[Hotel-Room 204]
John frowned heavily.
"It isn't...?" he said, "Oh, Joesph." He walked over to him and gave him a friendly hug. "I'm so sorry..."
James frowned as well. It was odd that Joesph couldn't connect his mother; either the hotel's connection is way too far or something else was going on. Hopefully nothing too serious. It couldn't be anything super serious...right?
Still, the poor kid was obviously upset, and like he promised, he was going to be there for him.
"Hey," he said gently, "Let's go get something to eat, ok? Take your mind off of this."
Pancake couldn't find Joseph's ears to nibble, so instead she rubbed against him, purring.
The future of warfare in UC.
[61A3 Knight One-One]
"The fuck?" Jeannette muttered. Zero gee was familiar to her, she'd pulled a tour in Side Six, but why here? Never mind. Ritche made a noise of annoyance and braced against the ceiling with one hand to hold himself in his seat.
Mikey growled in the driver's compartment. "The hell we can't. Unless he does sixty-three for hours he can't keep up."
"Screw it." Jeannette replied. "Gunner! Traverse right!" God only knew if they could reload in zero-gee, she was pretty sure they couldn't, but she had two rounds of 150mm armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot actually in the guns and somebody was going be very unhappy about it.
"Yes ma'am!" Ritchie replied, and the turrets started to swing.
Nous restons ici.
Drummer Boy
[Hotel Room 106]
Nymue leaned back and crossed her arms. Her eyes were narrowed ever so slightly. "Lemme pull up some info for ya, since it'll be hard for Arthur to show stuff to you and 'talk' at the same time."
Her image disappeared and was replaced by a blast door in a cave wall. "So here's what we're focusing on right now: how to find them. This first one was easy because we still had the map. We don't have the map anymore 'cause—long fuckin' story. We've been going off pure memory since that. The others have been pretty much the same. Dark caves. Blast doors. We're checking out every underground area we can possibly get into. So if you've seen any caves or holes in the ground, now'd be a good time to mention it. Otherwise Arthur's going to go through this area tomorrow and hope for the best. I don't think there's anything you really need to know about the insides, unless you're just curious. You want me to tell you about the projects they were working on, or what?"
[Mountain Pass]
"Oh, not strictly science, no." Cyrus beamed at him, rocking back and forth on his feet. He no longer seemed to be using magic. "Though science does have a habit of showing up in my life no matter what I'm doing. I'm sort of just travelling for the sake of it, since I never saw anything except my homeland growing up. Fenrir Island's a lovely place, though, to be sure! If you like forests, anyway. I was recently sent to Ren Island to work with their scientists on something, and I really like it there, too. I just want to see more."
Kito returned, his jaws dragging a freshly killed doe.
That was fast.
I could have gone looking for a fatter one, but eh, this one isn't too bad.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Attitude is prohibited
[Fort] (Morgue/Storage)>>>(Stockade)
Rin found the corpse she was looking for rather quickly, and recognized him as one of her own kills. Initially, her search didn't reveal much of interest, as the man seemed to have the same kind of equipment as all the others. Then she found a small, pocket-sized device with a screen and keypad. She wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, though it was clearly some kind of hand-held computer.
She didn't have any pockets, though, so she held it behind her back as she made her way back to Gwion and the others. "I've got something." She said, appearing in the doorway, motioning for them to come over to her. "Let's see what you make of t, because I'm not quite sure."
[Grand Hotel] (Lobby)
If Hana noticed Iraal's scripted-sounding speech, she didn't mention it. Regardless, someone knew came over and soon changed the direction of the conversation. "You seem lost, young lady." She said Zuri. "Are you alright?"
Not entirely dead.
PAINKILLER
[Grand Hotel - Presidential Suite]
"Yeah, makes sense. I definitely dealt with that," Samuel admitted. "Though it didn't come right away." He took another bite of the cake and glanced towards the bathroom. The sink turned on. "Too bad that kid's dealing with it—when he's still a kid. Hell, telling from him, he's been in poverty his whole damn life. Doesn't know a good meal. A chicken leg or a piece of stale bread is probably what he calls a good dinner."
