Thirteenth of Firstmonth

Satsuki – Inconspicuous courtyard

“I can’t see the end.”

Satsuki had let her righteous anger slip, just a fraction, in the face of Witch’s exhaustion, despondence. The chink in the armour revealed moments ago becoming a gaping hole.

Only a fraction however. She had not come here tonight expecting to have to give the guardian of Zone 6 a pep talk.

“But I can see an end. An end to child soldiers and broken lives. And I will do everything in my power to see that my ending is the one that closes this misbegotten chapter of our city’s history.”

She couldn’t have expected what Witch’s next words would mean for that ending she envisioned. Her eyebrows rose as the guardian spoke.

“I had heard that the White Wolf had moved against him. If he really is gone…”

Things may come to a head sooner than expected. Her own words echoed back to her, mocking in their understatement. The city knew the scent of blood indeed, and Greed’s decapitated empire was too fat a prize for even the most cautious of scavenger to ignore.

The feeding frenzy would tear the quadrant apart. Burn her city to the ground if left unchecked.

Her mind was already racing, tracing her own preparations, preparing orders. The approaching war unfolded itself before her. She had to get back to the Well. Every hour, every minute was precious now.

“Thank you for the warning. Rest assured, it will not be squandered.” She was already half-turned to go, glancing back at Witch, pausing with a grim frown at that last request.

“The coming days will be busy for both of us. When the city is no longer burning around our heads, I will give you everything you need to know.”

With that, she was gone, vanishing into the gloom.

—

Twenty-eighth of Firstmonth

Zima – Zone 6 Streets

“You’re full of shit, Seija.”

Zima snorted, shaking her head with an approving smirk as she looked over at her friend, her hands stuffed in the pockets of her jacket. Seija was a maniac, but it was good to see her out of the clinic. Any other week, she’d have been right there to dunk on her with an even better story. Today, though… her heart wasn’t in it.

She was just so tired of... everything. Pretty much the day after she had fought Brando, half of Zone 5 erupted into a full-on gang war. Greed got his shit kicked in, apparently, and Kiryuin and every other gang in the quadrant smelled the blood in the water.

Zima had lucked out. She’d had to beat up some Hoods who’d been stupid enough to mess with the Backdoor. Besides that, the Pillar she lived in had only had to deal with some stragglers and deserters. Small fry, shithead cowards and kids. Still, she could see the fires in the warehouses along the canal from her balcony. She’d heard the stories doing the rounds - pitched battles, street-by-street killing around the Remora.

She’d gone to bed with her axe in reach every night. Sometimes she even managed to sleep.

And then, because the gang war wasn’t bad enough, while the Shrine Well and the Peeks were still mopping up, the strikes and riots started. She was happy to see people finally getting sick of the Egg Bastard, but still…

Zima kicked an empty drink can right in Aureum’s stupid face. Seija had gotten hurt by some scabs. Asuka was radio-silent after getting in a fight with Kiryuin. God knows where the militia had sent Suzie.

This city needed to calm its shit for five fucking minutes.

The sound of the crowd had jerked her back to the present, ears twitching, a few choice words in ursa growled under her breath as she saw the picket line filling the street ahead.

Speak of the fucking devil.

“You never worked in one of his places? No shit, the fat fuck screwed them over.” Zima finger-combed some hair out of her face as she surveyed the protest, hands going back to her pockets. “If he doesn’t replace you with one of his robots, he treats you like one anyway.”

"'Bout time he gets what's coming." She turned to spit onto the pavement. "Not like he's going to actually go to jail."

Edited by LittleMako on Apr 25th 2022 at 11:44:06 PM

Zone Four - Konohana Park - Meeting of Heavenly Gods

"I am more than willing to share the Praise of my children." Amaterasu says, after the others have responded. "But know that it is not belief that gives me power. It is gratitude. Should someone truly hold no love for me in their heart, their prayers will never give me any strength."

She regards the newcomer with curiosity, though something in the woman's words unsettles her. "Worship should not be expected, nor demanded. My children owe me nothing. I ask to shoulder their hopes, in return for helping them, but they are free to refuse and walk their own path."

Amaterasu's black eyes are unwavering. "You are right, that there is power in faith. But that is all the more reason to make sure that power is not abused. I trust my fellow gods here with that power. But tell me: why should I trust you?"

---

Zone Three - Hive Alleyway Access

Working with Peeks always leaves a sour taste in my mouth. But money's money, and being honest, Witch is probably one of the better cops. She's not as fun as Undyne was, but she's also pretty obviously not evil like Commander Birdbrain. She actually cares about poor people, for one.

Also, she doesn't make small talk. Gets right down to business. I can appreciate that.

"Yes'm. I'm good to go whenever." I reply.

I'm decked out in my fighting outfit,◊ and the Devilsknife is sitting in my coat pocket as always. Jevil's fortunately asleep at the moment. I don't know how good Witch is at sensing magical stuff, but I know Jevil feels creepy to people who can sense him, so hopefully she doesn't pick up on him.

I give Irvine a nod in greeting. We don't really see eye-to-eye; he's not a bad guy, but he's not fun like Sam or Hiroki. Then again, not a lot of people are. It sucks.

I get we live in some 1980-whatever nightmare state, but I wish everyone wouldn't be so damn sad all the time.

Edited by kagescorpionakki on May 10th 2022 at 5:50:54 AM

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Zone One; The Houraisan Estate - Jengbish

Twenty-Eighth of Firstmonth, CT.143

You keep your gaze about her eyes and steady, because this means not looking at her feet, which Areum has told you are obscenities. You do not look at her fingertips, playing about the tarnished brass of your memento moris, and maintain a careful ignorance of her expression. She is the moon, of course, remote and beautiful. She is not yours to know. She cannot be, but across a storied century, you've come at least to recognise when she is flirting.

It's working. You know when you are roused, when your blood is up and your interest is provoked, even if you can tell exactly what it is she's doing. You gaze at her, in quiet contemplation, for a long time. She's every reason to be coy.

“The great Jaghatai said that conquering the world atop a horse is easy," you say, smiling faintly over the edge your cup,"and that it is dismounting to rule which is truly hard. So he did not. I am not the sword of the Diet, Kaguya Houraisan. I will show you something."

You reach behind your waist and pull your knife, curved and scintillating in the sunlight. Though the pommel and the guard are pitted and the grip polished smooth by centuries of use, the blade remains pristine.

"This is my tulwar," you say, angling her reflection at her in the alloy. "There are many others like it, but this one is mine. It was made at the forges of great Quan Zhou, at the highest peak of the Khum Karta mountains, as I was made in the training grounds before the Khagan. Gods permitting, when I die, we shall return together."

You toss it, gently, and catch it by the tip.

"I have told you of the men my people serve, have I not? The grand High Lords of Terra. When at last I could no longer find excuses for their tyranny, this is the knife I drove into my captain's skull. He was as a brother to me, wise and stalwart, but I was committed. I was unhesitant. He was not. He was a veteran of a thousand campaigns, but could not bring himself to see the only war that mattered. I keep a tassel of his hair about my belt, so that I will not forget his final lesson."

You put you drinking cup down gently on the table and then take her by the wrist before she can retract, a lukewarm and almost unimaginably slender thing, leaning forwards until your eyes are almost level. You know she isn't scared by you.

"So that I will not forget what had ensnared him," you say, holding her hand in adamantium digits. "We are led by men who hide behind high walls, the same men born of every generation, praying that their filth will never rise up high enough to drown them. History cannot take place here. There is no changing of the bloodline. There is no cycle of the dynasties. Heaven draws no mandate. Do you know why I do not sit the Diet? Truly? Do you know why it is I'd rather spend my days out in the blur than rule the city my brothers died to help you build?"

Twisting as gently as you can, you place the knife hilt in her upturned palm and curl her fingers around the grip, holding closed her fist. The pommel goes up to her forearm, in her hands the size of a dao.

"It is because I know that soon I would mistake this stagnation for tranquility, and that lie is sweeter than any wine we've ever shared. Strike at me, Kaguya. This house has high walls too. Show me your resolve in this, and I will give you my answer."

And then you release her.

Edited by OG-Sama on Apr 25th 2022 at 4:34:52 PM

Zone Six; Angel's Flophouse - Leo, Kayne, Ayla

Theophilus Shinkansen Houraisan finishes the milk. He does not quail at your tirade. He does not even move at your tirade. He stands in the middle of your smoke ring like a sagging pelican.

"Well," he says, "it wasn't a bribe. It was an offer, though. I hoped that renumeration might ease your troubles."

As if to illustrate his point, five burly men muscle their way into the room. They look complete fearless, as if they don't care about anything Helena or any of the nurses have to say. Begonia squeaks and makes himself a little smaller.

"You're still fresh, Ainsel," says Guardian Houraisan. "All these years in the City, all this time rubbing shoulders with the great and powerful, and you still don't understand what drives people. They don't care about promises, or threats, or even children. They don't care one fig about ideals. Great-grandmother would tell you the same thing."

He looks at Ayla, as if he's already sized her up.

"I had nothing to do with the attack," he says. "You're welcome to try and prove otherwise, but you won't find anything. It was an act of frustration by some very disgruntled men, who received their punishment in full. At your hands, might I add."

