Character Capital

Arch Center - Bakery

When Samantha mentioned needing a cell phone, Kris was going to offer hers but was beaten to the punch by the Professor's strange-sounding offer. Can he somehow communicate with anyone he's met for just a few minutes? She wondered.

Samantha and Sophie obviously got the same impression, going by their answers.

The Professor seemed put out by their rejection of his offer. She was wondering if there was something she could say to lighten his mood when Sir Archibald, ever the diplomat, cut in.

"My dear Professor, do you mean to say you have some means of communicating with distant people that does not involve wireless? That sounds absolutely fascinating." Sir Archibald sounded genuinely interested.

Market Street – Foodcourt

"Ready when you are, Mr. James." Adam said, "Or...do you not want me to call you Mister?"

"He's like that to everyone older than him-even if it's only a year older." Nick said chuckling, "Took him about a week for him to stop calling Jackson 'Mr. Ruth.'"

"Nathan always told me to respect those who are older than me! So I do!"

Jackson sighed. "Moving on, let's go find some umbrellas. Unless you want to delay that for a little longer. We're not in a rush."

James smiled. It was good to see someone of this Age properly schooled in manners. "I believe 'twas the title, not the politeness, to which Teri objected. I have not known her to use any other title than 'Miss'. You may call me James, if you like, but if you would prefer to be formal, then it would be 'Mr Turner'."

He looked in the direction the others had taken. "I suspect that I am also not in a rush. I would be hard pressed to say which of the two is more enamoured of shopping. I'm sure we have plenty of time for a leisurely perusal of all the shops and buy whatever we like."

Market Street – Motorcycle Shop

Teri was having difficulty in working out which she preferred – black with blue, or red with gold. They both looked superb.

Of course, she would need waterproof leggings, decent boots, gloves and a helmet, but there seemed to be a great variety over at the racks, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Marie came up along side her and smiled. "I'll admit, these bikes are very lovely, but I can name something that's much lovelier."

"Oh?" Teri was perplexed. "What would that be?"

[EYE'S CREAM PARLOR]

"You saw that little boy from earlier." Genocide clarified with what couldn't be described as either a snarl or a smile. "I want to make friends."

Joshua held back from attacking this time, hoping that the man in the coat knew what he was doing. If he struck at this point, who knows what would happen if the gun went off, misfiring at an innocent bystander.

After keeping the situation locked for just an instant, Genocide trusted his knee towards the gunman, trying to catch him in the stomach.

[ARENA LOBBY]

Lara continued drying her clothes. It was heavy rain, so it would take a while.

Ms. Maleficent went to gaze out of a window. Lara couldn't shake the creepy atmosphere that she gave off. She only kept mentioning morbid topic after morbid topic, but kept a face as if she was just explaining what she was having for breakfast.

Kyana expressed just how awful the whole episode was. Lara saw how nervous she looked, no doubt reliving the whole thing. She smirked, somewhat amused by how childish her mannerisms looked. You'd almost think she had a thing for Four-Eyes.

Suddenly, Lara's hand stopped right where it was, with the bracelet still glowing with heat. Something in that train of thought sounded way too much like what kind of girl Lara thought she was.

The girl looked up at Kyana with a raised eyebrow.

"Wait... Please don't tell me you actually got the hots for Four-Eyes."

[M's Casino]

The lizard shot Kommissar a flat stare. Then, she shrugged off his hand and said with deadpan tone, "Yeah, I'm with casino security. S'why I was skulking aroun' the floor with you bunch. Security business."

She shook her head. Idiot. She had spent most of her adult life as a professional thief, and this mook thought she was a security guard.

She sighed. "Alright, I figure we oughtta get going already. Less you wanna stand here an' gawk a little longer."

yey

[Vencaran Shuttle]

"Honestly, we really don't know the answer to either," Harrison said, "during the battle we were positioning our ships between the Yiizlon and Draxan forces. This was so that they couldn't use much of their heavy weaponry against our smaller fighters and support ships without risking hitting each other. However, we think that the Yiizlons have an intense superiority complex, and once they saw that they might actually lose, they just flipped out and started shooting everything. It devolved pretty quickly from there, but we managed to emerge victorious."

"As for how they were allied in the first place?" Harrison said, "nobody has any idea - and they sure won't tell us. Other than the boilerplate about hive mind superiority, evils of free will, and things like that. They do talk quite a bit - not that it makes any sense, of course."

