Scene #7331: The Condemned Subway: Entrance

Owner	Pose
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	To what kyndely rightes is man leten? Housing is considered a basic necessity. Besides, nobody likes people sleeping in the street. Yet shall toleraunce be areinen for those bi-liven ther-awei, wel fern in years, and lest not ileve? Society's 'bout havin' to give up shit you want to do to make shit work. The PLANET RUBI-KA is so far from Earth that only now, in the year 29487, do human broadcast signals from the 21st century reach this distant rock. By nature, the planet is barren and inhospitable. All human habitation occurs within a completely transparent, selectively permeable dome visible from orbit. So massive is this dome that a journey on foot from one end to the other would take months of travel through terrain as geologically diverse as Earth itself--but, fortunately, the planet has two distinct teleportation networks, in addition to Warpgates. The city of ATHEN, your general destination, is actually two distinct cities separated by a wide, winding river. The scenery on either side of the river couldn't be more different. To the EAST, there lies OLD ATHEN, a city with towering, imposing walls of blue and black, with a harbor situated on the river and a constant trickle of cargo ships landing and taking off throughout the day. It is surrounded by a desert wasteland, littered with the wreckage of some long-past battle, through which rogue and abandoned droids of differing makes and models wander. WEST ATHEN is where you want to be. It's the city on the west side of the river, easily reached thanks to a large, paved and well-lit bridge. It's a great example of how heavily the barren planet has been terraformed, as it's almost picturesque in its location, by comparison. Sandstone bricks form a low wall around the city's perimeter, its terraced hills paved evenly, with homes and businesses carved into the hills. Lush greenery surrounds the city, extending quite far out to the west, yet terminating rather drastically once it reaches the river. There's even a forest on the west side of the paved road which leads to West Athen, with rich amber and brown hues, the sounds of animals and birds of flight abound. Fall is here, for just a little while longer. It's mid-afternoon, and comfortably cool. The Vanguard, dressed in brown dusters, rust-colored armor, visored helmets and articulated, partially fingerless gloves, make leisurely patrols between the city's terraced hills. Citizens enter and leave shops with the hiss of pneumatic doors, advertisements for local businesses and galactic franchises play on bilboards. The entrance to the CONDEMNED SUBWAY is on the ground level--and your contact with the Vanguard, RAMON BAUER, is standing guard outside. He wears all of the uniform, save the helmet. He appears human, with pale skin and blonde hair, and spots you fairly quickly. Taking a hand off of the high-powered, desert-beaten rifle he wields, he flags you down. "Hey, 'Versers. Over here! If you're looking for the Subway, you found it. Door's open, but if you got any questions, ask now." He taps his ear. "Radio signals get garbled, farther in you go."
Majima Goro	Being a 'Verser, Majima considers, is kind of weird. You're not really a mercenary--after all, it's not like he's in this for the money. A black glove is pulled further onto his hand. He splays his fingers out, admiring the shine a moment as he looks to the Vanguard leader. "Yeah, eh..." He taps his head a few times. "Fuck's down there?" There's a jerked thumb in the direction of the subway. This isn't heroism, either. This isn't going to save the world. This isn't even going to save the city. What's at stake here is whether or not a bunch of surveyors can investigate an area to decide if they can create an infrastructure project. That's it. That's the whole goal here. They're being paid for it, sure, but he'll punch some punk's hat off, then eat it, if anyone showing up today is here for the money. "I mean, sometimes ya gotta bring the better bat, and sometimes y'gotta bring a better knife, and maybe I should be callin' Nishida and the boys in to do reinforcement work if that's the fuckin' problem, y'know?" He taps his head again. In a lot of ways, being an Elite is, as near as he can tell, trying to alleviate boredom by any means necessary. It's amazing how little things change.
Samhain	A maintenance worker with an old-timey cap and welding mask approaches Ramon. He stands there for several moments, seemingly not breathing. And then, he holds open a hand. "I require photographs of the interior. Alternatively, detailed descriptions." In the case that Ramon doesn't answer, or sucks shit at describing it, Samhain moves to just pull the descriptions or pictures out of his memories, should it exist.