He hands the empty milk bottle back to Begonia, who takes it.

"Now, why do you think my men were disgruntled?" he said. "Could it be that your activity in this Zone, your vaunted anarchism, your push against lawful authority, your support of violent radical elements, has only contributed to the destruction of all social order by Greed and his ilk? Or am I just waxing poetic?"

He doesn't shrug, but he might as well have. It's impressive how much he can say with that gaunt face.

"I withdraw my offer," he says. "If your pet savage threatens me again, I will have her brought in under Section 50(a) of the Police Act. Good day, Ainsel."

He turns and shuffles out, his uniform trailing him. The burly men follow in lockstep, like muscular ants.

Petunia looks at you. His green eyes are clear as glass, and you remember that he can read minds like street signs.

"I'll save you the trouble," says Petunia. "He wasn't lying. Or at least, he doesn't think that he was."

"What?" says Begonia. "No way. He had to be covering something up."

Petunia shakes his head.

"In his mind, he was telling the truth. I searched all his cronies' heads too, but I couldn't get anything. Unless Leo has something to add, we're out of luck."

"You suck," says Begonia.

"I do not suck," says Petunia.

"You do."

"Go die in a hole."

"You first."

"Shut up, twerp."

Begonia sucks in air, but fortunately, his inevitable whine stops short when he catches your eye.

"I am bold and forgiving," he says, "and will ignore that heinous slur. What are you going to do now, Kayne?"

He looks at Ayla, as if suddenly realizing that she exists.

"Woah. Who are you?"

---

Zone Four, Konohana Park - Godsmoot

Toyosatomimi-no-Miko says nothing. Instead, she removes the strange muffs from her head, revealing a surprisingly pink pair of ears, and looks at you for several moments, staring somewhere around your left eyebrow. Just when it starts to get uncomfortable, she puts the muffs back on.

"Well, Lord Everett," she says, "the reason why you failed the last time is that you were trying to get people to worship you."

She doesn't seem to be trying to offend you. It's just an observation, of the same kind she might make about a passing cloud.

"I mean no offense," she says, as if to confirm the matter. "Many years ago, I ruled my country in a man's guise. I learned the great secrets of the Way from a passing immortal, but I also determined that those great secrets cannot hold a state together."

She clears her throat, a startlingly human gesture, and begins to chant.

"People take the great ruler for granted and are oblivious to his presence.
The good ruler is loved and acclaimed by his subjects.
The mediocre ruler is universally feared.
The bad ruler is generally despised;
Because he lacks credibility, the subjects do not trust him.
On the other hand, the great ruler seldom issues orders.
Yet he appears to accomplish everything effortlessly.
To his subjects everything he does is just a natural occurrence."''

There is a twinkle in her eye. You begin to wonder just how she looked as a man.

"Such are the teachings of the Old Sage. He was wrong, of course. The great ruler has to issue orders, and he must be feared. Not through tyranny, of course, but through sanctity. To the people, the ruler must be a saint. He must be perfect, holy, chaste, and capable of miracles through his surpassing virtue. He must do twelve impossible things in a day and accomplish what cannot be done, lest the people look at him, and see a mere man."

She shrugs.

"Or, as things happen, a woman."

The crazy woman in the distance is still ranting about Dinkey Kings. You wonder why Amaterasu lets her be.

"The same thing applies to gods, Lord Everett," says Toyosatomimi-no-Miko. "Your power is not in yourself. It is as an ideal. You are powerful because people will turn you into whatever they want you to be. You should be the storm. You should be vengeance and justice. There are many things that you could be, if you simply changed your approach."

She puts her hand on her hip.

"If you want to put it in a simpler way, it'll be different this time because I'll be helping you."

She flicks her wooden clapper out. Something happens, you're not sure what, but then the crazy woman is here and not there, with her eyes wide and her curly hair wider, her mouth frozen in a paean of praise to whatever dark god she worships.

"Here is a believer," says Toyosatomimi-no-Miko. "She believes fully in the divinity of the great ape, Donkey Kong. She believes that Donkey Kong created the bounty of the land and the sea, and that he showers this city with his blessings. As you know, she has made no small nuisance of herself in the past few years, disturbing the public peace and swimming in baptismal fonts."

Again the slight quirk of her eyebrow, the lilt that transcends mockery.

"I would like to propose a game, my friends. Amaterasu-Omikami claims that I should not be trusted. Perhaps that is true, but I believe that at least she should be able to trust herself. If your argument is true, my lady, then there is no need for us to change her beliefs - unless you can explain to this woman why worship to the Great Kong should not be demanded."

She taps the woman on the side of the neck.

"The Great Kong demands all worship," says the woman. "All other gods are impotent before him. You are helpless before his furry might. Tremble, impotent dog of the tiny light! Tremble, blue scion of the drizzle! Tremble, woman of the covered ears!"

She turns her terrible gaze upon Elimo.

"I have no idea who you are! But tremble!"

Toyosatomimi-no-Miko leans back, reposing in spite of the fact that there is nothing behind her.

"Do not blame me," she says. "She would have come here to yell at you anyway."

"D.K.! DONKEY-"

Edited by troydenite on Apr 30th 2022 at 1:45:35 AM

'Being around you guys makes me go "wtf" instead of pondering the ever increasing dread of time' - EchoingSilence, 2023

Angel's Flophouse

-Ayla watches them go. Once again, she understands little of the words being spoken to her, but they are unmistakably a threat. She will have to ask Kay-ne for help in knowing which ones to fight. Then another looks at her in surprise.-

"Am Ayla. You, who?"

Helena, Angel’s Flophouse

Helena scowls as the Houraisan leaves. She wasn’t oblivious - bringing his guards into the hospital was no innocuous gesture, but an implicit threat of violence against Kayne should she stuck her nose into the city’s underbelly. Not that she could really do anything about that. She had taken the oath of a doctor, not a paladin, and Kayne would cease to be under her protection the moment she stopped being her patient.

Hiroki, Hive Hunt

I smiled as I noticed Susie enter. Her, um… rather frank way of speaking to people was quite the shock to me when we first met, and it had a habit of getting her into trouble. Still, there was something kind of refreshing to that compared to the unflinching politeness that was seemingly omnipresent within Japanese culture.

Irvine and Witch were both people I knew to be competent, which was obviously preferable to the alternative in a city where… well, that wasn’t exactly guaranteed. I’m somewhat unsure how the varying personalities present might end up clashing, but ultimately I don’t expect anything too eventful to happen. Hopefully we’ll just do our job without making too much of a fuss.

“Yes, I’m ready.”

Now we just needed to wait for Grey to… huh?

For a brief moment, something feels wrong. I think it might be related to Susie’s weapon, as I know it can give off a peculiar aura.

...

I don’t think that’s what this is, though. Whatever this is, I really don't like it.

...Regardless, the baleful presence vanishes as quickly as it appeared. This mission is more important than an unsettling feeling in a city full of unsettling things, so I put that oddity in the back of my mind for now.

Edited by HilarityEnsues on Apr 29th 2022 at 11:44:10 AM

Seija, Streets Full of Protest - Zone 6

"Oh no, you don't believe in the justice system?!" Hands were held up to her cheeks, pushing them together. Her words came out mockingly childlike. "You don't think they'll do what they're paid to do? How awful."

She wiped her nose and rubbed it on her pants. "Man, that guy's probably a huge pervert. Looks the part. Kidnapped some random lady and kept her in an abandoned warehouse; it doesn't take a lot to guess that he's got something wrong up there. Bet the..." Her eyes squint in thought. "...prosecutors won't even bring up that part. They all love acting like the elite are pure and chaste. Can't have your leaders fucking like normal people, otherwise they wouldn't be better than you!"

If only someone could, like, break into the courthouse, hang him, and start a massive revolution from that jumping-off point and save everyone the trouble. And a lot of people got hanged as a result.

The amanojaku was content to stand and watch for a moment, her eyes briefly dulling over from boredom. This only lasted for a few seconds, though. She perked up, leaned down and pried at the ground - there was a loose cobble in the street, and with some dexterity she got that hefty stone into her hand.

"Wanna break some windows? I think they'll start to feel a little bit more open." She tossed her rock a few inches upward. "They'll get a lot more done that way and it'll be less boring."

---

Kaguya, Houraisan Estate - Zone 1

Her eyes only ever looked into his with analyzation, not longing. Her finger had dwelt long on the blade, but if all he could show her was that brief smile, she believed herself to have failed. She wasn't too surprised - the man had proven all but inflappable before, and perhaps that was his finest point. It was easy to be stoic when you were above everyone else in the room, in more meanings than one, but he was skilled beyond mere "natural" talent. If only she, herself, had that sort of impassiveness honed...

As she reached for the other of his blades^* (the man was in possession of so many weapons over the years that, even with these being his favorites, she had never bothered to memorize all of their names) she leaned back, and kept some of her attention off of him. Her gaze become a little less coy, and her smile faltered to a more comfortable, friendly one. She kept quiet for his story, beyond a quick "Mhmm" to confirm that this isn't the first time he's brought up the men of Terra.

Most often, of their betrayal and his just reward for their servants.

They must have been some interesting characters to get that much bile out of Jengbish.

