Lugubrious

World of Light

Tora and Poppi

Level 6 Tora - (13/60) EXP and Level 5 Poppi - (21/50) EXP
Location: Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle
Word Count: 680

Yet another table awaited Tora, Poppi, and Croagunk on the other side of the chip portal. This one, however, boasted a couple points of interest. Its cloth was red, its patrons were close enough to actually be leaning on the table in all their inhuman, skeletal glory -which instantly set the arrivals on edge- and it seemed to host a living stack of chips with a cowboy hat. “Weeeell, lookie here,” he drawled immediately and with gusto, as if waiting patiently the whole time just to say it. “You ain't lookin' too fresh. Betcha just got done with one o' mah buds, huh?”

He meant it as a taunt, but Tora looked nonplussed. “Mhm. Horsey boneypon look much tougher than you, though,” he remarked. Croagunk let out a high-frequency croaking noise that might have been a derisive giggle.

“Whah! N-no,” blustered Chips Bettigan, looking less than totally confident all of a sudden. “I'm waaaay tougher than that skinless bronco.” He composed himself, giving a self-assured smile and closing his eyes dismissively. “Like, leaps and bounds. He don't even compare.”

“Uh huh,” Poppi said. She was looking down at him over her nose, which made for an impressive feet given Chips' height. After a moment her disinterested gaze abandoned him to scour the table, and together she and Tora exchanged a few hushed whispers. Then she turned back to address the minion once more. “In that case, Poppi can use full power. Ready, masterpon?”

Tora nodded, grinning. “Ready, Poppi!”

Chips' yellow eyes widened. “N-now, jus' hol' up one minute...”

“Go!” the pair shouted together as they launched into the air. Poppi boosted forward while Tora, with Croagunk in tow executed a explosive slam in front of himself with the Mech Arms to sent them soaring upward. Chips focused on the immediate threat presented by Poppi, hurling sections of his own body at her like tabletop-sized disks, but the Artificial Blade used her metal arms to strike each one with mechanical precision and strength. They ricocheted off her like hockey pucks and arced, one after another, back to rejoin Chips.

“What?!” the living stack exclaimed, baffled by someone striking back at him instead of dodging. He didn't realize that he'd forgotten all about Tora until the Nopon dropped from above, delivered punch after punch all the way down his body while the Croagunk atop him struck with a matching flurry of Poison Stings. “Ooh-ow-ooh-ow-ooh!” Chips gasped, glaring as Tora as he landed. “Why, you-!”

“Ready?” Tora asked Croagunk, completely ignoring their foe. The Pokemon nodded and crouched down, tensing its muscles, as it tried to copy Tora's motion. “Booming BUSTER!” The two rocketed upward with a flaming and poisonous uppercut respectively, flipping Chips into the air in an explosion of poker chips.

“Aaaaaaah!” he yelled, his component parts sailing up before dropping back down in a heap. Cheering, Tora offered Croagunk a high five. The Chips' chips, of course, levitated only a moment after hitting the ground. They moved to restack themselves, but Poppi was already prepared.

“Masterpon!” she called, boosting his way. She snatching him from where he stood, holding him tight, and flew into the air. After a quick loop to build up speed, she kicked her servos into overdrive in a huff of etheric steam and hurled her fuzzy inventor straight at Chips. He went forth like a ball from a cannon, screaming incoherently the whole time, and slammed into Chips' head belly-first. His momentum barely slowed as he bashed straight through the stack, bounced off the table behind him, and finally off of the suit of one of the giant skeletons before rolling to a dazed stop amid a pile of senseless poker chips.

“Oh, masterpon!” Poppi said, rushing to his side. She knelt over him. “You didn't even land super-cool punch!”

Tora burbled unintelligibly.

Smiling, Poppi leaned forward to pick him up again. “Still, masterpon pretty cool. Beat plastic pancakes no time flat.” This time she carried him gently as she returned to the portal, and after giving Chips a couple farewell kicks , Croagunk followed behind.