Xion	Verser... Verse-er? Yeah. That one, Xion gets. ACTION TEENAGER ON THE SCENE, Xion wanders the area outside of the West Athens bridge and thoroughfare towards the Sewer access, clearly using her phone as a GPS guide and failing terribly. When she's waved over by the helpful voice of the man who explains that radios are about to get real weird and is joined by Local Coal Miner In The Year 22XX and Majima Goro CEO And President of Majima Construction. Helpfully to the tone of this endeavor, at Majima talking about baseball bats, Xion summons an shiny aluminum bat to her hand with a metallic 'shwink!' and smiles. "It's fine. It's a sewer level, we flip the switches and mess with the sluice puzzle, fight the ghost tornado, and then the water will work again. I've done it dozens of times." "I'm a professional." Xion insists, thumbing her nose confidently.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Bauer snorts, evidently admiring Majima's brusque manner. "That's what we wanna know, guy." Samhain's scan of his memories will find that to be true. He doesn't have much knowledge of what it looks like down there, past some very old schematics sourced from something called Omni-Tek. Old as in 'at least 300 years.' Those should provide a general idea of the place's layout, but anything more recent, such as 'how much of it is still intact,' is uncertain. Bauer scratches the side of his head--because he seems to know that isn't much of an answer. "Let's see... so, it's 29487, yeah? Back in 28708, megacorp called Omni-Tek signs a 1,000 year lease with the Interstellar Council of Corporations for ownership of this rock. To make a long story really short, a lot of their little pet projects--" He jerks his thumb towards the subway with a grin. "Like that, didn't pan out for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the Grid--" He points to a waist-high computer terminal, with a blue sign indicating that it is, in fact, the GRID. Then, Bauer points to the imposing figure of OLD ATHENS. Specifically, a mile-high antennae that's visible just slightly over the walls. "And the Whom-Pah, two vastly more efficient transport systems. Second, this thing was a money sink. And third, the labor strike turned all-out-war that gave rise to the Clans, 'bout three hundred years ago. I don't know exactly what's in there, but I know it scared the shit out of the contractors we sent in before you guys." He frowns. "Seriously. They broke their asses to get out of there. You'd think they didn't have Insurance, or something." You can hear the capital I in that word, and, indeed, there's a terminal near the GRID which reads INSURANCE RECLAIM. "Something's in there. Something unfriendly." Xion's genre-savviness seems to perplex him, genuinely. "Uh... what? Miss, this is a subway. There shouldn't be any sewer. Well--" That draws a thought. "There might be a sewer connection somewhere. I think I remember a restroom, on the blueprints. Speaking of... you guys got anything that can accept a file transfer? I can upload a map for you, based off of the blueprints."
Majima Goro	"...Eh?" There's a cigarette in Majima's hand. It's a good time to get the smoking done--when the serious talk is happening. "Ya had guys in there. They fuckin' left." The lighter's flicked, and he lets out a slow exhale. Not at Bauer or anything. Just, you know, a puff of smoke in general. "So the fuck did they see or hear?" As for the second question, he pulls out a cell phone. "Yeah, think I get how doin' a file transfer works now, yeah..."
Samhain	"I have the map." Is all Samhain says, as he suddenly creates a giant photo frame behind him. He turns, walks through it... And moves to appear in what is marked on his mental map as 'Fair Trade'. If the others want to follow him, the portal lingers for a bit. Otherwise, he closes it, just picking the thing that sounds Coolest to him.
Xion	Xion has a phone in her hands, which she waggles indicatingly. The issue of sewers and subways being identical levels comes up, and deserves further speaking on: "Well, if you really think about it, the difference between a subway and a sewer level is just the presence of water. And don't get me started on sluice levels. So whether it's a subway or a sewer, either way, there's going to be a part where water's come in, and we'll have to operate a set of levers or cranks or an electronic panel that's missing a battery shaped like a chess piece, and then after going around it for a while, we'll complete the puzzle that lets us get to the boss room after getting the powerup, and then we'll fight the tornado, which will probably be some form of hulking monster made out of refuse or scrap or plant growth if it's got light coming into it, like a broken above-ground pipe thing, or if it's caved in and green instead of brown." "It could be a water monster, too, like one of those goo-psud... sudo... the goo tentacles with a core that you need to draw out with gravity magic or do a puzzle to reveal..." She watches Samhain heck off. "Have fun!" She calls, before turning back to Bauer. "So, you know, it's like that, right?"
