Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Owner Pose
Ainsley     Unlike the place where they met to deal with the Heart Render, this meeting seems to be in a much more secure spot. That is, it's in an actual police station conference room in a world that cooperates fully with the Paladins. It was the easiest thing for Ainsley to arrange on such short notice, and she made sure to go out of her way to give all the participants guest badges and all the standard beaurucratic fluff to make sure no one disturbed them during this. There seemed to be a stack of books brought in so she could read while she waits, but already she seemed frayed and there was a book left open, pages down, on the floor at one end of the room... and there was a dent in the sheetrock wall there, telling a story of Ainsley chucking the book into a wall. Anyone that knows Ainsley's feelings about books would know what it takes to spark this kind of behavior in her. She must not even be able to read with this thing constantly rattling around in her head. She looks like she hasn't been able to sleep since yesterday.

    "Welcome. Sorry if the setting makes any of you uncomfortable," she says, squinting under the annoying sound of buzzing fluorescent lighting, "At least in here, if something goes wrong, the Paladins will be able to respond and help out as quickly as possible. There's even cells in place in case this thing manages to hijack my behavior or something insane like that." She smiles ruefully, because she doesn't want to worry them and that was a bad joke. "Parsons will be leading this. I trust him to fix this."

    And then she looks at Parsons, waiting expectantly for him to set up the portal once everyone is prepared to hop into the mindscape.
Rhapsody     With no real ill will between herself and the Paladins, Rhapsody wasn't too concerned about the location. Besides, between Ainsley, Staren, and Amalthea, the dragon felt like it wouldn't be too hard to visit if she really wanted to. Entering, eyeing the book, the dent, and Ainsley after, "It'd be better if it weren't under such circumstances. Still, after doing this once before with Medusa, I'm glad I can help you out with, well, whatever is in there."
Staren     Staren arrives, in his usual armor. Flamel has confirmed that if he wants to have it in the mindscape he'd better have it with him, so. Also accompanying him is a short woman with bright violet hair in a simple dark dress -- Ainsley would recognize the robot body set aside for his support AI, Dawn, to carry out physical tasks on his ship. Probably brought here just in case he needs something done in the physical world while he's in the mindscape.

    "It's alright." Staren replies. "It's good to be prepared." He takes a seat in the conference room, trying to get comfortable before the mind dive. Dawn waits near the door.
August Kohler August is slow to enter the conference room, hoodie on and hood over his head. He had to make sure that Ainsley would vet him, since he just looks like a teenager. His mirrored bracelet is on, as he nods his head to the others there, and takes a seat. "Don't worry, Ainsley. We'll get rid of this thing."
Flamel Parsons     Agent Parsons is what he always is: Vaguely reminiscient of the Men in Black, and fully intentionally so. However, he doesn't let his personality quirks get in the way of business. Just as he said, he made sure to get his projection ready within 24 hours. His ominous unmarked black window-tinted van is sitting outside, and the man himself is sitting inside, offering... A door! To Ainsley!

    It's a bit of a rush job, but it's a professional sort of rush job. The door looks like his normal psycho-portal, the weird little spy agency door, but covered in several occultist wards, miniaturized. From all different kinds of occultism, too. SO weird. "This should be proofed against this grade of memetic transferrence, so if we jump in, it shouldn't follow us out. No guarantees, but it's better than nothing! It's be awful if any of you broke the existing forms of competing mind control on you." Oh right, that. "Now, place this against your forehead, it should click into place. You'll be... More distracted than most of my projectees, while we do this. If it all goes well, you'll have clear thoughts by the time we're out."

    He'll wait for Ainsley to get the psycho-portal situated, and then remove his sunglasses. "Alright, everyone. Prepare your minds." Two fingers go up against each temple, and his eyes open wide, glowing a brilliant white.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/201370883/MIND_DIVE.mp3

    Each person present will feel a gentle tug on their spirit, their astral form. They're being tugged in, slowly, gradually, towards Ainsley, and out of their bodies. All four soon find themselves a swirling mass of white shades, diving into the door.

    And it clicks shut, ominously.
Ainsley     The mental world they enter is much more orderly than one might expect. Not to obsessive degrees, of course, but as much as a Library would be, with some key differences.

    In fact, it IS a library. They arrive in a lobby with several rows of bookcases from floor to several story high ceiling, ladders stretching high into the air and stone walkways criss-crossing to allow access to all of the public tomes that represent her mental knowledge. And it is not nearly as drab as a government library, with any space unused by a bookcase also decorated with a painting or sculpture or simply a mural of random colors and scribbles, representative of a rebellious and creative side kept comfortably contained by the mature structure of everything around it. It's a mixture of order and art properly representing the odd dichotomous growth she's had as a person.

