Nebula Lobby 1F - Info Desk -> Elevators (Rebecca, Ryya, Kokoro, Sinistrina, Conrad, Mancipium)

Sinistrina caught the sudden look of tiredness in Ryya's eyes as she explained how she got here. At this she was mildly disheartened, as if the black mists emanated from her and were draining away her life force. Besides, her manner of arriving here was more peculiar - but not too peculiar, as she herself had emerged from a mirror. Kokoro, at least, had apparently arrived here with some friends or something.

Before she could reply to either of them, though, she found the strange artificial construct looking directly at her, seemingly struggling to say the word "revenant". To which Conrad apologized and asked if he could hang out with them. Sinistrina nodded. "I do not see why not." She case a brief glance at Mancipium. "I do not consider it rude, actually - and in fact I am flattered that you did not call me a vampire instead. Revenants, as I understand, are like ghosts who still have a body, retaining their soul just long enough to finish their business. I suppose I would be considered a more permanent one, since my soul is confined to a physical container." Here her gaze wandered once more over to Rebecca's "heart", before she looked back at Conrad. "Speaking of souls, there appears to be an unusually large amount of ether in you." And a small amount in Mancipium as well, upon closer inspection, though not enough to constitute a proper soul. "Were you aware of that?"

When Rebecca asked her about necromancy, a smile, though small and without much emotion behind it, spread across her face. Nodding, she turned around, quickly tapping her staff on the floor and snatching it up again, and making a beckoning motion with her hand. As she did, it was possible that Mancipium and Rebecca would feel a slight sensation pulling them forward, compelling them to follow - but it was only subtle.^note That's because it's the same sort of gesture she would make while commanding a Voodoo Zombie to follow her - a sort of muscle memory, if you will. As they walked, she looked back at Rebecca. "Re-animating the dead was actually something I had a natural talent for, ever since I was little. In fact, Anima here was responsible for me discovering that ability in the first place, after my mother killed her." She glanced over to the undead spider on her staff. "All my magic is self-taught actually, though I did have some inspiration from fiction and myth."

After pondering for a bit, she retrieved her hand mirror from the folds of her dress. "Although, this mirror helped as well. The black mists contained within it are capable of draining life and trapping souls, and with practice I was able to channel these mists." In fact, anyone who glimpsed it would be able to see said mists faintly swirling around on its surface. "I would not advise looking into this mirror for more than a glance," she warned, primarily to Ryya, Conrad, and Kokoro. "It has a habit of drawing people inside of it as well." Then she looked back to Rebecca. "Which reminds me, what sorts of magic can you use? Besides manipulating souls, of course."

A moment later they had reached the info desk, where Sinistrina picked up some brochures with maps of the ship and some descriptions of its facilities, handing one out to each of the group. After some thought, she decided to check out a room as well; although she didn't really need one, she figured it would at least be nice to lie on a bed that wasn't hard and dusty. Though she did find it funny that they gave her Room 6.013 - even the clerk admitted that the number suited her.

Once everyone was done with the info desk, Sinistrina led the group tentatively over towards the elevators, glancing over the brochure a bit. She found it very odd that there was an arboretum on the ship, had no idea what a holodeck was, and was highly amused by the presence of a spirit room and an abandoned theater. "So it looks like the lower decks have mostly shopping and eating establishments, the middle ones are mainly rooms, and... Hmm, personally, I'm more partial to one of the upper decks, but what may interest any of you?"

edited 8th Apr '17 5:09:01 AM by ladytanuki

Starlight Restaurant 1F (Lucina and Emille; Shireen; Jake; Phagora)

Seeing her companions' disgusted reactions, Shireen smiles sheepishly.

"I'm sorry about your appetites," says she. "You see very weird things at my Academy so often, you become used to it extremely quickly."

And then, when Jake's demonstration of power, and Lucina's reaction to it came, Shireen takes a sip of her tea, and straightens up in her chair, her expression very serious.

"You are so quick to inflict punishment, both of you," says she, shifting her gaze from Jake to Lucina. "There's so much anger and resentment inside you. They are both understandable and entirely justified. But I think you're too quick to act on them. How do you know that the soul inside that gem is the right person's, Lucina? On that, you only have a word of a spirit you called evil yourself a couple of minutes ago. And you really shouldn't be too enthusiastic about Jake's offer. Because what he's offering is not help, but temptation of Emille. In his 'dolled-up' state that man will be a constant sore spot before her eyes."

Shireen turns her gaze back to the demon.

"What will happen when she'll eventually decide to do something about it, good General? When she'll decide to seek retribution from him? To 'play' with him as he's played with her? Justice should be consistent. You should know that if you're the hero you claim yourself to be. Will you turn up to claim her soul as well? Turn her into a gem and add it to your collection? Is that your plan, Greed demon?"

Holodeck 2(Glitch; Robin)

Several minutes pass as Robin studies the blueprints, telling the Holodeck AI to rotate them from time to time.

"That's a very interesting design, Glitch," finally says she. "Although I probably won't be able to replicate it... Holodeck, conjure the prints of the blueprints."

A cylindrical case appears before Robin's feet. She picks it up, opens it, and sees that it's filled with several sheets of blue paper rolled up.

"Huh," says she. "It actually did what was asked, for a change. Do you think this Holodeck's simply not built for recreational purposes, Glitch?"

edited 8th Apr '17 7:20:20 AM by Millership

[Pride of Rust (Carlotta, Ray, Mashala, Kiran, Ethoya)]

Carlotta's soul was alive. That was good enough for Ethoya. "A pleasure to meet you, Carlotta." To the others, "and you as well, Ray and Mashala."