With the talwar placed in her hand and firmly pressed into her delicate flesh, she gave a brief look of feigned puzzlement. She weighed the blade in her grasp - Kaguya was no smith, but she had been around them enough to feel fine balance - and withdrew it from him. She readjusted her sitting into the more proper seiza.

"Some think you nothing more than a demon in the skin of a human, Jengbish." She looks down at the sunlight glinting off of the blade. "It's a disservice to you. What you lack in the grace of the aristocrats, you show in the contemplation that they dearly lack." She huffs a half-chuckle. "Besides, a mountain may have grace all the same."

Her eyes turned to him, looking down at his chest. Reservation crept in to her voice, but not the kind that precedes defeat...it was the sort belonging to those who feel the relief of doing something that could go wrong, but they desperately desired.

"I am stagnant, yes. I live in my own blur. I don't want this anymore...so please."

Even wearing as much as she did, and with the constraint of the seiza, she moved with respectable agility - moving over the table and sending its plates and dishes off to the ground with her trail of fabric, loudly breaking a couple, and ascending until she was almost equal to him. Her arm was drawn back and her dress made it difficult to tell where she was aiming toward until the last moment, but she shoved the talwar straight into his left breast.

She was hardly strong, but Kaguya knew that he would respect nothing she had to say if she wouldn't go for a killing blow.

"Swear you will aid me," she whispered into his ear.

Kayné Ainsel—Angel's Flophouse; Twenty-Eighth of Firstmonth, Accord 143

"Since he wants me to stay out of the Outer Zones' business so much, I'll go along with it for now," Kayne says, resting her chin on the back of her hand as she propped it on her leg. "And call in the cavalry in the Inner Zones. I really wasn't kidding about telling on him to Kaguya. It seems juvenile, but nearly everyone seems that way when compared with her, so it doesn't matter." She took a notepad near her bedside and started scribbling a message on it. Widget and Gizmo peered over her shoulder as she wrote it.

"I think he's wrong," she adds while explaining what happened on the note. "If everyone who does follow what drives them is labeled an agitator and a criminal, then their ideals can be safely ignored. Then, apathy can become the norm. But words like 'anarchy' and 'communism' are just that. Words. Attempts to box troublesome people into a specific label, no matter what their actual intentions or actions mean."

"I'm tired of being a firebrand. Fire has a big appetite, and bombs don't discriminate between who they hurt," Kayne admits, running her hand over her face. "People might whisper about how I'm willing to work with the system and people in power to achieve change, but it's them caring about rank and social rules, not me."

"When a pawn has reached the end of the board, rank, social standing, all that—it just seems to fade away into the background. I might be in denial, but..." she sighs. "I haven't got much left in the ol' war chest. Scavengers are tough, but after a while, our built-up resistance to drugs, poison, magic—it starts to become a liability. Painkillers stop working and magic healing doesn't stick. The world I'm from, it was so...mad that living in Zone 7 and exploring the Incoherence is practically therapeutic. The only form of rebellion I could muster there was going sane. But nobody seems to be willing to recognize my good intentions or leave my friends alone."

She squeezes her eyes shut tiredly. When she opens them again, the memories of searing sunlight contained therein have turned into the shape of golden gears, continuously winding chains around themselves and grinding them to dust. Some present would know what this means.

God Eyes...?

"I really do wonder how long it'll be before I'm forced to claim what I earned by right of conquest."

She blinks again, and the golden gears are gone. Her ravens take the note and fly off. Kayne stubs out her cigar and unhappily quaffs coffee as if it were hard liquor.

Edited by JumpingFruit on May 4th 2022 at 12:41:47 PM

I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.

Zone Four, Konohana Park—Godsmoot

Twenty-eighth of Firstmonth, Accord 143

You don't give the old woman time to finish.

By the time the first initial is out of her mouth, you have already begun to sublimate. By the time the second leaves, you're floating through the air towards her. By the time she finishes speaking that first name, you materialize directly in front of her.

You loom over the old fanatic wordlessly. Your eyes shine like spotlights, their glare hot enough to make the crone sweat, bright enough to cast her deep black shadow across the ground. The air thickens with the smell of ozone, and every hair on her body stands on end as sparks crackle about your fingertips and arc between your fangs.

You dim the lights just enough to let her make out your face. The furrowed brows, the sparking fangs, the lips pressed together to form a tight T shape. The protruding sockets with their blazing white orbs. It's a hard, pitiless face. The face of a man looking at a bug and contemplating whether he should step on it.

You lay your hand on the crone's shoulder. The sparks tingle but do her no harm. Your grip is gentle, yet firm enough to let her know that you could crush her collarbone with a simple clench.

Your expression softens.

"You're absolutely right. The Greak Kong is supreme. But a truly supreme being has no need of preachers or proselytes. By demanding that others embrace Donkey Kong, you betray everything the Great Kong stands for. Worse, you imply that He is not supreme, that He needs the worship of others to sustain Him, as we lesser gods do. That is the very height of sacrilege."

You give her a gentle smile. The glow in your eyes has faded to a pair of tiny little pinpricks deep in your pupils.

"You have strayed from the path, child. But you are not lost. You can still find your way back. If you would truly do the will of Donkey Kong, then set aside your sermons. Seek professional help. Only then will you be able to live in accordance with the Great Kong's teachings."

You release her then and step back. You turn your attention to Miko then, and your expression hardens.

"You've said nothing that I don't already know. And all the things you say I should be, are things I have already been." It's not a boast, but a statement of bald fact. "I cast down tyrants and liberated the oppressed. I brought life to the desert and destruction to the wicked. I could be everywhere at once and hear the prayers of my faithful from anywhere. There wasn't a single living soul in my world who didn't know my name, and seven million of them trusted me—trusted us—to guide them through the chaos to a better tomorrow."

Your voice grows sharp. "They had lost everything, like all of us. They were counting on us to keep them safe, to build a better world for them, and their children, and their children's children." The world turns red. Your hand clenches into a crackling fist. "And when they needed us most, we let them down!"

You slam your fist on the table. Plates and utensils jump.

You stand there, seething, your eyes bathing a platter of rice balls with hellish red light. Then the glow fades, and the tension bleeds out of you. You hang your head, but there's no hiding the anguish.

"I let them down," you whisper.

Your stump throbs. You clutch at it, fighting down the memories of that hell. For just a moment, your ears are filled with screams.

They fade away. You open your eyes anew.

"I was the storm, once. I was justice. Now I'm just a broken failure. Everything I've ever built, everyone I've ever tried to protect, everything I've ever achieved... they're all dust in the wind." You look at Miko. Your mouth pulls itself into a sardonic smirk. "So. Still think you want to be my hype man, O Prince?"

The Danse Macabre Codex

Salacia Persei Elimo; Zone 4, Konohana Park - Godsmoot

Toyosatomimi-no-Miko continued to steadily burn through Elimo's patience, rambling on about secrets and rulers and ideals and so forth. Perhaps that was one of the objectives of this meeting.

Then she said something about a game, and the woman in the distance who had been yelling was now close to them and was now yelling.

Elimo supposed that being a relative unknown was an advantage in this situation. Otherwise, the situation would have required more engagement, a condition she was rapidly becoming reluctant to fulfill. Before she could say a word, though, Everett floated over to the woman and began explaining the finer points of theology to her.

"I must agree," she said to the woman as Everett wound down the theology class. "Surely the Great Kong, in all his supreme glory, is wounded to see you so troubled. There is no shame in seeking professional h-"

And then Everett turned to Toyosatomimi-no-Miko and started talking - ranting, she supposed, if she had to put such a point on it - about his past as a worshipped god. It was certainly interesting information if one were to be so dispassionate, but he was clearly upset enough to toss the illusion that this was a simple social call out of the proverbial window.

One punched table later, no one else had said anything. Toyosatomimi-no-Miko was lounging in thin air with that insufferably smug smirk, Everett was staring at her, and Amaterasu... well, she was probably sitting calmly on her chair, the very picture of tranquility. Or sneakily eating another turkey slice. Either one worked.

"You would have us be as clay, then, to be molded by whoever would see in us something we are not. I cannot say that the proposition considers our own wishes." She met Toyosatomimi-no-Miko's gaze, her expression still calm. "Besides, Areum is worshipped in this manner, and recently it has earned her two assassination attempts. Ideals are powerful, but when they clash, all attached to them suffer. Surely you do not intend such strife?"

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Zone Three, Not too Far from the Hive Alleyway Access; Grey

"Look Vult, we'll have to agree to drop it. We're approaching the rendezvous and we don't them hearing anything... they shouldn't."

"I... fine. But we will be discussing this later."

"Very well then. We're almost there."

Perhaps I shouldn't have taken her with in the first place to get Deltsins' biometrics especially now that I know that she knew him. Doubly since I doubt it'll actually help with anything during this operation.

Unfortunate. Things might go different that what I have hoped for.

And of course, the matter of Kasane Teto.

I must take steps to ensure... her silence, if need be. But no time for me to take such steps just yet.

There they are.

Three mercenaries, aligned with the Satsuki Militia, and one of the better Gaurdians.

I don't really trust any of them, not entirely. But trust isn't needed for this plan. I just to act carefully and make sure nobody catches on.

Alright now then, time to- wait. Did one of them look over here? No, must have been my imagination.

