[THE TIPSY TOAD]
"I'll pass on the booze." Tana said as they sat down. "And Chris is too much of a lightweight to even try."
"Not..." Christopher began, falling into a chair, "Not that I'm really all that up for it anyway..."
At first, the two were content to merely sit at their table, having ordered water. In a few seconds, though, Tana noticed the tremors starting to plague Wolfe's body.
"Something wrong?" She asked, leaning forward.
[Town - Main Street (Hana, Kyle, Iraal, Scents, robot, Enkar)] Let me know if I left anyone out here.
Doctor Iraal voSotin, University of Lesser Sorkral, had traveled both the known galaxy and its Frontier fairly extensively, visiting places beyond the reach of almost all other sophonts, such as the elder AI vaults of Minos 4 and the fringes of a Dyson sphere in Archon space. But she still had no real experience with bizarre assertions of the sort being made by the apparently intoxicated human man before her. More to the point, neither did her social interaction software, which for once had failed to overlay anything on her vision.
"That is... quite an assertion," she began, hesitantly, when suddenly another human, this one unusually large, entered the conversation. His behavior and dialogue were rather more familiar, bespeaking a certain familiarity with academia that made him much better suited, in her opinion, for a conversation.
Her software was not necessary in this case. She offered a hand to Enkar Ziven, First Advocate of the Republic of Zavi, somewhat stiffly, and said "Hello. I am Doctor Iraal voSotin, head of the archaeological department at the University of Lesser Sorkral. How do you do."
"Should I sober him up, doc?" the vayen interjected, jerking her furry snout at Kyle. Iraal was able to recognize that the expression in her visible eyes had shifted from professional wariness (some of that was still present, but the orl was not aware of it) to a more amused-and-or-disgusted mood.
"Um, no," Iraal said, speaking quickly. She waved her other hand in the vayen's direction. "And this is my physical assistant, Follows-Many-Scents." The vayen nodded politely.
Neither of them bothered to introduce the robot, which was still rolling down the street.
The future of warfare in UC.
[General Store]
"Back over to the train station, hang out with the rest of the unit for now. No idea on a replacement train or this one being fixed. Probably this one being fixed, offloading without the right stuff is...awkward. Could even crawl around the tanks if you wanted for a bit, it's not like the A-Three has anything classified left on it after Minovsky refit." Jeannette grimaced briefly. "Besides, we're probably gonna get some bad weather in a little bit."
Micheal blinked at her. "I'm not even gonna ask, Cap."
Jeannette sighed and waved him back to the counter to pay for the water, handing him a couple of bills. "Chad. Two years in the colonies, two six-month deployments in Chad, one six month deployment in the SEA, and the rest with the Two-Fifteen until the balloon went up, Mikey." She glanced to Chisa. "A concise history of my military service. Nice, controlled weather, to the sandboxiest sandbox ever, to monsoon season, to reasonably temperate but with tornadoes. You have any experience with weather at all?"
Nous restons ici.
Attitude is prohibited
[Edge of the Forest]
"Sure thing!" Hoshi said to Brin, and took a few confident steps forward. Then she halted, rather abruptly, as the enemy cyborg mentioned Maud's planned contribution. "Pre-fight what?! " Said Hoshi. She pointed at the Queen of Diamonds rather aggressively. "That's bullshit and you know it! You're just using this as an excuse for some magical garbage!" She scoffed and crossed her arms. "I guess I shouldn't have expected anything less from bandits. " She said. Then, she turned back to Brin and the others. "I don't suppose any of you can help me with any so-called 'buffs,' huh?"
[Main Street]
"Hey!" Rin said, then gave Kyle another push, albeit a somewhat gentler one this time. "I told you to keep your distance."
Hana groaned, and took off her glasses to rub her eyes. "First a philosophical drunk, and now academics. Wonderful." She muttered. She put her glasses back on, lightly sighed, then spoke up. "Yes, hello." She said to the newcomers, her tone a bit flat. "I'm Hana." Rin and Maya looked over at her like they expected her to elaborate, but she didn't, and neither of them said anything about it.