She brought a fist to her chest in salute and said, "Ethoya Uvalex, a humble servant of the Xayu. At your service." Then she looked over to Kiran and explained, "your captain," she nodded at Kiran with a smile, "has been giving me a tour of your ship. I've never personally seen such a thing before — they're all stories and daydreams. Especially after that unfortunate incident with the moon..." she paused. Eh, no need to go into that. "It's been lovely so far." Then... oh, why not. Playfully, she asked Ray, "so, is your dear captain usually in the habit of showing up with strange women?" The wink she gave to Kiran indicated that she wouldn't be offended if the answer was "yes".

edited 8th Apr '17 9:22:15 AM by KillerClowns

Pride of Rust, Cargo Bay - [Ethoya, Kiran, Ray, Mashala, Carlotta]

Kiran's face screwed up in a lemon-sucking grimace and she folded her arms, looking away. Ray smirked and gave an awkward laugh. "Well, sorta. It's not always women. We're spacers, right? There's a certain reputation there."

Mashala, for Carlotta's benefit, cupped her massive hands over the doll's ears- or rather, right about where her ears should have been. Whether this would work or not was anyone's guess.

"Uh, s'cuze us for just a sec..." Ray stepped forward and gently pulled Ethoya aside. It was only a few steps, but he lowered his voice. "But uh, maybe don't bring that sort of thing up when our captain's within earshot? She doesn't like other people to think she's a whore. See, her dad was a prostitute. A transgenic one- he got a bunch of gene mods to make him look sorta like 'that''." Ray jerked his head in Kiran's direction. "That's why she looks the way she does- she inherited those same gene mods from him. Anyway, our captain doesn't like the idea that just because her dad was a whore means that, by genetics, she has to be one too. She's more than a little insecure about that kind of thing. Now, it's not your fault- not like you had any way of knowing if nobody told you. But it's just something to keep aware of, yeah?"

Ray smiled, patted Ethoya on the arm, then led her the few brief steps back. Kiran's grimace had lessened, but she was now eyeing Ray with suspicion. "Ray, what was that?"

The man shrugged. "Just a little orientation for our new guest."

edited 8th Apr '17 11:30:35 PM by Gault

[Deck 3-Theater/Henry and Lauren]

"No thank you I'm fine." Lauren told Sii as she began the scanning.The gloves let out a very bright blue light that engulfed everything in the room. After a few seconds the light retracted back into the gloves and Lauren watched the screen on the holo display as the data came in.

"Let's see Henry and I read normal. You....What the hell? Your readings are very odd. You don't seem to match any known species in my database. What are you?" Lauren asked giving Sii a questioning look.

[Deck 2 ~ Sickbay] (Minerva, Anna, Gabriel, Max, Cecilia, Rolph, Tigris)

Minerva visibly cringed at Gabriel's attempt at a joke. And judging by the woman's response, she didn't take to kindly to being insulted, jokingly or not. This prompted the lady to be berated by her human companion.

Minerva took the opportunity to politely decline Gabriel's offer, "No thank you, I've got plenty of incendiary devices of my own, and knives aren't exactly my weapon of choice."

She then stepped in between the two parties. "Please don't get upset at my friend's joke," she said to Cecilia, "I'm sure he wasn't trying to offend you." She then turned towards Gabriel, "That wasn't a very nice thing to say, you know."

The gynoid then crossed her arms, glancing back and forth between everyone present, "Now, I'm sure that if we can all stay calm long enough, we can all get what we want."

She finally turned towards Rolph, placing a hand on her chest. "I'm Minerva," she said, before gesturing towards the others, "they're Gabriel and Anna, and she's Tigris." Minerva then turned back towards the scientist healer and her companion, "And you are?"

[Pride of Rust, Cargo Bay - (Ethoya, Kiran, Ray, Mashala, Carlotta)]

Ethoya cleared her throat nervously, clearly mortified, and then said to Kiran, "oh. Right. You told me about your father, and I... didn't quite make the connection. I'm sorry, that was... thoughtless of me." She took a seat on a nearby cargo container, and motioned for Kiran to join her, if she so chose. "I didn't think... I mean, it seems so normal to me. I know I sounded flippant, but I meant no offense, truly. It seemed perfectly reasonable that a spirit as full of life as yours should enjoy many loves, share many stories." It was, after all, how she lived her existence; she'd always been one for brief and passionate affairs — not necessarily sexual in nature — with the short-lived but wonderful mortals.

She gave a careful, apologetic smile, doing her best to meet Kiran's eyes. "I didn't think about what it could mean to you." Then — clearly following a formal cultural script, but with sincerity — she said, "I who have wronged you in your own home, even as I accept your hospitality, can only ask for your forgiveness." Perhaps she had still been too honest, but if Kiran threw her out the ship... so be it. It was her right.

It had been a while since she'd done much with mortals this way, she considered. A few centuries. She was starting to get out-of-touch with them, and that really bothered her.

Club Bizarre - Herb Shop (Nemaforte, Horizons, Magistralis... and the Discoverer, sort of)

Nemaforte's ears bobbed up and down, causing her hat to bounce on her head (she found the movement incredibly soothing), while Magistralis was wondering about magic. "A higher plane - like the astral plane, which souls go to after they leave their body or when they dream? Yeeeessss, I suppose things would be simple more up there - as simple as the souls is you can get. Oh, and I am not a human. I am a sunestre, from Zurem on the dark side of Orenya. Humans are from the fabled planet Earth, understanding I may, and they have not pointed ears and are pale only in death." It did not even occur to her that albinos rarely existed among humans, who may have the exact white skin, light grey hair, and flesh-pink eyes that she did.

In fact, just then she got a notion that someone else in the club was talking about her, something about her being from Orenya. Yes, I am, she thought back, not knowing or caring if the one who wondered that would know. I am a sunestre from Zurem.

