Character Capital

[Market Street ~ Pub](Howell, Jackson, Nick)

Howell said nothing—did nothing—while Nick tried to talk Jackson down a bit. He just continued to examine his topless burger, if one could call such a disinterested gaze an examination.

When Jackson tried a marginally more settled-down approach, Howell's head turned slowly. He looked at Jackson, then at Nick, then back to Jackson.

"Okay." he said, finally answering one of Jackson's questions directly. He turned his eyes back to his food, drumming his fingers nervously on the plate's edge. "Okay, I'll tell you. Are you ready? Prepare your mind and body, here it comes:"

Howell closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, then grabbed the top-half of his hamburger bun, waved it a bit in his hand, and pointed across the table at the condiments box. "Could you pass the mayonnaise? I need some. Ketchup too, please."

New City - Meiko's Cafe -> Out

Before too much time passed, Samantha suddenly reappeared and rejoined the group. Furthermore, she had since changed back into her usual outfit.

Sophie looked up at her with a confused look on her face. "...You're finished already?"

"I chose to quit early," Samantha replied simply, "And furthermore, we're leaving. Now."

Sophie's eyes widened in surprise. "W-what? B-but...."

"I've thought and thought about it, and we've accomplished absolutely nothing of value the entire time we've been in this city. No fragments, no pendants...not even anything related to the Bleaksteel."

Samantha then turned to Midori. "And to be brutally honest, I've come to the conclusion that you'll be of no help to us. You had the potential, you really did. If we ever meet again maybe you'll be better. But for now, I can't see you helping much against the Bleaksteel, or towards finding the Pleroma fragments."

Then she turned back to Sophie. "As much as I have my doubts about you sometimes, I still have faith in you. Besides, I'm not that heartless to just leave you here in a place completely unfamiliar to you. I'd take you home first before firing you."

Sophie sighed. "Gee, thanks." She then turned to Midori. "Well...I guess it really was fun while it lasted, and I'm happy I met you." She looked away briefly. "...Keep looking after this place, okay?"

At that, she bowed her head in farewell, then turned and followed Samantha out the door. After that, the two magical girls headed back towards the Visitor's Terminal and made their departure from the city.

Eliza shrugged. "Well, I have a bad feeling about this, but...."

She didn't get a chance to finish before her headphones started ringing. She turned away from the others before pulling them up over her ears.

One conversation later, she'd pulled them back down and had turned back to the other two with a sigh. "Darius has decided to pull out now, for whatever reason. Guess he was happy with the one transaction he made and doesn't see a point in staying around. Or maybe something came up back at base that desperately needs attending to. Either way, I've got to leave."

She waved in farewell. "On the bright side, I guess you're off the hook as far as helping us goes. Good luck with investigating whatever's going on."

At that, she exited the museum, returned to her mech, and took off and left.

And that ends my participation in this thread.

[Quantum Inn, Alliance Suite]

Angua shrugged. "It makes the whole thing more complicated. We don't know if we can trust these people, whoever they are. We don't know what their motives are, and even if we did we'd have to pull contacts, arrange payment- it just sounds like a bad idea to me. Who knows what hidden costs working with the city's underworld will have?"

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil looked over at Zerrimus, tilting her head again. "I don't either. But I feel like we should at least try - as I believe I have said before, I think we might be, er, 'over our heads' with this, at least if we are doing it on our own."

Her head tipped further, till it was almost sideways. "Could you try and get a group of marines in stealth suits? I mean, could you even ask? Because that might be worth a try as well."

She turned back towards Angua. "These people would not necessarily have to be criminals, exactly. In my reality, at least, there are a number of legally franchised mercenary businesses that could potentially take on something like this."

She looked down. "But yes, the cost might be... an obstacle."

Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite

Garkin shook his head, and walked over to a nearby table, putting the box down.

"I don't think so," he said. "According to Rolph, something like these supply crates is pretty much the upper limit for what they can safely send through from his side."

He scratched his chin for a brief moment, thinking about something.

"I suppose they could try sending them over one by one, in voidsuits..." He shook his head a second time. "Nah, that's just silly."

Museum Park - National Museum (Technology Section)

Moreena waved goodbye as Eliza left, before turning to Lara.

"Well, that was sudden," she said. "I suppose it's just the two of us then."

"Are you ready to head off into an interesting but potentially lethally dangerous situation?" she continued, with a completely deadpan expression on her face.

edited 30th Sep '15 12:07:12 PM by Corvidae

[Pub]

Jackson groaned loudly, before slamming both the mayonnaise and ketchup in front of Howell. "Fine. Take these, you ass."