Todd finished his plate first. He was quick to rise and get ready for bed again. Before leaving, he whispered something in Samuel's ear. The Colonel looked puzzled before widening his eyes. He nodded and pushed Todd away. The blond man had a slight smile as he went back to the bedroom.
Samuel appeared to blush, but he faced away. When he did, he saw the bathroom door open again. Vic emerged, though still tearful and sniffling. He sat back down to finish his cake. He mumbled, "Sorry."
Sam pat and rubbed a bit of his back. "You're all right, kid."
[Town - Bed & Breakfast]
Irina picked her head up. ...It's not a interdimensional food item, is it?
She sifted through her bag until she plucked one up. She held it up in her thumb and forefinger. It appeared to be a singed brown ball, though a bit oval-shaped than a normal sphere. "Taranles are snacks for desert travelers. They take the shells of garner nuts—which are like oddly shaped coconuts, if you know of those. I believe they then crack the shell open, remove the insides, and roast the shells," she then pressed the item before something oozed out. It was a thick amber liquid. "Then they fill it with meat or sweets. I prefer honey, sugar, and cinnamon. Some like cooked fish, but it doesn't... Taste right. They seal it up and sell them then. The shells are sturdy and resist most weather. That's why travelers like me like them as portable meals." She took a bite from her molars into the taranle. She crunched on it before swallowing.
Irina picked another one up, which was more spherical and larger. "You can try it. It's not poisoned." She held it out to Connie.
[Rail Siding]
Garganteum roared and stepped back. The humanoids were attacking. It picked up its head again as it shifted around.
It felt blasts striking it and its sides, though bullets were easily absorbed. The shells and actual projectiles his the skin like it was thick jelly before falling out to the ground. It merely closed its eyes but still gave off a pained screech.
Long, black tendrils shot out of its back. They were numerous and moved fast and crazy like tentacles. Its left foreleg moved forward, striking the tank again during its starting sprint.
Though invisible to the others, its back legs morphed back into its body. It then changed into a long tail, and picked up in the whip of wind. The monster was now bipedal, and seemingly floating
The wind of the sandstorm blew quicker and more crazed around it all. Garganteum was pissed.
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
Mr ship
[Fort-Stockade]
Rin came back into the room holding a small device with a keyboard and screen.
"Let's see what we have here." Henry said as he took the device and started examining it closer.
Henry examined the device noting how much more complex than any type of computer from his world it was. "Shit I wish I had access to something like this instead of our jury rigged CDC 6600
knockoff."
Putting his envy aside he turned to the others. "If I'm correct this device works with the bracelets the others wore. You'd enter the coordinates of the dimension you wanted to go on here and the bracelets would take you there. I have a similar concept at home but due to the limitations of computing in my world right now it takes up an entire small shack and the machine that actually takes you there is just as big."
He handed it back to Rin and pulled out a device from his messenger bag that appeared to be a 70s portable radio the had a bunch of wires and various transistors and microprocessors sticking out of it. "I think I'll have to go home and contact my brother Augustus and my friend Bill. Augustus is a medical doctor and can tend to the wounded and Bill is more of an expert in computers than I am. Perhaps him and I can work with Chris and we can get a better understanding on how this stuff works."
edited 19th Dec '15 4:57:33 PM by Mrship21
Crazy Kiwi
Northwestern Desert - Fort (Stockade)
David's eyes went wide when he saw the device that the bearded man took from the woman in body armour - What did the elf call her? "Rin"?He listened as the man examined the device and gave his suppositions.
"The bearded guy's right. That thing controls the bracelets. Jason used it to get us all here and to ensure that none of us could return without his permission. If it weren't for that fucking thing, I would've hit the return button the minute we started losing. It brought us here and trapped us here."
He looked around at everyone. "Look, I'm telling you all I know."
Grand Hotel - Presidential Suite
Teri noted the whispered exchange between Todd and Samuel and its consequences and exchanged a knowing glance with Wolfe. It certainly looked like there was going to be some "private celebration" later.That got her doing the maths: three rooms, each with two large beds - one room occupied to full capacity by Kris, James, Peggy and Karl; one occupied by Todd and Samuel, who undoubtedly would be wanting some privacy, and one occupied only by herself and Wolfe - and Vic would be needing a bed.