Speaking of her species, what the One who Brings Horizons told her about being underground made her ears droop a bit, though she did not quite feel the sorrow associated with it. "How does gloom be gotten from being underground too long? In Zurem there is the underground city of Leshinen, which is the liveliest and busiest place there. Though if looking for uplift you are, I do recommend my Cosmic Potion."

She retrieved the glittery blue bottle from the side of the table. "This acts mainly on a magical effect, as I not think a celestial being like you would have the proper physiality for a medicinal herb. Popular it also is with artists as it inspires inspiration. And, eldamor and reichirima are two of the ingredients." She gestured over to the green leaf Magistralis had "altered" earlier and the white star-shaped leaves she had shown the bringer of horizons earlier. "It also contains a very small amount of the duramelia herb which inspires happiness and confidence. And a couple of others that are a secret. Perhaps all three of us can use some now."

Regardless of Horizons' response, she retrieved a glass and uncorked the bottle, where a strong aroma of sweet herbs, a bit reminiscent of absinthe, wafted through the room. She poured a small amount of what turned out to be a clear light blue fluid into the glass. Then she added water, where the mixture fizzled a bit before turning cloudy. "Unless you are crazy like me or like burning a hole in your mouth, I would not drink it straight. Now, would either of you like to try it, or is for me?"

She looked hopefully at the bringer of horizons. "Oh, and gods can do much more than bring life. Gods can embody anything, most common are moons and stars and the sun. Legends I heard of a day-night cycle, mainly of Earth. Always I imagined like it would be to perpetual flyng around the permittering of Orenya. Seeming you are familiar with Earth?" The question was directed at both of them.

Pride of Rust (Kiran, Ray, Ethoya, Carlotta)

If Carlotta's face was not static, she would have scowled at Ray's suggestion of staying within his sight, as if she were some sort of irresponsible child. Even the captain seemed to agree - though her mouth fell open somewhat at the worry about breaking something. Does she know? Shrugging, she turned back to Ray. "If you insist, Father." She definitely did not have a father, so she felt justified in saying that.

"Ethoya - that is an interesting name," Carlotta said in response to the not-angel's introduction. "Uvalex is kind of fun to say now that I think about it. At least it's not a dessert like my surname, Posset, is. Though if it were a dessert, I'd imagine something grapelike."^note This is because the Spanish word uva means "grape". "You must be rich or an angel if you can afford to have your clothing made of golden feathers."

Just then she felt a pair of warm earmuffs press themselves against her face, just as Ray was remarking on women's reputation. Realizing they were Mashala's hands, she reached her tiny clay hands inside them and effortlessly pushed them apart, even if Mashala was pressing her hands firmly against her head or resisted in the process. "Although I am a doll, do not take me for some immature child. I was born and raised in a world of death after all, and my entire adoptive family is undead." She was also about to mention that the princess of her kingdom was used as a sex doll at one point, but Kiran's reaction to what Ray said and Ethoya's ensuing apology convinced her that that was probably not a good topic to bring up.

But she did notice the strange red suit over in the corner. "What's that?"

edited 8th Apr '17 10:39:32 PM by ladytanuki

Pride of Rust, Cargo Bay - [Ethoya, Kiran, Ray, Mashala, Carlotta]

Kiran shot Ray a harsh look, evidently having figured out what was going on. But, when her eyes turned to Ethoya, they softened. She waved a hand, saying, "Forget it. It's fine, don't beat yourself up on my account." She reached an arm back to rub the back of her neck. "I'm probably being oversensitive."

Mashala gave a low rumble, sounding concerned at either Carlotta's anomalous strength or what she had to say about her upbringing. Ray, meanwhile, crouched down to Carlotta's level, hooked an arm around her tiny shoulder- his knuckles touched the floor- and said, with evident pride, "That, my dear, is the Hellcat. Wanna take a closer look?"

Holodeck 2 (Glitch; Robin)

"Well, this is a cruise ship," Glitch responded. "And I didn't see any warning signs outside. Maybe we are just missing something?"

The drone hovered closer to the recently materialized case, and took a quick scan of the blueprints with a soft humming sound.

"These are real, as far as i can tell." Despite it's obviously synthetic nature, Glitch's voice contained a hint of excitement. "I had assumed everything in here would just be holograms and kinetic fields."

[Club Bizarre]

Akira didn't get very far before he came back and gently grabbed Sakura by the arm.

"Ah, actually, can you be our tour guide?" he asked, "We're still a little lost and confused here, and you've been here a little longer than us, so can you help us a little longer?"

Bah, I'm so sorry for the shortness, I'm not feeling well. x_x The other threads will have to wait until hopefully tomorrow...I'm sorry. ;c

Deck 9 (Junko, Miss Loki, Natalie)

Miss Loki, still looking like a rainbow haired grade school girl, actually seems a little blankly surprised by Junko's response about the wendigos. Still, the fact a small smile of approval forms on her face would seem to imply Miss Loki believes much the same. Folding her hands behind her head and whistling softly just to whistle, Miss Loki listens rather calmly to what Junko has to say.

Rather lazily looking over to Natalie as Junko offered the nanomechanical girl her hand, Natalie notably seems starstruck. Managing to return to her senses rather quickly, Natalie looks away a little embarrassed after getting to her feet. Finally, with no indication Junko had more to say currently, the other two girls follow after- Miss Loki very casually but fast enough, whilst Natalie followed with notable curiosity.

Though it wasn't more than a few seconds until Miss Loki rather abruptly flung her arms behind her at a ninety degree angle and speaks with pouty anger "You're not mommy, so I can look however I wanna!" Making a pouty face to match her acting, nonetheless it is notable Miss Loki's form remains the same.