Organization XIII Gneidxick

Location: Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle

Not everyone, it seemed, was content to simply play along. In light of the pretty poor total for the three dice rolls, or maybe due to some other circumstance, the long-haired, rabbit-eared girl stayed behind to yell up at the highroller from atop his table. Unlike that irksome Courier fellow, she got straight to the point, leaving Gneidxick to ponder her proposition. He began his reply with a chuckle. “Hohoho, fight...me? Uh...” He paused, furrowing his brow in concentration, as if consulting some hidden reference. “Ain'tcha...wanna savor the time ya still got, instead of throwin' it away?” He let that simmer, falling silent until Linkle continued. “'Cause playin' around is what I do, doll. The dice roll, the fools play, and the house wins.” Something she said left him nearly as clueless as her, however. “Don't rib me, bread. I don't take no orders from hands. An' the only din I'm hearin' is a li'l snoot who don't know when to quit smackin' gums.”

Linkle might have taken the hint and gotten going if she didn't realize something else. When she mentioned that his eyes weren't red, Gneidxick sneered. “Yeah, what else is new? Ya got a point, or d'ya just want your friends doin' all the heavy liftin'?”

Michael and Franklin

Location: Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle

The friends found themselves on a billiards table in a vast, empty space. Auroras snaked through the dark, and enormous billiard balls floated in the distance like planets and moons. A colossal billiards rack hung in that unusual sky, and ribbons of color meandered by the horizon like rivers on a map. One ball, however, hovered directly above the table and its many cues: the eight ball. After a moment of silence passed, two eyeballs and rows of teeth orbited in from behind the ball, forming a face that stared uncannily at the new arrivals. “That ain't a cue,” the entity rumbles, his eyes pointing at Michael's rifle and his voice a strangely resonant snarl. “You tryin' to hustle me?”

Mangosteen spread his mouth around his eight symbol, which slid open to reveal a brilliantly radiant psychedelic chaos of color. A similarly prismatic orb of light shot out at the intruders. At the same time, living chalks started to jump around the table, trying to come down on and stomp Franklin and Michael in the head.

Koopa Troop

Location: Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle

Before picking another battle, Bowser and his son went ahead and annihilated the remainder of their spirit collection, including that of the reviled Thing from the Stars. Carrying all their loot would present another problem, but at least the risk of the spirits fading away and being lost no longer applied.

For the Koopas

You have acquired:
Crystal Shards x12
Cast off by the alien malignity, they are now less dangerous and more useful, yet still they carry a distant spark that serves well for magical purposes and keeps them intact.

and:
100 Gold x 5
Makes the world go 'round.

and:
Laudanum x 2
A potent narcotic capable of stimulating healing and calming the nerves.

and:
Stone Hoe
An angular tool for tilling the earth. Not great, but better than wood.

and:
Summer Straw Hat
Can't beat the heat? Stay out of the fields!

and:
Onion Seeds x 3
With a lot of preparation, attention, and hard work, you too can one day harvest a bumper crop of vegetables that can't even be eaten on their own.

and:
Scarecrow Head
Creepy headwear. Bonus intimidation versus corvids.

and:
Spotted Whip
Force and technique make for a nasty crack. Long range and extremely painful against flesh, and handy for mobility and utility, but useless against armor of any kind.

and:
Shirt
A plain shirt to wear under clothes. It's  made from materials which absorb sweat well.

and:
Starite
A bright, yellow-crystal that sparkles joyfully no matter the level of light. Some can be found, but most must be earned by doing good things. It's said that gathering enough can make someone's wish come true.

and:
Ninja Smoke Bomb (set of 3)
A glass of ninja powder that releases a cloud of ninja smoke when shattered. The powder makes anything it settles over practically invisible for a short time.

and:
Phase-shifting Hide
A malefic remnant of the revolting nightmare, since gone back to lurk among the farthest reaches of space. Holding it close reduces incoming stress by 15% if the holder is above 40% vitality, but halves incoming stress if the holder is below 40%

World of Light

@Lugubrious

Sooooo, no killer yet?

@Majoras End

Indeed. For whatever reason, he seems to have left the heroes alone. Sometimes the bad guy gets away, after all, especially if he can teleport. There has been an awful lot of commotion and confusion, as well. Joker can continue the search in the Dead Zone if desired, or escape to safety. No doubt he would not let his missing friends slip from his mind.

World of Light

Update posted! With Dead Zone evacuated for the time being, those involved are free to peruse Lumbridge and interact with others in their first downtime in a while. As such, there was no direction for the Dead Zone team. If you'd rather be prompted by something, please don't hesitate to ask.

