Character Frontier

[[Rail Siding - Kaito, Chisa, Gray Guy, Trinity]]

Before the charged projectile could reach its target, the monstrosity turned away and dove back into the sand, disappearing out of sight and seemingly out of the area; soon the sandstorm that followed with the beast dissipated as well. Kaito gave a heavy sigh of relief as he panted out of tiredness, the seemingly impossible fight was over.

The young agent moved to holster his pistol, he glanced over at Trinity who seemed to be doing the same. They had made it through this debacle, somehow relatively unscathed and alive. But now there was something more pressing to attend to—the AI. Kaito came to join Trinity beside the tank, staying on the ground rather than scaling up onto the hulking tank beside them. It was then that he laid eyes on the AI that was his mission to protect; she seemed so innocent, even to the point of not even looking like an AI at least to the naked eye. But nonetheless, Kaito had his orders: Protect her and find someway to bring her back safely.

"I am here to protect you as well, young lady. But yes, we must find shelter. It's getting late as well, it'll be much easier to make sure you're safe once in doors." Kaito said calmly, taking a step forward and raising a hand up towards Chisa in a motion to help her down. His blue eyes never leaving her.

[Town ~ Grand Hotel (Elevator —> Room 204)] (Joseph, John, Pancake)

Joseph's thoughts grew no less distracted as they left the elevator and approached their room. They simply changed their focus slightly, zeroing in on the present. The same imminent dread that he'd felt the first time that they had gone up to their room returned now, as John opened the door and stepped inside. Joseph followed him in, moving in a bit of an uncertain daze, like he was navigating through a thick fog.

"Yeah," he said again, "...sure thing." However, his eyes never turned towards John. They jumped around the room, finding corners and crevices and shadows, but they never found the impending doom that suffocated the rest of his senses. Before he knew it, John was bidding him goodnight. Now Joseph did look at the man. "Goodnight John, and, well... I guess..."

Goodbye. Goodbye? The thought of saying it out loud made it sound so certain. So unavoidable, like it would seal off any chance of his remaining in the morning. But that wasn't right. He'd gone to sleep and woken up in the same time and place before. It wasn't impossible. Maybe it wasn't even improbable; Joseph just didn't understand how it worked. What the deciding factor or factors were. How to make certain that he wouldn't vanish off to another place and time. But it could be done. Somehow.

"I guess... we'll see." He finished, sounding uncertain, but perhaps a little more hopeful than he'd been a few moments before. "I'm just gonna take a quick shower, and then... well, I suppose I've gotta sleep sometime."

With a nod and a quick, concerned smile that John probably couldn't see, Joseph turned away, walking towards the smaller bed that wasn't occupied by two grown men. It had a small bedside table with a lamp, which he—with a small bit of claw-related difficulty—switched on. Then he turned off the main light, and retired to the bathroom, leaving the door wide open. In the bathroom, he retrieved a clean towel from where it was folded in a neat little stack. After a moment of thought, he grabbed a second one. Then a third one, and a fourth. He ended up using all the clean towels in the end, rolling them up whip-style before tying some loose knots from end to end. The resulting rope-like construction looked like it might be good for climbing halfway down from a second-story window, or lassoing a rocking horse. Instead of pursuing either of these brilliant ideas, Joseph instead laid it on the floor of the bathroom, so that it stretched from the shower to a little beyond the bathroom door.

Joseph walked to the door-end of the towel rope, admiring his work for a brief moment, before taking the end in his hand and looking for something to tie it to. Nothing seemed to stick out except for the realization that if he didn't tie it to something at ground level, it would be fairly difficult to close the door again, making the whole pursuit fruitless. And maybe it was fruitless. Maybe he'd be better off just taking a shower with the bathroom door wide open, leaving the curtain to do all the covering-up. John and James might just sleep through it.

The thought of showering fully in the nude with just a thin sheet of semi-transparent plastic separating him from his kindly benefactors gave Joseph the heebie-jeebies. No, this, what he was doing, had to be done. He had to close the bathroom door, and he had to find some way to keep himself linked to the outdoors. He'd disappeared in bathrooms one too many times to ignore the risk that separating himself from everything and everyone else presented. Fortunately, he had thought of a solution.

Quietly—unsure of whether John and James were fully asleep—Joseph crept over to their bed and, feeling as awkward as he had ever felt while looming over two sleeping near-strangers, carefully extracted Pancake from her resting place, praying silently that she wouldn't meow. He held her up against his shoulder, petting her gently and frequently; trying his best to keep her happy while he carried her back over to his chain of towels. There, he set her down on the ground, then unrolled part of the towel at the door-end of his towel rope and hoisted Pancake onto it, trying to get her to settle into a laying-down position. His old cat used to love dominating towels or articles of clothing strewn about his room; anything that differentiated itself from the carpet. He hoped Pancake was the same way, and wouldn't mind lying on a towel for, say, the length of a short shower.

The small kitten would serve as a weight. An anchor, keeping him bound to the world of the desert, of John, and James. Of the muddy old river he'd woken up in. Of something safe. Something familiar. He walked to the shower and lifted up his end of the rope, tugging it very gently. As long as he could feel Pancake's weight, as little as it was, at the other end, he would know that he hadn't left. As long as she was there, he would be there.

