4976/The Vertical Metropolis

The Vertical Metropolis
Date of Scene:	03 January 2017
Location:	Core Tellus <CT>
Synopsis:	A picnic in Evance. Much is philosophized about. Milly is overrun by pidgeons.
Cast of Characters:	William Pauwel, 385, 1051, August Kohler

---

William Pauwel has posed:
    Not everywhere on Tellus is a horrible, monster-infested hell-holes. That's just most of the planet. But humanity would not have survived on this world if it didn't have its safe havens. One such place exists just northeast of Will's hometown of Gale.

    The Vertical City of Evance dominates the sky of the eastern half of the only continent on Tellus. It certainly lives up to its name; Evance stands as an enormous testament to the ingenuity of the Ancients, a tower as wide around its base as many cities native to Earth, but that's about all that it has in common with places like Beijing or Tokyo. Evance rises miles into the stratosphere, tapering somewhat as it does so.

    The interior of the tower is a bustling center of industry. Beneath it, in the undercity, is a culture all of its own. But the most iconic of the city's aspects, aside from its staggering height, are the network of scaffolds and airship docks built up around the tower's exterior shell. Windmills churn in the strong winds that give the Tornado Prairie its name, bringing water and power to the incredible number of people who call Evance home.

There are a lot of people here. Hundreds of thousands, all living in one enormous city.

    It's to one of the scaffolds, towards the middle of the tower, that Will has decided to invite some of his multiversal friends. He's only been to Evance a handful of times, but he knows his way around the city well enough-- better than the others, certainly. This particular place is... a park! A park with a picnic tarp unrolled. Will's sitting against a nearby tree, because apparently this scaffold is deep enough and strong enough to let those grow all the way up here.

Not far away, a few older citizens feed the birds.

The seeds are the size of baseballs.

The birds are the size of some dogs.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
When William asked Yuna to swing by Tellus for something, Yuna didn't see any reason to object ... but she made sure to come in her Light Suit, even though they were just going to be doing something in a city.

Given the size of those birds, she's not sure it was a bad idea. And just because she's dressed to defend herself doesn't mean she has to be carrying a weapon openly; the Light Suit may be a little on the showy side, but it's comfortable enough over long periods of time. She actually takes the time to explore some of the shops, and apart from a few souvenirs (and possible late Christmas presents? ... she's not going to tell), she picks up some sandwiches before heading for the park. If it turns out they're actually having a picnic, great; if not, they'll keep well enough while they stay wrapped.

Of course, Elner's floating along next to Yuna as she (and therefore, they) approach Will and that tarp he's got spread out.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Naturally, Millium is here!

     ...And also naturally, she is being chased by a distressingly large pigeon through the park. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! I already fed you! C'mooooon! Bother someone else! JDnhdsfasbhjfh!" She gets tackled and bowled over, and then the bird starts pecking down at her, trying to get at her bag of 'birdseed'. ...Baseball sized birdseed.

     "Claire! Claaaaaaire! Send help! Send heeeeeelp!"

     The aforementioned girl is seated nearby, typing on a laptop.

     She ignores Millium's plight.

August Kohler has posed:
Well, atleast Tellus has some slightly less harmful places. Dog-sized birds are strange and freaky but are, oddly, reassuring to August Kohler, who has joined Will for the visit to the city after asking about Tellurian cities the night before. He's dressed in his Tellus clothes, which make him look like a cowboy, and has brought food. Specifically, a grocery store cake.

And then, as he's approaching the picnic and rummaging through his bag, he stops to watch Millie suffer. "Toss your bag, carefully, and escape. Abandon all hope, Millium Argent, for it now belongs to the birds." He is oddly taking this as a nonthreat because it's just a dog-sized pigeon, no big deal.

William Pauwel has posed:
    Hey now, there's no reason to be so paranoid! Evance is pretty safe! Sure the undercity can be, at times, rife with criminal activity, but that's normal for anywhere with a place called 'an undercity!' The pigeons are a... bit of a threat, sort of, kind of, if your name is Millium Argent and you have a whole sack full of baseball-sized nuts. Of course, when one pigeon starts pecking, the others will start wondering what's going on too.

Milly once had just a single fluffy, hungry, too-fat bird bugging her for nuts. Now she has two. Three through twelve are on their way.

    Will stares as Milly is bowled over and accosted by... birds. "Why don't y'all just... Just give them the bag?" Will asks, peering from underneath his hat. It's a reasonable question! He starts getting up once he notices More Birds starting to move in. One pigeon is adorable, twelve can get kind of dangerous, if not just because they might start suffocating you with their fluffy, wintery plumage.

