[Town - Main Street]
Iraal was starting to move from impatience to true annoyance. Unexpectedly gifted mind or not, Kyle's drunken rantings were becoming more and more obnoxious, and her cursed assistant seemed more interested in a pointless and incomprehensible religious debate than in actively providing assistance. And while she was as indifferent to the heat as she was to any other temperature concerns, the dust of the area was starting to irritate her throat. Then, too, the one possible lead she'd found so far was seemingly... uncooperative.
Her social interaction software was continuing to warn her that freely letting out her emotions here would be considered quite rude and therefore unproductive for her, so she decided to instead simply make a point to Scents. Closing the communications channel, she accessed her backup and began reading her news feeds, noisily commenting on them out loud: "Corinarchi officials announce arrest of Neo-Imperia cell... General Gatharen to provide commencement address at GAN Rathos Academy... ooh, this is interesting - 'kaorrl squatters dispute Confederation claim to Torchbearer artifacts on Cao Valk...'"
Scents did her best to ignore her socially inept employer, instead looking blankly at Lily, swiveling her head back and forth to fix her with different eyes in succession. Then she let out a high-pitched noise; though it sounded vaguely like a growl, depending on their sensory abilities those present might have been able to recognize it as the vayen equivalent of an incredulous laugh. "Um, sorry, but what? God doesn't send people to jail. People send people to jail. I dunno what the afterlife is really like - neither does the Faith, officially - but I know the One's not that... mundane, I guess."
She turned to Enkar and let her tongue stick out in a gesture she'd learned the meaning of while visiting the human sphere. Her ears twitched up and down, unconsciously. "Obviously, zer, it's because of you humans' well-known universal sex appeal. Just ask the doc sometime."
"Scents!" Iraal said with some irritation
edited 13th Oct '15 11:02:30 PM by nrjxll
Crazy Kiwi
Northern Desert - Underground Chamber
Gwion pursed his lips thoughtfully as he looked around at the crates and barrels. "Those crates look like the real deal from an armoury and it all looks pretty professional - unlike a lot of, shall we say, unofficial caches I've seen - so I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that this is an actual, bona fide military set up. They probably stored them here against a time when they might need weapons and ammo to equip a sizeable force. There's probably also ammunition and reloading supplies here - the barrels may well contain powder."He looked at Henry and grinned. "That and the fact we're an unknown distance underground make for two good reasons why I'm not having a ciggy just yet."
Gwion turned his head so the beam from his headlamp illuminated the door. "That tunnel is wider, so I'd say it's the main way in and this," he turned to aim his light at the hatch through which they had come, "is probably an emergency escape route in case of getting trapped down here - I don't really see anyone lugging this stuff down the well, through the water tunnel and up through the hatch."
He turned back to the door and started heading up the stairs. It wasn't long before the light from his headlamp revealed a leveling off of the corridor and doors leading off to the side. He checked the first one he came to and found a large empty room carved out of the rock.
Tipsy Toad - Chloe, Raelyn, Tsadro
Chloe and Raelyn stared at each other from across the table, Tsadro sitting in the middle for bodyguard reasons Chloe guessed. It was a few moments of awkward silence until Raelyn spoke up. "So, you somehow managed to use that sword to get inside my temple and steal some of my gold? And evaded my traps?" she grumbled and blushed lightly,"I must admit, I'm a tad embarrassed. I was supposed to make sure no one found that temple and if they did, never get out. But I failed."
Chloe snickered a little then replied, "Don't worry about it princess. Even if all your traps went off, I think I would be able to handle it on my own-" she began to say when she looked over at Tsadro, "Er, ok, maybe with his help. Anyway, I'm thinking I stole the gold fair and square and since I proved your temple has faults, I should be allowed to keep some of it." Raelyn thought about it, sighed, then replied, "Fine. On one condition. I...I get to go with you on your travels. I don't get to go out much and was only sent here to check on the temple and then head back home, but I may be able to convince mother to have you escort me around. If you escort me, you can use all the treasure you gathered for whatever you like."
General Store - Main Street towards tanks - Chisa, Jeanette and crew
Chisa looked up curiously at Jeanette's words to her comrades but nodded when instructed to follow towards the tanks. She wondered briefly if they were going to have her do anything for them in which she would oblige since they were kind enough to allow her to follow them. The android had many functions she was capable of. Though if a storm came, it could affect those abilities.