"All for a bit of privacy..." he murmured to the cat. He dropped the shower-end of his towel chain and walked over to her, kneeling down and rubbing her on the head. "There's got to be a simpler way to do this, but I can't think of it, so... if you'd be so kind, stay put. I'm counting on you."

With one last doubtful look, Joseph rose back up to his feet and slowly closed the door, doing his best not to scare Pancake off. With one last solemn click, the door locked into place, and he was alone.




[Town ~ Bed and Breakfast (Shared Room)](Connie, Irina)

Connie's mouth twisted slightly into a dubious smirk.

"Yeeeeah... I kind of doubt that's all there is to it." she said, eyeing Irina for a moment. "I know you only just met them today, so you don't really have a clear picture of what's normal and what's not, plus you haven't seen all the stuff I've seen with them lately, but there's definitely something going on below the surface. I'm pretty sure Dave would agree too, though he hasn't exactly... well... ugh," she shook her head, "there's so much with these two that isn't said outright, you know, but you can tell that it's there. It's like, sometimes it seems as if they're talking in this coded language where they say one thing, but they have all these emotions saying something else or something more, and... well, anyway, I've heard them talking, and I can tell that something is going on. Davey's suspicious, I'm suspicious, and Rip just gives me the old act-like-she's-five-and-tell-her-it's-Santa-Clause routine. That or it's 'not important'. Well, anyway..."

She scooted further back upward against the headrest of her bed, folding her arms and frowning both thoughtfully and a little irritably. When Irina suggested that now was a good time to retire, Connie shrugged, mumbling, "I guess." She paused for a moment, then added, "I mean- yeah, yeah-yeah don't let me keep you up or nothin'. Although..." she glanced at the far corner of the room, at the chairs and old, antiquated TV set. "Actually," she looked back at Irina, then nodded towards the television, "mind if I watch a bit of TV over there? I'll keep all it nice and quiet, I just..." she heaved a sigh, "my mind is too busy to be put to sleep, you know?"

edited 19th Jan '16 6:29:15 PM by Ryuhza

[Train Station - Outside]

Gregory let out a disappointed sigh. **False alarm**. "Yeah, I doubt it's her, Annie. We were just grasping at straws."

Annie shook her head. "Her presence is still here, though. We should keep looking. She is... or at least, she will be somewhere around here."

Annie returned her attention to the young witch, who the two heroes had consistently blocked out of the conversation. "Do you know much about the surrounding area. Would you be able to bring us to where there would be lots of people? Maybe a gathering of the higher-class?"

"Yes, we want you to bring us to the nearest snootyness convention," Gregory chimed in.

Rail Siding to Hotel - Chisa, Trinity, Kaito, Gray Man

If Trinity could smile, she would as all the others agreed with her. She would also smile at Kaito as he gazed upon the AI girl and almost wanted to snicker. The red headed girl was nothing like Trinity expected though Lotus hadn't told her much. How she ended up way out here was a mystery all on its own. "Alright then, if you don't mind miss, we're heading out to the nearest lounge." she said, mainly to Chisa but to the other three as well and led the way back to town. She had stopped there first to ask about the AI and kind of knew her way around, stopping at the Hotel.

Once inside, she made sure to reserve rooms for everyone and with Chisa's consent, got them a shared room. It would make it easier for delivering the package. She let Kaito and Gray man enter, Chisa sitting on the bed looking quite confused but calm now that the danger had passed. The Tenno started messing with the case she had brought and unlatched it. What was inside was sure to surprise everyone in the room.

It was a girl's body, one that looked similar to Chisa to even Trinity's surprise but much older. It looked very much human except for the robotic pointed ears and was clad in a black tight fitting shorts and a halter top, pink stockings and black boots. "Huh, I knew it would be an upgrade but to think it looks like you as well." Trinity commented. Chisa stared wide-eyed at it. "Upgrade..? You mean that is to be my new body?" she asked. "If you wish, yes."

edited 20th Jan '16 9:50:30 AM by Sphinxyness

Might as well have one of my characters meet up with another...

Hotel Lobby -> Dining Hall

The man with the long curly hair was stumped, for he had no recollection of a Wild-West style hotel (which was what this place looked like) anywhere nearby. He saw a sign for a restaurant nearby, but it looked nothing like the restaurant he had just come out of. In fact, he saw no sign of that other restaurant whatsoever, and this one looked... less exotic.

But as it was the only restaurant nearby, he decided to take a look anyway, in case his eyes deceived him. The interior looked unfamiliar to him after all... not as modern as he remembered it. With a small shrug, he wandered quietly amongst the tables, the waiters and other employees not even acknowledging him as he passed. It was as if he wasn't even there.

As he walked, he glanced around, as if looking for something... until he came across a very odd sight. One of the women sitting there had green skin (not the sickly kind of green either), and another had a wolf's head—or was it a fox? Some sort of furry animal. They looked out of place among the three relatively ordinary-looking women near them. Aside from the fact that one had purple hair and the other had white hair (and still looked young) of course.

What kind of strange place is this? he thought. I could've sworn I just left the... wait...

