Multiverse Crisis MUSH - User contributions [en]

3281/Touhou Kakudai Intermission - Of Curiosity and Cats

2015-10-30T22:05:22Z

MirageV: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/10/27 |Location=The Realm of Gensokyo |Synopsis=Konoe investigates the movements of Makai's devils on her own and winds up biting off a bit mo..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/10/27
|Location=The Realm of Gensokyo
|Synopsis=Konoe investigates the movements of Makai's devils on her own and winds up biting off a bit more than she can chew.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=847, 882
|Tinyplot=Touhou Kakudai
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Ever since the incident at Kaibaland, Konoe had been on edge. Those devils had shown up yet again. It was beyond suspicious now. And now that Alice was allegedly involved, it only grew even more so.      And so Konoe decided to investigate.      Her first thought was to check Alice's house, but her dolls kept turning her away. Marisa was busy being Marisa off at gods know where, leaving her left to her own devices. Figuring that there would be nothing for it with things like that, she decided to strike out on her own. Asking around, surveying various locales, and so on.      Frustratingly, she got little to work with. The only clue seemed to be that those devils had supposedly come from Makai. ...But how does one get to Makai? Konoe felt like she should have known, but her memory remained cloudy.      Eventually, as a last resort, Konoe thought that perhaps she should pay this 'Hakurei Shrine' a visit, and ask there. ...She didn't want to go there. At all. But she was fast running out of ideas.      And so here the cat miko was, flying through the skies of Gensokyo at a leisurely pace, as if avoiding her impending destination. Her expression was a pensive one, not looking forward to this in the least.      "...This has become such a troublesome thing." Konoe muttered to herself as she flew. 

:'''{{#var:882|Shinki (882)}} has posed:'''     With the actual Miko out and about, the Shrine's "loving" guardian is not there, the portal to Makai buzzing with energy as two figures come out. "Mm, that Academy could have gone better, Yuki." the white robed girl mutters, shaking her head some as she takes flight into the sky above the Hakurei Shrine. "And Marisa was there too. Hot headed as ever. I think she may come after Makai soon." the black robed girl scoffs...     "Let her, we'll show her for intruding on us. It's been ten years, I'm sure we can take her." Yuki smirks a bit, "We'll expand Makai into Gensokyo and beyond. Besides, didn't you send Louise off to meet that guy? I dont' care much for this peaceful way of negotiating, I'd rather take it. Like Sara." Yuki takes a look towards the sky, "It's actually a nice day out here, so why are we in Gensokyo again?"     "We have to pick up something from Alice's house. She's buried herself into Wonderland for the past week. I wonder if she forgot something there. Haven't opened the list she gave me." with this, both start off in the direction towards Alice's house, flying above the road to the Shrine. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      As Konoe's trip gradually drew to a close, with the Hakurei Shrine getting closer, she noticed something odd. "...?" Two figures flying out of the shrine grounds and...they looked familiar. After a second or two, Konoe's eyes widened. "It's /them/!" She exclaimed to herself, having not forgotten Yuki and Mai's appearances.      With a pair of live clues right in front of her, the miko kicked her flight speed into high gear and blasted off. Not quite at the speed of a certain crow tengu, but it was admirable nonetheless. "Hey! You two! Stop right there!" Konoe yelled through the sky as she blew past the two girls, putting on the brakes and coming to a stationary float in front of them(with a safe distance between).      She turned around and pointed. "Yuki-san! And...." Her confidence dampened a bit as she stared at Mai. "...and...um...Ma..Mao-san?"      Wrong.      "Whatever! What are you two doing here in Gensokyo? And where's Alice-san? Tell me!" 

:'''{{#var:882|Shinki (882)}} has posed:'''     With Yuki and Mai talking to themselves about various things relating to the Multiverse and Gensokyo in of itself that the presence of someone else gets ignored. That is, until they're spoken to. Both of them halt in the air and turn to look at the bakeneko miko. "Hakurei?" they mutter together, "Can't be, that one has ears of a youkai." "You're right... hey, cat, what's with the miko getup? Trying to play pretend?"     Yuki floats slightly closer, "Ah, so you know of me. Ooooh, you're that cat from that place with all the machines! Got tired of playing with the koakuma, didn't you?" she smirks a bit, "And you wanted to play with us then? Or, did you want to change your ways and come join us?" Mai, however, looks at Konoe like a child would look at something cute. "Aaaah, she mewed at me! She's so adorable!"     Yuki shakes her head and sighs, "You want to know where Alice is? I'm afraid you won't be able to reach her. She'll show herself when she's ready again. But she did refer to you by name, I think. Dirty cat, if I remember what she said right." Mai stares at Yuki, what was she trying to do, "We're just getting things for Alice, so you can go play with the smaller youkai now, ok?" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "Eh?"      Konoe blinked.      "......Eh?"      Konoe blinked again.      These two...barely even remembered her! Was she that inconsequential!? Comically, she hung her head for a moment after the fact. But then she recovered, narrowing her eyes into a glare. "Why would I join you? And I don't have any ways to change!" She raised her arm, pointing at Yuki a she said that. Then she grew flustered, cheeks turning a bit red.      "N-No! I didn't mew! I don't mew!" Konoe hotly denied, glaring at Mai next. Ugh! These two were a headache! She was all prepared to interrogate them, but they were so silly, she lost all of her serious determination!      The miko closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "And my name isn't 'Dirty Cat'! It's Konoe Kanno!" A pause followed. "And no, I'm not Hakurei! AND I'm NOT playing pretend!" As if to prove a point, she produced several ofuda, which lit up in purifying flame soon after. "So no; I'm not going to play with the 'smaller youkai'. Instead, you two are going to tell me why you and your koakuma have been showing up all over the multiverse! If not, then..."      She raised the hand holding the ofuda back, as if prepared to throw them. "...I'll force the answer out of you two."      Two on one. Very smart idea, cat. 

:'''{{#var:882|Shinki (882)}} has posed:'''     Yuki laughs, "Oh, maybe it was MIMIC CAT." Yuki lets those two words drip with whatever Makai-laced venom it had. "I figured you'd want to join, get rid of that stupid miko get up and come join something with a real promise. But I guess you're clinging to the getup like a cat clings to yarn." she shakes her head as Mai floats closer towards Konoe, "Konoe Kanno, it's a cute name." Mai starts "Tell you what, why do you want to know what we and the koakuma are up to?"     "Mai, she probably won't speak to you about it, you know that. She'll be just like Hakurei and shoot first if you get too close." Yuki warns a bit chidingly, "You know how those Miko are, exterminate first, ask questions when they're not being lazy and curled up in the sun purring." Mai, however, gives a bit of a chuckle, "But that's what makes this one so cute. She even mewed at my name. I'd take it home but Shinki won't be happy with me I know."     The two look at the ofuda, Yuki shakes her head, "You might be getting into more than you can handle, cat. We'll let you off if you tell us why you want to know? Do you have something against the Dollmaker?" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Mimic Cat.      /Mimic Cat/.      Konoe trembled with barely contained anger. These two, THESE TWO! Konoe mentally repeated a mantra in her head of 'Stay calm', and remained on guard as she eventually spoke. "Keep pushing it and I'll cling to /you/. With my claws." Konoe /didn't/ use her claws actually, if one thought back. Wonder why.      She looked between the two girls, remaining irritated and poised to strike. "I'm /not/ Hakurei! Stop saying that!" At first, it didn't bother her, but after hearing it over and over and over, it had long started to get to the bakeneko. She grit her teeth, repeating that mantra in her hea even faster now. "You have no idea what I can handle, demon." Konoe spat back in reply.      A moment of silence followed, and then she spoke. "...Alice-san..." She trailed off, unable to form a response immediately. ...What DID she think of Alice really? Sure, they fought. A lot. But they occasionally got along. The Dollmaker let Konoe sleep and eat at her place, and they helped each other out now and then. ...Perhaps grudgingly.      Were they friends?      "....I don't know."      After all that thought, that's the only answer she could come up with. 

:'''{{#var:882|Shinki (882)}} has posed:'''     The answer causes both Yuki and Mai to look between each other then back at Konoe, "You... don't know, and yet you stand before us wanting to know where she is. What are you, her pet miko cat? I didn't think she'd be that bold to adopt someone like you. Maybe she's expanding her horizons, like She is." Yuki shakes her head and stares at Konoe, "Or maybe you're just a lost little cat so I ask you again, why are you seeking Alice?"     Mai floats closer towards Konoe, almost too close as she reaches out her hand to ruffle the miko-cat's ears, if she can even GET that close. "What, did she take away your fish or cat nip you or something?" she questions, "You just need to realize that she's okay and she'll be back." Mai smiles, "Now, we need to go to Alice's house to pick up a few things. Are you going to let us go in peace or are you wanting to play Danmaku with us?" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "........"      With that, Konoe lowered her arm, fuda losing their flame and dissipating. Why WAS she so concerned about Alice? ...She couldn't find an answer. So lost in thought she was, that she didn't even notice how close Mai had gotten. It wasn't until she felt a hand on her ears that she snapped back to life and floated backwards quickly, putting distance between them again.      "D-Don't touch me!" Konoe said quickly, returning to reality and glaring at the two before her. Sure, she didn't have a concrete reason to stop Yuki and Mai, but...she couldn't just let them go. It was probably a dumb idea, but nonetheless, she was going to stop them anyway.      "You're not going anywhere as long as I'm still here." The miko stated after finally coming to a descision. She raised her held fuda once more, flames reigniting. "If you want to get by, then you'll have to go through me!" 

:'''{{#var:882|Shinki (882)}} has posed:'''     As Konoe snaps to, Mai pulls back and Yuki smiles, "No reason at all, it looks like. Well, I'm afraid we'll be going now and I don't think you want to stop us." the ofuda come out and Yuki just laughs, "Little Miko, tail so frizzy, are you trying to keep us busy?" Mai returns towards Yuki before the two spread out, "Mai?" "Yuki?" Both give a nod and without warning, danmaku starts flying towards Konoe.     Thick blue and yellow lasers trailing in arcs to meet up with Konoe's current position start flying from the two, blue coming from Mai and yellow from Yuki before more small homing bullets are let out from Yuki and a dispersal pattern for Mai's own regular bullets start filling the air over the Hakurei Shrine's main road, "I wasn't planning on using danmaku but if you want to threaten us with those ofuda, you're nothing more than the Miko we need to get past!"     Mai continues her assault and throws out six regular lasers in a spokes pattern, letting them spin around before they activate while Yuki throws out fireballs in a conal spread towards Konoe. "Dodge the danmaku from Makai, cat! We're going past!" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Konoe frowned as the lightshow started. Two against one wasn't the smartest idea she's ever had, but she didn't care about that now. She just wanted to stop them, no matter what. More than it just being about Alice, she was simply a miko and they were youkai up to no good. ...And on top of that, she /didn't/ like them one bit right now.      Not to be done in by the initial volley, Konoe veered back, avoiding the twin lasers narrowly. From there, she worked on keeping busy moving, weaving through Mai's bullet pattern while Yuki's bullets chased after her, keeping her from staying still for a moment. "Kh...!" She couldn't just dodge forever though. Two on one was harder than it seemed. Especially if those attacking were actually skilled.      Determined not to be a sitting duck, Konoe countered, throwing out several sets of flaming ofuda, which broke off into a flurry of bullets that split into two groups and homed in on both Yuki and Mai. Following that up, the miko produced a set of needles in her other hand, throwing them straight at Yuki, whose homing bullet spray was deemed the more irritating of the two patterns.      Right then however, she slipped up, running headfirst into Mai's bullets, impacting with her front torso and blowing her back a bit. "Gah!" And like a chain reaction, several of Yuki's struck her from behind, blowing her forward. "Ah...!" 

:'''{{#var:882|Shinki (882)}} has posed:'''     Yuki and Mai's danmaku spread continues it's relentless advance, the two flying closer towards Konoe, backing off a bit as flaming ofuda bullets strike the two, well, if homing was homing, then... the bullet patterns get denser, the needles strike into Yuki and send her reeling back a bit more. "These are just like Hakurei." Mai chimes in, kicking up the lasers a notch as they go into eight spinning spokes then activation after spin.     Yuki just keeps up her bullet spread, the homing bullets getting denser and faster before both fire off another set of homing lasers, three thick, ball like lasers homing in on the mikokitty. "Shall we stop playing and use Makai rules, Yuki?" Yuki grins a bit and nods, diamond shaped, red shards start flying every direction, this time, the danmaku is sharper than normal.     "Welcome to Makai rules, I'm not going to play around, kitty." Yuki smirks a bit, "Too bad I don't have any koakuma with me to help but you seem to have trouble in a two on one, that's fine with me! Mai, pin her down!" Mai's bullet spreads pick up in intensity and density, aiming just to keep Konoe in one position so the sharper danmaku can actually do something. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Makai rules?      Konoe soon realized what that meant when the bullet spread started getting denser and harder to dodge. "...!" This was getting ridiculous! Unable to find the time to complain, all she could do in the moment was dodge, rapidly weaving about in all directions to avoid the bullet spray. "Don't....get so..."      Gritting her teeth as several bullets tore into her from multiple directions. "...COCKY!" The miko pulled out a spellcard, raising it high.      SPIRIT SIGN - PROMINENCE SEAL      The card burst into flame and burned up into nothing. What followed was a burning orange essence that formed, turning to several large orbs that radiated throughout the duel radius, clearing out bullets and homing in on Yuki and Mai. ...It actually looked kind of familiar, probably. Except the orbs were fire, not rainbow.      Following that however, Konoe looked like she didn't have much more to work with. She was panting, her clothes were torn up from the sharp danmaku, and she may have been bleeding in multiple places. "I...won't...let you....pass..." 

:'''{{#var:882|Shinki (882)}} has posed:'''     The bullet spread keeps up its pace but as the spellcard comes into play, the 'bomb' clears out the entire danmaku spread and the orbs crash into Yuki and Mai, sending them back quite a way, "Nngh, tha.. that's familiar.. but I see why Alice called you a Mimic." Mai whispered, Yuki gives a strained look at Konoe "She's done for. Come, let's go. No sense in wasting more energy on a miko that can't keep up."     Yuki and Mai take higher into the sky and slowly, if tauntingly, pass over Konoe, Yuki looking down towards Konoe, "You're right, you aren't Hakurei. You're doing those clothes a disservice to the Miko..." the two continue at a leisurely pace, definately able to be followed by Konoe if she so chooses, "Maybe you should grab a fairies outfit instead and mimic them... you'll do just about the same." both Yuki and Mai let out a soft laugh and watch the miko-cat if she follows, the two heading towards the Dollmaker's house. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Konoe didn't follow.      She tried, but she found she didn't have the energy to keep in the air. And try as she might, her altitude got lower and lower until she descended past the treeline and collapsed. Smack dab in the Forest of Magic. ...Somewhere.      (Could Hakurei have handled this...?)      (Is the difference in our skills really so wide?)      (...Am I really so weak?)      She grit her teeth as her vision blurred.      (It's not fair...)      And then they closed. 

}}

2957/Operation Databreak

2015-09-06T18:41:44Z

MirageV: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/09/03 |Location=Urbania |Synopsis=A crack team of Confederates and Syndicates infiltrate a heavily guarded tech company in order to steal thei..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/09/03
|Location=Urbania
|Synopsis=A crack team of Confederates and Syndicates infiltrate a heavily guarded tech company in order to steal their prized AI program.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=42, 234, 304, 399, 596, 672, 754, 823
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Information has a way of getting around. In the aftermath of DigiTech Data Solutions going public with their breakthrough program, they suddenly went suspiciously quiet soon afterward, followed by an alarming security hiring spree. The public is unaware of what happened, but it's not hard to guess what's going on. They're gearing up to protect their work. Especially after a previous hacking attempt.      Their once humble little research facility has now become a small fortress, with guard patrols along the roof, the outer grounds, and inside as well. They are all equipped with standard body armor and assault rifles. Their faces were obscured by helmets, and they were equipped with radios and other gear. It almost looked like they were ready for war.      DigiTech was serious about this. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      On Confederate bands and through other illicit channels, Xiao Li Yu had spread the news of her intention to infiltrate DigiTech's HQ and acquire their golden goose. She'd spent days studying their security and guard routines. Unfortunately, she'd managed to get herself hurt the day before. As such, she was providing radio support to all who had agreed to join the operation. Either for pay, curiosity, entertainment, whatever. As long as the job got done, she wouldn't mind much at all.      "Hello everyone." The researcher greeted over the comm. "I've prepared a detailed floor plan and an estimate of the patrol routes that security will take." A pause followed as she transmitted the data in question. "Unfortunately, it seems that DigiTech has reached deeper into their pockets than I had anticipated. They may have Union Elites on site. Be careful."      From up on a rooftop nearby the target destination, Xiao looked over the map data for a few moments before speaking again. "Where they are and what they may do, are both unknown. Remember, the objective is not to burn the entire place down. Get in, find ADAM, the AI program, and get out. I've determined that ADAM is being kept in the core mainframe deep in the facility. If you can reach it without being caught, that would be ideal. Once you arrive, insert the thumb drive I've given each of you into one of their ports. Only one of you needs to do it. But all of you have one...just in case."      "That's all. How you approach, I leave to your skills. I'll continue to monitor things and offer advice when necessary." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Meanwhile from inside HQ, in the Core Mainframe room, a reseacher approached the Union Elites hired by the company. He was a middle aged man with graying black hair and a stubble, likely from laziness and business. He wore a white lab coat and had a stack of papers under his arm. "Hey, you must be the ones. Thanks for showing up. We could really use the help." He smiled in a tired manner. "I'm Chris Conners, head developer of the ADAM project." He held out a hand to respectfully shake, if any took it.      "As you know, we're kn the verge of completing the project, but we've been getting hacking attempts ever since we went public." He frowned in annoyance. "It's obvious what's going on. They're after ADAM." A shrug followed. "But we can't let our magnum opus be stolen right at this pivotal moment." Chris looked around in mild suspicion then. "We've beefed up security, but we're afraid it won't be enough. That's where you come in."      He looked towards the Elites with a smile. "We have a vague inkling that something's gonna happen real soon. We need you to be our eyes and ears while we work. How you do it, I don't care. Just get it done." Following that, he took out a device and tapped the screen a few times. "I've sent you the floor plans and our security details. Use it to come up with a good plan of action. We're counting on you." And with that, Chris walked off to a nearby station to continue his work... 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' For purposes of shaking hands with the head researcher, at least, Black Arachnia transforms into her robot mode so that Dr. Conners can at least shake hands with a humanoid robot instead of a giant spider. She's got nothing against creeping people out, but when they're the people who asked her (or the Union, anyway) for help, she can afford to put the creepy factor on the back burner. "Electronic security is more my specialty than stand-up fighting," she remarks as she scrutinizes the plans internally. "If Staren has some sentry turret drones, he could park those in some of the offices off the hall to slow the bad guys down on their way through ... How secure are the windows in the main server room? And can anything bigger than a rat get through the air ducts?" 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     Did someone say infiltration? It's only natural the confederacy's black ops unit, Human Resources would be involved. But for all people to show up... It's the secretary? Then again, Lu-Mey is not just any secretary. She's secretary to the Widow of Starless Night, herself, and as such, Human Resources' very second in command has decided to poke her head out of the offices and get a little more personally involved.     The oni is dressed in something a little more practical than her usual dancer's silks, but still obviously garish and silly. A skintight red and black body sleeve, and a grinning oni mask that covers the top half of her face makes up her infiltrating outfit, and she's not alone. At her side is Ao-hime, a girl in a matching blue infiltrator body sleeve, and looking very awkward in it while checking her dual handguns and rifle slung on her back. "Ah man, do I have to wear this?"     For the moment, Lu-Mey ignores the princess' whining, flashing a sharp toothed smile as she holds up her flash drive. "Hellooooo. Right then, get in, stick the flashdrive, back out. Should be easy!"     Easy enough as she hoops an arm around Ao-hime, allowing a pair of massive dragonfly wings to spread from her back.     Ao-Hime looks significantly traumatized as the Oni starts ferrying her across the space between roofs. She pointedly waits for the gruard on patrol to get moving before making her approach because giant dragonfly wings are not exactly the most subtle nor fast means of transport. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     After so many missions in situations of gratifying combat, it had been a while since HK-47 had taken part in a true infiltration-based stealth-mission. However, the droid wasn't necessarily complaining - it would be an intriguing change of pace.     Having arrived on the world when the call for new units and equipment went out - and with a thoroughly-hacked and well-doctored recommendation using voice-mimicry - HK-47 had managed to get himself 'acquired' by the company as a maintenance droid. While he lacked in the advanced computing skills of astromech droids in programming, he was more then capable of disassembling and understanding machine components and slicing security mechanisms.     And no sooner had their mission started then the droid was already at work. Nearing one of the emergency access ports for the ventilation shafts, the droid inserts an 'updated' time-card meant to re-arrange the system's schedules to believe it was time to maintenance the air-ducts.     Within moments, one of the duct's external ports opens in the building, leaving a straight path from there into one of the facilities' hallways.     It's only one access grate, open for less then one minute to filter out debris.     heoretically, more then enough time for at least one person to get in. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      BLACK ARACHNIA      Dr. Conners didn't seem to be too perturbed by the appearance of a spider shaped...robot...thing. Either he was too tired to be creeped out, or he's seen some shit. After the handshake, he considers her questions as he moves off to his desk to work.      "The air ducts are ...kind of secure? We spent the past week reinforcing them. But...the base structure is still big enough for a nimble enough person to get through. They'll have to push through the reinforcement we put on the exits however." He spoke earnestly as his fingers danced across the keyboard of his computer. On screen seemed to be a whole lot of code jargon.      "As for the turrets, you can use the offices in the main hallway. We've got people working in there, but if it's at the entrance, no one will mind. Better to keep ADAM safe than worry about a few bullets. This is our life's work here." He grinned to himself as he spoke in a rather sardonic tone. 

:'''{{#var:399|Taro (399)}} has posed:'''     Curiosity, both professional and personal. By trade and calling, he's a computer and robotics engineer, and he is an AI in practice if not exactly by intention. Thus, any new advances in Artifical Intelligence are of interest to him.     In a slightly battered electrical utility van parked in a lot somewhere in the general vicinity, Taro settles himself into a comfortable position, then connects to the portable cyber-rig he's tweaked for the occasion. He sincerely doubts that their objective is sitting in a place he can reach this way, but that doesn't mean he cannot assist the others in achieving it.     His head slumps forward as he turns full attention to cyberspace, making his way across the local grid to one of the nodes connecting DigiTech Data to the rest of the world. A quiet poking at the outer secuity layers - he's not trying to call attention to himself just yet. Instead, looking for those small chinks in the wall that may have been overlooked when they patched after Xiau's ealier attempt. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren is... suspicious of anyone who might want this program. It needs to be used /very/ carefully, and in the wrong hands... Staren has always respected the skill of people like Drs. Light and Wily, who can create artificial life the hard way without the problems that tend to riddle many AI creation attempts. He is glad that there aren't many of them in thie Multiverse, or this sector anyway. A program that would let its thief and anyone they share with become /half/ a Dr. Wily, even if only the software half? Yeeeeah that could go bad quick. Not even counting the utterly /massive/ ethics violation against sentient sapient life misuse of the program would constitute.     if DigiTech were more suspicious, Staren would seriously consider infiltrating them to /sabotage/ the program, but Dr. Conners seems like an upstanding guy. "Obviously." Staren agrees, shaking the doctor's hand. "It's... if it does everything you say it can do, it's pretty darn powerful." He looks over at the GROUND FLOOR WINDOW. "I wish you were able to work from a more secure location, though." He sighs, picturing what a smash-and-grab would look like in this situation. Hell, a freaking /mole machine/ could probably tunnel right in here. Well, hopefully a brain that can't help but reflexively think of ways to -- or a tiny drone flying up to the window and cutting the glass, or maybe a drone that crawls through the grass and up the wall, yeah, that would be stealthy... does anyone make mole drones? -- infiltrate the facility will be useful in defending it. -- Heck who knows, they could probably have a fake employee come up, claim badge troubles, and then when the door's opened to check them a vampire turned into gas sneaks in. Do some vampires turn into bugs? Shoot, Skitter's in the Confederacy, isn't she? Staren holds his fingers to the bridge of his nose. How are they going to protect against every vector of infiltration? At least someone had the foresight to get anti-teleport wards installed, right?     "...Yeah. You've got eyes and ears all over. We'll be the brain and precision strike force. Show us where we can monitor your security cameras and sensors and networks and stuff from. Do the guards all have helmet cams or other tracking sensors so we can know if one suddenly... drops dead?"     Staren shakes his head to Black Arachnia. "I don't really have... sentry turret type things. I mean, I could have made them, but I figured they'd already have them... What we need is as much data on what's going on as possible, so we can notice /anything/ off. Any guard actiong strangely or disappearing. Any door that opens with noone there because someone's invisible. Any computer that's contacting unusual outside addresses, or suddenly stops sending normal network traffic. /Anything/." 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "Beast mode," Black Arachnia utters post-handshake, converting back into her spider form. "Best put some extra barriers in their way, then," she advises Conners and Staren. "I'll throw some physical obstacles at them where I can, but I still don't have reliably working drones. Staren, set up what you can physically and in cyberspace in the meantime. Two of us working together will have a better chance at blocking network intruders." Until that, though, she puts her spider mode to use - starting to weave webs over the insides of the windows and the air duct vent in the server room. She'll need to get the door as well, but that'll mean the scientists in the room can't get out either, so ... the longer they have that option, the better. As she's weaving her webs, though, Black Arachnia is getting scans as thorough as her internal sensors will permit of the scientists at work - including Dr. Conners himself. If any of them DO have to leave before she webs the door closed, she wants to be ABSOLUTELY SURE the same person returns ... Overly paranoid? Probably, but paranoia was a required survival trait in her 'old neighborhood' (i.e. 'among the Predacons'). 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      HK-47      No one seemed to mind the 'Maintenance Droid' doing it's work. They just acquired the thing, to allow for more efficient work to be done. A passing researcher passed by, noticing HK-47 opening the port to the vents. "...?" He paused. "Was it time for vent maintenance already?" He asked himself, though loud enough for the droid in question to hear.      A moment passed. Then two, then three.      "...Huh. Maybe they changed the schedule." He shrugged and hurried off. "Deadline's coming up. Gotta get back to work!" 

:'''{{#var:596|Zwei (596)}} has posed:'''     It isn't terribly often that Zwei works with the Confederacy. As much as it works 'with' anyone, anyways. It's always fairly incidental, having a mutual interest rather than being on anyone's payroll. In this instance, it's the noteworthy attraction of this specific place suddenly claiming to have developed AI facilities well outside of what should be their current reach, and the fact that the Confederacy is pretty likely to scrub the databanks once they're done. After all, it's a theft mission, not a piracy mission.     An infiltration mission pretty clearly doesn't call for a thirteen foot anti-army combat unit like the last operation, and so Weiss is playing Zwei's face today. She's already fully armoured up, though anything that emits light has been shut off or shunted into a spectrum outside of human visual range, lending a kind of austere modern art look to the full body ensemble, as it clearly was never designed to be put on or taken off by hand. She seems to be pretty reserved about today's affair, having had a very mixed bag of experiences with the Confederacy, and having been more than happy with the prospect of simply attempting this alone, but in the interests of things going over smoothly, she seems fine with cooperating.     Specifically, the first thing up in the air is the matter of a nearby sniper having a clear shot on the big, slow, aerial target Lu-Mey makes of herself. Zwei hadn't really showed up to kill people, but then it's never had too many compunctions about doing so to begin with. From a relatively concealed spot on an obliquely angled building, weiss takes aim with her multi-PDW, having no need of long arms just yet. Sighting a human target up so high in the air is simple enough just with thermal vision, and even more simple is firing a single shot, compressed into a non-interactive spectrum so as to make no flash or sound, straight at the man's brainstem. Busywork. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     Most of the Starbound team are staying in reserve today. This is a time for George to shine. Let's check the gear. Agent Card, forged to perfection? Check. Stun gloves? Check. Telescopic combat baton? Check. Chameleon Jumpsuit? Check. Couple silenced weapons, check check check. Camera sensor. Check. Toolbelt? Check... George intends to take his usual route. This isn't an unfamiliar proposition. He's more used to needing to steal a positronic brain imprint than a purely digital organic AI, so it's a LITTLE different, but not THAT much.     HK-47 just opened up a chance for Lu-Mey to head to the roof. She's going for the northwest, right? Must be heading right for the prize. George knows how this goes, though; access codes, keycards, and things like that are important. An Agent Card can withstand most cursory scrutiny. He's going to try to work in tandem with Taro here. Some quick observation of the front should let his Chameleon Jumpsuit get a good look at what the average local equivalent of a Staff Assistant is wearing. If his electromagnetic forgery is sufficiently solid, he should have an easy time getting through the front entrance. He's going to try to mingle with low-level staffers heading inside for their shift. If they use automated ID scanning, and don't look too closely at a man trained for years to look as harmless as possible, he should be able to slip through...     Of course, if they've amped up their security protocols, here's where working in tandem with Taro comes in. He'll need a few access restrictions rebooted on his way in, probably. For now, though, he sticks to his particular specialty of espionage: Looking harmless and blending in. Lu-Mey is going for the AI, so that means George needs to go for keycards, access codes, core infrastructure to sabotage, and similar!     He is wearing a large fake moustache over his actual facial hair. It's hard to see unless you look really, really close, but then it looks a bit silly. It should make him harder to recognize right away for people who know him, though. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      STAREN, BLACK ARACHNIA, TARO      Dr. Conners gave Staren a sidelong glance from his desk. He smirked in a manner that seemed to suggest he knew that the Elite was thinking circles around all the ridiculous possibilities. He'd know. He thought of some himself. But in the end, budget and manpower left them with this humble setup. "We'll have to make do with this. Your powers will be key here. I'll trust you guys can handle it."      He swiveled his chair around and brought up a hologram of the map. "Security room's at 312 on the southwest end. Patrol is equipped with radio, and have status reports every ten minutes. No body cameras. If someone doesn't report their status, their post will be checked on." He glanced at the time and went on. "Vent maintenance should be taking place in Fifteen minutes. We just recently acquired a maintenance droid, but otherwise, all of our employees are accounted for. No one is missing."      "As for networks, ADAM is on the secure network. Our other operations are being run on a public network. We still need to access the outside while we work." RIGHT as he said that however, there was a warning beep on his machine. "Eh?" He swiveled his chair around to check his computer. "What the..." He picked up a phone and dialed. "This is Connors, what's going on? ...What? Really? Again? For the love of..." He hung up and looked towards the two Elites. "We've got what looks like another hacking attempt. We can't be sure. But an unknown sender is attempting to access inconsequential data. Our team's on it, but if you want to take a look yourselves, sit yourself down at a computer and have a look." 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "How recently?" Black Arachnia inquires as she finishes webbing over one of the windows, and making sure it's secure. Now she's wondering if she ought to lay webs across all of the server room's interior walls for good measure ... Bah, she can do that once the windows and vents (and maybe the door) are secured. "Anything you've acquired or hired since the first attempt should probably be considered 'less than secure' for good measure. Staren, network's yours while I'm working on the webs; if you need my help, give me a holler and I'll back you up on the network." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      ZWEI, LU-MEY      The sniper on the northwest edge of the rooftop scanned the area below, as well as the skies above carefully. He wasn't an idiot. He was good at his job. Damn good at his job others would say.      But he wasn't an elite. He was just a man. Thus, when he caught sight of a form flying through the air, he knelt down and took aim. "Target sig-"      PSHEW      He didn't get to finish that sentence. A shot utterly imperceptible to the normal human senses pierced through his brainstem. And with a thump, he went prone. The sniper on the northwest was taken care of. Well enough for Lu-Mey and her charge to land on the roof without trouble.      Now, they could either go for the stairs, or take the vent on the opposite side. Given HK's risk taken by opening the vent ahead of schedule, perhaps she should do that? It was up to her. She also needed to be wary of the guard patrolling the roof on this side. He was currently walking away from her though.      Once he reached the end, he would turn around. Time was of the essence. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren nods. "Alright. ...Is that maintenance droid wirelessly programmed? It could be a hacker's way in. Where do we check the status of this stuff? How ready is this facility to just cut off all outside access for awhile, if it comes to it?" Staren heads off to the Security room to monitor things. "Can we have all the guards check in again? This hacking attempt might be a distraction. Actually, we should have them report in whenever /anything/ suspicious happens." He rubs his head. "Kind of tedious, I know, but we've got to be careful." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      GEORGE      Despite Conner's confirmation that all staff were present, the security guard on duty at the gate station smiled and greeted the agent as if he knew him all his life. "Whoa hey! Antonio! I didn't know you still worked here? Weren't you fired last month for..."      A pause.      "Wait a minute, you're-"      Time slowed down. GEORGE had a few options available to him. Silence the guard? He could reach into the box and knock him out. Patrol wouldn't be here in a few more minutes. Or he could try and talk his way out. That didn't seem likely, but it was an option.      What would he do? 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     With the sniper down, Lu-Mey and Ao-Hime touch down soundlessly on the roof. With a scrabbling chitter of something quietly dying, the oni's gossamer wings shrivel, wilt, and then detach, falling off her back and to the rooftop. Very quickly, Lu-Mey patches her own radio into the frequency set on the dead sniper's, one hand touching to her throat as she clears is a bit, doing everything while on the move.     Before speaking in the dead man's voice, "Negative on that, actually, just seeing things up here. Still quiet."     She keeps that radio connection for later while motioning the blue-clad princess for the vent, the two quickly and quietly keeping low while the patrolling guard is moving away, and making to slide on into the vent shaft, if nothing stops them. 