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
Could someone kindly give me a summary of what's been going on at the Frontier? Thank you.
The platypus is my spirit animal.
[tipsy toad- Tsadro, Chloe, Raelyn]
Keeping one ear open for the rest of the room, he studied Raelyn's every move, every little tic and turn of voice, and came away with one conclusion.
It should not have been this easy.
This was her family's fortune, was it not? He had to guess she was wealthy enough to spare some, or perhaps a poor judge of character if she was willing to place her safety into the hands of a proven thief. Picking a lock didn't make it okay to reap the benefits, last he checked.
The affairs of his client were not his problem. But this made no sense to him. The sword is evidently magical if people who aren't Raelyn's mother can't wield it. Either something else odd with family relations or magic was going on, or Raelyn was lying. But to what end? To make Chloe think an actually normal sword was the temple's primary treasure, and thus distract from an even bigger one?
Tsadro raised his head a bit. "What of your mother's sword?"
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
The future of warfare in UC.
[Main Street -> Train Station]
"Didn't you say that was an LRAP?" Jeannette asked Michael once they stepped outside, noticing the APC.
"No, the Top said it was an LRAP, I just relayed." Michael replied. "I can see why he thought that too."
"Fair point..." Jeannette didn't shrug because she was carrying the canteens over her shoulder. "You recognize any of these folks, Chisa?" There were a fair number of people on the street at this point. The kid, if she was a kid, was probably capable of taking care of herself decently, but still if there was someone looking for her, best to get early warning. Jeannette was actually feeling distinctly close to naked, as they hadn't come into town with weapons, but she was pretty sure she'd heard shots earlier. And everyone else seemed to be armed.
Nous restons ici.
[Town ~ Railway Street (Corner of Main Street)] (Connie, Davey, ???)
Davey climbed back into the covered bed of their truck. He carefully tip-toed his way around their luggage, trying to take a quick mental inventory of all of it as he did so. It wasn't the most excessive amount of luggage the world had ever seen, but it wasn't a stretch to say that traveling lightly was not their most strongly-held tenet.
He worked his way over to the mattress he'd been lying on earlier, and, taking Connie's advice, began undressing. He liked to have clothes on-hand for every occasion, but three winter layers had no place in the desert, even with the onset of evening. Off came the overcoat, and off came the cardigan. The tie was perhaps a little too formal too, at least for first impressions. He dexterously loosened it and pulled it over his head, then tossed it on the bed with the other discarded articles. When he was done, he was left with only a white button-up shirt and his suspenders. They seemed a little unnecessary, given that his oddly-shaped trousers fit him perfectly, and even if they hadn't, his tail alone would have done an admirable job of keeping them up. But necessity never stopped him before.
On a better day, Rip would have been there to tell Davey that he was still wearing a few excess layers. And Davey would have given him an oh-you-think-you're-so-clever-don't-you look, and Rip would probably have shrugged and offered that most folks would look the other way what with all the fur. And Davey would have chucked a shirt at him and told the man not to tempt him.
On that day, Davey simply rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the nearest bag to him, hoisting it as best he could over his shoulder and stumbling back to the rear of the vehicle. He opened the tailgate and popped out through the hanging canvas drapery, then took his bag from off his shoulder and lowered it to the ground, next to one of the wheels.
Before heading back in, Davey paused and looked around. Then he made a face, stuck his head around the corner of the truck, and knocked his fist against its side. "Hey Connie!" he called out, "Are you any good at counting? Because, I'm fairly certain that Rip said 'you two', and for the life of me, I can't seem to get past one over here."
Connie, for her part, had remained at the corner of the street, standing on some half-baked sidewalk, and observing the comings and goings of Main Street. She figured that the people—if you could call them all 'people'—weren't townsfolk, but tourists like herself. In any case, they were fascinating to study. Just when she thought she'd seen something untoppable—something straight out of science fiction—another something caught her eye and topped it.
She heard Davey, and nodded, calling back, "Coming!" She wasn't, though; at least not immediately. Perhaps she wasn't consciously thinking about it, but part of her knew that she still had a few more minutes before he'd bother her again.