As he looked away, something clicked in his mind. He looked back at the white-haired girl. She was very pale-looking, even more so than himself, and a peculiar-looking pendant, consisting of two crescent moons flanking a circle, hung from around her neck. There was a familiar glass-like quality about her light blue eyes...

Eyes that immediately gazed right back at him, and almost immediately widened in surprise. She sat up a bit straighter in her seat. Right then he knew. "...Zuri?" he asked, in that same quiet voice as before. "What are you doing here?"

"I uh..." Zuri looked around at her new companions. "I'm not sure how I got here exactly. I remember feeling very dizzy and falling down in the restroom, and then all of a sudden, I was here..."

"Now that's odd," the man in black wondered. His voice carried a notable British accent, and he looked to be several years older than Zuri. "I felt the same thing, and I thought nothing of it..."

"Oh by the way," Zuri mentioned to Hana and Iraal and their companions, "this is Lupin, one of my classmates. We arrived here in the same fashion it seems. Lupin, you didn't see a way back, did you?" The man named Lupin shook his head.

"And these are Hana, Maya, Iraal, and Fol- I mean, Scents," she introduced to him, gesturing across the table and inviting him to sit down in an empty spot across the table. "And I um, hate to ask this, but do you have your wallet on you?" Her cheeks flushed pink again.

Lupin reached a spindly-fingered hand inside his coat. "I do, why?"

"Because I kind of ordered something already and left my bag at the sushi place... Just a soup."

"Hmm, good thing we didn't order yet back there. Although, given that apparently we're stuck here for now, I suppose we have no choice."

Just then, the waitress came back with five glasses of water and placed them in front of everyone except Lupin. "Is there anything you would like, sir?"

Lupin had to stop and think for a bit. "Do you have any wine by any chance?" "White or red?" asked the waitress. "Red please. I'll get an appetizer of some sort, but I haven't decided which one," Lupin requested as he snatched Zuri's menu.

"So uh, back to my question," Zuri resumed after the waitress left. "What brings you all here?"

Train Station - Outside (Nemaforte, Gregory, Annie)

Nemaforte chuckled a bit at Gregory's witty remark, then focused her pink-eyed gaze on Annie. A single pointy tooth poked out from the otherwise closed smile on her face, and her large triangular ears twitched beneath the brim of her hat.

"This place I do not know," she remarked with a peculiar curiosity, "but I maybe know where lots of people be." Here she closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them and turned around, glancing around the deserted landscape before her. Eventually her gaze stopped at what seemed to be a mountain range. Slowly she raised an outstretched palm, of a long-nailed and thick-fingered white hand connected to an equally thick and pale arm, from beneath the black shawl she was wearing.

"There. I can sense it," said Nemaforte after a while. "Far in the distance, there is much energy in the air. It is bright like the aurora that oft fills the Zurem sky. I'd much like to follow it myself. I might find some... customers. I maybe not know your Elizabeth, but perchance she maybe be there."

Briefly, she looked up at the night sky. "Hmm, seeming this is not Zurem. You do not know the place dai? It is where I am from, where seeming we are not."

edited 21st Jan '16 2:02:28 AM by ladytanuki

[Hotel-Room 204]

Joseph's touch did wake up Pancake, but she didn't meow. Instead, she gently lifted her head and yawned. She was a little confused as to why she was being moved from the soft pillow to the floor, though.

The towels were very soft—though, not as soft as the pillow from before. When she heard the door click, she wondered just what exactly he was doing. Was this a new game? She wasn't completely get this game...but she trusted Joseph. Maybe he would show her how it work.

She bit into the end of the towel and began to tug on it, hoping to get some sort of response.

John and James, on the other hand, were in a deep sleep, and therefore didn't see or hear anything that was going on.

[Train Station - Outside]

Gregory tilted his head in confusion. "You can... sense it? Annie, isn't sensing aura's and energy levels supposed to be your job?"

Annie folded her arms. "My powers haven't been operating to the best of their ability since I rescued you, remember? My ability to sense people has been... hindered. Like someone threw dirt in my eyes. And that's not all."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I hate to tell you this, but it will be a while before I can open up another tear. Even flying is out of the question. I'm going to trust the witch's senses, because I can't risk losing Elizabeth's trail, but if we want to make it to that mountain pass..."

"...We're going to have to walk," Gregory tapped his staff to the ground in mild frustration. "Fantastic. Lead the way."

Gregory turned his attention back towards the witch. "So, tell me about this Zurem. You certainly looked out of place when we saw you, but now it seems that you are just as far removed from this area as we are. Are witches... common there? Or do you get stones pelted at you by villagers?"

[[Rail Siding to Hotel - Kaito, Chisa, Trinity, Gray Guy?]]

Leaving the scene of the skirmish behind, Kaito came to walk beside the AI resulting in her walking between him and Trinity. Now that she was safe, Kaito had to make sure she STAYED safe. The night was getting cold and the weather itself still wasn't looking favorable despite the sandstorm having passed so the small group made their way to the Hotel to seek shelter.