"Mister... Ziven, was it? You bring up a good point." She turned to Kyle. "I was hoping to be able to skip this part, as I saw it coming about a kilometer away, but if you insist on getting into the details, then I must ask you first to define exactly what a 'god' is, and then I must ask you to realize that there is no reason to assume that your definition is the objectively correct one. And if your definition does not precisely match my definition, then we would seem to be at an impasse. You might be a 'god' according to the rules and norms that you are familiar with, but there's every likelihood that these do not apply to me, and thus according to the rules and norms that I am accustomed to, you are not a 'god.'"
"And indeed," She continued, crossing her arms. "The burden of proof is on you , as you are the one making the claim, and simply saying that I cannot disprove your claim is not a point in support of it." She shook her head. "And you're not winning anything. Accosting people with pseudo-philosophical nonsense is not a game."
Not entirely dead.
PAINKILLER
[The Tipsy Toad] Samuel, Todd, The Terra Novans, Christopher, and Tana
Samuel and Todd sat down next to each other. The Colonel ordered a couple of glasses of whiskey. Todd asked for a beer, and eyed the other's choices. "Well, at least I don't have to worry about buying too many drinks," he figured, looking at Tana and Christopher's choices. He shrugged, agreeing, "I'm a casual drinker myself, so."
Samuel took a good swig of one of his glasses. He then saw James' gesture and raised his glass as well. "Great job everyone, if I do say so myself." He then took the rest of the glass down. He slammed it on the bar top, taking the burn.
The blond man chuckled, "Take it easy Sam."
He jabbed a finger at his friend. "I can hold my liquor Todd. Remember when I went up against that Sergeant from 99th Infantry? I beat him by two shots. And he was a heavy drinker."
"You can bluff, Sam. I was the one who led you back to your tent." The Colonel smiled at that. It was true.
Samuel had noticed Peggy taking down a whiskey. He felt a bit more concerned, since women get drunk quicker, but sometimes it helped post-battle. He wanted to keep an eye on her, but he knew Karl would.
Todd took sips of his drink. He saw something was up with Wolfe, but Tana beat him to the question.
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
[Main Street]
"She's doin' it 'gain!" yelled Kyle, wiggling a finger at Hana. "Doin' an'thin' that means she don' have t'do nuthin' hard like thinkin'. She still ain't given responses t'my questions o' why she thin's I'm benev'lent an' me interferin' wit' free will 'cause she don' know how t'be nice an'... an' all that. She says I have t'give a def'nition o' 'god', rather th'n suggestin' her own'n then comparin' it wit' mine. 'Cause, see..." He turned to Ziven, leaning on him more than a bit for balance. "Lessay yuh're right, 'n 'god' 's cultr'ly defined. Then it'd be good t'hear both sides'a th'argumen' t'see'f we're on th'same page, aight? Aight."
He wheeled around to Iraal and Scents, overshooting them a bit before correcting himself. "But she don' want t'do that. She's 'fraid o'thinkin'. She's always passin' the buck t'me. Now, I don' mind that, some people ain't so good at th'thinkin', but then don' act all high'n'mighty 'bout it. She says gods don' exist wit' supreeeeeeme conf'dence-" This was punctuated with wild gesticulations that somehow managed to miss everyone. "-but won' say wha' sh'thinks gods are." He giggled a little. "Kinda a damper on discus'on an' anythin' 'semblin' 'telligent d'bate, ain't it? Oh, sure, she says she's gotta def'nition, but th'n why didn' sh'say 't when sh'spoke up? 'Cause she don' got one an' she's really jus' stallin' fer time while sh'tries t'get 'er thoughts t'gether."
Kyle pivoted back to Hana. "S'why's tha'? I'm thinkin' yuh don' real' know what y'think, and're jus' followin' th'crowd'n' parrotin' stuff y'heard once 'r twice, bu' don' want t'admit't. Yuh sure ain't giv'n me nuthin' that ain't already been said a thous'nd times b'fore, not e'en in a new way. An' if'n y'saw it comin' a mile 'way, why didn't y'speak up 'bout it earlier? 'Cause y'didn't see't comin' 'till 'e-" He jerked a thumb at Ziven. "-mentioned't, tha's why. Yuh don' know wha' yer talkin' 'bout."
