Scene #660: Meeting the Machine God's Chosen

Owner	Pose
Bitter Medicine	It's fitting that the warpgate should be in Gulak, of all nations. Gulak was the nation which funded the effort to break the Seal, whose Tripartite was instrumental in rousing those of other nations to support the idea. It's also the nation with ideals most familiar to the majority of Multiversal visitors. Freedom of expression is less regulated here than in any other nation, and citizens of this state enjoy a variety of civil liberties to boot. The customs office is the first stop for any visitor, as Autochthonia's Regulators have an interest in controlling who and what comes through the warpgate. Built around the gate, the office is a perfect example of good bureaucracy. The guards are courteous and patient, the clerks are informative and helpful, and the process, most importantly, is expedient. Just past the ramp leading down from the gate is a kiosk where a human with a black cabochon-cut jewel in his forehead sits.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa has bene exploring the warpgate network for a a while now. Here she was going agian and she'd debated getting a few other bits of geart fot this she'd picked up a back pack as of late to help with hauling things. She also didn't travel unarmed often but this place she figured it was best to leave the weapons at home. She heads up to the person with the strange Gem. She was shocked by how quick/ it was and she pauses at the person. "Just a question before I move on are tehre any odd laws here I should know about? Well that would be odd to outsiders?"
Bitter Medicine	The clerk smiles, reaching below the desk for a moment to retrieve a box of little plastic cards--kind of like what someone gets when they visit a government facility in most mundane worlds. As he does so, a calendar behind him bearing the logo of the Union and several prominent figures from the faction can be seen. Apparently these guys use a different method of reckoning time, as there's another calendar beside it. He sits back up and slides a guest ID through the little recession between himself and Kotone, then shakes his head. "While a few of the Eight Nations do have laws which are relics from older times or unusually specific, the baseline laws of what the Union would consider 'mundane' worlds apply here. We have a pamphlet that describes the 'dos and don'ts,' if you're curious!" He gestures to a nearby shelf, then points to the plastic card in the recession. "Here's your guest identification, ma'am. Is there anything else I can do for you before you enter Gulak?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa listens and takes the cartd making sure to tuck it into a pocket where she'd not ,ose it. "All right I think I can run with that. Also I'll take that pamphlet if you don't mind sir?" She seems intent to go over that before she steps out and enters the city she's not even thinking how her own nature might even be seen here.
Bitter Medicine	"Not at all!" The clerk slides a pamphlet across the table. The title reads 'Autochthonia and You: How to Make the Best of Your Visit.' "Have a pleasant stay, ma'am." If Kotone is finished in the customs office, the exit is behind the yellow line on the floor--a pair of unassuming double-doors. The clerk writes something down on a little clipboard, then looks behind him to check the time, noting that, too.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is unaware of what the man is doing as she heads out readin the pamphlet actually scanning for later refernacv and puts iot into her backpack as she goes on. She looks for a moment opens the door and heads out unaware of what he's up to.
Bitter Medicine	There isn't anything really unusual in the pamphlet, though there is a section on the Alchemical Exalted. Apparently, Exalted from other nations may bristle or take offense at being addressed informally, especially those from conservative nations like Jarish or the nationalistic Sova. Kotone shouldn't have anything to worry about in Gulak, though. Speaking of that, Gulak appears a busy nation, to put it shortly. A sign informs Kotone that she is in the metropolis of Thutot--the pamphlet mentioned it's a popular spot for pilgrims. Workers, bearing gems similar to the one like the clerk from before, mill about, either heading to factory shifts or working with elementals to maintain the city. Transports make the rounds, too, as do Regulators, patrolling the streets with what appear to be mechanized crossbows. There's a slight Aztec flavor to the culture, but it's subtle--the geometric designs and jewelery are all there for those perceptive enough to notice. There's currently a large gathering of humans on a nearby streetcorner.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa is going to keep in mind but she's not an exalte after all, she's been taking in the city, it's curious she wonders what they are for but it would be pretty rude to ask about it she thinks. So she does not ask, however she does see the people gathering and that gets her intrest as she starts making for the gatehring to see what the heck is going on.
Bitter Medicine	The people in the street are gathered around a grisly scene. A pair of Regulators stands over a man with a face covered in blood. The source of all that blood is a pair of empty eye-sockets. One of the Regulators kneels, his skin unnaturally pale. The other, who appears to be rather green--inexperienced, that is, attempts to move the onlookers away. "Let's go, let's go. This is a crime scene." "No, it isn't," says the other as he stands up. "Medicine, his eyes are out!" "He's also just lying in the street. Lumpen wouldn't risk coming here. Gremlins would've been more violent. This was a fix beetle." "We have wards against those," replies the other Regulator. "Divine Ministers can override them." "Why would they do that? Send a fix beetle into Thutot just to gouge someone's eyes out?" "They didn't. It saw something broken on the way to whatever it was supposed to do, and fixed it."
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa pauses for a moment and stares in abject horror at this she gets the deal that it's the police or the local verion of. She stops for a moment she looks for a moment staring tyring to look away from the body yes an eyeless corpse it brings up unplesent memories of her own mauling and she just listening to the cops for a moment. "...I hate to say this butitng in but ... did you ccnsider it was just a pyscho with a knife?"