While Trinity made arrangements for rooms, Kaito stood beside the girl, steadfast and yet calm. It'd certainly take him awhile to calm his body down after such a crazy day of finding the AI, fighting off an assassin, and getting caught up in a sandstorm while fighting a gigantic beast. When all was squared away, the young agent took this time to go to the room he was given, which was right next door to Trinity and the AI's room, and unload at least most of his other equipment that he had retrieved.

After this, Kaito entered the shared room to find Trinity unlatching the mysterious case that she had in her possession since she had arrived. But it was what was inside the case that surprised the young agent—an entire new cybernetic body! Now this wasn't something too new to him. Heck, where he was from it was quite common for people to fully cyberize their bodies save their brains; but this was something special to behold. "This is what you had to deliver to her? An entire new cybernetic framework?" Kaito asked as he came up to the case and examined some of the components by touch, his sensors scanned over them. "These are top of the line tech. There are things here that even I would be jealous of." His eyes glanced over at the young girl, his eyes not judgmental at all. "Seems to me you've got a guardian angel on your side, young lady."

Hotel - Kaito, Chisa, Trinity, Gray Guy

The grey man disappeared when they reached the hotel, presumably going to his room. It was just after Trinity unveiled the new body that he appeared again.

He walked into the room normally, his armor now stripped off and replaced with casual attire consisting of jeans and a grey T-shirt with a messenger bag on his back with the strap around his torso. Now that he no longer was in the armor and duster coat, he looked younger and rather scrawny, especially for a man who had been slinging around a full-sized tank like a plastic toy.

His most notable features were his short silver-grey hair, and the fact that his eyes appeared to be closed, hiding them from outside observation. It didn't appear to impede his ability to see, however.

He whistled appreciatively at Trinity's gift. "I heard everything. So the little girl's getting an early Christmas present. Looks pretty pricey too, lucky girl."

He turned to Trinity. "So, I guess the next logical question would be: what's the specs on this new body? Faster, stronger, can shoot lasers out of its eyes?" He said the last one in a half-joking tone.

edited 21st Jan '16 6:33:02 PM by gameknight102xx

I could've sworn I had Nemaforte introduce herself a few posts back... or maybe Gregory and Annie just don't like addressing her by name.

Train Station - Outside

Nemaforte listened intently to what the two taller people had to say. From what she could gather, the woman apparently had the same sort of powers, but she had lost them somehow. What really piqued her interest, though, was the mention of flight. Even though she apparently couldn't fly at that moment, such a prospect interested Nemaforte very much. So much so that she hardly paid attention to what Gregory said in the end - though she just barely got that he was asking about if there were any other witches in Zurem.

"Witches, wizards, enchanters, sorcerers... I know not why the Melodic Tongue has so many names for the spellcaster," Nemaforte remarked, as she stepped over the train tracks and began following a trail that lead through a crag in the desert and off towards the mountains. "The Melodic Tongue is what we speaking now, if call it you have. I am not very fine at speaking in it of yes. Also noticed you have how beauty the stars? Very seeable they be from here."

She looked back at the two, and they were giving her impatient looks. She had to pause for a moment before remembering what they were talking about. "Ah, sundi-yome, sundi-yome," she muttered to herself. "Magic... is all around. In Zurem. In Rumia too. All on the... planet I come from, Orenya. Zurem is the dark side, Rumia the light. All us live with the ways of magic, it is impossible to deny. We hear of aliens who do not believe in this magic, which I feel sad around." Her ears drooped a bit, but there wasn't much of a sad tone in her voice. "I also not know what pelting does to stones."

A few pauses, in which only the sounds of their footsteps on the trail could be heard. "Outsiders you are too?" Nemaforte asked again. "Where from? What are your names?"

edited 21st Jan '16 10:42:46 PM by ladytanuki

[Hotel Room 106]

<that's definitely a lot to think about. i should really get some sleep now, though. thanks for putting up with me all this time. good night>

Arthur unlatched the tablet holder from his arm, placed it on his nightstand, and went to turn off the lights. His brow was slightly furrowed. He knew he was going to have a hell of a time trying to get to sleep with all the stuff Tsadro just said still going through his head. Not to mention, he was fairly anxious. He was just some juvenile delinquent and here he was, hanging out with a hundreds-of-years-old being, living history, who had such deep insights on the nature of free will and stuff. Tsadro was, at best, really unimpressed with the company he had found himself with tonight. Arthur figured his best bet was to just be polite and say as little as possible tomorrow.

He tried to make himself comfortable on the bed. God, why did hotel beds always have so much shit on them? Who the fuck needed this many pillows and sheets? Geez. Well, at least everything was fluffy and soft. That was good.

His physical fatigue managed to triumph over his troubled mind. Not long after he closed his eyes, he was lightly snoring.

[Train Station]

Gregory listened in rapt attention to the witch's story. Not only was she magic, but an *alien*. From childhood, Gregory had an intense interest in space and the possibility of life on other planets. Nemaforte wasn't the first alien he had come across, of course. Annie wasn't exactly from *his* earth, either. And yet, Gregory was always amazed to discover a new place in the galaxy previously unknown to him. Like he was 8 years old in the planetarium once again. He couldn't hold back a smile as the witch spoke.