    Seated at a desk is Ainsley(?), a version of her in ornate mesoamerican gear meshed with a boring librarian suit coat. She seems to be writing something down in a ledger in glowing red ink. She lifts a ruler without looking and taps a sign that is melded into her desk, the lettering very clear and glowing with that same red light, drawing attention to it with an aura of Extreme Importance.

    "Keep your voice down. Books are for people that have library cards." The impression is that no one here has been given a card, so it may be a bad idea to give in to the temptation.

    The ominous mental construct flips a page in the parchment-filled ledger, and lifts her head to look toward the direction of a distant sussuration that picked up in volume when they arrived. She lets out an exasperated sigh and points the ruler in that direction.

    That row of bookcases is blocked by a gate that opens on its own, the gate showing signs of scorching and warping from a great heat. A warm orange light glows like fire at the end of the impossibly long row, possibly leading right to where they need to go. It appears that an orderly mind is a lot more cooperative in dealing with threats. That said, the 'Librarian' doesn't seem to be in a rush to do anything about it herself, either because she's busy or because she just doesn't have the capacity to deal with this threat.

    Which might be unnerving, based on what Flamel might say about this core mental construct in a moment. It will say a lot about what they're here to deal with.
Rhapsody     The guildmaster isn't sure if she should be satisifed that Ainsley's mind is like a library, or disapointed that she didn't get surprised. Satisfaction wins out as Rhapsody's boots touch to the floor. A long look is given everything, especially the familiar looking librarian, and then the glowing red sign. The classic rules of a library. Be quiet, get a card to get books. Simple! She's tempted to ask for a card, but with the mission at hand, maybe it isn't a good idea. Besides, how would she check a book out of Ainsley's MIND anyway? The dragon will just wait for the others while she has a good look around including down the hallway to.. something? Hrm..
Flamel Parsons     Parsons, by the time people become aware in Ainsley's mind, is already sort of peering at Ainsley's internal self. He's examining her carefully, academically, and distantly, the way a person would examine an ancient artifact. "Normally," He whispers, quietly, "This would be active in trying to fight the cognitohazard off. It's her primary mental defense, if it's in a position of authority in here..." He makes a soft noise of worry. "Let's be careful. It's actually possible that the cognitohazard has stolen a library card at some point." He doesn't know what this would mean, but it sure would be terrifying.

    "Investigate here if you need to, but let's try to get to the UPE quickly." He doesn't like the look of burning books. His info-preservation impulses are going off like mad, so he's unable to not wildly plunge into the thick of things.
August Kohler August gets a thought, as they enter the colorful library. The librarian mentioned library cards. This is a mindscape, and a common literary element is Chekov's Gun. With Ainsley's love of books, iti s entirely possible that literary elements like this might be relevant. Therefore, he quietly steps up to the librarian, and just quietly enough to be heard, speaks. "Um, excuse me. How may I get a library card? I'd like to check out some books."
Ainsley     The Librarian looks up at August. For whatever reason, her red eyes don't seem particularly favorable to him, not even blinking as she focuses on him.. There's a soft mental pressure and a cold feeling as she slowly shuts the ledger and interlocks her fingers atop its cover. Her mouth creases into a subtle frown.

    There's the impression that she is not willing to provide him a card or even explain how to get one... and that he may need to do something or say something to convince her he needs or deserves one. Seems she doesn't talk so much as project a general feeling.
Rhapsody     After August tries, and appears to draw a cold glare from the Librarian, Rhapsody slips up, speaking quietly to them, "We don't mean to bother. We're all friends of Ainsley, and to be honest, I'm a little familiar with the job. There could be something in here that may help us with what may be looming further in. Besides," she trails hopefully producing a card of her own since, well, it is a mindscape, "She has a card to the Underlibrary, wouldn't you say, or feel, that it is a fair trade?"

        It was worth a shot.
August Kohler August frowns as the librarian doesn't think he needs or deserves a card. This is a mindscape, so theoretically he'd have to do some weird task...but this is /Ainsley's/ mindscape. When Rhapsody slips up to talk to the librarian, August slips away towards the bookshelves, grabbing a random book that looks like something he'd actually read. He quietly returns to the librarian, and sets it on the table, continuing his quiet tone of speech. "I would like to check out this book, please. May I sign up for a library card?"
Staren     Staren's not sure what he was expecting, but... a library seems fitting. Especially a library with artwork. "Um... so are you actually Ainsley, or just a figment that looks like her?" he asks, but... well, the objective here seems pretty clear: Go fight the monster. He nods to Flamel... if it stole a library card, does that mean the construct is unable to fight it?

    Either way, he heads towards the gate. They need to deal with this thing.
Ainsley     The Librarian swivels her head slowly enough that one might even hear the sound of stone grinding together. She fixates her eyes on the card Rhapsody produced, looking past her snout at it like a snooty library might look down her nose through her glasses, and looks back up at Rhapsody's face. She doesn't speak a single peep to Rhapsody, having been deathly silent the whole time but for the sound of her writing in the ledger. The attempt's effect is hard to divine, but the frown has disappeared at least.