Assume the usual mannerisms, and proceed across the street.

"Glad to see you all showed up, all of us here, right on time!"

"...Grey."

"Yes, Vult?"

"...I think we may actually be late."

"Oh. Well, moving on. I see you all brought your gear? Well, here's some other things."

I dropped the duffel bag I had with me to the floor and began ruffling through it.

Here we go.

"Alright, here's a few basic staff keycards, a lot of them ended up on the black market after the raid, as trinkets and the like. They're not exactly high clearance or anything but it should enable us to get to our first objective, if you would tell them Vult?"

Vult briefly sighed and carried on with the briefing as I rustled through the bag. "We need to get to the secondary central hub, which, thankfully, is not very deep within the Hive Complex, at least where we are entering. From there, we can restore some low level systems, not all of them, but some."

I pulled out the small bag of the communicators. "That should enable us to use these, courtesy of Vult, be sure to thank her, to communicate across the complex. May not be entirely reliable, though. Can only do so much, after all, without the higher level systmes. We'll also be able to scout out some of the complex via some of the surveillance systems and we'll figure out our next objectives from there."

I stood back up, placing the duffle bag back over my shoulder. I shouldn't need to take out anything else just yet.

Zone Six, Angel's Flophouse - Leonardo Watch

Leo, with a calm and professional attitude, yelped and scuttled out of the way as the skinny man and his posse left the room. It took a second for him to go over the conversation and piece together who the hell the guy even was - a Houraisan "in charge" of the Peacekeepers, he had to be one of the Guardians - and, upon figuring it out, had to swallow down the lump in his throat. Took one hell of a nerve to talk to one of the guys in charge that way, but Leo guessed that was a perk of actually having bite to back up your bark.

He was lost for a second in the anxiety-driven fantasy of Guardian Houraisan and his merry group taking offense to Kayne's rant and pulling out their assortment of weapons, and so was unprepared for Petunia dropping his name into the conversation. "Eh? Me?" he asked, one finger pointed towards himself. "Uh, haha, no, nothing to add. I mean, he had a gun, but that's not a crazy thing to bring to Zone 6. Nothing else stood out."

Not that he'd really know what he was looking for. "Spoken lies" were generally not tangible enough to see. More than that, he still didn't really know what he'd walked in on. Kayne had been attacked in Zone 6, right? Witch was in charge there, so what did Guardian Houraisan have to do with it?

As Kayne talked, Leo set to distributing his fast food goodies, starting first with Helena ("Hi, I got something for you too. Don't work yourself too hard, kay?"), then Ayla ("Uh, hi, I kinda lost my appetite if you want my burger...") and then ending with Kayne, food and drink set out on the bedside. His hand crept up to his nape, unsure of how to respond to her. It's not like he was unsympathetic to her plight - quite the opposite, in fact - but the growing deterioration of the city was always the last thing on his mind, and even moreso now that they had Brand to worry about.

"Anything we can do to help?" is what he eventually settled with, short and simple; if he meandered too much on what he should say then he'd never manage to get it out.

---

Zone Six, Precinct Nine - Ichiban Kasuga

They always say that idols are nothing like how they act in front of the camera, but even then, Areum's curt attitude seems out of sorts for her. Then again, she had nearly been killed twice... that was normal for someone like Ichiban, but it had to be a shock for a pop star.

On top of that, the new recruits seem to be stressing out both her and Jakub. Ichiban, admittedly, is softer towards the two - after all, he knew all too well what it was like to be the dumb new kid working with hardened professionals - which is probably why they'd been foisted on him more often than not over the past two weeks. Violet, he knows, will go and do exactly what Jakub says, but Usagi... well, she'd probably stick behind the desk for five minutes before getting bored and ending up in more trouble.

With that reasoning in mind, Ichiban leans down next to the girl and addresses her in a stage whisper. "Hey, Usagi. Areum's pet is outside and not feeling too great about her nearly getting killed. See if you can't go out and cheer him up, yeah? Just don't go wrecking anything."

Then he gives her a serious nod, signifying this is a Very Important Job for her to do, and a hearty pat on the back to encourage her exit. She got along well with that cat of hers, she'd probably do juuuust fine with Godzilla.

they/them || "Forgive me, regent of queer amphibians" - Lt.BGob

Kayné Ainsel—Angel's Flophouse; Twenty-Eighth of Firstmonth, Accord 143

Kayne heaved a ragged sigh, shook off the gloom as a dog would shake water and mud from its coat, and placed a gentle, motherly hand on Leo's head. "Thank you, honeychild. I'm really very sorry to have drawn you into my outburst, Leo," she said, more softly, before withdrawing her hand. "But it won't do any good to coddle you, and you deserve the whole truth."

"Commander Swain of the Peacekeepers was just here to pay me a visit," she began casually, folding her remaining hand neatly against the hospital bed sheets. "He told me that the Peacekeepers that assaulted me were not from Zone 6, but in fact from Zone 5, which is coincidentally Guardian Houraisan's Zone. There were no orders for my workshop to be broken up, so naturally, the lack of discipline falls on the Guardian of the wayward Peacekeepers. Namely, Guardian Houraisan himself. He did not take kindly to that notion, or wanted to perform damage control, so he offered me a bribe to behave myself. You may have heard me telling him to go pound sand, and the rest is, as they say, history."

"Given all the conflict with Darien, I would say that the coming labor movement is likely to draw even more attention from him, and you've already proved your mettle well enough to Moko and I," Kayne finished, looking Leo in the eyes. "Whether you want to join is up to you, though I care greatly for your well-being and would rather you did not put yourself in harm's way for my sake." She nibbled a little on the food Leo had brought and nodded to herself.

Edited by JumpingFruit on May 8th 2022 at 5:12:58 AM

I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.

Zone Six; Precinct Nine

Officer Tsukino takes your words with a sheepish nod, but she glares when Areum speaks. You didn't even know she could glare. It's like she's replaced her face with an angry beanbag.

"Well, I don't think you're even on the force, so there! You're pink and blue and I think your hair is silly!"

"Understood, sir," says Violet, saluting in exactly the way you told her not to. "I will go check the pots, sir."

"You look like toothpaste! You're even worse than that guy who promised me marble cake!"

"Come, Usagi. It is time for you to stay out of the way."

"No! Justice! Love! Love and justice!"

Ichiban comes up and tells her something. Tsukino takes a deep breath.

"You're lucky I'm cheering up your pet!" she yells, before exiting at once.

Blessed silence reigns.

Jim taps her good foot and quirks an eyebrow.

"Well," she says, "I'm not going to comment on your hiring procedures, but I didn't know you needed kids on the force. Anyway."

She walks over to the front of the room, her steps measured and confident despite her limp.

"Every member of my family is special," she says. "My two brothers, for instance, have great extrasensory abilities, only enhanced by their magical degrees from Dom-Daniel. My father saw signs in the stars, and my mother dreamed dreams."

She puts her hands on the table. Her fingers are long and slender, but you notice that she hasn't clipped her nails in at least a week.

"I see the future," she says. "I can't control what I see or when, but every so often, I catch a glimpse of an event that hasn't happened yet. That's how I was able to substitute Vivy for you, Councilor Areum."

It's an audacious statement, but she's looking at everyone like it's the most normal thing in the world, as if she's informing you that she has two hands and two feet.

"I did a little snooping after the fact," she says. "The spell that blew up your backdrop was a triggered bolt of annihilation, charged with enough power to take your head off. It came from a wand placed inside the eye of a telescope in Founder's Park."

She reaches inside her pocket and drops a small withered stick on the table. You can still smell it.

"When I was a bit younger," she said, "I worked for a small multiversal conglomerate called Artifacts Incorporated. They manufactured this wand. As a matter of fact, their boss is in the City at this very moment. A man called Darien Brand."

She places a single business card on the table, embossed with an address and a name. It purports to be from a Darien Brand in Zone Three, dealing with magical goods and sundries of some kind.

"This will take you to him," she says. "He's wily, and ruthless, but he's nowhere near as powerful as he used to be. If you want to bring him in for questioning, now's the time to do it."

Jim Smith takes another three cards and hands them around, one for each of you. These ones have a different name on it.

Smith, Smith and Smith
Magical Investigators
Zone Five, Twenty-Ninth Street
Feel Free To Send A Raven

"I also know that the assassin who tried to kill you the first time dropped from the sky," says Jim, "even though this city doesn't like you doing things like that. Powerful magic. Might be worth asking Brand about it, too. I will say, however, that I'd prefer it if you didn't mention me at all. He isn't very kind to former employees."

She places her hands on the back of Areum's chair, an impressive feat given the size of Areum's hair.

"Alright," she says. "Questions, doubts, interrogations, beatings? I wouldn't trust me, either."

---

Zone Four; Konohana Park

The cultist's mouth goes limp, then forms an O. She begins to nod with increasing fervor, agreeing with everything you say.

"Yes," she says. "The Great Kong does not need worship. He is supreme. He is the greatest. I demean him with my efforts. Why did I not understand this before? Truly you are blessed."

Toyosatomimi-no-Miko smiles. It's a charming smile, but it isn't quite pleasant. To be pleasant, it would have to be genuine, and there's far too much in that smile.