She turned to Vic. "Have you given any thought to where you will be sleeping tonight, Vic?" She kept her voice carefully modulated and innocent, but the subtext was there no matter how she said it.
Wolfe suppressed a grin.
edited 19th Dec '15 9:17:34 PM by Wolf1066
[hotel room 106 (Tsadro, Nymue, Arthur)]
He blinked, quirking a near-invisible eyebrow.
"Probably nothing new. Not many shady reasons outside of criminal activity or espionage for someone to build androids that can pass as odd-looking humans."
That should cover it, really. He ran through every purpose he knew of where extremely human-looking robots would at least not be a hindrance- salespeople, clerks, foodservers, live-in personal staff, in-house performers, companions, sexbots... none of those were nefarious on their own. Unless, of course, they could perform tasks outside their programmed duties. That contaminated sexbot was hard to forget.
"You're also in luck. Earlier today, a young treasure-seeker showed me a temple in the hills southwest of town. I was only able to see a couple rooms as a large flaming beast chased us out. Wouldn't be surprised to find it to be a front."
It was over so fast, he couldn't even remember the woman's name... Quatrez. That was it. Tsadro doubted her to be the sort who would keep a laboratory hidden under a temple- her stories were too inconsistent. He could chalk it up to personal problems or generally being flustered, yes. But on the other hand, her decision to let Chloe help herself to the temple's treasures could be neatly explained as a way to clean out the temple and eventually leave the place behind. All of the labs they found had been hidden away and abandoned- it fit that description, yes.
In all honesty? It made more sense for the lab owners to have built the temple on top of the lab and hidden a couple valuables for the first few adventurers to pilfer. Having something there right at the start kept people from getting suspicious. Once a little while has gone by, the lab workers start telling townsfolk it's been picked over and leave it alone. Then the Quatrez family finds it and hides their own stuff in there, unaware of the lab below. Part of him kind of hoped there'd actually be a lab down there.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Laugh and grow dank!
[Mountain Pass]
The distant rumble of an engine sounded in the valley, warning of the approach of a vehicle- or several. After a few minutes, the constant crackle of gravel under wheels joined the low rumble, seeming to come from the mouth of the pass, ahead of the eclectic group of travelers.
Abruptly, both noises vanished.
yey
[Mountain Pass]
Suela nodded at Roscoe to confirm she'd heard the question, and answered it after pulling out a few granola bars from Cloudsplitter's pack and taking one. "I don't think they're actually 'Dead Gods'. The myths, and the reports from the Graveyarders, have too many discrepancies." Here she paused to take a bite of bar, trying to decide if any of them mattered.
She decided not, they weren't here for a lecture on Yoth mythology and history. "Me and my husband were discussing what our own ancestors would have thought of things like the printing press, and it occurred to us that technology that's advanced enough could be mistaken by more primitive cultures for magic. That's the thing about the 'Dead Gods', see — they're not technically magical, but everyone just sort of assumes they are because, well, they're huge, impossible to damage, and capable of destroying basically anything if someone's fool enough to awaken them. It's just that awakening them is hard — a group this size, we'd have to be trying, impossibly unfortunate, or so very stupid that humanity would be better off for our deaths. It's mostly the wildlife — the Dead Gods make nearby animals very powerful, and very aggressive. They usually get things like teleportation abilities, telekinesis, fire breathing, an ability to attack minds, the power to think as one, that sort of stuff. I can't say exactly what we'll be seeing, it's different for each ecosystem that gets corrupted." From her grimace, the answer was clearly always "bad stuff."
"At any rate," Suela said, "I'm mostly interested in some artifacts." She showed them a sketch of a sphere and a cube, both apparently made of stained glass. "They're portal devices... powerful enough, I think, to get Brin back to her homeland. I only have addresses for Iten, Elashu, and four cities I've never heard of, but Brin thinks something she saw before the incident that brought her here gave her an address for her world's North Pole..." she paused. "I don't suppose the names 'Maur', 'Shiraz', 'Jerusalem' or 'Mecca' mean anything to..."
That was when the rumbling started. "...someone investigate that, please...?"