Davey went back to unloading, until, while he was in the middle of dragging out a second bag onto the truck's lowered tailgate, he heard footsteps, and turned around. He studied the woman in her desert-worn clothing for a brief moment, then smiled.
"Aid?" he repeated, nodding, "why yes, I think I could use some aid," he glanced in Connie's direction and raised his voice for the next few words, "since my partner seems to have taken an unannounced sabbatical," he turned his small, dark eyes back to the new woman, "I'm a little shorthanded. Just a few bags and boxes to unload."
He seemed about to turn back around, then paused with an "Ah" and stuck his little hand-like paw out to be shaken, "David Harkness."
[Town ~ Main Street (Near SUV)](Joseph, James, John, Pancake)
Joseph stared out the window as they rolled up on Main Street. "I guess this one is..." he murmured in response to John's question. A familiar nervous tingle was taking its hold of him, as it always seemed to do when he came to reasonably crowded places. Butterflies, heebie-jeebies... all he was going to be doing was walking around. It wasn't as though he was about to put on a show, or give a speech, or stand naked in front of an audience. And anyway, being in town around lots of folks was several hundred measures better than being alone out in the desert, left to fend for himself.
By the time John opened the passenger door, Joe was able to give him a not too nervous smile. Pancake suddenly decided that she wanted to be a parrot, and climbed up onto his shoulder while he was unfastening his seat belt. "Whoa," he said, reaching up to pat her gently, "better not claw me while you're up there." Then he glanced at John, and thought of how to answer his question.
Instinctively, he felt like refusing all help and declaring over and over that he would be fine on his own. Some kind of pride thing; looking good before everything else. But deep down—not even all that deep, actually—he didn't really want to be by himself again. He had nowhere to go, no money to spend, and no real skills to employ. He was, essentially, a bum. But... he'd made some kind of connection with John at least, hadn't he? Or was the man this friendly with all the strangers in the desert he'd stumbled across by chance? Now that they were back in civilization, he was supposed to be self-sufficient, and he didn't want to lean too much on James and John's kindness, but... he didn't want to leave.
"Uh..." he said carefully, "sh...sure. I mean, if that's all right with you guys."
With one hand on pancake, holding her to his shoulder, he climbed out of the car, squinting into the dimming rays of the sun.
"It's just, you know, I haven't really got anywhere better to be. At least, nowhere that's here. I- um, I don't want to step on your toes or get in the way of your vacation if that's going to be a problem though. I mean, you guys can just tell me to hit the road anytime you want, and..." he shrugged, half-smiling, glancing between John and the ground. ...And what choice would he have?
every little word and every little step
[Main Street]
John frowned.
"Why would we do that?" John asked, "That'd be cruel of us! You can stay as long as you want."
James came around the corner, holding two bags. "You don't think the people here will ask why we have a walking, talking lizard with us?"
"I have a simple soultion; we'll just say that he's cosplaying!" John said, "I already have a story; 'This is our son Joseph, and he really likes lizards, so he dressed up as one.' They'll never suspect a thing."
James blinked, before smiling gently, "Flawless." He looked down at Joseph, "You hear that? Welcome to the family. Let's hope you're a really good actor."
"Perfect!" John said, "Now...let's see if there's a hotel nearby. I've been walking all day and I need to relax."
Pancake looked around her surroundings in her usual cat-like interest.
[Town ~ Main Street](Joseph, James, John, Pancake)
Joseph couldn't help but beam slightly, even though he had some doubts about their plan. For one, he had no idea what 'cosplaying' was, but he really doubted that there was a dedicated word for 'dressing up as a giant talking lizard'.
"I dunno..." he said, reaching up and scratching Pancake's head, "I mean, it's not exactly Halloween. Wouldn't that be kinda weird? Plus, don't you think that this a little too... realistic, for just a costume?" He waved his tail left and right and raised his bandaged shoulder, trying to give them an idea of what he was talking about. "I mean, rubber masks can only get you so far. I think someone would probably figure out that something's up after like... ten seconds."
He smiled again, then said, "I mean, I like the idea and all, but I'm not a very good actor. I was a cupcake in a school play once in 4th grade, but that's about it."
every little word and every little step
PAINKILLER
[Town - Railway Street (Corner of Main Street)] (Connie, Davey, Irina)
The woman knelt a bit shook the small paw. "Irina, Mr. Harkness," So intel was right— there was some lapse in the desert, probably a portal created by that magic... Because there's no way this would happen in Serenica.