"The red dust of the earth is what we must shake off, before we reach the pureness of nirvana," she says. "Someone else taught me that. That was an impressive display, Lord Everett. I will be much more than your hype man. I will be your hype woman."

She throws her head back and laughs, a peal of bright bells and doves, then turns to Elimo.

"My goal is not strife," she says. "I do not seek to bring discord, but harmony. The Concordanite attack has shaken the public's faith in religion. We must work together to show them that the gods do care, that they are involved in the affairs of men. Lady Amaterasu cannot fight this battle alone."

She sweeps her violet cloak aside and strides forwards.

"It is time to proselytize," she says. "If you would come with me?"

"I am not done," says the cultist.

Toyosatomimi-no-Miko looks at her, but then the cultist looks at you. She looks at you with her hands clasped to her chest and her eyes wide, and you begin to feel distinctly uncomfortable.

"I have seen the folly of my ways in providing the Great Kong with extraneous worship, demeaning his majesty," says the cultist.

"Well, yes, that's very nice of you," says Toyosatomimi-no-Miko.

"The Lord Everett has revealed this to me," says the cultist. "I shall serve him for all my days."

"A wonderful idea," says Toyosatomimi-no-Miko.

"Praise the Bringer of Fog! Praise the Scent of the Storm! Praise the Lord of Ozone!"

"Praise him greatly," agrees Toyosatomimi-no-Miko.

"E.V.! EVERETT! E —"

---

Zone Three; Hive Alleyway Access

There was a bomb last year, basically. That was what started it. It turned eighty-one people into gleaming hunks of crystal, like Andradite only dead, and because it was in the middle of Zone One and not in one of the poor areas, the Diet stopped pretending to deliberate and sent Jengbish.

You hear they had to scrape the walls clean after he was done, but knowing Jengbish, you doubt it. There wouldn't be any walls left.

The bombing was done by a group called the UUU. The UUU follow a doctrine called Ul Soc, or at least, they branched off from it. You don't know that much about Ul Soc. Politics has never been your brew of choice, and because political theorizing, pamphleteering, hypothesizing, and criticizing are all acts punishable by life imprisonment, it's probably best that it stays that way.

Being a Guardian makes you powerful. It doesn't make you untouchable.

All you know is that the bastards built a damn good secret base, and that there's all kinds of traps inside, and that if you get to the bottom there might be valuable loot of the scientific variety.

It's a dungeon dive, basically. Your favorite.

---

There isn't any door, because of course there isn't. What there is, however, is a large steel plate hidden artfully behind a dumpster, which rotates to reveal the inside of a fetid stairway. It takes you and Susie to move the dumpster, but once you're inside, you realize that there isn't any light, and so to stop everyone from breaking their heads on the steps you leave it open just a fraction.

You're not scared that anyone will follow you in. Your problems are in front of you. Down past the stairwell are the corridors, each one illuminated with fluorescent strips, the sliding doors wedged open by crates, abandoned lockers, and whatever else the survey team had on hand. It's like the Incoherence, but slightly less foreboding and slightly more annoying.

Ul Soc was attractive to precisely no-one except a handful of scientists. Because calling themselves Ultravisionary Socialists was entirely too passé , they chose instead the title of the Ultravisionary Underground Unit, or UUU, and in keeping with the term, set up several complexes like this, where they could conduct experiments without being bothered by the Ship-Scientists' Guild.

You're not sure why exactly the Ultravisionary Underground Unit needed to adhere to Ultravisionary Socialism in order to conduct Ultravisionary Underground Experiments, but it doesn't surprise you. Scientists tend to find the strangest and most outlandish ways to justify their own behavior. It must be something in their brains, or maybe their glasses.

What does make itself clear is that the complex displays an astonishing disregard for design. Instead of the sensible, ordered rooms that you might expect from any other research lab, the corridors branch out from each other like a mess of worms, heading out from each other at every angle, burrowing through the soil in whatever haphazard direction their builders felt was necessary.

As you come to a fork in the halls, split rather outlandishly into three, you look at the blank map and realize that this is probably why it isn't finished.

A security camera swivels around, looking at you, but it doesn't do anything.

They all look exactly the same.

---

Zone Six; Streets

"HEY!"

The voice doesn't cut through the crowd because of its volume. It doesn't cut through because of its violence. It doesn't even cut through because the speaker can be seen.

No, it cuts through because it sounds like anger in its shrillest form.

"HEY!" shrieks the voice again. "QUIET DOWN ALREADY! I HAVE A GIGANTIC BOVINE RECOVERING FROM EYE SURGERY! WHO SAID YOU COULD PROTEST DURING WORKING HOURS?"

The crowd, shocked into silence by this fearless barrage, falls quiet. The speaker jumps on a street sign to be seen, clinging to the pole with tiny feet. You see that he is a long furry weasel of some kind, if weasels were slightly fat.

"It's our right to protest," says an old man. "We want Eggman gone."

"And we aren't working," says the penguin.

"Look, old man," says the weasel. "I don't know how anything works where you come from, but Eggman's done nothing but good around here. Look at those factories, those roads, those beautiful public amenities! You think they built themselves? No, it was Eggman! And capitalism! But mostly Eggman."

The crowd murmurs, shocked at this blatant display of Eggman defending. A small girl, no more than seven or eight, raises her hand.

"Are you in favor of the tyrannical egg, Mr. Weasel?"

"Favor is such a strong term," says the weasel. "I reserve the absolute right to respect a man for his lack of public decency. I mean, sure, he may have kidnapped one of my co-workers, but who doesn't do that once in a while? I was kidnapped too, and you don't see me complaining about it. Everyone gets kidnapped once or twice, it's just how things are."

"Okay," says the small girl. "Mommy, let's kill him."

"Also, I am not a weasel," says the not-weasel. "Wait, no."

"FOR MY BROTHER!" shrieks the hamster on the penguin's shoulder.

"FOR HIS BROTHER!" squawks the penguin.

"FOR THE FIVE GENERATIONS OF MY DISPLACED FAMILY!"

The crowd surges in, protesting at high speed.

"Simons' pure tax!" wails the not-weasel. "Oh, help, murder! My reasonable opinions are being suppressed by mob tyranny! My rights are being quashed! My OUCH THAT'S MY TAIL —"

---

Zone Six; Conference Hall

Together, the Guilds of Concordia control about half of everything. They began as independent professional associations, but like all things in Concordia, they tended inexorably towards the Diet, and now they have an iron grip on almost every respectable profession. If you want to operate in this city without being written up, you have to be in a Guild.

The Guilds take fees. The Guilds broker deals. The Guilds collude among themselves to spite other Guilds.

Not everyone is happy with this. It doesn't actually matter. The Guilds don't particularly care.

You wheel yourself into the conference hall. It serves as a workhouse on other days, because space is at a premium in Zone Six, but for now the benches and tables have been replaced with rows and rows of chairs, and on these chairs are representatives from every Guild in Concordia.

Some of them don't mind what you have to say. Others hate you, and you have a feeling they might have been glad to hear you were attacked. You're not actually sure if anyone likes you.

As you come to the stage, a representative meets you at the foot of the steps.

"Master Ainsel," he says, using your Draughtsman title. "It's good to see you. The assembly is ready for your remarks."

His voice is oily. You notice that he isn't offering to help you up the stairs.

Edited by troydenite on May 11th 2022 at 12:27:49 AM

'Being around you guys makes me go "wtf" instead of pondering the ever increasing dread of time' - EchoingSilence, 2023

Zone 3, streets ~ Teto

...okay, I'll admit, I've been walking around this place for who knows how long. I don't even know if I'm still in Zone one. Plus, it's not been a day since I got myself in this city. I stop walking to catch my breath and just look at the sign near me and skim through it. And by skimming through it, I mean didn't read it cause I have other things to do besides reading the sign. Plus, it looks like it came from the store...which I look at it and decided to go inside cause I need to sit somewhere.

Zone 3, Don Quixote ~ Teto

Once I got inside, the store...smell nice. Normally, any store I went to with my master smells okay, but this store does a better job at smelling nice than any old store back home. While not paying any attention, some guy walks up to me and asks me something. But, then again I wasn't paying any attention.

Zone 3, Don Quixote ~ Teddie

Uh, hello? Miss? Can you hear me?

I wave my hands in front of her to get her attention. But, from looking at her, it seems she came from the hospital. Not sure which one and which Zone for said hospital, but yeah, she did come from the hospital. Should I boop her? No, it might consider being one of those illegal assaults in this city when booping is fine where I came from. So, what do I do besides running around as I did in the Aruem turn wrestling turn Vivy concert? Just ask if she's okay.

Um, miss, are you okay?

Zone 3, Don Quixote ~ Teto

I stop dazing around like some rando and I just look at the guy. From what I'm looking at, he's probably asking if I'm okay.

I'm fine. I've been walking for who knows how long, but I figured I can-

Zone 3, Don Quixote ~ Teddie

Ah, so you were looking for one. Well, come right into the interview room so we can start the process!

I'll admit, she was probably not looking for a job, but I just can't let her be jobless. I went into the interview with her and put up a sign that said do not disturb the job interview unless it was something important.