Brin nodded and looked over at Hoshi and Miyuki. "Either of you care to join me?"
Maur is on Suela's world, just a distant continent her people haven't encountered yet. By Shiraz, Mecca, and Jerusalem, she does mean cities on Earth.
edited 20th Dec '15 7:50:12 AM by KillerClowns
Rail Siding
The monster's thick hide swallowed the bullets Trinity brought down and the tendrils took her by surprise, slapping against her and causing her to fall to the ground. She charged again after regaining her balance and put away her gun for a smaller gun. It looked to be a pistol but upon her shooting for the tendrils, it shot out tiny grenades which would explode on impact. The frame kept her distance, continuously running to make sure to dodge attacks when they came. But the monster was focused on the tanks, which gave her time to go on the offense.
On the tanks Chisa squeaked as the tanks were slammed against and tossed around. She went into a fetal position, hiding away from anything that was knocked around.
"Can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?"
[Town ~ Bed & Breakfast (Shared Room)](Connie, Irina)
Connie raised her eyebrows as she reached out to take the taranle.
"Is that right? So have you got a few that are poisoned?" she asked—mostly joking—while she rolled the taranel around between her fingers, eyeing it curiously. Then she pinched it between both hands and tried to split the shell in half.
"Can you tell what flavor is on the inside by how it looks on the outside, like with a box of chocolates?" she asked, still trying to carefully pry apart the taranle.
[Town ~ Railway Street (Sandstorm)](Davey)
A spray of dust greeted Davey's face before he could even close the door behind himself, though he did manage to get it closed before much of the weather could enter the building. The harsh reality of the storm threatened to make him turn tail and head right back inside, but Davey's will was not so easily broken.
He turned his hood down, shrinking the opening with the drawstrings attached to his little parka, and tried to concentrate amidst the hiss of the storm surrounding. The buildings helped to break up and redirect the flow of the wind a bit giving him a bit of outside cover from the full brunt of the storm. Staying under as many balconies as he could would be a good idea. Visibility was very low—especially so since he didn't fancy getting another stinging face-full of sand if he could help it—but Davey had a fairly clear idea—a map in his head—of where he wanted to be. It was just a matter of sticking to the buildings, keeping track of how many he was moving past, crossing Main Street, and using his defenseless eyes as little as possible.
Carefully, he positioned his feet in the direction he wanted to walk, reached out one paw-like hand to touch the door of the bread and breakfast, then began to walk. He moved slowly, taking large, probing steps and keeping his hand running along the wall of the building he stood nearest to at all times. every time he felt a new door or set of doors, he'd add another mental tally mark to help draw out his path along his mental map.
As he moved along, a small, satisfied grin came to his mouth.
[Town ~ Grand Hotel (Room 204)] (Joseph, James, John, Pancake)
Joe didn't say much at first. He was mostly motionless when John came over to hug him, though it was nice to have. It felt needed right about then.
He had thought he would have been fine after the phone call. He'd kept his expectations in check, and he hadn't expected much. He was so far gone from any sense of normalcy that the idea of simply being able to call home seemed ridiculous. The failure of that small endeavor wasn't surprising. It was the likeliest outcome, all things considered. So he should have been fine. But looking up at John, or over to James, and seeing all the sorrow being felt for him... it placed a crushing grip upon his insides. The dread of understanding how very not fine things were after all. Too much came into focus at once. The worries— fears— the undeniable realities— things he'd successfully put out of his head one-by-one; they all returned.
Joseph was seventeen. In his mind, it was unfitting to be so emotionally distraught. When he was a kid, all the seventeen-year-olds he had ever seen were cool, mature, and seemed so very in-charge of their lives. He had never fully come around to understanding why or how these things came to be—or seemed to come to be—he'd just assumed that, as with the process of getting older and growing taller, gaining that sense of control was just something that would come naturally. Oddly, it seemed as though just the opposite had happened. He was seventeen. The world expected more of him without holding his hand so much. He expected more of himself. Meanwhile, his life had turned to an unprecedented, fantastic madness. Now he was being comforted by two men in love whom he had known for less than a day, and doubted he would get to know for more than a day. Their cute little kitten was rubbing against the long lizard-like head that he'd come to think of as his own. He felt overwhelmed. He felt lonely. He felt childish. He felt homesick. He felt embarrassed. He felt a warm compassion. He felt... dirty.