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Bauer seems perfectly fine with the cell phone. He pulls out a little tablet-looking thing. Majima's phone just Has it, now, a map of the subway, adjusted for the resolution of his phone. There are a few points of interest: LOBBY, FAIR TRADE, RESTROOMS, ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES. As for what the contractors saw? "Sure, gimme a sec," he says. He taps his ear. "Hey, Alan? Yeah, Bauer here. Fine, fine. Listen, sorry to bother, but you mind sending the statements we got from the firm to my PDA? Cool, cool. Alright, see ya." He pulls the tablet thing up again, scrolling through it. "Hokayyy.... here we go. Blah, blah, blah, safety concerns. There. Uh... 'numerous unknown aggressive insect species... extensive vagrant population... unattended droids,' okay... Oh, what?" His eyes widen. "'Mutants?' Really? In a centuries-old subway? How?" He scratches his head again, brow furrowed in confusion. He slings the rifle over his shoulder, procuring a cigarette of his own. "Got a light there, bud?" he asks Majima. Whether he gets that light or not, "Lots of mention about mutants in here, actually. Not too much more specific than that--though it does say some of their guys stayed behind. Or were left behind. Noooot really sure why." He shrugs. Xion is really, really confusing this guy. "Listen, kid, whatever shit you're off of, get back on it." He takes a look around. "Jacobi'll yell at me for this, but I don't care. Take this," he says, giving her a plastic slip. "Go over to that machine--" the INSURANCE TERMINAL. "Create an account, and swipe. If you're gonna be goofing off down there looking for switches or God knows what, at least make it smart fun. Not stupid fun."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	FAIR TRADE Samhain, and anyone who decides to follow him, will find that 'extensive vagrant population' is... actually underselling it. Fair Trade, so designated by the burnt out neon sign above the entrance, was meant to be the equivalent of a shopping center mixed with a food court. The dingy black-and-white checkered tiles are caked over with centuries of dirt, soot and grime. The walls are some sort of tesselated brown tile, and it's difficult to tell, in the dim lighting, afforded by numerous barrel fires, whether that brown is the color they were originally meant to be. Vendors have set up in the stalls, selling hand (?) crafted weapons, armor, clothing, accessories, and even electronics. There is also a CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE FOOD STAND with a broken neon sign, featuring a rotund and rather tactless caricature of of an ancient Earth culture. No one has bothered to set up here, but there is food being sold elsewhere. Milling about through the stalls are shoppers, just as dirty as the rest of this place, and beyond, there is a DINING AREA, with broken windows revealing quite a bit of activity in there, too, the din of conversation carrying all the way to the entrance of Fair Trade.
Majima Goro	Majima does not light Bauer's cigarette, because there's a whole culture thing about lighting someone else's cigarette where he's from. He does shrug and pass a lighter over, though. He's got extras, and that one doesn't even shoot the lighter fluid out to set people on fire with. "Yeah, see? That's the shit I was askin' for." He taps a bit on his phone, as if making a note to himself. "Arright. Hey. Xion, wasn't it?" He slowly cranes his neck around to some nobody kid, taking another puff of his cigarette. "I ain't really used to runnin' around sewers or subways or some shit. I'm used to street-level. So, what say I follow you, eh? Nehehahah!" Frankly, he's hoping for angry vagrants. He knows what to do with humanoid targets.
Samhain	Samhain closes the portal, appears in Fair Trade, and starts milling about. Why is there a city down here? The maintenance worker-slash-monster moves forward, silently poking through the streets. He approaches the most fancy looking stall, one that looks like it's been here a while, and speaks up. "I am looking for the leader of this shantytown, in search of information. Please cooperate." His low voice doesn't sound hostile, but he does sound like he's not leaving without an answer.