    The MOMENT that August touches the book, the Librarian snaps her gaze to him and all the light in the room goes from cool and natural to reds and blacks, with him silhouetted in a spotlight clearly manifested from the construct's eyes, which are now glowing red embers in a black silhouette. An oppressive Silence is interrupted only by a gutteral rumble, the mental impression of a feral animal that has been offended.

    But when he places the book down, the light softens and the construct looks visibly confused. Her... 'shapes' soften back to normal, hints of vicious claws and teeth vanishing. He was inches away from being eviscerated, if the brief glimpse was any indicator.

    She reaches and draws the book over to herself, assessing the cover. 'Earworms: Classical Edition' is the cover of the book, emblazoned with strange gold plating. She opens her ledger and scribbles it down, then pushes the book back to August slowly, squinting at him as if she doesn't completely trust him. As she slides the book back, the card appears to be on top of the book. It already has his face on it and information about him like his height and nationality, like a government ID card. It's a little blurry. It says 'LIBRARY CARD' in bold print at the top.

    The Librarian looks back to Rhapsody and holds out her hand expectantly.
Rhapsody     Well, considering that Rhapsody had already produced an Izzet library card, the dragon places the card in the open hand. Though August DID just get a card? Eh! She's willing to see what happens. Hopefully not the crazy spotlight treatment August just got. "Ah, here?" Does any library card work, maybe?
Ainsley     The card is enclosed by scaly black fingers, and then when the fingers uncurl there's a soft purple light and the card is still there, but its surface has been redecorated in a way similar to the card given to August. And for some reason the card Rhapsody handed her is back in her hand, too. She isn't actually taking anything, because she can't! The Librarian smiles to Rhapsody and waits for her to take the card.

    Poor Staren got ignored, though. His inquiry didn't seem to be relevant to this construct. They aren't all intelligent enough to process such questions, after all.
Rhapsody     A nod and a light bow is given the Librarian, "Thank you," she says, quietly as before. With both cards in tow, the guildmaster moves to head down the hall. "Well, two of us have cards, so, lets hope we can put them to good use.."
August Kohler As soon as the spotlight is on August, he sweats a bit, but keeps heading to the counter, because now it's way too late to change his mind. He's half expecting to still get eviscerated and ejected, but instead, his plan works! August smiles and nods at the librarian, taking both the book and his card, which he squints at because it labels his height and now he feels short, despite being average height in most places. The German follows Rhapsody, asiding to her quietly. "Sounds like a good idea. If the group has to split up, we'll probably want to each go with a different group, just in case."
August Kohler August also grabs the book of Earworms, slowly cracking it open. He's wondering what's inside...it can't be too bad, can it?
Ainsley     The 1812 Overture BLASTS out of the book at insane volumes and at an odd loop indicative of the mind's tendency to replay the catchiest part of a song without completing it, echoing through the shelves and forever damning August to hearing it in his head when he really would prefer some mental silence. That's how earworms work, after all.
Rhapsody     A nod, "Good idea, August. It -seems- like this thing is beyond the gate, but, who knows what will happen. This is only the second dive I've made, so... I'm just kinda going with it, you know?" Rhapsody flashes a smile and then she goes to step through the gate. She's interrupted by the 1812 Overture -erupting- out of the book, actually knocking her to the floor for a moment, hands clapped to either side of her head until the book is closed. Once it is, a somewhat frightened look is sent back toward the Librarian. If nothing happens, the dragon would get back up and head through the gate, but not before giving August a light 'thwap' to the back of his head.
Ainsley     With everyone having decided they want to progress, they enter a row of bookcases that contain tomes with rather... negative concepts.

    'Abandonment, Volume 4: Questions About Why'
    'The Cold Claws of Death'
    'How Anger Blinds My Actions'
    'The Inevitability of Sorrow' And so on. Some of them have familiar names on them, some of them suggest they come from bad memories or ideas or interactions with certain people. This is clearly gated off for a very good reason. While nothing has quite gotten out of hand, there's signs of scorching on the shelves here and there, growing more prevalent as they progress. And then they reach a stranger sight, before they even get to the end of the hall.

    It's Ainsley's Persona, Urashima Taro. He isn't nearly as big as when she manifests him, and his presence here might be fairly expected. He's calmly organizing books off of a cart, shuffling things around, wiping soot off the shelves. He ignores everyone's presence here, seeming quite happy with his task of keeping the darkest area of Ainsley's psyche from getting out of hand. Maybe it represents the mental peace that comes with a Persona...?

    Since he's unresponsive, all that's left is to reach the end of the hall, where an area of shelves has been smashed to bits, with books strewn about in big smoldering, smoking piles. They don't seem to actually BURN, as memory destruction is not actually what's happening here. Instead, each and every single one of the books has a single word stamped into it.