Before he could sink further into that strange emotional deluge, Joseph locked his eyes on James, opened his mouth and said, "I should at least was my hands and face first though; maybe change these bandages." he picked at one of the bandages wrapped around his head. Then his eyes slowly raised to find John, his mouth pulled into a shaky smile, and he said, "Thanks. I'll be okay."
this place needs me here
Mountain Pass
A little flustered, Roscoe gave Hoshi a small smile. She just liked using titles out of respect; usually there was a reason for the title. A little ironic given that the man she was traveling with also had a title but ‘’hated’’ for it to ever be used; one would think Roscoe would have learned. But no; she just did things her own way.
“Pleased to meet you… Hoshi and Miyuki.” This time, Roscoe gave them a bow that mirrored Miyuki’s. “‘Five’? What does that title mean?”
As for the Dead Gods, Roscoe was extremely glad to know that they were probably not gods. Not so glad about hearing how powerful they were, or that the group could be up against killer wildlife. But, well, it was a silver lining. Blair might have been dismissive, but Roscoe did not like gods.
She opened her thoughts as Suela spoke so that Blair could hear them. Perhaps he would know what to do; as he so often pointed out, he was of nature himself. She got no response from him, but that was not unusual.
She looked at the sketches. They did not look familiar to her. But of the four extra cities Suela named, three did indeed mean something to her. “The last three, those are names of cities on - from where I’m from.” Coincidence? And why those three? “They all have religious significance….” She heard the noises as well, and to her they sounded like heavy-duty vehicles on granite. More explorers, perhaps?
She glanced at Brin, quietly glad the woman had not asked for her help. Then she turned back to Suela. “If we do encounter these animals and such… how are we going to get past them?”
—
Off to the side, where he was speaking with Cyrus, Blair gave no indication that he was receiving the information, but he was. Roscoe was handling the situation well enough; he was more concerned with Cyrus, who was no longer giving off a sense of magic, such that if Blair had not known better, he might have thought he had imagined it. But he did know better.
He nodded at Cyrus’ explanation; he also was not very well-traveled, although Roscoe was. He could certainly understand the need to see more. Then again, that need was part of what had gotten his brother killed. “Indeed. That is part of why I travel as well.”
He was not familiar with Fenrir or Ren Islands. Fenrir - Fenris - wolf? Connection or coincidence? He filed that thought away for later. Kito had returned with the doe. “That was fast,” Blair complimented, unaware that he had used exactly Cyrus’ own response. Then something caught his attention, picked up by his heightened senses. Approaching vehicles. Farther down on the pass, if Blair placed it correctly. But the sound was gone almost as quickly.
He was not using magic, just his own nature, so as Blair focused his senses on where the sound had been, checking for any signs of life or movement, it might have gone unnoticed. Nevertheless, it might have seemed odd as he frowned and glanced at Cyrus and Kito. “Did you hear that?”
Drummer Boy
[Mountain Pass]
Of course I heard it, what kind of a sentient wolf creature does he think I am?
Kito...
I jest. Well, it's gone now, anyway. I'll go investigate with the others.
"Brin? Kito says he'll come with you if you want. If he smells or hears something and wants you to be on guard, you'll see the hairs on his back stand up, okay?"
Cyrus started charging a lightning blast on his rifle. Hopefully, whatever was coming had peaceful intentions, but being prepared was important.
[Hotel Room 106]
"That definitely sounds like something worth checking out. Arthur mentioned a storm in the logs, though, so I'm guessing you guys want to hole up for the night and discuss your people?"
She glanced over at something to her right. "I think Gwen's coming. See ya!"
Arthur came out of the bathroom, wearing his close-fitting bodysuit again, and went to get his tablet. His fairly short hair was already almost dry, but it was extremely messy from being attacked by a towel.