He hiccuped. "An'ways, 'cause you inseested I go first... created th'un'verse — well, no' this'un, this's some'ne else's — created 'nother un'verse, actively sustain't an' keep th'laws o'physics runnin' through m'will. 'D fall 'part wi'out me, 't would." Kyle nodded as sagely as one could while visibly rocking back and forth.
edited 1st Oct '15 7:29:28 PM by TeraChimera
[Main Street]
The First Advocate accepted the offered hand, but as he shook, he said, thinking out loud more than speaking to anyone, "a handshake? Reasonable, given how thoroughly the West has rooted its particular ideas in most of humanity." He seemed... not annoyed, or offended, but a touch disappointed, not in Iraal but in his fellow humans.
The First Advocate chuckled slightly in response to Kyle's rant. He seemed about to say something, but then shook his head. While he theoretically could have hidden it if he tried, he permitted himself a slight, but smug hint of a smile as he studied Kyle. Enkar was clearly certain he knew something Kyle did not.
Enkar then turned to Hama. He studied her for a moment, coolly studying her, trying to decide what he made of her. A subtle nod of approval, but with a hesitancy and wariness. He wasn't sure about her yet. Her minions he noted only briefly, identifying them as loyal soldiers whose opinions of him would shift mostly through his interactions with Hama.
Instead he spoke to Iraal, his voice wry. "One rather sloppy way to define a 'god' is to say that it is simply the object of passionate worship by a subject. In which case," he glanced at Kyle, then turned back to Iraal and said in utter deadpan, "object and subject may be the same, but the passion is clearly present."
edited 2nd Oct '15 5:59:01 AM by KillerClowns
General Store
The child like nature that was programmed into Chisa made her smile happily at the thought of playing around the tanks. She would be careful of course, tanks were still rather dangerous. But the fact that the group was allowing her to be around them made her pleased. At the question of weather she shook her head. "I am usually inside and have hardly ever gone outside. My outer shell is strong enough to protect me from rain and should protect me from any other strong weather conditions as well." she explained.
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
Crazy Kiwi
The Tipsy Toad
Samuel, Todd, Christopher, Tana, Kris, Teri, Peggy, James, Karl and Wolfe"Great job everyone, if I do say so myself."
James nodded agreement and took a sip of his rum as Samuel drained the rest of his own drink.
Karl pushed the other whiskey towards Peggy. "Perhaps you would try to taste this one, eh?" He gave her a smile then turned and ordered himself another whiskey. He knew from personal experience what Peggy was going through and part of him wished she had been spared this but part of him was relieved. One of his biggest fears had been that Peggy would get into a situation - without someone on hand to protect her - where she had to use lethal force to defend herself and would not have it in her to do so. Finally, that fear was laid to rest.
Peggy lit a cigarette and this time took smaller sips of the drink. She was feeling a lot better now that she was safely back in the saloon but the fact that she had taken a life still weighed heavily on her - all the more so due to how easy it had been to pull the trigger against a human. She hadn't even hesitated! True, they were bad people who had a hostage, but they were still people.
She remembered the anger she had felt at seeing Todd, how she had wanted to start shooting immediately, and that troubled her. Sure, she carried a Browning Hi-Power in case she had to defend herself from an armed attacker and she knew how to use it - but that was just common sense in a potentially violent place, it didn't make her a violent person. Actively stalking a group of people and feeling angry enough to want to kill them, on the other hand...
Tana leaned towards Wolfe. "Something wrong?"
Wolfe shook his head. "Yeah, nah, I'm fine. I'm always like this after highly stressful or dangerous situations - I'm perfectly calm and rational while the emergency is happening and I can do what has to be done, but once I get somewhere safe I start to shake like a bastard." The bartender put a cup of coffee and a pint of beer on the bar and Wolfe latched onto the coffee. His hands shook as he raised it to his lips and took a gulp. It strong and sweet, just as he had ordered. "It'll pass. It always does."
It occurred to him that this was happening more often lately. Back on Earth it had been a fairly rare occurrence - being first on scene at a few accidents and having to do first aid on the victims, occasionally getting himself in tricky situations that could result in him plummeting to his death or smashing into something hard at speed and one exceptional occasion when someone had deliberately tried to run his motorbike off the road with their car - but since his arrival on Terra Nova there had been encounters with brown bears, the battle at the farm house, numerous other dangerous situations and now this.
Teri took a sip from her drink and a drag from her cigarette. She raised her glass to Samuel. "Thank you." She gave a cheeky grin. "The 'Time Team' strikes again, eh?"