"Yeah, we aren't from around here either," Annie answered. "We're from an entirely different dimension, if my calculations are correct. We've been hopping between realities for a while, and it starts to get confusing." Annie smiled at the witch before introducing herself. "My name is Annie Bratton, and my friend here is Gregory-"

"-Code names, Annie."

Annie huffed. "Oh, who cares about code names? We're in a separate reality talking to someone from a different planet. I'm sure it's safe for us to use our real names."

Gregory folded his arms. She had him there, but Gregory always was the cautious type. Others would say paranoid. "Fine. I'm Gregory Grey. And you said your name was...?"

Hotel - Chisa and Trinity's Room - Gray man, Kaito, Trinity, Chisa

Trinity looked to Kaito curiously. So, he was cybernetic as well. What she saw when they fought the monster had made her suspicious but no one would look upon the new body and know what it was capable of at a glance without scanning it. As Chisa was built to look human, the new body matched this purpose as well with some minor changes. The physical appearance gave no impression what it was capable of. The young AI stared at the body with widened eyes, looking from it to Trinity to Kaito and then to the Gray man. For her, this was for her? But why? Why her? "This...this is nice but why are you doing this?" she asked the Tenno.

"I should explain, to all of you. I was sent her by Lotus. Lotus is...well she takes care of us Tenno. In a way she is a mother to all of us but also our boss and eyes on the world. She had heard you were captured by the Corpus, but that wasn't the only thing she found out. The Corpus while trying to convert you to obey them transferred the data of their main base and plans in you, that way you would already know everything that was going on by the time they managed to control you. They were being cocky, thinking they had you in their grasp."

"Lotus knew you could only defend yourself so much, so she had the Tenno build this body for you, one that had better defense systems as the Corpus would probably come after you. She thought you would be alone, knowing you had escaped..." she paused a moment and glanced at Kaito, "She had no idea that help would show up from somewhere else."

Trinity started unpacking the body, bringing out wires and other things needed for the transfer as Chisa watched stunned by her explanation. She had no idea the Corpus had done this. It must have been when they deactivated her temporarily to insert everything. She stopped a moment and looked to Kaito and Gray Man. "Well, I explained who I was, and who this girl is. But I'm still curious about you two. Especially you." she eyed Kaito, "So while I get her transfer set up, please feel free to introduce yourselves. I would also like to thank you for helping me find this girl."

edited 22nd Jan '16 10:15:36 AM by Sphinxyness

Hotel - Kaito, Chisa, Trinity, Gray Guy

He nodded when Trinity thanked him and Kaito.

"Don't think too much of it. I was around, I could help, so I did. Sorry for not actually, you know, fighting. I'm under orders not to fight unless I absolutely have to. Otherwise the collateral damage could get out of hand."

When asked to introduce himself, he paused to think, trying to stroke a beard that wasn't there.

"Well, as for my name, call me Recon. I'm...I guess you could call me a glitch in the fabric of reality."

edited 22nd Jan '16 12:17:00 PM by gameknight102xx

[Dining Hall]

Lupin was another odd addition to this already odd gathering. Hana wasn't quite sure what to make of him, but he seemed harmless enough, bizarre and mysterious 'psychic powers' aside. "A pleasure." She said, politely, as Zuri introduced her.

"As for why I'm here," She shrugged. "I'm on vacation. And Maya here is among my bodyguards."

Maya, as usual, said nothing, but smiled politely at Lupin.

"Oh, yes, and as to your previous question," Hana continued. "Everyone involved in running the country is technically in the military. We don't believe in civilian government." She said, casually, reaching for her glass and taking a sip.

[Fort] (Canteen)

Rin was equally courteous to everyone that spoke to her. She was quite amiable, in a subdued fashion, and diplomatic.

"Oh, wait." She said, as Gwion readied to leave. "They're in town, actually. You might run into them. Either way, I'll pass along the notion."

[Mountain Pass] (Campsite)

"They're an optimistic bunch." Commented Hoshi, nonchalantly, as she watched Suela, Blair and Roscoe walk away. "Even if it's not super likely, I dunno if I could relax with a small convoy of unknown soldiers around the corner."

"Good." Said Miyuki. "Then you can stay up and take first watch with me."

Hoshi sighed. "Oh, I guess so..." Then she grinned, and threw an arm around Miyuki's shoulders. "But only so you won't be lonely!"

[[Hotel (Chisa and Trinity's room) - Kaito, Chisa, Trinity, Recon]]

Kaito quietly listened to Trinity's explanation of who she was as well as the young AI was in more detail. So she had been sent by this entity known as Lotus? Perhaps another form of AI or extraterrestrial being? Either way it was all very fascinating to the young agent. His electric blue eyes glanced between her and Chisa, taking in every word as she continued. So the Corpus were a lot bigger than Kaito had first imagined, originally he thought they were just a terrorist organization in the place where he was from, but from what Trinity was describing, they even had their hands in other dimensions as well.. Which in all honesty he couldn't quite fully understand, but he still understood the concept to a point.

As she continued to explain what their ulterior motives had been in dealing with the girl, he noticed when she glanced over at him. She had been right—neither his side nor hers knew that anyone else was under the same pretense of tracking down and protecting her. However, both sides had her best interests in mind instead of the opposite, so Kaito was grateful for that. Better to have an ally in the field than to make yet another enemy—he had too many of those even where he hailed from.