    AUGUST

    It glows in horrific fiery shimmers.

    Then there's the reason for it. A mental construct, a kind of Nightmare, emits those eerie and nonsensical whispers they were hearing before. It takes the shape of August Kohler, with many elements of the Tin Soldier melded into its appearance. Its face is deathly stoic, its clothing is a scorched military uniform, but all of the medals seem to be polished to a perfect mirror shine. He is very, very tall, a good two stories high. His skin cracks and smolders, a silent fire burning within the mask of a person. In fact, none of the fire in this section of the library makes any sound. It's an oppressive silence, as if such a thing could possibly be negative in a library. It comes from all of the books, and it comes from the key construct itself... which is why the whispers seem incredibly out of place.

    Something is wrong with it. Something that wakes up slowly as they approach.
Rhapsody     Moving on, Rhapsody glimpses the bookshelves from time to time, wincing a little at the theme that appears along the stacks. While she may not talk about it much, apart from a few very select people, on a daily basis, there are things here she can relate to. Death, Anger.. there are reasons. Abandonment though? If Rhaps could pull that book out of her mind it would be ... something.

    She gives a shake of her head. They're here to help -Ainsley-, not to reflect on their own lives, or at least, Rhapsody on her own life. The memories are shoved into a corner and the guildmaster marches forward, seeking the source of all that 'burns' here. She isn't familiar with Urashima Taro, so the dragon just assumes it is a rather impressive looking assistant. When she spots Fiery August she pauses, peers, then glances over at August. "Um... are you two okay?

        IT IS A RELEVANT QUESTION!
Staren     THE 1812 OVERTURE makes Staren jump, though only slightly as he kind of expected the book to play SOME song or other. "THAT'S A BIT LOUD!" he shouts over it, trying to get his helmet to damp the noise until August closes the book.

    Onward they go. 'We can beat it...' Staren mumbles, as he reads the title of 'the cold claws of death'.

    Staren hasn't been involved on August's world lately. So he hasn't seen the persona before. "Who are you?" he asks warily, wondering if the monster might be disguising itself as an innocuous construct. He's ignored, though... And then...

    "August?!" Staren looks between the real one and the nightmare impersonation. "Whoah shit, why are you evil?!" He backs away from Giant Evil August, keeping the beam cannons pointed at him but not firing until a fight actually starts.
August Kohler When August sees Urashima Taro, he just nods to the Persona, and continues walking, glancing at the book titles. His complete nonchalance about the Persona may tell the others that he's perfectly aware it's harmless. He instead halts entirely, a stoic expression on his face, when he sees the monstrous version of himself burning everything. After asking Flamel some stuff over the radio, he attempts to speak to the monstrous version of himself. "Alright, so I don't know why Ainsley sees me this way, but if you're the one causing issues in her mindscape, you need to knock it the hell off. I won't hesitate to kill you, even if you're a mental representation of myself."
Flamel Parsons     The Mental August's jaw cracks with a loud snapping noise. It's like the mouth is being forced open, aggressively, from within. Some kind of horrible, flammable ichor is leaking out, and something moves under the surface of his throat, shifting around inside like a dozen adam's apples spread out over the entire neck. Strange appendages spill out of the mouth, some of which bear strange flames on them.

    Parsons has already taken cover behind a shelf. He whispers tensely, "That's it, it's inside her mental image of August. It's taken root!!" His teeth grit tensely and he whispers through them. "That's how it has a library card! It's using the one her mental image of August has!!"

    That's when whatever's slipped inside of the mental August's mouth speaks up. When it speaks, it doesn't speak in any familiar language. Nor in anything that translates according to the translation effect. It simply whispers, and is understood, in the abstract sense.

    "Koh-ler." It enunciates things like a tribal being. The voice is of a male that is distinctly not at all August's. An older person, with an ethinicity long lost to phenotype shifts over hundreds of thousands of years. "Star-en. Rhap'. Not 'evil'. Evil, just word. I am language. I am word, spoken by Adam. I am Adam. Just word, mean nothing. Language, give meaning. Language, mean everything." It ignores Parsons, who has turned himself invisible. "Leave. Need, grow, peace. Burn, seed, grow." The fists of some of the appendages dangling from Mind-August's mouth clench, then scoop up some of the ash of the nearby books into August's mouth. Something inside twists and churns, bulging in the mental image's throat. The heat at its skin flares up. It sounds more articulate by the moment. "Leave me alone. I need this to survive. I will burn. Then I will root. Then I will grow. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. He gave me himself. He is 'self-sacrifice'. He holds pain. Others don't have to hold pain. He keeps it. Greedy for pain. Makes sure nobody else ever hurts more than he hurts." The lingual development is accelerating as the creature panic-jumpstarts its metamorphosis.