World of Light

Courier 6 and Geralt

Location: Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle

Two shots and the flying olives went down, shrinking in on themselves and into nothingness. Durability was not their strong suit. Their maker, the martini glass, fared better against Gaige-tron's acid. Among all the varied materials one might encounter in the world, few withstood acidic corrosion better than glass. Only because it was high-strength could the acid affect Martini's silicate surface at all, and even then the destruction of its outermost alkalis left a porous surface that slowed down corrosion even more. It hurt, judging by the living glass's shocked reaction, but it couldn't possibly melt through before one or more party members died of thirst. As such, Martini could keep spawning olives, so 6 kept shooting them down.

Meanwhile, Geralt used his shield sign to weather a rush of liquor from Rummy and get close enough for retaliation. He grabbed the drunkard's noise with a honk and smashed the pommel of his sword in between the stubby glass's eyes Cracks blossomed outward from the surface as Rummy gasped, but instead of shattering the surface simply bent, like safety glass. Still, Rummy's eyes just about rolled back into his head. “Oooooogh...” he moaned, falling back into a sitting position. “Gonna....I'm...buh...” The highly-directed impact damage right to the noggin did just the trick; one member of the Tipsy Troop was down.

Behind Rummy, Whiskey grimaced. “Ain't had enough, eh? 'Ere then—straight from the top shelf!” His top came loose and he started blasting whiskey upward, but instead of a single stream, he launched large globules in quick succession, each subsequent orb readjusted for wherever Geralt ended up after the one before. This time, dodging the brew would be no easy feat.

Hat Kid

Location: Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle

Mere moments after the hatted child arrived in the enormous toy machine and hooked herself to its ceiling, the cymbal monkey began to stir. He hooted and chattered, smacking his instruments together to send yellow musical notes flying around, no doubt some sort of projectile. From a slot on the ceiling, a large array of playing cards descended to slide over the machine's glass window. Arranged in four columns and three rows to make twelve total, they faced Hat Kid for just over a second -revealing that two apiece featured matching symbols- before flipping over to become indistinguishable.

Mr. Chims went limp, and the claw arm holding him began to move. It carried him around the space in the machine in a random pattern, bouncing off in a different direction when the monkey hit a wall, the ceiling, or the floor of creepy toys. If Hat Kid hit two cards and got a match, he'd wake up in a noisy fit to smack his cymbals again, but if she got two mismatched cards, he'd shudder as the arm started to move him faster, gradually increasing both the likelihood of Hat Kid getting hit and and force at which he'd hit her.

Organization XIII Gneidxick

Level 6 Tora - (12/60) EXP and Level 5 Poppi - (20/50) EXP
Location: Devil's Casino, Inkwell Island

One by one the teams started emerging from their fights. Tora and Poppi arrived first, receiving an intrigued look from Gneidxick. “Put the screw on ol' Phear Lap, huh? Well, that bonehead could barely fight anyways, and looks like he still roughed ya up pretty good!” he taunted, noting Tora's sizable bruises.

Bowser and Junior got back not long after. They were joined by Kamek, who came down from above with a few spirits so that his friends could make a selection from them for breaking. Gneidxick twisted the end of his 'stache. “Heh. You bozos seem out of breath. Pip and Dot musta given ya quite the workout, even if ya worked them out in the end.”

When Peach, Ace Cadet, and Linkle appeared, Gneidxick started to look a little annoyed. “Hmph. I figured you'd smoke Wheezy, anyhow. Let's see if you're still smilin' after round two.”

He reached down and clapped his hands together in front of the game board, starting the pink die from earlier spinning once again. “Go on an' try your luck, wise guys.”

Tora went first. He waddled up to slap the dice with his wing and stop it spinning. It landed on a 1, and the chip on the game board slid forward one space accordingly. When the other groups tried, they got a 1 and a 2 respectively. That left the chip only four spaces forward on a thirteen-space board.

“Ohohohoho, hmm hmm!” Gneidxick snickered. “Guess it's back to the grindstone, see!”

Tora and Poppi looked tired. “Far too much nonsense for early morning,” the Nopon complained. But it couldn't be helped. With three of the chip portals dark and two currently occupied, five fights remained available. The pair and Croagunk went for the nearest open chip, which offered a glimpse at another game table laden with poker chips.