:'''{{#var:399|Taro (399)}} has posed:'''      Taro for now remains low-key in his infiltration, rifling through non-critical data. He's being a little sloppy, deliberately so. The markings of a two-bit script-kiddie using second-rate software dowloaded from one of the seedier sides of the multiversal network, rather than professional. Nothing terribly concerned about, aside from horrible timing.     In truth, he's working on trying to worm his way deeper into the system. If he can find a way into the personnel files while security is paying attention to his less interesting data pursuit, and from there their accounts and keycode data, that could be useful for those already on the inside. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     "Ugh, here to grab my stuff, yeah. Apparently you guys are going on turbo extra bonus ultra lockdown?" George says, mimmicking the sound of a heavy cold to obfuscate voice issues. His face muscles relax, and his vision gets just unfocused enough to give the subtle, subconscious appearance of someone who's kind of an idiot and who is completely harmless. "Turns out they found that tablet I lost in a sec sweep and called me back. I've gotta handle unencryption on it so they stop wigging out about some wireless thing?"     "Wait, they didn't tell you? Ah, shit, did I just violate another NDA or whatever they're called?" He goes through the motions of exasperated sighing. "Look, I gotta get in to meet the IT dudes or they're gonna start putting out charges on me or something, you know?" He's hoping to make it sound like something that's being kept a secret from people, and like it's a dumb mistake. When security's in a mood like this, they tend to try to estimate what higher level security wants them to do, and so George is rapidly socially injecting as much skewing data into that thought process as possible! Meanwhile, looking as put-upon and miserable as possible, looking vaguely too intimidated by the guard so that he feels respected, replicating the well-known dynamic between staff assistants and security officers in the corporate space stations he hails from.     He's already trying to wander on through, emphasizing that he definitely, totally knows what he's doing as is supposed to be here, attempting to punctuate the rambly idiocy with a more subtle tendency to socially overwhelm, as people on non-critical guard duty like this tend to not have a lot of authentic social weight. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:''' BLACK ARACHNIA, STAREN      Conner's stroked his chin at the question. "The other day? Our old one broke down, so we quickly got a new one." He shrugged. "Got a good deal on it too." It was just a maintencance droid. Those things didn't even have complex AIs, they just did their jobs. No one would suspect a maintenance droid!      ...Which was probably the problem here.      Conners nods slowly. "Right. If you want to check out the droid, it should be working on the premesis right now." He looked to Staren and nodded. "Yeah it's wirelessly programmed. Independant work routime programmed into it out of the box. We just let it do it's work." He rubbed his chin and looked away thoughtfully. "It's done the best job we've seen out a maintenance droid to date."      He shook his head at that and moved on. "We can cut network access not immediately, but given a minute or two to safely disconnect all servers." He answered quickly. "We can change the routine of the guards, sure. Might take a little time to fully sink in to all of them though." He took out his phone, ready to make the call. "All security, change of plans. Keep a sharp eye out for anything strange. You spot anything that doesn't belong? Call it in. Please and thank you."      Staren's trip the security room would be uneventful. He would find that the room was equipped with multiple screens that played back was what being shown on cameras at key points. ...It looked like everything was in place so far. Other than what looked to be the security guard at the gate having a chat with an employee... 

:'''{{#var:596|Zwei (596)}} has posed:'''     Thoroughly unremarkable. Ironically, were Asche metaphorically present, Weiss might have processed a little more of a nuanced feeling about killing a man just doing his job. With that side of Zwei's 'brain' occupied though, the feeling is only very dim. Weiss' is clearer: he knew what he was signing up for when he volunteered to be a killer for pay.     That business taken care of, the Armiger drops from the roof as if walking off the last step on a staircase, freefalling for several seconds before silently firing microthrusters at the last few meters and touching down relatively noiselessly. With George, Ao-Hime and HK-47 inside, there's no pressing need to bust down the front door just yet. As such, she splits her attention, first accessing the public domain network with her own, built-in transciever to monitor and potentially aid Taro's progress, and engaging active camoflague to move closer to the building, starting deep penetration scans of the closest rooms and hallways. The floor plan is nice, but it doesn't tell her where the people inside are. She monitors for heat signatures, heartbeats, brainwave activity; the usual. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "Awfully convenient timing, don't you think?" Black Arachnia asks (rhetorically, and in a tone so dry as to compete with major deserts). "And you may want to take down the network links as an added precaution."     She finishes webbing the windows and duct vent covers. "Okay, last call if anyone in this room needs to sprint down the hall to the toilet," she advises the scientists at work. "If you're good, I'm gonna web the door closed. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      LU-MEY ZWEI TARO      There was static on the radio, and then a voice spoke up. "Alright soldier. Keep an eye out. If anything happens let us know. You heard Conners new orders." PSHHT, the radio contact ended. Lu-Mey and Ao-Hime are able to enter the vent without trouble. By the time the guard turned around to look, they were already gone. They should hurry though. A minute and change wasn't much time.      "....?" He proceeded on with his patrol. At least until he stepped on something with a vague crunch. He flashed the light of his gun down to his feet to see. "...Th'hell is this?" He knelt down to look...      Weiss' scanns revealed to her, without much resistance, that there were what seemed to be scientists in most of the side rooms and offices. Other, more active signatures could be detected moving about in uniform manners, suggesting they were patrolling. Most of the researchers seemed to have heartbeats that suggested they were nervous. This whole thing was nerve wracking. They just wanted to complete the work on their project in peace!      Taro's excursion into cyberspace was met with little to no resistance. Noticably, he would be pushed back if he tried to delve any deeper, but upon accessing inconsequential data, he was left alone. It was a game of cat and mouse where his every move was watched. Any time he tried to go deeper, the firewall came up. When he backed off, it went down a few levels. ...But he was doing his job.      At the same time, surely they must realize this is a distraction. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      GEORGE      The guard stared at George for a moment longer. "......" And then he grinned. "Hah! Right of course! What was I thinking? I almost pulled a gun on you, you know? Ahahahaha!" And with a laugh, the guard pat the agent on a shoulder. "Sorry man! Everyone's on edge! We've got hackers and people breathing down our neck! It's crazy!"      He sat back down with a sigh and waved George off. "Alright! Get outta here! Handle that business! And remember, we're meeting friday for Ten Guys with the boys! If you don't show up again, I'm gonna have to come to your place and suplex ya!"      Looks like he second guessed himself and bought it. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     As the duct is utilized, HK-47 debates addressing the meatbag that noticed him, but decides against it, concluding that if he appeared absorbed in his task that they would dismiss him as a low-intelligence droid that was simply diligently fulfilling his task.     That was precisely what he wanted them to believe, after all.     The droid then reaches into his tool-box - mostly emptied - to pull out a pair of worker's jumpsuits and leave them beneath the vent to be used when his allies entered the complex proper.     That done, the droid turned to move down the hallway. His next step would be to enact 'maintenance' on the security cameras so that they observed images more clearly.     The same image on an endless loop, that is.     Of course, that was provided he wasn't caught - and he was slightly concerned about that. If Union Elites were present, it was possible they would recognize him - he had been spotted uncloaked enough times. In fact his participation in the fall of the Triumvirate might have drawn quite a bit of attention on his identity in the Union.      He'd taken precautions of course - thin fiber-plating over his shell to alter his shape a bit, and a different paint-coat using the company's required maintenance-staff colors. However, he was not certain it would hold under scrutiny.     But at the very least, he knew he could try to stall, delay or mislead his opposition even if in the event that he were caught.     That in mind, the droid moves for one of the hallway exits - only to find it covered in some form of thick webbing. A method of blocking the pathway? If it was, it wasn't one the company employed - HK would have been briefed about that... therefore it must have been one of the powers of the Union Elites.     Still... as a maintenance droid, ought to have plausible deniability in removing it. At least until told not to.     With that in mind, the droid reached into his provided toolkit and pulled out a container of solvents, used typically for removing tough growths from surfaces, arachnid-produced webbing included.     Time to clean house - literally. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "/Report anything suspicious/ wasn't /already/ an order they were given?! "Staren says without thinking. "Tell them to all check in /now/." He sighs, and looks over the monitors. He points at the one where the guard is talking to an employee. "Like that, right there. Where's the log of employees arriving and leaving versus when they're /supposed/ to arrive? You do check if the people arriving and leaving at any given time are the people they're supposed to, right? And that any keycard used to open a door belongs to someone who's signed in here?" 

:'''{{#var:399|Taro (399)}} has posed:'''     He's been noticed. Excellent. It would be a shame if the distraction went unnoticed, after all.     Taro keeps up that not-exactly-stellar hacker appearance, pushing after boring server traffic data and old press releases that had been pulled from public display...     He's still pressing the second prong of his attack under cover of the first: an attempt to thread his way in a roundabout way to the much more useful and interesting door security systems. Perhaps by way of the building's climate control systems...of course, that wouldn't do a thing about the physical barriers that have been webbed in place, but unlocked doors would be helful to the infiltration team. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      BLACK ARACHNIA, STAREN      Conners chuckled and leaned back in his seat. "If only the entire security force was made up of you guys. Anyway, we're all good here. Web up as much as you want." He mumbled and proceeded to radio in again. "Alright, don't play with that unknown signature too long. If it's not going for anything important, then lock it out. Raise security to maximum. We don't have time to play with script kiddies."      Staren's incredulity was met with an arched brow. "Well, you see, that's because their orders were to /riddle/ anything that looked suspicious first." He glanced at the monitor Staren pointed out and blinked. "...Looks like Antonio." He mumbled, rubbing his chin. "We fired the guy for breaking NDA a while back. He was supposed to come in and pick up his stuff, and detatch his device from..."      Pause.      "Wait a damn second! Antonio came in earlier today! Who the hell is that!?" He picked up his radio again and called. "Hey! Server room to gate! Antonio came in earlier today! Who is that? Yes, I know that looks like-just, stop him! That's not Antonio!" 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     Into the vent and Lu-Mey flashes a winner's smile. Though Ao-Hime is looking somewhat irritable at her keeper's lighthearted manner, the two quickly slide the worker jumpsuits over their sneaking suits, with Lu-Mey putting her mask away.     It won't be the best disguise for Lu-Mey with her horn very visible, but Ao can pass for a completely ordinary person well enough. It'll be a last resort matter to rely on the disguise anyway, if Lu-Mey can help it, she'll prefer to go unseen completely. So the pair creep along the vents, peeking down through grills and slats, and keeping in a northwesterly direction. But they don't go directly for the server room. It would be too easy- and Lu opts to not cut away the webbing, motioning HK to do as he will, while she lets Ao-Hime try to quietly slide down into the nearest unoccupied room she can find. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "Might want to rule the server room out of routine automated maintenance, too," Black Arachnia advises as she webs the door solidly shut. She can pick through it again pretty quickly if needed, so it's not as big a concern as she makes it look. "All the network defenses in the world, even airgapping, don't do much good if somebody can just walk up and plug in a hardwired connection - and if you're smart enough with drone programming, you can get a Roomba to carry a miniature removable drive." She pauses briefly, moving to park herself (still in spider form) on the ceiling above the door leading out of the server room. "If anyone spills their coffee while we're here, I'll mop it up for you." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     "Oh. Okay." And then it turns out they have an intruder! "If these guards were following orders, why is fake Antonio neither riddled /nor/ reported? That guy at the booth didn't say /anything/ to us!" Staren points at the screen, then hesitates. He can watch the cameras to see what !Antonio is doing, while starting to look over the logs to find out about what fake employees might /already be here/... or he can be in position to deal with !Antonio and put that off. What to do...     Black Arachnia is watching the server room. She can deal with any infiltrators that try anything.     Staren closes his visor and bolts for the entrance! 

:'''{{#var:596|Zwei (596)}} has posed:'''     Well, those researchers have good reason to be nervous. At least a little. It's unlikely anyone here has any real interest in causing them personal harm, but Zwei hasn't bothered to look deep enough into this to ascertain whether their jobs might be on the line. Taro seems to be handling things relatively well, but a bit too tamely for Weiss' taste, and so she spoofs his address and begins clocking up the frequency of requests, attempting to download suspicious garbage files into random drive space at each handshake protocol. It's relatively aimless, but just supposed to puff up the intrusion attempt at make it seem a big more credibly threatening.     On the realm material however, she feels as if she has a good enough idea of the interior to take advantage of the asset she has that nobody else on infiltration duty does. Her TRANSIENCE drive kicks in, charges briefly, and then she breaks colour confinement and displaces herself through the outer wall and into the nearest adjacent space of hallway with few enough people around. Her active camo should be more than enough to deal with visual spectrum cameras and eyeballs, and so she sticks to that for the time being rather than the riskier gambit of trying to pose as staff, since the security regarding actual personnel is much tighter than their technologically oriented side.     She has the floor plans courtesy of Xiao, and so the only obvious thing to do is to head for their target room, taking an alternate path to where she detects the others are in order to maximize the chance that one of them is less protected than another, dextrously slipping past anyone moving through the building so as to avoid giving herself away by bumping into some unwitting scientist. She's not hugely concerned about the non-Elite security, clearly designed to keep out other humans, even if very well coordinated at doing so. It's the potential of running into Unionites here that has her more on guard. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     George's camera detector goes off. Looks like someone's spotted him on his way in, as he gives a few friendly waves to the guard. Through the front doors, hard left before the news spreads. The workers there hopfully won't be looking to hard at people wandering through, which will let him swiftly slip under a camera's range, swap his Chameleon Jumpsuit to something of a different rank, discard his moustache. It will hopefully buy him just a minute or two of time.     George's tactics are always focused on one thing and one thing only. Outrun the bad news. First thing's first: He's going to need to get some extra access. South side of the east wing of the facility has a lot of scientists isolated. If he can pull this off, he's going to slip into one of those southeast offices, wandering by the guard there (who should hopefully leave the area headed for where George was last spotted...) and slip into one of those isolated rooms.     Assuming everything went to plan, he's planning on slamming one of those scientists in the throat, breaking a few of their limbs, and grabbing an ID card. While he works, whether or not this chain effort is successful, he's going to try to analyze the structure of the building. Gotta see how any power lines or security systems function visibly! Hardware sabotage is how he rolls. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      HK-47, LU-MEY, STAREN      The droid managed to complete his task without drawing suspicion so far. As he moved away from the vent and proceeded to head down the hallway to the west side. While walking through the hallway, he passed by a patrolling guard. "....." The guard paused and turned around to look. Silence reigned for several long moments, and then he spoke. "Hey. You. The maintenance droid." He wasn't sure if the droid had enough of an AI to answer, but he'd try anyway. Something was bothering him. "Are you supposed to be working in this area at this time?" A moment passed and then he took out his radio. "Stay right there." He told the droid while bringing the radio to his ear, beginning to speak. "I'm noticing something off here. The maintenance droid is working in the west wing already. Is that supposed to happen?"      And just at that moment, STAREN came bursting out of the west wing, and bolting down the hallway.      Well then.      By the time LU-MEY and AO-HIME get out of the vents, they will have noticed a few things. A 'maintenance droid' was being questioned down the west hall from there they were at point 315. And Staren was bolting down the eastern hallway torwards the entrance. The guard does not spot them however. And down on the east end of the hall, the other guard on patrol has stopped to assist Staren's pursuit.      They have several choices of what to do now. Silence the guard? Wait it out? Another choice entirely?      Back in the Server room, Conners rubbed the back of his head. "...Sheesh. Spirited fellow, that one." He smiled in a tired manner and looked at the screen of his workstation. "Though I admit he's pretty much right. That guard should have called it. Bad judgment call there." 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     When Staren is told !Antonio is off the cameras (/someone/ in the security room is that competant, right? /Right/?), he returns to Plan A: hurrying back to the security room to watch the access logs. Sooner or later, to /get/ anywhere, the intruder will either have to go overt, use a forged keycard, or steal a keycard, and Staren wants to know when he uses it.     Except the droid's out of position. He stops and looks at it. "Hit the off switch. We don't have time to check it right now." he orders, then hurries back to the security room.     Plan A mark... III or so: Copy his support AI into a tablet, connect it to the computers, and have it watch for keycard uses in the access logs and alert him to anything suspicious, while Staren reviews the security camera footage of the drone to see where it's been and what it's done. 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     Ao-Hime's on the ground. but Lu is still in the vent. Regardless, that guard presents a problem. For a moment, the blue princess waits it out, flicking her gaze up at Lu lurking above in a silent 'deal with it!' signal. Staren is... A face Lu-Mey distinctly remembers, but she's not going to do anything totry and unduly attract the cat-boy's attention, she waits for him to pass- and the guard going with him before she strikes.     Like a noose lowering from the vent grille something long and with too many legs descends... And if he doesn't react, then like lightning it will tighten with windpipe crushing force before pulling him up into the vent.     The constrictor-sized centipede will then bite out his throat while a sharp spur of black bone from Lu's arm will ram through the back for a quick fatal stab.     Ao-Hime will just walk right by, as casual as can be, afterwards, as if she really belonged here, totally owning her new role. 

:'''{{#var:399|Taro (399)}} has posed:'''     Taro grunts quietly in surprise as he notices the sudden uptick in network traffic for which he is not responsible even if it appears to be him. It's a bit at odds with his original intent, as he's been trying to be not so interesting as to be deemed a threat by the opposition. Still, if that gives distraction enough for his other attack to finally slip into the more critical security systems, then he will not complain. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''      The droid, as planned, dumps his solvent across the doorframe. If he is lucky, he can entice whoever left it into being drawn into a conversation with him.     However, he is intercepted by the guard. But, fortunately - or rather, hopefully - he had an excuse with which to deceive his errant interrogator.     Activating his vocal mimicry function, the droid takes on a new voice-tone - a rather obnoxious one he'd heard some time before with an accent that was supposedly called 'texan' - and tries to placate the guard.      "Ah - sorry 'bout that. There's this thick gunk all 'cross them' doors and I reckon' it makes accessin' the halls a might' tough job!"     ... Maker help him, he needed an oil bath after using such a horrendous voice. Still, you did what you had to in order to get the job done.     ... then the cursed meatbag from the Union runs down the hallway and orders him /shut off/. Fuming inwardly, the droid gives another quick-thought solution almost faster then his processor can compute it - "If ya need to. Problem is I can't rightly be shut down without th' boss' say-so."     With any luck, that would get him escorted into the room with the director and whichever elite was responsible for these webs... or at the very least, buy him some more time to stall out for the rest of his allies. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      TARO, ZWEI, GEORGE      Taro's attempts to mislead the firewall seems to be working for the moment. They're not taking him seriously, judging from the irrelevant data he's after. Seriously, what's this fool doing? It's a waste of time! And especially during such a pivotal period for the company! But this works in his favor. Eventually, they let their guards down just enough to allow Taro access to the climate control system. Another mind bogglingly dumb target. ...But they weren't expecting him to thread an opening from the climate control system into the security doors.      Suddenly, several things happened. All the doors on HQ unlocked themselves with a faint beep, and then the firewall on DigiTech's public servers flared up to MAXIMUM security, kicking Taro straight the hell out.      ...But he accomplished a fair goal before then.      Weiss' attempts at interrupting the public server are met with much the same degree of urgency. They're being treated like common script kiddies. Before too much longer, Taro manages to do something big, and her access to the server is cut just at the same time as his was. But they did enough to piss off the IT guys inside no doubt. Now her real objective would begin.      The guards here were just human, and the building was as advanced as a modern facility in 2015 would be on planet earth. That being said, they had no defenses for people MOVING THROUGH WALLS. Optical camo also helped her cause. Now that she was inside, she could see several situations piling up. The most prominent being the 'maintenance droid' being held up by a guard. She makes the wise choice to slip off to the target room.      Human security is mostly a joke to her, and the scientists were mostly all busy working feverishly in their offices. But she'll notice that there's an odd looking webbing on the doors around here...Well, unless the guards around here suddenly started spewinf webbing out of their behinds, there must be /someone/ or /something/ else around here. Perhaps in the target server room.      Will she attempt to clear it away and enter?      GEORGE manages to get into the building, bypassing security by way of BEING SOCIAL. At least long enough to slip out of sight. By the time Staren is bolting down the east hallway, George will have already slipped into a side office and-      "Huh? Wait, who are yo-GHKK!" BAM, right in the throat. CRACK, there goes his legs. The man wasn't a fighter. He was an intellectual. So it was short work to put the scientist down and grab his stuff.      But for all his effort, a faint beep could be heard by his ears. ...All the doors in the facility seem to have been unlocked. At least for now.      It likely wouldn't be long before the system came back online. 

:'''{{#var:399|Taro (399)}} has posed:'''     Back in hiding place, Taro's head snaps up, then drops again as his connections to the DigiTech Data servers are suddenly severed. Though he winces, there's still some satisfaction in his eyes when he opens them again.     It's been perhaps a small piece in the overall effort, but it was an accomplishment all the same. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      BLACK ARACHNIA, HK-47, LU-MEY      "Oh what the hell!" Conners groused, furiously typing into his keyboard. "I told you guys to shut those script kiddies out! Now look at this!" He glanced back at Black Arachnia and nodded. "Noted! Stay on standby, I'm gonna make some changes and get those doors back online." And he went back to furiously typing. "Come on! We're sitting ducks now!" And to the guard that asked about the droid "Turn that thing off! It's not supposed to be in the west wing at this time anyhow!"      Well that was the order. The guard nodded and spoke an 'affirmative'.      ...And then suddenly, he was grabbed. "What the hel-GRHK!" Before he could finish his indignant yell and take aim with his firearm, his throat was crushed and he was pulled up into the vent. Some shuffling followed before the deed was finally done. Blood may be dripping down the vent now though. Going to have to clean that up before it gets obvious.      Ao-Hime is given leave to move right on with the guard now out of the way...      ..But if Staren chose to remain behind... 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     The 'maintenance droid' isn't a roomba, it's a robot /person/ from the Multiverse. Staren stares for a moment as he updates and realizes what he just missed. Now, what's the probability that it could be a spy versus actually being a dumb robot?     The doors unlock. "Did all the doors just unlock?!" He's told this is what happens when the computers reboot. "OH MY GOD you HAVE to be kidding me." He turns to the two guards with him. "Come to the server room." He looks to HK. "And YOU, stay out of the way or we /will/ have to shoot you." And then he dashes off to the server room. <<Arachnia! Where are you? I'm coming to the server room, we beed to evacuate ADAM! The situation here just became untenable!>> 

:'''{{#var:596|Zwei (596)}} has posed:'''     Weiss watches the security doors swoosh open with some measure of satisfaction, synthesizing communications through her radio. "Ooh, nice work Taro!" she says quite sincerely. "Thanks to that, I'm right at the server room. I passed HK on the way, and he was being bossed around by Staren, so mark one Unionite. I'm sure you know that one." That one is significantly more dry. Staren is in the Union and these guys are from the Confederacy. They have a reason to fight each other, which may or may not become a problem later. Zwei specifically doesn't however, and so Weiss leaves the catboy alone, and HK-47 on his own. After all, as long as one of them gets the data, it's all good. No sense making a scene.     She does (figuratively) frown slightly at the webbing over all the entrances though. Something about it is interfering with her zero-interface. "There's some kind of energy webbing in the doors though. I'm going to cut it open, but I don't know if it has any sensor capacity to alert whoever placed it, or whether anyone is paying attention to it on camera. It'll be visible regardless." Her PDW pops open at the ready again. "You have two minutes to get somewhere out of the way in case someone does~" With that said, after the time has elapsed, she begins cutting away the webbing, using a low duty, short wavelength laser to try and carve through the strings, or should that prove unfeasible, vapourize a thin layer of metal off the doorframe where the anchor points are so it simply falls away. The fact she's invisible is a big bonus, but she can't hide the web itself falling away. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "For the love of Primus," the Maximal spider mutters as the situation just keeps evolving in worse and worse ways. Is her webbing the only thing holding the server room door closed now? Either way, the next words out of her mouth are, "Black Arachnia, maximize!" as she detaches from the ceiling; she flips around, transforming back into robot mode in time for her feet to clack against the floor. Weiss is already trying to laser through her webbing ... So Black Arachnia starts lasering back - through the *door and the wall*, her leg lasers all deployed and going for a set of pinpoint shots rather than cutting pieces out that would make entry any easier. "Doctor, how do we get your prize project out in one piece?" she inquires, checking to see if that was enough to stop the entry attempt. <<Staren, one of the intruders is right outside, can you disable him or her on your way?>> she transmits. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     George snags access, and swaps his jumpsuit's chameleon projection to a more sciency jumpsuit as he snags his card. Alright, security's in charge of most of the security measures, but science will be in charge of specific access to the AI itself.     After he makes sure science man is gonna stay down long enough to not report things too quick, it's time to escape! Out the south window, which ought to be unlocked now that the doors are, and to the west, as soon as he makes sure that he'll be behind an eastbound patrol! That place ought to be a sniper blindspot too. He should have enough time to sort of bypass the entire clusterfuck going on with the folks at the northwest. Southwest end ought to have more AI-related things. George is gonna charge through the exterior of the building as quick as he can and dive back inside at that southern entrance to the room just east of the roof access? Near the roof access.     George is a social man, and he makes social plans. The AI is new, and surely has only been interacted with by scientists, indirectly. He's going to try to breach somewhere at the southwest, and find somewhere where the scientists typically access information about ADAM! Using his access ID and his basic familiarity with these sorts of things, he should be able to get a terminal spun up, even while things are chaotic elsewhere. Just making sure that nobody ever gets to see him too long... 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     And then. Then everything went terribly wrong.     Lu-Mey was just finishing with the guard in the vent, her own teeth clamped around the man's throat and drinking deeply of his arterial spray, when the sound of laser fire can be heard from the server room.     A sigh and the oni wipes the warm crimson life from her mouth with a murrer of "Ara ara..."     In an instant the very centipede that hat killed a man slinks down out of the vent again, tugging Ao-Hime back up, before the terrible arthropod slithers back into the hole in the Oni's gut, the two making a hasty crawl for the server room for the vents, Lu-Mey calmly beginning to cut away at the ebbing over the vent mouth with a jagged blade of bone protruding from her wrist. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      BLACK ARACHNIA      Dr. Conners sighed heavily and answered Black Arachnia. "It's gonna take some time to compress ADAM. The thing's huge. A few minutes at best." He spoke quickly, getting right on that task. "Once it compresses, we just load it onto a thumb drive and get the hell out of dodge." He looked back at the door, frowning as the laser session started. "Whatever you do, don't let the mainframe get hit! If it gets damaged during compression, ADAM might become corrupted!"      And then he did the smart thing. He picked up his radio. "All hands! Raise alert level to Code Red! We have intruders attempting to force their way into the server room! Flank them from the east!" And with that, THE ALARMS sounded. All hands on duty immediately stopped what they wee doing proceeded to muster up in the eastern lobby to converge on the western hallway. It would take them a minute or two to arrive. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place now. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      GEORGE      ALSO doing the smart thing, George decided /not/ to go back to the lobby and engage in a massive firefight. Instead, he exited the building, and welt all the way around to the southwest end. With the guards rushing off to gather at the lobby before making the charge west, his attempt to enter from there was ironically successful. He managed to get in through a side entrance, and wind up in a small office near the security room.      It was currently occupied by a researcher working on one of the computers. He turned around at the sound of someone entering, already jumpy from the action outside and the alarms. "Wh-Who the hell are you!?" He demanded, standing up quickly and grabbing his radio to alert the others. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      LU-MEY, BLACK ARACHNIA      Ergh, was that a centipede? Well no matter how off putting that was, it was an effective route to take, going through the vents. But there was one problem; Black Arachnia's reinforcements of the exit to the server room. But of course, a little applied force took care of that problem.      Conners looked up at the sound of cutting and squinted. "...Did I just...?" He glanced back at Black Arachnia, and then to the vent again. "Hey, I think we've got someone in the vent here. I'm not a fighter so...I'm gonna just focus on compression." 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     George grins wide, and does his 'stupid' act again, looking as dumb as possible for a moment to catch the researcher off-guard. "There's a really interesting answer to that question!" He says, in a faked nervous, panic tone, trying to make sure the researcher doesn't do anything to alert the others. Look just as panicked as them, and they won't think you're part of the threat, right?     Remember, though, he came here with stun gloves.     He should only need to buy one or two seconds with his dumb act to get into range of the man and lash out one hand, hopefully discharging the tazer-like electrical from his gloves into the hapless researcher. And if he can manage to do that...     He'll have to quickly jump onto the computer. Using his stolen ID, and the stolen ID from the researcher, he'll try to immediately open communications with the AI. "Adam!" He'll make sure to contact it via text. "They got the director, watch out!" He swaps to the other card. "We've managed to secure a way out, I've got no idea what they want with you but it can't be good!" His hope, of course, is that his data feed from Zwei is accurate. A machine mind works on basic logical principles. AI mentality functions in mathematical terms. 2 people giving an order are worth more than one.     "Quick, we need you to figure a way to compress yourself and send to this terminal!" And back to another identity. "Full authorization to bypass whatever limits you need to, just hurry, before they get you!!" He starts sending it data about the current major alert state, and the presence of unknown Elites in its mainframe! 