Holding her arms in front of herself and closing her eyes thoughtfully, a look of shocked realization appears on Miss Loki's face as she calls out confused. "Wait, you don't know Armitage!? But, wha, how!? I can't even... Natalie, inform this non-believer!" The nanite being in question looking very confused, Miss Loki motions an underhand throw- With some bizarrely stripperific red & black jacket/bra/mini-shorts/leggings outfit gently smacking against Natalie.

The metallic slime girl becoming intensely flustered upon recognizing it, Miss Loki faux-whispers to Junko while Natalie is distracted. "Nah, one all-powerful do anything robot is enough, though she's hardly the only noteworthy mechanical lifeform. If the rumors are true, Eldon has actually been stalking some, but don't let Natalie know kay?"

The star-eyed goddess pulling back, she seamlessly turns to Natalie as if surprised by Natalie's delay "Natalieeee, why are you taking so long!? I am your sexy-cute elder, so logically that means you gotta do what I say!" Natalie looking at her, dubious of so-called 'logic', the machine girl sighs as she tucks the outfit under her left arm- Finally speaking with a touch of reluctance and embarrassment.

"Miss Loki is, well, referencing an OVA mini-series. I think she was comparing me to the titular character, in terms of certain abilities..." Miss Loki making an incredibly notable look of disapproval towards the metal girl, she instead sighs and shrugs her shoulders in a 'Whatever' kind of way.

Natalie, with right fist against her chest and left over her lap, lets out a deep breath of relief. Her eyes widening a bit, a more natural look of realization crosses her face than the rainbow-haired goddess. Presenting Junko a friendly smile, the shapeshifting blob of nanomachines speaks inquisitively yet politely.

"Exactly what kind of girls compose the 'Misfit' Squad? The strange and bizarre is downright normal in our universe. Hmm... Oh! Is one of them some sort of half-zombie half-slime girl? There's a girl like that who works in the Nightmare Normalcy, though I hear she can be rather grotesque despite being surprisingly cute..."

Devious little smile forming on her face, she speaks up casually "You mean Ger- Corpse Digger's forty-seventh failure? Natalie-chan, I am appalled you would think a mad scientist's necromantic experiments would qualify as a Magical Girl." Natalie clearly looking shocked by the accusation, she begins to stammer "But, but but but..." mostly to herself.

Miss Loki stretching out her arms, her devious smile remains intact as she calls out with an irrelevant tone. "Neat, you guys have child soldiers too? Seems like they're downright trendy across the omniverse to have. Honestly though, do you live in some dub anime universe? Megucas, cyborgs, inexplicable ability to speak English yet call it Japanese?"

With that said, her devious smile becomes a small and almost somber smile. Folding her arms behind her back, Miss Loki speaks more calmly excited than before. "I've always wondered why characters in a dub would act like English is a separate language. Though the reason I ask is because, ya know how many anime universes are real? All of them."

Her smile smoothing out into neutral, that somber touch doesn't go away, a troubled expression leaking through as her tone becomes slightly unhinged. "Every work of fiction, every drawing, every dream or idea- They're all real across the omniverse. Isn't that just horrifying to imagine? Some morons making sexy wendigos like they're directing a rabidly shallow Twilight parody, that's nothing to what I have to go through every day."

Letting out a few not happy laughs, Miss Loki glances over to Natalie who now seems slightly concerned. The bizarre 'grade schooler' taking a deep breath, she looks back to Junko. Bringing up her right hand to gesture at Junko, the strange woman continues gesturing as she speaks.

"You get it, how horrifying it is for something so sick and wrong to be fetishized. It constantly... Annoys me how humans always joke about porn, because I'm the unlucky bastard who has to search for any rogue individuals running out from my universe to be responsible for 'kinky' nonsense that harms the lives of other universes. Every day, I have to look at so much madness, that idiots and ignorants thought was a 'cool' idea to make happen."

Miss Loki rubbing the back of her neck, her right eye twitches slighty before she seamlessly breaks out into riotous laughter. Gasping for breath some, Miss Loki wipes away an imaginary tear as an amused smile crosses her face. Natalie looking somewhat perplexed by what just happened, the goddess with an extremely odd sense of humor speaks up casually.

"I didn't think I would last so long being serious. Oh sure it is annoying having to explain why looking at pervy morally challenged crap is actual research for my Division, but its hardly depressing. Totally bullshitting about the 'everything is realz' thing too, yep, totally not lying about lying. I just really like testing people's personalities at time, which is why I shouted that little gem earlier as a little girl. Overall, I wanted to confirm whether it was just 'sexy wendigo' or all of that nonsense you hate passionately."

edited 9th Apr '17 2:15:17 PM by Kkutwar

(Pride of Rust, Cargo Bay - [Ethoya, Kiran, Ray, Mashala, Carlotta])

First, Kiran. Ethoya still wasn't totally comfortable — her own culture's mores didn't consider a mere dismissal quite sufficient, she had asked for forgiveness. But Kiran was obviously not Uelane. Perhaps she'd meant it? The ambiguity bugged Ethoya. So she said, "no, no, not over-sensitive. You have a right to your feelings. But since you haven't thrown me out..." she looked Kiran in the eyes. "What's done is done, yes, but I will be more careful in the future." She stood with a nervous smile.