When she finished her explanation, Kaito again caught her glancing toward him. She was curious to know more about him and the Gray Guy, who now had introduced himself as Recon and given a rather short and cryptic answer to exactly what he was. But once Recon had finished, Kaito turned to face Trinity and the girl, giving them both a glance. "I suppose it would be easier to show you rather than just tell you.." he said calmly, turning his head to one side and reaching behind him as if to retrieve something.

A moment later the connector end of a cable could be seen softly pinched between his thumb and index finger; as it seemed to draw from within his neck. He extended the cord toward the girl, offering it to her. "Don't worry. It's not going to hurt you, young lady. Promise." he reassured her. He repeated the same process with Trinity, the same trust could be read in his eyes, telling her that he was not going to try anything.

[Grand Hotel (Dining Hall)]

Iraal blinked in surprise. "Um, no. New Kral is an OPA planet. That's the largest orl government. I've currently been contracted by the Gluvpaki Theocracy to supervise an archaeological dig on one of their planets, and they assigned Scents to me while I'm there." Her software flashed an icon and line of text, but she didn't need a reminder this time. "I probably shouldn't talk much further about it. It's supposed to be nonpublic at this stage, and it's not why I'm here."

"Hey, hold on a sec," Scents added, perking up a bit, though her eyelids were still somewhat heavy. "You aren't telling me that neither of your Earths - or whatever you're calling it now," she said with a quick jerk of her snout towards Hana - "has space travel?" She exchanged a glance with Iraal. It wasn't like nobody had ever mentioned this about some of the other worlds beyond the Gates, but it was so weird to imagine.

Her attention was drawn by the newcomer, a human man who looked a little older than Zuri, but similarly kind of weird, and then by the waiter. "Hey there, zer," she said to him. "My full name is Follows-Many-Scents, but yeah, just call me Scents." She paused. "Uh, not to be rude, but are you two... costumed for something or something?"

Meanwhile, Iraal had turned her attention back to Zuri. "What? Oh - wait - sorry," she said, the skin on her face turning a more turquoise shade briefly. "I didn't mean to say I'm the head of the university. What I actually am is chair of the xenoarchaeological department. Not that I don't also do orl archaeology, but the ULK doesn't have a separate department for that. It's kind of a niche field today, and I prefer xenoarchaeology anyway." She took a small sip of the water, though what she was really waiting on was her fruit drink. "We're also here on vacation. Or, well, I suppose it would be more accurate to say I'm here on vacation and Scents is along as my physical assistant."

"Bodyguard," Scents interjected. "She means bodyguard, like the blushy one over there. We can use the robot for most of the labor - " Her ears swiveled over towards Hana, followed by two of her eyes. "Uh, what?"

Iraal also turned to look at Hana. They both frowned (or rather, Iraal frowned and Scents let her ears droop), and the orl continued "That doesn't sound like a very smart idea to me. All of our cultures" (by which she meant Clanner, Theocracy, and Vayen Hegemony; she obviously didn't know about Zuri and Lupin's) "can certainly agree on the need for our leaders to have some knowledge of war. But history teaches us that pure military regimes are usually repressive and unstable in the long run."

[Town ~ Grand Hotel (Room 204)] (Joseph, Pancake)

Holding the towel-rope—even as he had to shift it from his hands to his mouth and back while he got undressed—Joseph felt a special kind of security that he hadn't felt in a very long time. Perhaps he had never felt it so strongly in his life before then, as, without danger, security didn't mean a whole lot.

He had expected Pancake to simply lay on the end of the towel as lazy cats were wont to do, but if the light pulling was any indication, this particular kitten was trying to play a game of tug-of-war. That worked just as well for Joseph's purposes, he just hoped Pancake wouldn't get bored and wander off, or, if she did decide to stop, that she'd lie down on the towel afterward. It was, perhaps, more than a bit of a risk, but apparently one that he was willing to take for his little comforts.

Joseph tried showering as quickly and efficiently as he could, though all he wanted to do was bask in the enjoyment of the first shower he'd taken in what felt like months. It never sat well with him to be grimy if he could help it, and it used to be that he always could help it. In the current state of things, this shower of his felt like a luxury. Taking the time to enjoy it was another luxury, one he couldn't afford.

Even in his hurrying, the shower stirred up memories of the first few days, even hours after the first giant change in his life had occurred. When, one night, he had a feverish hallucination that his body was changing in unfathomable ways, all on its own, and he could do nothing to stop it. Then, the next morning, when he woke up sprawled out on his bedroom floor and discovered that it had all come true. In the following hours, within all the confusion and the fear that paralyzed him, taking a shower was calming. It was something he was still able to do. Something he knew how to do, and something that, acting through his changed body, he could achieve. It had given him time to think, and to make discoveries that he did not have the courage to face before then.

Now, he felt strangely the same way. He was in a bit of a rush, but everything seemed clear. All the elements of his life, crazy and distorted though they were, stood clearly apart, visible in his mind's eye. The future remained ominous and in many ways frightening, but now it felt as though Joseph was stepping forward, not stumbling or being dragged along. But then, there was no way back, was there?



