benit149

Vivi-Dream

Lin gave him a weird look in response to his stunt. "Whatever you say. But the fact that you're here in Vivi-Dream means you still have hope of being alive. If you're still not convinced, I'll show you something really interesting."

Champions of Engine City

Out of the three thousand or so infected, there are at least a few dozen survivors still in the quarantined zone.

That could prove useful for Chaotic Blue's future mission to rescue the senator's daughter from that zone. Not sure how that's going to pan out with CB meeting any player characters, retrieving the girl alive and healthy or what, but that's what I'm up to.

Vivi-Dream

So now that the first dungeon is done, you guys have a good idea of what to write for your own zones. I originally thought this RP would be bigger and thus multiple groups would be needed, but it looks like we can just stick with this main party.

Before we move on to the next zone, let's sum up what's going on:

* Lin is guiding Dice and Alice through the museum
* Hez is asleep
* Erebus is supposedly with Hez, unless he gets off her before Lin put her to bed
* Atropos woke up (I should also note that Katarina and Richard/Erebus are the only ones capable of waking up ATM since the others are in comas)
* Realm fell into a plot hole

I think it would be good for the party to help Dice and Alice get out of their comas in some way, since Hez's coma is story-related. I'll add some intriguing real world stuff in a day or two, but let's figure out what we're going to do next. Do we want to do another random world, or investigate someone's personal zone?

Vivi-Dream

Lin gave Atropos a wave and said, "See you later!"

She then told the others, "Follow me, then. I'll show you all of the artifacts that Hez and I found during our adventures."

She led Dice and Alice through the large rooms, each having different themes with artifacts that fit each one, such as food items in a restaurant-styled exhibit, bones and skeletons in a room designed like a graveyard, computer gadgets in a futuristic room, school desks and drawing supplies in some kind of atelier, and many, many others.

"Due to the growing number of negative zones, we're always expanding our inventory and creating new exhibits that best fit current trends," Lin explained. "That isn't to say we're running out of room. Since this is Vivi-Dream, a world that doesn't follow real-world logic, we always have space to fit any artifacts we find."

She asked Dice, "So are you getting the hang of this whole world? I know that last dungeon was really crazy, but that was one of a kind. Most zones usually have no monsters and are just exploratory in nature, or they may just have a few that one person can easily defeat."

Champions of Engine City

With the office day wrapping up, Martin Lloyd rushed to put on his best evening suit before telling Qing, "I'm off for an appointment. Take any messages for me and close up the office for me."

She nodded silently and watched him leave. She knew that getup wasn't for a client meeting but rather for him going out with one of his lovers. He never told her that, but she wasn't stupid. The man had a reputation for playing around with celebrities. His irresponsible behavior was perfect for Qing to take advantage of as he rarely paid attention to the gadgets and listening devices she had planted shortly after being hired here.

She turned the phone's voice recorder on and entered his office, confident that she wouldn't be bothered while replacing the damaged listening device with a fresh one. Then she approached a painting of Lloyd in his younger days and reached up for one of the eyes, removing a tiny black camera disguised within the pupil and pocketing it for later use. After that, Qing scoured his documents for any record of the senator that Lloyd spoke to earlier and found a Fargo Tilley, a well-known anti-superhero politician.

So Tilley's daughter was caught in Tox's attack. That would certainly lower his opinion of super-powered persons residing in this city, she pondered. Even so, I may be able to eke a mission out of him if I use the girl's safety as my trump card.

She continued cleaning up the office, both of her boss' paperwork and her own hidden spying gadgets, before closing up for the night. Qing drove back to her bachelor pad and ate a simple heat-up meal for supper. Once she was ready, she approached her bed and opened one of the drawers below it, then removed the wooden panel at the bottom to reveal her costume. It was an ultramarine tunic and pants, black boots and gloves styled with silver skulls and spines, and a ninja-styled breathing mask she wore on the lower half of her face.

Once she was dressed and out for the evening, Qing would become the underworld mercenary Chaotic Blue - a blue-colored shadow that made her living by taking advantage of discord. Now in her getup, she crossed her fingers together and concentrated until her body turned invisible. Even if anyone were to witness her window opening, no one would see who it was. Chaotic Blue leaped on the balcony and then, thanks to her ninja training, effortlessly jumped from building to building like an invisible grasshopper towards Senator Tilley's home.

Tales of The Radiant Brigade

Krita spoke with Fardo and managed to sell everything in her satchels, especially the Eggbear claw, for a grand total of 3000 gald. This would be enough to cover the twins' travel expenses until they reached Capua Torim on the other continent.

"Thank you for everything, sir," she bowed politely.

"You take care, and try not to risk your lives so much for some pocket change. You're too young to be dying," Fardo replied with a grin.

"I'll keep that in mind..." she said with a slight frown, as she assumed the trader was checking her out. She left in a hurry, speedwalking past the line and out of the trading house. She did take a glance at the blastia without its core and wondered where her sister ran off to. After some searching, Krita found Krile talking to an Imperial Knight while surrounded by a small crowd and some knights running around as if looking for someone.

"SIII~IIIIS!!" Krita called out in her loudest voice and dashed toward her. Her foot accidentally caught a loose brick on the ground and she landed on her face in a rather painful-looking pratfall. "OW!"