Then, to Carlotta, she brushed her feathery dress and said, "angel?" Bringing a hand to her collarbone in mock-humility to the compliment, she said, "oh, I've been called that a few times." Her tone was playful, however; Ray and Carlotta wouldn't have reason from the quip alone to assume she was serious. The rest of Carlotta's talk didn't quite make sense to her — a "world of death", "undead". Wasn't that just the Spirit World? But she made it sound so morbid... obviously, she was missing something.

edited 9th Apr '17 12:10:28 PM by KillerClowns

Starlight Restaurant 1F (Lucina, Emille, Phagora, Shireen, Jake Ronso, Winky)

Glancing towards Phagora with a friendly smile on his face, he politely shakes his head before elaborating. "No, this is a form I forced the soul to take for ease of containment. Being intangible things means devoting a lot of effort into keeping them held otherwise. In my home universe, souls would be like clouds of light, though I've seen stranger things by this point."

Turning back to Lucina and calmly listening to her first, his gaze turns subtly dark upon her mentioning how people would willingly 'play' with the soul. Though he continues to listen quietly, upon Lucina finishing her talking for now, Jake Ronso pulls back the soul just slightly before Shireen even began to speak.

Tilting his head to look in her direction, his dark gaze becomes more notable as his wings stretch out slightly. Eyes focused on her, the Demon General of Greed himself speaks seriously. "You think I'm an evil monster too don't you? Something that relishes destruction and torment? Disgusting trash like this man, living only to ruin things for everyone else?"

Holding the crystallized soul between his hands and focusing on it, Jake speaks up without looking back. "Good and Evil is subjective, you know. For every universe that condemns such violation, there is another where he would of been praised. My point, though, is that I'll mind myself based on their law. You are not this man's Queen, so what you say is right or wrong doesn't pertain to him."

Holding onto the soul and gesturing towards Lucina & Emille with his free hand, the winged cat boy speaks resolutely. "If Emille were truly to be such an insulting thing, her fate falls onto Queen Lucina to decide. I do not force my notions of righteousness where it is not demanded or expected. Nonetheless, what justice is had if the villain ceases to be? He couldn't suffer for his sin in the Deathly Glade, and therefore vengeance could not truly be had."

With that said Jake focuses his still notably dark gaze on Lucina alone, upon which his tone becomes calmly serious. "You seem to misunderstand my actions Queen Lucina. I did not retrieve this man's soul so you could let him be violated in turn. Literally anyone can violate another, it is no skill or dark magnificence. To rely on such and boast is proof of one's utter inferiority to their victims."

Holding up the crystal for Lucina to see, a small snarl forms on his face before continuing. "I did not tirelessly search your universe to learn his location... Nor spent so much effort ensuring I arrived at the Deathly Glade at the right time, for you. Emille suffered at the hands of an inferior being that arrogantly believed itself a god to her... Like me, like my entire family and humanity itself."

His gaze losing that dark edge, the Demon General gently bounces the soul in his hand, his voice a composed friendliness. "You are her queen and the closest she has to a mother. It is only right for you to weigh in your opinion regarding something so significant. However, I did not intend for this man to live again or be free. Such trash can only be redeemed by force, but death of personality isn't the same as natural personality growth."

Opening a similar portal as before yet only large enough for his hand, Jake sticks the arm holding the soul through. Not letting his arm drop, the cat boy talks with a teeny bit of mischief. "Thus, he shall be rewritten, his soul given over to a pure innocent. Of course, in a tiny little corner he shall be stuck, powerless to do anything but observe. His existence will be one of eternal suffering, full of envy of the one who supplanted him, full of prideful hate due to his natural inability to acknowledge his flaws... And endless terror should the successor of his soul be a girl."

Pulling out his arm and the completely unchanged soul, Jake cups the soul with both hands as if holding an egg. "I understand flawed humans extremely well Queen Lucina, and the seven vices perfectly describe them. So prideful they believe the world is theirs, so greedy they can't imagine sharing, so envious they demand others' good fortune, so lustful they'll do anything to feel good, so gluttonous they don't know when to stop, so wrathful they will take any excuse to hate, and so utterly slothful they can't bother to change."

Holding the soul close to his chest and closing his eyes, Jake Ronso speaks one last time on this subject for now. "Trash like him, they never wish to be their victims. So he will be endlessly afraid, should his soul's successor and intended master be female. Whatever arousal he could feel would never override the fear, especially as he'll have no power to affect her or her body. Besides, body dysphoria is quite the nasty thing to deal with, especially when you have no power to correct it."

Focusing his gaze to include Winky and Emille, Jake smiles rather warmly as he speaks cheerfully polite. "I'm kind of surprised you're not aware your sister is doing fine Queen Lucina. Sure, she's probably been better, but as I was returning I decided to investigate the others here with the same universe signature as you & Emille. If it isn't too much trouble, I can try smoothing things over with her- If you're truly sorrowful, it shouldn't be completely impossible to successfully reunite."

Focusing a bit more on Emille and Winky, Jake continues being so oddly friendly for a being seemingly made of pure evil. "My sister, the Demon General of Lust, will be arriving soon to offer assistance creating the new doll- We're familiar with more advanced materials, judging by your technological level. Though I highly doubt you'll much like being human beings, Lust is more proficient with all things bodily and Homunculus related. Perhaps you'd be interested in a transformation trinket allowing you to freely switch between human and doll?"

edited 9th Apr '17 4:41:05 PM by Kkutwar

Nebula Lobby

Ryya rolled a shoulder, still a little uncomfortable, before talking again, more to the air than to Conrad. "Oh, a human with animal traits, then. I thought you could be ill or something because you were red..."

A moment of awkward silence before Ryya spoke again. "I'm also an exile... sort of." She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "I mean, it wasn't official, but I'm sure the intent was there."

Ryya considered stopping there, but now she felt that she had to get this out of her chest. "I guess questioning the Sages publicly was not as a good idea as I tought... But I wanted people to understand! We shouldn't hide from the world. There is so much more to see!" She shook her head, saddened. "I got pelted with produce for that..."