The sound of the shower softened into silence not long after, and Joseph stepped back out, grabbing the towel he had in reserve and drying himself off. Though he sometimes lamented his lack of hair, it made drying off a lot easier, and it was nice to avoid the annoyance of having water constantly drip into his eyes.

Still gripping his towel chain, he elected not to get back into his crusty dust-coated pants or shirt, instead putting on the much cleaner coat that James had given him, wearing it a bit like a bathrobe. It was nowhere near as cozy, but it would have to do. That or he'd be in nothing but his underpants, which might've been fine in his own private room, but around others? Nah.

A few moments later, the bathroom door opened back up, and Joseph reemerged. He breathed a sigh of relief to see the same room he had left, with the same kitten outside of his door and the same two guys dozing in the same bed. His plan had worked. That, or he had nothing to fear in the first place, and was just being more cautious than was necessary or worth his while. It wasn't exactly a far-fetched notion.

With his big mouth set in a long smile, he knelt down and scooped Pancake up into his arms, and walked her over to his bed. He sat on the edge of the bed, then leaned back, setting Pancake on top of his chest and staring up at the ceiling, running his hands along her back. He sighed. The smile in his eyes faded.

"You've got some good people here Pancake." he said softly. "Really good people. Don't run away. Don't get hurt. Don't get sick. You could have a nice... nice long life. You've just... you've just got to be content."

[Hotel-Room 204]

No matter how much she tugged, it seemed that Joseph wasn't going to tug back. Still, Pancake stayed in that spot, waiting for her friend to finish. She could hear the water from the other side of the door, which only made her ears twitch slightly.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before he came back out and picked her up. Which was a good thing; the towels were nowhere near as comfortable as a bed or a pillow.

Pancake only gave a very small meow to Joseph's little speech, then purred and laid on his chest. In response to being petted, she closed her eyes, and it wasn't long before she was finally asleep once again.

Aaaaa this is so short. x_x But NOW I'm ready for the timeskip.

@Greyjoy: A concern has come up... it's 10PM thread time now, and most of us tropers want to time-skip ahead to the next morning soon. I imagine unless some crazy Deus ex Machina event allows faster transportation^note let's seriously not have one of those, we'll have to either set up camp along the way, or continue on and reach the mountain pass at about 11 or 12-ish, when I'm not sure if the campsite group will be asleep by then. Either way is fine with me since Nemaforte is perfectly capable of staying up all night.

Desert Trail (Train Station -> Mountains) (Nemaforte, Gregory, Annie)

So the two were from different dimensions and had traveled between them, eh? The short elfin vampire witch was interested indeed.

"Annibratton and Gregorigrey," she repeated. "My name is called Nemaforte. And I notice... a yellow quality of your aura, Gregorigrey. Something seems troubling you. You are not on the run from this Elizabeth across the dimensions, dai? I hope she cannot make portals like Annibratton if yes. Caution we must be if she is ahead of us, but, I might be able to offer protection, so not worry if you can."

Again she turned her attention skyward, again mesmerized by all the stars that were visible. "You must have seen many starry skies. In Zurem such a sight there is not, for the air is so thick and foggy. Sometimes the edges of the moons wave as well. This moon's edge is ver-oof..." She walked right into the edge of the ravine, having not been looking where she was going. After she fell, she staggered around for a few moments after standing up, as if having a dizzy spell. But after a deep breath to center herself for a bit, she was fine.

Hotel Dining Hall (Zuri, Lupin, Hana, Maya, Iraal, Scents)

So apparently Hakoda was run by the military, and Iraal was head of the archaeology department... wait no, xenoarchaeology. A smile spread across Zuri's face at the mention of it. That was even better than head of university, knowing her and her fond interest in the paranormal^note though from Iraal's standpoint it would be a legitimate science I bet. Interestingly, both pairs consisted of vacationers with bodyguards. Zuri had to wonder if that's how they met. Speaking of Iraal, she then made a comment about the instability of military rule.

"Good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who believes that," Lupin agreed. "And while we're at it, Zuri's here on vacation and I'm her bodyguard."

"He's kidding," Zuri said with a snicker, then turned to Lupin. "Why would I vacation here when I'm not too fond of westerns? And if any of us should be a bodyguard, it's Vicky, as she's the one with telekinesis. You can be my spy, how about that." Lupin merely rolled his eyes in response. "Anyway," Zuri resumed to the others, "we both are part of a select group of students from a parapsychology course at Boston University, who were granted various psychic powers as part of a... field study of sorts. I'm studying Astral Projection; Lupin is studying cloaking, which is sort of like invisibility. We're also investigating strange cases of dream invasion, which I imagine could cause slipping into alternate worlds by accident... Come to think of it, stumbling here might be good practice for those reports we'll have to write," she added to Lupin as an afterthought.

"Oh yes, those," Lupin remarked with another roll of his bespectacled eyes. "But anyway, Iraal and Hana, was it? How long have you been on vacation? Are there any... points of interest around?"

Just then, the waitress came by again, a glass of juice and another of wine on her tray. She placed them in front of Iraal and Lupin, respectively. "Have you decided yet?" she asked Lupin.