But the others are showing up, now! Will waves Yuna and August over with a grin, "Howdy y'all! Glad y'all could make it. Welcome to Evance! I ain't exactly a native, but it's bascally somethin' of a capital for all us out on the Prairie." He hoists a picnic basket over towards the blanket. It looks like it's full of all kinds of things. Sausage, bread, cheese. Picnic food.

    There's a sound overhead, then. A big, chopping, CHUFF CHUFF CHUFF sound as an enormous airship launches from a mooring about fifty stories further up the tower. Will frowns as it sets off, practically bristling with guns. But that's war, he guesses.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna looks up worriedly at the noise from the airship taking off; maybe it needs to crank its engines like that because of the wind, but it's still discomforting to hear. And to see, when she gets a good enough look at it to see all of the guns.

One more reason why she doesn't really like visiting Tellus. But it should be safe enough here, inside the tower, and Elner is paying enough attention to the surroundings that if a battle breaks out outside Evance's walls, she'll have some warning of it.

"A 'capital' for everyone on the Prairie, huh?" Yuna asks as she sits down on the blanket, placing the bag of pre-packaged sandwiches next to the picnic basket. Odds are Will's offerings are better for this gathering than what Yuna picked up, but she's not going to withhold them if somebody wants a slightly less carnivore-oriented meal.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Throw away the bag? "B-But...! I paid a ton for this! I wanted to distribute it evenly!" She didn't pay a ton for it. And she writhes and kicks as the pigeon pokes at her bag of nuts. ...And then another arrives...and two more...three...four...five... "Ahhhhhh! They're multiplying!" Millium flails as she teamed up on by a flock of giant birds. "I....I can feel it, pigeons...! I... I can feel your dream! Therefore....therefore.....take this!"

     The bag is tossed out of the clusterfuck, and the pigeons all chase it down, leaving Millium to lay there, gasping and covered in feathers. "....I told you....pigeons were the worst!" Pause. "Correction! Der wurst!"

     Claire ceases her typing. "Argent. Shut up. Get up. Stop whining."

     "Fiiiiiiiine." She stands and brushes herself off, looking wistfully off as the flock of huge ass birds tear the bag of nuts apart like ferocious raptors. SKREEEEEE. And then she approaches the group and plops down next to Claire. "So! What's- eh?" A glance upward is had at the sound of airship engines, and then the sight of the craft leaving... "......" Whatever she was going to say is replaced with silence. And a sigh.

August Kohler has posed:
Well, Milly's not going to die, but she is incredibly overdramatic. August just sighs, moving only slightly away as the pigeon hoard increases, and joins Will. "I brought cake. Chocolate, any of you allergic?" He's hoping they say yes. Either way, he brings out the cake, placing it down.

And then the airship flies overhead. August watches it briefly, before turning back to the cake. "So, what's Evance's deal? Trying to conquer territory as well, or just hate the Iskandrians?"

William Pauwel has posed:
THE PIGEONS ARE NOT DER WURST, ARGENT.

IT'S YOU. AND THAT PUN. REEEEEEEEEEEE--

    Will glances down from the airship as it races off towards the horizon. Hopefully that thing's just off doing patrol-y things and ISN'T going off to shoot at an Iskandrian incursion. Because that would imply there is one, and that means there's another town at risk. Will mutters something under his breath and plops down on the blanket. He fishes out a sausage and starts cutting off slices. For sharing. Not just for himself.

He'll claim a sandwich too, because he hasn't actually made any of those! Instant gratification.

    "Yeah. It's 'cause of Evance's airship fleet that the Prairie ain't overrun by some of the nastier critters. And it's the easiest way for us to conduct trade, you know? We sell shipments of food and stuff to the city, they bring us other stuff." Pretty standard urban/rural trade, then. And military support, apparently. That's BASICALLY a capital city.

    "As for what's going on," Will sighs again, now cutting a brick of cheese into chunks. "Well. From what I hear, the problem is that Iskandria's been tryin' to push their borders out into the Frontier. That means ruins, land and resources, all under their control. The way it normally works is that those things are first-come-first-serve, you know? Equal opportunity."

    He shakes his head, then. "Evance used to maintain the peace with its airships. Ain't nothing much a legion can do when they're being pounded from above. Now, though, they've got enough infantry to just power through. From what I hear, their real goal is to come here for Evance's air superiority. Ain't not much'll be out of their reach then. 'Course, folk 'round here ain't the most eager to be part of any empire, so..."