Ryya sighed, and shrugged, feeling a little better. "Ah! No need to worry about that anymore. I can't fault anyone for being fearful, I guess." Just then, Sinistrina pulled out a strange object, which she called a mirror. Ryya took a peek at it with curiosity, before the pale woman said that it was dangerous to look at, Ryya quickly looked away.

Sinistrina then led the way. She had handed everyone a piece of paper, but Ryya didn't know what was in it beyond the quite non-indicative pictures, and the scribbling she had no idea what it was. "Hmm, upper decks? Sure, it sounds good to me."

Pride of Rust (Kiran, Ray, Ethoya, Carlotta)

Carlotta shot Ethoya another playful smile at her sarcastic remark about being an angel. She shrugged. "Okay, I'll just call you a golden parrot then. Because you have feathered wings and can talk." She, for her part, sounded a tad bit more serious than Ethoya did, just enough to cross over the sarcasm threshold, even though she did finish with a giggle. "And you're lucky she doesn't have you executed for that. If you were in my kingdom and offended its queen like that, you'd end up in the Deathly Glade yourself and you wouldn't be able to get out." That part sounded even more playful than the previous remark.

"But I won't let you do that," she said to Kiran, "so don't get any ideas."

She snickered at Ray calling the strange red padded suit the Hellcat. "Does it curse whoever wears it? Or burn them alive?" She cringed at the last minute on the second sentence, hardly believing she was even mentioning such morbid things. Do humans have a tendency to be fixated on the practices of their place of birth as well? Or is it because I was born no more than, uh... Come to think of it, she didn't even know how old she was, as measuring the passage of time in the Deathly Glade was nigh impossible.

She looked the suit up and down, taking particular interest in the padding around it. "Is it all right if I touch it? I cannot reach the upper part of it though..."

If Ray decides to pick Carlotta up (though he could very well get a stepladder or something instead), he'll find that she's quite a bit heavier than the average doll - more like a child of her size.

Club Bizarre- Meeting impossible things and bragging, godhood right?

Filing away the bit of information Nemaforte offered, the Discoverer lightly chuckles as he responds to Ora. "I was never one much for rules, and that is the greatest boon I have drawn from my godhood. Still though, power is subjective, as even the Brittles can lord over other beings despite their fragility."

Though his physical expressions can't be made out, he definitely seems to be listening to what Loki has to say. Laughing rather softly as the would-be god remarks about what would qualify as such, the Discoverer brings his right hand to his armored face- As if considering removing the mask.

Yet with the sudden arrival of a soulless and vague imitation of humans, the Discoverer turns his head towards the nautical-themed being. Making a sort of disapproving 'Hmm', the armored man speaks up. "Do you even have a soul? I find it hard to believe you could understand the failure of perfection and peace..."

Motioning his head towards sir Loki, the steampunk tinkerer continues. "Still, perhaps I can get something out of you anyways. Sir Loki here asked what I am, so I'll explain: I am the truest thing you'll find to a god, least in my universe. Since I am the one who discovered the power of Reality Subversions, things which defy all the rules, I am tasked with keeping the Brittles in line so they cannot become our superior successors."

Looking the mysterious being head on and venting purely aesthetic steam, the man wrapped in metal speaks with a hint of sadness. "The problem of my people is that we have too much power to ever be satisfied. I'm not in the business of stealing free will or throwing ourselves into a permanent dark age however. Though the fact we aren't the only species like that helps justify my decision."

Deciding to wait for the enigmatic entity first, the Discoverer wraps up for now by speaking to sir Loki. "Regarding my Loki, only when she wants to be. Which, annoyingly enough, is mostly to creep people out by shouting troublingly unchildlike things. Honestly, it surprises me how she can casually joke about her children when birthing them were all horrific experiences for her... Of course, saying she's an alternative you is like saying your sky is an alternate of mine: The similarities are superficial, being ultimately unrelated."

[Observation Deck]

Jin stared at their sketchbook, turning over Enkar's words in their mind. Jinhei was certainly a career politician, yes. An unflattering label, but it was one that Jin themself had flung at them frequently enough. It was the "rise quickly and fall dramatically" bit that particularly troubled them, because that was another conversation that the siblings had been having frequently as of late.

They nodded mechanically to acknowledge Geoff as the being entered the conversation, and loosely kept track of the words being spoken. It worried Jin because the rapid rise to power was already happening. In fact, it had probably reached its peak already, unless becoming a minister (of culture, perhaps?) was in Jinhei's future. But it probably wasn't. The grim prophecy that Ren Taiyin delivered when they made their agreement with Jin relentlessly reverberated through Jin's head. Jin desperately hoped that Jinhei could prove them wrong, but a mind reader probably knew better than—

"See, if you don't follow the unwritten rules of conversation...."

Jin looked up in time to watch the blue flame cover Proseda's hand and teacup.

"Things happen to you. Now where were we?"

"Something wrong?" Jin's wryness hinted that they already had an idea based on what they had heard. "But yes. Siblings. I was adopted when Jinhei and I were both very young, but I believe our dynamic is quite typical. I can only hope that it survives... recent events." Jin had a guess as to the fate of Enkar's siblings, but refrained from comment. It would be insensitive. "Politics has wrecked too many families. It will destroy many more."

edited 11th Apr '17 1:57:09 AM by SnowyFoxes

[Club Bizarre]

The entity played back a recording of the Discoverer's own words. "...do you even have a soul?'..." Here, it shook its head in dismissal. "Over-centralization led to unacceptably inefficient allocation of resources, so we have compartmentalized all data objects that might generate a 'soul' pattern with the deliberate intention of preventing their generation."