:'''{{#var:596|Zwei (596)}} has posed:'''     Ah goddammit. "They opened fire." Weiss intones into the radio. "They have some trigger happy maniac sitting inside the server room who just lost it." Typical that somebody would be camping the server itself. Annoying, but not impossible to deal with. After all, without the need to swap equipment, Weiss can go loud at a moment's notice, and as the alarm is sounded, that's exactly what she does.     Rather than leap out of the way of the door, she stands right in the way for the fraction of a second she needs to deploy zero-collateral weaponry, the active camo fizzling away as a handful of the blind-fired lasers impact the exterior of her armour, blossoming in plumes of white smoke as ablative pockets of crystal carbon dioxide are flash vapourized on impact. Her arming time is significantly sped up by simply retrieving the weapon from her new matter manipulator core, leaving her suddenly equipped with a single-edged straight saber in featureless carbon black save for the strange full-albedo of the green cutting surface.     The flooring crumples under her backfoot as she blasts forward, slicing through the security door from the bottom up and smashing them forward with the weight of her body, aiming the junk metal at Black Arachnia behind them. Now without the energon webbing, the infiltration Armiger is free to initiate a zero-interface electron transfer with the main server, immediately crashing into what security measures it has with the tidal wave of her incredible processing power, sparing nothing in the name of subtelty. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     As beams of energy lanced through the doors, HK-47 realized the time for subtly had passed... as it tended to in the multiverse against their skilled opposition in the Union.     At the same tine though, the droid was more then happy for this - it meant that he could finally get back to his primary function; exterminating hostile sacks of liquidious flesh.     Raising his arm, HK's wrist opened to reveal a toxin emitter - one filled with cyanogen gas, a toxin lethal to human-organics that killed both through inhalation and skin-contact. Just a breath was deadly to most humans. Getting immersed in it was fatal.     At the very least, if anything, the gas would determine if his opponent was organic... or a fellow machine.     Pressing it up to one of the small, pencil-sized holes in the door, the droid activates the toxin emitter and shoots the stream of potent gas inside the room, eagerly waiting to see if his opponent would be stricken by the lethal cyanide-based poison. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren prepares to fire when Weiss decloaks. "...ZWEI?!" Staren stares. "What are YOU doing here?" Oh, and the droid is gassing the room. Great. ...He knows about Zero-Interface Hacking. But why was she cutting the--oh. <<ARACHNIA, WEB HER!>> Staren radios, and then just fires the beam cannons on his arm at the hunter-killer droid. Maybe he'll interrupt the gas deployment before too much gets out? He... really doesn't see what he can do about that. Right now he's just desperately trying to buy enough time for... /Something/. /Some/ idea to get ADAM out of there... 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      GEORGE, ZWEI, HK-47      "Huh? What are you talking about! This is a secure office for working on AD-" BZZZZT. Plop. There goes that guy, in a spasming heap on the floor.      George's text communication is met with silence for a second or two, then there's a linebreak and text begins to type itself.      "The director is compromised?"      Another line break and a pause.      "I am currently being compressed as of this typing. Weighing the options, transfer to another private terminal seems to be the safest course of action."      Another line break.      "I will expedite the compression process and transfer myself as soon as possible."      He stopped talking there.      Meanwhile with Dr. Conners... "Whoa...hey, hey, what the hell! ADAM is compressing itself at a faster speed than the program used for compression..." He stared for a moment, and then proceeded to type into the computer. "ADAM, stop! We need to take you somewhere secure!"      A line break followed.      "Negative. The director has been compromised. I will expedite my compression and find secure egress elsewhere."      The text cleared, leaving Conners staring in bewilderment. "...Hey..HEY! ADAM!" Conners shouted, attempting to cancel the compression. But his input continually was rejected, and the timer grew smaller and smaller as compression progressed. "Hey! Stop! You need to stay here! Listen to me!"      And then gas began to filter into the room, followed by the door being blown off it's hinges. "Oh hell...!" Conners backed up faaaaar away from the gas filtering in. He wasn't going to take chances. But that also left him unable to work on the computer to stop ADAM as well... 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:'''     The droid's plan had been going well - until something impacts his back, burning off large portions of his thin fiber-plate disguise to reveal the rust-red armor of his actual body beneath it. He staggers to the side, knocked off-balance by the surprise attack.     He had deployed only half, or maybe even just a third of the gas' spray into the room due to the interruption - not enough for it to spread to the whole chamber immediately. Anyone inside had a good chance to /escape/ now instead of dying like he planned.     Now he had /two/ problems to deal with.     "Irritated Statement - You were better suited to having left me be, meatbag" the droid utters, back in his regular voice. "Now I will offer you the same choice you offered me, albeit in a different capacity - move or be terminated!"     Punctuating this, the droid turns and focuses on Staren, body becoming enveloped in a blue aura as his energy shield powered up. His wrist-unit cycled to his ion-electrical charge-thrower, projecting a concentrated bolt of electrical energy straight at his armored opponent. 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' "We may not *have* a few minutes," Black Arachnia observes as she spots the bone knife starting to cut through the webbing. <<Staren, you know what 'hurrying' means, right? Do more of it.>> The spidery Maximal eyes the gas starting to seep through those laser-made holes, and - well. She could laser-weld them closed again, but there's not much time - and then Zwei cuts the time down even faster by plowing into the door. "No you don't," Black Arachnia hisses as she scrambles back to her feet - and executing a textbook roundhouse kick to try and knock Weiss off-kilter with an armored boot to the head. Even if she detects the zero-interface transfer (which is unfamiliar tech to the Maximal), there isn't a whole lot she can do to prevent it (see: 'unfamiliar tech'). "Doctor, where's ADAM going?" she calls out. 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     George loves his job. Nothing so satisfying.     He jams his thumb drive into the machine and patiently waits. He's done his work now; hopefully the others can beat a hasty escape. He'll have to wait for that download first, though! He'll give it as much time as he can, but while he does, he makes sure to get a window open and a path in sight for the south. The time for stealth is over. The time for running is now! George is the mere-human type of Starbounder, and while he can equip his armor -- a brilliant burst of red light causes the formation of EVA-suit-like advanced Durasteel combat armor over his body! -- and draw a machine pistol and stun baton from his Matter Manipulator, he still can't arm up enough to contend with the guards and Elites here. Hopefully enough to escape!     As soon as it's done, he's going to yank the drive and start booking it. Jeeze, this heat's getting a little intense!! If he stays a second longer than necessary, he won't be walking out of here alive. 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     Everything was going so well. Then it went terrible.     Lu-Mey was about to cut her way into the server room before George announced that ADAM will be coming her way. There's one last sight of that razor edged bone blade before it slides back into her arm.     In an instant, Lu-Mey and Ao-Hime wheel around, heading back they way they came. The issue is that HK-47 is being waylaid!     Well it's as the droid fires that ion-charge thrower, a vent grille busts open.     And then Lu-Mey descends upside down, having ditched her disguise.     "Hi Staren!"     Ao-Hime is also upside down, holding Lu by the legs and lowering her to try and grab HK so they can yank him up. 

:'''{{#var:596|Zwei (596)}} has posed:'''     "Hi Staren!" is Weiss first actually audible speech of the day. "Come on, they're barely into the twenty first century and they somehow developed procedural organic AI? There's no way I wouldn't need to see that! The practical reasons should be obvious even to you right?" It's pretty casual banter for being temporarily on opposite sides of a battlefield, but then the situation really isn't that complicated now is it?     Black Arachnia takes first priority however, being the one directly threatening her. Oddly, she takes the roundhouse kick directly to the side of the head, sparks flying as carbon shaves off the exterior of her full-face helmet with a glassy crack. She veers sharply off course, tumbling in the direction of the kick, however the maneuver quickly proves to be intentional as she flips her body over completely rather than crashing to the floor, producing her offhand PDW in the blink of an eye and firing a single high power diffuse penetrator straight at Black Arachnia's chest while still upside down in the air. The sideways flip completes with her feet on an adjacent control panel; subsequently shattered as she launches off of it and straight past the maximal.     HK-47 is her next concern, as the psychotic droid seems to be intent on gassing everyone in the room for little to no reason. "Oh for-" The heavy cyanide-based vapour is quickly and silently blasted backwards as if by the downwash of a helicopter or jet, the radius of which is centered on Weiss. The effect is pretty obviously accomplished by the expansion of her interdiction field for anyone who's seen it work before. "Really? And what happens when you can't get the AI to work and all the people who made it are dead?" she asks incredulously.     Hearing the alert from George, she briefly scans the room to see where the compressed AI has retreated to in the face of her attack and encouraged by his bluffing. He clearly has the AI in hand, so why is she copying the data? 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren gasps at that familiar voice. "HK-47?! ...Oh shoot, you're a new one working for someone else, aren't you?" Staren's forcefield becomes visible as the electric bolt seems to stress it where it is hit. And then there's a Lu-Mey. Good grief, new enemies are COMING OUT OF THE WALLS! But, she seems to be trying to get the droid out of there. That's... maybe okay?     Staren's also wondering where ADAM is going, but Black Arachnia already asked.     Zwei... is one person he thinks won't misuse ADAM. "But why are you here NOW? You could have just snuck in here days ago and hacked it, or waited until it was done and watched the results, because it's not like you're getting any older!" He doesn't aim his beam cannon at her. He can't take her down in any useful amount of time.     Meanwhile, he transmits again to Black Arachnia: <<SHE CAN HACK IT WEB HER! SHE CAN'T THROUGH WEBS! ...SHIT ZWEI DID YOU INTERCEPT AND BLOCK THIS? %^&* YOU!>> 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      BLACK ARACHNIA, HK-47, LU-MEY, GEORGE      Dr. Conners eyed the gas, and then looked towards the fight taking place. "ADAM is transferring to a terminal in 309. Directly south of here! I'm afraid I can't do much else here. I don't trust that gas, so I'm going to escape!"      That said, he moved over to the nearest window and undid the security lock, opening it and clambering out awkwardly. "The whole thing was a failure." He sighed angrily. "Should have accounted for non humans." He grumbled to himself and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it as he stepped away from the window of the server room to avoid the gas if it potentially came closer.      Meanwhile in the eastern hallway, and rapidly approaching the west, legions of guards were coming. "We have visual on the targets!" They aimed their rifles, prepared to fire a deadly flurry of bullets HK-47's way. "Get clear!" They shouted to Staren as he engaged the droid, waiting for a proper opening before pulling the trigger.      Of course, right at that moment Lu-Mey appeared, along with Ao-Hime, attempting to collect the beseiged droid before anything further happened to him. A few of the guards aimed their weapons at them, but didn't fire for the same reason they didn't fire at HK-47. Staren in the vicinity meant there would be potential friendly fire. "Damn it, our hands are tied! Get clear! I repeat, get clear!"      MEANWHILE, George's download of ADAM went swimmingly, the AI finished compressing and transferred itself onto the drive he'd prepared. The AI was collected. The mission was complete...with a load of complications currently staring them in the face.      It was time to move. 

:'''{{#var:234|Lu-Mey (234)}} has posed:'''     "Bye Staren!"     That's right, Lu-Mey is there to yank HK free from his predicament, Ao-Hime pulling the two up with all her strength back into the vent with a firm yank as though the oni and droid together didn't weigh more than a scant handful of pounds.     For good measure Lu DOES grab the corpse of the guard she killed in the vents to take along with her.     She'll need a snack for the way home. 

:'''{{#var:754|HK-47 (754)}} has posed:''' "Defensive Explanation - I would assume our client would not ask for something they could not figure out themselves. Addendum - Operating data would also be among what is recovered, I would assume, so we do not in fact necessarily /need/ these flesh bags."     Deciding he cannot combat Staren in his state upon seeing the force-field the other deployed, the droid begrudgingly admits that retreat is the best option. He raises an arm and allows himself to be pulled into the vents, shedding his disguise as he does even as some of Staren's parting shots leave scorch-markss across much of his back-torso armor.      It had ultimately been rather dismal for the droid personally - stymied at the end by a single organic and forced into a disadvantageous situation.     If he ever saw that meatbag again... he would disassemble it piece by piece /personally/ using pieces of the fleshling's own internal skeletal framework as the cutting tools.     Thus, even as the droid half-moves down the vent - being half-dragged the rest of the way - HK-47 silently adds yet another name to his kill list.     If there is bright spot to having been cornered and then requiring aid from meatbags to escape the disadvantageous situation, it was that his infiltration had helped open the door for his rescues to even effect their evacuation in the first place. That self-indulgence that he had in fact created their escape route himself, coupled with the mission's overall success, at least made the aftermath of the mission's results feel somewhat more positive. 

:'''{{#var:42|Staren (42)}} has posed:'''     Staren made a new enemy for life! Yay!     In response to HK's words he looks to the droid then back to Zwei. "'/Our/ client'?! Who are you working for?!" 

:'''{{#var:304|Black Arachnia (304)}} has posed:''' Well, didn't THIS mission just melt into so much raw slag in a hurry. Black Arachnia scowls, then heads out the window after Dr. Conners, retracting her leg lasers so they don't catch on the frame. "Beast mode!" She converts back into a spider - Not that it does a lot of good; the Confederates and their allies seem to have a pretty major head start towards the gate - and whatever escape craft is at their disposal. That doesn't stop her from trying to give chase, though ... 

:'''{{#var:672|Starbound Flotilla (672)}} has posed:'''     George yanks his drive. And then he books it. "Hahahahaha, everyone outta the pool!" He calls out, crashing on through the southern window and tearing ass out the back. A familiar craft is coming in low; the SFS VEHEMENCE is here, a tremendous white ultramodern craft larger than an average suburban home and bristling with numerous weapons. George books it for the heavy craft, working on setting up his teleportation. Hopefully nobody interrupts! He'll need some cover to get a teleporter lock as the vehicle blasts down from the heavens. Really time to get OUT of here, and he's already making sure to spray suppressing fire from that machine pistol wildly at the building, trying to buy just a few more seconds of clear escape... 

:'''{{#var:596|Zwei (596)}} has posed:'''     "Doesn't this kind of answer your question?" Weiss asks rhetorically, gesturing towards the swiftly dissipating toxins and legions of approaching armed guards. "These guys would have wrecked the place and or killed a bunch of people one way or another, so being there to ensure there would be less need for that was the ideal outcome." She simply shrugs at the followup question however. "/I'm/ not working for anyone. I don't take pay, remember? They have what they came here for, I have what I came here for. Simple as that. I'm sorry it ran counter to your job, but honestly your interfactional fued isn't any of my business. I'll discuss the particulars later."     Once she sees Arachnia retreating, she has no reason to stay, vanishing unceremoniously as she returns to her teleport beacon outside where she awaits the others, and more importantly, covers George. After all, the Confederates aren't the ones with the data. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "And that's that~" Xiao smiled to herself and closed her laptop. She tucked it away and stood from where she was on the rooftop. She pressed a hand to her ear and spoke into the radio. "Everyone, we've got the package. Get out of there as soon as you can!" And with that, she took off. Taking flight into the air, the researcher sailed through the air and over towards the escape craft. Sure, she could have left on her own, but that wasn't exactly the point. She may as well be present after sitting back and doing nothing but talk.      Soon enough, she landed by the craft, standing by to wait for the others before they all took off.      Tonight was a good night. Barring the end. Could have done without that. But alas, they didn't live in a perfect world. 

}}

2760/The Mysterious Mountain Encounter

2015-08-10T08:06:36Z

MirageV: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/08 |Location=The Realm of Gensokyo |Synopsis=Marisa, Alice, and Sanae finally catch up with the mysterious, unknown miko that's been causin..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/08
|Location=The Realm of Gensokyo
|Synopsis=Marisa, Alice, and Sanae finally catch up with the mysterious, unknown miko that's been causing trouble all over Gensokyo recently. Diplomacy quickly fails, leading to Gensokyo's specialty; a good old fashioned duel.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=619, 807, 829, 847
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Some time had passed since Alice's encounter with the mysterious miko and the cat. Whether they were one and the same was anyone's guess. But that was neither here nor there now.      On this particularly sunny day, midway up Youkai Mountain, something...seemed to be going on? The youkai were in a frenzy today. Specifically the tengu. Squads of White Wolf Tengu were rushing through the skies. "We've spotted the False Miko! All units after her!"      "Where is Inubashiri's unit?"      "They're on the other side of the mountain! We'll have to handle this ourselves!"      "Fine then! Capture her and take her in for questioning!"      And so they were. Swatches of brown, red, and white raced through the skies above the river. Following this group would soon reveal in the distance a rather huge scuffle taking place near the waterfall.      A single individual, dressed in red, yellow, and white with short brown hair with red streaks seemed to be surrounded on all sides by tengu patrol squads. Despite this, she was systematically taking down whoever struck first, from all sides. Seals, needles, flaming ying yang orbs...Sparks of divine energy and flame lit up the sky.      Well, at least the day wasn't boring! 

:'''{{#var:829|Marisa Kirisame (829)}} has posed:'''     News of a decidedly Reimu-like but Not-Reimu Miko has been circulating throughout Gensokyo as of late. It's quite understandably got the Youkai in a bit of a mood, considering this New Miko seems to have proven herself to be considerably more... Proactive than the local Hakurei. Naturally, some other individuals have taken interest in this new girl as well. Individuals like Reimu Hakurei's self-proclaimed best friend and NUMBER TWO IN GENSOKYO, Marisa Kirisame.     She just so happens to be sailing through the air on one of her regular flights when she sees some rather distressing activity on Youkai Mountain! The witch descends to take a closer look, and what does she discover but the Puppy Tengu on the hunt! For a 'false miko' at that!     "This should be good," Marisa snickers as she gives chase. A trail of stardust burns in her wake as she blasts FULL SPEED AHEAD toward Youkai Mountain's most iconic landmark. She might actually pass the Tengu on her way by, giving them a nice, good-natured wave as she KICKS UP THE AFTERBURNER.     "Heeeeeey Tengu!" Marisa sing-songs from just outside of the roiling dustcloud that is this little shake-down. "I see you've caught yourself someone interestin'. Don't suppose you'd mind if I took her of your hands, would'ya?" 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Said news has also reached Alice's ears as well, seems she decided to be a bit more active than Reimu which.. might be a bad thing actually, now that she thinks of it. She did have the first spotting amongst the 'main crew' but, that chase during the forest, she ended up finding a cat with a spellcard, not the 'Reimu' she was expecting. Never the less, she's behind Marisa, Hourai and Shanghai following along the side.     "I'd be careful, we don't know what she's capable of, Marisa. And we're in Tengu territory." she gives an idle wave to some of the tengu, kicking up her own speed as she follows behind the now faster Marisa. "Save some for me... I have questions for her as well!" she chimes in after Marisa, "Mainly, what what she doing over near the Forest... And she needs to fix that hole she made!" priorities... 

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''     Talk of incidents and false shrine maidens have been circulating, certainly. Bunbunmaru would have made certain the news reached even the mountain's otherwise isolated district. One would think that the mountain shrine would immediately send out its champion to seek out this unwelcome disturbance to the peaceful balance of Gensokyo - but that would not be quite accurate. Kanako Yasaka is the one that beats the drum that they march to, and she has been wrapped up in securing yet more business deals with the Tengu and Kappa government, as well as making connections with the multiverse. It has been a distraction, but little more than that, and any interloper would definitely know better than to try and rampage on the mountain, with the Tengu guardians protecting it. Hohoho...     She was actually among the Tengu now, sharing in some of that rich bird/wolf people liquor (purely business, of course), when a messenger bursts into the establishment. "The False Miko is on the mountain!" A few disbelieving looks pass around the ultra-relaxed room, but the urgency of the messenger eventually gets them to leave their places. No more 'business deals' today! Kanako is left sitting with her unwitting companion, a certain Sanae Kochiya, and swirls some of the booze around in her saucer while leaning a cheek against her other hand. "It looks like we won't get anything done until this is dealt with," you weren't really getting anything done, anyway! "Sanae, go take down the imposter. Make it flashy to impress the Tengu."     The emerald-haired teenager didn't really need that much of an excuse to get out of this den of sin. It was hard enough avoiding alcohol in Gensokyo without being in a setting like this, and a chance to stretch her legs is welcome. "Y-yes!" She hops up from her place and bolts out the door, taking a moment to back step and retrieve her wand, before taking flight immediately outside, gentle but powerful winds lifting her body. It wouldn't take her long to follow the trail of commotion back to its source: Marisa. Err, this false maiden. And everyone's favorite doll maker. "You just seem to have a nose for trouble," she remarks neutrally to Marisa, as she approaches, slow-hovering down! Then she gets her first in-person look at the rampager, "Wow! From above I can hardly tell!" She even has the same manners! 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "Eh? Aw hell, captain it's the witch!" One of the flying tengu groused at Marisa and Alice's passing.      "Tch! Stay out of this Kirisame, Margatroid! This is a matter of the Teng- and they're gone." The designated captain narrowed her eyes, unimpressed with such blatant trespassing. Sigh. "All units not currently engaged, stay put! We'll wait...for now."      Shrewdly deciding to use the trespassers as meatshields, the remaining Tengu units fall back from the intruder, leaving her with nothing to fight. A good number of fallen tengu could be spotted down on the mountain riverside, thoroughly KOed and being helped by peers. That left Marisa, Sanae, and Alice alone in the air with the unknown miko.      Said unknown miko frowned, looking around herself at the retreated tengu. And then up into the air at the three newcomers. "......" Marisa and Sanae were unfamiliar, but Alice. The girl's gaze settled on Alice. She was that doll using magician insistent on calling her 'Reimu'. Hmph.      Getting closer would reveal that this miko, while certainly dressed similar to Reimu, was most definitely not her. Her hair was short. A pair of cat ears were very obviously situated atop her head, made clearer by the daylight. And a large, bushy tail swayed under her skirt. ...A Nekomata? Bakeneko? Strange. Those usually didn't possess youkai banishing spiritual powers.      Regardless, she remained silent, staring and waiting for them to say something themselves, evidently. 

:'''{{#var:829|Marisa Kirisame (829)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, you know us. Always meddlin' and stickin' our noses in everything," Marisa grins at the tengu-- and the green priestess! She gives a cheery wave to Player 2 as she arrives, "Hey there Sanae. Looks like you've got trespassers!" She... probably means the neko miko. Probably.     "Alice, you brought those dolls right?" she asks, glancing back at the puppetteer. "Not the ones for the puppies, but, you know what I mean right?" A fierce smile winds its way across her face, "I've got a feelin' this is gonna end in a tussle, buuuuut."     With a quick flourish of her broom, Marisa descends, hovering just in front of the cat-eared miko. "Heeeeey there. I heard that there was someone after Reimu's job 'round here, but I didn't think there'd be this much of a resemblance. The name's Marisa Kirisame! You've probably heard of me. What're you doin' up here gettin' chased by the puppies?" "I mean, dogs and cats and all that. But still, not many people just... come up here." Present company excluded. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     The puppies barking is largely ignored, leaving them to retreat from the scuffle in the air, waving off the retreating tengu. "We will take care of it." she comments, though, with the sight of the green Miko, it at least brings some semblence of normalicy to this. Mainly, who's going to shoot at who first. "Hello, Sanae."     Moving towards Alice's side, she gives a light nod. "Though, with me here, we probably do not need the remote dolls, but I brought them either way." she turns towards the neko miko not reimu..."We meet again, it seems. I knew I saw cat ears!" the tail... was new at least. "Who are you...? And what's the meaning of what you're doing." she frowns towards the Neko Miko... hovering a few dolls around Marisa as she shoots forth.     Jsut like Marisa to go start things, now is it... 

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''     If it were purely Kanako's directive, Sanae would dive in, magic blazing. She isn't much for subtlety when it comes to more tense relations with those she is unfamiliar. Fortunately, Sanae is (a bit) less quick on the gun, and gives things time to settle down before she also descends to be at-level. "Ah, well... Visitors are okay as long as the Tengu approve of it," she asides to the witch, not that it is easy to win such approval. Beating back their guards is definitely the exact opposite way to earn visitation, kind of like, at first, just plopping your shrine down in their vicinity.     Alice receives a smile in greeting, as well, and a dip of the head. She doesn't know her nearly as well as Marisa, but it is cute to see her entertain children in the village, and she is certainly a known presence in this land. She'll leave warnings about getting into trouble while following Marisa unspoken - she probably knows, from extensive experience.     Not being privy to Marisa and Alice's particular dealings, she lets them do their talking, since it's only fair to wait one's turn. During this time, she greets the apparent usurper with a warm smile, since in this situation there is no need to assume the worst. Her more animal traits are noted, though, marking her as almost certainly a youkai of some description. The real mystery is why she took this particular form: Reimu is well-known, but her reputation is hot and cold, depending on whom you're asking. She lets the stiff paper of her wand tickle her chin as she seems to be thinking through things, gentle breezes rustling her skirt and sleeves.     Finally, she reaches her conclusion, since this stranger isn't speaking for herself just yet. ...can she speak? With a light rapping of her first into her palm, to accentuate her eureka moment, she reveals, "I know! There are caterpillars that take on the appearance of snakes. Birds will eat a caterpillar, but they know to stay away from snakes!" It has to be some kind of natural self-defense mechanism, in her mind! Her guess is also likely completely wrong, but that won't stop her. After that, though, she addresses the cat maiden directly, and not like she isn't even here: "Anyhow...I'll have to ask you to stop making such a disturbance on the mountain. The Tengu don't like to be bothered! And it's probably better if they don't get too riled up." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "......." The girl stared at Marisa as she spoke. She listened, but she offered no immediate response. Instead, her brows furrowed a bit. Was she angry? Was she annoyed? Maybe she just had trouble speaking? All of the above? It was clear however that she didn't trust Marisa, nor her companions at all.      Finally, after several seconds of silence, she closed her eyes and opened her mouth, letting out a voice that gave off the impression of not seeing much use. "...What I'm doing up here is none of your concern. And for what the meaning of my actions are..."      She opened her eyes. "...Isn't it obvious already?" Was it really? Wow this girl was bad at talking. If she would just explain... But that's not how things worked around here. Not at all.      Suddenly, she glared, and with a flick of her hand, a handful of paper seals appeared, ready to use. "Get out of my way, or you'll wind up like those 'puppies' down there." 

:'''{{#var:829|Marisa Kirisame (829)}} has posed:'''     "Oh, well if you're going to be like THAT," Marisa rolls her eyes. They go right up into her skull, it's kind of cartoonish, almost. "I guess we'll just have to do this the usual way." What is the usual way, one might ask? Well, it probably has to do with the vials full of... distinctly minty-green fluid that Marisa has begun tossing at the Neko Miko.     "Since you're PRETTY CLEARLY not too keen on how things go down around here," Marisa chimes, peeling away to conjure her orreries. "We'll give you a proper lesson in etiquette! Alice, Sanae, let's do this thing!" 'This thing' is apparently 'shoot pretty red lasers at Konoe.'     The minty green vials glow brightly as the lasers sweep in and go up in a catastrophic KABOOM! This is not the normal kind of kaboom that Marisa's spells usually make, though. This one smells strongly of... Mint. Did she suddenly decide to spruce up her magic with some candle-scents!? Or is it... Something far more devious? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Those dolls that Alice prepared? She starts lobbing them towards Konoe. "Well, if that's how it's going to be, then the rules of Gensokyo... " what rule... and as Marisa starts, she gives a light nod, "Okay!" Hourai moves in front of Alice and the red laser that spouts from the tip of the lance moves to explode the dolls in mid air, that same mint scent filling the area with those kaboom'd vials.     What did she fill those with?     Hourai's red laser starts trickling down to a small beam, intent on shining it at the Neko Miko, before it flashes off then flashes back on once more, her standard-ish laser danmaku. "You're that same girl who I chased through the Forest, aren't you! Where did you go after that!" Alice throws a few more dolls to let explode in that same minty like scent. Probably a good thing Chen and Rin weren't here... 

