Pax Septimus wasn’t all ruined cityways, night clubs, and government buildings of. It also had a few functioning warehouses. Some became meetups for gangsters and monsters if not temporary shelters for the homeless to squat in. Though they were used to house goods on occasion. Wholesale merchandise could then be repackaged and distributed to consumers for a profit.
Some did many of these things.
”Mmmmm…” One dark corner of
this warehouse hid someone. Everything but a pink ponytail that was long enough to touch the floor. Her lips smacked followed by the occasional moan of satisfaction.
”Oros?” Sharr was sitting in one of the leather sofas the warehouse afforded. Most of them were packed up in crates, but this one had been opened up for a test. One had to make sure the sofas were comfy before they arrived at their destination, after all.
”What are you doing?”The pony tail bobbed in the darkness as it continued to make sounds.
”Just pretending to eat a ‘par-cooked’ time traveler that had a nasty run-in with some caustic bovines.” ”Pretending to eat?” Sharr tipped her head.
”Yea.” Oros walked out of the shadows.
”Because it was a make-believe time traveler. So if I wanted to eat it, I had to pretend to eat it. Because if it was real, I would have actually eaten it. Something like that is too dog-gone good to pass up!” ”I see…” Sharr’s eyes followed Oros as she took a seat next to her.
”Mind if I try some?””Help yourself!” Oros held out her hand.
”Want something to drink? It’s a little dry.””I have a glass of caustic bovine milk right here.” She “lifted” her “glass” and gave it a shake.
”Do you have the fortitude for that?””I used to eat at Taco Bell every week.” ”Yeesh!” Oros pulled her hand back.
”There’s depraved, and then there’s mexican every week depraved.” Sharr was seldom without a smile, but her lips curled up just a bit more than normal.
”When you were younger, did you play pretend?””Nah, just here and there.” Oros slouched and crossed one leg over the other.
”Not like I had much in the way of siblings and classmates, and my parents were pretty rigid. Kinda hard to even want to play pretend when nobody wants to play with you.””You’re not missing much.” Sharr kept her hands folded in her lap.
”I had a younger brother that loved to play pretend. It was fun, but as we got older, we became more competitive.” She chuckled.
”At first, we were content to just go on adventures, but with age came pride. Everything we did had to be bigger and better than the other one, to the point where we would have ‘debates.’But it was just the two of us, so we both had the freedom to pick our own narrative and discard the other one.s. Though I think that was more upsetting to him than it was to me.””Riveting stuff.” Oros placed her fist under her chin.
”And what do you think about your new memories? Those make believe to youl?”Ah yes, Oros had made good on her promise and took her out of this world to meet a doctor that could ‘restore her old memories’ among other things.
”At the time, they felt alien, but they are growing on me. Though that might be because of all the parallels between the ‘old’ me and the ‘new’ me. We both knew you, we were both magical researchers, and there are a lot of other parallels.” With a sigh, her head fell back into the sofa cushions.
”But the scale is so much bigger. I know so much more about the universe, and even the connecting universes..” ”You had a brain to match your ego, yea.” ”But is this a hallucination, or real memories?” Sharr hopped off the sofa and stepped forward. After reaching behind her back, she produced a tiny gourd, capped off with a cork. With a twist, the cork popped free, and out came a “workstation.” Welders, a loom, various benches with hammers and knives at the ready, all from a gourd slightly bigger than Sharr’s fist.
”I knew my subjects well in my ‘old’ life it seems. I should be able to build something with this required knowledge. In doing so, I can confirm that what you say is true. That you and I were originally from a different reality. ”Need anything else?” ”Between what we were able to scrounge up from Penny, and what you plundered from Bob, I can probably start on something.” She placed a hand on the side of her head.
”Still out of it?” ”Yes, the incense our good doctor had me inhale is strong. I’ve had a mild headache, but it seems to be going away. Nothing to worry about.” She noticed Oros stand up.
