A Game of Gods: A Multiversal Challenge

Rey leaned back. "Of course, the thing that alarms me here, is why exactly a scientist is traveling with such a large security force..."

Easing back into life one step at a time

"Oh not like I can make them any more angry my good man. You haven't heard what they've done yet!"

He turns to Jack. "Most of the powerful creatures are dead or imprisoned. Nothing should hold them back."

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

"I like to protect my investments," Bolas said, with something approaching a grin.

How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?

"Learned that the hard way." Raz responded to Bolas' comment about the Nomads. He winced slightly in rememberance of what Digamma had put him through.

edited 18th May '11 10:00:56 PM by Bindlestick

"You have more than enough potential. So tell me what is the one wish that would make your soul gem shine." -Mitt Romney, probably

Flandre seemed a little depressed, but she tilted her head. She was curious what it said about her and her big sister. "What do you know about me and Remi?" She asked it.

Link had found himself in the same predicament as the others, but after retrieving his belongings, was now sitting with the other Champions.

The Nomads... or other Nomads... have taken others to play their games as well, huh?

He fiddled with the band around his wrist uncomfortably, unaccustomed to technology such as it.

Finally, after a long period, he tapped it, and spoke into it.

"Phi- Module. What will my identity and purpose be in this world?"

edited 18th May '11 10:58:49 PM by troydenite

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

Icarax regestered no surprise as Link came walking out of now where but now was not the time for that.

Icarax turned to his Phi module:

"tell me who i am and what my job is ....".

Icarax tried to think of a suitable threat for a computer, came up with nothing better than i'll feed you to the fish and stopped.

edited 19th May '11 2:00:39 AM by biomechtraveler

Galen tapped his PHI module. "Identify Marek, Galen."

The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground

"I'll bite. What is my purpose? Is there a Narumi Detective Agency on Thor?" Narumi asked his PHI-Module

If it can fill me in on whatever fictitious history I have in this world, then why not?

-Zod addressed his own module-

"Profile and biography: Commander Dru-Zod."

edited 19th May '11 8:25:29 AM by Vox

"Rasputin Aquas," the young psychonaut's module informed him. "Doctor Freeman's ward and adopted son. You were found in the care of a Transhumanist Cult which believed that you possessed formidable psionic powers—or the potential for such—which could be used to alter the course of human history."

"Searching," Spriggan's bracelet intoned. "Searching...searching...[one] result found under 'Historical Fiction'. Trans Global Specialist Incorporated [abrv. TGSI (not to be confused with Tokyo Game Show Interstellar)], a short-lived private military contractor which lasted until 2021, at which point it was disbanded and its assets liquidated by the Panpacific Bloc, Indochina Province [then known as the People's Republic of China]. Source: unknown; assumed written 21st century by anonymous author."

"Negative," Narumi's module replied. "However, there is a Kuzunoha Detective Agency which operates throughout Hegemonic space. It is presently headquartered within the Mare Crisium on Luna, Sokichi Narumi, and you are one of its many operatives."

"Lady Remilia Scarlet was born, along with her sister Flandre, in the year 2797 on Gensokyo Primaris to the esteemed Scarlet family. In addition to pioneering the development of the highly-controversial induced longevity treatment—a prohibitively expensive medical procedure which artificially rejuvenates the patient's body on a cellular level, thereby extending both their lifespan and apparent youth—she is well known as the Planetary Administrator of Gensokyo Primaris, and is considered one of the ten most powerful and affluent people in Hegemonic space."

"Link Windhero, archaeologist, xenoarchaelogist and self-proclaimed 'adventurer'. A colleague of Doctor Freeman, you have come to Thor for a different purpose; you have a writ of authorization permitting you to study the rui—the rui—theee rrrrrrrruuuu—you have nothing. No life, no family, no friends...not even the fairy you yearned for for so long."

"Galen Marek, Marine in the EMSF and bodyguard to Commander Drew Zod."

"Sergeant Icarus Makuta, non-commissioned officer in the Terran Hegemonic Armed Forces. Colleague of Commander Drew Zod."

"Commander Drew Zod, officer in the EMSF and veteran of the recently-concluded Hive Wars. Infamous for your actions at the Battle of Rao, which saw you sacrifice 47% of the ships under your command to create a dense debris field which prevented the karkarlikarrh combatants and civilians from fleeing their colony before the star Rao went supernova; as a result, the enemy suffered 100% casualties. Your controversial decision split the Admiralty Board down the middle, and at present you have been relieved of your command until a proper consensus can be reached."

Suddenly all the Phi modules flashed red, and a guttural voice growled out,    "NO MORE QUESTIONS."   

And with that, the modules abruptly switched themselves off.

---

"Agent Ra Vajj, former major in the Terran Hegemonic Armed Forces and bearer of the seal of a Hegemonic Arbiter encoded to his genetic signature. In accordance with the Treaty of Moloch, all other information on Agent Vajj's service record and history are classified."

"Lieutenant-Colonel Megatron, veteran of the recently-concluded Hive Wars. In accordance with the Treaty of Moloch, all other information on Lieutenant-Colonel Tronne's service record and history are classified."

edited 19th May '11 8:48:42 AM by SullenFrog

The Danse Macabre Codex

"Well bloody hell we pissed it off!"