Kris lit a cigarette and took a sip of her drink. "What are we going to do about the captive? Are we just going to leave him shut in the back of the truck with the robots?" It was probably getting quite hot in there and he would at least need water.
The future of warfare in UC.
[General Store]
"Ah. Probably best not to be out in a sandstorm, though." Jeannette observed. "If only because it's easier to clean up."
"...I'm trying to decide if I should be angry or not, mainly because I don't know how much you are a kid versus how much you look like a kid." Micheal observed, handing a few of the canteens he'd paid for to Jeannette, who slung them over her shoulder by the strap.
"False dichotomy. Just looking is also a bad outcome, isn't it?" Ritchie pointed out. Jeannette and Micheal both glared at him briefly for the lack of possible tact. He seemed to ignore it. "I suppose this is an awkward question in several ways, but...how much do you weigh, Chisa? One of us is probably going to have to give you a boost for the tank mount."
Nous restons ici.
Crazy Kiwi
Desert - Water Tower
A semi-circular patch of air above the desert floor shimmered and distorted as reality was torn and broken.A motorcycle emerged slowly from the centre of the distortion, its tyres sinking slightly into the soft soil of the desert. It looked more suited to the well-paved streets of a city - a "street fighter" with polished metal frame, gloss-black bodywork and blue anodised fittings - but the rider handled it well over the unevent terrain.
The rider was dressed in black calf-length motorcycle boots fastened with plastic clips, Flectarn-pattern trousers, black t-shirt, green sleeveless "tactical" vest and a black full-face helmet. A long ponytail emerged from beneath the helmet and the right arm was covered in dark hair. On his right hand was a black fingerless glove with a carbon-fibre protector across the knuckles.
His left arm was clearly artificial and had obviously seen better days. The plastic casing was a dull grey but here and there were gouges that revealed the original colour beneath the paint. The left hand was mostly glossy black but it, too, was gouged, revealing shiny metal.
Strapped to his right thigh was a holster holding a substantial pistol with an extended magazine.
A second, nearly identical, motorcycle emerged from the portal and parked beside the first. Behind them, the distortion faded and vanished.
The rider of this bike was obviously a woman, dressed in black motorcycle boots, faded blue jeans, pale blue t-shirt, black leather sleeveless vest decorated with metal studs and chains, black lightweight gloves and a black motorcycle helmet. Strapped to each thigh was was a Kydex holster holding a two-tone SIG-Sauer pistol - black grips, chromed frame and black slide.
Extensive tattoos covered her bare arms and what skin was visible was tanned.
The rider of the first bike took off his helmet. "Fuck me! We made a miscalculation." His dark hair was lightly streaked with grey and his three days' growth of stubble was mostly grey but his face was only lightly lined, making it hard to guess his age - he could pass for anywhere from late forties to early fifties. The iris of his right eye was blood red but that of his left eye was a more natural-looking blue-grey.
The other rider took off her helmet. "Oh yeah, ya think?" The light crow's feet at the corners of her green eyes suggested she was in her mid-to-late forties but she seemed fit and spry. She had a strip of fairly short hair running front to back, dyed green, either side of which her hair was cropped close to the scalp and dyed in a pink and purple "leopard skin" pattern. In addition to five studs in each ear lobe, she had a nose piercing, a labret and a "Monroe"; a tongue barbell was visible when she spoke.
"It's just a suspicion I have." He looked around, noting the water tower standing nearby.
The woman pointed out across the desert. "There's someone approaching."
Both stared out across the desert at the tall figure hurrying in their direction.
[Northern Desert ~ East of River (SUV)](Joseph, James, John, Pancake)
"Well, you could always try hunting coy-otes." Joseph said, speaking the word with an exaggerated quasi-Texan accent. "But uh... I don't know if coyote tastes any good. And who knows about all the regulations and whatever that's about." he paused, giving Pancake a narrow-eyed wiseguy smile while she attempted to devour one of his claws. "Although..." he continued, glancing back towards the front of the car, "if you want to get really exotic, I heard from a little birdie that there's been sightings of these big lizards that walk around on two legs and—wait for it—hitchhike."