“You bowl with 3 middle fingers” Oh hey, a troper wall

Peacekeepers - Zone Six - Precinct Nine

At last the new blood does leave, but not before Usagi gets into a playground spat with a Diet member. "Kurwa!" Jakub mutters to himself, slamming a fist on the table and pointing at Usagi as she leaves. "Of all the fuckin-" he starts to say, before Jim makes a comment about hiring children. "We don't," he cuts in, "but it wasn't our call. If it had been, they'd've been cut loose by the end of their first day." He groaned, and looked down to straighten up the papers he'd shuffled around in his outburst.

Witch was going to be furious. At least maybe this lady could give them something to work with.

"Brand, huh?" Jakub said, inspecting the proffered business card. It practically oozed 'rich douchebag'. "Sounds familiar. Think the boss put in a report requesting the folks in Zone Three investigate his shop in relation to another case." When more cards were offered, he took one.

"We don't do beatings here, but yeah, I've got a question," he said after Jim had finished explaining herself. "You know about the first assassin, then? You wouldn't happen to know anything about why she suddenly blew up, would ya? The way I hear it, she was all ready to talk and it sounds like she realized something was up and ran off to isolate herself before she went bang. She said she wasn't working alone. Sounds like whoever she was working for knew she was about to spill her guts and hit a kill switch to keep her from talking."

"And more importantly, what's your angle? Why're you trying to help us?"

Witch - Zone Three - Hive Alleyway Access > The Hive

You nod in greeting to each of the arrivals, taking in each of their affirmations, your gaze lingering ever so slightly longer on Susie than the other two Militia members as a brief and subtle look of recognition crossed your face. You had, admittedly, skimmed the notes on her, more focused on larger matters and content with the lack of red flags, but there was no denying it now that you were face to face; She was one of Zima's friends. The presence of a fiendish magic item on her person didn't even register by comparison. Not like she was the only one, either, with Hiroki and his sword; Nor were you one to judge someone purely by their choice of equipment as long as they were still effective. Long gone were the days where you would turn down a boon you could make use of. You'd seen war make corpses of moralists as well as your friends, and nowadays you'd take whatever advantage you could get.

"Good," you said, quickly glancing back at the duffel bag at your feet before you picked up on the arrival of the last two members of the expedition. Grey and Vult. You supposed you were grateful that they came to you for help, rather than attempting to go in themselves. It might've taken time to piece everything together otherwise, but they would've certainly been executed once the investigation caught up to them. Naturally, the relative lack of details regarding their plan only served to give you further pause. The two of them, both individually and together, were hardly threats, but you weren't the only one at risk if something went down, and regardless, that wasn't your concern. The real risk wasn't that they might betray you, it was that they might be after something that could be dangerous in the wrong hands. The three of you knew exactly what sorts of things were originally contained within the Hive, and what might still remain yet unearthed. Nobody was going back into this place just for the promise of gold.

You took a keycard and communicator when they were offered, stowing them in your belt pouches. "We're going to want to stick relatively close until we can restore some of the systems. Most of the security and living samples were dealt with during the raid, but there was no shortage of threats beyond the realm of individuals. We wouldn't want anyone to get caught out by themselves in the event something else broke out. Much of the complex should be inoperable, though, thanks to the containment efforts. The salvage teams were rather zealous when it came to severing any lingering connections to external infrastructure." You knelt down and unzipped your own bag and fished out a handful of gas masks; Two of the five were shaped for non-human heads. Visible within the now-opened bag was a variety of equipment, including lengths of chain, trauma kits, healing potions and electric lanterns. "I had these procured in case anyone wasn't already prepared for chemical weapons. Most of our forces during the raid had to evacuate before we secured the complex due to a toxin release in the ventilation system. Help yourselves to anything else in the bag, we might need it." Once everyone else had finished collecting whatever gear they wished from the bag, you zipped it back up and slung it over your shoulder.

This time, at least, you were fully committed to seeing to it that everyone leaving the building would be doing so on their own two feet. Heavens knew Zima would certainly kill you if another one of her friends got hurt on your watch.

Soon enough, the entryway had been revealed and opened, leading into the sprawling underground network you helped clear out over a year ago. "I'll take point," you said as you pulled your shotgun out of your pack and stepped up towards the opening. "Irvine, Hiroki, would you two take up the rear?"

The maps you'd scrounged up were just as unhelpful as you remembered. "Grey, Vult, I hope you two have a good idea of where we're headed, otherwise most of our time is going to be spent navigating." Your newly commissioned goggles were already picking up readings from further within as well as from your companions. You eyed one of the cameras as it panned across the room, suppressing the urge to shoot it out. "Surprised some of the cameras are still running. There must be more reserve power than we thought."

Alex Mercer - Zone Six - Protest Funtimes

You were just in time to cut in ahead of the closing mob. A toothy grin passed your face as you scooped up the soon-to-be target of economic violence, the kind that might wholly unnerve an ordinary bystander. Just my luck, huh? you thought.

"Quit squirming and keep quiet, or I might reconsider letting them make boots out of you," you said to your impromptu hapless companion as you darted a short distance further away from the crowd. You quickly shifted your grip on the marten, letting go of his tail in your right hand and firmly grasping him by the scruff of the neck in your left. This definitely wasn't what you'd expected to run into on your way to the sudden meeting of the Guilds, requested by the City's latest victim of police brutality. And yet, sure enough there was a protest that up until seconds ago had seemingly been peaceful, at least until this fuzzy snarling noodle with unbelievably bad situational awareness managed to piss them off.

Really, though, if all it took was a single idiot running their mouth to set a mob to turn violent, it was a wonder they hadn't done so already. These fools had no chance of getting what they wanted by their own methods. Satisfied you'd put enough distance between yourself and the throng of bodies, you spun around and quickly turned to face the crowd.

"Good people of Concordia!" you said, holding your free hand out in front of you and tucking the troublesome critter in your other behind your back. "Surely this isn't the look you'd like your opponents to catch sight of? Come on, step it up! The Guilds and trade magnates aren't gonna give you the time of day if all it takes is one fool capitalist to rile you up! Go ahead, protest, get mad at what happened, I won't pretend you don't have a good reason, but the instant you bring that anger down on anyone else then you'll be no better than the very man you claim to hate! Please, for your own safety and the well-being of your fellow members of society, keep this peaceful! There's been enough violence already!"

You eyed the crowd carefully, a slightly cheerful smile on your face, watching for signs of the winds changing. Hopefully they could be made to listen to reason. If they couldn't, well, you were quite a lot faster than they were.

Edited by lynkzero13 on May 16th 2022 at 9:39:10 AM

Zone Four - Konohana Park - Meeting of Heavenly Gods

Amaterasu can only watch as the others torment a poor woman. The woman is clearly distraught, maddened by something, and has turned to religion as an escape from it. What it is, Amaterasu does not know.

"That's quite enough." She speaks up at last. "It is clear to me now, Toyosatomimi-no-Miko, that you are not interested in helping us, or anyone here. You are only interested in helping yourself."

She hops from her chair and plods over to the woman who is now praising Everett. Gently, Amaterasu presses her head against the woman's hand, nuzzling her and encouraging her to pet the divine fluff.

"You do not have to praise anyone, if you don't want to." Amaterasu's voice is soft and kind. "A good parent never demands praise from their children."

Her gaze is firmly affixed on Miko when she says her next words. "And a good ruler need not be an ideal saint. No one is perfect; everyone makes mistakes. Even the gods."

---

Zone Three - Hive

I help Witch shift the dumpster to reveal the hidden passage beside it. Oh yeah, this is definitely a secret supervillain lair. I wonder if they have a growth ray? I could turn into Susiezilla and give Areum a taste of her own medicine.

I force myself to not grin like an idiot at the thought.

We walk down the secret stairway into the base, and discover that supervillains are apparently shit at architecture. And here I thought these guys were super-smart scientists or whatever.

I grab the gas mask shaped for my face, though I don't know if I'll even need it, and also grab a lantern, since this place is dark, and based on how many hallways there are we'll definitely need to split up at some point.

Until then, Witch takes point, Hiroki and Irvine in the back. I'm in the middle, even though I have an axe and Witch has a gun, but whatever. Doubt there's anything down here to fight, anyway.

It's kind of creepy, though. Between that, and wanting to look like I'm doing something, I whip out the Devilsknife and sling it over my shoulder.

It flashes into existences with a ripple of magic that I'm sure everyone here felt, that ripple of wrongness that I've only felt the Devilsknife make. On the plus side, Jevil himself is actually quiet for once. Still asleep. Hopefully he stays that way.

What is so amusing about this? Why do you take lives? How can you forget?

Kayné Ainsel & Moloch "Moko" Kothys—Zone 6, Conference Hall

I can feel my dear Moko's hand briefly tighten on my shoulder as we arrive. He would have wheeled me in, except we both agreed that it could be taken for an admission of invalidity—no shame in it otherwise, but it could be seen as weakness—on my part. Annoyance flits across his face, but he schools it back into place. He can smell the snake oil from here, then. I can too. Sometimes a lack of action can be telling, like a rubbing taken from a page where the words on it have been erased. But as far as we are concerned, a lazy snake is easy prey for stoats.