”Heading out?” ”Yea, I got a date. Not to mention I wanna see how the Grand Magistrate managed to screw around with the Doctrine of Combat Supremacy. How do they justify magic getting so weird after every patch update?” ”You see Oros, in places where mana concentration is highest, the ebb and flow of magic can be expected to change how melodies behave, sometimes affecting certain notes and even espers over time.” ”Right, I was waiting for a shoe-horned exposition. Later.” ”Be back before bedtime.”
It didn’t take more than a minute for a reply to be received.
‘1342 Industrial Avenue, 1PM’
Any other message from Tetrad would be read, but ignored. It appeared likely that the PirateBayRat was only interested in sharing information in person, and for all the prep work that the Maverick Esper may plan on doing, it didn’t matter. They would have to show up. Who knew what they’d miss out on if they hadn’t?
…
That being said, it wasn’t as if it was impossible to scout out the place beforehand. 1342 Industrial Avenue lead to the outer core of the city of Pax Septimus, where more than a few construction suppliers were lined up. There were steel mills, recycling plants, repair shops for large-sized vehicles, and so much more, all of them with only minimal activity, if they hadn’t been completely abandoned. A previous mayor had offered subsidies for such businesses to flourish, but when those subsidies ended up in the pockets of local mobs instead, such benefits were quickly cut off, and now, the monolithic buildings only remained as silent observers to whatever crimes were committed away from the city’s core.
The facility that Tetrad sought in particular was a cordoned-off manufacturing plant for computer parts, one that had long been set for demolition and yet spared over the years, until it became so overloaded with graffiti and dilapidated from mistreatment that it could qualify as modern art. Before the rusted rent-a-fences stood a Jeep Patriot, painted a flashy red with windows opaque. The rear passenger door was open, inviting, and when Tetrad decided to bite the bullet and step in, she caught the gaze of the individual lounging against the driver’s seat, a half-full cigarette tray balanced above the dashboard. One of the woman’s eyes was hidden by an ornate leather eyepatch, and her long dark hair was tied back into a low ponytail.
“Hey,” she drawled, “Glad you made it. Now, before you get to your questions, I’ll ask you one first, copy? There’s gonna be a lotta killin’, and it’s going to be for a little bird who won’t even have her talons anymore. Still worth it to you, doll?”
@IzurichThe phone number on the van turned out to be the same one Silmeria found online, which led to the “seemingly legit” business. Of course, this was the first time Silmeria was in front of one of their actual vans, and it seemed like it was unlocked. She used the muzzle of her gun to swing the back doors open and peer inside. At the very back there was a small lawn mower and a weed whacker, but of greater interest to Silmeria was the crate in the back, which looked
very familiar.
Just over the top of the crate, Silmeria would be able to see Aria running into the nursery. It was odd, really. Usually espers were so careful about revealing their true identity, but Aria had de-transformed in the mission area on a few occasions, and Silmeria was able to recognize the Protector when she was out of the esper state. After she disappeared inside the house, Silmeria’s eyes drifted down to the crate in front of her.
The crate that weretigers loaded young damsels into.
That Silmeria and Aria helped fight, no less.
…Shit.
If there was an upshot to this, it was that they probably didn’t know Silmeria was here yet. That meant that she would have plenty of time to-
”Chase me!” The front door to the nursery was thrown open yet again as a teenager barreled outside. While Su lead a fairly private life, the one thing that almost everyone in her squad knew about was her adopted daughter Mika. During operations at odd hours, she would usually leave Mika at the nursery. She was probably a little old, but always seemed to enjoy her time there, and none of the caretakers seemed to mind the older girl’s presence.
The native American kid was running as fast as her legs would take her, clutching a keychain in her hand. It was glowing between Mika’s fingers. Hot on her trail was a disgruntled man, who just looked a little bit more like a mobster than a landscaper. His clothes were just a bit too clean, and his hair had been greased back. He had a hand on his hip to keep his pistol from bouncing out of his holster.