"Don't worry, we still are!" Rinai said to Giun, as the shuttle began turning around back towards their origin.

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

[The Spire (Elevators)]

Qrlil considered what Zerrimus had as the elevator silently ascended. Neither species sounded familiar - not that that was a surprise - and the murpaki in particular seemed quite different from anything she'd heard of before. Ten limbs? And a mouth on the underside? How does something even evolve that kind of body structure? Though I can easily see how that would result in spacious architecture. Her mental picture might be wrong, of course, and she was hardly an expert, but it sounded like a very unusual species. Appearances made no difference to who a person was, of course, but from a completely self-centered point of view she probably had gotten lucky with the particular species she'd met from that reality.

In cultural terms, though, it was the moothron - no, mroothan; she was a little embarrassed to have misremembered something she'd just heard - that intrigued her. They sound... well, they sound quite a bit like us, actually. I hope they only got the good parts, though. I'd hate to think that too many other realities have to deal with qrtxian-type behavior.

The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out into a pleasantly decorated hallway. A sign was visible on the wall; for a moment it was written in an unidentifiable alien language, then it morphed into identifiable qrtxian glyphs indicating the way to the conference room. I wonder whether that's just a translation effect, or whether the sign can change to provide different directions if necessary.

She stopped shortly into the hallway and looked back at Zerrimus curiously. "Your ship?" she asked, tipping her head slightly. Right, the uniform. And I believe he mentioned being 'Captain' Garkin'? "You, er, haven't told me much about it so far. What's it like?"

[M's Casino]

Seon considered the strange young female humans thoughtfully. He could not believe he was actually considering the idea that he was toying with, but... why not, really? The shadow thing seemed like it could potentially be very useful, and one of the others apparently knew something called 'karate', which his internal database had identified as a type of martial art. And they seemed like they could be trusted, which went a long way. Of course, he couldn't read aliens much if at all, but something about that degree of giddy enthusiasm seemed hard to fake.

Also hard to stand, but I figure the other benefits will outweigh that little issue.

And at least Noxori doesn't have a problem with aliens on the payroll.

Deep gods, I can't believe I'm really going to suggest this...

"Well," he said to the girls, "I think I might want to... uhmmm... obtain your services after all. How does being retained as bodyguards sound?"

[Vencaran Shuttle]

Trekesser curled his fingers slightly, forming something that wasn't quite a fist but was definitely a sign of defensiveness. "The 'evils of free will'?" he said. "That doesn't sound like xenophobes; that sounds like a blight. They usually spew out apocalyptic trash like that."

At least it doesn't sound like they have those. Except maybe the... qeleton things, from what he said.

As the shuttle turned and began to descend, he turned to look out of the wall-screens at the stars visible outside. "Don't go too quickly," he called forward to the pilots. "And I'm not just talking about the - you know, the 'AAAAAAAAAA' thing. I'd like to look at them for a moment."

Turning his head so that one eye faced Harrison while the other looked out the window, he continued speaking in a lower tone. "Space... space never gets old, you know what I mean? I mean, yeah, ultimately I'm Planetborn, and I'm never going to absolutely used to living in a little metal can surrounded by the void. But I've been on ships for decades, and I have a hard time being away from the stars for too long." He paused, not sure how far to go with articulating his feelings, and instead asked "Are you like that, or is it more just a job for you?"

By the way, Sonzai, are the sexes of the Vencarans at all identifiable?

edited 25th Mar '15 10:47:53 PM by nrjxll

[Vencaran Shuttle]

"A blight?" Harrison said, "sorry, I'm not familiar with the term. Although we definitely heard plenty of apocalyptic trash from them - not much else, actually."

"And I'm with you about space," Harrison said, "not just a job at all. I was born on a colony ship, believe it or not - from an early age it just felt right to me. Sure, Atria is a nice place, and I visit my folks plenty, but there's just something special about being among the stars. Out here in the great expanse - I don't know, I guess it's always been my destiny. Shore leave is great, but up here - this is where I belong."

"Don't worry, plenty of time for the pleasure cruise!" Rinai said to Giun.

Nope, and intentionally so - all Vencarans are hermaphrodites, and as such have no different genders or sexes as we think of it.

edited 25th Mar '15 11:11:20 PM by Sonzai

Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.