"It's a great honor to be here," I say back to the representative. I do not add a "Sir." The lack of it is telling, given that I use respectful honorifics with most everyone else. Witch gets a "Miss" because it would be rude to call her Witch alone, as if her name were an insult, and Swain gets a "Sir" as an extension of my respect for Witch, who is my spear-sister and friend. Here, too, titles dominate. They call me "Master," but mean to say I am not one of theirs. In the slums, they call me "Doctor," though I have no formal education and am not part of any of the medicinal guilds. Power lies where people believe it lies, and the true face of power is not only the chessmaster who presumes to see the whole picture and all involved in it, but the cardsharp who counts the cards and bluffs with what they are dealt. Where there are gaps in implication, there is room for irony. "And to be allowed to stand before you all as an equal. Many thanks for your most accommodating hospitality."

Moko extends a hand to me with an easy grace, and I take it and rise. He hands me a cane and wheels my chair to the side. He comes back to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and cup my face and murmur his love to me. <For luck, in case you're shot,> he thinks over to me, half-jokingly. <Well, they'd have to shoot me, since they can't even cut along a dotted line,> I titter back, referencing the new scar on my gullet. Our humor is as black as my dresses, worn in memory of comrades long past. Even here, in Concordia, where the wastelands seem no more than hazy memories of a childhood dream. Or perhaps it is only the dream that has changed, and we remain the same.

My new temporary prosthetics fit well, but I am not here to show them off, so as I ascend the steps to the pulpit, I limp. Sometimes, a limp can be a weapon, too. A bird will sometimes fake a broken wing to lead predators away from their nest. I limp to show my resolve to all who are watching; I am (or was) wounded, yet I am here anyways. I limp to gain the sympathy of those who still have it in their hearts. I limp to shame the hosts of this gathering for their lack of hospitality. As I climb, a raven alights in a window. I know Swain knows that I know he has an interest in this gathering. I give it a nod of acknowledgement that could be mistaken for lowering my head with exhaustion.

"Guilds of Concordia," I say, standing under my own power, because nobody has lowered the pulpit. I pause for some time, pretending to consult my notes. I can see some of my fellow Guildless in the crowd. "My friends," I add. They may interpret the pause however they wish. I have played this game too, long, long ago. I emphasize my Scavenger drawl to make myself seem more harmless. "Thank y'all for making the journey to lend me an ear in such new and contentious times. I have called this meeting to discuss recent events and the impact thereof on everyone present."

"In light of the riots after the dissolution of Greed's syndicate, I recognize that business among both guild members and the guildless has been affected badly," I continue. "And there are also many among both categories who have come to depend on my workshops for access to sundry tools and equipment when they were unable to replace theirs. However, I also seem to have fallen into some hard times, so with the sympathy born from similar ordeals, I have come to seek some assistance from you fine folks."

"I understand that the Guilds are a collection of craftsmen gathered together to protect the common interests of everyone in them," I state, as I push my glasses back up. "Given the recent property destruction shared among our respective circles, I would like to request that efforts be put forth to alleviate the issues that we face, such as the increased circulation of said sundry tools and equipment or monetary aid to be provided to those affected by the increase in violence in the Outer Zones. I would truly be grateful if any aid could be spared for my people, since we are all fellow craftsmen, y'hear?"

"Thank y'all for your time," I finish, clasping my hands beatifically, knowing that not much aid will be dispensed, if at all. The lack of accommodations here already illustrates the general opinion about my presence. If I weren't a Master Draughtswoman, they wouldn't give me another glance. They think that I'm a doormat. That despite all my rabblerousing, I am too compliant with those who stand above. I know better. One does not survive long under their gaze as a potentially loose cannon without charisma and guile. It grants freedom of motion, so that between Moko and I, we are free to take the pulse of any Zone without seeming like we do not belong in its context. Let the Diet have its knives hidden behind silken smiles. I know the secrets of walking seen but unseen, of shaping iron, of bone and branch, of tooth and claw, and they will have to be enough.

There's a reason I mentioned those within guilds and those without. Strictly speaking, nothing I claimed was untrue. There is a greater chance of them refusing to grant aid, potentially betraying their own people, which is something that benefits me. If they do decide to grant aid, well, that is something that will be good for my people too. If they give aid to only their own, that is also acceptable. My side will pull together all the stronger for it.

Birds fly, fish swim, and Scavengers learn to scrounge any advantage from thin air or die trying.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 16th 2022 at 7:46:20 AM

I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.

Zone Four, Konohana Park—Godsmoot
Twenty-eighth of Firstmonth, Accord 143

You raise an eyebrow at Miko's laughter. Hype woman. As things happen, a woman. You're starting to wonder if the one-time prince has issues about her gender identity. It wouldn't be the first time you've seen other gods grapple with such things, after all.

That foxlike face flashes before your eyes again. A calloused hand comes up to cover that slyly grinning mouth. As it does so, the jawline softens and smooths out, and the fingers grow slimmer and more delicate. You can almost hear her say, "Case in point..."

You push the image out of your mind. This is no time to be getting lost in reverie.

The others are speaking up. Neither Elimo nor Amaterasu are buying what Miko's selling. Big surprise there. You open your mouth—

And suddenly the old fanatic is back. And she's chanting your name now.

"Oh, for crying out loud..."

You never did like zealots. History, and experience, have shown you that they're the most likely to take a message of peace and twist it into a call for violence. To slavishly adhere to the letter of a commandment without giving any thought to the spirit behind it. It's a lesson you learned back on the Cube, a lesson that was reinforced a few short years ago in this very city.

And yet, as you turn to face the old bag and tell her to stop, you feel it.

A sensation deep in your gut, like an old, rusty tap slowly being turned.

You blink—

---

—and find yourself in the Cave.

It's been weeks since you were last in here. Weeks since you forced a fragment of a foreign Sun to heel. In that time, the place has regained its sense of tranquility. The ceiling is lost in the darkness. The water stretches in all directions beneath your feet. As always, it casts its pale blue-green glow everywhere. As always, it's as still as the surface of a mirror.

You look down. You see the face of the man you once were, the man you could have been, staring up at you.

Plop.

Your reflection wavers and distorts. Ripples roll across the water's surface from somewhere behind you.

Plop.

You turn around. The stone face of Tlaloc looms out of the darkness, as still and silent as ever, the water's light playing strangely across his jaw and fangs and cleft lower lip.

Plop.

Something falls from one of the statue's downcast eyes. It's so small that you can barely make it out, let alone tell what it is, yet the sound of it striking water is oddly loud in the silence of the Cave. The ripples spread outward from the point of impact and quickly disappear, lost from your sight in the gloom.

Plop.

The water's surface barely has time to still before another impact disturbs the tranquility. You look up and squint.

There, on the inner rim of the tube. Something small and glittering squats there. It runs down the thick edge of that goggle, dangles from the underside for a second or two, and falls.

Plop.

It's water.

Your eyes widen. No, it's not just water.

It's faith.

You blink—

---

—and find yourself back in Konohana Park.

You shake your head to dispel the last dregs of the vision. Amaterasu is pushing the old woman away from you. She's remonstrating Miko.

You should be angry. This is the first worshipper of any sort you've had in almost fifteen years, the first time you've felt any sort of faith trickling in, and now the wolf is trying to take that away from you. You should be mad at Miko for encouraging the old woman's behaviour. You should be mad at yourself for even considering this as a potential source of faith.

And yet, you don't feel mad at all. You're too distracted by what just happened.

That was damned weird. The Cave isn't supposed to pull you in like that. You choose when to go in there, it doesn't choose for you. Not since you made it your own. Not since...

Your eyes widen. Then you frown and cover your mouth.

After all these years, could he finally be waking up?

The Danse Macabre Codex

Zone 6, Conference Hall

-Ayla looks at the disturbing sight of her friend, alone and defenseless despite the new limbs. She does not understand why she could not stand next to Kay-ne, if her attackers chose that moment to strike. During a meeting of tribes it was customary for sheathe all weapons, but everyone was expected to be able to defend themselves if the Reptites attacked.-

-Kay-ne speaks, but many of the words go over Ayla's head. She grabs the man next to her in the audience.-

"You, say Ayla what happen. Words too long. What Kay-ne say?"

Salacia Persei Elimo; Zone Four - Konohana Park

Elimo watched Toyosatomimi go on about proselytizing and encourage the woman to worship Everett. He looked quite uncomfortable at the situation, and she felt a pang of sympathy that he had bared his soul and received only a dismissal of his concerns.

The unnamed woman was yelling about Everett being the Lord of Ozone and so forth while Toyosatomimi looked on approvingly, clearly taking the moment as nothing less than a success. The look on her face-

Elimo rocked backward as if she had been struck, pain flaring in her chest, hopefully not anything that couldn't be excused as exhaustion. Konohana was there, but not there, a feeble overlay where everything was fine and Toyosatomimi-no-miko was herself, not a looming figure blazing with power at the head of an army, cutting swathes through a defenseless crowd, and once they were all dead the soldiers cheered, blind to the fact that-

Amaterasu stepped forward, telling Miko that she was obviously in this for herself and also nudging the unnamed worshiping woman for pets. Konohana came back into focus, blood and bodies dissolving into the grass, and Elimo realized dimly that she would probably be getting weird looks if she didn't start talking soon.

-Oh. Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time, but... I suppose it is good fortune that Amaterasu is hosting. She is not one to ask too many questions.