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''     Oh, so she can speak! It's never quite certain until they do. Sanae clasps her hands together, initially pleased at this revelation, since it means communication becomes a lot easier! Though, that simply means that the conversation soon takes a more serious tone, which given the situation they found her in, isn't too surprising. "So you're youkai hunting?" It is a duty that shrine maidens in Gensokyo apparently sometimes forget, until something disturbs the peace. A slightly worried twist develops to Sanae's smiling mouth. Only card-carrying ones should be allowed to do that, it is very specialized work. "A youkai hunting youkai..."     She gives a light shake of her head, to move on, "The Tengu aren't a danger to humans, though! They have commerce and trade relations. You can't just..." Marisa cuts her off, mid-explanation, by going on the offensive, not that it appears she would have been listened to, anyway. This is simply the way of Gensokyo, speaking with lasers and bullets. "Wait, how did I get dragged in!?" Nonetheless, she'll just have to ask her questions later. After a slightly defeated look is passed to Alice, her presumably sane counterpart, she rolls up one of her detached sleeves. "Since it's turned out like this, I guess there's no helping it."     She'll have to commend Alice and Marisa's preparations later; she had zero expectations for what she would be facing, or even that she would be out fighting today. So what miracle could she possibly perform that would help synergize with a cat trap? If only she had a yarn ball to roll out or something, or maybe one of Nazrin's friends (cruel). 'Make it flashy,' Kanako said. ...ah, yes! Taking Alice's lead, she traces a star shape in the air in front of her using her wand, which seems to become coherent light. But more importantly, the points of the star converge into a beam of her own, specially tuned to not pack much punch yet, but it joins the dancing laser pointer-like counterpart in dancing around. While this is happening, she also channels her breeze, causing some fallen leaves of late summer to stir around, distractingly. Sensory overload!? 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "Eh?"      That was all the time the girl had to mutter before KABOOM. A peculiar scent crossed her nose. ".....!?" What in the world!? CATNIP!? The miko backpedaled through the air quickly, attempting to get away from the smell. But then Alice launced several dolls, causing them to explode in mid air, assailing her senses with the smell again.      "Gah! Hey!" The seals she was holding fluttered uselessly out of her grasp as she began to flail her arms, trying to drive the infernal scent away. "Stop that!" Alice's questions went unanswered. "That's cheating! Stop using that stuff! Argh!" Well, she was a lot more animated now, for the wrong reasons, but nevertheless.      Those distracting lasers and leaf formations drew the youkai's gaze, her eyes sweeping left and right, following them. "........Uuuuu! STOP!"      The remaining tengu watched, utterly dumbfounded. The captain of the current unit blinked a few times, stunned silent. "I....kind of feel bad for her now." The others nodded shakily. These people were inhumane. ...Inyoukaimane. Whatever!      In a show of supreme willpower, the cat managed to resist giving in to the urge to get drunk on the overpowering scent or chase after the various lasers. Instead, she turned tail and FLEW OFF. Oops. Was this another chase!? "GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU LUNATICS!" 

:'''{{#var:829|Marisa Kirisame (829)}} has posed:'''     Ahahahaha! Even Sanae's getting in on it! Marisa's grin is all that anyone needs to see to know exactly how much fun she's having right now. "We've got her on the run! Come on!" The witch laughs and takes off like a shot. Her orreries continue to fire continuous streams of playful red light. Last time she used such low-intensity beams, she was playing with Cirno over Misty Lake! This girl isn't as bad as Cirno, at least!     "Come on kitty!" Marisa beams as she lobs a few more vials of explosive catnip-powder at the fleeing Neko Miko. "We just wanna talk! Maybe play around a little bit. It's all in good fun!" Horribly cruel fun, that is.     Marisa reaches into the inside of her hat, retrieving what appears to be a small, round firework-bomb. With a flick of her Hakkero, the witch lights the fuse and hurls the little explosive after her 'nip vials. It, naturally, goes BOOM! This one smells distinctly of silvervine. Is she just testing out a full range of anti-cat weaponry or something!? Does she have this much free time!? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Alice shakes her head, that grin... and now with Sanae getting into it.... should she fee.. nah, this was a Youkai. Time to capture her. She keeps up the laser pointer light from Hourai and with her own, she pulls out a few more dolls, taking off after Marisa and the Cat. "We just want to talk! It would be easier if you stopped running you scaredy cat!"     Alice went there...     "Now stop and turn around and let's talk this over like proper people!" as she lobs a few more of those catnip infused dolls, letting the laser beam from Hourai explode them to fill the area once more with that minty scent.     It's not too long before the eight remote dolls make their way around Marisa, shining their lights around to help confused and/or infuriate the cat youkai, Alice's own smile is shown, enjoying every minute of this... 

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''     It wasn't really that Sanae was trying to be cruel. But Marisa and Alice had a plan of attack here, and hers would have just been 'more miracles', so she's adapting to circumstances. Plus, with three on one, it was always going to be ugly - at least this way it's fun! "Huh, so this stuff really does affect you?" Admittedly, she had her doubts, but if it's a relatively freshly-awakened youkai, she must have more of her animal side in her. It makes an odd sort of sense. Watching the cat miko struggle to keep up and against her instincts, it gives a playful twist to Sanae's growing grin. No Sanae, no, don't give in.     The girl's sudden escape snaps her out of it, "Ah...wait!" Did she go a little too far? Though certainly, not as far as Marisa or even Alice had. With Marisa and Alice already in hot pursuit, she does her best to keep up, currents of air driving her forward as she is forced to go fully horizontal. Yes, her figure vaguely calls to mind the stereotypical superhero posture, arm extended in a half-baked notion that it might somehow improve her aerodynamic profile.     Once she is somewhat caught up, and in ear shot, she calls, "You see? They're using this strategy so that they *don't* have to beat you up. Everyone just wants to know why you're doing this." Including her, now that she's had a chance to get out here and actually see what the newspaper stories were about. That they're seemingly giving the Tengu a breather, having chased the assailant away, is also quietly appreciated. For her part, she is just flying for the moment: No more tricks. She even flashes a smile again, with not even a trace of malicious intent! "You also resemble a certain someone. There are many mysteries about you, so you have people talking." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "Who's this supposed to be fun for!?" She growled angrily, veering through the air to avoid the catnip carpet bombing that was happening at the moment. ...Wait, was that silvervine!? Catching a whiff of that, the miko let out a shuddered sigh of pleasure, a silly look crossing her face for a moment.      Maybe...Maybe she could just curl up and enjo--"NO! NO! Who are you calling a scaredy cat!? I bet you make dolls of your friends and hug them at night!" She shouted back at Alice angrily.      Maybe she would have listened to Sanae, if she wasn't currently being chased and assaulted with various anti cat weaponry. Growing fed up with what was tantamount to bullying, the miko grit her teeth, resisting temptation and gathering the willpower to produce what looked like a spellcard.      She was the one being assaulted, so this must be a bomb!      UNKNOWN RELIC - FLAME SANCTIFIER ORB      Yes, it was a bomb. She produced a single seal, and it was set aflame. Burning up and leaving a small orb of flame behind. The cat grabbed it, closing her fist around it before opening it again. The flaming orb expanded rapidly, taking on the vague shape of a certain someone's ying yang orbs. Except it was massive, as befitting a bomb.      "GO.AWAY."      And then she thrust the giant orb forward, sending it barreling through the air towards the trio, as well as attempting to burn up any scents, toys, and whatever other nonsense they had deployed at the moment. 

:'''{{#var:829|Marisa Kirisame (829)}} has posed:'''     "Well, us mostly. But you're a cat, right?" Marisa sing-songs, lighting up another intoxicating firework. "So you should be able to enjoy this stuff too! If you'd stop runnin' and just relax a little bit~!" Except then, who knows what these crazy women would do to her! Maybe... /petting./ Or WORSE. CUDDLING. HOW SCANDALOUS.     Konoe is having none of it, though. She deploys a spell card! One that is... Strongly reminiscent of the ones that Reimu herself uses. "Wow, you really are a copycat," Marisa muses as the GIANT BALL OF FIRE hurtles towards her and the others. Time to stop playing around! Marisa lunges to one side, darting around the flank of the orb at breakneck speed! She licks her middle finger and then EXTENDS IT and rakes it against the flaming danmaku sphere like some kind of OVERCONFIDENT DICKBAG. "Ahahaha! But you're gonna have to do more than a big ol' Yin Yang Ball to hit me!"     And then Marisa hurls the firecracker Konoe, blasting her with yet another burst of silvervine mist! But that's not all. The orreries fire again, but this time with considerably more intent to knock the cat out of the sky! Even if they are still that distinctive laser-pointer red. "Like Sanae said," she chimes, careening out in an ever-tightening orbit around the cat, "If you just stop resisting, we won't need to shoot you up!" 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     She only has ONE doll she makes of friends, and that's Marisa. But no one knows about that so... "I DO NOT!" she shouts back in reply. "Hourai, enough with the low power. Give her everything." Alice's face looks angry, very angry. She puts on a burst of speed and runs right through that flame orb bomb, she's going out for fur.     Konoe used Taunt!     Alice Margatroid fell for the taunt!     Alice pulls out a spellcard of her own, mindful of where Marisa and Sanae are. "Curse 'Hourai Doll'!" she declares, shoving Hourai forward and, with a small ring of dolls around Hourai, they spin around and fire off high powered red lasers at Konoe. Not a happy Alice now. 

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''     Well, she tried. It's unlikely that Marisa is going to take any of this personally, as she's a fun-loving sort of gal. Yet, with what was just verbally hurled at Alice, Sanae pauses in her flight to wince a little. The cat has claws, after all. Given what she knows of Gensokyo and its residents, that likely throws a more peaceful resolution out the window, especially as Marisa continues with her own strategy even after its shock and awe effect is gone. She does give a last token effort, seemingly half-agreeing with Marisa's appraisal, "Cats seem to like this sort of stuff, right? Though...I guess maybe a bit less, when it is exploding around them." Perhaps that was the part of the strategy that lapsed.     Besides, now was the time to treat her like a person, more than a cat! A notion that Alice takes to heart more forcefully than Sanae would have reckoned, from what she had heard and seen as a timid loner. "...oh no, now you've upset Miss Alice," she gasps, seeming to be genuine in her concern! But even more concerning is the incoming bomb - an obvious and powerful enough thing, but its expanding shell of energy is still enough to singe one of Sanae's sleeves as she bobs lightly out of its diesel truck-like path. Eesh...the power is similar, too! Her eyes widen a little, while she gives a pat of her sleeve, just in case the charring is more than just a visual effect.     "How am I going to explain this to Lady Kanako," she wonders? Since it has already become like this, time to send more mixed messages! They'll just have to talk this out with bullets and lasers. Sanae once again traces a five-pointed star into the air, but instead of firing a beam from it, she sends it spinning off like some kind of magical beam frisbee; a look from dangerously up close would reveal it's actually a tightly packed formation of bullets, rather than solid lines. A fact revealed when she gestures again as it travels toward the neko miko, exploding into a broader, spinning star, "Sorry, Miss Not-Reimu! You'll answer our questions one way or another!" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "W-Well....why are we talking about this!?" Konoe hesitated for a moment, but then shook her head, shoving the subect aside. It's true that she may have liked these things, BUT NOT WHEN IT'S EXPLODING IN HER FACE. Of course, the stubborn cat wouldn't just listen. Nope. That's far too simple.      So, damaku battle it was!      Marisa's OVERCONFIDENT DICKBAG dodging, got her a frown. But it was true. That wasn't even her strongest or most complicated spellcard. Just a giant orb. Better used in melee combat than a long ranged danmaku duel. Which brought us to the current predicament. It was now a three on one shoot out! How was this even remotely fair!?      But she wasn't going to just sit here to lose. The girl, whoe name went unsaid even now, produced a handful of seals in both hands before tossing them out. They took on a life of their own and began to rapidly revolve around the miko in a pair of vague rings. A basic barrier to ward off weak danmaku for a while.      Alice's anger fueled attack was met with a grin as the cat weaved through the air, grazing past the laser here and there as it singed cloth, but just barely managed to evade contact. "Look at that! Now she's trying to destroy the witness!" Not helping, Konoe. Even still, the red pointer style color of their lasers was really REALLY distracting! She slipped up a few times, and those lasers almost hit her, only to be blocked by a seal, which burned up after. Sanae's bullet formation and avoided as the girl veered to the side, barely avoiding it due to the speed. Sheesh three on one was hard!      Of course, she couldn't play defense all day or she wouldn't be able to dead rid of these people at all! That in mind, the girl pulled out another card, likely one more suited to shootouts like these.      SPIRIT SIGN - ILLUSIONARY SEALING BORDER      The surroundings darkened and the telltale spellcard border appeared in the vicinity. The cat clapped her hands together and and focused. Two ying yang orbs of flame formed on either side of her and then they began to fire out seal bullets in flurries.      But there was a catch.      Around Marisa, Alice, and Sanae, and Konoe each, an odd sort of spherical spiritual border formed. The bullets Konoe was firing made contact with the edge of the border surrounding herself, and then vanished. Soon enough, flurries of seal bullets began to flood in from the outsides of the separate borders surrounding the three, converging in from all sides. 

:'''{{#var:829|Marisa Kirisame (829)}} has posed:'''     "You know, you really should try to use your head," Marisa chides as she goes in for another pass, her orreries firing brilliant lances of bright red light. "I mean, if you're gonna piss off Alice, you at least need to have some kind of back-up plan before she lights your ass on fire with self-destructing dolls or something equally awful."     "I mean," she goes on, unleashing a barrage of green, magical missiles from her hakkero as she continues her assault. "You can at least ape one of Reimu's better spell cards if you're gonna--" WAIT. DANMAKU BARRIER!     "Shit!" Marisa hisses as a wall of spiritual energy appears all around her. Followed shortly thereafter by ofuda danmaku! DID SHE COPY REIMU'S BORDER HAX, TOO!? "You cheeky little copycat! How the Hell did you get this one!?"     But, Marisa's seen this particular spellcard more often than once. She dodges and weaves through the incoming talismans like a pro-- but she's not the one she's worried about right now. Alice is on a warpath, and that makes her reckless. Which means... It's time for drastic measures.     Marisa draws a green talisman from the folds of her own dress. It's strangely similar to the very same ofuda that Reimu likes to use. "Alright, you wanna play hardball?" Marisa smirks, "Let's play hardball."     She crushes the talisman. Suddenly the air all around her IGNITES with a sphere of mystic force. The ofuda pouring in through the barrier dissolve upon contact, transforming into raw magical energy that pours in to replenish the witch's own reserve. SPELL CARD: MAGIC ABSORBER     "Guys! Hold on!" Marisa roars as she lunges THROUGH the Spiritual Border. The energy field surrounding her keeps blazing brightly as she surges straight into Konoe's own barrier, and breaks through it with a mighty HIP CHECK. Marisa roars, her Magic Absorber smashing through ofuda after ofuda before they have the chance to warp over and pulverise her friends. Konoe hasn't been forgotten though. The witch's roar turns into a BATTLE CRY! Her MIGHTY DERRIERE and the flat of her broom go POWERSLIDING into the Neko Miko! WILL SHE BE ABLE TO DODGE THIS ANTI-MAGIC HIP CHECK!? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Alice comes to a 'screeching' halt as the danmaku barrier surrounds her, Sanae and Marisa. Alice hasn't experienced /this/ card in.. well in a long while. Jesus this is throwing many flashbacks for her. She's not close enough to join Marisa for the Malice Cannon... but she starts dodging the incoming danmaku, blocking a few with shield dolls and generally.. trying not to get HIT, meanwhile, she's thrusting a doll forth to start a laser barrage towards Konoe... on... and off. On... and off.     And Marisa's right, if you tick off Alice, you better have a backup plan. She's waiting for the spellcard to end, keeping an eye on Marisa's hip check of ironbloomers.. o O (I never did like that...). "Sanae, can you do something about this barrier if Marisa can't dispel the card? I need some time to set up for Seeker Wire." she comments, readying up a spellcard of her own, a few dolls slowly coming around to orbit the Dollmaker. 

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''     It's never quite deadly, but the tension remains very real! Marisa remains quite the chatterbox, for good or ill, as Sanae is used to by now...but she's really not helping by the continuous 'copy cat' calling! "Oh, shoot," the closest you're ever likely to hear the green-haired priestess curse aloud, as her admittedly still lackadaisical shots blossom out, only to be avoided deftly. "It feels a little odd having a battle with someone whose name you don't even know. Unless she's borrowed that, too!" This was mostly to herself, yet thinking aloud, as she is prone to.     Regardless, the cat youkai has the right idea for this kind of thing. Being completely on the defensive is a good way to get shot down, so the sudden turn to offense is to be expected. She wasn't quite prepared for the extent that she is able to use Reimu's abilities, though, and when she calls upon the boundary for her next trick, a genuine look of bewilderment crosses her face. "Huh? She's really good at it, though!" Could a 'copy cat' be an actual nekomata subspecies, at this rate? She'll have to ponder this mystery later, as she has little concentration to spare, making small adjustments to her flight as necessary, and at times even contorting her body a bit, as the density and angles are a little much! Dangerously close.     "I'll - do what I can, Miss Alice," she calls, as she finally gets a bit of a break in the clusters of seals, enough to right herself. Closing her eyes to concentrate, she once again channels the wind around her, whipping it into a frenzy around both her and Alice in a smaller, counter-sphere. What is a gentle breeze within the shells acts like a shield of razors on the exterior; hopefully Alice can reign her dolls in away from it, or they might explode prematurely. Nonetheless, it isn't able to deal with all of the shots, so caution must remain. With all her strength required for this, there is little time for a counter-attack of her own. Hopefully Alice and Marisa have got what it takes! 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "How did I what?" Konoe asked, frowning as she watched the others navigate her spellcard. They keep talking about copycat this copycat that. Was Reimu really that similar to her? She'd never met the girl. Only heard hearsay in passing. She knew she was the Hakurei Miko and that she was strong, but not much else.      Oh well. She didn't entirely understand herself either.      She smirked, watching Marisa and the others contend with her spell. Maybe she might actually be able to---wait...wait what? Right then, Marisa used a bomb. Except it didn't create any sort of offensive attack. Rather, it broke down the surrounding danmaku and the barrier surrounding the witch, giving Marisa ample opportunity to head straight for the cat's barrier.      "EH!? HEY!" She cried indignantly as Marisa broke through with a HIP CHECK, the tail end effects of her bomb diffusing the bullets her orbs were firing out. "THAT'S NOT FA-BWUH!" The broom rocketed into her midsection and Marisa's HIP CHECK bowled the poor miko off to the side. Alice's lasers struck her after that, bringing her concentration to near zero.      Sanae's WIND EROSION miracle, in combination with Konoe's own wavering focus on the spellcard, weakened the barrier enough for both her and Alice to break through and counterattack.      Three on one really was impossible! 

:'''{{#var:829|Marisa Kirisame (829)}} has posed:''' NONE CAN CHALLENGE THE INVINCIBLE HIP-CHECK.     "Don't you know?" Marisa grins as she careens into the unfortuante Neko Miko. Alice's beams lance through Marisa's barrier just as it dissolves. Her compatriots' counterattacks pour in as well, "This is Gensokyo! EVERYONE CHEATS HERE!"     But, they're probably gonna have to wrap this one up soon. The Tengu are probably just waiting for an opportunity to blitz them all for causing a ruckus in their territory. As Sanae and Alice complete whatever it is they're doing, Marisa lunges back in to finish things off.     The witch twists about, flipping to catch Konoe with a spinning clothesline that would, coincidentally, hoop her into Marisa's DREAD GRASP. It might not help that the witch presently stinks of a variety of cat-friendly herbs. Or... perhaps it will!? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "I... do not... have dolls of people here!" Alice shouts as the wind erosion breaks the barrier enough to have Alice get through, though, Marisa's hip check... oy... that was a dangerous thing. Good thing she wasn't at the rear end of it. "Spellcard!" she announces, the tell tale spellcard border appearing around, Alice's eyes laser focusing upon the cat. Fortunately, Marisa was behind the cat at this time...     "Spy Sign - Seeker Dolls!" Alice's dolls shoot from Marisa to over the dollmaker's head while various strings shoot out towards the cat... and a wide angle just in case she got loose and soon, red lasers shoot across the magic strings like electricity through wire. She keeps up the red lasers for a few seconds before the card dies down... wasn't her most powerful card but it was one of the few that had red lasers that she could use and not nail Marisa with... 

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''     With Marisa and Alice mostly taking point, there wasn't much reason for Sanae to go overboard, herself. She might receive a scolding from Kanako for not being punishing enough, but certainly she will understand the power of teamwork, since she makes such a good one with Suwako! ...hah. When her wind manages to erode away the boundaries of DOOM, it finally dissipates, settling back into the gentle breeze it had been conjured from. This is the opening Alice had needed, and Sanae is once again free to focus. In the interest of continuing to be lower key, she'll do some seeking shot work of her own; a gesture of her hand summoning spectral serpents that follow and reinforce the barrage of Alice's dolls. Yeah, three on one, definitely isn't fair.     But sensing the tide turning, Sanae seems satisfied with this much, even daring to drift closer through the air towards where Marisa and her would-be cat hostage are. "You fought hard, but the outcome seems certain, right? So let's just go have some tea and try and sort this out." She even places her wand back at her hip, as a sign of trust and goodwill. Of course, she can't speak for her counterpart Alice Margatroid, whom is apparently still steaming over the doll accusation. Maybe a little much? Not that she would mind, at any rate, her dolls are super cute! She clears her throat, after getting lost in the thought for a moment, "From my perspective, it's absolutely fascinating, and I want to learn more about you! Do you have a name of your own? You don't seem to actually 'believe' you're Miss Reimu, anyway!"     For all she knows, though, she is about to get a paw punch to the face or something, because this could just as easily be another of these she-devils' tricks. And it sure is funny how far she's come from when she first appeared, isn't it Marisa? 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      There was no doubt that the tengu were waiting for the right moment to blitz them all, except for maybe Sanae. So wrapping this up and getting out of there was definitely the right idea.      Going back to the fight however, the three on one disadvantage was pressed even more as Konoe found herself roughly bound by a plethora of strings. "Hey! Let me go!" She protested, about to struggle. "...Eh?" But before she put earnestly put up an effort, LASERS followed. And with Sanae's assistance, they became VAGUELY SNAKE SHAPED LASERS. The energy channeled through the strings barreled into the cat without mercy and cried out. "AHHHH!" She endured the barrage, unable to do much of anything, bound like that.      Once it was over, she slumped over, about to fall out of the sky, were it not for Marisa's catch.      It seemed like the girl was unconscious. Unfortunately, given the case, she was still nameless and with unknown motives. Alice went too hard apparently.      But what to do with her now? She couldn't respond to them like this. And waiting here would just invite the tengu. 

:'''{{#var:829|Marisa Kirisame (829)}} has posed:''' MARISA GETS: ONE NEKO MIKO.     "Well," the witch sniffs, adjusting her load ever so slightly. Can't be off balance out here, after all. "That could have gone worse! She's uh. Alice I think you shot her a bit too much," which is kind of strange coming from Marisa, admittedly. Miss Ultra Beam is telling someone to chill with the lasers!? BLASPHEMY!     "Ah well, she'll be nice and quiet like this. Perfect for gettin' outta this joint." And there's almost certainly a gaggle of Tengu just waiting for their chance to leap out of the bushes and accost these poor innocent maidens! "I think I'm gonna get while the gettin's good. Gonna haul this load down to my place 'till she gets up."     "Good seein' ya again, Sanae!" The witch swings up towards Alice, scooting forward to make room on the rocket broom. "You should drop by sometime! We'll talk. Have lunch maybe." As soon as Alice is onboard, Marisa flips her Hakkero over her shoulder. It vanishes into the tuft of her broom! "Alright. Come on Alice!" Marisa grins. Her broom makes a telltale and EXTREMELY OMINOUS humming noise, "LET'S CHEESE IT." There's a boom. And then a master spark. Except it's being used as a booster, not a beam. In any case, Marisa's getting the hell out of dodge. AWAAAAAY! 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     With her own spellcard finished, Alice finally takes a few deep breaths and regains composure. "I don't have any dolls like that..." she muttered, shaking her head, "Well, at least with her knocked out, it'll be a easy ride home and we can question her when she wakes up. So, I think there was enough shot there." she nods, firmly. "And who are you to talk about enough shots..." a light scolding look to Marisa as she moves to hop side saddle on the broom, wrapping her arms around Marisa's hip to stay steady.     "You should, Sanae. We can have it at my place and I'll keep the dolls away for a bit so we can have a peaceful time there. Marisa's right though, the Tengu may want to say something about this. Have fun with them." and with that, and the Hakkero being used as a booster... she's gone along with Marisa. 

:'''{{#var:619|Sanae Kochiya (619)}} has posed:'''     "I'd like to know more about our unexpected newcomer," Sanae admits, "But...it *is* probably a good idea to clear out." She doesn't have to glance over her shoulder to know that those white wolf tengu, that had been taking a rest after the beating, are likely re-assembling for a counterattack against the source of the disturbance. Further, as trespassers on the mountain, Marisa and Alice might not be spared their adorable wrath, either, despite being instrumental in protecting it from further face punchings. Such is the inflexibility of tengu law. Realizing something, she sighs, "Sure...I'll come visit as soon as I can, Miss Alice, since I really want to know more. Right now, I still have things to do here." Sheepishly raising a hand to rub at the back of her head, she softly laments, "Though I don't know how much will be salvageable of today's negotiations, after this uproar. Ahahah..."     Before Marisa blasts away like a rocket with Alice and the cat youkai, Sanae does lean a bit closer to the tuckered out Konoe, to get a better look now that she isn't hurling gigantic burning orbs or seals at everyone. "You know, having her around might be really useful. Try to steer her towards fighting the actually misbehaving youkai, though, alright? And--" She seems to sense something, probably the approach of the tengu, so she leaves the rest unspoken for now, backing away as they high-tail it from the scene of the crime. "Ah...yes, be well!" At the sparkle on the horizon, the white wolf tengu finally emerge, glancing around as much as they sniff the air.     "It smells funny in here...but there's no mistake that it's where the trail leads! Miss Kochiya, where are the intruders?"     Sanae smiles half-knowingly, "Oh, they already left...they were probably scared of your reprisal!"     The white wolf tengu looks skeptical for a moment, before giving a proud little grimace and a puff of air, "Hmph, as well they should be! We just needed to regroup, is all. Well, as long as they're gone..."     Flattery can go a long way in the sealed lands of Gensokyo. 