He then goes to Link. "Ignore it. Please."

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

"The hell?" Gordon muttered, shaking the module on his arm and looking it over. "I'm pretty sure that's not a programmed function for these things."

There didn't even appear to be anything wrong with the Phi-module, it had just shut itself off, completely without reason. Well, that and the less-then-savory sounding voice that had come out of it just before the module deactivated itself.

"... Hmm..."

"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."

"Interesting. I was going to ask it what my story is here, but whatever. Someone's mad, obviously."

"Yup. That tasted purple."

"Say Gordon... Do you know which Nomad that was? That sounded nothing like Tau or the one that tortured Raz."

To Be Updated when I'm not Lazy

At that moment the window separating the passenger and driver’s compartments slid open, and the chauffeur glanced through at the Champions and Overlords. “We have arrived, sirs and madams.”

With these words, the limousine’s windows brightened and became transparent, allowing the vehicle’s occupants to see their destination. The Einherjar Lodge was a thing of beauty, a crystalline spire of glass, plastic and steel which stretched upwards for twenty storeys and was wrought in the shape of a great mallet—doubtless the architect had been inspired by the fabled hammer wielded by Thor’s mythological namesake. The hotel seemed to revolve slowly along its central axis as the challengers’ limospinner approached, as though it were suspended partially by some manner of advanced antigravity system, and faint points of light that might have been elevators glided serenely up, down and across the long shaft which formed the majority of the building, radiant vessels traversing the hotel’s crystalline circulatory system.

The limo set down outside the intricately-carved glass doors which formed the Lodge’s main entrance, and after a moment the passenger compartment’s door swung open, the chauffeur standing silently at attention just outside as he waited for his passengers to get outside. Simultaneously, the trunk of the vehicle had popped open, and load-lifting robots and organic busboys had rushed over to take the challengers’ luggage.

---

While this was going on, the other pair which made up this motley crew had reach their destination at the other side of town. The police van lurched to a halt, nearly causing Ravage and Megatron to pitch over, and after a moment the vehicle's thick blast doors unlocked with a hiss and swung open; before either Decepticon could react, they once again found themselves encased in a pair of force bubbles, and the heavily-armed guards in powered armour from before were wheeling them out.

In marked contrast to the rest of Valhalla's architecture, the stockade was a squat, angular and imposing building made of grim black stone and ominous dark steel; a heavy grey gate ground open at the prisoners' approach, and then they were inside. In short order, Megatron and Ravage were processed and dumped in a pair of cells right next to one another; beyond a small pit in the floor meant to be used as a toilet and a simple rug for a bed, the cells had no furnishings to speak of. Escape was prevented not only by the tried and true method of reinforced steel bars, but also by a force field of some sort; touching it, even briefly, caused Ravage extreme pain, and he hissed in appreciation.

"At least these humans don't cut corners when it comes to building a decent prison," he muttered grudgingly.

The Danse Macabre Codex

Jack, attempting to play the part he had been given, got out as soon as possible, looking around for possible threats. He didn't expect any at this point in the challenge, but as he had said to the Doctor, one must always be vigilant. The hotel building was quite beautiful to look at, and a technological marvel. However, his thoughts were still mostly on finding a way of getting to the desert. It seemed Link might be able to get there easier than most of them, he would have to speak to the other man about that at some point. For now, though, he merely kept a wary eye out for trouble, automatically searching for ways in which the building was defensible.

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. -Lao Tzu

"I don't like this."

Spriggan muttered after hearing the modules go offline.

"This and the fact that TGS was treated as a PMC. My colleagues will go ballistic if they heard that."

edited 19th May '11 10:26:13 AM by Ominae

"Aaw, too slow. Wanted to know who I was,too."

What else... do they know which... must be hidden? We must... access this library.

Gordon looked up at the huge hotel, jaw hanging open slightly. Not that he hadn't been to any places that looked so spectacular, but more or less...

"This is the nicest damn place I've ever stayed at," he commented. "At least this challenge has great lodgings to go with the enigmatic evil voices."

"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."

"I'll say. This place may be better than the penthouse safehouses I go to."

"This new cage might be gilded, but do not let your guard down for a moment."

Fortunately for Jack, there did not appear to be anything nearby which could present any sort of threat. The glass doors of the Einherjar Lodge slid open with a soft and gentle chime, allowing the legion of busboys and robotic porters to enter the hotel's spacious lobby and begin moving the group's luggage over to a chute which seemed to act as a dumbwaiter of some sort; they would place the cases inside, and after a moment the group's items would go shooting up the chute, rapidly vanishing from sight as they speeded towards the hotel's upper levels.

Beyond these robotic and organic employees, the lobby was largely empty, and there was only a single concierge seeted behind a beautifully-carved desk at the far end of the room. This woman looked up as the group entered, adopting a pleasant smile.

"Hello, and welcome to the Einherjar Lodge, the finest hotel on Thor and indeed the entire Asgard star cluster! How may I help you, sirs and madams?"

The Danse Macabre Codex

Narumi's Phi-Module went off and he began to glare at it. He had a staring contest with it so intense, that he did not look at the hotel they were in.

"That convinces me that this is too good to be true." Narumi said, struggling to take of his Phi-Module.