Ted's Canteen — The Captain

"I think it's less used to space, and more endure space." Endure. That's a good word that describes you. You endure being in outer space. You endure your crew's moonshine antics. You endure your own circumstances. You endure the burdens of your responsibilities.

"And what's wrong with fish and chips?" You say incredulously. In the back of your mind you notice the rain letting up, half-relieved that it might be a sign that the rain may soon end, half-disappointed because you like harsh weather, and a bit concerned with how the light outside was starting to dim. This part of town didn't strike you as a great place to be caught out in the dark, especially as a foreigner.

Arena Exterior

"Well...then..." Varnas puts the gun away and wondered if he could make a break for it, but decides against it, as the goddess could probably detect his presence. Instead, he heads closer to the other people.

edited 26th Mar '15 12:48:15 AM by Tehpillowstar

"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond

[Vencaran Shuttle]

Trekesser nodded in the human fashion. "Yeah. That might be... a little more dramatic than I'd put it, but it's probably the same thing. Space... I don't know if anyone belongs in space, not really. Millions of years evolving on a rock with gravity and atmosphere doesn't go away even when you figure out how to bring them with you. But it just feels natural to me, being out here. Even when I finally give up active command for a desk job, I'm going to make sure it's on a habitat or military station."

"And a blight's when an artificial intelligence goes bad," he explained. "Well, I mean, they almost always go bad, but blights are when it happens in a big way - when its intelligence goes beyond what's normal for known mindkind. The GAN exists for peace operations as much as anything else, but blights are the primary military threat we're meant to face. The last really bad one was on Veth Kaor back in the twenties, when I was just a kid, but I've seen a smaller one myself. Nasty stuff."

Night.

City Center - The Spire (Elevators)

Garkin followed Qrlil into the hallway. "My ship?" he said. "The Sword of Anwyn is a battle cruiser left over from the war, that's been repurposed as an exploration ship. Extra cargo space, tanks for growing food, an artificial park area and whatnot... quite different from the original design. It has a crew of about a hundred, eight fusion cores and a fancy new wave engine inspired by Mroothan tech."

He looked around at the strange designs of the hallway, taking in the sights.

"You know, you haven't really told me all that much about yourself. And um, your people I mean."

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

[M's Casino]

"No problem," Echo said. "But clarify. Knock him out? Kill him? Sever his connection to any powers? Just keep him from speaking? Can do any and all." She cracked her knuckles. "Should be interesting."

Arena Lobby

Kyana froze in her seat, her eyes widening to the size of tennis balls and her face turning an even darker shade of red. She leaned back and almost fell over in her seat before she shot straight back up and held up her hands defensively. "No no, nothing like that! I mean he saved our lives but he's probably way too old for me. I mean I don't really know. I'm just happy he rescued us before something really bad could happen." she laughed nervously, clearly looking flustered.

M's Casino

Kiyumi's blue eyes lit up happily when the alien asked if they wanted to be body guards. "We will totally be your body guards! We can protect you from anyone, right girls?" she said, looking to the other two. Once again Midori looked unsure but Naoko somehow managed to look into it without saying anything. The youngest girl's head turned to the alien. If he was asking them, maybe he really did need help. And she would feel bad leaving him now. "Yes, we will help you any way we can." she replied with a polite bow. Naoko simply nodded. Kiyumi grinned. "Now, who are we protecting you from?"

"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"

[Market Street—Arch Center (Bakery)]

David's eyebrows went up at Sir Archibald's question.

"Why, of course," he replied. "It comes with being a mage. Can't all...?" He looked around at everyone in the table. "No, no, of course not, forgive me. Once I've exchanged words with a person, I can do so any time I like, at any distance, even from a different plane. Er, universe. Dimension. One of those things." His smile widened. "I could even pluck her from wherever she is and bring her here—although, of course, doing that sort of thing without permission is frowned upon."

He tilted his head and frowned upon what remained of his pretzel.

"I could always try to craft an actual cell phone," he mused, "but I doubt I could get it right—even the simplest electronics are a nightmare to create with my sort of magic, since you have to have the entire item in your mind, down to the smallest components."

Then his face lit up. "Ooh! I could send her a letter! Oh, but first I'd need to know where she is, so I'd have to talk to her anyway."

He sighed and took the last bite of his pretzel.