    "Well, I guess part of it really is that the whole first-come-first-serve thing works better for Evance, on account of the air fleets. More mobile than dang near everything else overland, you know? It's all about power, I think."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna accepts some slices of sausage, layering them and some cheese between a couple of slices of bread. Hopefully the sausage isn't too spicy for her. "Iskandria ... they were the ones trying to annex that village a little while back, right? The one that we rallied to protect, and then -" She grimaces. What was that guy's name again? "- the guy with the robotic dragon came and put an end to the fighting through what insurance agents call 'force majeure' ..."

She takes a bite of her impromptu sandwich -

And whatever else she WAS going to say is forestalled by scrounging for a bottle of water or something. Tactical note: Yuna is weak to spicy foods, and apparently this sausage is spicy enough to count.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     POLITICS.

     Millium sighs again, taking bits of sausage and cheese and munching wistfully. "I try to go around, using my concerts to promote harmony, goodwill, and peace, but..." She shakes her head, blonde locks swaying from the movement. "...Well, there's also this. And what Iskandria is doing." Her eyes close and another sigh follows. "Everyone always wants what someone else has, huh?"

     Claire doesn't comment. She just keeps typing and typing... Really, she's just here because she's Millium's obligatory babysitter. She's not here to be friendly. She used up her friendly quota speaking to Mel about that space ride a while back.

     Yep.

August Kohler has posed:
Wow, everyone has horrible taste: there's a cake in front of them and they don't eat it, how terrible. August grabs some sausage himself, making himself his own sandwich. He takes a bite of it, pondering over Will's long political explanation. "So it's defensive. Iskandria's trying to punch them, so they're punching back." He doesn't know if he has much else to say. "Either way, however this war ends, it's not going to be pretty."

And then Yuna brings up the dragon guy. "Marchosiel. I wonder what his deal is. If he /is/ an android, it's probably going to be difficult to convince him to let us do what we need to do. We don't even know what /he/ wants to do, or who his Enemy actually is, besides 'human hubris'." August takes another bite of sandwich, frowning at Milly. "Human nature's a bitch, we've all been in the Forest. War's pretty much a constant everywhere you go, it seems. Not sure what just a few people can do about it." Munch munch, cheerful lunchside conversation!

William Pauwel has posed:
    Oh no! Yuna's mouth is ON FIRE because of a relatively mild spiced sausage! She... has a pretty awful spice tolerance, apparently. Will scrambles into his picnic basket and fishes out a big old canteen of SWEET TEA. That's even better than water! There are a few glasses, too. This is apparently one of the upsides to growing sugar cane.

Also August brought cake, but everyone knows cake is for AFTER sandwiches. Gosh, Kohler.

    But the conversation dwells on politics and danger from on high. Will shrugs and makes himself a sandwich, stacking bread and sausage and cheese. "Yeah, that was them. I guess the Angels've been interfering lately, but... Well, apparently it ain't enough?" He looks to Millium, then, "I wish it weren't a problem, but I guess there're enough geedy people out there to cause a ruckus."

'Cause a ruckus' is a bit of an understatement.

    "'Course," Will sighs, "I can't exactly blame them for wanting more land, after seein' the Expanse first hand. That swamp's kind of awful." But the topic drifts Iron Angel-ish wise. "Marchosiel's... Yeah. Well, I think we /kind of/ know what he's fighting. There was that... black... stuff. And the thing that came out of that obelisk. We just don't know enough about him and what he's doing, though."

Beat.

"I... Really don't want to hav to fight him," the Chaser says, after a second. "You saw what his weapons did. That was crazy. Maybe we should... track him down? Figure out what he's all about?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
A couple of gulps of sweet tea soothe Yuna's mouth, and the idol takes a moment to top her glass off before trying some more of her 'sandwich'. She'll get to the cake later.

"Marchosiel, right," she nods to August once her mouth has settled down and she's adjusted to the sausage. It's not inedibly hot for her - and, well, she's already started eating this assembly of sausage, cheese, and bread - so it'd be REALLY rude to toss it aside or anything. "He might not be an 'android' but he's definitely some kind of construct ... maybe technological, maybe magical. - He still wants your gun, doesn't he, William?"

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Millium grumbles and August and Will, but... Well, they're not wrong. She sighs and reaches over, taking a sandwich half. "So, we don't know anything about this Marco Polo, huh? He just showed up and did Things The Were Awesome, and now we hope he doesn't use those Awesome Things on us?"

     That's one way to put it.

     Claire sighs faintly from where she sits, not even partaking in any food. She just keeps on working.

     "And then there's Xixtor Vic!" Millium starts, but is immediately cut off by Claire. "That's Victor Xix, you incompetent." Millium snaps her fingers. "- Right, Vicxix Tor!" She incorrectly corrects herself. Claire facepalms and gives up. "He wanted your gun too, Will!" Pause. "....Wow, it seems like everyone wants Will's gun, huh?" The blonde girl tilts her head a bit, and then smiles.