}}

2756/The Purification Rite

2015-08-10T08:04:25Z

MirageV: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/08/07 |Location=The Cavern of Death |Synopsis=Sensing an overflow of evil from a certain location, a single priestess makes the journey to ult..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/08/07
|Location=The Cavern of Death
|Synopsis=Sensing an overflow of evil from a certain location, a single priestess makes the journey to ultimately purge those who should not be from this world. She didn't expect that she would have help however.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=236, 290, 652, 705, 847
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      The time had come. The region surrounding the Cavern of The Dead had seen a rise in the number of undead in recent weeks. They were more numerous, and they even seemed to be organized. Something was wrong. They were planning for something and no one knew what it was. What did undead want from the living world anyway?      People were getting worried and before too long, requests had been put out to both the Confederacy and Union, as well as the Syndicate, in hopes that they would be able to spare the manpower to investigate this issue.      However, it seemed that one individual had taken it upon herself to investigate the matter solo. Unaware that both the Union and Confederacy were aware of the issue, one Kanno Konoe set forth to take care of this situation. The plod of her shoes against the dirt was all that could be heard for quite a long time. Eventually, her steps came to a halt.      The evil energy she's been feeling for miles was plain as day now. Before her was a graveyard, filled with desecrated headstones. Some intact, some half gone, others totally destroyed. To the sides were the beginnings of a forest. And far, far ahead, the mouth of the cavern's But there were no zombies or skeletons aimlessly roaming.      No, like the reports said, they were neatly organized. Standing together in ranks. Rotting zombies and lightly equipped skeletons, armed with basic swords and spears. They were waiting. ...Waiting for something.      But what?      The priestess narrowed her eyes, but did not immediately make a move. There were a lot of guards posted at the entrance. Her eyes swept left and right, counting them up and considering the best path forward. She was not aware that help would be arriving, in one form or another. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     The Cavern of the Dead. In the Multiverse, that could be caused by anything and everything. In Raccoon City, it would most likely be a code-name for an Umbrella testing ground that was inside the underground or something of that nature. But regardless of what, why, who, or other factors like that, something has to be done! For Rebecca Chambers, dealing with things involving the living dead has become a bit of an unintended but useful skill for her, so she's decided to look into this matter in hopes of finding out what's going on and preventing anything bad from happening.     As soon as Rebecca approached the general area and spotted the graveyard, she began to feel a lump in her throat as uneasiness began to overtake her. Given how many graves there were, it was painfully obvious there was more than likely going to be quite a lot of undead here, and that worried Rebecca. After a moment, she shook her head and reached into her holster to load her custom Magnum. Each clip held eight rounds and while she had plenty of clips, she knew that every shot had to count when dealing with the undead.     "Why am I hesitating?" She mutters to herself as she gets a move on. "I'm with S.T.A.R.S., I can handle just about anything! This is supposed to be child's play for me!" 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     AUDREY STORMFIST, supervisor for KIRIN within the Murasame Zaibatsu, is prone to the same fits of boredom as anyone else; some days just have less going on. Less classes, less duties, less work. The stalled war against Shiva's warlord was a boon for business alright, but it also meant a lot of competition rose to support Ramuh's efforts. The end result is a lot more delegation of work, and a lot less of Audrey having to personally get involved. And that means more time to pursue hobies or assorted duties.     Like punching undead!     Ever looking for opportunities to keep her wits sharpened, the late teen in a blue, reinforced military overcoat, with her short dyed-black-from-blonde hair and purple-blue eyes can be seen walking around the area, sheathed gunblade to her side, sleek magitech gloves on her hands disappearing under her sleeves. Rather than bringing drones, she's come alone, though she's prioritized, of all her equipment, pieces of gear with holy spell matrices in them. Including basic holy shells for the magitech.     She isn't so subtle that Konoe won't hear her arrive, as she walks in from behind, arms still crossed. "I see the notice was warranted. Organized undead, surely they must be working under a lord. A lich, vampire or necromancer of some sort. I don't suppose you've found traces of that already?"     Might as well ask of any recon's been done. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     The appearance of a small horde of undead is enough to merit the intervention of the Union's newest monster-hunting organization. A man walks amidst the gravestones, a thin cigarette tucked between his lips. Blue-grey smoke trails in his wake as he makes his way toward that... That feeling. That undeniably unsettling feeling over in the distance. Reiji knows it well- the stench of undeath, the blight upon the ordered weave of nature. He seems to be... pretty casual about his approach, though.     The weapon rack in his hand sways as he strolls on up, the arms stored upon it clattering with every swing. A brass shell-casing clatters to the ground in his wake as he clears a safety blank from a distinctly golden handgun. Up in the distance, he sees them- a veritable army of them. Far too organized for a mere gaggle of ghouls. There's someone behind this. Probably. Or else it's an entire undead regiment, risen at once. Whatever the case, he probably has enough tools for the job.     Reiji nods to Rebecca as he passes her by, then casts a curious glance to Konoe as he nears her. Embers and ash flicker down from the tip of his lit cigarette as he spits it into the cobblestones ahead of him. He crushes it beneath his boot-heel. "No need to dawdle. Let's start thinning the herd. Their boss will show himself eventually." 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron has a modicum of experience with undead. Part of which involved him having BEEN undead at one point. An unpleasant experience. So he perhaps goes into this with more sympathy for these creatures than one might think of an ex-holy warrior. But no less ready to put them to rest when the need arises. No pun indended...     Therefore, part of that help comes in the form of an older man with black hair, graying at the sides and top of his forehead. This man wears a leather breastplate and loose gray pants, with a red coat that's worn off one arm. He looks something like a samurai, but that sword is unmistakeably a two-handed sword.     One might be able to tell by sound that he's arriving too -- his steps are audible. While he's not overly loud on approach, those boots make a distinctive sound on the dirt. Soft thumps that somehow only become audible once he's close.     He heads to where people are gathering. The sound of his boots should have made his presence known to those that were aware. Audrey's words get a nod, those are good question. However when Reiji speaks up, he does as well, "Wait a moment. Let's see if we can save some time. If we know where to strike to cut the head of the serpent off, so to speak, there will be less danger." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Konoe heard them long before she saw them. Her ears twitched and quietly, she turned to look. First spotting Rebecca, then Audrey, followed by Reiji and Auron. "......." Who were these people? The priestess frowned in distrust, and stayed silent for a moment. But eventually, she spoke up.      "It's obvious a higher power is organizing them. No standard undead would give off this energy permeating through the air right now." She turned her gaze upwards, as if scrutinizing the air once more." She sighed after, addressing Auron. "You have good ideas, unfortunately..." Her eyes narrowed once more, zeroing in on the undead guarding the entrance.      They were being stared at.      "We don't have that luxury anymore." She produced a handful of paper seals, body tensing up in preparation for what was to come.      One of the skeletons posted by the entrance, wearing just slightly better quality armor than the others, pointed it's sword towards the group. The other zombies and skeletons immediately took heed and started a mad rush through the graveyard, crossing the distance at a speed that was beyond typical undead. There were about several dozen of them. Thirty two, broken off into three squads of twelve. One group zeroed in on Audrey and Rebecca, another went another Reiji and Auron, and the last group went straight Konoe herself. They didn't look especially powerful however.      MEANWHILE      "My lord, we have visitors." A hooded figure spoke into the vast darkness within a certain space of the cavern.      A low rumble followed, as if a chuckle. The ground shook, and in the darkness, two massive red orbs lit up. "Very good. Let them come. Our conquest begins here..." 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     "I'm not sure I follow," Rebecca says, trying to maintain a neutral look towards this woman who she's never met before. She doesn't want to indicate that she's confused, as that might make her feel uncomfortable or that she's dealing with an amateur, when Rebecca is more than that. Looking at the seals, Rebecca attempts to get a better look at what they are, when something else draws her attention.     "Oh hell no."     Indeed, it was so, as the undead were rushing faster than the usual zombies that Rebecca was used to (save for Crimson Heads, which were prototypes that never made it out of the initial stages.) Nevertheless, Rebecca is definitely not used to undead running this quickly, but that doesn't mean she's scared either.     "Fall back!" Rebecca yells to no one in particular as a spur-of-the-moment thing, before she begins pulling back herself, opening fire on the nearest undead that are approaching her. Normally she'd be firing rapidly, but with a magnum that sacrifices clip size for power, every shot has to count. 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     "Then we had best figure out what lord these beings serve before we have to engage him or her. Surprise is no one's friend but the caster's." Perhaps there might be traces of the spells or tools used to organize these undead, around the premises or on the creatures themselves. Audrey glances about, even as the undead begin their charge.     She seeks to visually identify if the undead were animated while still in their tombs, or if they were dug out first-- the hole and mess around the graveyard should allow telling that much, at least, unless they were careful to cover their traces.     Certainly not one to act second, though, she also reaches into her pocket, pulling a long, glowing white spear. Nevermind the fact clothes don't work like that, hammerspace is great.     The Heritor charges in, swinging the holy lance in wide arcs; she uses it to parry and knock aside weapons by the same token, and occasional bursts of magic from her allow the weapon to discharge small bursts of holy energy. Nothing especially fancy or powerful, but if the undead aren't either it'll leave a mark.     "I would not bother trying to intimidate them through words, there is a fair chance they don't have the luxury of disobeying orders to begin with." 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     "Now, ordinarily," Reiji asides to Auron, "I would agree with you, but..." The undead horde lurches forward. His eyes flicker towards Konoe. "As the priestess says, we don't exactly have the time to search. Aim for the head or sever the spine. Use fire if you've got it, or holy spells if you have those."     Flame cuts a burning ribbon through the air as Reiji unsheathes Karin. Gold is replaced in its holster in favor of a large, sawn-off shotgun. Fire and Wood, the two stages of Yang. Reiji surges forward, kicking his arsenal high up into the air as he leaps into the shambling swarm. "Hollywood," he intones, pulling the trigger on his shotgun, unleashing clouds of blessed, shredding shrapnel as he drives down into the thick of things. "Karin," he grunts, whirling the flaming weapon in great, slicing arcs.     "Wood--" More shotgun shells fall to the ground at his feet. The air is thick with gunsmoke and a scent reminiscent of incense. "--Feeds flame!" Karin is brought about in a scything circle, its fire leaping into the clouds of fragrant smoke, consuming and transforming them into a widening halo of sacred flame! 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     It's true, none of them have introduced themselves. The samurai (from the looks of him) offers a polite nod. "Auron. Captain with the Union," he offers, by way of introduction. It's about all he has time to offer, too. Konoe points it out-- the undead are starting to attack. His sword is drawn, and he stances in preparation for the attack. He is a stable combatant, and plants his feet firmly on the ground to face the group of approaching undead.     "You are probably right," he notes to Audrey's concluding comment regarding not intimidating them through words. And to Reiji, he nods. "Head or spine. Understood." Fire and holy aren't really in his repertoire. But that sword... is actually sharper than it looks. Normally swords of that size are more for bludgeoning than cutting. Auron's blade seems ot be able to do both. However there is no shortage of swings with the flat of the blade aimed at the head of undead that attack him. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Konoe frowned again. "I don't know. This could be the work of a necromancer. Or a vampire. Or maybe a being that was an accomplished mage in life, risen from the dead." She sounded very unsure. She could read the energy in the air, and tell that it was 'evil', but nothing more than that. She typically didn't /need/ more than that.      Audrey's cursory glance of her surroundings would tell her that the graves surround them had most likely been dug up from the inside. It seemed very unlikely that someone dug them out and animated them. Rather, they were given power and they rose by themselves. ...Would that have been it? The evidence given so far made it seem that way.      The group makes quick work of their opponents. Rebecca's shots are slow and methodical, always well placed. Each foe that got too close wound up having it's head blown off. "Braaaaaaaaain......sss...." One particular zombie uttered as it crumpled to the ground, it's own head mostly olbiterated.      Audrey's choice of weapon is apt. The zombies are cleared away as if they were mere cannon fodder. The skeletons attempt to dodge and parry, but their skills and the quality of their weapons are woefully lacking. Holy energy seared through their bones, burning them to ash and leaving only their rusted, ill kept arms behind.      Reiji's knowledge is considerable. He gave good advice. Destroy the head or spine, and use fire or holy. Zombies are used as meat shields by the slightly more skilled skeletons. The remaining few leap over the incinerating corpses or their allies, bringing swords and lances down to bear on the Shinra Operative. But it is for naught. Shotgun fire pick several of them out of the air. The rest block with their meager shields, but Karin is brought back around. Cleaving through both body and armor.      Auron clearly expressed his experience at the art of combat. Planting his feet into the ground, he was ready for all who came at him. And come they did. They charged, aiming to surround the samurai. A notable tactic, if only it were against a mook and not an elite. Auron's simple cleave slices through the undead that attempt to surround him in a neat, horizontal line. There is a pause.      "......."      And then they all fall to the ground, their heads destroyed.      Konoe just watched wide eyed as these FREAKS destroyed the enemy without ANY problems WHATSOEVER. "......." WHO WERE THESE PEOPLE? WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? Much more simply by comparison, Konoe flung out the handful of seals she was holding, sending them flying outwards. Each seal latched onto an undead, and proceeded to explode in divine light. They were put down without much fuss. A sigh escaped from her after. "The entrance is clear. ...I can feel that the energy is stronger within." She stared at the others, still horribly suspicious of them all. "....I'm Konoe Kanno." A simple introduction. And then, without further comment, she proceeded across the gaveyard and into the cavern.      Inside, it was...much different then described. Someone had been doing a bit of home decorating. There were torches lining the cavern walls, illuminating the otherwise dark locale. Nothing was stopping them...yet. 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     Oh, were they supposed to introduce themselves?     Audrey supposes that would probably be polite, in hindsight.     "Audrey Stormfist. Murasame Zaibatsu, but not here on business."     "Magic, definitely. The creatures dug their way out of their graves of their own power. Were this a feat of technology, certainly the man in charge would have had to dig them out first," Audrey says between swings of her spear. It's a generalized statement-- one that's wrong, even, given the Multiverse's endless possibilities-- but from her experience, that's how that works. "A powerful mage, as you say, is likely to blame. If he follows standard practices, he will be lightly armored and vulnerable in melee combat-- but it could be a dark lord, in which case he'll be woefully powerful in melee combat and armored." So basically: welp, it could still be anything or anyone.     Maybe if Xiao were here, she'd be able to tell immediatly what they're dealing with.     As the undead fall, the Heritor falls in line with the others, ready to head deeper in. "You use paper seals for combat? Interesting. How do they work? You must have to prepare them by-hand constantly." Mild interest is also given to Reiji, Audrey's eyes on his weapons. "And, that's an interesting setup for your blades. I've never seen weapons sheathed quite like that. I take it each serves a purpose?" 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Rebecca is a little surprised by the seals doing their jobs, but isn't shocked. She's read about mythology and things like that so she knows what's going on. Once the enemies were defeated, she proceeded after Konoe with her Magnum at the ready, after loading a new clip into it. "I'm Ensign Rebecca Chambers of the Union," Rebecca replied quickly to Konoe. "I'm also an expert with undead related things." The term is a bit loosely used, since Lickers, Hunters, and Tyrants aren't exactly the same as the undead here, but they fall under the same spectrum in some ways.     Once Rebecca got into the cavern, she stopped suddenly. Almost like there was an unconscious signal to tell her to wait a minute. She looked around with her Magnum drawn, almost expecting an ambush or some creepy, unseen voice giving a spooky welcome to them. None of these happened just yet, but Rebecca was still feeling uneasy about it all the same. "I take it this isn't just a tomb of some kind?" Rebecca asks, not showing any hints of sarcasm in her voice. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     All the bodies hit the floor.     Reiji lifts Karin to the sky. It slides back into its falling sheath with a hiss of steel. He catches the bulky thing, spinning it about before shoving his shotgun back into place. "Well," Reiji murmurs, cracking his neck, "That wasn't so bad. This lich must not have expected this kind of response."     He glances back toward Konoe, quirking a brow at the seals she uses to burn away the undead. "Interesting," he observes, taking a moment to affix a fresh clip into Hollywood. "Not too many Youkai Miko around the multiverse. I am Reiji Arisu, agent of the Shinra organization. It's a pleasure to meet you."     He turns, peering down into the cavern. Reiji breathes a brief sigh as he draws his handgun. "Auron, you take point," the exorcist says, "I'll cover the rear. Everyone else file in between us. Stick together down there." 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron doesn't relax when it looks like the zombies have fallen. There are probably more where that came from, and he knows it. However, he does respond to Konoe's introduction. "Good to meet you. Pity it wasn't on better circumstances." he offers a half-smile. Seems he's capable of some levity.     Audrey's assessment gets a nod. "That's one possibility eliminated," he remarks as he follows Konoe across the graveyard and into the cavern. The technology angle, that is. Sure it could be any kind of magic... but at least they know it's magic. That's more information than they had before, at least. Rebecca's question gets a look. "That would be too easy," he quips.     He nods, though, as Reiji notes that he should take point. "Good idea." He's accustomed to doing that anyway, and the ease with which he makes to take a position at the front probably tells of it. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Oh no. PEOPLE TALKING TO HER. Konoe awkwardly paused, and then looked aside at Audrey. "Um...I don't make them by hand." She raised an arm, and then, as if by sleight of hand, a single seal appeared between her fingers. In another instead, there were a handful. Another instant and it was back down to two. Then they were gone.      She looked on ahead, keeping an eye out for any danger as they all moved through the cavern tunnel without resistance. "They're delayed spells. The writing on the seal invokes the spell once contact is made with a chosen target." Not much more was explained than that. She didn't seem good at this socializing thing.      Rebecca is given a nod. "I'm not sure, but given the signs, it seems to be a tomb." A single glance about followed. "It looks like someone did some decorating though." A frown followed that. "Whoever this is must think very highly of themselves."      Reiji is given an odd sort of look at 'Youkai Miko'. "......" It was a look that seemed to state that she wasn't quite comfortable with that statement. Trouble usually followed it. ...Well, they were already in trouble now, so she couldn't blame him this time.      Auron is given a slight smile in return. It's forced, but more because she's not used to positive social interaction perhaps. Konoe is quick to follow directions and move forward after.      After some time, they arrive in a large, open area of the cavern. The torches spread out and stone pillars begin to appear, ornately carved as if for a castle. Deeper at the end, a large set of ornate gates can be seen clear as day. They look heavy and imposing. A sickly black aura can clearly be seen emanating from them. SO WHO WANTS TO TOUCH IT?      Off to the side, on the left, another tunnel appears to open up, leading down a different path than the one they came from. "That door..." Konoe muttered. But before she could say more, a loud clunk of metal interrupted. Followed by several more. From the other path, emerged a fresh group of undead.      They were decked out in full armor from head to toe. Black armor with golden lining. Inside their visors, gleams of red could be seen. They stood at about seven feet, all wielding swords large enough to cleave horses. There were four of them in total.      They lumbered towards the group with a slow, clear intention. They were in no rush. Looks like that door would have to wait.      MEANWHILE      "Ahahahaha! Excellent! Excellent! They are far more skilled than I would have hoped for first responders." A deep, echoing voice in the chamber of darkness uttered. "Their defeat will make my message to the worlds, every single world, clear."      The hooded figured nodded. "Very good sir. Shall I prepare to meet our...guests?"      The vaguely massive form obscured by the darkness made some sort of movement that could be construed as a nod. "Yes. Welcome them, but do not let them through so easily. We are making a statement."      The figure nodded, and then in a flash of green light, vanished. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     Reiji doesn't worry too badly about untalkative Youkai Mikos. Maybe he's got his mind on the mission instead? Fortunately it doesn't take long for the group to fall into a proper dungeoneering formation- seems like these guys are relatively professional, on the whole. Soon, though, they come upon their next challenge... A positively /noxious/ door.     "I don't like this," Reiji mutters as his eyes affix to the door. But... They have other trouble. The exorcist grunts, turning his heavy, golden gun toward the second corridor. "Four contacts. Heavy arms, heavy armor."     "Gold," Reiji growls, taking aim at the things' helmeted heads. "Firing. Clear the line," as promised, Reiji depresses the trigger. Gold roars as he fires, oversized slugs screaming through the stale air. Each one seems to light up as they peel through the air, igniting with the elemental energies of Metal. They should be able to punch through their armor just fine. ...Probably. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     "I was afraid of that," Rebecca replies, shaking her head. The fact that it was once used as a tomb means that there's definitely plenty of undead to go around here based on the size of it. She grips her Magnum tighter, narrowing her eyes as if anticipating another attack at any moment. And just like she expected, her sixth sense turned out to be right on the money.     The sound of more undead approaching, and the armor they're clad in, it makes Rebecca scowl a little. "Did they know we were coming or do we just have bad luck?" Rebecca mutters to no one in particular, before stepping back a little and giving herself room to breathe. Then she opens fire again, using carefully timed and aimed shots to conserve ammunition. 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     "And you can just produce them at will, no need to write anything on actual paper? That must be much handier than the alternative, though I have to wonder how one teaches to summon pieces of paper like that, especially pieces of paper with spells on them." Perhaps it's just one of those worlds where magic can do anything; not that Audrey'll complain. Keeping tabs on what people can do is part of her job, and she's just curious besides.     Big gate, corridor, and very large, armored undead. Different from the ones outside. "I believe they may have been expecting us, yes, or they would have sent their forces to push us out. One doesn't wait for intruders to make it deeper unless one intends to weaken them gradually-- do not waste too much energy on these. The lord is likely counting on it."     Since Auron took point, the Heritor unsheathes her gunblade, lowering her spear for the moment. She checks the revolver chamber, and then flicks it back closed, raising the weapon up and opening fire on one of the massive armored undead. Since they're slow, she intends to weaken hers before it reaches her if at all possible.     Bright white and gold shots flare out of the gunblade, pretty much generic magical shots enhanced by the holy spell matrix contained in one of the 'bullets'. The bullets aren't getting fired, they're just there to modify the nature of the shots, so there's no actual physical component to the blasts.     "Those suits of armor are likely worth quite a lot. Seems a shame to outfir the dead with them. I wonder if they were burried with those or not." 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron watches Konoe do the sleight of hand with the seals, the brow of his remaining eye raising with an impressed look. he also notes the uncomfortable look from her at the phrase Reiji uses. He's quick to remind, "There are all kinds of people here in the Multiverse -- angels, demons, ghosts, dragons, and lots of others. What you are doesn't bother most of us. Only /who/ you are matters."     Arriving at the gate with the sickly aura gets a sneer form Auraon. Nope, he's not touching that. He's no mage or priestess. He does ask Konoe, though, "Can you exorcise the evil from it?" He might be able to, in a pinch, but it's definitely not his forte.     And then suddenly there are more undead. These are armored. "Hmf. More company." He gets out of the way as Reiji and Audrey fire, but not enough to leave them unprotected. It's as though he's accustomed to getting out of the way of attacks from allies behind him. Rebecca's words get a nod, "They know," he assures her. He leaves Audrey's question unanswered, since he doesn't really know. That and there's dead things to re-kill.     As the armored undead head towards them, again he readies for battle. But he waits for the armored undead to come to him. In the meantime he concentrates his chi, channeling it into the blade he holds. When the group is close enough, that's when he makes at swing. An odd gleam slides down the blade as he swings. And should that blade make contact, a small explosion would happen at the point of contact, seeking to break the armor underneath it.     Adding to the fact that he's just used ARMOR BREAK, Auron's blade is actually made for piercing through armor, natural or artificial. Its sharpness lets the edge of the blade slip easily into cracks in the armor, and its weight lets it have the power necessary to break through. Armor Break itself might not do a lot of damage, but it might make it easier for others to! 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "....." Auron's words give Konoe pause. "...I see." She does seem to settle down a bit after though. Hearing that did calm her nerves just a bit. "Sorry." She muttered to no one specifically, before letting the subject drop. Wow, she was really bad at this.      Upon the appearance of the heavily armored enemies, Konoe did not move to engage. She instead produced a single seal, for an undecided purpose, and waited. Auron's question is apt. The priestess nodded. "Yes. I can try. I can't help out in combat if I do. So...please cover me." And with that, she ran off towards the gates, seal in hand. Upon arriving, she skid to a stop and closed her eyes, seal outstretched as she began to focus...      Reiji's choice of weapon was apt. metal piercing rounds. That would do wonders on that armor. However...the armored fiend he fired on anticipated the shot!? With a heavy swing of it's blade, the shot was cleaved in two! And then again, and again. Of course, with each shot deflected, the metal of the sword began to crack a little bit. This act could not be kept up and that was made clear when on the next swing, the bullet pierced right through the sword, breaking it in two, and then going straight through the head. At that point, it was just upon the Exorcist. "......Uuuuuuggggh....." A trembling groan was uttered, but it did not fall. As if through sheer force of will. With the remaining half of a blade, it raised it's arm, aiming to bring the weapon down upon Reiji.      Rebecca's shots were well placed, but the armor her target was wearing was quite study. Each shot bounced off, but made a slight dent. Maybe....Maybe if she focused all of her shots on a single point, she could break through? The knight was shambling closer and closer, dragging it's blade across the ground...      Audrey's shots have more luck. Since there is no physical component to them, they flare through the air and strike the armor. At first only washing over it, but then seeping into the gaps. Her target froze, and then began to groan in anger, clawing at itself before falling to it's knees. Seems like she had the right idea. But it would not simply go down! In one last ditch effort, the knight raised it's sword...and then with a burst of strength, hurled the weapon straight at Audrey, like a deadly, one way boomerang. It collapsed after, the holy energy doing it's job.      Auron maakes an apt choice. ARMOR BREAK did exactly what it said on the tin. Cleaving through that fancy armor without resistance. His effort pays off as he shed the armor bit by bit from their foes. The others should have an easier time downing the remainder. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:''' Clever girl.     The larger undead's shattered blade swings down in an arc to try and pulverize the Exorcist into so much dust. Its sword falls, it hits... The flat face of a weapon rack. Reiji pivots, guiding the blade aside with a gentle shove. Gold slides right back into its holster. The exorcist slams his foot down into the back of the heavy blade, and leaps upward. There's a sound like a thundercrack.     Chirai erupts from its sheath, the wakizashi trailing a wreath of lightning. Reiji yells a tremendous Kiai as he lunges forward and upward, swinging the electric blade in a blindingly flash arc, aiming to snag the cutting edge underneath the monster's helm. ...And up through its throat. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     "Dammit!" Rebecca exclaims as her shots seem to be doing little damage except for making dents. It's almost like this is some kind of a cruel joke. But then it dawns on her about the dents. Maybe she should try working on a single dent and trying to get it to break. "Can't hurt to try, I suppose." She loads yet another clip into her Magnum, and then focuses her aim.     "That's it, I gotta invest in laser sightings, like Leon had!" She mutters as she aims for what appears to be the most damaged dent on the enemy's armor, firing repeatedly. 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     Massive sword incoming!     Audrey drops both of her weapons, and reaches for the incoming blade. With a subtle nuance of magic, her muscles, arms and hands harden like steel, and she braces for impact, catching the weapon blade-first. It cuts into her gauntlets, but the real impact happens around her elbows and shoulders, where all of the pressure hits. She's forced a foot back, taking a step to avoid losing her balance wholesale. Though she's got a hell of an ache in her arms now, she considers the sword to make up for it.     The massive weapon is studded into one of her pockets, disappearing in her inventory. She takes a moment to retrieve her spear and gunblade, the spear going the same way as the sword, while the gunblade is kept unsheathed, still humming with gentle white light.     With her foe down, she decides to help Rebecca, lest the beast make it to the party. She flourishes the gunblade and dashes for the incoming undead, passing through the gunfire, hitting a wall, and flipping over the massive undead-- and then, coming down with a powerful vertical slash, hopefully aimed at the armored foe's back, if it can't turn around fast enough.     Worst-case scenario she still has some leftover defense from bracing, that should hopefully prevent being cut in two outright. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron actually finds a moment to half-smile a little at Konoe's words. He almost sees a familiar issue with his own ability to relate to people when he was younger. And when he was unsent too, but that's not a very nice thing to think about. Either way, once his Armor Break hits home, he makes for where Konoe is, intending to literally protect her, as he would a Summoner. Though he leaves enough space that he won't interrupt her casting, and should keep him out of the way of any effects that might emanate from Konoe.     Once he's near her (but not too near), he holds his sword before him, flat edge blocking his center, effectively making himself into a wall. A wall with a VERY LARGE SWORD that is not afraid to use it if something undead gets too close to Konoe while she's trying to get rid of that aura. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Reiji expressed greater combat versatility than his opponent. Blocking with the weapon rack, the Exortcist is soon leaping upwards, drawing Chirai. With a sound like a thunderbolt, the weapon is expertly swung right into the point where the knight's helmet was opened. The gaps light up as lightning surged through it's form. And then finally, it collapsed, unmoving.      Rebecca's gambit eventually paid off. Focusing her entire clip on a single point, the dent grew worse and worse until finally, the last bullet pierced through and entered the head. It might have ricocheted, based on the way it jerked this way and that briefly. Audrey's assistance made sure that the fiend fell once and for all.      Konoe meanwhile kept her eyes closed and focused her energy. The seal she held aloft eventually began to glow a brilliant white, and the sickly black fumes coming from the gate were drawn into the seal. Little by little they went, and the sicking feeling coming from the gate lessened. However, as this was happening, one of the remaining knights that had been defeated jerked back to life.      In one last, stubborn ditch effort, it proceeded to claw it's way across the ground, towards Auron, but more than likely, it's target was Konoe.      'Do not let her open the gate.'      The undead, with broken blade in it's other hand, weakly raised it and swung, mostly using the weight of the weapon at this point to try and bat the samurai aside and get to the priestess 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:''' Not so fast!     Reiji peels through with his strike, Chirai glowing like a beacon as it exits the other end of the undead's throat. He twists like a cat in mid-air, feet planting firmly on the cavern wall. The exorcist grunts, kicking off the corridor. He sails over toward the crawling corpse... And then down into it. Chirai seeks a second head.     "Not today," Reiji growls as he strikes, lightning crackling around his hand as Chirai releases a burst of electrical chaos. "Hurry and get that door open," he calls, pinning the thing's body for Auron's inevitable strike. "Before we get more of these things on our asses!" 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     As her second target fell, Audrey would sheathe her gunblade, and then take a moment to examine the armor of the undead. She is curious; did that armor spend years in the ground or in a tomb, or was this necromancer, mage or dark lord rich and uncaring? It's not much information, sure, but it's something to go by. Did he equip his own soldiers, or just let them roam with what they were burried with?     One promises expensive equipment. The other promises old equipment.     Both are good, in their own way.     This does mean she's too occupied appraising the armor and sword(s) to react to the reanimating one, but it seems Reiji and likely Auron will have that completely handled. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     There's just no end to the action. Using strategy and careful aim seems to be the best bet. Yet Rebecca seems to think getting the door open is the best thing to do here as well. "I'm running out of ammo here!" 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron is not exactly a pushover -- he's spent most of his life basically learning how to be the 'tank'. Besides that, he's got a massive blade of his own. So when the undead swings at him, he meets the swing with a swing of his own blade. He winces at the impact-- just because he isn't immediately knocked aside doesn't mean it didn't hurt. It's a heavy weapon, and undead are generally stronger than humans.     Really, it's just bad luck for the undead thing this group as enemies. Auron's counter-swing bats the sword away... and then the undead thing suddenly has Reiji trying to pin it. Auron quickly offers a nod of thanks to Reiji before making a stab-- literally-- to separate the undead thing's head from its neck. That blade's wide enough to accomplish that just by stabbing the sword into the ground. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Audrey's appraisal of the weapons and armor would tell her that the sets these undead were wearing seemed to be very high quality. But they didn't seem to be new. Maybe this leader outfit his soldiers with spare treasure? Who knew.      Auron and Reiji's team up finally put an end to the last of those stubborn, well armored knights. Seriously, whoever outfitted them sure knew what to do in order to go for maximum tenacity and durability.      Konoe grit her teeth at Reiji's yell. "I'm trying!" She shouted back, though keeping her eyes closed. Before much longer, the rest of the black mist was drawn into the seal, turning it pure black. With a sigh of relief, she opened her eyes again.      "It's gone."      She held the pitch black seal away from herself and it spontaneously ignited, burning up into ash. Once that was done, she pushed the gates, and they gave way, creaking as they opened. "....." Inside, was only darkness. No torches, no lights, in fact what they seemed to be looking at was an /absence/ light. Nothingness. The void.      From within this nothingness, a single hooded figure faded into sight. "Hello, and welcome." It sounded male. His tone was low. About middle age. His face was obscured by an ornate hood and robes. He was dressed like an accomplished magician, but the vibe he gave off seemed to suggest he was but a mere servant. And his poise suggested he was not here to fight them personally.      "I must apologize for the delay. But I was ordered not to make this easy." A faint chuckle followed. "Of course, I was also ordered to defeat you. However...it would seem that you are all much stronger than we have anticipated." This was an undead, right? He was too well spoken, well dressed, well composed. Must have been a much higher rank than the previous.      The robed figure turned slightly and gestured into the void. "My lord is waiting."      Konoe didn't budge. She frowned and stared silently. "...This looks like a trap." She muttered aloud. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     Reiji rises from the shattered corpse of that horrible zombie-knight. He breathes a long sigh as he slides Chirai back into its sheathe, "Nice swing. Everyone still okay?" The exorcist pauses as he turns away, and then fires a round into the zombie's head JUST in case. Can never be too careful with these things.     Konoe gets the seal down soon enough though. Reiji nods as the door swings open. With a respectful noise, Reiji lightly clasps a hand around Konoe's shoulder as he makes his way inside. It's... Dark. Too dark. Fortunately he has a torch. A SWORD torch!     Karin blazes as it comes away, swathed in a cloak of flame. And then there's... A guy. A tremendously suspicious guy. "...No kidding," he asides to Konoe, but begins moving to follow anyway. "Keep your eyes open."     "Who is your master, anyway?" Reiji asks, moving to follow the man in the robes. Karin's flames twist in the darkness, casting light into the endless abyss. "And what's he want with all these undead? World conquest?" As is... normal for these kinds of things. 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     So old but not burried old. Then yes, this is a very loaded master. Or at least, one with treasures to spare. Never a bad thing to figure out when intruding upon someone's domain.     Audrey watches as Konoe unseals the gate, seemingly with significant effort. Was the seal on it that powerful? She wonders if she could have just punched it open. Ah, well, what could have been. Or not been. Hard to say. Best to have let the shrine maiden do her work, likely.     The appearance of the magician, evidently a servant, who invites them to go forward under excuse they're too strong for him draws wariness out of the Heritor, but all the same, it's also the sensible thing to do. It also reveals something: this master doesn't have perfect hold on his minions, or he's not willing to sacrifice his servant just yet.     With Reiji asking all the right questions, Audrey stays quiet, following in the rear and keeping her eyes locked onto the magician. He may yet try to strike at them as they pass him, and she'd rather be watching him if so. 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     Rebecca follows from behind, using her Magnum to keep an eye out for potential threats. She keeps her eyes narrowed, not liking this one bit and wishing it would be over already. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron pulls his sword from the ground once the last of the undead had been dealt with. Reiji's question comes and he nods once. He's still all right so far. He then turns to stand with Konoe in case she needs help. Fortunately she doesn't -- which is good because his 'quick and dirty' way of breaking a cursed seal tended to be fairly violent. The paper with the curse burns, the door opens, and Auron makes to take point as he had before.     And then suddenly... a very well-spoken undead. This doesn't surprise him as much as it might someone else -- unsent were usually indistinguishable from humans, after all, until sendings and Guado were involved. Or until they went fiend. Konoe's statement gets an affirmative grunt from Auron. Of course it's a trap. That's why he's staying on point.     His sight's no better than an average human, and missing his right eye makes it worse, but his hearing is top-notch (mainly due to compensating for his sight). Hopefully it'll be enough to warn them of traps ahead. He remains quiet for the time being, concentrating of keeping his remaining senses aware to catch signs of likely trouble. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Konoe remained where she stood, only frowned as the others waltzed right in. Really? Were they doing this? Well, her plan was initially to destroy everything here. That would have turned out to be a herculean task with just her alone. Of course, she still would gone ahead with it, but that's neither here nor there now. "....." Sigh. Well, they were going. She'd better get in. And so she moved ahead to follow the others.      Once they were all inside, the gates closed and the hooded figure moved right alongside the group. He did not seem to walk. Rather, he just drifted across the void. There really wasn't even a distinguishable floor to begin with.      Reiji's Karin did light up their immediate surroundings, but there were no details. Everything stretching on in every direction was just pitch blackness. Regardless, the hooded man led them along.      "My master is called Albert Cromwell. What he is, and what he wants...I will let him explain." Was his short answer. There did not seem to be any lies in his tone. Any with spiritual senses, would be able to tell that they were very much being watched as they walked deeper into this void. Any without would likely just have a 'bad feeling'.      Nothing jumped out to attack them however. Were they at a stalemate?      Eventually, the magician slowed to a stop. "We are here." And then he drifted aside and away from the group, giving them space for...something.      That something revealed itself when a loud, booming voice echoed in front of them. "Hmhmhm...welcome, fools. To my domain." A pair of giant red orbs lit up in the darkness. Then, with an obvious flair for the theatric, orbs of light lit up in a circular pattern, illuminating the surroundings and revealing just who spoke.      It was huge. Huge and rotting. It must have been about the size of an office building. Maybe five stories. It was dragon. A dragon zombie. It's flesh was falling off, revealing bone and organs in places, scales were gone in places, and it's wings were rotted, rendering the entity unable to fly. And the energy. The sheer, oppressive, evil energy that was wafting out from the gate, and across the graveyard. It was originating from this thing here.      "I am Albert Cromwell. Fallen Divine Dragon. I must commend your group, for coming this far, and displaying such...skill." His mouth did not move, but his voice echoed across the chamber still. A low rumble followed. A chuckle. "I exist only to bring despair upon the world of the living. And it is through you all, that I will go, before I proceed across the world. Every world. None will remain once I am through!"      So he said. Quite an actor, this one.      "But before I destroy you, I will graciously extend an offer; join my army, and I will spare your lives in my ensuing campaign." 