[Ted's Canteen]

Tsuki turned and gave her companion a very close look. Little things; his hands had faint burn scars from fighting a fire in the enclosed spaces of spacecraft, for example. The reflexive squint under pressure of someone trying to read their instruments. "You'll forgive me if my freelancer's intuition says that nobody just endures spaceflight unless they're a cargo hauler. And if you've been hauling you've been in the wars in a way that I doubt any sane company would allow."

She tilted her head. "Besides, fish goes with rice."

Nous restons ici.

Theign glanced back at the staircase. The lizard was desperately trying to reach them, but for the moment, Kommissar was holding her back.

Echo could silence Renald.

He knew what to do.

"Make him choke a bit on his drink. You know, swallowed wrong." Rounding the bar, he burst through the throng to Renald's table.

"Mr. Renald," he gasped, knees trembling. "There's an assassin after you. Come with me."

How dare you disrupt the sanctity of my soliloquy?

Ted's Canteen — The Captain

You look intensely at Tsuki's face, eyebrow raised. You then burst into laughter. "Well, you've fuckin' got me."

You take in Tsuki with a greater interest in the woman, taking in the details of her face, her general appearance, her demeanor. She looked like a stereotypical biker chick, but you think she's ship-familiar, judging from her statements. You're not sure if she's civilian or military or something else though. Not enough to go off of.

Shaking your head, you say, "No, I'm no cargo hauler." You consider the fact that she probably has come to the conclusion that you're military too. No point in hiding it. She could probably tell from your haircut, your bearing, maybe even your accent. Yet, you're wary of revealing your loyalties. She could be anything, Federation loyalist, Rebel sympathizer, unaffiliated. You're not a smart man, but you're not an idiot and you know better.

"Life's just been rough lately."

edited 26th Mar '15 10:26:28 AM by Tehpillowstar

"Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - R. W. Raymond

[Mall-Foodcourt-Hallway]

Nick nodded, "Sounds good, James. Onward then!" Without waiting for anyone else, he ran off into the hall.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Jackson yelled, chasing after him, "Wait up, jackass!"

Adam gave a small chuckle, before looking back up at James, "We're really good friends, I promise Mr. Turner. We just have our moments, like that." He shrugged, "But I hope you don't mind much. If it gets too bad, I'll tell them to stop."

---

[Mall-Bike Shop]

Marie did a fake dramatic gasp, "Whaaat? You don't know? I'm looking at her right now of course!"

She paused for a moment, realizing that Teri could freak out once she realized what she was actually doing. She sighed softly, then flipped her hair.

"...Look, I'm really sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable Teri. It's just..." she looked around nervously. "You're nice. Really nice, and I thought I could.... If you want me to stop flirting, just give the word."

edited 26th Mar '15 12:54:40 PM by Masterofchaos

[Ted's Canteen]

Tsuki grimaced. "Ah. Sounds about right." Lot of nasty on the spaceways of late, Outcasts ramping up, other people fighting back, the Dragon-Chrysanthemum split, the gutting of the Rheinland military.

She chuckled softly. "Besides, I'm a fighter pilot and a freelancer. You're probably ship crew, which means military or heavy corporate. We're the closest thing to natural enemies there is in space." She ordered some fries. Always liked those. Liberty food was pretty good discounting Synth.

edited 26th Mar '15 1:24:37 PM by Night

Nous restons ici.

[City Center - The Spire (82nd Floor Hallway)]

Qrlil shifted to an amused posture and hissed. "Well, which is it, myself or my species? Hrrm?"

That thought triggered a series of others, though, and her posture sagged slightly. "Although, actually, there's quite a difference between those now..."

She attempted to slough it off again, and turned to begin walking down the corridor in the direction of the conference room. "Well, as I said, my species are named qrtxians, from the planet Qrtx. And yes, I know that it's a little unusual to have the name of a homeworld and a species match like that, but we have a slightly unusual history."

She glanced backward at Zerrimus. "You see, the qrtxians didn't naturally evolve - we were genetically uplifted. About two thousand of our years ago, a species called the Trj" - she hesitated; they didn't really deserve that name anymore - "the Archons came to Qrtx and began altering a pre-sapient species of reptilian bipeds on the genetic level. What they made them into was us. They also gave us advanced technology, so we never really had a normal developmental history or many different cultures like most species have."

Her posture shifted towards depression again. "That may not have been a good thing, in the end."