     "Well, whoever you choose, make sure they buy you dinner first!"

     What?

August Kohler has posed:
Cake is totally a main course, August eats it for dinner whenever he can. Luckily, he's poor, so the low frequency has led to him not getting fat. "Well, there's a high chance we probably will. We need to be prepared for the possibility of using lethal force against him. Alternatively, we could see about reprogramming him, but he seems to be sapient, so." August does seem sort of conflicted on that point; it's not really a casual idea to him but 'if we don't have any other options', and even then something he doesn't really want to do.

And so, August then changes the subject after speaking his thoughts out loud. "You said Victor Xix tried to beat you to death with a wall, right? Anything else we can know about him? Dude was massive and hit like a train."

William Pauwel has posed:
    Will scrubs at the back of his head at this Iron Angel Talk. "Yeah, he's said as much. I think Mel managed to convince him to... wait until we've finished putting it together, at least, but I dunno. He might get impatien--" Milly. Milly what. Will just gives her a stare. A long, utterly befuddled stare.

What in the world is going through this girl's head?

Will doesn't know, nope. He's a good boy.

    The Chaser shakes his head, because NOT ENTERTAINING THAT LINE OF THOUGHT. "Y-yeah, that's about it. I kind of want to at least... You know, figure out what he's really after. He wants my gun, but it's for some war that's... apparently still going? That Victor guy wants it, too. He called it a... a CODE. I don't know how he knows what he knows, but he definitely knows stuff about the Ancients."

"Maybe... We could just ask him what he wants them for? Next time we see him?" That couldn't possibly go wrong, right!?

    "The only thing I really know about him is that he's apparently some kind of living god to the Iron Church." He pauses around a mouthful of sandwich. "Uh. That is, the Church of the Iron Angels. They're guys who... worship things like Marchosiel, I guess. Anyway, they view him as a savior-figure, maybe 'cause of those rumors of him going around and punching nasty critters out of settlements out on the Frontier."

There's a beat.

"We... Should really know more about these guys, is what I think we're gettin' down to, huh?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
There's an actual church for Marchosiel and his kin? (Maybe "his ilk" would be a more accurate term, but Yuna words things more nicely than that, even in absentia - or even just in her head.) "Does that Church have a church here?" she wonders, finishing off her 'sandwich' and washing it down with another gulp of tea. "That might be a good place to stop by ... although," she admits, "we're likely to get a ... *somewhat* biased description of what they are and what they do. I don't think a church named after these 'Iron Angels' is necessarily going to portray them as anything other than a force of ultimate good."

There is, admittedly, a flip side: the Church of the Iron Angels *COULD* have named itself after the ultimate evil that they oppose - but that wouldn't tally with what William just said.

"At any rate, it would be information we don't have already, and we could probably comb out the truth from the propaganda. Right?"

William Pauwel has posed:
"Mmmn, I think maybe we'd need to do more digging than just asking a priest," Will answers, rubbing at his chin. "I mean, we could, but... There really ain't many official houses of worship in Evance. If we want to go get some information out of them, maaaaybe it'd be better to hunt down a... Bishop, or something. One of the leadership?"

August Kohler has posed:
"I guess you're right. Let's see if we can get some info on him before we talk about /how/ to deal with him. We can always improvise if it comes to it," August decides, listening to Will and Yuna talk. "That's what we always do, anyways. Push comes to shove, we shoot lasers at things until they stop moving." Munchmunch. Sandwich finished. And with sandwich finished, August moves for the cake. "Alright, who wants cake?"

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Millium is quiet for once in her life.

     But it doesn't last long.

     "...Say, can't we just talk to Torxix on the global band? Why not just ask him about stuff there? I mean, if it's like that, then he can't murder us!" Pause. "...Also, I guess you could ask your cat friend to talk to him, since they're in the same group, apparently."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Cake would be good," Yuna says.

She's eating one of the prepackaged sandwiches she got before the cake, though. Maybe the taste of the sausage is still lingering in her mouth a little too much for comfort.

William Pauwel has posed:
    "Uuuugh, we improvise so much though," Will groans around his last mouthful of sammich. "Just once I'd like to be in a position where we actually know something about something we're trying to shoot-- cake me, please." IF AUGUST IS WILLING TO SHARE AT ALL. Such greed.

Then Milly is silent.

This is clearly wrong and the world corrects for it immediately.

"Uh." Global band? Well... That's not a thing, but 'cat friend' is probably 'Staren' and that's pretty true. "...I guess we could just... Ask him that way, sure. Hm."