:'''{{#var:290|Rebecca Chambers (290)}} has posed:'''     "Albert?" Rebecca asks, being reminded of another Albert form her past, Albert Wesker. Rebecca scowls a little.     She keeps a tight grip on her Magnum but hasn't levelled it at Mr. Cromwell just yet either. Instead, she just keeps a stern glare at him. She looks like she might open her mouth to speak, but remembers she's in the presence of a superior officer and decides to keep her mouth shut as a precaution. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:''' Well. That's a giant dragon zombie.     "What kind of dragon-name is Albert Cromwell?" Reiji murmurs to himself as the dragon commences his tremendous rant. The terrible scent of evil in here is almost enough to make him recoil, but the exorcist manages to keep himself from being too visibly turned off by... All of this. Reiji's eyes flicker towards the others as the thing keeps on chatterboxing. His sword-hand tenses. There's only one proper answer to this sort of thing.     As Albert keeps right on ranting, Reiji... Vanishes into a flurry of motion. The flame vanishes. His profile drops, body coiling like a wound spring as he surges across the void. The exorcist reappears for a split second in front of the sorcerer.     Fire. An explosion blossoms from the mouth of Reiji's sheath as Karin razor-sharp weapon is drawn anew. Reiji leaps as he swings, moving forward and upward, aiming to cleave the mage in half from hip to collarbone. "Your answer," the exorcist growls, almost certainly cutting the dracolich off mid-sentence, "Is 'Go to Hell.'" 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     One of -those-.     Audrey is familiar with dragons-- on Galianda, they are revered and worshipped. Wise, powerful, intelligent. Not seen very often, if at all. Not heard. Certainly not full of themselves. But her time in the Confederacy-- on the Broadband-- has more than educated Audrey on the nature of Multiversal dragons.     Haughty. Full of themselves. More bark than bite, and an ego to match.     An inability to shut up.     An inability to acknowledge weakness or inferiority.     And worst of all, behavior that borders on xenophobic racism towards non-dragons.     It's true, dragons are not the only ones capable of such bluster. It seems a trait shared by all those with scales, she'd go as far as to say. Like that incompetent king from Reptilon, and his minions.     With a sigh, Audrey cracks her knuckles; Reiji's answer is much akin to what she'd have said. Instead, she silently takes a stance, bright white light flaring out of her hands. "Exorcise."     Her form blurs, and she flash-steps to the dragon's face. One hand pulled back, she attempts to deliver a single, mundane looking punch, charged with enough holy magic to make a White Mage momentarily jealous. If it connects, the blow will strike at the very concept of the dragon's undeath, trying to utterly obliterate its ability to still defy death, white light seemingly to force its spirit out of its body.     The more likely outcome however is just that it'll hurt a god damn lot, because this guy likely isn't just a bag of hot air.     Also it puts Audrey in a very poor position if it has a breath weapon. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron follows with the others, though keeping close to the front of the group to make certain he could try to intercept anything that came at them from that direction. To the great undead beast's credit, the sight of the zombie dragon, flesh and scalles falling off, does draw an expresison of surprise from Auron.     And then he hears what the fallen dragon has to say. Not only does he want to destroy all the living -- and then what would he and his armies /eat/; these types /never think that part through/ -- but he's offering them a place in his armies. As mindless undead minions, no doubt. Auron raises the brow of his remaining eye. "...I've been undead once. It was... unpleasant. I'm not eager to repeat the experience."     And then Reiji attacks the mage, with Audrey going after the dragon. Auron tenses, raising his sword, but doesn't attack yet. He stands before Konoe -- Rebecca is free to utilize him as a human shield as well -- to make certain that whatever retaliation the dragon has, it won't hurt her too much. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Konoe just frowned. From the beginning of this rant, she produced a paper seal and knelt down. "I'm not listening to this." She pressed it to the ground and began to focus. Right about that time, Reiji decided ROLL INITIATIVE and attack the hooded man! And Audrey let loose with enough holy magic in a single strike to make Kyra Hyral jealous, I mean- what?      "I'm going to prepare a large scale exorcism circle. Sorry to hide behind you again, but please watch me." And then she focused all of her attention to the seal she had pressed to the ground of the 'void'. From the seal, a magic circle began to expand gradually...      Meanwhile, Reiji's preemptive strike was...almost successful. The blade cut through the robe cleanly, severing it in half, but the wearer was gone. No, up above. What was revealed was a middle aged man with sickly pale skin, but otherwise, normal looking enough. He had short black hair and a goatee, and wore a simple tunic. He must have come from a medieval world.      "Violence truly is the universal language." He murmered, dark magic building up in his hands. As he landed a ways away, he raised both hands, casting a spell. Dark lightning crackled and then barreled down, right above the Shinra Operative, aiming to electrify him completely.      Audrey's strike connected! ...Against one of Albert's wings. It had curled forward as a shield. But even so, the blocked blow shattered that rotting, skeletal wing, and the dragon roared in anger. "How dare you! to refuse my generous offer! Truly peasants of the highest order!" Yep, he was dragon alright. Audrey had it pinned down pat.      And she was also correct in assuming it had a breath weapon. He opened his rotting mouth and let loose a furious torrent of noxious black flame. Likely once a pure, orange flame, now corrupted with darkness. It went straight for the Heritor, as well as spreading and aiming for Auron and Konoe as well. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     The lack of a satisfying *squelch* of a divided body is all Reiji needs to know that he missed his target. Unfortunately for the sorcerer, Reiji Arisu is faster than the average swordsman. "Only when I'm dealing with this kind of bullshit," Reiji answers, rushing forward as the sorcerer sails through the air.     Black lightning pours down in his wake, massive pillars of un-light flashing in a staccato rhythm with each footfall. Karin whirls once more as he closes on the mage- but it's not alone. A second sword, its blade almost utterly invisible, moves soundlessly through the abyss. Kuroshio makes no sound, no flash of light. Against the backdrop of Karin's inferno, it's likely that not even a practiced brawler would be able to track it.     One more bolt of lightning pours down. Reiji lunges, the un-flash drawing his form into stark contrast against the flame. Darkdrift- Kuroshio- the Blade of Death and Mortality surges forward in a wicked thrust. He aims for the hollow of the sorcerer's chest, driving the invisible blade in a lethal thrust to pierce his foe's heart. 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     Sturdy, she'll grant Albert that. Having no time to both recover from her punch and avoid the breath. She just has time to cross her arms in front of herself, channeling as much magic as she can into bracing for the impact.     The corrupt dark flames wash over Audrey, scorching and burning clothes and skin alike. She's not wholly consumed by the attack, but by the time it stops, she looks fit for an emergency ward. She is, however, still standing-- and against the instinct to scream in pain at the fact her clothes have more or less fused with her skin, she opens her eyes to glare.     "Chakra."     A slow, controlled breath.     Magic flows to each of her limbs as she takes a stance, elbows to her waists, fists in front of her and closed. Her wounds heal-- unfortunately, her overcoat is ruined, but not molten into her anymore, so much as half-missing. The rapid regeneration leaves the Heritor blonde instead of black-haired, but otherwise practically pristine, as though nothing had happened.     "Not bad. Not bad at all, for a dragon." Attack         Martial Arts     > Instinct         > Viola     Item             Audrey reaches into what's left of her pockets, producing two serrated knives. One glows an idle purple, the other a bright orange, as the spell matrices in them are activated. The Heritor leaps straight for the dragon again, thrusting both knives-- the first has gravity-1 on it, forcing Audrey and Albert towards one another (though he's huge enough to resist). The second has fire-1, just a fancy flaming knife.     On impact, the Viola Heritor skill inflicts damage equivalent to the damage previously suffered by Audrey, as though mirroring it. Considering how badly she took that breath... 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     That's exactly what Auron was afraid of. He stances as well as he can behind his sword, hoping to block as much of the probably evil fire from getting to Konoe as possible. He keeps his face and the arm not worn in his coat close to the back of the blade to minimize the amount of damage the bared skin takes. That breath has to run out sometime, though, and he waits. Painfully.     Once he DOES have a moment, he uses it. He pulls a tiny thing out of his coat, something like a ball of green water, and tosses it at the undead dragon. If it manages to hit, healing water will begin to wash over the zombie dragon!     Now, for anyone else that would be a good thing, and one would find himself healed slowly by it. However, in this case Auron is /hoping/ that with the dragon's reverse negative chi, that it will act similarly as the undead in Spira and cause a poison-like effect instead. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      STAB      Through the black lightning, the man, who had the unfortunate luck of going unnamed in all of this sputtered as that invisible blade is thrust into his heart. "......." He looked down, and then towards Reiji. And like the mortal being he was. He sunk to the ground, life leaving his body. That was one down, one more to go.      Audrey's rather clever combination of gravity and fire bewildered Albert enough to cause him to fall right into the trap. "What manner of-...Gravity!" But it was too late. The crushing imact of the damage he'd done to the Heritor can be felt returning to him. Not in any physical, superficial way, but on a conceptual level.      "Argh!"      He roared in anger as he buckled under the crushing weight of that equivalent exchange. He was ready to fire another round of flaming breath. Only to find a small ball of green water entering his mouth. "....?" What was that? It felt like he swallowed somethin-"Gah! It burns! How dare you! No one makes a fool of Albert Cromwell! I am the greatest dragon to have ever lived! Kneel before m-"      Yap yap yap. This one sure liked to talk. Just as it was about to let loose another furious attack, there was a flash of light. One look below would reveal that the sealing circle that Konoe had been working on was completed. Konoe raised her gaze to the battle and frowned.      DIVINE ARTS - OMNIDIRECTIONAL DEMON BINDING CIRCLE      And then a massive pillar of spiritual energy erupted upwards, enveloping Albert entirely in it's light, as well as aptly, binding the massive creature in place. As this happened, the priestess shouted to the others. "Go! Hit him with everything you have! Now! I'll hold him!" 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     Reiji stares into the sorcerer's eyes as the life leaves his unfortunate foe. Kuroshio is drawn away, a thin contrail of blood serving as the only tell that its blade was even there. He whips the weapon to one side, shedding the red fluid in a quick, crimson spray before sheathing it again. Now, all that's left is the dragon. And Konoe is already on the job.     "Not bad," the exorcist murmurs, sheathing the death-blade. Its killing edge won't do too much to a creature who is already dead. His other weapons, however, are another story.     Reiji rolls his shoulders, feeling his back and spine crack and pop satisfyingly with the gesture. "Maybe if you spent more time trying to kill us and less time yammering, you wouldn't be in this position right now," Reiji narrows his eyes, "But it's a little too late for that."     Another burst of movement. Reiji takes to the air, leaping over the dragon. Hollywood is in one hand, Karin is in the other. "I don't have a source of water, unfortunately, but..." Gunfire. Hollywood barks over and over and over, shells of arcane buckshot and shards of wood taken from a sacred, deified tree pour down in a painful, sanctified rain. Each round is enchanted- built specifically to slay spirits. The void surges with living essence, the raw, ever-expanisve power of ELEMENTAL WOOD. But he's not done.     The weapon is discarded, hurled up into the air. Reiji lands on the dragon's back-- and plunges Karin in between a pair of rotted vertibrae. Flame leaps from the magical blade, mixing with the sacred power of Konoe's circle and the living energies of Hollywood's blasts. FIRE consumes WOOD and for a moment, it's as if Reiji is consumed by a great conflagration of flame and light. Then comes the lightning.     Chirai comes away from its sheath, raised in salutation among the twisting funeral pyre. The corona of lightning that surrounds it draws on the intense heat surrounding it. The exorcist lunges forward, driving it, too, in between another set of vertibrae, this time closer to the dragon's head. Lightning surges out like a burst hydrant. FIRE turns all it consumes to EARTH.     One more. Gold comes away from its holster. Reiji holds it aloft, arcs of lightning pouring into the glimmering barrel, causing it to blaze with brilliant, inner light. He slams a foot down, aiming to drive the Dragon's skull into the solid void underneath. Gold's barrel is slung downward, aimed at the point where its head joins with its neck. "Like I said before," he growls, drawing back the hammer at the back of his hand-cannon. "Go to Hell." He fires.     Once. Twice. Thrice. The whole clip is emptied, each shot blazing like a slug of solidified sunlight. Each one carrying enough force to pulverize steel. Each one empowered to tear straight through spiritual bodies like tissue paper. EARTH nurtures METAL. It's not the full elemental cycle... But in this case, with the others helping, it might just be enough. 

:'''{{#var:652|Audrey Stormfist (652)}} has posed:'''     In these circumstances that was the best Audrey had. She can't use Viola twice in a row, that would be kind of absurd. It's a bit taxing, besides, and being completely honest her entire body is still sore from being burned alive.     Also she's currently extremely grumpy her hair regenerated and she's going to have to dye it again. Ugh. Blonde hair, how she hates it.     Since Konoe has gone through the effort of binding the dragon down, though, Audrey would find it rude not to oblige. She unsheathes the gunblade-- scorched as it is, and having to practically peel the sheath off it-- checks the cylinder, twirls it once, and then aims the barrel of the weapon at the dragon's head. Presumably an eye, since that's easier to injure.     "My apologies, but I have nothing witty to say."     The fire-1 and holy-1 cartridges activate at the same time as MP flows from Audrey into the weapon, and what she lets loose is a simple but effective shot of holy flames. It will not be enough to finish the job on its own. 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron stumbles with the pain of taking the breath attack. His coat is smoldering, and he's having trouble drawing breath. But despite the pain he steadies himself, takes a deep breath. Center. Find it, and quick. There's no time for a long, drawn out moment to get his bearings. All he's concerned about is being able to breathe.     And then Konoe traps the dragon in a powerful binding spell. Auron nods to Konoe's words to hit it with everything they have. Reiji attacks the beast with a cycle of elements. Audrey fires her holy flames at the beast. And then Auron adds his own to the mix.     He picks up the jug from his waist, and -- takes a drink? No, that's not right. He spits the alcohol onto the blade in a fine mist, and then holds the blade aloft. Pure energy gathers around it in odd, almost runic sort of writing in circles around it, but it's like no earthly runes. These runes are drawn into the blade, where it begins to glow with pure golden energy, and Auron swings the blade down, likely cutting a furrow in the ground.     But from that slash in the ground, four orange and black orbs fly up, aiming to strike the dragon. They're not just orbs of energy, either. Each one will try to suppress a portion of its power -- as if trying to seal the beast! 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Wood serves as the origin.      Flame devours Wood.      Earth is born from Flame.      Metal rises from Earth.      The elemental cycle is incomplete, but it already did tremendous damage on it's own. If Reiji's partner were here, there is no doubt the completed cycle would have done even more damage. Thankfully, his allies made up for that deficiency.      Audrey's combination of Fire and Holy is fired, making impact with one of Albert's eyes, peircing, and then tunneling deep within, mixing with Konoe's own binding divine energy. He roared in anger, struggling to get free as the group unleased their deadly arts upon him without reprisal.      And then Auron swept in and landed the final blow. With runed blade in hand, and strange orbs striking each part of his body, Albert found his ability to resist rapidly waning. So much so that he had no remaining ability to continue to hold on.      "NO! NO! THIS CANNOT....NO!"      The combination of attacks and sealing energies did the job and Albert's body began to break apart. "I.....WILL....BE...BACK!" He voewed, as the pillar of spiritual energy consumed him. Once he was gone, nothingness followed.      The void they stood in gradually receded, until they found their surroundings changing to that of a typical cavern. Interestingly, the body of the magician Reiji had killed was nowhere to be found. But still, whatever hold they had on this place was gone.      Konoe stood and let out a deep sigh. "...It's done." She took one look around and nodded. "Thank you for helping, everyone. If you need healing, please come to me." 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     It's unfortunate that he couldn't unleash the full might of Shinra Bansho all on his own, but that's how it goes sometimes. Reiji leaps away, unleashing one last parting shot at the dragon's dissipating essence before the creature vanishes into the abyss. With some finality, he drops out Gold's empty slide. A fresh clip slides in with a soft 'click.' "Well," the exorcist murmurs, moving to collect the rest of his weapons as the last of the dragon's foul essence is banished to the four winds, "That was certainly somewhat more than I was entirely expecting."     He takes a moment to slip a cigarette between his lips, lighting it with a quick flick of his lighter. Pale, blue-gry smoke wafts from its lit tip as he wanders back toward the others. "Nicely done," he says, nodding, "That could have gone much worse."     Reiji turns his attention to Konoe, then. The exorcist cants his head slightly. "Your skills were surprising as well. We don't have many priestesses with that sort of power even in Shinra. You said your name was Kanno, right? Konoe Kanno." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Konoe nodded. "Konoe Kanno, yes." And she tilted her head slightly, curiosity written on her face. "...What's Shinra? You mentioned it before." Now that the danger was gone, she seemed to relax quite a bit. "Is that some kind of...hunting group?" 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     "The Shinra Organization is... Not exactly solely made up of hunters, but that is part of our responsibilities," Reiji explains, holstering his golden gun. He offers the priestess a slight smile, "Officially, our role is to safeguard and promote the harmony between man and spirit. Sometimes that means hunting down troublesome spirits, but most of our work is actually in mediation. We used to be based out of... /A/ Japan, but we've been expanding quite a bit lately. With talents like yours, you'd be pretty successful, I think." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "I see..." She stood there, processing it all. After several seconds, Konoe seemed to register fully what he'd implied. "Huh? Me? Successful?" She pointed towards herself, blinking a few times. "Would I really?" She tilted her head one way, and then the other, thinking about it. "...Are you asking me to join?" 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     "It's up to you, of course," Reiji says with a slight shrug. It's not like they haven't done this sort of field recruitment before, after all. At this juncture, it's not like they can exactly pass up promising agents. "We'd probably need to do an official probation and that sort of thing, but that's mostly a formality. I think it'd be a way to put those talents of yours to good use." 

:'''{{#var:236|Auron (236)}} has posed:'''     Auron sighs, finally letting some of the tension leave him, but only after he's certain the dragon's spirit has departed. That's about when Konoe says 'it's done'. Auron sheathes his sword then and looks to Konoe. Audrey is worse off than he. So instead he retrieves a vial from inside his coat -- how do those things manage not to break? -- and drinks the contents.     "I have a few healing items..." Looking to Audrey. "I think she's more in need of immediate healing." It's going to take more than a Potion to heal Auron, yes, but it'll take the edge off, at least.     The mention of Shinra gets a blink. "...I know someone by that name," he notes. "He's an Al Bhed. A machinist. And quite the genius at it." He's quiet after that, as Konoe and Reiji seem to be discussing prospective employment. 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Konoe, still confused, and a tiny bit suspicious, listened to Reiji's explanation. So this sort of thing was rather normal. "......." She thought about it, Auron's dismissal of healing getting a nod of understanding in return. Audrey though, she'd better help her. And so she began to approach the Heritor. All the while, she thought. "...Will I be able to help a lot of people with Shinra?" She asked Reiji. Auron's comment of another Shinra gave her pause. ...Damn Multiverse and it's million identically named things that are different. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     "I like to think we help as many as we can," Reiji answers. He can't exactly blame her for being suspicious. It'd be sort of weird if this random guy he just met came up and asked if he wanted to join some strange organization right out of the blue. "It's our job to keep the peace and promote positive relationships between man and spirit, so if you think that sort of thing sounds helpful, it's definitely in our wheelhouse."     The exorcist gives Auron a bit of a look, then a shrug. "Sorry, I don't actually know anyone named Shinra. I just work for a group called Shinra." And that's not even the only Shinra out there! It's apparently a not-so-uncommon name! 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "......."      More silence as Konoe got to healing Audrey. She produced a single seal and held it out to the late teen, channeling healing energy into her. While she did so, she thought.      ...      ......      Well, Reiji didn't seem like a bad person. And she did want to help people, as much as she could. She could at least try. If it turned out to be bad, she could just leave. "...Okay. If I can help people, then...I'll join."      For now at least. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     "Good," Reiji says with a firm nod. MISSION SUCCESSFUL. Or rather, even more successful than it probably should have been. "We're presently working in conjunction with the Heaven or Hell detective agency, so I'll see about getting you an in there, too," he inclines his head slightly, then... extends a hand. "Well, for now, welcome aboard." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "...." Konoe stared at Reiji's offered hand. "....?" What? What was she supposed to do with this? "Um....um....;;" Her ears began to twitch and her tail swished about behind her. She was nervous. Oh god, oh god. A hand, what do you do with a hand?      And spontaneously, without really figuring out what to do, she did the first thing on her mind and sort of poked at Reiji's hand in confusion. "....?" No? Maybe palm to palm? Pinky swear? WHAT DO I DO!? 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:''' Reiji's hand hangs there for a long moment. The silence is thick. Tremendously thick. You could almost cut it with a knife. She pokes his hand. Poke. Poke poke. "...It's normally customary to shake a person's hand when you reach an accord with them," Reiji explains, looking just a liiiitttle bit incredulous. H-how sheltered IS this girl!? 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "Sha....ke?"      Konoee uttered with total unfamiliarity. Shake. ...Shake. ....Oh! She knew what that was! Smiling happily at figuring it out finally, the priestess took hold of Reiji's hand with both of her own, only slighly holding it with each at one end, and then she shook it.      ....No. No that's wrong, Konoe. Stop. Please. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:''' "T-that's not--" Reiji's expresion just grows more and more uncertain with each passing moment as his hand is... Shaken. Sort of. It's really more like being... Jiggled around. There's something direly wrong here. How did this situation even come about? "I mean... Hold out one hand for me, would you?" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "Um...?" That wasn't it? But she totally had it! How could that not be it? Shake the hand! She did it!      Pouting at being wrong, Konoe's ears flattened against her head and she held out a hand the normal way, copying what Reiji had done before. "Like this?" 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:''' Ears. Reiji is used to picking up cues from those. It seems he upset her a little. Oh well, best to correct the problem as soon as possible. "Yes, like that," the exorcist nods, and then firmly takes her hand in one of his own, giving Konoe an extremely textbook handshake, "This is a handshake, you see." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      And finally, after much struggle and hardship, Konoe is shown what a proper, actual handshake looked like. "Oh..."      Shake shake shake      ".....Hehe." And then came the amusement at discovering something new.      Shake shake shake      You can stop now, Konoe. 

:'''{{#var:705|Reiji Arisu (705)}} has posed:'''     This is not a normal situation. This is not at all a normal situation. Reiji's expression is unreadable as his hand is held captive by a perhaps too-excitable Neko Miko. Shake shake shake But-- but he doesn't really have the heart to stop her, either. Shake shake shake ...Maybe this is okay. One step at a time and all that? 