[M's Casino]

"No one! No one!" Seon exclaimed hastily. Then he belatedly realized that it might have come across a bit too strongly. "Um - that is - I'm not concerned about anything in particular. I'm just interested in having - having general-purpose bodyguards. This city - underneath all of the gleaming, it's not entirely safe, and I'm not much of a physical sort of person."

He paused and began to turn away, then turned back and raised one hand. "Though, that said, if you see anyone who says they're from the 'Etis-Tra Federation'... That's a person you need to worry about."

Gods below, this is such a stupid idea.

City Center - The Spire (82nd floor corridor)

Yep, she's definitely on to me now, Garkin thought as he followed Qrlil through the corridor. As she spoke about her species her mood seemed to drop, however. There was clearly a story to be told, but not a very happy one.

"I see," he said, and turned his gaze towards the floor for a moment. He eventually looked up again however. Cravyn only showed their teeth when they where angry, but the corners of his mouth curved upwards a bit in his species equivalent of a wide smile.

"The end result still looks pretty good to me, though," he said. He'd never been very good at subtlety, even by the standards of other Anwynian Cravyn, so why not just go for it?

edited 26th Mar '15 2:28:33 PM by Corvidae

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

[City Center - The Spire (82nd Floor Hallway)]

Qrlil halted briefly and lifted her head. Oh.

Well.

I suppose that answers that question.

"I'm certainly pleased to hear it," she said out loud, then paused. "Though, I intend no offense, but can we postpone the flirting until later? I really would like to pursue diplomatic negotiations at this time, and I've found that while it's possible to mix them with... other types of diplomacy, it's easier not to."

They arrived at the conference room, which had its automatic door slide open to reveal a long, glossy black table with what appeared to be touchscreens set into it in front of several chairs. The entire back wall consisted of nothing but a long window offering an excellent view of the city - or at least an excellent view of the rain.

"Not that it's objectionable in a more general sense," she added.

City Center - The Spire (82nd floor conference room)

"Um, yes of course," Garkin answered. Kren, that was not the right move. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but at least Qrlil's final comment implied that there was still hope.

"I... um, it's a cultural thing I guess. We tend to just say whatever we're thinking without... well, thinking very much about it."

He spent some time examining the room before taking a seat, placing his backpack on the floor next to him. Everything looked so... sleek in this place. Kind of similar to something a Mroothan might build actually.

edited 26th Mar '15 4:15:32 PM by Corvidae

Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.

[M's Casino]

Liar. The bounty hunter thought.

Echo and Theign were dealing with the bald target as of the moment, so he had free reign on York. He made a slight nod at the pair as he went on past them.

But he also had to deal with the 'extra cargo'— the lizard woman. As far as he knew, she was only trouble. But she could be of use. "Follow my lead then."

Kommissar ran up behind York, who drew away from Renald to get a drink refill. Mein Gott, I have to improv. He tapped the suited man behind him on the shoulder. The Italian swiveled around.

"Yes?" Liquor, smoke, and possibly colonge came on his breath and body. Disgusting.

The German cleared his throat, and deepened his voice further. "I'm of mutual interest with you, Mr. York." He glanced around him, then leaned in close to the man. "Rumors say an assassin is after you and others like you. Possibly here. I advise you stay near me and my uh- colleague." To be honest, he'd rather be with Echo other than this random, chatty, lizard woman. "Stay in-" He found a quiet area where the elevators where. He saw a supply closet in that area. Perfect. "Over here."

York laughed. "You sure about that? I've just come here."

"You'd be surprised." Kommissar tried not to laugh himself. He led the man away. A hidden hand was inside his coat, feeling for his knife.

[Eye's Cream Parlor]

Kevin didn't see the next blow coming. He doubled over a bit in recoil. At least his trigger discipline allowed for no misfire to occur. Not yet, at least.

As his head ducked from the attack, he swung it up to hit the creature in the jaw.

He did not come to the city to lose a fight with a demon-thing. But the other person in the doorway could help him if he needed. Maybe the city security would come and help. But Kevin was a detective, he could fight.

Life is hard, that's why no one survives.

Market Street - Arch Center (Bakery)

Sophie and Samantha just listened silently as David explained the exact nature of his ability. Sophie looked to be simply curious and was looking at David the whole time; she even stopped eating for a few moments. Samantha, on the other hand, alternated glancing at him and down at her pendant, as if trying to see if he had one himself.