Xion	Xion is handed a CREDIT CARD so she can pay the insurance salesman. For a second, she looks at the card, as Majima sides with HER on the argument between her and Bauer about the finer points of Brown/Green/Blue Circle Tunnel. She looks at the card, squints, and shakes her head. "Insurance is just a subscription to a con that the government forces you to pay. It's graft. Thanks for worrying about me, though." She smiles at Bauer, both hands coming up confidetly to her face to slick back her hair - with some short bangs hanging back across her brow - and smirk. "Majima-san and I are going to go find whatever the problem is and unclog it, see?" She starts strut-walking towards the LOBBY, arms swinging wide as her hood bobs. "Going to Arrivals to make sure there's some--" She swings her baseball bat preparingly as if warming up. "--departures! Hehehe~!" It looks like Majima's desire is the beacon she's latched on to today.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Leaving a very perplexed Vanguard at the entrance, Majima and Xion enter, to unclog The Problem. LOBBY - > ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES To get to ARRIVALS, you'll need to head through the lobby, follow a long hallway to the end, and don't take the side doors--these are the RESTROOMS. There is, in fact, a supply of Angry Vagrants, Violent Vagabonds, and Stim Fiends! Even in numbers, they don't offer a challenge. These are clearly the people who wouldn't have fit into that city Samhain mentioned--people the city doesn't have the resources to properly care for. Those who, for any number of reasons, found themselves thrown out, to prey on others going to or from other parts of this evidently sprawling complex. Majima, in fact, is probably quite used to their manner of fighting, because much like the mean streets of Kamurocho, people here will use whatever's on hand as a weapon. Wine bottles, pistols (from balaclava'd muggers, no less), and even a Quake-looking, beige and orange FUCKED UP FUTURE SHOTGUN. Aside from that, there are fleas with shells of a sickly yellow color, easily larger than either of your heads, skeletal-looking beige droids that wander aimlessly, ocasionally attacking with roughly 'cheap taser' voltage claws, and the odd abandoned pet or the litter thereof. The only thing of interest that you find within the LOBBY, on your way through, is that these people (and occasionally, the droids) sometimes drop things that will clearly ping Xion's This Must Be a Quest Item sense, and possibly Majima's sense that Someone Will Want this Stupid Shit For No Good Reason. They're electronics, or, rather, fragments of different electronic devices. Past a second set of imposing, large pneumatic doors completed with faded, dinged, rusted caution stripes, there is a hallway, in formerly white tiles, quite well lit despite the age of this place, by flickering overhead lights. It's here that things start to get more difficult, as the STIM FIENDS here clearly have access to stronger stuff. Moreover, it's here that you start to see why the contractors got spooked. Some kind of alien spiders, the size of particularly large crabs, dart in between the doors of this hallway, and are not only aggressive, but make a kind of call that almost sounds like speech of some sort. This tends to attract more. What's worse, is that the contractors who didn't leave appear to be here. You can tell, because they're wearing much nicer clothes than the vagrants, with clearly visible company logos on the backs of their sleek grey work cloaks. They are, each of them, some breed of human which tends towards massive, bulky frames, each strong enough to lift an iron girder and use as a weapon. Those weapons are pointed at you.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	FAIR TRADE The fanciest-looking stall is definitely the one selling the electronics. There is all manner of stuff here; vacuum tube-looking things, belts clearly packed to the brim with electric innards, light-bars meant to rest upon the shoulders, some breadbox sized something-or-other with three cords reminiscent of an ancient analog gaming system. Countless other devices of unknown origin line the back wall. The vendor is a person even stockier and bulkier than Bercilak, and perhaps a head taller. Their facial features might best be described as a masculinity so exaggerated as to veer outside of traditionally human appearance; a graying beard and receding hairline, a figure so bulky that their frame appears different than that of a human. "Our leader? We haven't had one of those since Vergil." They frown. "If he's even still alive, you don't wanna talk to him, trust me. If there's something you wanna know, I'm the person you want. My name's Shep, and I've run this stall long as I can remember." The enormous electronics salesperson will answer what questions he has.