When James asked him if he could see any buildings, Joe angled himself in his seat as much as he could without either squashing Pancake or rubbing around the dried mud from his clothes and big tail too much. He was somewhat successful, though to little ultimate purpose. There were some big boulders that, if he squinted and was half asleep, might've passed as buildings for a few seconds. But aside from that, it was just the same railroad tracks that John was looking at. Empty of a train, and seemingly no closer to a town than it was where he'd climbed out of the riverbank.
"Uh... no, not really." he said, after a few seconds of searching in vain. "But hey, if the car does end up buried, we've still got a whole bag of fruit here." He grinned and nodded toward the bag at his side. Then, as though suddenly reminded, Joseph glanced at the pear—which was little more than its core at that point—in his hand. He hesitated for a moment, then twisted off the stem and tossed the remains whole into his mouth.
Chewy.
this place needs me here
[Town - Main Street]
Iraal decided to file away Enkar's complaining about handshakes for later. It had a few interesting implications, but for now, there were a few more niceties to get out of the way. "Hello," she said politely - and without prompting - to the human woman who had introduced herself as Hana. Her eyes narrowed a little at the muttered comment about 'academics', but her social interaction software cautioned her with an overlay that it would be impolite to confront her about it. Or, for that matter, about her failure to name her companions.
Or, most likely, bodyguards.
She stepped back a little as Kyle lurched towards her. The intoxicated human's speech was barely understandable by her translator, but she couldn't help but roll her eyes at what little she could understand. And she had thought that religious discussions with the Theocracy gluvpaki could be annoying.
Scents sniggered a little at Enkar's comment, her snout splitting in a - tooth-filled, distinctly predatory - grin. But her expression soon turned more serious. "Respect, zer, but that's a shitty definition of a god," she told him. "Might as well mean the doc is a god to her grad students. Now, me, I - "
"Actually, I suppose it is somewhat happily coincidental that we're speaking of gods," Iraal interjected, somewhat abruptly. She knew, or at least suspected, that her assistant was just going to get them into trouble here. "That's actually why I am here, sort of. Do any of you know something about an artifact referred to as a 'dead god', out in the wilderness?"
Sorry this took so long.
[Main Street]
To Scents, Enkar said, in a tone of cheeky obstinance, "I fail to see the problem." The entire question of "godhood" was, to him, superficial. As such, he'd happily defend his simple, facetious definition of divinity just to prove the futility of the whole exercise.
Then he said to Iraal, "I can't say I've heard anything about 'dead gods', outside of my world's mythologies." Iraal's social software might, if it was very good, barely recognize that he was lying. "But I would like to see such a thing," he continued, now technically honest. "What could make a people declare something both divine and a corpse?"
edited 3rd Oct '15 3:01:14 PM by KillerClowns
[THE TIPSY TOAD]
At Kris' question, Tana placed a fist under her chin. "She's right. It'd be pretty useless to have Sam's mercy come to nothing."
A second passed, and she chuckled. "He must be kinda spooked by those things. Chris can actually be the same, sometimes. And he made them."
PAINKILLER
[The Tipsy Toad]
Before Samuel could take another drink, he said, "Yeah, you're right. Didn't think about it. Maybe I could leave him outside at least. Be right back." He flung his backpack around, and pulled out another water bottle. He slid off the stool and headed out.
Todd watched him go before returning to his drink. He winced at something. It was pain from earlier. He tried to hide it, though poorly. He wanted to talk to Sam about it first.
(APC)
Meanwhile, Vic sat in silence, staring at the robots. He was pressed against the corner. They look to much like The Gears, he thought. He recalled seeing them in their last use in the war. They were terrifying juggernauts of steel and diesel— they would not stop unless fully ripped apart. Their white, glowing, lifeless eyes sent fear and chills down his back. He believed someone close to him had been killed by one, but he couldn't remember who.
He was feeling a bit warm, so he loosened his cloak. Underneath was a t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. His dark hair was curly and fell over his eyes a bit.
The back opened up, and he was temporarily blinded. He saw the rough silhouette of the Colonel. "Hey, kid, how you holdin' up?" Samuel looked up at the boy. "Figured you were hot, so I think you can stand outside— hey, you look familiar.
Vic was startled. "Huh? Like who?"
"You wouldn't happen to know a guy named Armand Markovic?"
"I-I don't know my last name, so no."
Afterwards, Samuel took the boy outside. He rebound the boy's hands to be behind his back to keep him from doing anything. He unscrewed the water and poured some in Vic's mouth. "How come you don't know your last name?"