"Friend of the year." Nick said, before noticing Marie and Adam returning, "Oh! Good, you're back."

Marie had one arm wrapped around Adam, who was wiping his eyes. His eyes were slightly red, and had tear stains on his cheeks.

"I-I'm sorry." he said, his voice cracked, "I...I was just..."

"It's fine, honey." Marie said, "We just wanted to be sure you were ok. Now, tell Howell what's on your mind."

Taking a deep breath, Adam turned to Howell and said, "Howell...I'm sorry I made you leave. I-If I had just said something to Ms. Kris when she yelled at you, or told off that guy with a gun, m-maybe none of this would've happened. I-I should've stood up for you, but...I-I didn't and made everyone mad you. I...I understand why you want to leave and if you're mad at me. I-I'm really, really sorry."

No one said anything else. Jackson just sighed and leaned back, Nick sat on the edge of the table, and Marie rubbed Adam's back, handing him a tissue.

edited 2nd Oct '15 11:59:54 AM by Masterofchaos

[Market Street ~ Pub](Howell, Adam, Jackson, Marie, Nick)

"Thanks." Howell said, a lingering glumness weighing down his voice. Although it seemed as though he'd just told a joke, or had 'taken the piss' as Kris would say, Howell wasn't smiling. He wasn't holding back a smile either. His eyelids were half-lowered as he took the mayo bottle and squirted some onto the top half of his hamburger bun. They remained lowered as he set the bun back on top of the burger, then flipped the whole thing upside down and removed the bottom half of the bun.

As he reached for the ketchup and proceeded to apply it the same way he'd done with the mayonnaise, he said, "Sorry for being annoying. I don't know how else to be."

He continued without a word, managing to finish with the bottom bun and reattach it just as Adam returned. Howell froze, fingers still touched to his burger. He waited a moment, then slowly raised his head. For the first time in a while, his face wore an easily discernible expression. His eyes widened. They were overactive, moving in small, trembling jumps. His mouth bore a distinct frown and, similar to his eyes, trembled at the corners. The small wrinkles around his brow and the bridge of his nose creased and uncreased. He was worried, that much was certain. But was it for Adam's sake, or for his own?

Howell listened to the boy's thoughts, and finally pulled his hands away from his food, setting them flat on the surface of the table. When Adam finished talking, they slid off, and fell to his sides.

"Adam," Howell began, but his voice quickly trailed off. He glanced around the table, at Jackson, Nick, and Marie, looking at each with slight apprehension. Then his eyes fell back upon Adam. Howell scooted to the side, then reached across the table and grabbed the edge of Adam's plate, dragging it over next to his. He brought over the utensils and complimentary napkins as well, straightening them out. Finally, he looked at Adam again, then patted the empty spot right beside himself.

"Come on." he said, affectionately, "I wanna talk to you."

[Quantum Inn, Alliance Suite]

"Yeap," Angua said, "about how I figured. Not a good idea. Though-" She pointed an upside-down finger at one of the adjacent buildings. "If we were to cross over to the roof of the target building from the roof of one of the others' then that might work. They're posted watching the street, so that'd bypass them altogether."

Meiko's Cafe - Out

As their shifts ended, Kiyumi and Naoko changed back into regular clothes and joined back up with Midori when Samantha and Sophie came over as well. Midori didn't look too shocked that they were going to leave and not bring the ninjas along. She felt that they were right, perhaps they weren't up to the task. Smiling weakly at Sophie she said, "It was nice and fun while it lasted. Despite everything that has happened, I can say for all of us we were glad to have met you." Kiyumi nodded and though she was sad they couldn't finish the job said, "Take care. Seriously. Be careful out there." The three watched them go and looked at each other.

"So what will we do now?" Midori asked. "Do what we always do, have fun and look for places to give our help to. Or entertain." Kiyumi replied with a grin. Midori sighed but smiled. "I had a feeling that was what you were going to say."

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil tilted her head. "Hrrm. Can you... do that? It seems to me that people climbing over rooftops would be extremely noticeable, though I suppose it might not be so out of the ordinary in this city."

She blinked her inner eyelids against a sudden stinging in her eyes - perhaps she was just a little more tired than she had thought, though she still felt fairly energetic - and considered. "If that is an option, I might be able to procure some kind of appropriate cutting tools, assuming that you do not already have them. Though it would be much easier if I could contact Skrahsis."

She moved to the front of the couch and sat next to Angua. "I still think we - or I - should at least investigate the possibility of whether there is outside help to be found."

[NATIONAL MUSEUM - TECHNOLOGY]

Lara nodded at Moreena. "Agreed. Wasn't expecting that at all."