<i know she's a little much, sorry. what'd she tell you and why did she leave? i'll try to fill you in on anything she forgot>
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Attitude is prohibited
[Fort] (Stockade)
Rin frowned at Henry, but didn't say anything. She'd called them over to the doorway and kept the device behind her back because she'd wanted to keep their prisoner in the dark about what, exactly, she'd found. But she supposed it didn't matter much anyway... "Do what you have to." She said to him.
Then she turned to their captive. "It's rude to listen in on conversations that don't involve you, David." She said, sternly. "In the future, I suggest you keep that in mind. And then maybe we'll find you some dry pants to wear..."
[Mountain Pass]
"'Five' is like, um," Began Hoshi, scratching her head. "Like a codename, I guess. It just means I was the fifth one to get my wings installed! And also that I was born fifth-" Abruptly, Miyuki nudged her with her elbow. "Er," Hoshi continued, after a brief pause. "It's a little complicated. Don't worry about it!"
Abruptly, strange noises were heard in the distance. Brin asked the two of them if they'd like to go and investigate with her. "We'll go." Said Miyuki.
"But I wanted to stay here..." Whined Hoshi.
"We're going." Miyuki insisted, firmly.
"Oh, fine." Hoshi said, rolling her eyes.
Not entirely dead.
[Hotel-Room 204]
John gently pulled away and smiled. "Take all the time you need."
"Let us know if you need anything." James said, "We'll be right by the door."
John went back to the bed and sat down. "Pancake will be sure to give you company."
Pancake meowed.
"See? She knows how to make you feel better!"
James could still hear the roaring storm outside, and felt more and more disappointed that his plans of taking a night walk were put on hold. At the very least, there was always the next day, so it wasn't like his vacation was waste. Still...
"Oh!" John then said, which brought James back to reality, "By the way, you can take off that coat if you want to, Joseph. You don't need to wear it anymore since the disguise is pretty useless now. Sad. I was so ready to tell that cosplay story. It was perfect!"
Crazy Kiwi
Northwestern Desert - The Fort (Stockade)
David's mouth went dry at Rin's words of admonition and then he blushed at having attention called to his "accident". "I'm sorry, I won't listen in again," he managed - despite his lips sticking to his teeth and his tongue feeling like a roll of carpet.He looked from person to person, unable to determine which he was more afraid of: Rin, the elf, the burly tattooed Irishman with the blond mane and moustache, the cyborg or the strange woman with all the tattoos and piercings. The bearded guy in the fancy clothes and the older woman both seemed like they were just along for the ride, but the others all seemed actively hostile. Rin and the elf were soft spoken but their tones and words held menace - cold and calculating - a direct contrast to the feral menace of the tattooed woman and the cyborg and the belligerent mockery of the Irishman - who, quite frankly, looked like he would find a one on one fight boring compared with a brawl.
He looked at the elf again. She looked pretty and dainty next to the tattooed woman but she was, in her own way, terrifying. He had thought that the noises were part of the storm, but she had picked out heavy weapons fire - he could hear it himself, now he knew what he was listening to - which meant that those slightly pointed ears were abnormally sensitive. Her eerie, inhuman green eyes were also a source of concern - they seemed to be looking right through him. If her ears were superhumanly sharp, what were her eyes capable of? Her accent suggested she came from the same place as the tattooed woman and cyborg - wherever that was - but he couldn't tell if she was the same species or race.
[Mountain Pass]
Brin looked between Hoshi and Miyuki. "I see no reason Hoshi can't stay," she said to Miyuki. "We don't want to take everybody to investigate that ruckus, after all. She can stay and make sure there's no other mischief from the other direction." Then she gave Kito a curt nod of respectful understanding, and said, "alright, look like we're moving out." She began to make her way down the valley; though seemingly unarmed, she had the stance of a martial artist, and Blair would definitely sense something magical about her now.
Either way, Brin was ready to head out, and started making her way towards the mysterious noises.