Irina studied the luggage. Not much, but enough to consider that it needed a couple of hands to work before the sandstorm comes. She took a trunk-like bag and heaved it down.
"So, did you just get here? I hope you didn't drive that thing." Her eyes moved towards the truck. "I mean, I did too, I'm just lookin' for someone, might hang around though." She picked up another bag and put it over her shoulder. She underestimated the weight of the luggage so far, though she was quite fit.
[Main Street - En route to Hotel] (Terra Novans, Samuel, Todd, Vic)
Samuel, Todd, and Vic walked out. Sam glanced behind him, noticing Chris and Tana stayed behind for something. He thought about thanking them again, but he'd already did so overtime.
Todd rubbed his eyes. All he wanted was a shower and a bed. "Maybe tomorrow I can recover the money. They'll stink for sure, but money is money."
Vic sauntered behind. He looked up at the now dimming sky. But he shook as he was unnerved at the dust clouds in the desert. "I wouldn't say that. Looks like a sandstorm to me."
"Really?" The blond man whirled around. He spat, "Shit."
"Easy, easy, Todd. I think Command will understand if you lost it," Samuel reassured in a low voice. He felt the alcohol making some form of affect. It took a lot to get drunk, but it was because he was borderline alcoholic for a while. "So, how we thinkin' of orienting the rooms? I'm thinkin' me and Todd, but perhaps one of you will take Vic, our little outlier."
Vic faced away. He scratched the back of his head.
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
[Main Street]
Joseph did have a point. Eventually, John's (very flawed) plan would quickly fall apart, and someone would notice that Joseph was not just a really dedicated cosplayer.
Admittedly, he did want to tell John that his plan had lots of holes, but before he decided to tell him the truth, he suddenly had an idea.
"Then we'll use John's idea as plan B." James said, "So for now, put these on." He took off his hat—revealing his rather short hair—and put it on the boy. He then went down on his knees, went through his bag, and pulled out a long jacket, handing it to Joseph. "These should cover you up for a while."
"...You dressed as cupcake?" John asked, "Well, if they let you dress as a cupcake, why bother using the disguise idea? Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"
"Not everyone here is going to understand, John." James said, "Better safe than sorry."
"Fine. ...Still, a cupcake?"
Crazy Kiwi
Main Street - en route to Hotel
Samuel, Todd, Vic and Terra NovansKris could hear the sound of the guitar and the Irish-accented voice singing The Minstrel Boy through the door to the saloon and grinned. "Oh yeah, I knew it. The bloke's clothes and the chick being a Kiwi were solid enough evidence, but that song confirms it." Now that Samuel, Todd and Vic had arrived, she started heading down the street in the direction Peggy had indicated.
James tore his attention away from the conversation about the lost money. "Confirms what?"
Kris glanced back at the saloon. "When I was up in Hamilton once, I saw people dressed like that bloke who just came in. I was at this pub called The Shamrock; it's a typical Irish-themed pub - y'know decor big on flags, harps and shamrocks; Guinness on tap; tables named after Irish provinces and counties and all that... this place even had a scaled-down replica of the Death of Cúchulainn
statue in the middle of the room. They're one of the local gangs, called the 'Warrior Rockers of Cú Chulainn', and they're basically a bunch of die-hard musos and piss-artists. According to the friend I was with, The Minstrel Boy is one of their anthems, you can guarantee they'll sing it at least once in an evening's boozing. That and bloody-near any song by The Pogues you can name... and any Irish drinking song you can name, for that matter."
James shook his head in wonder. The more he learned about the world of Kris' time, the more it amazed him. The concept of a Warrior Bard wasn't new even in his own time, but it seemed that this gang Kris described had put their own twist on it.
Wolfe looked at the saloon and back to Kris. "Sounds like Hamilton got a lot more interesting since I left."
Kris laughed. "Yeah, but it did take more than fifty years for that to happen.
Teri grinned. Kris and Wolfe never wasted an opportunity to run down Hamilton. "So what about the bird? I mean, she's obviously a Kiwi but what's with the elf-ears and weird eyes?"
Kris shrugged. "Fucked if I know. It could be some sort of bodysculpting and coloured contact lenses - a fashion statement, maybe?"
