand. Imagine releasing the power of some of the basest Elements that constitute matter. The power to flatten square miles of terrain with a single blast. To make the air burn, the earth quake. To turn men into ash in the blink of an eye, the only evidence that they ever existed a permanent shadow seared into the ground."
yeyTomas considered all he heard in silence. So, if Christine was a being of technology... well, that was a relief. And she was loyal to the American government — or a version of it at least. The creatures of the deep sounded comprable to the forces of Hell, but he wasn't about to wager his life on it.
Alistair was arrogant, that much was clear. Like all his kind. But Tomas knew better than to assume his words were hollow. No doubt they had some tool that could level the field against Christine. But that made no difference here, did it? And what did Alistair hope to gain by revealing such?
Alistair's words about atomic weapons were true, though. Even Tomas wouldn't contest that. But he remained silent.
Nrjxll, by the "last compartment", do you mean the one occupied by Tomas, Christine, and Alistair?
Isaac scoffed and said, "firstly, it's Doctor Isaac Rose. And secondly? Policeman, enforcer? For a kid from Detroit, ain't much difference, really. 'Cept the former's easier to bribe to get off your ass, I suppose that's a plus. Still, wanna at least drop some enigmatic hints about who's lining your pockets and why?" He wasn't expecting a real answer — this was mostly to keep Jones in the spotlight, in the hopes that others would see fit to prod him for information as well.
edited 22nd Dec '11 6:52:15 AM by KillerClowns
"Seeeeymooooor." Patch grabs his shoulder and shakes him. He sighs and brushes her off.
"What do you want?"
"These people are weird."
"Yes. Yes, they are."
"I thought we were going to tell a story, Seymour."
"Then pick a story, Patch."
She starts humming to herself and Seymour rubs his temples. "I don't know good stories, Seymour. Tell them one about Peter."
"Anyone have pencil and paper? Preferably a large piece of paper."
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!"We're from a different world, yes. Though at first I was startled by the differences between ours and this one, they really aren't that dissimilar. The continents, technology, most aspects of society, and humans on both worlds seem to be roughly the same. The only substantial difference I can find is languages and how they work." Ling exposited.
"So, what is your world like?" Ling asked with interest.
edited 22nd Dec '11 8:07:45 AM by Aniventerie
Need a tall, brawny fella to come by and inspect your pickle? Perhaps I may be this fella."Oh, my world...?" Hvpvdqia said, motioning with her hands as she explained, "It's kind of difficult to describe, but here goes: We have lived in the sky for billions of years, in endless competition between our groups. Great battles are fought every day, but nothing is destroyed. We move between different modes of existence, in pursuit of our goals, but we do not change. We are both separate and one, all alike but different."
"However, recent signs have shown us that we are not alone. Patterns and structures of light on the ground, below where we work. One day, they visited us, and we visited them. To experience is to understand, and that is why I am here on this train. Who would've thought?" Hvpvdqia said with a shrug.
edited 22nd Dec '11 8:51:29 AM by Sonzai
Noah stood in an outside area between train cars, leaning on the railings and watching the scenery go by. It was a good view... at least, what he paying attention to was a good view. Retrieving a handkerchief from his coat pocket, Noah coughed into it. Coughing was something he thought biologically impossible for him until recently, considering his race's natural immunity to disease. Even worse, though, was the fact that he was coughing up blood. Taking a deep breath, Noah made his way back into the train car, and his own compartment, sitting back down and taking out his book of poems.
"Ahh, that was some good air! So, who's telling a story now?"
Christine shifted her gaze from Alastair for the first time in the conversation.
In a quiet voice, she said: "I have seen such. But it was not by the hands of humanity."
She raised her eyes for a moment and looked at Tomas, assessing him. He wasn't like the other men. He was not a man of action or a man of consequence to any form of conflict. He was a passive observer—both now and in general.
Or, that was Christine's approximation of him. She did not address him, however. Instead, she turned her eyes back to Alastair.
I am now known as Flyboy.Tamara briefly considered how much she should say. Well, she had already revealed a lot; a little more couldn't hurt.
"Long story short," she said, "he's a corrupting influence on his own world, let alone this one, and as long as he remains here, it becomes easier for his master to eventually come here and claim this world as his own."
She lowered her voice. "I want to kill him."
"Assassination mission, huh?" Noah had chimed back into the conversation with Tamara, as if he had never left, "You know, I had a target on my head for a while, and five different guys were trying to claim it. But, as you can see, I'm still here. Of course, one place where these guys failed is they never really got the meaning behind the element of surprise, what with their level of honour and all that. Something tells me you might not share the exact same values, though."
"Uh..." Ling began, trying to process what had just been explained to him, "That sounds quite different indeed, but fascinating."
Meanwhile, Toki seemed to have fallen asleep on the floor of the corridor.
"Er, why don't we find somewhere to sit? Have you settled in a compartment yet?" Ling said.
Need a tall, brawny fella to come by and inspect your pickle? Perhaps I may be this fella.Jones showed no outward reaction. "I must say, you're certainly upfront about planning to assassinate someone. I wonder, do you have anything besides your word alone that proves he needs killing?"
Crap. Crap crap crap. Not again.
He signaled Violet. <We have at least one off-world presence on the train. It looks like intel was right. Stay alert.>
Should I just have her walk into the compartment with Alistair and co, or what?
"Not really, no," Tamara admitted. "Although you haven't met him yet. He feels just a little off, and he's a bit too polite for his own good. Not enough to convict him of anything, but enough to make you think that Something's Up. Maybe."
She glanced at Noah. "Having immortality helps one survive assassinations," she observed. "But you're right. I don't intend to walk to the first-class compartments covered in weapons, shooting up everyone I might. I don't know what I'm going to do yet, it's not going to be for a while, until he gets a bit settled in."
"Yeah," said Noah, "because if I had to handle a guy whose further presence is putting the entire world at risk, I'd wait until he got settled too. I mean, that's just common courtesy!" Noah leant in further and continued, "seriously though, I get that you might not have a full laid out gameplan, but do you really think it's smart to just let him roam around free like that. Not a smart move, I should say... Oh and by the way, the assassins were immortal themselves, so it was a level playing field."

Christine smiled.
"The year 1911 is the official date. That's when the US Government says it began. The rest of the world agrees, of course."
She took a step closer to Alastair, without moving her eyes. "Of course, that's not entirely right. Either way, to answer your question, we don't... didn't... know what they are. Only that they're relentless and that they're not of our world."
I am now known as Flyboy.