Suela nodded her approval, then explained to Roscoe. "The guy I bought Cloudsplitter from comes from a land like the Valley we're heading to; his people can actually live out there. He said we need to avoid them if we can, but most of them can be killed with a good shot from a bow if caught unawares. The worst ones are animals that hunt in packs and insect swarms, not giant beasts, but Brin thinks she can use her powers over earth to trap and crush those if necessary." She tilted her head. "Of course, any tricks you or," she looked over at Cyrus, "you can offer to help deal with swarms of potentially flesh-eating insects would be..." she stifled a yawn, "appreciated."
edited 21st Dec '15 7:03:36 PM by KillerClowns
[hotel room 106 (Tsadro, Arthur, Unit Psi)]
Giving Arthur only a momentary glance as the boy picked up the tablet and reconnected to his implants, Tsadro looked away to gather up a summary of the last several minutes.
<You and your team are searching for underground laboratories, which have been performing activities with androids that you do not approve of. I may have found a starting point for tomorrow's search in the hills southwest of here. Somewhere in the realm of a half-dozen things have gone wrong that have left the team frustrated. Someone called Gwen is coming. Also, you initially mistook me for one of those androids.>
He finally looked up for a second, just to see how Arthur reacted, then cut him off, regardless of what he did or said. <More funny than anything, to be honest,> he said with a quiet chuckle.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
[Town ~ Grand Hotel (Room 204)](Joseph, James, John, Pancake)
Joseph nodded and smiled. It wasn't an entirely fake smile either; his mind was clearing up again and he was beginning to feel better. He had a task, however simple. It was something to put his mind towards and achieve, and that's all he needed it to be.
He made his way to the bathroom, one hand on Pancake to keep her balanced on his shoulder and to treat her endlessly itchy coat to some quality scratching. He decided to leave the bathroom door wide open and keep the two men only a glance away. It wasn't as if he was doing anything terribly private anyway. He stepped in front of the sink, then carefully lifted Pancake off of her shoulder, doing his best to keep her from digging in. He set her down on the closed toilet seat, giving her head a quick apologetic pat, then got to washing his hands.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Joe said, calling out to John, "but hey, who knows, maybe one of these days you'll run into a giant talking lizard who really does need a disguise and a cover story, and then you can have a field day."
He smiled again, this time more to himself, and maybe to Pancake, though whether she could recognize a smile—let alone one of his smiles—was beyond him. "If it's okay," he continued, "I think it'd be better to keep wearing the coat for now. It's just, y'know, if we're gonna go eat somewhere, better to have this on over my regular, dirty clothes. Really sorry if my dirty clothes make the coat dirty at all, by the way."
this place needs me here
[Hotel-Room 204]
"Don't worry about it." John said, "That can be washed easily."
A thought came to him, and he suddenly fell silent. He wanted to say something else—something relating to Joe's attempt to call home—but decided not to. Now wasn't the time. Maybe tomorrow, after a meal and a good night's rest.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Joseph. No, little was the wrong word; he was very jealous. And he hated himself for it.
"John?" James said, getting his attention, "You ok, dear?"
"Oh. Uh, y-yeah." he smiled, "I'm fine. Just...just fine." he turn towards the bathroom, "Uh, let us know when you're ready to go!"
Pancake leaped onto the counter and waited patiently for Joseph to finish.
Drummer Boy
[Hotel Room 106]
<oh ok, cool. guess we'll check that place out tomorrow, thanks>
Arthur sat cross-legged on his bed. The shower was refreshing, but he was still kind of tired. He definitely wasn't going to stay up late playing games on his tablet again, that was for sure.
<gwen's my co-captain and she's pretty businesslike, the next time we need to check with my team we should try to go straight to her but she's really busy>
He paused.
<did nymue say anything about another team member coming to help me search? because that is actually the exact opposite of helping and needs to be stopped>
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
[Town ~ Grand Hotel (Room 204)](Joseph, James, John, Pancake)
"Will do!" Joe answered, doing his best to keep his voice sounding cheery. He was pulling off one side of the coat to check after the bandaged cut on his shoulder. It hadn't given him much pain in a long while, though he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a sign that his arm was slowly going numb. He'd stopped moving it as much as he could avoid, so maybe that was all there was to the mystery.
The bandages were looking a little grislier than the last time he'd seen it. It wasn't dripping with blood or any other unusually colored fluids, but there was a more sizable patch of crimson than there had been before. Joseph rolled back the short bit that was left of his torn-off sleeve and reached down gingerly to hook a claw underneath the bandages, then—with a bit more of a struggle than he had anticipated, including a bit of shoulder pain that came both as a relief and as... well, pain—severed them.