Wolfe gave an impish grin. "Maybe she's taking New Zealand's association with The Lord of the Rings to a whole new extreme."
Karl looked out at the approaching dust clouds. Vic's comment about sandstorms worried him. "I think perhaps we should get us to the hotel quickly."
Peggy nodded and picked up her pace. Up ahead was the tall building she had noticed earlier.
In answer to Samuel's question, Wolfe said, "I assumed he'd get his own room."
The Tipsy Toad
Finn and KaitlynThe Minstrel fell! But the foeman's chain
Could not bring his proud soul under;
The harp he loved ne'er spoke again,
For he tore its chords asunder;
And said "No chains shall sully thee,
Thou soul of love and bravery!
Thy songs were made for the pure and free
They shall never sound in slavery!"
Finn carefully leaned his guitar against the bar and picked up his drink.
"Hey!" A voice yelled.
Finn and Kaitlyn both turned to see a man in soiled jeans, checked cotton shirt and brown duster get unsteadily to his feet from one of the tables.
"I don't like goddamn Micks, an' I don't like goddamn Mick music!" The man's voice was slurred.
The others at the table made "get down" motions with their hands and tried to convince their buddy to sit down again. He ignored them and staggered forward a few paces.
Finn took a sip of his beer. "Tough shit, Paddy, I'm just havin' a drink."
The man lurched closer while his buddies at the table tried in vain to tell him to settle down. "I ain't a goddamn Paddy! You're the goddamn Paddy, here."
Finn slowly set his beer down. "Bejayzus. I t'ought y' said I was a Mick."
The man staggered closer and Finn slipped from the stool and drew himself to his full height. Kaitlyn could see that some of the man's friends wore prominently displayed pistols so she casually moved her left arm across her body in readiness to hitch up her t-shirt and gain access to the pistol hidden beneath it, if required.
The man came to a halt, swaying slightly, within arm's reach of Finn. He was a few inches shorter than Finn but heavier-set and muscular from hard labour. "Oughtta throw you outta the saloon," he slurred.
Finn smiled with his mouth but his eyes were hard discs of blue; no humour in them. "You lay one hand on me..."
The man dropped a meaty hand onto Finn's shoulder but, before he could grab a fistful of clothing, Finn's right fist lashed out, his arm a blur of tanned skin and indigo, and struck the man hard in the stomach just below the diaphagm.
The man let out all his breath in a booze-tainted whoosh, staggered back and went down hard on the wooden floor. He lay there, winded and gasping for breath.
In the near-silence that followed, a voice from the back of the room yelled, "you asked for that, Sam."
Kaitlyn's eyes swept the bar, alert for any sign of hostility. One of the man's buddies looked directly at Finn. "Sorry 'bout that. He gets worse for liquor, sometimes."
Finn nodded. "Well, now I've got y'r attention, we're lookin' for a couple-a people. An old codger with a mechanical arm and one red eye, an' a woman who's travelling with him - green, pink and purple hair and a lot of piercings on her face and ears. If you've seen them, could y' tell us where they are?"
edited 16th Oct '15 9:44:30 PM by Wolf1066
Edge of Forest
There was an earsplitting scream as the dragon appeared, like a panicky teenage girl. Which made sense, considering it came from a panicky teenage girl.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" After Anne recovered from being frightened out of her wits, she managed to stutter out, "I-is that a d-d-dragon??"
Lucky, ever the wiseass, responded, "You sure are a keen observer, aren't you?"
Forward, boys! For God's sake, forward!
[Town ~ Railway Street (Corner of Main Street)](Connie, Davey, Irina)
Davey beamed; a somewhat strange expression to see on such a weaselly face. "A pleasure to meet you, Irina," he said, turning to put his paws back on the truck's tailgate, "and an especial pleasure to meet someone so neighborly so soon after arriving." Just as he was about to climb back onto the truck bed, he stopped himself and stepped around to the side of the truck, calling, "Hey Connie, how about you skip the 'coming' and just join us over here?"
Connie's head suddenly jerked around. She'd been so absorbed in the comings and goings of the weirdos on Main Street that she had barely been paying any attention to the words being spoken only a few meters away. Davey's directed words—particularly the 'join us '—seized her right out of that distant state. Join who, exactly? was the prime question on her mind, because if it was Rip then the time she had to put off Davey's request was up, and she had no idea how he would respond with the mood he was in. She didn't really want to find out, either.