"I am spoken for, then," she said after a few moments. "You will forgive me if I seem tired. 'Tis not often I am involved in decisions of such magnitude."

Irvine; Zone Three - Raid Time

Irvine relaxes visibly at the sight of trauma kits and healing potions in Witch's all-encompassing duffel bag. He takes two healing potions and a lantern from the bag, carefully not reacting to the spike of pain in his forehead that's suspiciously coincidental with Susie whipping out her weird scythe...axe...thing. "That's three. Just my luck," he mutters before he puts on a gas mask, carefully rearranging his hat so it doesn't fall off. Then he goes to the back of the formation because Witch said so.

She hadn't told them to do anything particularly terrible yet, he reflects. He had seen Susie hanging around Asuka a few times and had the vague impression of an acquaintanceship between them - maybe that was why. Anything bad happening to Susie meant a Satsuki upset that one of her daughter's friends was allowed to come to harm while under Witch's supervision. If Witch decided that they had seen too much or were taking something she didn't like and left them all to die, Satsuki's reaction would probably be greater than mild annoyance, which was probably some sort of benefit.

"So," he says, turning to Hiroki, "I'd say we have about five minutes before we walk into a room and some experimental abomination that's broken free of its containment tube is going to try and kill us all. Anything you'd like to get off your chest before then?"

So, let's hang an anchor from the sun... also my Tumblr

Hiroki

I put the gas mask on my face, a lantern, take a few healing potions, and get into position. Truthfully I wouldn’t be surprised if I could survive whatever toxins are in this facility without one given how generally hardy I am, but I’m not in the business of making foolish gambles like that. My senses were definitely good enough that I didn't need a lantern, but it'd be a good idea just so the others could see me more clearly in the dark.

I turn to Irvine. I'm curious why he's singling me out specifically with that question, and I can only think of a limited number of reasons why he might be doing that.

"Um... not really, to be honest. I don’t have any last minute declarations of love planned, if that’s what you’re asking.”

It was a joke - though it was also true, I wasn’t interested in him or anyone else in the militia in a serious romantic way - but I didn’t really know what to say when put on the spot.

"Seriously though, you make it sound like this is the last time we'll see each other or something. What's got you so worried about this time in particular?"

Edited by HilarityEnsues on May 16th 2022 at 12:31:32 PM

Zone 3, Don Quixote ~ Teddie

Inside the interviewing office, it just looks like a friendly office. Plus, as much as I have my fair share of quirks, I at least know how interviewing potential people work. However, as I said before, she was not looking for a job, but I figured I'll let the interview aside for now and just tell her what she needs to do here at Don Quixote.

Normally, this is where I interview potential workers, but I'll just let that slide since I'm the only one working here, and overworking is a big no-no.

I saw her narrow her eyebrows at me as if she disagrees with this.

D-d-don't narrow your eyebrows like that. I'm fully aware you didn't want to get a job here, but you're wearing a hospital gown with a good chance of having no clothes besides...the hospital gown. Tell you what, how about you live at my place until you save enough funds from working here to live in your own house while I'll pay for the hospital bill for you. Deal?

She appears to be thinking for a while but then sighs as she nods her head.

Sweet. Now, tell me which hospital you came from so I can pay the bill.

...Yagokoro General Hospital.

Yagokoro General Hospital?! If Yosuke was here, that's one way to make him even more broke than the cost of my clothes!

Ah, crap, I mention him right in front of her, did I? However, she just shrugs as she heads out of the interviewing room.

Say, where's the employee's lockers umm...

Oh right, I haven't introduced myself in front of her. I just show her my nametag as a way to tell her my name.

If you go to your left from this room, you'll encounter the employee's locker room, miss.

Okay, Teddie. Also, the names Teto.

Right, also, it's nice to meet you, Teto.

With that, she heads off to the employee's lockers. So, I figure it's best for me to not only go to Yagokoro General Hospital but also go there while crossdressing. I exited the interviewing office and head straight home to crossdress and go to Yagokoro General Hospital

Zone 3, Don Quixote ~ Teto

As soon as I got the work uniform on, he immediately head off to the hospital...at least that's what I think, but I'm used to it. Also, how come the store doesn't have a catchy jingle yet? Eh, I'll figure a tune or something later as I better do what store workers do. Besides, I still don't know who put me in the hospital yet. With these thoughts of who put me in the hospital in the first place, I just hum and sing a few words like Donki over and over again to keep my thoughts free from plaguing me.

Zone 1, Outside of Yagokoro General Hospital. ~ Teddie

With myself dressing up as Alice again cause I can, I arrive at the hospital where Teto came from. I'm not sure if she check with the nurses there to check out, but I'll act like I was the one who put her in the hospital and pay the bill. At least, that was the plan until I was feeling the stare behind me, and no, this isn't one of those stares whenever I crossdress. Sure, I can summon my persona, but that's something I would only do for emergencies. So, what would I do? I decided to turn around and see who was giving me that stare in the first place.

Edited by Xabbynip09 on May 17th 2022 at 8:21:31 AM

“You bowl with 3 middle fingers” Oh hey, a troper wall

The Hive; Alexi Vult

I grabbed the appropriate mask out of Witch's bag. Grey, meanwhile, drew his own gas mask out of his coat. Guess he doesn't really trust the masks Witch brought.

Right, which hallway was it?

"Alright, we need to go-"

"Okay, first of all." Grey interrupted, speaking to Irvine.

For fuck's sake, really?

Nathan Grey

"This is the goddamn maintenance or communications or somethings, point is that it's one of those behind the scenes places where people make sure the place doesn't explode or something, and it will undoubtedly not have any 'experimental abominations' as you put it."

"Secondly, we don't even have any 'containment tubes' as you once again put it. That would be a waste of good materials."

"Thirdly, we keep most of the living specimens and such over in cryogenics. They will not get out. Odds are anything we encounter will probably be from an experiment that was ongoing at the time of the raid, which likely broke out in the ensuing chaos of everyone shooting each other."

...

"Unless the cryogenic freezers break and automatically let them out." Vult commented.

...wait what?

Alexi Vult

"...how long does it take for them to break?" Grey responded.

"Varies."

"What do you mean, 'varies'?"

"What I mean is that they didn't really impose a standard design in cryogenics, they just all had to interface with the systems. So we end up with freezers that will function for a good thousand years and freezers that will break in less than 6 months without maintenance. Admittedly, those are the extremes, and the automatic maintenance systems likely stayed functional for a while. But, yeah, at least one likely broke, and probably more."

"...Ah, shit."

Grey turned back to Irvine. "Good news! You may just get that wish of dying horribly!"

"Oh and it's the left hallway" I interjected, finally answering that question from before Grey started ranting like that.

"Left what?"

Edited by Mindris on May 18th 2022 at 6:52:11 AM

Seija, Zone 6 - Seija Encourages A Lynching

"No, I've never had a factory job in my life. I'd probably hang myself if I had to slave away like they do - it's not the life for me." Seija's position in life? Professional rebel. Her salary? Freedom.

That is to say, she worked part-time at a greengrocer's not too far from here and got the rest of her wages by begging and stealing. She never really let on that she had such a normal job, but by this point Zima probably knew. At least, that's what Seija figured. She was just holding back her laughter for long enough to make it hurt Seija the most. Such cruelty had to lay past those fuzzy ears of hers.

"I don't even know why they've got a jail here. There's not enough space to really dump all the" she makes some serious air quotes here "undesirables" and ends them. "Just toss them out in the nothing outside of town, it's probably an easier punishment."

Then, in the course of time, Seija was audience to the prelude to public murder. What are the odds that they'd find someone stupid enough to start shouting in their faces like this? No, not odds, more like...comedic timing, that's right. Seija stood at the edge of the crowd, staring at them for as long as it took for someone to pinch at the little ferret's tail. Her mouth hung slightly agape in vacancy.

And then she laughed a lot.

"SERVES YOU RIGHT, FUCKER!" She pointed up at him from the distance, adding to the cacophony, and continued to laugh. Something about Zima being there wasn't registering in her brain, and she stopped caring about appearances. Her finger went from pointing at him to pointing at the sky, and suddenly...

...some bum in the crowd lept up at blinding speed, snatching away the ferret. Beyond a brief upward gust of air coming from the sign, nothing happened at all.

She snarled and threw a loud "COME ON!" that was drowned and easily ignored as the rest of the crowd similarly expressed their distaste. She threw a couple different sorts of upturned fingers in his direction as he ran, and then as he spoke, she listened.

Blah blah blah step it up blah blah trade shit blah blah capitalism blah blah anger blah blah nooo stop hitting me, I need my ratty jacket to look pristine for the interview I totally am having in five minutes. Seija grew bored quickly, and today was no exception.

"Shut UP already! Nobody cares! We want violence!"

So, while it wasn't the quite-dramatic flourish of the finger it was, her hand turned as it was held behind her coat. This wasn't necessary, but it seemed to help. Unless Mercer's fat capitalist-saving limbs were holding onto the ground firmly somehow, he'd flip over on his backside after floating in the air for a moment. And then he'd flip back to his feet. And then to his backside. Repeat.

Edited by wikkit on May 19th 2022 at 6:37:07 AM