1828/The Second-Most Dangerous Game

The Second-Most Dangerous Game
Date of Scene:	18 March 2015
Location:	Heaven or Hell Tower <HoH>
Synopsis:	Psyber puts on a british accent, "Tired, hungry, and ragged... the Nathan is so focused on larger predators he cannot see the tiny one in his midst."
Thanks to:	Nathan Hall for enduring the silliness!
Cast of Characters:	168, 626

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Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Where is Nathan? Nathan is at the front desk, apparently. He looks like hell, too. At the moment he has a wide array of papers splayed out on the desk, stuff about politics or something nobody cares about. He's very, very focused on them and is currently rapidly reading through them and filling various things out. That's not why he looks like hell, though. It's the dark circles under his eyes, the sickly pallor, the frail thinness that comes with not eating enough. He looks like he's running himself completely ragged.

    He will not notice Kyra's initial entry, most likely, too focused on rapidly resolving dozens of political troubles all at once. He's actually been on the phone most of this time, with yet another politician, but he's just wrapped that up.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Word gets around about the General of the Union pretty quickly-or it can if his best friend is willing to let certain information out. A few quick inquiries had confirmed what Kyra had heard about two weeks ago-though more accurately not long after Nathan's engagement was announced. The clearly pre-med teenager was, nonetheless, dismayed.

    Getting in to Heaven or Hell was easy...thanks to Psyber's day pass. Kyra had been keeping a low profile while here, not announcing herself or really interacting with the other employees which is unusual behavior for her. Anyone she encounters she'll insist to not talk much about her visit here today-she had a special mission.

    The large grenade-launcher-like device known as the CURE-ALL is not with her today, replaced by a much smaller and much lighter straight-pull bolt-action hunting rifle of Galianda make (it really doesn't look very different from a regular modern rifle save for a little Final Fantasy fancy embelishments). Her approach to the library is a silent one, complete with the slowest, quietest entry she can manage since Nathan happens to be sitting RIGHT THERE at the front desk.

    There is no greeting given to the General. Kyra immediately slips into the stacks proper for some cover.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan Hall is not particularly attentive to this. In fact, he's very inattentive. Keeping cover won't be difficult; Nathan looks up very irregularly, if at all, and usually only to take a swig of the unidentified alchemical stimulant he has next to him on his desk. Basically the alchemy equivalent of an energy drink? It's possible.

    Oddly, Nathan's ensured a lot of escape routes are here, even if he doesn't SEEM especially paranoid. He just seems... You know, there. But there's two openings on either side and he's made sure to arrange the shelves around the front desk such that there's a lot of exit paths for him to take. It's too bad he's too oblivious to see the girl sliding into cover behind stacks of paper and books. She has a free SNEAK ATTACK, apparently!

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Unsurprisingly, Kyra does know a thing or two about alchemical energy drinks. Some student runs up against the deadline on his metamagic class essay and they're up for the next three days, chugging can after can of Red Behemoth drink cocktails mixed with who knows what. Suddenly they're leaping from the dorm room roof, screaming that Sylph gave them wings. Sometimes the powdered float stone mixed in actually works. No matter what, they need detox, the sooner the better, and the suspect beverage Nathan is currently chugging only galvanizes her purpose.

    Silently, Kyra moves amongst the stacks until she can get behind a bookshelf close to one of Nathan's flanks. Following that, she quietly starts to move around the books on the shelf, clearing herself a hole between a few that she can stick the barrel of her rifle through. In this case, the necessary darts are already loaded into the gun, which can hold a good four large darts at a time. Each dart is equipped with an increasingly stronger load of tranquilizer, each made from different alchemical components. Though she was aware that Nathan could be counted as a Hume she also knew from his Union profile that he had dabbled in thaumaturgy, meaning that she had to account for enhanced physiology if such was the case.

    Lining up her shot, there is a faint click as Kyra disengages the safety, but the following trigger pull produces very little noise if any. The called shot, were Kyra calling, would be a nice juicy spot at Nathan's neck, most certainly at a vein.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    There it goes, right into the neck. Nathan seems to only react to the presence of the dart a full three seconds after it lodges in. He immediately puts a hand to his neck in confusion, then yanks it out and stares at it. This whole process takes several seconds, during which the tranquilizer gets thoroughly into his body. But Nathan Hall is nothing if not resistant to exhaustion.