"You guessed it," Davey continued, turning his attention back to Irina, "we only rolled into town a few minutes ago." His own eyes turned to the truck as well, and he considered adding something about how he could very well drive it on such an occasion where it became necessary. But perhaps that would come off as a bit too belligerent. Nobody liked a biter. Instead, he said, "three of us here. There's myself, Connie at the corner over there, and another inside," he thumbed towards the bed and breakfast, "setting up arrangements for our little sleepaway here." He climbed back onto the truck bed and turned his head to look at the building directly. "I reckon we may be looking for someone ourselves..." he said a little quietly, and in an almost ominous way.
Before anything further could be said, Connie finally rounded the corner. Her expression was a little apprehensive at first—expecting the worst or something close to it—then quickly grew into an uncertain passivity as her eyes found Irina.
"Ah, there she is!" Davey said, breaking into another extra-enthusiastic grin. "Connie, this is Irina. Irina, Connie." he gestured each to the other in turn, then looked back at Connie, his gaze hardening meaningfully. "Irina has been kind enough to give me a hand with the luggage in your sudden and worrisome absence."
Connie's eyes were very active, bouncing from place to place to Irina to place and back to Irina again, as she said, "Oh, uh- thanks?"
Davey shook his head with a little smile, then disappeared into the back of the truck. Connie watched on as he went, then turned her eyes back at Irina and managed a nervous smile. She stuck her own hand out and, very quickly, said, "Uh, hey, nice to meet you."
[Town ~ Main Street (Near SUV)](Joseph, James, John, Pancake)
Joe looked a little confused as James crowned him with his own straw hat, but a few seconds after the man handed off his long jacket, Joe's lizard face lit up enthusiastically.
"Hey- hey yeah!" he said, nodding, "Ye-ye-yeah, this could work!"
He pulled on one sleeve of the jacket, then tipped his shoulders slightly, subtly encouraging Pancake to switch sides. Once she was out of the way, he pulled the jacket all the way on, reaching down to ruffle the draping bottom half a bit and making sure that it would properly cover his tail.
"I feel like a real cowboy now," Joseph said, shifting his legs apart and holding his hands at his sides as though he were about to draw a six-shooter and end a duel. At John's cupcake comment, he glanced up at the man, again looking confused. Joe wasn't really sure how him having been a cupcake in a play eight years ago had any significance, except to prove that he was no thespian.
Still, he tipped his head at the man, and said, a little defensively, "Yeah, a cupcake... It was The Nutcracker... the land of sweets..." he shrugged his unoccupied shoulder, "...come on."
edited 18th Oct '15 3:27:52 AM by Ryuhza
every little word and every little stepMain Street
Chisa looked around then turned her attention to the figures Jeanette was looking at which looked similar to herself. To these figures she shook her head and replied, "No, I do not know them. The ones after me, they are not human though appear to look like human soldiers. They are a very advanced alien race known as the Corpus. They only care about money, and stole me from the ones who created me in order to sell me. Though they also seemed interested in my abilities." She hoped that helped though had difficulty explaining their appearance. Unfortunately there were many different types of Corpus, to describe one would mean to describe all.
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
PAINKILLER
[Town - Railway Street (Corner of Main Street)](Connie, Davey, Irina)
Irina gave Davey a semblance of a smile. "Hm. You're pretty well spoken and well-dressed for someone like you."
She looked up at Connie, who seemed distracted or dazed. Probably getting grounded in a new place. I mean, her clothes are different. The woman shook her hand. "Hello, Connie. I trust you are well?"
A gust of wind switched Irina's attention. She looked to the west. She sighted dark clouds and a sliver of bronze-colored dust over the horizon. She frowned. "Best to hurry in your baggage. I see a sandstorm brewing."
She spoke to Davey, "I don't mean to intrude, but is there a possibility your arrangements can include another? I need somewhere to stay for the night. I don't want to be caught out here when it hits."
[Main Street - en route to Hotel] Samuel, Todd, Vic, and the Terra Novans
Samuel listened to their banter. What they were talking about was beyond him, but was amazed that the six got along so well. Admirable, even.