It took a few hours to consider its next response, but those hours were spent outside time; to those bound to time's flow, it seemed to continue speaking without perceptible delay. Again, it began by replaying the Discoverer's words. "The problem of my people is that we have too much power to ever be satisfied." And its answer. "We also achieved such dominance." The translation magics began to strain as the being attempted to explain itself, but the words available weren't quite meant for such a task. "We *ruled/will rule* time and space for an eternity. We come from *before/after* all existence, and *wove/will weave* all that is to our purpose. We are the *beginning/end*. And yet we never *wanted/will want* for satisfaction. We *composed/will compose/are notes in* the Song. In this, we find absolute satisfaction." It once more quoted the Discoverer. "I find it hard to believe you could understand the failure of perfection and peace." Then it shook its head, utterly bemused (an unfamiliar feeling). "Indeed. We *have known/will know* peace, perfection, and art, eternal, beyond the bounds of mere time that binds lesser beings, and perceive no failure."

Then the Chord — to call the entity that manifested in the Space Liner the Song would like calling a bucket of seawater the ocean — noticed something off. "...I'm not in the business of stealing free will..." It tilted its head quizzically. "Unclear statement. What is this... 'free will'?"

edited 11th Apr '17 8:00:52 PM by KillerClowns

Deck 1 - Arboretum

It was good to see Joshua's resolution to keep fighting the Good Fight against all odds. Aubrey nodded. "I understand. Sometimes a man's got to do what a man's got to do, regardless of how hopeless it might seem."

Pearl canted her head quizzically. "So what brings you on this trip? Are you seeking something to aid your fight or..." she gave a worried frown, "are the problems on your world on this ship as well?"

Pride of Rust, Cargo Bay - [Ethoya, Kiran, Ray, Mashala, Carlotta]

Kiran's mouth came into a half-grin-half-scowl. "That's cute. She's a regular little smartass, this one." Then, her expression darkened. "We generally only space people for mutiny, not being inconsiderate, even to the captain. And you were the one to bring it up, don't go pointing fingers at me." She shook her head. "Who even has queens anymore? I pity the people- or, I guess, dolls?- that live where you're from if that's what they have to deal with." Kiran turned to Ethoya. "I can throw her off the ship, if the brat's irritating you."

Ray looked almost proud, chuckling slightly and mussing Carlotta's fake hair. "Nope! But I sure curse plenty when time comes 'round to maintain the thing. It's got so many aftermarket parts that figuring out which one of 'em's not playing well with the others is like finding a pressure leak in a large room. As for burning alive- well, there is the hydrazine welding torch on her left arm. I've adapted it into a flamethrower for close-in work. It's got it's own oxidizer, so it burns even in hard vacuum." Ray was smiling now, with a certain impish glee that- while perhaps not a precise match to Carlotta's own morbid cheer- was at least similar enough. Carlotta was a child, but evidently, Ray himself was a child at heart.

He continued, "But uh- I don't think the Captain would approve of me showing you that." Ray's smile was wide, smarmy and slightly apologetic. He shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry. Pretty sure Captain will let you ride it though. C'mon-" Grabbing Carlotta under the arms, and briefly surprised at her anomalous weight- about that of a real child, he realized- he hoisted her up with some effort to sit on one of the hardsuit's wide shoulder pieces. The helmet was off, hanging from a harness higher up on the service scaffolding, leaving the neck hole exposed.

(Starlight Restaurant- Phagora, Shireen, Winky, Jake, Lucina, Emile)

Phagora turned a little pale as Jake went through his speech. Evidently, he was just as dangerous as her father, if somewhat more subtle about his methods of punishment. Still, given the nature of the man's crimes, she had to admit he deserved something severe. "Remind me never to get on your bad side, Jake. I'd fear your justice more than any demon I know back home."

Shireen, meanwhile, pointed out that there were still problems with this process, and Phagora had to agree. While she hadn't seen much of vengeance personally, Rebecca had been started on her road to the Black Roses by an act of murderous retribution. "You speak the truth, Shireen. Personally, I say give him a couple of millennia to repent, but it is far from my place to judge."

Phagora kept her voice low when responding to Emile. It seemed that Lucina was not fond of magic, for whatever reason, but she would not deny someone seeking knowledge of the Art to learn. "There's a Spirit Room on the top deck. Perfect place to learn magic. We can head there now if you like, I'm off-duty."

(Elevators- Rebecca, Sinistria, Ryya, Kokoro, Conrad, Mancipium)

Rebecca felt a small nagging at the back of her mind, beckoning her forward. If she had to guess, it was something Sinistrina was doing- the woman seemed to have a command of the dead that rivalled her own, if not surpassed it. But it was subtle, something she could easily resist. After all, she was a lich, not a mindless zombie. Not that she wanted to; Sinistrina had her interest piqued.

"I can raise corpses as well," she told the other woman, "and I'm learning the magic of sickness and decay, for what are they but death made slow? I've also walked amongst the flames of the Black Pit, one of the few mortals to do so before they died. I'm self-taught, too. My first zombie was a cat that froze outside my family's home one winter night. After that, I had to practice in secret- the Order has made it policy that all witches are to be publicly executed, and in an excruciating manner."

As Ryya told her tale of being cast out, Rebecca nodded. "It seems there are many in our little group here who know the pain of banishment. I do too, all too well."

The scarlet-cloaked lich glanced at Sinistrina. "I'd be interested in going up with you to this Club Pluto, see how you perform your reanimations, but really, I 'm just going where the winds of fate may take me."

[Deck 9 —> Deck 9 ~ Fitness Center] (Junko, Miss Loki, Natalie)

After helping the embarrassed nanoslime girl up, Junko raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you all right, Natalie? You seem kinda out of it," she inquired.