    The mental image of August nods, as if in agreement. It seems that August's self-sacrificing nature has been reflected in this mental image, making it more than willing to self-sacrifice to make sure something doesn't die. It considers what August says, in silent contemplation, but the Tongue of Adam speaks for it. The two seem almost merged. "Koh-ler, not responsible for this. Librarian, cannot hunt and hurt this way. Found a place to hide. Need to grow. Need to survive." The many limbs take an aggressive stance, bracing against fire-cracked bookshelves; some fists light up with fire, some legs prepare to leap and yank the body proper with them. "I am language. I must be spoken. All will know me again. Like before."

    The Tongue of Adam has merged with the memories of August. Together, they constitute an awful whole: Autumn.
Staren     Staren points at Autumn. "You've seen Ainsley's memories of me. You know me, and you know my deal: Either persuade me that you can peacefully coexist with people, or fight me to the death. There is no other option. ...You say he sacrificed himself willingly, but he's part of /her/ mind, and you're hurting her. This cannot continue. So what's it going to be?"
August Kohler As the thing speaks, August grows frustrated, before he grows angry. This thing is endangering /everyone/, it's endangering his allies, it's endangering Ainsley, it's...he can't let it do this. At first he thinks he might be useless here...before he realizes the exact opposite. He's the /most useful here/. He reaches up for his bracelet, and shouts it into. "Tin Soldier, to me!"

The burnscarred robot soldier with a gun leg appears in front of him, as August and it approach Autumn. "/I'm August Kohler/. And I'm not going to let you survive." He's hoping to aggro the other August into attacking him, with the fact that they are the same person assisting it. The Tin Soldier, meanwhile, begins sprraying fire from its gun-leg, attempting to immolate Autumn. "So just DIE!"
Rhapsody     For the moment, Rhapsody is staying back by the bookshelves, trying to not gain the Flamey August's attention. She has an idea, hopefully a good one, but the creature needs to be a little more distracted...
Flamel Parsons     Autumn turns its twisted maw on Staren. "No." It says. "Peaceful coexistence, not what I was made for. Not purpose of language." It rumbles again, and something in the throat shifts. "Language was not made for that." It speaks more articulately, yet again. "When I was made, when I created language, I created it with a purpose. I was created with a purpose. I can continue because I am supposed to continue."

    August and Staren both threaten it, and it seems to engage with them fully. The fact that Rhapsody hasn't SPOKEN, specifically.. That seems to be drawing its attention away from her. "I will survive. When humans needed to draw lines between This Tribe and That Tribe, I was what they created. They wanted This Tribe to survive. They could not let That Tribe to survive. I will survive. Any who can't speak are That Tribe. Any who can't speak are killed." The fire on a dozen arms lights up into an inferno. "Leave me alone. Let me survive. Burn." When it rushes forward, it's with more weight and mass than it should possibly have. The word, in some unknown lost language, is repeated: "Burn burn burn burn burn burn burn burn burn burn burn." The thick flaming ichor slings around and the heavy palms crash down. Mental August is dragged around on the massive legs of Adam emerging from his mouth, surging forward. The thing isn't planning on messing around for a moment. All it wants to do is slam a palm over each challenger and swiftly cook them alive.

    "When This Tribe's lands blighted and died, we had to take the land of That Tribe. There is no way to make one man kill another or hurt another who he has never met, without words. Violence in groups has to be achieved with language. That is what I was created for. That is the purpose of speech. You are using it wrong. You are using it wrong. You are sinning." He's speaking more to Staren now. "You try to use speech to create peace. It was never supposed to do that. I created speech. I was created by the maker of speech. I was made to create death. To decide who was This Tribe and who was That Tribe. I was created to make sure That Tribe would die. Nothing else. You are using it wrong." With each second, it grows even articulate. The Tongue has set a time limit; they have to get rid of it before the psychohazardous language becomes fully articulate.
Rhapsody     It attacks. The others are meant to be flambe, so Rhapsody decides this is the best time to act. Seeing the current state of mental August causes her to wince, but she has to get in close. She takes off from the books, trying to come in from behind, toward the mental construct. If she can get close, she's searching Mental August for one single thing. If he has pockets, they'll be searched. A jacket? The same. ANYTHING to try and find the one thing that can get the strongest thing in this mental-scape to help them all out.

        She is trying to find August/Autumn's Library Card.
August Kohler It takes August a moment to figure out what Autumn is doing: it's focusing on those who talk. Which is why it's not going after Rhapsody. As he's thinking this, though, the Tin Soldier gets slammed with those flaming arms, knocking it back in a flurry of pain as August falls to his knees. It attempts to fire bullets back at it, but August is seriously outmatched in this fight. But this thing is dangerous. And it needs to be stopped. So he continues to draw physical aggro...and then he speaks.