Vic kept staring at the clouds. The conversations around him flew over his head. Samuel tapped on his shoulder. "You OK?"
The boy murmured, "Last time I was in a sandstorm, it was terrible. I got lost and I saw..." He recalled a black mass. He was convinced it was the god of darkness himself, Tenebraeum. Vic shook his head. "Nevermind. I'd rather not be in one again."
Samuel nodded. He noticed Todd was ahead of the two. He quickened his pace, and Vic followed.
Todd tried not to complain of his aches and pains all around him. He thought everything was all right, but there was always a curve ball. He said to the Terra Novans, "How much longer now?"
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
Crazy Kiwi
Main Street —> Grand Hotel
Samuel, Todd, Vic, Terra NovansWhat Vic said about sandstorms had Teri, Kris, Peggy, Karl, James and Wolfe looking at the sky with concern. None of them had ever been in a sandstorm but it didn't sound pleasant. Wolfe had seen them in movies and on the news and they had looked bad enough then, let alone being caught in one.
At Todd's question, Peggy raised a hand and pointed down and across the road at the huge frontage of the building. By now the large sign in ornate blocky "Western"-style capitals was visible: "GRAND HOTEL".
At the sight of it, James picked up his pace and the other Terra Novans followed suit.
They crossed the road and passed through the double doors into the foyer.
Wolfe looked around at the 19th Century decor - plush dark red carpet with black repeat motif, dark-stained wood panelled dados on the lower half of the walls and heavy textured wallpaper on the upper half. The plaster ceiling panels were decoratively textured and ornate chandeliers hung down from the ceiling to light the room.
There was a counter off to the side - dark wood and complete with a brass bell and large register book. Behind the counter was an elegantly attired young man and, behind him, the rows of pigeon holes.
[Main Street-Near SUV]
"He means," James said, "He's surprised they let a lizard boy dress up as cupcake."
"Don't make it sound like that!" John said, before awkwardly looking away, "But...y-yes. I..should just stop talking."
Now that Joseph was properly disguised, they should be able to get by before anyone noticed his true nature. If that went badly, there was always John's story. If anyone would even believe his story.
"All you need is some cowboy boots and two pistols and it'll be perfect." James said, "I kind of want to take a picture."
"So do I!" John said, chuckling, "I hope the jacket doesn't give you any trouble, Joseph. Let us know if you have any problems. Otherwise...do you see any sort of hotel nearby?"
Pancake climbed onto the straw hat, sniffing it.
Attitude is prohibited
[Edge of Forest]
A feral grin crossed Hoshi's face as she saw Molag transform into a huge, scaly beast. She doffed her sombrero and tossed it aside with her poncho, then undid her gun belts and let them clatter to the ground. She drew her rapier and looked up at him. "One final warning." She said. "I'm a lot stronger than I look."
She charged at him; ran a few steps forward, and then abruptly took flight, launching herself at Molag's long, snake-like neck, intending to slash it as she passed by. She didn't expect him to go down with just a single blow, rather, this attack was just a test, to see how tough his hide was and how fast he could move. Regardless of the outcome, she was fully confident that - although he was clearly much bigger than her - she still had the advantage, especially in mid-air maneuvering.
Not entirely dead.
[THE TIPSY TOAD]
Christopher winced visibly at the sudden conflict. With all the commotion, it would perhaps take a while for him to completely settle down.
Tana casually came over to the drunkard laying flat on the floor, leaning over to get a whiff to see how heavily he had been drinking.
"'Nuff to make a skunk blush." She decided out loud.
Afterwards, she looked towards the duo of newcomers with an approachable smile. "So, you can speak English, but you like to treat life like a musical. Actors, maybe?"
Immediately shaking her head at the quip, she continued. "But I'm sorry. Me and my friend have seen a few people sporting robotic arms, but no-one with red eyes."
[MAIN STREET]
ORGANISM DETECTED
UNRECOGNIZED
SCANNING...
NO ANOMALIES DETECTED
ROBOTICS DETECTED
UNRECOGNIZED
SCANNING...
EMOTIONAL SIMULATION DETECTED
As their master stayed at the pub, the APO's went into sleep, waking up only to periodically scan for any potential dangers. When they noticed the glances from a trio of newcomers, that routine was broken. That same intent stare was given to the childish android and two similarly-dressed individuals, their eyes blinking blue as they registered what they had discerned.