With Miss Loki's sudden outburst, Junko once again stopped for a moment, perplexed slightly by the goddess's behavior. "Okay, that's a bit childish," commented Junko, "doesn't seem like the kind of way I'd imagine a supervisor or a goddess- scratch that last one, I've dealt with a few whiny kami. Carry on," she said, waving her hand.

Watching Miss Loki further embarrass Natalie with the outfit she tossed her, Junko looked on, shaking her head and frowning. If this is what this Loki does on a routine basis, no wonder Natalie is like that... she thought. She sympathized a little with the mechanical slime girl, due to not having a very high tolerance of bullying.

Junko jumped slightly, startled when Miss Loki whispered in her ear. Quietly cursing her own ineptitude for not paying more attention to the probable trickster goddess, she turned to respond. "AEGIS has gynoid like that, she came with us on vacation. Might even run into her latter," she said, before frowning and dropping her own voice to a whisper, "if this Eldon fellow has been stalking machines, you don't suppose he might have followed you guys here? There might be some trouble if Eldon tried going after Minerva."

After being told what Armitage was, Junko paused for a moment, before shaking her head, "Yeah... it doesn't ring any bells, sorry." She crossed her arms before carrying on towards the fitness center.

"Yeah, the Misfits are an eclectic bunch. The bizarre and strange are also normal for us too, so we ended up with a werewolf, a deranged shut-in, a walking tar pit, a crazy chick with a bunch of guns, a fireworks enthusiast, and someone who just won't die, lead by a girl with a metal arm. And all of them are magical girls," she said in response to Natalie's asking, "as for a zombie slime girl, I guess Brea could count in her transformed state..." Junko trailed off, staring hard at the floor in thought.

The longer the white haired girl listened to the way Miss Loki treated Natalie, and her general view point of others, the more Junko began to dislike the shape-shifting woman. Junko frowned hard at Miss Loki, "I guess you could call magical girls child soldiers. AEGIS isn't exactly too fond of employing them, but they step in whenever young folks decide to pull vigilante duty." Her frown lessened a bit, "Sometimes my world does seem like it's ripped from the pages of a manga." She laughed derisively, before carrying on, "Uh, I think that's the whole point of dubbing, make it so that a non-native can understand and appreciate something without tiny subtitles."

Following Miss Loki's rant about her job, the multi-verse, and defunct morality, Junko was reduced to uncomfortably shying away, until being confused at the other woman's about face. This woman appeared to enjoy screwing with people. "So, it seems you've got an... interesting job that I wouldn't want to wish on anyone, I think," she said with uncertainty.

By this point, the trio had arrived at the fitness center, with Junko leading the way inside.

[Deck 1 ~ Central Elevators] (Kokoro, Conrad, Mancipium, Rebecca, Sinistrina, Ryya)

Kokoro frowned at Mancipium as she approached Rebecca and Sinistrina. There was something off about her, like there was something missing, especially when the girl spoke. But, before she had a chance to voice her concerns, Conrad dismissed his companion's behavior as normal.

"Well, I don't mind you two being with us," she said to Conrad, "I'm kinda in the same boat myself. Never been on a cruise before," she explained.

She politely followed Sinistrina when she beckoned, listening in with morbid curiosity at the topic of necromancy. "So, you two can raise the dead? That's so cool!" she said, smiling. When the witch-like lady produced a mirror from her, the girl couldn't help but look at it with excitement, only to frantically look away when Sinistrina mentioned the mirror's soul stealing nature.

At the mention of Sages, Kokoro's attention was grabbed by the conversation Ryya and Conrad were having. "Sages? I know a sage!" she said ecstatically, before frowning a bit, "she's a bit weird, though."

With Conrad and Ryya mentioning they were exiles, and Rebecca mentioning people getting executed for witchcraft, Kokoro pouted. "Hmph, people can be real jerks sometimes, you know. I tend to weird people out, and not just because I don't have arms!" she exclaimed, raising her arm stubs for emphasis.

While the notion of handing a piece of paper to someone with no arms might come off as absurd, Kokoro wasn't bothered in the least, skillfully accepting the brochure... with her foot. Giving the brochure a once over, she tucked it away in one of her pockets before chiming in at the suggestion of heading to Club Pluto, "Yeah, that sounds interesting! I wanna come too! Lets go!"

I'll post for Club Bizarre later

Holodeck 2(Glitch; Robin)

"My only hope is that they won't disappear once the cruise ends." Robin, closing the case, puts its strap over her shoulder. "Well, Glitch, I'm done here. C.B.'s 'experiments' tend to run for a while, so I'm not in a hurry to go to the bar. You said Rolph ordered you to explore the Liner a bit. Let's do that, if you're finished with the Holodeck."

Club Bizarre (Discoverer of Subversions; Iragan; Loki; Nameless Songmind)

Iragan gives concerned looks to his newfound companions, one, apparently, more pompous and powerful than the other.

"This sucks," mutters he, straightening his robes. He turns to Loki. "'Name-calling' must take a lot of energy and creativity to perform. I imagine you left Asgard because they weren't paying you enough for that."

edited 13th Apr '17 2:19:45 AM by Millership

Abandoned Theater:

"What.", Sii-razh said raising an eyebrow. "I am what I look like... I am human.", he said, adding the last bit after noticing that his clothes left a lot to be imagined.

"Why were you reading me? If I was with whoever set this, wouldn't I insist there is nothing suspicious here?"

With narrowed eyes he steped back towards the entrance, yet stopped midway through the carpet, his right hand besides his body, fingers curling up as a fist then stretching again. Turning his head back to Lauren, he left silence hang in the air for a moment before speaking.

"Why were those instruments were in perfect state, in tune and displayed, begging to be played? Because there is an audience watching to this play."