After swallowing, he said, "I'm an orphan, sir. Lived on the street since I was like five. The war years were extra hard. Those robots in the back? They're like Gears. Those things... But uh, Shaman Vargas picked me up a year ago. I-I don't believe in what they say, really, I just wanted food and shelter."
Samuel looked the boy straight in the eyes. Vic saw his expression soften with pity. The Colonel plucked out a combat knife from his pants. He cut open the boy's cloth handcuffs. Vic looked at the man in surprise. "Sir?"
"Come inside. You need some food, don't you?"
"But why? I could be lying to you."
Samuel put a hand on his back and nearly shoved him inside.
The Colonel sat back in his seat as Vic chose to sit away from the group. The boy ordered a sandwich. Todd glared at his comrade. "Please tell me you're in the right mind."
Samuel took a sip of the second whiskey. "They recruit orphans."
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
Attitude is prohibited
[Main Street]
Hana rolled her eyes. "You are truly insufferable." She said to Kyle. "I would have thought that my definition of a 'god' was implied, but I suppose your head is just too thick to register anything subtle. So here's a definition for you: a god a is paradoxical, inherently nonsensical, deeply inconsistent, fictional mythological entity created by the frightened and the ignorant to explain away what they do not understand." She said.
"Now, even disregarding the latter part of that, and assuming that 'fictional' is not a prerequisite, every god that I've ever heard of is supposed to be an omnipotent, omniscient, omni-benevolent super-being. And yet, there is a paradox: the tales that surround them, that outline the 'fact' that they exist and describe how or why they should be worshipped, all describe beings that are cruel, capricious, petty, jealous, irresponsible and sometimes incestuous. These traits would seem to conflict with their nature as all-powerful, all-knowing, benevolent entities, but such traits are consistent across regions, religions and interpretations, though the details of the stories vary wildly. "
She shook her head. "They were also incapable of getting drunk and never spent time having debates with any humans."
Not entirely dead.
Crazy Kiwi
The Tipsy Toad
Teri looked at Christopher. "You made those things? That's bloody impressive." She had assumed that they, like the troop transporter, were things Christopher had purchased and was working with. Tana's revelation certainly explained why Christopher was unused to combat.Wolfe drained the rest of his coffee in short order then held out a hand and looked at it. There was only a faint tremor. "Sweeet!" There was no doubt about it: he was recovering more quickly these days - probably a side effect of having had more "practice" since arriving on Terra Nova. He lit another cigarette, picked up his beer and took a sip.
He noticed Todd wince in pain when he turned back from watching Samuel leave. It was hardly surprising - the young man had been trussed like a turkey and undoubtedly had been subjected to violence at the hands of his captors. "You OK? Do you need medical attention?"
James looked around at the room which was filling up with what had to be locals - exclusively men and dressed in hard-wearing functional clothes. The only women in the establishment were Tana, Kris, Teri and Peggy and, he noticed, they were getting a number of puzzled looks from the locals.
Perhaps women didn't often come in here, or perhaps they didn't often have rifles slung over their shoulders or, in Kris' case, pistols visibly displayed on their belts.
A man wearing dusty boots, jeans, cotton shirt and no waist coat came up to the bar and stopped beside Kris. He ordered his drink then gave Teri a sidelong once-over before turning his attention back to the bartender.
Kris noticed the look and wondered if he was going to cause trouble but he just took his drink and went to a table and sat down.
She leaned closer to Teri and spoke softly. "Did you catch the way that guy looked at you?"
Teri nodded. "His fucking problem, not mine."
The young captive came in, found himself a seat away from the rest of the group and ordered a sandwich. Samuel followed him in and sat down near Todd.
James caught the brief exchange between Todd and Samuel. He remembered that the cultists had been able to weild magic as a weapon, so the boy being apparently unarmed didn't necessarily mean he was harmless - but then, he'd been armed with a pistol in the fight, so maybe he lacked the abilities of his former comrades.
Also, James mused, there's only one of him against ten of us and the magic seemed to be directional. Attacking one of us would be suicide.
[Northern Desert]
John stared at the railroad, before seeing something in the distance. Buildings? He hoped so. He was tired of seeing the same railroad tracks. He wanted to leave as soon as possible.
He tapped on James's shoulder. "James. James, I think I see something."