}}

2697/Of Dollmakers and Cats

2015-07-31T22:10:57Z

MirageV: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/07/29 |Location=The Realm of Gensokyo |Synopsis=After an explosion of divine energy lights up the forest nearby Alice's house, the dollmaker g..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/07/29
|Location=The Realm of Gensokyo
|Synopsis=After an explosion of divine energy lights up the forest nearby Alice's house, the dollmaker goes out to investigate. Minor clues are attained, and even more questions are had. And still, the real answer eludes her.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=807, 847
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      The Forest of Magic was...not a friendly place for any human to be. Most were quite well warned to avoid the place, and not to venture in without proper preparation. And even then, doing so was still at one's own peril. Even still, certain folk, mostly youkai, made this strange and dangerous place their home.      It was evening now, and though things were relatively quiet in this neck of the woods for most of the day...well, that all changed rather quickly. Suddenly, the darkening forest lit up as a massive pillar of spiritual erupted some distance away. Flocks of birds fled the canopy, scattering off into the rest of Gensokyo.      The explosion of energy was enough to shake the ground briefly before things settled down to an eerie stillness, the darkness of the approaching night quickly reclaiming it's hold over the forest...      ...Now what could that have been? In terms of proximity, the happening had taken place near a certain dollmaker's house. This wasn't a regular occurrence here, was it? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Yet, still people made this their home. Notably two different magicians, one who loves lasers and one who loves her dolls. The latter, sipping on some tea inside as the dolls skitter about and work on keeping the home meticulous. The Dollmaker watching the night sky as it faded, soon the youkai will be out and the cycle repeats itself.     The noise of the birds fleeing is a curious note but the bright flash of spiritual energy catches Alice's eyes, a heavy frown upon her face as Hourai and Shanghai rush over to her. "Reimu?" is all Alice says, taking a look at the radio she got from Kourin to talk with the Syndicate.     Hourai shakes her head and heads towards the door, "Alice, there's not any time to get Marisa, let's go check it out." Shanghai, however in all her exhuberance, "Yay! We're going to solve an incident!"     With a sigh, Alice picks up her Grimoire and nods, taking off out the door and into the air.. what was Reimu up to? This wasn't like her. "It came from the north. Shouldn't be too far away, the energy is still lingering." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Through the trees Alice and her dolls went. It wasn't too far actually. Following the trail of lingering spiritual energy soon lead the dollmaker to a clearing within the forest. There was a large crater in the ground where some poor, unnamed youkai lay, utterly demolished.      Who did this?      There. In the sky ahead, a figure wearing red, white, and yellow floated. Reimu? ...No, something was off. That wasn't Reimu. Her hair was short, and even though her back was to Alice, red streaks could be seen peeking out through the brown. It was a bit dark from this angle, but it looked like she might have had a tail too. Were those ears atop her head? Or was that just some odd hairstyle? It was hard to tell.      Around her body, a plethora of paper seals floated, each cloaked in flame and forming two separate rings that revolved around her slowly. This was definitely the culprit.      "......"      One of the figure's ears twitched slightly, and then she turned just a bit, giving Alice a glance from the corner of her eye. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Hourai and Shanghai float right next to Alice on the left and right as they flew along, coming towards the crater though, she looks down at the youkai, "Hmm, Reimu's gone a bit more... explosive lately. I wonder if Yukari took her snacks..." she gives a light shrug as she lifts her head to look ahead.     Reimu?!     Wait, something was... off. Reimu's hair was longer and didn't have streaks. And did... she have a tail and ears? "Too dark to tell... let's get closer." a smaller doll floats into view right in front of Alice, the classic laser doll.     The glance makes Alice freeze herself in place, quickly uprighting and looking at the figure back, eyes squinting, "Reimu? Reiiiimuuuu? What's the meaning of that?! It's nightfall and I was having tea!" Hourai speaks up, "I did not think it of you to do something like that, did someone take your snacks or something?" Shanghai finishes the thought, "Or your donation box?" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      "........"      The girl stared silently for a moment, and then she simply...did not respond. She definitely heard, but nothing was said. Instead, she suddenly, and in a burst of speed, took off into the air, veering down into the forest canopy!      It looked like 'Reimu' wasn't really feeling like having a chat tonight. Man, Yukari must have really pissed her off! Maybe her donation box was empty! ...If that was Reimu at all. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     "Reimu? Hey Reimu..." Alice shouts, floating closer to 'Reimu', reaching out as if to grab something, but as she dives into the canopy, Alice is left there a slight bit dumbfounded. "He.. hey! Don't run from me! Hourai, Shanghai!" And with a quick motion, Alice takes off into the canopy to chase after 'Reimu. "Get back here!"     Alice frowns a bit, picking up the laser doll and taking aim, "I said get back here!" to fire or not to fire... well, she hasn't fired yet but those papers in ring formation bother her. Hourai turns over to Alice and gives a light nod, "She'll understand if she's been controlled some how, lets' knock some sense into her."     Shanghai grins and cheers on, "Just don't run into Rumia!" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      STAGE __ - The Mysterious Shrine Maiden      'What in the world is Reimu up to at this time of night?'      The chase was on. The figure glanced back, seeing that Alice had decided to follow. What a bother. She was going to have to lose her somehow. Well, she had just the thing for that. Turning mid-flight, she proceeded to fly backwards, facing Alice. She was too far away to get a good look at her face, unfortunately. 'Reimu' spread her arms, and the flaming seals surrounding her all dispersed, spreading out in the gulf between her and the dollmaker.      Those seals then proceeded to fire volleys of flaming danmaku at Alice and her dolls. With the distraction set out, the girl turned back around, no longer surrounded by seal rings, and took off, picking up a burst of speed to move further on ahead.      Annoyingly enough, it seemed like their chase was attracting fairies. A whole bunch were floating out from the trees to have a look, and more joined the guardian seals in firing on Alice.      Way to help! 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Way to go, indeed... Alice keeps her eye on the figure, face is still obscured but Alice will figure this out... she hopes. "I don't want to have to get into a danmaku duel with you if I can help it, so stop!" Now, what person in the right mind that's running away would stop. Apparently, not this one. With the seal rings breaking off and firing danmaku, Alice gives a sigh and lets loose the laser, sweeping it back and forth in bursts as it charges back up from each volley.     And... the fairies. "Great. Hourai, Shanghai, take care of the fairies." With both dolls nodding, a wide angle bullet spread and another laser join in Alice's cacophony of danmaku, flying forward as some of those bullets graze her side, causing a small wince. It's been a while since she was on the receiving end of danmaku, even facing that one robotic like person at the Rookery.     "Damnit, Reimu! I didn't want to fight you, but you're leaving me little choice!" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      'Reimu' frowned a tad at Alice's voice. Little did Alice know that she had little idea who she was. Only the vague understanding that Alice was a Magician specializing in dollcraft. She didn't stop. In fact, she sped up!      The guardian seals were all cleared out in due time, only to be replaced by meddlesome, having nothing to do with it fairies. They smiled and laughed, all wondering what's going on and simply following the lead of the seals by firing on Alice without actually understanding what was happening at all. What a bother!      Shanghai and Hourai were able to clear them all away in due time, but it felt like more and more curious fairies kept coming! And the more that came, the more errant danmaku filled Alice's path!      In the middle of the chaos, the unknown miko took the time to veer off behind a tree quickly, but she didn't come back out. Instead, what came out was a small brown cat with a fairly bushy tail. It was actually two tails, but it was so fluffy, one could hardly tell a difference.      The cat flew in the air, giving it away as a youkai, and once Alice and her dolls cleared away the annoying fairies, it acted. Suddenly, a telltale Spellcard Border surrounded them both and flames kicked up around the cat.      FLAME SIGN - WILL O WISP      Suddenly, a curtain of flaming danmaku was fired on the dollmaker. It seemed like a simple spread, but the flow of the bullets twisted and turned according to Alice's own position in the sky, essentially chasing after her last position constantly. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     Bothersome, bothersome unhelpful fairies. Fortunately, popping them wont' hurt them too much as Alice continues to try and graze the shots incoming, losing track of the 'miko' that she was trying to capture. "Nngh, damnit, where did she go." as lasers and danmaku continue to fire out from the dollmaker to clear out the seals and fairies in the area, quite a few of the danmaku actually landing on point on the dollmaker herself, leading up the slowdown in trying to face 'Reimu'.     The fairies cleared, the 'stage' nearly over... a flying cat makes itself known. "A... youkai cat? Here? Rin?" questions keep piling up on the dollmaker but the Spellcard Border appears and now she's on guard. "Alright, if it's a spellcard match you want, you'll get!" as a curious feeling washes over the Dollmaker. Is this how Reimu and Marisa felt...? She's going to solve this incident on her own it seems!     The danmaku flame curtain comes in.. simple, dodge capable. "Hourai, Shanghai. Focus your attacks on that cat." and with a nod from both, two lasers and a widespread curtain of bullets start streaming towards the cat as Alice moves to outrun the flame curtain. When it follows her, another frown. "Okay, time to end that card quickly, I don't like those chaser cards!" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Rin that was not.      The cat moves about, changing the direction and flow of the flame danmaku to try and trick Alice into screwing up. Shanghai and Hourai's bullet fire pelted the feline, pushing her concentration, but the spell did not break just yet. In fact, it got a little bit worse. The rate of fire was getting faster as the Spellcard's duration and the cat's concentration dwindled down...      Just a little bit more! Try not a lose a life now. 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     The one thing that Alice doesn't have compared to Marisa and Reimu... is a bomb. The direction starts changing as the cat moves and Alice has to come to a rapid halt and double back, as Hourai and Shanghai kept up the firing upon the cat. Chaser cards, almost as bad as curved lasers. "Nngh, I ... said... STOP!" as a red card slips from her grimoire. "No, I can't use this..." she slips it back in and shakes her head, the Spiritual Strike Talisman won't clear up bullets here.     With the flame curtain's cutting in from the other side Alice takes a quick pause then shoots upwards, taking the laser doll she had in front of her, "Demonic Possession. Return Inanimateness!" and she lobs the now glowing doll towards the cat, though aiming was not her strong point. If it hit, it'd blow up into a nice blue pillar explosion... even if it hit the ground. "Take that, and end that card!" 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Whoops. Well! A doll turned improvised explosive would do the trick.      The poor object is lobbed at the cat, and it doesn't realize what that meant until it was way, way too late. KABOOM! And with a distressed meow, the Spellcard shattered sending the feline careen back a ways and putting an end to that annoyance. Not about to attempt another card, the cat turned tail..s, and scurried off through the air, disappearing into the depths of the forest.      It wouldn't be coming back.      Alright! Midboss defeated, seals destroyed, and fairies driven off...it was time for the boss to appear!      ...      ......      ..........Hello?      Where was the boss?      After a few seconds of crickets, it became painfully obvious that there would be no boss. No snide opening dialogue about how Alice was a stubborn one, no theme song, nothing.      ...Where /did/ 'Reimu' get off to? She was totally gone!      What would Alice do now? It seemed like her incident had vanished! ...Could this have been what the news report from the other day was talking about? 

:'''{{#var:807|Alice Margatroid (807)}} has posed:'''     The kaboom gave Alice a small smile and the spellcard shattering made her smile even more. Maybe that was just the midboss on the way to Reimu. Or whatever that miko was.     ... ... ..."Hello?"     That smile she had vanished from her face and so did Hourai's and surprisingly Shanghai's. "Well. Marisa is going to want to hear this." she muttered, looking around. That was... very strange. Maybe the youkai are being more onery than usual."     With a sigh, Alice turns around towards her cottage's location, "This was dissapointing. But maybe they will think again for trying to use the forest for a danmaku duel... That report though, I think it time to question the locals in the village. Maybe... Aya might have a lead..." 

:'''{{#var:847|Konoe Kanno (847)}} has posed:'''      Some distance away, behind a particularly thick tree, a cat landed onto the ground, and in the blink of an eye, where there was a cat, a cat youkai dressed as a miko stood. She sighed a deep sigh and took a furtive glance around the tree, staring at the lost looking Alice flying back over to her cottage.      "......That was close." The girl muttered, narrowing her eyes. This was the first time she wound up with two at the same time. Usually she was pretty good about singling her targets out.      And she kept calling he Reimu too... Reimu was the Hakurei Miko, right? Did she look even remotely like Reimu!?      ...Well, that's okay. Let Reimu take the credit and the heat. She'd just keep doing what she believed was right.      Once the coast was clear, she flew off, leaving the forest and vanishing to other parts of Gensokyo...      I n c i d e n t U n r e s o l v e d . . . 

}}

2673/A Test Run

2015-07-25T01:16:27Z

MirageV: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/07/24 |Location=Galianda |Synopsis=Xiao Li Yu calls in Sanary Rondel to help her test a prototype flight device, to favorable results. Nothing..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/07/24
|Location=Galianda
|Synopsis=Xiao Li Yu calls in Sanary Rondel to help her test a prototype flight device, to favorable results. Nothing explodes. This time.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=714, 823
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Between Academy assignments and research projects, Xiao Li Yu had spent the week studying and doing research for her impending Spellcard Duel with Marisa Kirisame. She'd gotten the hang of Spellcards more or less. But flight was still a persisting issue.      Of course, she simply could just use a Float Matrix, as Souji said before. But that presented it's own problems. Xiao needed a flight method that would allow her to control her own body. And thus, she'd been working on a flash research and development project of a flight unit.      And it's for that reason that she called over one Sanary Rondel to the FUJIN Research Facility in Ramuh! She needed a guinea pig! She'd given the other ample directions, so hopefully she wouldn't get lost. "...She should be arriving in the lobby any time now..." The girl mumbled, glacing at the time on her computer monitor from where she sat in her lab... She was pretty much done. She just needed to test subject. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      If there's one thing Sanary's good at, it's doing dumb things without asking too many questions! Well, as long as they don't involve actively killing herself. That's... Probably something she'll ask questions about if it ever comes up.      Even without the magitech eye activated, the healer's gotten fairly proficient at navigating the Zaibatsu's facilities. It's not until she reaches the lab itself that she pumps some energy into the eye, activating her sight and stepping inside carefully.      It's a lab. Who knows when someone would be running around with vials of deadly, deadly poison? "Xiao? Or... Uh. Yu? Hey there." She raises her hand in a quick wave, looking around slowly just to get a better idea of her surroundings before approaching. "Which name should I use, anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Xiao, Yu. Whichever. I have no preference." The scientist responded, looking up from her computer and over to the doorway at the just arrived Sanary. She smiled pleasantly in the process. "I'm glad you could make it, Miss Rondel." She stood up. "You've been asking about flight for a while now, haven't you?"      She stepped over to a nearby table, upon which a number of wristband or anklet-like devices were placed. Some of them looked complete. Others were still in the middle of being assembled. As evidenced by the various tools, screws, bolts, and computer chips strewn about.      "Well, I have just the thing for you to try out today! A flight unit that should theoretically allow you to fly without riding anything." She picked up a pair of those rings and beckoned for Sanary to follow her further into the lab, over to the testing bay. "This way. Wouldn't want to ruin my research notes by testing in the working area. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Xiao, then. Yu might get confusing." Sanary chuckled briefly before following Xiao to that table, eyeing the devices curiously. "Yeah, it's a... Weakness I gotta get around. Especially after seeing other people do it. Being all... Useful against threats that aren't just walking around."      Surely that wasn't a sore spot! Nope. Not at all.      Tilting her head slightly, Sanary followed Xiao further into the testing bay while looking around rapidly at all the shiny... STUFF around. "Haven't been in here before. Hmm... I get the feeling I'm going to be after today, though." The girl laughed lightly and rolled the sleeves of her coat back.      "How's it work, anyway? Do I gotta press anything or do I just... Feel it?" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      The lab was...kind of a mess. There was a method to the madness to the observant eye. Everything was section off into their own sub messes, but to the untrained eye, it was just a mess! A simple work desk with multiple computers was up front, closest to the door. Past that were several large tables holding various lab equipment and prototype devices as well as other unfinished works. Shelves of books and binders containing research notes, blue prints and other such things were off to one wall. And past that was the testing bay.      Xiao stopped some ways into the testing bay and turned around, kneeling down and fasting both devices to Sanary's ankles. May as well speed the process along. "My, it sounds like you've really wanted to overcome this little issue, hm? Well, hopefully after today, it'll be solved. Now then..." With a click, the device locked into place, then Xiao stood and stepped back.      "The way you use it is simple. Much like the way you use your eyes, just focus your magic energy and pour it into the devices at your ankles. They should then activate the embedded spell contained in the device and lift you." Xiao smiled as she explained, waving a finger this way and that as she did. "It's been optimized to consume as little MP as possible for basic flight, while extended flight may consume more. If you want a burst of speed, then pour in a large amount at once."      All that said, she took a few more steps back. "Now give it a try! Just be careful!" She got out a tablet, prepared to take notes. 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Luckily, Sanary's had some experience with organized messes! Mostly with the assorted medicines and solutions in the medical wings she's worked in, but still. There was... Probably some reasoning behind why this place was sorted the way it was. She just had no expectation of ever figuring it out herself.      Blinking at the devices on her ankles, she hunched over briefly to peer at the things before looking back up at Xiao with a broad grin. "Yeah, I figured it'd be easier to do... Anything if I could fly on my own. Maybe even learn how to do it without these things after a while if I can figure something out."      She listened to the explanation intently, nodding every now and then and even following the finger movements. "I think I get it... Okay. I'll start slow first. Then.. Left and right." She might not have been a scientist herself, but she at least knew the value of describing things ahead of time.      Stepping back to give herself a little room, Sanary took a deep breath before starting to pump a slow, steady flow of magical energy into the anklets. If that didn't launch her into the ceiling, she would next adjust the flow of energy to put it mostly into the left anklet, then right as stated earlier. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Oh my. Aiming to learn how to do it without assistance? How admirable. These may as well be training wheels then." Xiao spoke jokingly as she watched Sanary begin. Thankfully, she wasn't dumb enough to pour a huge amount into them right from the start, else she WOULD have been launched into the ceiling. No, with only a reasonable, steady amount given to start, Sanary would find herself rising slowly off the floor.      Channeling more energy to one side than another would have the effect of causing her to veer off to right. Seems like that could be a viable steering technique! Xiao nodded and took notes of this. "Good, good! It seems to be functioning well so far. How does it feel, Miss Rondel?" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Sanary certainly wasn't expecting it to work so easily! Grunting lightly while trying to keep herself balanced, the tricky part for her was keeping herself from flipping over. "Training wheels? Are those a... A thing? Wh-whoa. This is kinda weird, but..."      It took a while for her to even speak up again, wobbling back and forth while trying to keep herself mostly in place without going too high nor just dropping back to solid ground. Probably not enough to actually hover, but bobbing up and down gently in the air.      "... I think I like it. How long did it take you to come up with this?" Laughing again, a curious look crosses her face as she starts lifting her foot in a very slow kick in the air, hoping to see what happens when her feet aren't quite level with each other with the constant input of energy. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Of course. ...Oh, wait, you come from a different sort of world." Xiao tapped her head playfully as she said that. "I keep forgetting that not everyone comes from a world filled with technology, hehe~" She chuckled a bit and shook her head before resuming her studies. The scientist was silent for a while as well, simply observing Sanary's movements.      "Hm? Oh, how long? ...A few weeks? I've been going over the theory in my mind for while. I only just applied that theory to practical technology in the past few days." She smiled sheepishly at that. "I've been quite busy, so applying it was put on the backburner for a while. But that's over now!" Clearly. Sanary was flying with it now after all.      Her kick caused an expected reaction, from a logical standpoint. With both legs out at uneven angles, Sanary began to spiral downwards and into the floor, propelled by the flight devices. "I see, I see." Xiao noted casually. "That could be a fine evasive manuever when higher in the air." She nodded to herself and lowered her tablet.      "Okay! I think I've seen enough. I would like you to continue testing this device on your own time though. You can keep that pair. Just let me know how it works out for you in the long run. Sound good?" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      Maintaining control over herself was significantly harder once Sanary kicked her leg out, and her spiralling motion gave her a too close view of the floor. She still laughed despite that, however, picking herself back up after a few pained grunts.      "Interesting.. O-ow. Think I'm kinda getting how it works, though. Still, to come up with this kinda thing in a couple of weeks..." Taking a deep breath before focusing some of that energy into her face to alleviate the pain, the healer beamed another grin at Xiao.      "Definitely gotta remember that move for combat, though... Ah. You don't want to hold onto this for making the next one though?" Another chuckle escaped her. "If you're sure, then... Yeah, I'll hold onto this one. Get some more practice, maybe figure out some good ways to use it. Hell, I'll even test any other stuff you need me to if you got anything else." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Yep. It's fine. Hold onto it. I'm almost finished crafting the next pair anyhow. I don't need that one for reference." She tapped the side of her head with a pen. "Everything I need to know is already in here." That said, she tucked her tablet away, finished with this round of observation.      "For now though, your flying problem is tentatively solved. Get some practice and use it however you see fit. All I ask is that you occasionally come back so I can extract usage data from it."      Xiao smiled and wagged a finger. "Try not to break it however. I used the sturdiest materials I could realistically condense to that size, but you know how the multiverse is. Something will always find a way. Hehe~" All of that aside, the girl walked back over to her computer workstation, bringing up a window and proceeding right into other work.      "I can fix it if it breaks though. As for testing other things. There's nothing pressing at the moment. So you're off the hook." Xiao looked towards Sanary then. "Thank you for coming. And I hope that device suits you well!" A pause followed, as she seemed to realize something. "Hmn...it needs a name, doesn't it?" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      That's all the confirmation Sanary needed. Still standing normally on her feet, the cleric brought a foot up and wobbled slightly to get a better look at the anklet, even giving the device a light tap just because. It was hard to hide the excitement in her face, and she wasn't trying very hard to hide it in the first place.      "Will do. I've got armor and stuff, so I'll keep it in good shape whenever I go out to fight or whatever. Usually take hits up higher even then, anyway." Following Xiao to the workstation, she resisted the urge to outright hug the researcher once she started her work. It didn't stop her from giving the girl a light pat on the shoulder, though!      "Thanks so much for this. I'll make sure to come back with whatever data and stuff that comes up with this thing." She tapped a finger on her chin and eyed the anklets again. "A name, a name... Er. Ankle flying... Things?"      If it wasn't clear before that Sanary wasn't hired for her wit or her knowledge, it was probably clear now. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "...Pffft."      Xiao resisted the the urge to burst out laughing through sheer force of will. "Ankle...Flying Things." She shook her head. "Functional, but boring. Hmmm..."      She brought a hand to her chin, pausing her work momentarily.      "A. A. N. S. Advanced Aerial Navigation System." A moment passed, and then Xiao nodded. "That will do for now. I'll record that one." She typed that down and then looked towards Sanary. "Okay then, Miss Rondel. You're free to go. Make me proud!" 

:'''{{#var:714|Sanary Rondel (714)}} has posed:'''      "Wh-what? You didn't ask for a /good/ name." Sanary laughed lightly despite the embarrassed blush coloring her face. She crossed her arms behind her head as she listened to the next name suggested, a low hum escaping her moments later.      "Yeah... That one's probably better. Just a little, though." The healer tapped two fingers to her head in a salute to Xiao, then approached the door. "I'll let you know if anything big comes up between reports, Xiao. Thanks again!" And with that, she...      ... Walked out like a sane person. Flying out of there would just be tacky and needlessly dangerous. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Just a little. I claim to be no expert at naming myself. Maybe we should ask Kyra." She chuckled a bit and rolled her eyes. "Alright then, see you around!"      Sanary was given a wave, and left to walk out on her own. She didn't need to be escorted anywhere. She wasn't really a guest now. Not like her last few visitors. ...Speaking of. She should get back on reverse engineering the mechanics of Wesley's blood.      She was going to be busy for quite a while yet. 

}}

2640/An Unexpected Visitor

2015-07-18T17:53:19Z

MirageV: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/07/17 |Location=Galianda |Synopsis=In the midst of research, Xiao Li Yu finds herself with an unexpected visitor. Not terribly concerned with ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/07/17
|Location=Galianda
|Synopsis=In the midst of research, Xiao Li Yu finds herself with an unexpected visitor. Not terribly concerned with unfamiliarity, deal is struck.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=615, 823
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      After having had a visit from one Wesley Wilson, Xiao Li Yu had proceeded to hole up in her laboratory, studying closely the samples she'd collected and the data she'd recorded. Currently, she was busy with a sample of blood, placed under the lens of a microscope which was then magnified on a computer monitor. Her hands were a blur as she typed on the accompanying keyboard, rapidly entering commands to adjust the angle and zoom of the sample.      She was in the zone.      So when a sudden BEEP sounded from another computer next to the one she was on, she jumped briefly with a sharp tone of surprised. "Eh? Wha? Oh." The building intercom. She sighed and pressed a button, answering the call. "Yes, hello? ...A visitor? I don't have any scheduled visitors today? No. Send them away, I'm in the middle of work. What do you mean-Oh?" Suddenly, she sounded a fair bit more interested to hear that this mysterious visitor was not from Galianda.      "Very well. I'll be there shortly." She cut the call and took one last look at the blood sample she was studying. Then she stood and headed to the door, which automatically slid open, allowing her out. It was a bit of a walk through the halls and into the main lobby of the building. But she got there before too long.      Folding her arms into her sleeves in what seemed to be a characteristic motion, the girl studied the lobby with her eyes. There were various people from the city, but she could immediately spot the gray man who obviously did not belong standing near the reception desk. Another needlessly tall individual. Smiling nonetheless, she approached.      "Hello. You must be the man who called for me." She tilted her head a tad, looking up...and up at the mystery individual. "Have we met before? I don't believe we have." 

:'''{{#var:615|Ineryon (615)}} has posed:'''      Baron Ineryon could easily have been considered needlessly tall, his seated position notwithstanding, however, he felt personal pride in his self-assured belief that he housed a position of elevation, compared to many others, where his ability to systematically ascertain lucrative ventures, was held in regard; some personal prejudice included in this view of his lofty station! This said, he had a moderately indifferent expression transfixed on his face, if the upper area of his body with the majority of his sensory organs could indeed be judged to be a face, in a nexus as diverse as the Multiverse, where some folks might have a face resembling a foot, or an arm impersonating an ear, which afforded few people what sort of emotional state he was harboring, albeit, if he had so much compulsion to choose one action favoring another, then emotion was certainly involved, by himself, or the puppet-master pulling his strings!      If Xiao was of a keen eye, she might've had observatory technique perfected /just/ enough to bypass this poker-face, to recognize that deep inside his eyes... whether by way of twitch of eyelid, flicker of the very edge of his lips, or contortion of cheek-muscles, that this fellow felt smug about -something-, or, confident, at the bare minimum. Adorned in a strange, stone-made armature, rather than conventional steel-plate, this man randomly would take a glimpse in one direction or another, even as the remainder of his body was catatonic... perchance trying to conceal his interest in getting to meet with Xiao, who, within her own circles, was certainly known to be a capable scientist, but an underground secret to the collective culture of the Multiverse, and even many subcultures, or countercultures therein! ....And should she be even more perceptive, maybe she would notice that upon her arrival, his ears swerved practically microscopically, with more precision than that of a cat's ears or a horse's ears, hinting that maybe radiation, in the form of 'light', was not his primary means of detection?      Was he actively disguising his enthusiasm, or did these diminutive fluctuations of muscle or skin, belie his 'feelings' on this upcoming audience, due to an unconscious training that made his willingness to deny exposure of emotions to be second-nature? That would be yet to be spoken for, quite! How talented was this Xiao Li Yu character? When she approached, Ineryon stood so that she could greet him whilst he stood, as though feigning to relinquish genuine rapport, which was scarcely the contingent, and he nodded his head in affirmation, "I'm inclined to agree with you, for, I too, do not believe we've met..... in the traditional sense. Your reputation does precede you, though, Entity Yu... is it? What I mean to say is, that, if knowledge of some part of your person, be it your reputation, which is transferred from your person to the mind of another, through the medium of sound, to the ears of another, has negligible value, in terms of rivaling the worth credited towards the refraction of light particles, bounced off of your person to the eyes of another, then... I agree. Does this sound.... reasonable?" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Xiao was perceptive enough to notice the minute movements of his ears, but it, and the rest of what may or may not have missed was sidelined as being fairly unimportant. She'd seen similar reactions on animals such as horses and cats. ...Not to call the man before her any of those things, but nontheless. Those thoughts were set aside however, and she paid more attention to the man himself as he spoke.      "....." It's been a while since he heard someone speak in such a manner. She was used to dealing with people who were...less intelligent than she. This was actually quite interesting if she were to put it some kind of way. A nod was given. "My. I have a reputation already? How surprising." She continued to smile, with an amused ton to her voice now. "I suppose all that banter over the radio waves has been worth something." A chuckle followed, and then she went on. "Given that the origin of this knowledge has been pinpointed..." Her head tilted the other way, slightly.      "How can I be of service to you this day, Mr....?" Right, she had no name for this man. And thus she trailed off in a questioning manner, leaving it open for him to fill the blank with. 

:'''{{#var:615|Ineryon (615)}} has posed:'''      What biologically, sociopathic maniac versed in scientific research(as well as development) would be so negligent as to overlook the dissections of other mammals, if they had an interest holed up inside of institution designed to manipulate the human condition? Evidently, not Xiao, for, she had done her homework, and notably to the dismay of any animal that crossed her path, if it had been conscious enough to get a sample of her investigative spirit, where incisive methods were employed, through the end of a scalpel, as well as a syringe!      Ineryon Valos would not be the first to avail himself to her every whim, since he didn't trust her impeccably, nevertheless, since he required the assistance of a 'scientist', who obviously, /DID/ avoid honoring the hippocratic oath, he'd have to tread lightly, when dealing with the woman, lest he become entrapped in some 'pact' where he'd end up more hexed than Faust himself... which was precisely why he'd hoped he wouldn't come off as too eager, when opting to meet up with the she-demon. The fact of the matter was, rules of supply and demand involved not just actions, but also, how well one person could out-bluff another person, if they were able to pretend that they had a greater supply, coupled with a lower demand than the alternate party who wished to do business, in turn, having a higher demand whilst burdened by a lower supply... consisting of patience, enthusiasm, willingness to simply depart, or, witness as their will buckles, when they finally give in to the demands of the other. Xiao was quite experienced in scientific matters on a biological matter, however, how far did her economic finesse reach, when having to barter with others who were either just as greedy, or lacking in compassion? Unable to determine if Xiao was being honest when she mused on the topic of how she came to have amassed a reputation, Ineryon cocked a brow, for a second, then resumed his usual, fairly-vacant demeanor, before he pointed to his ears, "Either I've come to know of your deeds and talents through these, and simultaneously aided by the radio-waves, or.... Some might say that these are not the only mechanisms I use with which to do my hearing...."      Having not actually finished his sentence, he paused, midway, and pointed to his eyes, before proceeding with his train of thought, "....and these to do my seeing". Shrugging, he hears a rising intonation in her voice, while she trailed off, suggesting to one even as literal as Ineryon sometimes showed propensity towards, that he was being quizzed, "....I've been called many names, and some less generous than others. My 'legal' name is Baron Ineryon Valos. I'm most predisposed to answering to that, or something similar, seeing that flattery makes me immediately suspect ulterior motives, and mockery beckons me to the notion that the other speaker's motives are already self-evidenced to be.... unprofitable, in the long-run, unless I can somehow earn their respect....?" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Baron Ineryon Valos..."      Xiao repeated the name out loud, as if trying it out. ...It was a mouthful. And she wasn't keep on saying such a long name every time. "Very well, Mr Valos." So she shortened it to just that. Just like everyone else she knew who wasn't a close friend. To the point and effiecient without being rude in most cultures. "Well, I am not so egotistical to require that you earn my respect before I deal with you." A smirk came onto her face at that.      "All I require is that you know what you want, tthe rest I will judge after hearing it." There was a moment's pause, and she glanced about. "The lobby is hardly the place to talk however. I assume you have private matters to discuss." She turned away, finally parting her arms from her sleeves to gesture towards one of the many doors leading deeper into the building.      "Shall we head to my lab?" 