Samhain	"I see. Well then, I am Samhain." He's still staring, with that creepy mask, but... There's a sort of change, when Shep is helpful. His commanding tone dies down, as he starts talking. "I was sent here as an adventurer by those above in Athens. However, I do not understand their motives, and my true objective is to learn about people and their society. I quite like the city you live in, if we consider it that. Therefore, I would like to know about this city's relationship with the government above." Shep can probably tell that Samhain Just Started Breathing, as if he's now trying to fake it.
Majima Goro	Majima nods at Xion approvingly. "Neheheh! Nice, kid!" There's a clap as he follows along through the subway. Then, we pass from complicated sewer puzzle tech into Majima's territory--a staggering number of humanoid targets with improvised weapons. Xion gets to have the monopoly on bat-related injuries for the time being. Majima doesn't rush into the fray--he dances into the fray, spinning on his hands, or sometimes swinging around on his shoulders. You've all seen eighties-style breakdancing, and you know exactly how this goes down. Majima does, however, take full advantage of the random crap people are holding. Wine bottles gripped, people slammed onto the ground, wine poured down their throats faster than they can hope to swallow, and then stomachs stomped on, or the like. Having the makeshift weapons helps with the giant fleas, of course, and it's for those the knife comes out. It might be up to Xion to deal with robots. He just can't hit those non-lethal vital points on a robot that well. What he does have, however, is a fantastic sense of Crap People Will Ask For Later So Hold Onto It Now. After all of that, he's left with...contractors. Pointing weapons. At him. "Eh? ...We're here to fuckin' help you. Put the weapons down." His eye narrows, and he looks about as ticked off as someone can be. "Shit, I get the trigger finger shit down here, but it ain't necessary."
Xion	Oh it's a montage, bay-bee, you love to see it: Majima non-lethally feeding a dude a wine-bottle wide-end first, Xion sweeping guys at the back of their ankles and then, when the arc of her bat reaches twelve o'clock slamming it down with a violently lung clearing force. Robots? Robots. This time, Majima follows Xion's lead as she drives in the metal joints and sockets to hyper-extend, smash, or disable limbs so that, well, robots don't really do the whole pain thing, and they can get new legs - right? Right. The pair come to the hulking contractors and Majima switches to talking just like that. Xion's here for it. Leaning forward on her now-slightly-bent-and-dented bat, Xion blinks at the guns. "Well, yeah, we were going to find whatever puzzle was down here, and then do it, and then leave. Do you guys... need something? You seem nice." A swath of destruction through the lobby preceeds them. "Do you have any switch puzzles? We found a bunch of electronic parts on the way over."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	FAIR TRADE "Athen? That's what that 'foreman' fella said, too..." Shep scratches their head. "Never heard of it. Sign in Arrivals says 'Omni-2.' Always figured that's what was Above." They shrug, frowning nonchalantly. It doesn't much concern them what's Above, it seems. "Anyway, no matter who it is, I got no idea why they'd send you down here. Some of them contractors didn't seem too happy to see us, though. Foreman was nice enough, and some of his people were, too. But others... some of them... they looked at us like there was something wrong about us being here. Never seen anything like it." He seems genuinely confused at the notion of not being wanted in this place. "Kept calling us 'vagrants.' What's that word mean, anyway?"
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Xion looted Small Power Supply. Xion looted Circuit Board. Majima looted Copper Wire. Majima looted A Burnt Out Memory Chip. Someone will Want those. There is an air of hostility from the workmen. Some are bare handed, others carry thick steel girders. Blurred, shadowy somethings dart between room to room behind them, indistinct despite the well lit atmosphere. It's suspicion, Xion can tell. It's plain upon their faces even without her connection to the hearts of others. "We don't want any help," says a more obviously human worker, coming from within the crowd. His work cloak is white, and, in place of the girder that his towering colleagues would have, there is, instead, some sort of high-tech personal defense weapon. It looks like a tonfa, and he holds it like one--but the discerning eye will spot several modifications made to personalize the weapon for his ease. "We're right where we want to be. We're not coming back up, and you two aren't going any further. Vergil's orders." Bauer didn't mention any Vergil.