"What?" James asked, looking to the side, "Do you see a town?"
"I think so. It's far away, so I can't really tell-AHH!"
Without warning, James abruptly sped the car and turned, nearly knocking John to the floor. Pancake latched herself onto Joseph, just so she wouldn't end up falling.
"James, JAMES! James, please slow down!" John begged, clinging onto his chair, "You're going too fast!"
"I will get you guys there in one piece." James said, calmly "Don't worry. We should be in town in no time!"
"Think about Joseph and Pancake!" John squinted his eyes shut, "You're going to cover the car in sand!"
[outside temple- Tsadro, Chloe, Raelyn]
Tsadro carefully fit his veil back over his head, taking the time to watch the situation unfurl. So he aided a thief? Big surprise there. In his client's defense, Madam Quatrez could have hidden the place better. Or even kept it near their living space. If she had access to flaming beasts and boulders coming out of nowhere, blood seals or even just plain family signets shouldn't be too much of a stretch. Neither was the possibility that, perhaps, the Quatrez name had some alternate branches.
How she could wield the sword was a good question. Damn thing's made of steel, it felt like, and she was no Iris. Jesting aside, the Thaleia family being an alternate branch could also explain that, assuming the sword's power was hereditary. He hadn't received any confirmation on whether Madam Quatrez could wield it.
"Perhaps a family relation we are unaware of," he stated plainly, adjusting his gloves.
edited 3rd Oct '15 11:59:53 PM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
[Main Street]
"Tha's no' a god," Kyle said to Enkar, vaguely waving a finger in his general direction. "Tha's 'n idol. Ain't sayin' can't be a god, too, but there's a distin't diff'ence. Tha' jus' talks 'bout 'ow people treat't, not wha' 't act'ly is."
He stared at Hana for a few seconds, then burst out laughing. "You 'ssumed 't'd be implicit? Bu' the 'ole reason we're givin' def'nitions 's so they'd be explicit! So it'd be real real clear an' we cou' tal' 'bout it! 'Cause I don' know wha' you think 'bout gods 'cept they don' exist. I ain't dense, jus' drunk." He took another drink from his bottle and hiccuped.
"'Sides, we already talked 'bout 'ssumin' stuff a whil' back, 'bout 'ow 't makes 'n ass outta you, but yer still doin' 't!" Kyle glanced at the rest of the group and said in a stage whisper that was hardly a whisper, "Y'see wha' I mean 'bout 'er not thinkin'? Tha' really shou' be obv'ous, considerin' I already 'xplicitly said't, but thinkin' back's jus' too much fer 'er."
He turned back to Hana. "So tha's yer def'nition. Alright, fine. Ain't a bad one. Bu' tell me, why's yer def'nition all 'bout 'ow par'dox'cal they 're, an' yet y'react wi' skept'ism t'me bein' a drunk god? If I am a god, 'nd god're omnip'tent 'n' omnis'ent, bu' gods're also inconsistent, woul'n't tha' sorta nonsens'cal be'avior be 'spected? So, really, yer def'nition ain't sayin' nuthin' 'bout me bein' 'r not bein' a god."
He swayed, blinked, and added, "Oh, an' why'd yer firs' arg'ment fer gods no' existin' 'pend on gods bein' b'nevol'nt, when 'ere, yer sayin' they're shown t'be cruel an' capricious an' all? Kinda inconsistent there, y'know. An' don' say it's th'cultures' faul' fer bein' inconsistent; ev'n if they were, yer arg'ment 'pended on gods bein' b'nevolent."
edited 4th Oct '15 9:32:36 AM by TeraChimera
[Town - Main Street]
Iraal's social interaction software was designed to compensate for her own inherent difficulty with social interaction, not to pick up on subtler nuances, so it failed to flag anything unusual about Enkar's response. Scents, on the other hand, was immediately suspicious (though that was also just a job thing). But she had other things to worry about right now than telling her employer that the first random guy they'd asked on the street was lying.
Should remember it, though, just in case.
"Now, see," she said, waving one of her hands. Like the rest of her body below the neck, it was encased in blue-grey armor, but it was still obvious that she only had three fingers, set at roughly equal spaces around the hand. "This is the whole reason why an-throp-o-mor-phic gods are a shit idea. Apologies, zer," she added to Kyle, though it was hard to tell from her tone if she was being sarcastic or not.