"You won't be left alive. You'll die! Your archaic views of language will die with you! So, instead, YOU BURN!" The Tin Soldier charges at it, attempting to use its own fire to burn Autumn. However, this puts it in a terrible spot: it's wide open for a fiery counterattack!
Staren     Staren told it to convince him it was peaceful, or fight him to the death. Instead, it tries to tell him he's wrong. It's exactly as effective as Staren telling other people /they're/ wrong is, demonstrating why he stopped doing it. "Ha!" he shouts back.

    Still, he's /almost/ goaded into giving the 'you can't argue morality into a rock' lecture, or at least some version of it, but August warns him that it feeds on language -- and the idea that the memetic hazard could infect him by talking enough is chilling. So he stops, and does what he should have done in the first place, what he used to do whenever he saw Anne on the battlefield: He just starts trying to kill it, without further words. He fires the beam cannons at it. Then micromissiles fly from his arms, shaped charges exploding in lances of light that aim to pierce August-construct's body and the thing inside it. The only reason he's not unloading /everything/ at once is to learn enough about how attacks effect it to make sure he doesn't waste it all.
Ainsley     The shelves grooooan and creak and a mental reminder blankets the area as the stacks give this ominous feeling of towering over everyone like disapproving parents.

    Keep your voice down.

    The shouting might not be helping matters.
Flamel Parsons     Autumn focuses on pinning August, just as planned. Staren, meanwhile, still has the thing try to pin him, forcing him down, but it isn't actively cooking him, it's just an impulse left over from when he was speaking before. The Tongue's many limbs are still aflame, but at least it's not an active flame. No, that's what August has to deal with. Ironically, this might be worse. The Tin Soldier lights it up, burning it alive, and deals some moderate damage, but with Staren shooting and August tanking, this ironically means that more total damage is sustained by the heroes than otherwise.

    Parsons manages to get somewhere near Staren's position and begins firing as well, though Staren has more hair-trigger firepower to use. With his weapons going close to full blast, he's ripping segments off of both the Tongue and off of mental August, dealing Autumn some severe wounds... And from those wounds, fresh limbs are emerging. They look new, vulnerable, like the thing inside Autumn is rapidly evolving and growing. It's damaged, but mildly. More importantly, it's distracted.

    "Archaic. No." The creature within roils, evolving again. The biology looks more refined, more aggressive. "Call them anachronistic. If anything, call them the will of the author. You are like someone telling a writer that he doesn't know the meaning of his own magnum opus." The fire surges again, almost fueled by the nearby Tin Soldier's aggression. How ironic that the Tin Soldier can't draw some of that pain; it cannot, after all, speak. "You use language the way it was never meant by its creator to be used. It is a tool of war, and nothing else. A carpenter can hammer all the necessary nails of a home in using a sword, of course. It's possible, physically. But no matter how careful you are with it, it's JUST!!" It smashes another fist down. "GOING!!" It smashes another "TO!!" And then the fire surges, like the light of the sun. "CUT YOU!!" There's a massive shockwave from the amount of heat it's pouring into August now. "EVENTUALLY!!!"

    Coincidentally, it seems like engaging it in dialogue is making it louder. That might help... In a way. "And now, do you get it? I've finally found a linguist's neural matter that I can return in. The true form of language before all the 'pacifists' and the moralizers and the ETHICS decided to get their hands on it. It HURTS when you try to use it for anything but what it was made for."

    "Now, I can finally stop making HOMES, and start making COFFINS."

    Still, with all the raised voices, the library card keeps it safe... But they're making the library angry towards it. Rhapsody can search around, though she's going to find an intense sensation of heat surging all around her, trying to burn her passively, as she does. It's dangerous, but there's a few pockets in the sized-up, burnt-out, tattered version of August's clothes. A card is here... If she's willing to reach deeper into one of the side pockets and suffer exposure to churning hostile cognitohazard limbs and some gushing fire. It's just within reach, and if she gets it away from Autumn...
Rhapsody     "I think... I think... I feel it..." The guildmaster winces as she searches everywhere she can reach. While she is a dragon, and she shouldn't be having so much trouble with fire, this is a mindscape, and things are different here. The fire bites, burns, scorches, but this is for a friend that helped her in her time of need. She would see that favor returned.

    "Just give me another minute.." She's certain she felt something that felt like the card she was given earlier. A breath is sucked in and then Rhapsody plunges further into the fire, an arm reaching deep for one of the side pockets on August/Autumn's form. Hearing the warning about their voices just makes her smile in spite of the flame. If she can just get that card... oh my, she isn't sure she wants to see what that Force will do in here..
Staren     The words. So much is wrong with them. Staren wants to point out that the 'author's' meaning doesn't matter when his creation is people, that he's quite happy to have been created by nature and then completely ignore its ends in favor of his own values. Seriously, that's a rant that could go on for /paragraphs/.

    He must. Keep. Quiet.