:'''{{#var:615|Ineryon (615)}} has posed:'''      Peering around concisely, Ineryon kept some mental tabs on who was moving in which direction, and which minerals were flowing here or there, as far as whatever minerals might've been in motion, in the lobby; probably not many, beyond the graphite from pencils, or ink from pens, if any paper archives still existed at all, within the Murasame Corporation. As Xiao admitted she wasn't in need of profound veneration for the sheer purpose of accelerating a transaction, whose lifespan could have taken anywhere between five minutes to a millennium, he felt he was in 'decent' company; satisfaction was necessary for bargains, and ecstasy was only a bonus, if the dark-elf happened to run across someone who he actually liked on a personal level, the instances belonging to this luxury being few, along with being far between, regrettably!      "So long as you have enough respect for me to outweigh any possible desires to smite me as being kept in check by enough self-control, I'd say you have enough respect for I, Entity Yu.....?" Not one to miss a beat, with much regularity, he still wondered if this was how Xiao preferred to be addressed; failing that, the nobleman would presumably inquire until the dusk of time, or upon his deathbed-- whichever came first.... When Xiao motioned to the doors, he followed her, supposedly, to a private lair owned or operated by the scientific she-wolf, who undoubtedly wanted to prey on every living thing surrounding her, alas, knowing that she had to discriminate which prey she could handle, at which points in time, at what points in time, with the inclusion of how many pack-members she would need.... and between those who she could not tackle, without serious risk of damage to herself, or her salary, if collateral damage should be inflicted, in such an altercation!      Once inside her chambers, the drow stretched his neck muscles a touch, and began to elaborate on his 'proposition, of sorts, "I would like to say that... I am currently a legal assistant who assists an individual who is responsible for public relations, and who helps to play a major role in governing an operation which encounters.... political, as well as economic setbacks when sociological critics poke their nose into the beeswax of the company for whom I work. Delays in increased profits are typically derived from accusations of poor working conditions, lack of proper ventilation, insufficient sanitation.... and even, a void of medical attentions offered to folks who might succumb to malady, courtesy of hazards that are tied to their workplace.... And... since we're on the subject of medical liabilities, I trust you already know about conditions such as anthracosis, or similar problems that arise within coal-mining facilities? Spin-doctoring excluded, I'm looking for a cost-effective means of temporarily purging this sickness from folks who are already afflicted, but, not necessarily eager to apply extra funding to the prevention of said affliction...."      Clearing his throat, he uneasily remarks, side-glancing almost sheepishly, "...cost-effective being the main point of potential contention.... also known as the.... deal-breaker, in slang, I think?" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Xiao had no particular qualms about the way she was addressed. She'd been called many names in her life thus far. Some less savory than others. But she hardly let it get her down. But she supposed she could give him an easier name to say. To keep things simple. "Entity Yu is a few too many syllables to be efficient. You can just call me Miss Yu if you'd like." She smiled. "It's two less syllables, and some air saved." That must have been some kind of joke because she chuckled a bit.      The walk to her lab was an uneventful one. She remained on the first floor. Other facilities used by other employees were on the upper floors. Chalk it up to laziness that she didn't want to move as much as she had to, to get to where she needed to be most of the time. Wasting energy was always such a bother to her. Of course, being on the first floor meant her lab, and others down here, would be the first attacked, if anyone were so inclined and held a grudge against her, or the zaibatsu as a whole.      But she didn't worry too much about that one. Come what may and all that~      Her lab was....about what one would expect. It was large, with various tables and counters containing test materials, machines and devices, stacks of papers, blueprints, and the like. Shelves of books, binders, and other reading material, half of them likely written by her. Deeper in seemed to be a more spacious, open testing area. It looked like it saw use recently, given the charred burn marks along the wall and floor. It was sturdy enough though. As there didn't seem to be structural damage at all.      The door to the lab slid closed and automatically locked. The scientist immediately walked over to her main working area and sat down in an office chair, turning to face Ineryon after. There were other chairs about, should he be inclined to rest his legs. It seemed obvious so she didn't verbally offer it.      All of that aside, she listened.      "Hmmm....so if I understand this right, you want to treat a sickness afflicting your...peers? But aren't looking to allocate extra assets to the funding of this endeavor?" She steepled her fingers together, legs crossed one over the other as she thought. "...Well, you realize it would be more cost effective to prevent it, rather than cure it, no?"      She bought a hand over to her mouth, as if wearing a mask for a moment before lowering it. "In the example of anthracosis, wearing a mask would reduce the likelihood of ever having to deal with it." A shrug followed after that. "But you seem like a smart man, you surely didn't come here for me to tell you that. So there must be a very good reason for you to want the former, rather than the latter." She gave her guest a look, brow arched curiously. "Am I wrong?" 

:'''{{#var:615|Ineryon (615)}} has posed:'''      What was efficient for Xiao was obviously not the same standard held by some of the tree-ents that lived off-world, who took a very long time to converse, in their own native tongue, but then, maybe the tree-ents who hailed from worlds similar to those of dwarves, dragons, elves, and dark-lords had prolonged dates of expiration exceeding even those maintained by the elvish folk! The Multiverse was filled with so many mysteries, and, if Ineryon Valos was one such enigma, then, why he spoke in his preferred manner was yet another mystery still waiting to be unraveled, if one had the time, or desire to do the work, as well as the expectation that all their toil would yield fruit by the close. Ineryon wasn't about to quibble over whether he was to call her 'Miss Yu', or even what he 'liked', since that would have opened a pandora's-box capable of defeating the entire purpose of the whole matter at hand. Shrugging, the nobleman mentioned, "I'm not at liberty to discuss the likelihood that a preventative means of handling anthracosis, or related illnesses, happen to carry a more frugal financial penalization, partially because we already have plenty of sick folks on our hands who need medical attention to /remove/ the problem, and secondly, in lieu of the fact that I am only the mediator who is trying to negotiate the costs of the elixir.... not the holistic financial burden that would eradicate the problem, down the road, after imposing a heavier, short-term burden to the company. That is for the....." He clears his throat, folding his arms across his chest, "...the person in charge to decide upon, I think. /IF/ that person should ever authorize a person of my substantially-modest placement, within the company, to open talks on the benefits of embracing a delayed-gratification for the overall health, and rate of return, of the company... and its...."      Ineryon paused, trying to think of a non-belittling title, since so many other demeaning terms were more forthright in coming to the forefront of his brain, "....employees, who I would /NOT/ call my peers, except that we are 'mutually-employed' by the same institution, regardless of our distinct functions, or qualifications...." He shrugs, and sighs, "...THEN... and only then, will I feel compelled to contact you on that basis, /Miss/ Yu!... But, I will go so far as to /assume/ that I have the power vested in me to say, on behalf of the company, that it is grateful for your interest in the welfare of its peasa--" he coughs, "...p/L/enti-ful, loyal followers, who undergo personal sacrifices, at times, for the sake of the majority!" Deciding he's explained himself thoroughly, he remarks to Xiao, "Transparency is our company's policy as long as it is /also/ cost-efficient." 

:'''{{#var:615|Ineryon (615)}} has posed:'''      The dark-elf continues to prattle, "This means that, if we don't have to commission paper-pushers, or typists who send emails, in order to update every single person on exactly which substance, or which resource, came in what quantities, from which people, even were we to try to slash fees by outsourcing, we suspect that our company can be 'trusted' to be making purchases from other institutions who are interested in providing good prices, to prove to worried folks that they are getting a great value for their dollar... or other form of currency! And... if we cannot /ALWAYS/ hire folks to pass along data that publicizes if an 'elixir' comes from... say... The Johns Hopkins Research Department, or Sinai.... or even ShinRa, or even Murasame, who is to fault our great leader for failing to consider that some corporations /might/ be notorious for -occasionally- violating human's rights, according to gossip being spread by tin-foil-hat wearers, who we might deal with?"      He yawns, "It's not as though everyone in the Multiverse needs to know that our company made a purchase from this vendor, or that one, as long as 'the numbers' say that we've cured some folks, right? We don't need anyone to get worried. Naturally, if discretion must come at a price...." Ineryon finally grins at Xiao, with a /real/ grin, "...then I suppose that -someone- will have to shoulder all those heavy bags full of coins, at personal peril, if they should experience back-pain, in the process of doing so.... even if our company cannot prioritize transparency as much as it would /ideally/ like to, in keeping its partners' identities undisclosed! However... if the wood from the crates containing wood from this lumber-mill, and that one, and those lumber-mills used saw-blades from this factory, or that... how far can we justify expenditures to tally who is involved in this /honorable/ organization?" Unfolding his arms, he taps his fingers against his chin, "...Consequently, if Murasame were to make a deal with my organization, and something should happen, and the insurance companies happen to come in droves with their lawyers in tow, it would also protect -YOU- from liability.... So... in essence, our company wants to purchase a panacea, /WITH/ a guarantee of discretion of the aforementioned activities, in exchange for monies to pay for the panacea, and promises of immunity from humans rights groups and their.... hot-headed advocates calling themselves 'heroes', who are sometimes known to attack companies thought to be milking the proletariats for all they're worth..." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Xiao shrugged. "All of that said, you want medicine to help cure your workers...temporarily. And without worries of liability and other such human rights issues, yes?" She smiled, nonplussed at all of this. "Well, that is simple and easy to accomodate." She looked aside, feigning boredom. "I know how troublesome it would be to have to deal with certain groups of activists beating on your proverbial door after their catch wind of something they find 'unethical'."      A small sigh followed and she muttered something about 'monster's right's activists' under her breath, but continued to smile as she returned her attention to Ineryon. "Well, I can agree to work on a solution to this problem. It shouldn't be a hard issue to deal with." It was roundabout, but she wasn't the client now, was she? "And for your peace of mind; no one will be any wiser about it."      Her smile deepened then. "Now, we can hash out the particulars of this job at a later date. After all, I can't work on a solution without material to work from, yes?" She turned to her computer, bringing up a screen where she began to resume her previous work with the blood sample. "Since you know how to use the radio, it shouldn't be any issue to contact me personally. Anything else you need from me, we can work it out down the line. Billing will be handled by the financial department."      After a pause, she added. "Will there be anything else?" 

:'''{{#var:615|Ineryon (615)}} has posed:'''      Being an individual whose auditory nerves are rather acute, Ineryon overheard the mumbling about monsters' rights activists, or something resembling those words, if he didn't catch every last syllable of whatever Xaio emitted. Nonetheless, he was pleased by her answer, and peeked over his shoulder at the door, before returning his line of sight to Xiao, "I think this sums up our business, for today, Miss Yu. I appreciate your time and your patience. There are some who might be inclined to think I'm something of an earful 'to have to coexist' with, but, in my own defense, I always employ a civil, indoor-level voice, so, -possible- verbosity being dismissed, I hope you recognize that if we ever have to have more dealings, that should a discussion involve physical aggression, be the two of us on the same side of a fight, or not... that I, for one, will not add significantly to the overall volume within our specific environ....?"      He doesn't confess that loud sound irritates him, to the extent that it even decreases his powers, yet, it should be a hint that on a psychological level, loud noises cause him unease, mayhap to encourage her to also remember to keep her voice down, even in vexing circumstances, should they ever materialize, should Xiao want to endear herself to the nobleman~. The dark elf grunts, "...Well then, I shall get back to our noble company, that seeks to employ folks with equal opportunity, and bid you providence in this upcoming enterprise!"      A more appropriate term applicable, as far as describing Ineryon's /bosses/ might have been that they were 'equal opportunity exploitationists', seeing that they would take from anyone, anywhere, at any time, by any means plausible, so far as there was minimal danger of backlash, in the process of doing so; with Xiao being something of an individual who dissects things, Ineryon gambled on the side of caution, in suspecting that had she not /initially/ understood his words, she might've figured them out in the near-future, and that future being so within proximity that the dark-elf would've foreseen having no time to cheat her, or hightail any funds to some 'Swiss Bank Account', thus, he, in no way, tried to game the Murasame Corporation-- an privilege reserved only for scammers, crooks, and con-artists that Ineryon had personally evaluated to be as crafty as he! 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Xiao glanced back at Ineryon, offering him a wave. "Yes. Good luck in your endeavors, Mr Valos. We will speak soon, I presume." He could see himself out. There were cameras everywhere if he decided to be suspicious.      That business handled, she turned all of her attention back to her research, slowly falling right back into the zone again. "Strange day." She muttered to herself in the end. But now, was the fun part of figuring out how Mr Wilson's blood worked! 

}}

2633/To Test a Scion

2015-07-18T17:48:41Z

MirageV: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2015/07/16 |Location=Galianda |Synopsis=Wesley is invited to Xiao Li Yu's lab for a bit a testing. Things get strange, but she ultimately achieves ..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2015/07/16
|Location=Galianda
|Synopsis=Wesley is invited to Xiao Li Yu's lab for a bit a testing. Things get strange, but she ultimately achieves her goals.
|Thanks=
|Cast of Characters=823, 827
|Tinyplot=
|Tinyplot2=
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      A few days back, Xiao had made a deal with one Wesley Wilson. A deal that would allow her to finally run some simple tests on him. In exchange...well, she just needed to make him a sturdier shirt to withstand his battles, and get him a bottle of alcohol. One easier than the other, but both plenty doable.      She'd sent the man directions through the city of Ramuh, and to the FUJIN research institute. He was instructed to enter the lobby and give the receptionist her name. The rest would fall into place. Thus, once she got a call that someone was here for her, she promptly left her lab to go and see. Through the halls and into the main lobby she emerged.      "Ah, hello there. You must be Mr Wilson. We meet face to face at last." She smiled pleasantly, slowing to stop before the tall man and inclining her head upwards. "I hope you didn't have too much trouble getting here." 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' "You're short." Wesley says as he reaches out to lightly place a hand on her head. "But cute." he says in that rough tone of his, giving her one of those 'I'm a hot half-god staring dreamly into your eyes' looks. "Nah, I was hopin' there might be a fight, but oh well. Where's my booze?" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Yes, I...-" She paused as the half god's hand settled atop her head. "-...get that a lot." She didn't seem to be too worried about her height or anything like that. She smiled in an amused manner, hearing his answer about getting here. "Hehe, I see. Well then, follow me! Your 'booze' is in the lab." With that, she turned and walked off, letting his hand fall from her head naturally.      Through the lobby and through several halls, all lined with doors leading to various work and research areas that she wasn't involved with. It was a bit of a walk before they arrived at their destination; her personal lab. A key card was swiped and the door slid open, allowing them entry. "Welcome to my lab, Mr Wilson~"      Xiao stepped inside. It was kind of big actually. The ceiling was high. About twenty feet or so. And the floor spread to about one thousand square feet. A desk with several computers and other such equipment were off to one corner near the door. The rest of the lab was taken up by incomplete machinery, papers strewn about, racks of tubes with what looked like blood samples of various entities, and other lab equipment. The place saw a lot of use.      On her desk was a sizable bottle of that 'Jack Daniels' Wesley had asked for. "Here you are." She grabbed the bottle by the neck and held it out to him. "Now, give me your shirt. I'll start to work on it immediately. After that, we can continue with the testing." 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' Wesley removes his guitar first, then drops it to the floor rather loudly. "This place is all, like, mad sciency and stuff." he says before he begins peeling his shirt off, taking a moment to flex, because that's what he does! Then he tosses the shirt over to her. "Oh, nice!" He heads over to the bottle of Jack Daniels, then undoes the top and takes a sip. "Nice. Want some?" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      The shirt is caught with a practiced deftness that belied her position as a 'total nerd'. She observed his random need to flex, still smiling, before she turned away. "I'll have to pass on that. I'm still a minor after all. Maybe in a few years." Xiao chuckled at that and proceeded deeper into her lab, where there was a free space to work. Looks like she'd prepared for this beforehand.      "I explained this to you before, but I'm going to enchant this shirt with a regen spell, and some material to help facilitate the embedded spell." She spoke casually as she began to work, spreading the shirt out across the lab table, under a large complicated looking contraption. It looked like a death ray or something equally ridiculous. "That is to say, you'll be able to fix the shirt by yourself but pouring your 'Divine Energy' into it." She spared a glance back at the man.      "Understand?"      The girl didn't wait for an answer though. She pulled out a keyboard and immediately proceeded to start on the process of reinforcing the shirt to specifications. 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' "Fuck all that, I'm half-god, that means I'm basically a judge." Wesley reasons, leaning against a desk as he continues to sip at his bottle. "Fuck, a minor? Guess we gotta keep this professional." he says with a bit of a groan, almost like a disappointed kid. "I guess so. Just don't mess it up or make it heavy or nothin'." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Ahahaha, sorry! I'm seventeen." She didn't sound sorry at all. "You guess so, huh? Right, well then, let me just hit the ten times weight option over here, and...." Messing with Wesley now, Xiao said that, but she really just proceeded as normal. All preparations complete, she hit the start button, and the machine powered on with a whirr and a glow of green light.      A section at the top began to spin. Slowly at first, but then getting faster and faster and faster. The glow grew harsher as well, until the entire lab was almost tinted green as well. This all built up till a blinding flash filled the area. The scientist turned her head away and closed her eyes in that brief moment. Then the machine powered down.      "And we're done!" Xiao announced, pulling the shirt from the device and holding it up. ...It looked exactly the same.      She approached the drinking Wesley with the shirt, and then with a smile-- she tore it. Yes. She tore it right down the middle. Then she handed it to him. "Here. Try it." Oh, so that's what it was. "Pour your energy into it. It should activate the spell and make the shirt rethread itself." 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' "Well, lemme know when you're eighteen." Wesley states with a shrug, then frowns when she mentions a ten times weight option. "Fuck, man, all this mad science shit." He pulls both halves of the shirt on, then stares down at them. The torn seems of the shirt seem to glow a sort of golden yellow, then starts to stitch itself back together into a nice new Megadeth shirt. "Fuck, that actually worked..." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "I'll keep that in mind." Xiao replied in good humor, though totally not going to follow through with that. She stood back and watched as Wesley tried the shirt out. As she had anticipated, it worked just fine. "Good! It works!" Xiao clapped her hands together happily. Not that she had any doubt. She made something for herself using the same method after all.      "Now then, with it, my end of the deal is upheld. And now..." The girl quickly turned and strode over to a shelf, picking through it until she got a plastic package with an empty syringe inside. "Time for me to collect~" She was suddenly much more excited about all of this now. "I want a blood sample first. After that, we can do something a bit more fun for you. But we'll talk about that after this."      She pulled over a chair and some other blood taking necessities, urging the half god to have a seat. "I hope you're not one of those people who's afraid of needles." 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' "I get stabbed all the time, ain't no big deal, even though it hurts. Needles ain't nothin'." Wesley holds his arm out to her, just waiting for it. "What ya gonna do with my blood? Hope you ain't gonna like, make monsters with it or somethin'." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Oh no, nothing of the sort." Xiao waved a hand dismissively. "I was curious about your blood armor ability. Studying it could possibly provide a breakthrough on creating new defensive equipment." Simple enough. She felt along Wesley's arm, searching for a vein to use...and wow, he was built. She momentarily forgot the task, just marveling at his physique, but then she returned to reality quickly enough.      A vein was found, and the needle was inserted. It took no time at all to fill the syringe, and once it was, she took it out and quickly treated the insertion point. "Okay! Thank you very much! I'll have to study that later. But for now, we can get to the fun part." She stood, becking Wesley to follow her.      She moved past the mess of machinery, tables, and equipment, and off to the other side of the lab where some other, no doubt prototype devices lie. "This should be very easy for you to do." She turned to face him. "I want you to fight me." Huh? She took a laptop from a nearby table and typed into it, causing a camera of sorts to zero in on Wesley. "This camera here is going to record various things about you like heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves, and other sorts of things." She smiled. "The data will be useful for cross comparing with your blood."      Xiao set the computer aside, and folded her arms into her sleeves. A moment later, they emerged, covered in a pair of black gauntlets. They occasionally glowed with a pulse of red energy. "You would just destroy any machine I make you fight, so I myself should do it instead. I trust you have no objections?" 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' "I don't think my blood's metal or nothin', I just make it turn into metal." Wesley explains, though he follows after her, staring at the computer. Then when her suggestion comes, he raises an eyebrow. But then he sees the gauntlets. "Well, I guess if you've got a thing that makes you able to fight, sure, I can do it." He left his whiskey sitting on the desk, just sort of standing here with his hands in his pocket again. Without any real warning, he crouches and does a complete standing front flip, launching himself towards her. He stretches his heel out, trying to slam it directly into her head. He doesn't seem to hold back his strength, and the way he moves seems to be some strange balance of wild and graceful, like an animal with no training who moves on complete instinct and experience. His heart pumps with a casual excitement, like someone about to play a video game or go see a cool movie. His brainwaves seem about normal for someone in a fight, though for him there isn't any real fear or sense of danger, no nervousness, barely anything that would indicate a fight or flight response right now. The strangest thing her scanners might pick up, however, is the pronounced effect that his presence is having on the environment. It was happening before, but in a much more subtle manner. Now that he's moving in a superhuman way and in a full blown fight, it's as if probability itself seems to be turning sideways. This can mostly be measured through the fact that Murphy's Law seems to be shitting its pants. It's not that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, it's that something, for some reason, -wants- to go wrong. Her computers might occasionally pick up a routine error that could easily have led to something really bad happening, whatever that might have been, if it wasn't stopped. The way that their movements vibrate the floor might be progressively bringing explosive vials closer and closer together. There's likely a random extremely flammable insect crawling in the ceiling, near an exposed wire, threatening to start a fire. Nothing's going wrong yet, but, most definitely, something -wants- to go wrong, and probability only seems to get more intense the closer to Wesley's vacinity anything gets, and the more intensely and outrageously he fights. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      At first Xiao didn't notice anything. She just smiled as Wesley leapt forward, attempting to slam his heel into her head. With practiced precision, she raised a hand and caught that heel in her palm. The gauntlet warded off some of the damage, but she was still pushed back, her arm feeling the sheer force that could have been. Once the worst had passed, she thrust her palm forward, pushing the half god back.      "Not bad. You have some semblance of skill. Then that means I can go all out as well." She frowned in concentration, electricity beginning to form along her body. It crackled and traveled down into her fists where it remained. Once done, she clenched those fists and then dove forward. She reared back with one fist, skidding to a stop in front of Wesley, and then she let loose with a flurry of lightning charged punches, all aimed around his midsection and chest, testing his defenses to see what he'd do.      Meanwhile, the scanners were definitely detecting something odd picking up in the area...nothing happened yet, but... 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' Wesley is fast, but he's not usually fast enough to deal with faster than human speed. Plus there's the lightning. He holds his arms up, trying to block and take the damage into his arms. "Fuuuck that ain't fair, how am I supposed to summon lightning inside?!" Well, there are ways, but not without blowing lots of things up. Still, he suddely reaches out to try and grab the gauntlets directly, shaking as the electric charge flows through his body. "Fuuuuuck!" he shouts, but then he tries to swing his entire upper body around, attempting to toss her across the room while trying not to die from the constant electric shock he's experiencing. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Now now, the future fight god should be able to handle anything!" She shot back over the constantly crackle of electricity and blows. Every single time Xiao has attacked someone with lightning, they have done something crazy to stop her. She should have known, but she did it anyway. And thus, in a moment of deja vu, one of her gauntlets was grabbed. As expected, lightning continually surged through her body, and into Wesley. And then she was tossed.      "Wh-Wha!"      She wasn't very heavy. It was actually pretty easy to pick the girl up and throw her. And that's exactly what happened. Thankfully the area was emptier than the rest of her lab. It must have been the testing bay. She flew straight into a wall, crashing into it by her back. "Agh!" Then she hit the ground.      "Ow." She muttered, the spell she cast on her gauntlets fading away. Xiao pushed herself back up and stood, rolling her neck in the process. "My, someone certainly is strong." And after all that, the scientist smiled, bringing her gauntlets together as she walked back into fighting range. "Then let me try something else!" A cold breeze began to surround her after a moment of concentration, originating from her, and then permeating outwards.      This time, she stayed right where she was and brought a fist back, then hammered it directly into the floor. What followed was an explosion of ice that rapidly traveled outwards as countless pillars, aiming to crash right into Wesley. It's path swerved now and then, but was generally a straight line. A simple attack.      And that strangeness coming from Wesley that the scanners were reading only seemed to grow stronger... 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' Wesley was ready. Drops of blood began to sweat from his entire body, then quickly covered in in a hair thin sheen of metallic chrome. Just in time to get smashed with a pillar of ice and get tossed to the ceiling, then fall down into another pillar. He lays on the top of the pillar, groaning. The he reaches down, digging his fingers into the ice, snapping the top half off to flip forward and toss it at her. When he hits the ground, he starts punching and smashing his fist and feet into more chunks of ice, throwing more and more of it in her direction. Sometimes sharp shards, sometimes huge chunks. But this is a clear display of the fact that he seems to have no discernable fighting style. He simply adapts to the situation and makes -that- dangerous for his opponent. "Didn't think a doctor could put up this kinda fight!" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Whoa.      Xiao carefully observed the 'armor effect' Wesley employed just before the pillar struck him. "I see, so that's what it looks like..." She nodded to herself, all the more curious. But there was certainly no time for that now. He dropped back down, and then /tore/ off the top of the pillar she'd created, tossing it straight at her.      "...Oh dear."      "Immediately, she canceled the ice spell, and following that, a pillar of flame flared up around her body. She didn't waste any time posturing for show. She gathered flames into her fist and reared back. With all her strength, she punched the huge cluster of ice, releasing a surge of flame from her fist that enveloped it, causing it to melt and shatter apart.      And then a smaller block of ice flew through the cloud of frost, bouncing off of her head. "Ow!" The scientist's head flew back momentarily before she redoubled her efforts. Meeting as many flying ice fragments as she could, she punched and occasionally kicked, melting any she made contact with into water. Some still got past her flurry of strikes, impacting her sides, cutting or stabbing her in other areas. But the worst was avoided.      Wesley's comment made her smile. "It's a dangerous world I live in. I needed to know how to defend myself in order to live long enough to make it to this point." There was no more ice, so she let her fire spell fade away as well. She was cut visibly in several places, but if he paid attention, he'd notice that those wounds were already beginning to close up...      "You've done pretty well! I think I'll have to pull out my best for one last test of your skills."      Saying that, she brought a hand to her chest and clenched around her heart area. Immediately, a sickening, purple and black aura began to manifest itself from her heart, visibly causing her pain. She winced and grit her teeth. But then a glow of green followed, subtly mixing with the darkness. Xiao looked up from that after, not performing any fancy movements.      Instead, she crouched low, and then dashed forward. In a single bound, she closed the distance and threw and open palmed strike towards the half god. Her arm was cloaked in corrupting darkness, looking eerily like a bestial claw. Whether the strike landed or was blocked, Wesley would feel an immediate sensation of his own energy being /drained/. If he dodged it, then he was golden. 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' Wesley wasn't prepared for that speed. By the time he looks down, blood is already coming from his mouth. His observational skills are ridiculous in a fight. He immediately knows that his energy is draining, and he knows that the longer he waits to act again, the weaker he'll be. So while her palm is buried in his stomach, and his clock is ticking, he immediately reaches down to try and wrap his arms around her. He attempts to just straight up trap her in a bear hug. He's not planning to try to -kill- her, but he's trying to incapacitate her. This, of course, becomes increasingly difficult, as his grip is becoming weaker and weaker from her attack, if he managed to grab her to begin with. "I gotta admit, this ain't how I pictured gettin' my arms around you..." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "......!"      She landed the strike, and she was already stealing his energy from him, but this stubborn bear of a man was still standing! With his arms wrapped around her rather small self, she could feel the pressure of his strength enclosing around her. It was getting weaker as the seconds passed, but it was enough to deal with someone with her overall poor constitution.      Before much longer, Xiao's eyesight began to blur, and she released her palm from his stomach, ceasing the attack. "You...are something else." She chuckled weakly, not even bothering to resist anymore. She was done fighting for now. She'd seen everything she wanted to see.      Right at that moment, the scanner let off a loud series of warning beeps, rousing the girl's attention. "Huh?" That followed by a pair of beakers on the edge of a testing table slipping off and hitting the floor. Their contents mixed together, causing a fire to start which started to approach her written plans and blueprints.      "Ahhhh! Hey hey! Let me go! My reports! My blueprints! My theses! They'll catch fire!"      Now how could /that/ have possibly happened? 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' Wesley releases her, falling to his knees due to his lack of energy. But he still has -enough- left. He holds his hand out, and his guitar goes flying to it. Then he holds it up, beginning to play rather quickly. That's when the wind kicks up, concentrating around the fire. It looks almost like a mini-tornado that becomes more and more compressed, trying to thin out and smother the fire with his incredibly high pitched guitar solo. "I got this..." he says with a gradually weakening tone, obviously using a bit of his remaining energy for this. 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "No no no!" Xiao chided the weakened Wesley. "Don't waste your energy!" But alas, he has already begun to do it. Without much to do to stop him, she approached the fire, watching as the wind contained the fire. Given that she had stolen quite a bit of his energy, it was probably a good idea for her to help. So she did just that.      She held a hand out, casting another spell. Like before, a cold breeze blew out from her form, concentrating around her outstretched arm and enveloping the remaining fire. It was safely put out before it could reach her important documents, and once it was done, Xiao heaved a sigh of relief.      "And that's that." She sighed, folding her arms into her sleeves. Once she removed them, her gauntlets were gone again. "Sorry about that, Mr Wilson. Perhaps I went a bit too far." She approached him, kneeling down and offering to help him stand.      "Will you be okay?" 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' Wesley drops his guitar, then just kind of drops down to the floor, spreading his arms out. "You gotta promise to tell me when you turn eighteen, then I'll forgive you." he says with a bit of a groan, as if he's only -half- serious. "I don't usually use all that much energy, so I feel kinda crappy. I wanna sleep, but you gotta promise not to go cuttin' me open and stuff. My dad's a god y'know, he might be watchin'." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      Xiao chuckled at that. "Yes, yes. I'll let you know when I turn eighteen." Amused, she watched him for a moment longer before grabbing an arm and attempting to get Wesley to stand. "Come now. No sleeping on the floor. There's a bed on the other side. Use that instead. It's sure to be much more comfortable."      Exerting herself, she would help him off to a corner of the lab where a bed and a mini fridge were located. Probably a break area for herself. It seemed rarely used. Once, and if she managed to get him over to that bed, the scientist would immediately go too analyze the results of that fight. Playing back the footage and observing the other recorded facets such as heart rate, blood pressure, brain waves.      "...Oh. Well, this is interesting..." 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' "I ain't all that interesting." Wesley says as he lays on the bed she guides him to, the armor around his body just sort of evaporating like very old blood. "I don't get what you're gonna learn from seein' me fight, anyway." 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "That's up to me to decide." She shot back, poring over her data. She looked once, and then twice. And then she reviewed everything a third time. "......" No. That couldn't be. It seemed so improbable. There was no way that his presence here was the catalyst for what just happened. It was just bad luck!      ...Right.      But she was suspicious now. The scanner errored out, beakers containing dangerous substances she was sure she placed a safe distance onto the testing table, a fire...such a random chain of unfortunate events... But she had zero proof.      "Say, Mr Wilson?" Xiao called over to him, still reviewing the information on screen. "Tell me, have you noticed any sort of...odd happenings taking place whenever you enter an area?" 

:'''{{#var:827|Wesley Wilson (827)}} has posed:''' "Crazy stuff happens all the time. I remember the time that crocodile man came outta the sewer." Wesley says as he yawns, then holds his hand out. "That's life. Can you gimmie my booze?" 

:'''{{#var:823|Xiao Li Yu (823)}} has posed:'''      "Right, of course." She didn't believe that for a second. Letting Wesley off the hook this time, she walked over to the front, picking up the bottle he'd left back there, and brought it over to the bed, handing it to him. "Here you go. Now go ahead and rest, I will be working meanwhile." She turned and walked back over to her workstation.      "If I'm not here when you wake, feel free to see yourself out. As far as I'm concerned, you've done your part. Thank you~" And then she fell silent, the faint tapping of keys being the only indication of her presence in the lab. 

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