Tales of The Radiant Brigade

Are Mutsu and Say'ri going to meet Krile anytime soon? I'm trying to keep Krile outside so that they can intercept her, and then Krita will meet up with her to complete the group.

Vivi-Dream

"Alice dear, what are you up to?" it said, staring at her.

"Whoa-!" Lin exclaimed, almost dropping Hez from surprise.

the face slowly vanished with a chuckle, a mumbled "well see" escaping before it vanished.

"Yeesh... Should've expected that from your Wonderful Horror-thingy world, Alice. Still caught me off guard," Lin sighed in embarrassment.

She led the group back to the museum and told them with a smile, "Wait here for a moment; I'm just gonna unload the lil' scamp here. Just find a place to set that scale on or whatever. It doesn't matter where."

Lin headed upstairs to the Employees Only area - which was hidden behind a bookshelf full of different artifacts - and entered the girls' bedroom. It was relatively normal except that Hez's half was painted white and Lin's blue, and they each had different beds, dressers and tables done in their respective colors and styles. Hez's style was more plain and simplistic, while Lin's was funky and creative. A vase of white carnations sat on a table on Hez's side while some blue roses were on Lin's.

Lin nestled Hez in her bed, then took a moment to feel her forehead. Yes, it was weird for an Oneiros to be asleep in the dream world, but this just meant the real-life dreamer would have a dreamless night. Lin had noticed Hez suffering from a fever and terrible fatigue. All she could do was sigh in worry.

That last purification's taken a much greater toll on her mind than usual; she had to take care of three people at once. I hate to admit it, but we needed her ability, even if it puts her at risk - no one in Vivi-Dream can purify such corrupted artifacts like she can. If she wasn't with us, the rest of us would have needed to purify it together while dealing with those monsters at the same time. But why did those dungeons fuse? Why did three people's subconsciousness meld together into that nightmare? Why did Hez have to exert so much energy at once? There seem to be more and more dungeons than there are Oneiros to take care of them...

Oh... I wish Hez would spawn a zone of her own for me to investigate, then I could find out more as to why she's still in a coma. Waking up would be better, but that doesn't look likely...

Lin shook her head. She couldn't waste too much time thinking about all of this. She left the room and reunited with the others, replacing her sullen mood with a chipper tone as she said, "Well let's take a walk around, shall we? It's a big place, so try not to get lost!"

Vivi-Dream

Lin hurried up the stairs, transforming back into human form as she rushed to Hez's side and carried her on her back piggyback style.

"Just give it a moment," she answered Dice's question.

Suddenly, the dungeon warped and rippled like it was underwater, then gradually vanished. The team found themselves back in Remniche along with the purified scale, and the triple fusion blob from before was now gone. The anomaly had been resolved, so everything was back to normal.

"There you go," Lin nodded at Dice. "Once things are fixed, the dungeon disappears and we get kicked out automatically."

She gestured towards the scale and asked, "Can someone get that for me? I want to add it to the museum's collection. Oh, speaking of which, I promised a tour, didn't I? How about we go back to the museum for now? I need to tuck Hez into bed."

Champions of Engine City

In the 20 storey Lloyd & Associates, a law and financial company located far to the west of Engine City's borders, a young woman typed away on a computer while inputting data into the facility's massive database. She was a 25-year old Chinese immigrant who had moved to Engine City the previous year and quickly secured work as a lawyer's secretary. Her name was emblazoned upon a small gold plate that read 'Liu Qing'. Qing had short black hair and wore a typical secretary's blazer and skirt, but her eyes were an unusually bright shade of blue.

Qing kept working, not looking at the keyboard as she fervently keyed in data, totally transfixed on her work. On her left eardrum was a tiny speaker, which was imperceptible to the naked eye. When she originally started working here, she managed to slip in a receiver in her boss' office that would help her overhear anything her superior would say when she wasn't around. Her boss, Martin Lloyd, had influential contacts within the political, military, financial and legal worlds, and he was often paid exorbitant amounts for his services. This was why she had infiltrated the office; whoever his contacts were would be hers as well, whether he knew it or not. Qing was using the speaker to listen in on a private phone conversation while focused on her work.

"Right... yeah, okay," Lloyd's voice echoed in the speaker. "So you wish to... lawsuit against... for the Carter Hills incident... Your daughter... quarantined even though... healthy the day before. My condolences, Senator. However... cannot use... argument against them. The villain Tox... far greater threat... ever before. But if we use... in the trial..."

The static was overwhelming Qing's hearing, so she opted to turn it off. She needed to think about replacing the receiver with a new one when she had the chance. Despite the poor reception, she had a good idea of who Lloyd was talking to - some Senator who lost his daughter in the Carter Hills tragedy brought upon by the super villain Tox. She didn't know the purpose behind his attack, but it put Engine City on far higher alert than ever. The eastern district was cordoned off, although she wasn't sure if the government was planning to create a cure or leave the victims to Tox's mercy. None of this affected Lloyd's office in the west, so Qing was completely safe working here. As she was also an immigrant, she had no connections to anyone from the east, so she wasn't concerned with the losses.

With the conversation fresh in her mind, Qing robotically worked on her documents while planning what to do once she punched out for the night. She definitely wanted to find out who this Senator was that (apparently) wanted to sue the city for neglecting its citizens. Perhaps there would be a job opportunity if she went to meet him this evening. Finding out the man's name would be easy once Lloyd was gone to play with his mistresses.