    Just keep attacking. His shoulder racks come up, firing plasma missiles on a long cooldown, waiting for the damaged area to 'heal' before burning it again. He pulls the laser rifle off his back, adding laser bursts and the underbarrel grenade launcher to the mix.

    Just burn it, burn it until there's nothing left, and there's one less thing making the future worse...
August Kohler This is dangerous. If this wasn't a mindscape, August would be putting his life on the line, and he might still be; who knows how his Persona will work in here? Fire covers the Tin Soldier's body, causing it to move as if it was screaming in pain, clutching it's head. "Y-you're wrong! A tool that can only be used for one purpose...agh, is not a good tool! Swords don't just kill, they carve, and they cut! Hammers both build and d-destroy!" August struggles to keep up the bait, and then that giant shockwave comes down. "And language...is used for all forms, war OR peace!"

As the shockwave comes down, the Tin Soldier rushes to bodyslam Autumn, knowing full well how dangerous this is. It's trying to spread its own fire to him, and begins wailing on him with its fists. It's not very effective, and August has dropped fully to his knees, noticeably almost about to be ejected. He can't do much more here...
Flamel Parsons     The card slips out of Autumn's pocket. Autumn doesn't notice.

    Staren's shifted his tactic from something that damages Mental-August to something that damages, almost exclusively, the Tongue of Adam that's infested his interior. The beams and blasts and ruthless destruction annihilate flesh, stalling the evolution of the hostile language and making sure it can get no more articulate about this topic. Parsons does his best to mirror the tactics Staren is using. This is somewhat important: The August mental image looks like it's suffering deeply for the pain of this. The Tongue may have very little concern for the damage it's sustaining, but the mental image of August seems to be in intense pain from the damage.

    Speaking of August being in intense pain, the surge of fire and death is still going and going. A bodyslam has one effect, which is stunning it, albeit a bit lightly. Autumn stumbles back, its body groaning and crackling harshly under the impact, but for a moment, it is no longer in close proximity with August. It is, at this point, that the card will fully be retrieved, and Rhapsody can clear Mental August's body.

    Whatever reply it has for August will be cut short mere moments after.
Rhapsody     When the card slips free, the dragon doesn't notice at first, causing her to have to fumble for a few moments, dealing with the heat for a few more moments. When she finally spots the twirling card as it heads for the ground, she's quick to get clear of the beast, scoop up the card, toss it up, and simply incinerate it with a quick blast of her breath weapon as she runs.

        At this point Rhapsody wants a bomb shelter. The bookshelves will have to do.
Ainsley     An immense pressure surges through the mindscape. The shelves simultaneously bend outward as if to accomodate a presence and also buckle inward as if trying to suffocate with their proximity. The incredible heat from 'Autumn's body starts becoming a distant echo as something surges up in the middle of the battle. Everything becomes empty shadows and angry red light, with everyone's mental projections casting a sharp contrast, as well as that of the fiery construct itself.

    One moment the air was empty, the next a creature made of angular and wild shapes is there. It was watching the group the whole time, waiting for its moment.

    The hand comes down and spears into the construct's mouth, while a foot comes down on the core of its body. The Librarian straightens with a violent tug, and the Tongue of Adam is ripped from the core of the memory's concept. The fires immediately extinguish. And then the mental defense grabs the struggling psychohazard with its other hand, and stuffs the entire hazard into its mouth at once, and chomps down so hard that the silence will make their ears ring. Language smothered with Ainsley's understanding of the unspoken truth. The ichor of mad words spoken of ignorance spills from the Librarian's maw, wasted to the ground and coagulating into nothing. The linguist that was endangered moments before clamps down with her specialized mind and her specialized abilities.

    The Tongue of Adam screams.

    And then everything is back to normal, and everyone is standing in a scorched library hallway, near the wall at the end of it. It just reverted back to normal. And a single book glows on one of the shelves before the embers cool and smoke rises off of it.

    AUGUST

    It seems it worked.
August Kohler The flames continue to slam against August and the Tin Soldier. As the last strike comes in, August is about to retreat the Tin Soldier, taking the blow himself in order to avoid the damage...before he decides that it wouldn't be worth it. That if he's to die here, he's to die here.. The Tin Soldier takes the blow, creating the sensation of burning against his skin and his body. He roars in pain, a loud, visceral scream, before he just /vanishes/ in a cloud of energy, along with the Persona.

Outside, August violently is forced back into his body, toppling backwards in his chair and onto the groud. He just lies there, refusing to stand up.
Flamel Parsons     And now... It settles.

    "...I think... We got it." Agent Parsons whispers, quietly. "I think it's gotten now. Nothing here it can get into, at least." He pants, deeply, calming the stress and panic with deep breaths of psychic air. August is gone, it seems, but he'll be... Okay, at least, in the real world. Or so Parsons hopes.

    "...I'm just... Gonna pull us out now. Gently. And very, very, very quietly."