"Oh erm... I'll have the corn chowder too," Lupin hurriedly mentioned, as with this conversation going on, he hadn't been paying attention to the menu. In all fairness he wasn't that hungry, but given the way he felt dizzy and fell in the restroom earlier, he probably secretly was.

"Always right when I'm done talking," Lupin muttered after the waitress left, taking a sip of his wine afterwards.

edited 23rd Jan '16 2:19:10 AM by ladytanuki

[Desert Trail]

As soon as Nemaforte fell, Annie rushed to her attention, climbing off the edge of the ravine and attempting to help the witch to her feet. "Whoa, are you okay? That was quite the trip you just took!" Annie breathed a sigh of relief as Nemaforte was able to steady herself on her own power. "You should probably be a little more careful. Trust me, I know all about causing accidents when I'm lost in thought. Happens all the time."

Gregory stood at the edge and called out to the other two. "Hey Nem, if you're busted up after that fall, it might be a good idea to make camp, you know, rest for a bit? It's pretty dark right now anyway." Gregory leaned over and outstretched his arm. Annie took his hand as he helped pull her back up to the main trail. As Annie dusted her jumpsuit off, Gregory again offered his hand to Nemaforte. "As for my... aura, we're actually the ones chasing down Elizabeth. We're running from... something else. It's all very mouse-chased-by-cat-chased-by-dog."

Hotel - Kaito, Chisa, Recon, Trinity

Both Chisa and Trinity tilted their head slightly at the Gray Man's words. "A glitch in the fabric of reality? That is...interesting." the Warframe commented. She had no idea what to think of it, and it wasn't until now that she got a better look at him and realized he wasn't wearing his armor anymore. But at least now she had a name to a face. At Kaito's words, the little AI's blue eyes widened. With a quick flick of eye color from blue to red she scanned him but only to see what he was. So he was cybernetic...just like her?

Trinity stared and nodded in agreement. "If that is the easiest way, then go ahead." She was lucky she had such a port in her system though never thought she would ever use it. She called Chisa to sit next to her on her knees on the floor, waiting for Kaito to start. After introductions, it would be transfer time.

[Mountain Pass]

Jun backed away a few steps and mumbled, "Alright, alright, I can take a hint. Dumb animal." She huffed and, hand on the sling of her scout rifle, continued walking up the wending mountain path.

Jun kept a deliberate distance from the wolfram, but her attention soon wandered to the sky beyond the mountain. Notable, in the near distance, there appeared to be a small column of smoke rising into the air. Curious, Jun made haste up the incline to see what was burning.

Looks like a campsite fire. Are there other people here?

It wasn't long before she reached the mouth of the mountain pass. She cast eyes up to the rocky ridges to either side, weary for ambush, and made her way forward.

[Bed & Breakfast](Shared Room) Connie & Irina

Irina picked her head up. "Oh, no, go ahead." She glanced over to the television set. Never noticed it there.

She admitted she was never interested in T Vs, mostly because she was an active person, and never owned a home. Then again, she never knew what it was like. She may like it like townspeople do. But townspeople usually didn't need to fight to survive. They don't work terribly hard for meals.

Irina settled back and pulled the blankets atop her. She felt no more presence of Garganteum. She sighed deeply, and closed her eyes. "I hope for good slumber, and wish it on you, Connie."

But why would someone want to watch TV this late? Then she realized Connie's mannerisms: looking about, seemingly drifting in thought... Overactive mind? Irina begot the thoughts and let herself relax.

Though for a bit, she opened her eyes secretly to watch the TV.

[Grand Hotel - Presidential Suite]

The communicator, which laid upon the table, began to make high-pitched screeches.

Todd emerged from his room and carefully closed the door behind him. He was coated in sweat, and in the nude. He shut the communicator's noises off and put it up to his ear.

He listened for a bit, and said quietly, "I have it. I'll return at the crack of the morning. Garganteum or something messed with some time-space shit, so we ended up somewhere..." He listened again. He glanced over at the Terra Novan's rooms. He felt that they could hear anything. He spoke more quiet, "Yes, I heard of the rescue team. No doubt the monster ate some of them... No, I'm fine. Those bastards tried to have their way with me. Yes, violation. They're all dead." Not Vic, he thought. The boy will have to go, despite being dragged into Nosferatu's clutches. The boy already knows of the Gardens Of Eden—even when he brushed off the rumors. He still believes. The boy will have to die. Not by his hand, he hoped.

He looked back to his and Samuel's room and swallowed hard. "He'll be looking for it. He didn't know that I knew he had it. I don't know, some girl gave it to him. She was just some desert guide who defected from Nosferatu. She'll have to go too, right?" He didn't care much for who had to be killed or shoved away, just as long as Samuel was all right.

Before long, the call ended, and Todd returned to bed.

"Interestin' is one way to put it, yeah," Recon found a nearby seat and sat himself down. It felt weird, being the only human among three robots. Even weirder was the fact that he didn't have to kill any of them.

"You never did tell us what's so new about that doo-dad over there," he pointed out, gesturing with his head towards Trinity's gift to Chisa.

"If it's classified info or sonething that's fine. But it might be useful to at least teach the kid what her new body does, before she accidentally hits the self-destruct button or something."