A moment later Michael and Franklin made their descent, landing unharmed despite there being no indication that they would after jumping into the pit. Gneidxick eyed them, more or less deadpan. “More reinforcements, huh? Ya missed the first round, but there's plenty of beatin' left. Fight one o' my friends, roll the die, get to thirteen and win. Real simple, right?” 'Simple', he said, but the dice-man's leer somehow indicated that it might be anything but.

Overlord: Momento Mori

On a more related note, currently working on collabs with Lu and Tree. They should hopefully be finished this weekend. They're all quite sizeable. ^-^;

@Xaltwind

I was wondering what we were doing together, but then I realized you meant Lu-cious, not Lu-gubrious.

Soul Eater: Apple of Discord

Now that the group was on high alert, they made quick and wary progress in the direction of the campsite. With Judea and Sloane pulling sheep Opal along, both could afford to keep one eye on their woolly teacher and one on their surroundings. The farther from the port Sloane got, the more the evidence mounted: this place was seriously messed up. Nothing overt, but lots of little things. Branches curving into shapes and patterns, terrible overgrowth, strange noises from the underbrush and the houses, an abundance of small animals that seemed to watch the students, and if the quick look Sloane got was right, birds with too many eyes. And more of those people, unaware and soulless as clay dolls. If there was any time for an assault, it was now, while the students were still confused and lost. While she'd never admit to being afraid, Sloane was starting to dread the nighttime already.

Nothing happened. Nothing attacked the students, jumped out, or so much as said 'boo'. Still, Sloane reached the camping park with acute anxiety, having been ready to sprout an axeblade or spearhead the whole time. The sight of the place offered some relief, though. A wide open area with long sightlines and nobody in sight made for a good base of operations, even if a good chunk of it lay underwater. Frogs and mosquitoes she felt pretty confident about being able to deal with. Then again, with that waterfall flowing, the lake might be moving fast enough to prevent a severe mosquito infestation. Judea went over to check it out by herself, leaving Sloane to pat Ms. Opal reassuringly. “We'll be fine,” she murmured, taking off her traveling case to plop on the ground before looking out across the dry part of camp. Some RVs, some decent ground, and what looked like a large wooden platform with a few benches. From her current position Sloane could see some stuff stored beneath it. Hopefully it included some tents, since Sloane neglected to bring one of her own in that case, despite its size. Of course, with her luck there were probably just snakes, spiders, and curses down there, and in those RVs too. Sloane sighed; she couldn't afford to let her guard down for a moment.

Judea seemed to want to stick around, which meant volunteering Sloane for cleanup duty too. Of course, she could technically go off on her own if she wanted, but in a situation like this it seemed pretty obvious that meisters and weapons should stick together, ready for anything. Plus, going out on recon or supply duty was a lot of pressure. Everyone would be counting on whoever went, not just to come back in one piece, but also to not deliver them hexed provisions. That sounded like the job for some of the group's resident eager go-getters.

With a little encouragement Sloane got Opal to come with her as she went over to Judea. She watched for a moment, thinking through what she was going to say, then got a couple steps closer and leaned over. “Hey,” she muttered, speaking in a low and confidential voice. “Um...weird goings-on and animal magic, huh. Seems kind of...witchy, doesn't it? I don't suppose you what's going on?”

Overlord: Momento Mori

Commerce, eh? Graft is interested all of a sudden.

Overlord: Momento Mori

Resources are actually Graft's biggest problem right now. He's been burning through what he had (not a huge amount to begin with) to make his prototypes, and is going to run dry soon. Nothing that he's made can currently be put into mass production because of this, nor can he proceed any further with REPLICA. He'll need to start procuring materials shortly, and will likely be contacting both Mamoru and Kaldorna to do so on top of fielding his own gathering teams once possible, since the people near the Chateau would definitely notice.

Overlord: Momento Mori

Ivonbraids' small, slef-employed company, got crushed by cruel, cruel reality. Hence why he had to stop playing the game. :P

On a different note.