Silmeria had to act carefully. This could turn into a hostage situation if it wasn’t one already. But once she fired her gun, the genie was out of the bottle.
@SilverPaw@Majoras EndHavoc made quick work of the door, a simple twist of the backspike sufficient enough to pop the lock off and swing the door open. Immediately, the smell of herbal aromatics blew towards the three agents, incandescent lamps and near-inaudible music combining to make for an atmosphere similar to that of a spa. Light too shone from the walls, large monitors creating virtual depictions of ‘windows’, ‘windows’ that depicted a more pastoral setting than the grungy city block right outside the refuge. It wasn’t too bad of a place, upon retrospect, and the furniture in the waiting room looked to be rather tasteful as well, sleek and unintrusive, but certainly designed with ergonomics in mind.
Of course, all those environmental details didn’t mean much when there was only one other moving individual within the reception area, and only one corridor leading deeping into the clinic.
The receptionist, a young woman in comfortable but professional attire, widened her eyes at the sudden, violent intrusion of three costume-wearing nutjobs, then widened them even more at the very real weapons that they all wielded. Sure, Pax Septimus was a bad place, but what the hell? “Uh, uh?!” she stammered, flicking her eyes from one of them to another. But her hands remained hidden by the large desk, and the way her shoulders shifted made it clear that she was reaching for something.
@The World@Ponn@ERodeThey didn’t have many opportunities to speak before the date of the operation, and as a group of individuals from all walks of life, there was reason enough to not speak too much about what they could do until they were literally in front of Sofron’s apartment. Plans were discussed, melodies were cast, attention was gotten. A group of whispering girls was the most natural thing in the world, but the bartender immediately took notice of Klava’s melody. Was he in on it or not? If they hit Sofron soon, there wouldn’t be much he could do about it anyway.
…
The Grizzly Rose was a fairly standard night club, but the real star of the show was the apartment that sat on top of the joint. The club downstairs was fine for mass raves, but for those that wanted a smaller party with just their closest friends, this was a superior atmosphere.
The apartment was very modern. The kitchen, living room, dining room, and main hall were all one room. They were loosely divided by an island counter, which cut off the kitchen and dining room from the living room and main hall, which was where guests would enter from.
The dining room was strategically placed to offer a view of two different vistas. One was the giant glass wall that let one view the harbor. But at this hour, most of the sailboats had come in, and dark would be falling soon. Which left the second vista, which was inside the apartment itself. On the other side of the main hall was a dance floor. Above it was a giant glass dome housing a transparent rose. It threw hues of neon light all over the floor as the sculpture refracted lights in its prismatic body.
”This is nuts!” Sitting across from Sofron was a star struck young woman. She was wearing a red dress, which couldn’t contain the massive squirrel tail protruding out the bottom of it. Of course, one could also just look at her face to tell there was something off about her. Her eyes were giant black marbles, and spaced a bit further apart than normal. Her nose was also a bit wider than normal, and she had whiskers. But none of this bothered the butler sitting across from her.
"The noise damping is pretty good, yes." He was enjoying an almond scone and tea. The perfect end to an evening.
"It’s not badly priced, either. Well, it’s more of a job perk for me, but you know." ”Yea, you told me!” She took another bite of her scone, her eyes transfixed on the giant rose in the distance.
”So this whole place is named after that sculpture?”"The sculpture came later, I believe the name is a reference to beauty and the beast, actually." He held his chin.
"The beast was cursed, and if he did not find someone who loved him before the rose died, he would remain a beast forever."”It does kind of look like the one in the Disney cartoon. I mean, aside from the whole hanging upside down bit.”"The beast had a decade to find his true love, but real roses usually die in a week or two."”Well, you don’t have to wait that long if you don’t want to.”Sofron glanced down at his hip. His cell phone was vibrating.
"I’m expecting company in a few hours."
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