Xion	"The sword demon of blue who weilds a cursed demon sword, Yamato, the cleaver of barriers and portals? Wow, I haven't seen him in at least a few days. You guys work for Vergil? That's great." Xion claps her hands, immediately having to catch her bat with a knee before it loudly falls over. "Okay, well, I don't want any death but I'm pretty sure that if Vergil's here you've got some big bitey fighty problem." She doesn't even address 'you want us to go' or its verbal ilk. She doesn't, they clearly were not talking to her.
Majima Goro	Majima cracks his neck. "Eh? ...Then the fuck did your buddies leave for?" There's a casual wave of a sheathed tanto towards the exit. At any rate, Majima knows how these things go down. "...but, okay. Maybe I oughta introduce myself, eh?" He tilts his head. "Majima Goro, of Majima Construction." He looks to the shorter, more human worker. Xion has already made the all-important Vergil joke, so he's left clicking his tongue. "...Anyway. I was told there's a bunch of shit keepin' people from usin' these tunnels. Then, I find it's a gauntlet of hobos, weird bug things, and robots. Not bad. It's a trip to Smile Burger for me." He slowly unsheathes the knife, using the tip of the square to pick his teeth. "So, I'm meetin' your boss, and while it'd be nice if you could introduce us...nehhahaha. I'm open to the alternative!"
Samhain	"I see." A long pause. Samhain says something into his radio...no response. He picks up a cheap internet-capable radio from his pocket, taps at it, and... "It means you're homeless. Or a wanderer. Or a beggar. But you are clearly none of those things." A long thought. Suddenly, a realization. "You've been here a long time? A whole society down here." He's suddenly a little paranoid, not sure if he can trust Shep. He decides, to at least, continue with what he wanted to say. "Can you fight, if they try to take your home away?" It's not a threat.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	"Different Vergil," says the white-cloaked man, unfazed by Xion's guess. "This Vergil's a visionary. He helped us see what was really important. He doesn't need a sword, and he /makes/ the demons." Majima's question draws a scoff from him. "Our 'buddies' left because they saw something they didn't understand, and ran away from it. We embraced it, and this place has welcomed us for it." It's... kind of true? The spiders haven't bothered attacking any of the workers. He takes a minute to spy Majima out. Then observes Xion's bat. The both of them appear to pass some sort of muster--where picking a fight becomes a bad idea, even with numbers. He's not certain if he can beat the both of you. "/My/ boss is through that door," says the white-cloaked man. "He was the foreman, before we realized our true purpose. Go on and see him, if you want. My guess is, he'll figure you went through us the, ah... 'alternative' way," with a nod towards Majima, "and drop one of you before you get halfway to him." He smiles, stepping aside, and the curtain of grey cloaked musclebastards parts to let you through. If you do decide to cross through that door, you will be greeted by a man in a green cloak. That man appears to be in his late fifties, and, as with the other workers, is much cleaner than the average denizen here. He is also a much better shot, and is equipped with a crossbow. He takes a well-aimed shot, and the weapon's mechanism automatically pulls back the string and cables. You can see a bolt literally forming back in the flight groove, before he turns and runs. It's going to be that kind of fight, then--not a mob, but one slippery, irritating bastard. That bastard leads you on a chase, through an ELEVATED HALLWAY wherein you can finally observe the dilapidated ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES portion of the subway, from above, through dirtied, grimy windows overlooking the place. It looks like you'll have to chase the FOREMAN down the stairs to be rid of him, and to make it to your intended destination unbothered by lunatic cult members.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	FAIR TRADE "But I'm--" Shep is about to interject, confused, when Samhain pretty much finishes what they were going to say. Can they fight? "Oh, yeah. We've got nano and everything down here, uh huh." He taps those vacuum tube looking things. "Then Gina over there--" a gesture to a red haired woman--"She could arm us, Marvin could armor us--" a gesture to a grey-skinned man with unusual black markings on his jaw and neck. His pupils are orange. "...yeah, we could fight. But, you don't think they'd really do that, do you?" Shep frowns. "After all this time... coming down here just to kick us out?"
