Antarctic Termite

The Magical Planet - Ecetopia - Open

Smudge Pixelby

clonk

A bright dizzy spiral flashes on Smudge's face and she goes down on her side. A few blips of sound come from her, none of which manage to start a sentence.

Then the sword comes out, and she jerks-

Light plays patterns on the steel blade. Mergoux feels pressure; Smudge's face has leaked onto the tip of her sword. For a moment, something in it sits between IA-920 and the edge of death.

Then the moment is over and Smudge's snow is back where it belongs, the girl scrabbling back out of danger. The grim man grabs her shoulder as she gets up and she flinches, his presence momentarily forgotten.

Stuck.

A pitiful buzz slips out of IA-920 and its grip weakens. It cries out faintly as the journal is pulled away. The scholar turns to Nebulius, exhausted relief resting on his face.

"Thank you, gentleman," he says tiredly but sincerely, then nods to the frightening warrior. "Madam." He turns, he leaves.

IA-920 is rubbing its head where it was struck, checking for dents. All the while it tugs at its sailor's jacket, now dirty from the falls. The buzz doesn't stop.

"He can't even read it," she mumbles from somewhere, possibly to herself. "He's going blind."

The Magical Planet - Ecetopia - Open

@Lmpkio I know, but what makes Smudgie dear dark to him? She's a good kid, just with some unusual values.

ed: Do past actions play into it? She's made some mistakes.

The Magical Planet - Ecetopia - Open

goodness, i was expecting some adult mediation and now y'all've gone off and traumatised the poor girl

@Lmpkio I have no objection, but I'm curious- How did the Supreme Bishop get a dark reading off of Smudge?

The Magical Planet - Ecetopia - Open

@Lmpkio@Overlord Thraka The lass finally makes her entrance!

The Magical Planet - Ecetopia - Open

Smudge Pixelby

Beat, beat of hard steps running on dirt.

A pebble on the road is sitting in just the wrong place at just the wrong angle. The foot that catches it slides where it was meant to push, pitching the weight of the runaway forwards into hardened mud. She yelps at the impact, pushes herself off the ground with an arm and an elbow.

Too late.

"Heelp! Help me! Thief!"

Data cancer IA-920, known to its friends as Smudge Pixelby, looks back over its shoulder at the grim man running after it. It turns back to the way it was running, sees a tall being with a stave and a not-quite-so-tall one in horned armour, wearing a bastard sword. It looks back at the man.

The edge of the road is nothing but thicket. IA-920 is already tired.

No more running.

"Catch her!"

At this point it's clear that there's no need. The man with the long straight hair and rope belt is middle-aged but far from fit. He gasps as he reaches the anomaly. IA-920 takes a half-step back but no more, clutching the book firmly in its arms.

Perhaps afraid of embarrassing himself if he should swipe for the leather tome, the man addresses the two wanderers, a long finger levelled straight at Smudge.

"That girl," he wheezes, "is a filthy scoundrel, who broke into my home, vandalised my belongings and stole a cherished heirl-"

"You don't even READ it!" screams IA-920 through its speakers, the snow in its screen flashing into solid red. "You don't even care!"

"That book is the last thing I have left of my old master!" the scholar yells back. "How dare you say I don't care!"

"You can't even-" Smudge seems to realise that she's still three steps away from a pair of adventurers that could be a much bigger problem than the man from the town. She looks back defensively, says nothing.

*The Space-Bar ~ A Virtual Tavern ~ Always Open*

Hmmm. I might send Ayem over here when she's accepted.

Officer Moestadja

@Rilla, @Zyamasiel, @The Harbinger of Ferocity, @Circ

This one's done. Fresh out of the oven smelling of jet fuel and hot chocolate.

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

"Yeah, nah, fishbox was a bit of a one-off," said Giggles, surreptitiously swapping out the box magazine for a drum. Modesty wasn't worth passing up a good offer. On second thoughts, he took a collapsing stock too. Tommy gun for a tomboy, thought Giggles idly, assembling the von Goethe. "Heads up, that was before the embargo, although I had some- other problems to get past at the time."

"I should be able to get some use outta the chaos, though, 'specially if it lasts more than a week. A ship I can get you. More likely we'll survive if we crash a few nights in someone else's. A lot of people want to get out right now, and the market for people smuggling just got waaay less competiti-" Stop.

I'm gonna regret not checking if that guy's undercover. Without putting down the gun, Giggles stepped to the door, leaned out and beckoned the bearded man to come in. Nothing about him pricked Giggles's sense of danger other than the dog, it had to be said.

💣 Love Bomb Piracy Front 💣

+ as long as there is someone with her to "convince" her to behave, she'll do it.

@Ashevelendar

Giggles is gonna hate her, so I think we've got that base covered. Welcome aboard! We're gonna need an entire deck reserved just for angry intercharacter tension.

Actually, here's Giggles's expert commentary on all the members so far:

Marco- 'He's fine. New to the biz, but he'll learn. Maybe needs a little hardening up.'
Colin- 'Good egg with a big heart! Isn't that right, Hound? Yeah, of course he is, there's a good boy.'
John- 'AHAAHAH DUDE YOU'RE SO SKINNY. DUDE. DUDE WHY DO WE HAVE A MAGIC MIDDLE SCHOOLER WITH A SWORD ON BOARD AHAHAHAH I LOVE HIM. HE'S MY LITTLE BROTHER NOW' *knuckles scalp*
Anya- 'Listen, assassins are bad people, but I can live with this one because she has an ass that just won't quit'
Alexis- '...At least the assassin murders for a reason.'

It might not look like much now, but this is gonna be a very important Jvan post.

@Muttonhawk

i knew this day would come

It's Remph, isn't it? I'm planning to play that off as a modified form of hiveminded Pronobis Sculptor y thing

If it takes too long for that to happen and you really want the ref though hit me up with your idea and I'll probably pass it on! The only thing here that I really want to call dibs on is Invasion Moderator.