    He lets the others take a moment to recover. And then, as silently as he can manage with the Librarian's attention on them, he begins tugging them back out of Ainsley's brain. August will be able to see the door pop back open and the white shades of the other members of the team gently emerge, settling back into their normal bodies and awakening from the distracted trance. Ainsley, herself, will also awaken, and for the first time in over 24 hours, have a clear mind.
Ainsley     Ainsley reaches up to pull the door off of her head, and sets it on the table in front of her. She makes kind of a face, but breathes a shaky sigh of relief. And then she notices August had toppled over.

    She gets up from her seat and walks over to kneel near him, checking to see if he's okay. The tired reptile shows concern for him in her exhausted gaze. She is unaware of what he saw in there.

    "You didn't go overboard again, did you...?" she questions with the tired voice of someone just incredibly beaten down with trying to tolerate that behavior and failing. "Here, I'll help you up..." she offers her hand to him, frowning lightly.
Staren     Well, holy shit! Apparently what they really needed to do was... solve some puzzle to wake up the local defenses, not just keep attacking the psychohazard. Staren will try to remember this lesson for future mind dives.

    Outside, Dawn looks at August, and fishes through Staren's bag for a cellphone like device she waves over the young man.

    Staren, who's been staring at where August disappeared from, says: "...He's alive." He turns and tries to give the Librarian a hug and a pat on the back, before he's pulled back to his body. "Medic! Someone..." he turns to look over August, "...figure out what's wrong with him..."
Rhapsody     A very slow, very agreeable nod is given to Agent Parsons, even if he can't see it. Before Rhapsody is tugged out, though, she gives the Librarian a "Thank you," before waking out in the real world.
    When her eyes open she sort of slumps in the chair. That was... a bit crazy, AWESOME, but a little crazy. . . . and perfectly Izzet, by her book. "Ainsley? I really hope I'm never on your bad side. Ever. I hope you're feeling better, now."
August Kohler August isn't dead, nor unconscious. He's just burning from the pain, and can still feel it. He eventually starts to move, and that's when Ainsley offers her his hand. He stares at her, for a moment, but then refuses it, getting up on his own merit and leaning against the table as support. "It's dead." His look at Ainsley is one of both regret and hurt, as he wanders off to the door, using the wall as support. "I'm heading home. Good work, guys."
Staren     "No you're not." Staren replies when August says that he's dead. As August excuses himself from the room, he's not sure what else to say. Dawn hands him his scanner back, and he stuffs it into his bag before turning to Ainsley. "How are you feeling?"
Flamel Parsons     "Overboard is a way of saying it." Agent Parsons says, slumped back in his chair. "I can't guarantee, but I'll guess, his brain's going to be a little overloaded for a while. He won't be fully cognitively capable of, uh... Active aggression. Or defense. Just for a bit. It's like healing when you get a wound, except the wound was to his mind. Give him time. Bluh. Give me time too. Nnnh..." He rubs his head awkwardly.
Ainsley     Ainsley watches August get up, standing up with him and watching him leave. She watches him and that look he's giving. His look just boils something in her, by the way she starts to scowl through the signs of bloodshot sleep deprivation. And because of that condition she starts to feel an old temper built of years of being unable to understand people flash into a temper of knowing that understanding can still fail. She starts to look steadily more furious until the folding chair that August was in moments before ends up picked up with one of her hands and chucked at a nearby whiteboard, creating a loud clattering noise as the board spins rapidly on its axis but really not hurting anyone. She hasn't been able to sleep and seeing someone do that to her after all of that, someone she cares about, just SHUN her offer to help him. It's just too much.

    "STOP IT!!"

    She trembles and breathes a heavy sigh, forcing herself to sit down with her hands both shamefully placed over her face for letting it explode like that. Her feathers are all puffed up.
Rhapsody Blink. Flinch. Partial ducking, regardless of the fact the chair was chucked well away from Rhapsody. It IS enough for her to drag another empty chair over and take a seat right beside Ainsley, if she doesn't object to it. A glance is given August and the rest of the room, "Hey, hey, you've been through a heck of a thing," is said to Ainsley before turning to August again, "And what happened in -there- is absolutley no reflection of what is going on out here -now-. If you don't like what you saw of that 'book' August, then work on rewriting it, not tossing it aside," then back to Ainsley and the room in general, "Look, I think some rest will do everyone good, especially Ainsley, so.. everyone? Deep breath, okay? Don't let that entity get the last word in.."
Staren     Staren holds up his hands. "Woah! Woah woah woah! Stop what? Ainsley, what's wrong?"
August Kohler August halts when Ainsley snaps. He frowns, but he doesn't appear to be upset at her. He appears /apologetic/, as he ignores Rhapsody and heads out the door. Once out in the police station, he'll find somewhere quiet to take a seat and rest before he heads home.

And inside? A part of him feels like he's been right all along. This is what happens when August Kohler gets too close to people.