Bitter Medicine	"Yes. It's possible." Well, there's her answer. He frowns at her, as if it's a possibility that he doesn't want to consider. He wants to ensure that it's anything /but/ that before he goes on a wild goose chase. "Crncevich, take witness reports." The pale-skinned man then kneels and touches a gloved hand to the wounds of the victim. He opens his mouth and sticks his finger in, touching it to a metal ball-bearing on his tongue for a moment. "Inudstrial lubricant. Steel shavings. Traces of solvent." At that, he looks relieved. "All things a fix beetle would come into contact with." "This lady says she saw what happened," says Crncevich. "It was a fix beetle," says a young, battle-hardened woman. "I scared it away, but not before it got his eyes." She looks at Medicine with a certain respect. "Well, that's it, then. Thanks," he says to the young woman. She... salutes him, even though she's a civilian or appears to be. Her gem is a different color than most of the others here. Speaking of gems, this Medicine guy's got one in the center of /his/ head, and it's a brilliantly cut diamond. Maybe these gems are markers of social class? "Get a cleanup crew and a Sodalite here to recycle his soulgem. I'll wait here," says the pale man to his subordinate.
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa wonders how much of a faux pau she commited there but it's too late to think about that she just watched now and she listene for a moment. She has no idea what a fix bettle is as she watches for a moment. She frowns the girl had tried at least. She ownder though for a moment she starea at the gems for a moment she tilts her head as she hears the soulgem. She kind astares with a bit of confusion at the man not meaning to but soulgem?"
Bitter Medicine	Bitter Medicine taps the gem in his forehead, as if in response. "This," he says, well aware of her confused expression. "The Great Maker can't create new souls, so we recycle the ones we have." He looks at the corpse, then back to Kotone. "Not a pretty sight, but better than what a gremlin would have done. Got a name?"
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa pauses listens for a moment, so wait everyone's soul's on thier forhead? Recycling? Litteral reincarnation it seems and she's a bit stunned. She looks away from the corpse and admits. "No...it's not it ... brings up bad memories. As for my name? Kotone Yamakawa I was just ... traveling."
Bitter Medicine	Bitter Medicine says, "We get a lot of those. Gulak's a popular pilgrimmage. Plus, the warpgate..." He scratches his nose unceremoniously. "Bitter Medicine, Soulsteel Caste." The pamphlet mentioned that was one of the kinds of Exalted she'd find here on Autochthonia! The Exalt coughs and kicks at the hard metal ground. "Anything I can do to improve your visit, comrade Yamakawa?""
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa pauses "Huh I see and a caste system. Such things... have mostly fallen by the wayside on my world. I admit I'm curious and I'd like to ask a few question. Are ... attacks like this common? Should I be worried about something that likes to eat syentics...here if there's something that would go after someone's eyes."
Bitter Medicine	Bitter Medicine says, "I'll answer them." Whether or not he's /happy/ to answer them remains to be seen. He does... bristle a bit at the implication the caste system used by his people is obsolete, but he doesn't say anything about it. "No, this isn't common. No, you shouldn't be worried." He gestures to the corpse. "The only way a fix beetle can get through our wards is by the Divine Ministers, which means they usually have more important things to do than 'fixing' mortals--or synthetics," he says with a curious undertone. He takes a look behind him. "Usually. Anyway, their purpose is to repair, not to attack, so if you can scare them off they'll find whatever it is they need somewhere else.""
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa didn't mean to insult it's just an alien concept to her really. To be born into a job with no choice? She shakes her hed a littl ebiot and looks to him getting she may have insulted him. She does listen ofr a moment, "So this one has ... broken more or less, never a good thing when that happens. Also I didn't intend any insult...eariler."
Bitter Medicine	Bitter Medicine says, "It's fine." "I wouldn't say broken. They're machine spirits, so they embody efficiency at the expense of empathy. Maybe it thought his eyes would be useful for whatever thing the Ministers sent it here to do. Repair a vital surveillance cluster, for example. Without crawling into the vents after it, there's no way to be sure. It'll be back to the Reaches within the hour, anyway." "So, why are you here--" He stops himself and asks the same question more politely. With a put-upon look, he says, "I mean, what brings you to our glorious home, comrade?""
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa listens and wonders about his words no one was going to do anything about it. That unsettled her, as she looked at the man for a moment and shakes her head a bit she gets the idea that she might want to get on her way. She gets a very I don't wnat to do this. "I just came... to see a world different from my own to be honest. I was curious about this world..."
Bitter Medicine	Bitter Medicine says, "Well... sorry." That's all he offers up. Luckily, Crncevich arrives before long with a scientist of some sort, who bears an oval-cut amethyst. "This the guy?" "Yeah." "Sheesh. Wonder why the Ministers needed a pair of eyes so badly?" The scientist kneels beside the body and... well, it looks more like he's working off of instinct than practice or training. It's hard to explain, but watching him work is like watching someone breathe. He makes use of several specialized-looking instruments before removing the gem with a pair of forceps. The black gem seems to shimmer in the air for a moment. "We're good. He's all yours, now." A couple of guys bring a stretcher out and drape a tarp over the body, loading it into a transport and hauling it off to who knows where. "I've got work to do," announces the Alchemical. He digs into his pocket and produces what can only be currency. "Why don't you head over to Recreational Complex 3A and have yourself a drink on me? It's just around the corner.""
Kotone Yamakawa	Kotone Yamakawa Watches as the gem is taken from the dead man, or /was/ he ded she's not sure she's not going to know and not going to ask. She leves it be she doe watch with intrest as it's removed and she nods to the Alchemical. "Also please forgive me being a problem, and I will take you up on your offer thank you."
Bitter Medicine	Bitter Medicine says, "You're not a problem." Now, the Decepticon that put him in the vats a few days ago? HE'S a problem. "I'm just not a people person." He puts his hands into the pockets of his trench coat. "Stay out of trouble, comrade." With that, he gives her a nod and a stony-eyed gaze, then turns his back and keeps walking the beat."