    He makes a worried noise, one that seems strained. Then he grabs his bottle of homemade alchemy stimulants and downs the rest as he immediately breaks from a standing position into a run, deftly vaulting right over the desk and away from Kyra's probable firing position, attempting to make a break for the dense cover of the shelves. If he's being exhausted by this, it's not gonna be too visible! Nathan's been subconsciously fighting off sleep for a lot time, and it'll definitely take a bit to get him down. He's suffering the effects, but it would appear that he is doing his damndest to not manifest them physically in the least!

    While he's busy fleeing -- and he's VERY good at fleeing, having learned over the course of four years how to do it well -- he's immediately calling out on the radio. "Psyber. There is an unidentified intruder within the library. I have been struck with an unknown dart projectile and appear to be suffering soporific effects alongside any unknown poisonous elements. Please mobilize and assist." Unfortunately he's cut off from the radio network, and as such, it's a one-way broadcast to the listeners of the stream.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra falls still and observes Nathan's reaction to the dart through the scope of her rifle. Typically by the time they pull the dart out and see it, it's way too late. A lesser man would have slumped over on the desk with the dart in their hand. But instead, Nathan confirms Kyra's suspicions of either a supernatural nature or an extra-strength alchemical energy drink in his veins and takes off running. Considering that he made sure to grab the drink and down it before he ran, she suspects the latter.

    The rifle is pulled out from between the books and dropped to one hand, the rest of the weapon supported by a strap over her shoulder. "/Feisty/." she mutters, watching as he leaps over his desk and runs into the stacks. She takes pursuit soon afterwards, pulling her hood down from off of her head so she can better hear Nathan's rapid footsteps in the library, using those to track him. She can hear him calling in the 'attack' which draws a small cackle from the white mage.

    Her left hand remains clutching the rifle while the right, she clenches, forcing white magic to flow through it-fortunately functioning correctly this time-preparing until she catches the next glimpse of Nathan as he flees. That glowing hand is thrust in his direction, "DISPELL!"

    Kyra's not /entirely/ sure that a dispell will work against an alchemical extraversal energy drink but there was no harm in trying. Worst case, it would do nothing. Best case, she'll counter the stimulants he just chugged.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan flits between bookshelves, among stacks of paper piled high, still rambling into the radio. The dispell hits him intensely, but his magical abilities mean he can detect it. It looks like it did take out the effect of that alchemical drink! He stumbles briefly, as if suddenly losing a great deal of energy. And then he... Doesn't stop! His movements are faltering more, but the simple fact is that Nathan Hall has such tremendous willpower when it comes to resisting all things that aren't higher level thought that he winds up still attempting to book it for... Somewhere. A saferoom? A stock of more alchemical stimulants? He's attempting to circle around for the elevator, apparently. Albeit with a... Dizzy, erratic sort of pathing.

    His stoic face refuses to show exhaustion but his performance in attempting to escape from this is rapidly degrading. His radio rambling remains coherent though. "Magical assailant. Repeat, poisons and magic are being utilized to assault me. No signs of break-in, security systems may be compromised. Please immediately mobilize and assist, I will not retain efficacy in fleeing much longer." This is a generalized distress call to Heaven or Hell overall, apparently, but he still delivers it in a complete, stoic monotone, still not aware of the recent shifts on the network...

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    As she chases after him through the stacks, Kyra finds herself wishing she took a little time beforehand to case the library. But even a quick once-over beforehand couldn't compare to Nathan's intimate knowledge of libraries. He's probably been living in this one for the past few days. She's only able to catch a glimpse of him for a few seconds, enough to get off a dispell, before he dives away. She hears his footsteps start to grow uneven, the telltale sign of stumbling, and yet...