"...Interesting," Samantha commented once he had finished, her voice this time sounding slightly more genuine than before.

"About that crafting thing," Sophie said, "Would it be easier to make something if you had a copy of it to look at while you were doing it?" She frowned. "Though for a cellphone it sounds like you'd need to look at the innards as well, which would require disassembling the first phone..." She stopped and shook her head. "On second thought, maybe that's not such a good idea."

Icon by Civvi the Civilian!

[ARENA LOBBY]

Denial, uncomfortable laughter, solid shock, and of course, uncontrollable blushing. Lara wondered why the pyromancer even bothered to deny anything.

The girl opened her mouth a tiny amount, as if to say something. Unexpectedly, she closed it back down and continued drying her jacket.

"Whatever, it's none of my business who you go head over heels for." She finally said, not even looking up at Kyana.

"Just try not to fangirl over him when I'm around. These things cost an arm and a leg," she gestured with her head, indicating the jumpsuit, "the last thing I want is puking all over mine."

[EYE'S CREAM PARLOR]

The long-coated man reared his head up, smacking Genocide in the jaw, causing him to stumble back and break the man's grip on his arm.

It only took a split second for Joshua to register the opening. Dashing in, he got into a sliding position and caught the creature by the legs.

Toppling on top of each other, Joshua was the first one to get back up, followed by Genocide, who just now noticed the new, slashing pain in the back of his shoulder.

Joshua made a quick glance at the blade he held in his hand, now half-covered in blood, and discarded it behind him, getting in stance for another attack.

[Old City] (Abandoned Mall)

Seeing - and hearing, and smelling - the man get incinerated came as a surprise to Miyuki. Suddenly, Flamist seemed more threatening than any of the petty criminals attacking them. As if bursting into flames and burning so brightly and intensely that someone had to warn her not to burn half the city down wasn't enough, now she revealed some kind of molten tendril ability? The fact that Flamist appeared to be a child didn't boost Miyuki's confidence in her either. She very much doubted that the little girl was disciplined enough to refrain from using those strange powers of hers if, for instance, tempers flared...

Her visor's HUD brought her attention back to the fight. She gracefully sidestepped one thug's knife as he lunged at her, then punched him in the throat and bashed the side of his head with her case. Internally, she sighed, a bit frustrated. For mere thugs, there certainly were a great deal of them. And they were bizarrely persistent. She'd seen - and caused - hardened squads of professional soldiers to break after taking less casualties.

Another came up from behind her, going in for an overhead strike with a rusty crowbar. Her HUD alerted her to the motion and she whipped around to face him. The crowbar came down and slammed into her raised forearm. That might have broken a normal person's bones, but Miyuki was not at all normal, and neither were her bones. She shoved him away and pointed her elbow at him, which also aimed the thruster on her upper arm at him. Before he could figure out what was happening, the faint, blue glow emanating from that particular thruster intensified, and he abruptly found himself sailing backwards through the air. He hit a wall, and wouldn't remember anything past that. As was the case with most of the downed thugs, he might not remember anything ever again if he didn't receive medical attention sometime soon...

Abruptly, the ground started shaking, and it did so quite violently. That wasn't much of a problem for her, though. She was hovering above the ground, so even if it completely fell away underneath her, it would only be a momentary inconvenience. Even so, she flew up a bit higher, just in case.

Miyuki was a very durable individual. She could fly, crush metal with her bare hands, and swing a heavy, metal case around hard enough to knock people out in one or two hits but with enough precision and control to ensure that nobody died. Not immediately', anyway.

Akira was not a particularly durable individual and he could do none of those things. He wasn't even a very good soldier, due in no small part to his utter lack of willingness to be involved in any kind of armed conflict that put his life in danger.

In all the chaos, he'd managed to hide behind some large, potted ferns and had dragged an overturned bench to his hiding spot for extra cover. As if spotting someone pointing a gun at him just a moment too late wasn't frightening enough, watching that same guy get suddenly and brutally incinerated was terrifying. At least he was familiar with gunfire. That was something else entirely. And then there was the feral beast-man jumping around, and the beams of ice and light coming from Foster and Rani... It was all entirely more than Akira could handle.

Then the ground began to shake violently. Inwardly, he groaned, and just wished for the chaos to end.

Not entirely dead.