"Are you ready to head off into an interesting but potentially lethally dangerous situation?"

Lara placed her hands on her hips. "Well, with her gone, that's pretty much all we can do."

Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite

"That could work, actually," Garkin said to Angua. He opened the box - which made a low, hissing sound - and looked over at Qrlil.

"The previous supply crate had a plasma cutter, among other things," he said. "But more options couldn't hurt. You probably still have a point though. We could use some help."

He grabbed an object from the box and headed over to Angua. It was a weapon that looked more or less identical to his own pistol - a compact shape with sharp angles, with two boxy sections above and below the barrel housing the magnetic launch systems, and a small magazine just in front of the trigger - though this one was decorated with red stripes along the sides, as opposed to the standard brown and black of his own one.

"In the meantime, you should probably familiarize yourself with this," he said, handing her the gun, grip first. "Stun rounds, of course. 32 of them at the moment."

National Museum -> Museum Park (East - Some distance from the bench)

"Let us head out then," Moreena answered, smiling briefly before grabbing hold of Lara's arm. After the usual short moment of utter darkness, they appeared in the eastern part of the park, a short distance away from were the goddess had noticed the invisible beings.

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Angua dragged herself across the sofa, pulling her legs up from over the edge, to rest her head in Qrlil's lap. "It all depends on how you do it. You'd be surprised how many people forget to do something as simple as looking up."

She reached a hand out, still upside-down, and took the weapon, looking it over. "Stun rounds? It's that easy, huh? Just tag someone with this and they're out? No deflection off armor, no delayed effect?"

[Pub]

Adam's eyes widened. "R-Really? You want to talk to me?"

Marie let go of Adam. "We'll leave you two alone then."

"We are?" Nick asked, standing up, "I kinda want to see-"

"Yes." Jackson said, grabbing Nick's arm and dragging him away, "We're leaving."

Marie handed Adam some tissue. "Just in case. We'll be back if you need us. Just give us a call."

Once all three of his friends had left the table, Adam took a seat next to Howell, wiping his eyes. On one hand, he was relieved that Howell now wanted to talk to him, but what he wanted to talk about, he was unsure, and it made him slightly nervous.

"What is it, Howell?" he asked gently.

edited 1st Oct '15 5:08:16 PM by Masterofchaos

[Museum Park - East]

Akira gave a frightened yelp as the invisible force grabbed his head.

"I don't know." Miyuki said, coolly. "Last I saw, your client had gotten away, so I doubt she's still following him." She kept her sword next to the man's neck and didn't move her head at all, though she was still intensely aware of what was going on around Akira.

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil's head twitched a little in surprise and instinctual embarrassment as Angua put her head in her lap, but she did nothing to disturb the kasuar. Though she did nothing to actively encourage her either; now wasn't really the time for that type of thing (though it might be soon, if Angua was as much more tired than her as she had guessed).

"A plasma cutter?" she repeated to Zerrimus. "I was thinking something somewhat more... subtler and smaller-scale. Though actually, I don't think they'll have anything like that in the suite's stores and we cannot rely on it being sent over, so perhaps not." She could always try to reconfigure her own smartcloth, but that had become increasingly unreliable lately and anyway she had no idea where to begin.

She looked down at Angua's head. "Not naturally, maybe, but - and keep in mind I have absorbed most of this from entertainment, and not the most well-researched entertainment at that - aren't security forces specifically trained to look up, because they wouldn't normally?"

Her gaze drifted in the direction of the gun, with some curiosity. She hardly saw many of them, after all. "Hrrm. The Commonwealth is a relatively low-tech civilization, so I would imagine that type of thing would not be as much of an obstacle. But I can't even begin to guess whether magic would make a difference."

Hmm. She realized that she hadn't ever really thought to ask Angua about it - magic, that is - though she wasn't certain how much her partner knew anyway.

Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite

"The bullets are full of a paralyzing chem-mixture," Garkin answered. "Looks like a tiny puff of yellow smoke and goes straight through most clothing, but not proper armor. There's also a weak electric charge to keep people um, busy while the effect takes hold."

He returned to his chair near the couch, and sat down.

"It should work on humans, but I'm not sure how long they'll stay knocked out for. It's about an hour or so for most Cravyn."

He looked over at Qrlil. "The plasma cutter is only palm-sized, actually," he said. "But yeah, still not super-discreet, what with the light and noise and all. And magic is a problem. If the old myths from back home are to be believed, I should be fine if I wear an amulet of renshyn bone and ask the eight daughters of Kren for help, but... I kind of doubt that's gonna work.