"The idea of god can't just be some big person in the sky," she continued. "Doesn't make sense." Neither did the 'dead god' thing, but she didn't bring it up, since the doc's explanation so far had been good enough for her on that. "People and god, the definitions don't work together. God has to be bigger than us, bigger than we can know, or how's it even god? That's why the Faith calls it the One, not god - most languages that word implies some comprehensible characteristics that are all, uh, wrong."
Scents paused to stop and look around, keeping an eye out for any trouble - especially from Hana's flunkies - but seemed set to continue at any moment. Behind her, Iraal groaned and put her face in her hands. This had been some very unfortunate luck.
The robot continued rolling down the street, oblivious to it all.
edited 3rd Oct '15 10:25:55 PM by nrjxll
[THE TIPSY TOAD]
Christopher first looked confused at Teri, then realizing where the conversation was headed. "H-huh? Oh. Y-yeah." He shrugged hesitantly, "... Barely."
At that time a crowd had started to form in the pub. Tana noted the somewhat angry atmosphere of the new arrivals. If she had a choice, she'd much rather preserve the mood from before these ruffians entered, if only for the sake of Vic, Peggy and Chris.
[Main Street]
Enkar nodded with understanding at Scents' explanation, genuinely interested. "I see. I've heard of a few such religions myself." He regarded religions in general as merely stories and myths, but maintained an academic interest in them and the way they shaped the worldviews of the masses. "In my personal experience, they come in two particular forms. Did this 'One' you speak of create the physical universe, as in the Terran model? Or was the physical universe created by an idiot or malevolent demiurge," he glanced almost imperceptibly at Kyle, "with the One's perfection existing outside and beyond it, as in the Gnostic-Mauros model?"
With a vicious grin, he turned towards Kyle. No more off-hand barbs, it was time to show the rest of these the true and vast power that was the mind of the First Advocate. Even in his state, the drunkard clearly had a brilliant mind; Enkar Ziven knew only the most brilliant of minds could cling to delusions so grandiose. (He regarded himself as above such temptations.) Around the singular, unbreakable delusion lay many claims that could be dismantled, however. Claims he suspected that the others already held... for now. "Which reminds me; what say you to the accusations put upon you by the Temple of Maur, my inebriated demiurge? Even if we presume you have created a universe, is that really an act worthy of the mantle of divinity? You speak of 'free will', but the fanatics across the ocean have a point. The problem of evil is more simply resolved by accepting that the universe's creator is cruel, mindless or simply incompetent."
edited 4th Oct '15 11:13:28 AM by KillerClowns
Main Street - General Store (Chisa, Jeanette and team)
Tanks...on trains. So her guesses were right, they were soldiers on the move from somewhere. At Jeanette's question about if she wanted water, the red head shook her head. "No thanks. I do not need water." she replied. She watched as the others took what they needed then looked back to Jeanette. "Where will you go after this?" she asked, hoping they would allow her to stay with them, at least for awhile. Chisa had no idea where she was or where to go and thought the best course of action was to follow someone who did.
Temple - Outside Temple (Tsadro and Chloe and ???)
Turning to Tsadro, Chloe ran with him with treasure in tow, the heavy gold making her a bit slow. Thankfully, Tsadro's wind did knock over the lion who took a bit to stand up again and charged but was too late. The two managed to leave the temple again. However, standing outside the temple, glaring at the two of them, was a woman with long crimson hair wearing a western red and black dress that didn't quite reach her ankles, and a red cowboy hat.
"What.are.you.doing.with.my.gold?" she growled, looking quite irritated. Chloe stared at her and raised a brow. "Your gold? What makes it your gold?" she replied in a snarky matter. "Because this is my temple!" the girl barked back and appearing by her side was the same lion found inside the temple. "I am Raelyn Quatrez, daughter of Christiana Quatrez. We came to this world and created a temple to store our treasures. To think you managed to get past the traps..."
"Yeah sure, and I'm the Queen of England." Chloe replied and drew her sword. The girl gasped at the sight and exclaimed, "You stole my mother's sword as well? But, how are you able to wield it?" Chloe blinked and shrugged, "No idea really. It doesn't seem that hard."
edited 1st Oct '15 12:36:41 PM by Sphinxyness
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"