The future of warfare in UC.
[Main Street]
"Corpus." Jeannette grimaced. "Sound lovely." Body, or bodies. She paused on the steps of the train station and grabbed the radio from one of Michael's pockets. "Hey, Top, recanvas the optics. Sand storm coming."
"Yes ma'am." the radio said.
She slipped it back into Michael's pocket, and he appeared amused by this whole thing. Then he caught sight of the APOs. "Uh, Cap." He pointed. "What the hell are those?"
Ritchie glanced that way and then carefully reached out and opened the door, looking inside. "Nothing doing inside, Cap," he said softly, fishing out his own radio. "Top, if you hear a commotion...do whatever."
Jeannette grimaced, now feeling even more naked she didn't have a weapon. Not that she was sure anything she could have carried would have made a dent in the robots. They looked pretty solid. "Tell Cat, don't tampion the guns." The tampions for travel use were cheap plastic, used only when they doing a deep ford or to prevent a sandstorm from packing the gun barrels full of sand. Anything normal could just be blown out the front with a blank charge, or compressed air.
edited 18th Oct '15 8:07:48 PM by Night
Nous restons ici.
Crazy Kiwi
The Tipsy Toad
Tana, Christopher, Kaitlyn and FinnKaitlyn smiled. Actors. She supposed it was a fair enough question under the circumstances. The news that Gwion had not been seen wasn't too surprising. "Thank you, anyway. It was just an off chance they had come by here. And no, we're not actors, despite our unconventional appearance - but we do enjoy spicing up life with a song or two. I'm Kaitlyn Reid."
Finn looked down at the drunk, who by now had caught his breath enough to make it back to his seat with the aid of some of his cronies, then back up at the woman who had spoken. "And I'm Finn Ó Brádaigh. Are those your vehicles out front?" She and her companion certainly looked modern enough.
[tipsy toad - Chloe, Raelyn, Tsadro]
Behind him, a couple of the patrons continued their song. When they finished, he cast a quick glance over, just in time for shouting. Tsadro motioned for his charge to sit back should the quickly-escalating situation come their way, loosening his arms in the meantime. Before long, a full-on fight had broken out. Scanning over the room at large as well as the fight itself, he calmly placed his hand on his left arm, ready for a spell if need be. Thankfully, it stayed on that side of the room.
The young woman's question meant nothing to him, and a glance at his charge told him that they felt the same.
"No, we haven't," he said, just before he heard Tana, the old woman he briefly spoke to earlier, chime in. He turned back, as his own question to Raelyn had yet to be answered.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."Tipsy Toad - Chloe, Raelyn, Tsadro
Raelyn thought about the question Tsadro presented. "Well, I kind of lied when I said it was my mothers. My families scouting team found it back in our world and I was told to stash it here. It's kind of ours because we found it, but at the same time I believe it belonged to someone else. So I guess she can use it since I'll be around as well. I am curious how it works." Chloe wasn't paying attention to their conversation. Her gaze was upon the two singers nearby whose lovely song was interrupted by a dirty and possibly drunk man who started a fight with them.
A scuffle happened but the two singers won and Chloe grinned a bit and leaned back in her chair, turning to the other two. "You know, I got into a fight here as well and won with this handy sword. Froze a guy to a wall...or was it a pillar?" she said to them though the question was directed at herself. It was kind of a blurry moment since she was drunk at the time.
Raelyn didn't appear to be amused but turned to the two singers when they asked if they had seen someone with a certainly interesting description. "I have not seen them either." she replied after Tsadro gave his reply. Chloe thought about it for a moment then shook her head as well. "Can't say I have, I feel like I would remember with that kind of appearance you're describing." she answered, taking a drink from a bottle of soda she had purchased earlier.
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
[Water Tower-Shed.]
Henry climbed up the ladder to hear Gwion say.
"It's a fucking military chache!"
"Holy shit really?" Henry said walking up and seeing the crate full of lever action rifles.
"Oh man! I haven't seen a haul like this in a long time." He said picking up the rifle and inspecting it. The rifle was in pristine condition, clearly ready to be used or sold.
"What do you think these are here for?" He asked Gwion.
edited 13th Oct '15 8:00:39 PM by Mrship21