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Angua's head flopped to the side, looking to Garkin.

"As far as magic goes, I don't think we have to worry. The Commonwealth make it pretty explicit that they don't approve of magic, so I seriously doubt we'll run into any problems from that direction." After a moment of thought, she raised a finger. "Well- not unless you count those creepy OSI guys, which, while they can't cast spells, probably have some other kind of weirdness going on."

Indeed, it seemed two of the heat signatures present on the holographic display were emitting less thermal radiation than the other contacts.

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil smiled at Zerrimus, amused. "I doubt it could hurt to try. Though I cannot guess where you would actually find all that, so... perhaps not."

Her head tipped sideways. "I was considering using some form of limited nanoswarm to eat through the roof material. Soundless, and lightless - but difficult to find."

She looked down at Angua. "You know, I actually met one or two of them in the Commonwealth embassy," she said. "The OSI agents, that is. They actually seemed to be normal enough humans to me. Though that obviously can't be the case, with those thermal signatures." Her head tipped in the other direction. "Though at least we do know that they are not... undead, or something similar, at least obviously."

What a bizarre thing to have seriously considered. This has certainly been a strange few days.

Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite

Garkin smiled back. "On any other day I would have laughed at the idea," he said, reaching up with one hand to massage his neck.

"There were no obvious signs of magic at the hotel either - not that I'd know what to look for - except maybe for that... 'god' guy they had taken prisoner. Not much security to speak of at all really, though that's no reason to get overconfident, of course."

He leaned forward slightly, listening closely to the rest of what the others said.

"So they're not zombies or scale-stealers at least. That's good to know. And that nanoswarm thing sounds useful, as long as it um, only eats what it's supposed to."

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Angua nodded, the movement of her head rumpling the fabric of Qrlil's smartcloth robe. "Yeah, definitely not undead. That would need magic for sure. 'Course that don't exactly help us, knowing what they aren't."

She shook her head, rumpling the fabric in a different direction. "Anyway, assuming this nanoswarm thing of yours comes through, we've got a way into the building. We'll just need to get on to the roof of one of the adjacent buildings without being spotted- which oughtta be easy enough- and make the hop across." Angua smiled to herself. "Sounds good."

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Qrlil let out a soft whistling noise. 'Scale-stealers?' That just sounds... unpleasant.

Though I suppose that it could just be a word for shape-shifters. That was one 'fictional' entity she'd have quite preferred to stay that way.

And off of that, I think I am probably happier not asking Zerrimus to clear that up.

Instead, she looked down at Angua again. "Are you absolutely certain the Commonwealth wouldn't use magic to enhance its special security? I know Commissar Roche spoke at some length about why they were opposed to it in general." She tilted her head. "I even thought his arguments sounded rather reasonable. But it would hardly be the first state to violate its principles when something very important was concerned. And clearly there's something abnormal about the OSI personnel."

She glanced at Zerrimus. "Of course it would only eat through what it was ordered to. I am not certain I could even gain permission to use unrestricted nanoweapons even when I was a formal ambassador. Though I would not necessarily assume it would be as easy as you two seem to think, either." She sighed. "But maybe I am just worried because I don't do things such as this."

[MUSUEM PARK - EAST]

Coming out of the darkness, Lara could see the scen before her.

On the ground was a young man struggling with...obviously an unseen enemy. Close by were a young girl, not unlike herself, arguing with an old man on a bench.

"What now? Do you see anything?" She asked, turning to Moreena.

edited 2nd Oct '15 4:51:01 PM by TroPartner

Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite

"I'd say that being worried makes a lot sense in a situation like this," Garkin answered. "Heck, I'm worried too, and I'm supposed to be good at this kind of thing."

He stretched his wings a bit before continuing.

"Getting onto the roof should be pretty easy though. My climbing gear proved useful enough back in the elevator shaft."

Museum Park - East

"Hm, they're only holding him in place for now, by the look of things," Moreena said. "Probably because their leader doesn't want his head sliced off."

"I say we start by introducing ourselves," she continued. "That would be the polite thing to do, right?"

She strode over towards the people on and around the bench, in a surprisingly casual and non-threatening manner for someone with her appearance. She raised a hand in a friendly greeting.

"Hello."

[Quantum Inn - Alliance Suite]

Angua shrugged up at Qrlil. "Iunno, but whatever it is it's probably not magic." She heaved a sigh, then yawned expansively. "Alright, so, it sounds like we got a plan. Provided we get everything in order, I like our chances."

Angua swiveled her head so she was looking straight up at Qrlil. "Sp," she began, "have yooou, uh, made up your mind yet?"