To his dismay, the part of the bandage that touched the wound directly was still clinging on, stuck there by the crusty bits of healing that had managed to leak out into the open air. Knowing what had to come next, Joe took a preparatory breath, pinched a flailing bit of bandage, and yanked the thing off. Bit of a sting, but not as bad as removing a band-aid. He turned his shoulder towards the bathroom mirror and took a look at his wound.
His face screwed up.
That's... that's good, isn't it? That's it healing, right?
"Uh..." he turned his head and glanced out the door, calling, "hey John, can you get me some those bandages?"
He ran some water over his hands and poured it over his cut while he waited for some kind of response. His gaze drifted towards Pancake—ever the curious kitten—and he murmured, "Aren't you a little young to be watching something so graphic? What's wrong with your cartoons?"
this place needs me here
[hotel room 106 (Tsadro, Arthur, Unit Psi)]
He blinked. <She did not imply that anyone was to join us tomorrow. I would think that decision is yours to make.>
Was Arthur not used to being in a position of authority, or had Tsadro been spoiled by Doctor Acquati? Rather, why was this even on Arthur's mind, if finding this laboratory was the whole damn reason why the team was out here? If you've gathered some people to help you with something and you can't even guarantee they'll help you, you don't let them keep doing it.
In fact, yes. He was spoiled by Doctor Acquati's fine-tuned ship of a company, and Acquati's code of conduct with those outside Boreas. Good gods, Nymue was trying to debrief a known, potential ally and her first instinct was to ramble-complain about her coworkers? He understood they defected from the military, but that doesn't mean professionalism goes out the window.
But what was he expecting from a bunch of kids?
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Northwestern Desert - Fort (Stockade)
Sophia smoked her cigarette in silence as the questioning continued. She was aware of the occasional terrified looks the prisoner threw in her direction and delighted in them. She kept a malevolent grin on her face and exhaled her smoke slowly so that it wreathed her head in what she hoped was a sinister manner.If the prisoner was telling the truth, there should be no more coming through - but she was ready to take up arms again in the defense of the fort if it proved necessary. At least now there was a decent collection of modern weapons and ammunition - more than enough to arm the surviving soldiers - if it came to that.
Kaitlyn had been hearing loud booming noises amid the noise of the storm that were unmistakeably the sound of heavy weapons - a tank or howitzer. To an untrained ear, they might sound like random noises related to the wind and sand but she was able to filter out most of the noise of the storm and confirm what they were. The sounds were coming from the direction of the town and she wondered what threat had struck the town since they had left.
"The town's under attack," she said, "heavy weapons are being fired. Not that we can do much from here."
Gwion, Sophia and Finn looked at her, all knowing her capabilities well enough not to question her assessment.
Finn grinned. "Well, this is certainly a busy place."
Gwion turned back to the prisoner, his face contorting into a feral snarl. "More of your people?" His voice was more a growl than anything.
David recoiled back in the cell and slammed against the stone wall. He managed to stammer out a "no" and shook his head vigorously in desperate fear. "I swear. I know nothing of this. We're all accounted for and we've never had heavy weapons." He cast his eyes about looking for an escape - literal or figurative. "Maybe it's the loyalists looking for us."
Sophia took a step towards the cell, her face contorting as she let the beast come to the surface, and David yelped piteously and sunk to the floor. A dark stain grew on his crotch and a strong smell of ammonia started to pervade the area.
Kailyn looked at the stricken prisoner and gave a smile that didn't make it to her eyes. "Rin is going to check out your story," her voice was level and calm but held a subtly nasty edge, "and we're going to examine your equipment. If you haven't been on the level, it will take a team of forensic experts a year to determine exactly what happened to you."
Finn grinned. "Cave canem."
David stared out past the bars of the cell at Sophia and Gwion and considered that "beware the dog" was stretching the definition of "dog". His world had legends of humans that could change into wolves. Pure nonsense of course, but there was something about the woman and the cyborg that made him wonder if there wasn't a grain of truth - some reality upon which the legends were based - to the stories.