@Lugubrious
Graft's Open Line... Is it only able to be disconnected/turned off by Graft? It doesn't say anthing about it in your sheet, and given how he used it to essentially spy on Kath, without her knowing, I'm curious whether only Graft can terminate the line, or if the other person can do so themselves. Because if not, that seems a bit unfair, considering Graft could just open lines to virtually anuone and spy on them simply by staying quiet, and they wouldn't ever know he was lsitening. o_O;

... Not that I'm implyng that the good Baron would ever do such a thing... *cough*

@Xaltwind

It's Graft's skill, so I figured that was implied. Since its not a strong one I imagine anyone who wanted to could both detect it with Detect Magic and dispel it with an appropriate spell. It can also only be opened with people explicitly allied to him, so it wouldn't work on anyone who didn't consider themselves as such. But yeah, only he can terminate it otherwise. Unfair? I wouldn't say so, but if Irish deemed it thus, then sure. Irish hasn't approached me about it yet and knew about it since at least our collab.

Overlord: Momento Mori

Drumming his index and ring fingers against the side of his head, Graft reclined in his office chair and reread the list. “Status, learning, trade...er…” So many thoughts electrified his skull that a couple were bound to slip out here or there. Oh well. If he forgot anything, he could simply call again. Pulling about the airborne glyph that designated a muted Open Line, he drew his finger across it to reactivate the magic. It turned from transparent cerulean to a bright, active blue, and Graft used his voicebox to generate a cheery tone.

Doot doot doot doo, doo-doot doot doot!

“Good day, Kath Erine,” the industrialist greeted immediately. In telecommunications one typically waited for the person who was contacted to give a greeting first, but so few denizens of the Chateau harbored any conception of it that Graft always went first to take charge of the conversation. Maybe that identified him as bossy, or as a control freak, but Graft did not care much to disguise those aspects of himself. “My apologies for disturbing you on short notice, but I was hoping to inquire about borrowing some of your books. I also reach out to you prepared to negotiate payment for all the more-than-generous favors you’ve been doing me.”

After her conversation with Chuunitrixx, Kath had become distracted and returned to her library, deciding to take her mind off things by going through its many hallways of books and making sure that none had been misplaced while she’d been gone. It was during this period of reorganization that a familiar voice would return within her head.

“Oh, Graft. No need to apologize. In fact, I was thinking of saying sorry myself. I’ve been so scatterbrained after returning from the village that I had forgotten about bringing to you my book on this world’s flora and fauna,” she replied, before recalling another task she had forgotten. “I seem to have forgotten to bring Lord Rodias the text I had written on this world’s language as well. We’ll have trouble communicating with any outsiders if I don’t release this information to everyone as soon as possible,” Kath said, distracted as always. She hadn’t even paid attention to her fellow floor guardian’s mention of payment.

Graft chuckled. “No need to worry. You overwork yourself so, it’s surprising you remember what you do. And this last day has been full of such interesting developments…” he cleared his throat and triggered a playback of what he said a moment before, taking it easy as his voicebox did the rest. If not for a touch more static, it was indistinguishable from his real voice. “I was hoping to inquire about borrowing some of your books. I also reach out to you prepared to negotiate payment for all the more-than-generous favors you’ve been doing me.”

Kath would nod as thanks for the compliment before recalling that he could only hear and not see her, replying with a quick, “Thank you.” When he repeated to her his request for books and compensation, she would say, “Oh yes, if there are any other books within the Athenaeum of Historia that you would like to borrow, you need only ask and promise to keep them all within good condition. As for payment though, there’s no reason to worry yourself about that. My services are free to all as long as they treat my library and its tomes with respect.

“Splendid, though I meant payment for a service, rather than for books. It is the function of a library to loan out books for free, after all!” Graft chuckled again. “But since we’re on books, I’ll go ahead and make my request.” There came the sound of rustling paper through the Open Line. “First, I am currently training a new protege. She is learning to read, so on the off chance you have any easy material, I would appreciate it. After that, I’m interested in exposing her to religious texts so that she might grow in the Faith skill. For my own purposes, I’m looking for two documents related to Supreme Beings. The first is any chatter regarding abominations known as ‘endgame bosses’, specifically ‘raid bosses’ or ‘world bosses’. If there is any mention of such monsters’ status effects, that’d be even better. I would also highly prize some trade logs. I’m sure that there’s a great volume of those, so two or three is enough.”

He fell silent for a moment before exploding in excitement. “Oh! Forgive me, I just remembered. I’m currently trying to upgrade my scanners, among other things, so I’ll need to collect a great deal of data on various species’ biology. Undoubtedly there’s too much for one trip, so perhaps some sort of circuit would suit you. A steady stream of biology texts from the Athenaeum of Historia to the Factory and back. This is a large request, of course, but would that be acceptable?”