Majima Goro	"....ehhh. Fuck." The one-eyed man waves a hand almost dismissively at the two spider cultists, shaking his head. "Yeah. That's..'bout what I figured. Enjoy your fuckin'..whatever this is." And as he walks through, that is, in fact, absolutely a man in a green cloak who's aiming a crossbow at him. Luckily, he has a knife, and he is used to having to dodge pretty much this exact scenario. Hell, he can do it at a full tilt run, bending his body to the side just to let the bolt near-scrape his arm. "Xion! Can ya run faster than me? We gotta cut this guy off!"
Samhain	"Yes, I do." Samhain says, instantly. "It's the primal lizard brain. The tribal instinct. You are of a 'different tribe'. You don't even know what the name of their city is. You have a different culture. A different way of life." A pause. "You live underneath them. You can fight. They will be threatened by you. Scared of you. They will clash, as tribes do. They have bigger numbers - they may win. But..." Samhain looks up, and then back down to Shep. "I am willing to assist. We can take it out in trade. Just point me in a direction. You don't want to be caught unaware."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	FAIR TRADE "The primal lizard brain?" Something about that amuses them, as if the term were familiar. Amused as they are by that remark, Samhain paints a dark picture. "Well... they can't all be that bad, can they? I mean, the Foreman was pretty nice to us. He said not to worry about what some of his people said, that he'd 'smooth it over.' He even told us a little about what's happened Above, before he had to get back to work." "Besides," they say, gesturing with both ham-sized hands. "You came from up there, and you seem pretty worried about us, too. Plus there's that funny-talking guy. Can't understand what he says, most times, but he's nice. You're telling me there's nobody up there that'll want to talk about it fair-like?"
Xion	'Drop one of you before you get halfway to him.' "Ha! That's fake. I'm going right now, and we'll laugh about it, okay?" Xion replies confidently with an air of Teenage Heroine Sass, before the pair proceed to the door, it opens, and Xion has a crossbow bolt tip stuck in her forehead. She yipes out a start, and collapses clutching her head. "Gahhhhhh!" She groans, and she is, in fact, down before Majima can get across the room. But as he shouts for her to outrun him and cut him off, he hears back "Oh yeah! I'm going to be on him like a moogle on munny!" Xion howls, pumping her legs and fists as she dashes with a big cartoonish pair of band-aids X-marking her slicked-back hair. "I'm gonna do better than halfway, CROSSBOW BANDIT!" She hollers, a lunge towards his back getting veered off from and sending her sliding into terrain. She gets zippy after that, starting to drop out of purple-and-black holes in space with grabby arms and lunging legs.
Samhain	"I come from a different world. I am not part of their society." Samhain responds, but considers. "I am willing to talk to them, for you, if you'd like. I assume you've never left your city, and don't wish to start now. Perhaps we can begin with peace, and go to war if they start it?" Despite coming on a little strong...Samhain isn't here for the trade. He smells injustice, and he wants to stop it.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	Majima's plan to have Xion cut the Foreman off works well. It's difficult for him to quickly get down the stairs in that cloak, and he clearly wasn't expecting her to survive getting domed like that. What follows is a man who had the element of surprise, but was clearly unprepared for such an agile opponent. Despite being unable to properly smack Xion with the butt of his weapon, he has some shit to talk, too. "If you're having this much trouble with me, Vergil will--" One of her hands catches his ankle just as he pulls the trigger. The shot goes wild, striking one of the fluorescent lights in the stairwell and showering the both of them in ultrafine fragments of safety glass. Sparks briefly illuminate the bolt bouncing off of the forgotten tiled walls. There is an ugly series of thumps as he tumbles down the stairs. There's a section of dark that you'll both have to pass through--but at the foot of the stairs there is the unconscious, possibly dead foreman. There is also the ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES hallway, at last. This is where the train would have gone, had this place ever been finished. The subways haven't smelled great, so far, but there is a smell like the fainlt, minging odor of trash, mixed with the acrid aroma of human waste. There are much less people here--it's more of those tiny four legged spiders, and maybe the odd STIM FIEND or two--they don't pick a fight with you, those stimheads. This is the place someone would go to in order to be alone. Because it stinks, and the yawning stretch of tunnel into the darkness is quite frankly creepy. Majima in particular can tell why they never finished this place. Bauer wasn't joking. This little room alone could easily be a whole ass communal living facility, and, based on the flickering YOU ARE HERE sign, this network was meant to connect places easily thousands of miles apart.