    ...he's STILL running! That fight or flight button was hit HARD! For a few moments Kyra wonders if the sneak attack wasn't the best of approaches but those moments pass extremely quickly. "Maybe I should have-naaaaah." Despite the intense urge, she doesn't shout after him, worried of giving away her position much easier.

    Taking up the hunting rifle in both hands, Kyra backtracks a little, running perpendicular to the stacks rather than down them, which gives her more chances to spot Nathan and take shots at him. With the next three rounds automatically chambering after each shot, Kyra attempts all three, firing down the length of each row the next three times she's able to spy him.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    There are frequent gaps in the cases, and Nathan isn't trying to be stealthy, and as such, Kyra can run paralle to him fairly easily. He tries to shake her, but he can't much do so and he certainly can't get a good look at her. His efforts to shake pursuit using his knowledge of the library can let him dodge one of the darts, which buries itself in a shelf, but the other two wind up in him.

    His running slows down to a struggling, stumbling jog somewhere on the home stretch to the elevator. He doesn't stop once he can't maintain his balance, still trying to flee through exhausted dragging and eventually sort of slumps over. And of course, he continues to ramble into the radio despite being on the verge of complete unconsciousness. "I appear to have lost mobility efficacy due to unforeseen additional projectile resources. I am currently rendered immobile and prone at a location near the elevator. Please mobilize and assist. Repeating, security may be compromised, no signs of break-in. Assailant utilizes magic and potentially poisonous projectiles, as well as pursuit tactics. Please mobilize and assist."

    He might, apparently, somehow continue to do this for a short while. It is /incredibly/ silly. It's also still in the same well-spoken monotone, though the gaps between sentences are slowly getting longer and the stoic expression is slowly getting closer to sleeping. HUNT COMPLETE, SORT OF. If you wait the last minute or two it'll take Nathan to fully KO. What is going on with this guy? He has outrageous levels of ability to resist drowsiness if it's conscious, it seems.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "Holy shit, man!" Kyra finally exclaims in exasperation as she continues to run, looking for a good place to cut him off. She's not sure how many side entrances there are to this place but she at least knows the one she came in on. As she runs, she shoves the now-empty rifle over her back and concentrates on just running now. It'd take too long to reload the rifle and if he escaped into the elevator without her, she'd have a huge problem on her hands.

    Kyra emerges from the stacks just as Nathan stumbles and flops over on the ground. No time is wasted in approaching him so she can at least arrange him in a more comfortable position with airways unobstructed. "You're /still/ up? You must have some crazy metabolism, Nathan Hall." He'll probably recognize the white mage's voice from the radio depending on how lucid he is. She seems utterly fascinated that his words never slur or even change in cadence. "Don't worry, security hasn't been compromised, but your /health/ sure has. This is an intervention, General. A medical intervention!" She'll stay there, waiting for him to fall unconscious, readying a dart from her bandolier to stick him in case he doesn't actually go to sleep.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "I have a great deal of experience in matters of avoiding needless sleep." Nathan says, facedown on the ground motionless. "My health is not compromised. I am temporarily re-scheduling sleep to create additional time for work." It's a little muffled down there. "My health will not be affected beyond acceptable tolerances, nor will my performance. Attempts to... Attempts to re-establish traditional sleep schedules are unnecessary and ignore the priorities of the situation of... Situatio... Psyber, please mobilize and assist... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..."

    Resistant right to the end. This was INCREDIBLY silly.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    "It is /so/ compromised. Have you looked in a mirror lately?" Kyra crouches next to him, pinching the dart between her fingers, waiting. Since he keeps talking for so long, doubt begins to creep into her mind about whether she put enough tranquilizer in him. Or maybe it was wearing off already! She should do a blood test on that.

    A sigh of relief escapes her when he finally falls asleep. She rolls onto her butt and relaxes for a few moments, catching her breath at last. The dart is placed back onto her bandolier and her phone is removed from one of her pockets, a quick text fired off to a certain someone.

    Eventually, she wobbles to her feet and gestures over Nathan's now sleeping form. "Float." Sure enough, the General will hover about a foot off the floor, face-down, which looks even sillier, but it makes transporting him to a real bed a whole lot easier.