As Graft began to list out the very texts he was in need of, Kath would walk to her reading chair and approach the nightstand she kept next to it, opening one of its drawers to use a piece of paper and quill to write out everything requested. She didn’t want to leave out anything from his order. She would even begin writing the names of books that she might recommend later if he were to ask for more texts similar to these.

Upon request of biology books, Kath would beam. She was so happy to see others within the Chateau Gothika so excited to read so much. “Certainly. Though you might be surprised by just how much my arms can carry within one trip,” she joked. Mostly. Her dragonoid attributes did give her quite a lot of strength after all, even in human form. The hardest part wouldn’t even be trying to balance the books upon each other as she walked them to Graft’s domain. No, it was being able to get the large stack through doorways that would cause the most trouble. “Is there anything else you might need?”

“Ah, Kath.” Graft marvelled. “Truly an indispensible specimen. While it cannot be touched, bagged up, or spent, knowledge is its own sort of wealth, and you are obscenely rich. You need not concern yourself with carrying, however. I anticipated just this sort of response and dispatched a number of Guards some time ago. Perhaps you saw them gathered by your library as you entered. They can do the grunt work.” The line went dead quiet for a moment, as if shut off so that Graft could speak to someone else without Kath hearing. It came on a moment later, though. “As for anything else, unless you’re crazy enough to take a physical, I don’t think so. After all, you already provided me with such fascinating insight into what our moody friend Chunnitrixx is up to, with those mimics of hers. It appears I am not the only one cultivating new life…” He trailed off with a snicker before continuing. “That service, and of course the spirit of goodwill, are what I seek to repay you for. It is my turn to ask: is there anything I can do for you? Any items you need made? I have an inimitable collection, and I do take custom orders. Oh, I have just the thing! Emel Shells, which can inject a sedative. Why, they’re just the ticket if, say, transgressions upon your sacred domain have made your gorge rise.”

“Oh lovely. Yes, I’m sure they will be a huge help for transportation,” Kath said, peering from her position in the library over to the front door to see Graft’s Guards standing by. Upon him mentioning providing a service to repay her for all her efforts though, the polite librarian would turn him down again. “No, I can’t say I’ll need such a thing. Traps and servants are not necessary here in the Athenaeum and any… hmm… troublesome visitors I might have I should be able to handle on my own. I appreciate the offer, but I promise it isn’t necessary.”

Graft started talking again quite quickly. “Well, if you insist! With the Guards is a Team Lead who will help keep things organized and running smoothly. I shall look forward to cracking open these tomes of yours. Thank you kindly.”

“And thank you,” Kath would say before Graft cut the line. Now with a new task in front of her, she would begin collecting all of the books and texts that he had requested, bringing to the Guards several stacks within minutes. She focused on the first few things Graft had asked for, before moving on to the Biology books, not wanting to forget any from the smaller order before moving onto the bulk one.

Despite just how many texts had been requested, Kath would clear out her library of anything related to Graft’s order within the next half hour. It was mostly thanks to just how well organized she had her library as well as her encyclopedic knowledge of what was housed within its shelves. With several stacks piled high near the door, she waved to the Guards as they struggled to keep up with how many texts she handed off to them. “Make sure to not drop any,” she said with a smile.

The enormous, heavily armored Team Lead, burdened with many tomes in both his arms and tentacles, nodded his helmet. “Count. On. Us.” He turned and lumbered away, and the Guards followed as best they could.

In the Factory, Graft stood to his feet. He’d been tempted to keep the Open Line on again, but this time he decided to dissolve it. Too much to do to spend time snooping. He thought about Kath for a few moments as he leaned over his desk. Utterly dedicated to her job, without any hint of hesitation or restraint, and willing to do it wholeheartedly without recompense, but uninterested in what he had to offer. Unlike with Chunnitrixx. The pair’s interaction was the only anomaly, the only evidence of Kath going beyond her duty. Mentioning the surveillance she unwittingly carried out for him had been a gamble, but either she was less clever than he would have thought, or a lot more . Altogether, the results of this test were conclusive: Kath could be wholly relied upon for the sake of his R&D. “And that,” declared Graft, causing Papillary to look at him in bemusement, “I can take to the bank.”