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	FAIR TRADE "A different world, huh? Now you're sounding like one of those smackheads down by Arrivals." Shep laughs, but generally seems to take Samhain at his word. "Well, I guess it's not so much to believe, anyway. Never woulda thought we'd see somebody from Above! Much less so many of ya." They give a rumbling hmmmm, scratching the bristly white beard which clings to their absurdly pronounced jaw, furrowing their equally pronounced brow. "Well... I'll wanna bring it up with the rest of the folks down here, have words about it, figure it all out... but, for now, I don't see no harm in you talking for us." This is clearly a very trusting person. They haven't once seemed ill at ease, despite evidently noticing that Samhain only breathes as an afterthought. "If you wouldn't mind, sure. Find whoever it is sent you Abovers down here, see what they want with the place. We wouldn't mind peace, if they wouldn't!" They laugh a gravelly laugh.
Samhain	"Alright." Samhain doesn't actually trust him, but, this is the only way to progress forward, so he steps back, gives a nod of the head, and then moves to leave. Once he's not around as many people, not out of secrecy but so it's easier to control the flow, he creates a photograph, and dumps himself right out back at the entrance. He's got an important question for Bauer, and he's willing to take it mentally again, if necessary. "Who is in charge of this operation?"
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	"I am, chief," says Bauer indifferently. He doesn't seem to mind that he can't see who it is he's speaking with. That kind of makes sense, in a way. Much like Shep felt comfortable in his own home, Bauer seems comfortable in the knowledge that he's got backup. There are enough brown dusters here to put up a fight. West Athen isn't lousy with them, but Old Athen surely is, and it's just a hop, skip and a jump from here. "What can I do for you? Your buddies get into some trouble down there?" He pauses. "Are there really mutants?"
Samhain	After a moment of being out of sight and then speaking, Samhain actually walks in front of him. "They split off. I met some people. A city down there. They are seeking peace. I would like to broker it."
Majima Goro	"Ah, fuck." He looks down the stairs at the fallen figure. "...Whaddaya wanna bet he'd have known where that guy was?" Majima scratches his head, looking back at Xion. "Well, this shit's your puzzle. Wehre to?"
Xion	Xion looks down the Other Side of the Tracks, and pans her gaze into the STIM FIENDS and their FOUR LEGGED SPI-BROS and the distinct lack, the screaming void of wanting to be alone. Climbing to the bottom of the stairs, she picks up the foreman like a sack of potatoes and slings him over her shoulder, before disappearing his crossbow into her inventory. "Yeah, but... This isn't the quest area. This is the toilet. And we're not checking every stall, so we may as well stay out." Heaving the Foreman back through the jungle of bullshit, Xion takes a moment to aside, to Majima: "I think they don't need me, though, Majima-han. I think they need you. A builder, not a... bladehead like me. All I know how to do is charge my phone, eat hot chips, bust heartless, and ice cream."
Rubi-Kan Vagrants	>This isn't the quest area. Not yet, it isn't, Xion. Not yet. But you both have two QUEST ITEMS apiece, and besides that, the Foreman was clearly trying to keep you from getting further in. With him out of the way, being hauled out over Xion's shoulder, the path would be clear, if for any reason you ever needed to come back. His goons, the WORKMAN STRIKERS, allow both Xion and Majima through. Part of it is because Majima looks like a crazy motherfucker. The other is because they can see the result of his failed attempt to dome Xion. Either way, you have all done exactly what was asked of you--you've assessed what use, and what dangers, are posed by the Subway. Bauer will see each of you paid handsomely in credits. They have a quite fair exchange rate with the general multiversal kind, which hints that, despite this place being way out in the ass end of nowhere, it's doing pretty well for itself. That, or it's got something the rest of the Multiverse wants. Bauer is keen to give each of you a line of contact for the Vanguard, and offers his assurance that your good work will be Remembered. You may get the feeling, even as you're leaving, once you've satisfied any other business here planetside, that you haven't seen the last of this rock, much less the Subway. You would be right, though you may not realize it now.