"Already done," Beatrice replied confidently. The first thing she had done after fire off the shot - besides feel a rush - was get the next shell loaded in. Now, all there was left for her to do was to wait for the next target to come into range. It was absolutely incredible, manning the gun of a tank. Not only could she cause such beautiful destruction, but they were incredibly safe and protected in the tank as well. She didn't know much about tanks, but she had to guess that the biggest threat to a tank was another tank.
Beatrice chuckled slightly as she realized the small little pangs were bullets. It sounded like moderately large hail hitting the roof of a car to her. "Definitely. But hey, the more bullets they waste on the tank, the less ammunition they'll have for those on the ground," Beatrice pointed out. She was already itching to fire on the next target - something that was usually unlike her. She never had any feelings of bloodlust. Maybe it was just a little bit of the weirdness of the day - maybe it was her way of honoring James and Ryan. Or maybe it was just something that had been lurking under the surface for a long time. The thing is - Beatrice knew that she could have survived in Eden. She didn't have the strong moralistic compass that most people in Newnan had.
She was on the side of the angels - but that didn't mean she was one of them.
Jack Hudson
Location: Duncan Street - Headed North, near the Mt. Zion Church Skills: None
Jack nodded in agreement. But truthfully, what else could he do or say? The earth had swallowed Newnan whole, there was a near army of walkers going in towards the area, and his wife (and child) were either missing or dead. He couldn't decide which one would have been better. As much as he tried to keep on putting one foot in front of the other, he could only just barely keep his emotions locked away behind a dam. He could practically hear Tatiana scolding him for that - using her skills as a counselor to tell him that it was okay to feel everything he was feeling.
But it would be so much easier to just give up - to just lie down and let whatever happened happen. He took a centering breath for a moment - it wouldn't be fair to anyone if he did that. It wouldn't be fair to Tatiana, his kid, his Newnan family, or hell, even Tiffany. Even if he had to just keep on going for the person immediately next to him, then it'd be enough of a motivator for him. Just enough to help him keep on walking towards their goal - towards the bug out location. And if he was lucky enough, maybe Tatiana would be there waiting for him - maybe she had made it out of Newnan alive.
He never really was one for religion. Sure, he would celebrate Hanukkah and Yom Kippur with his mom - but he rarely ever went to temple. But if Tatiana made it through this okay, then maybe there really was someone out there watching over him.
Guin had spent the night in the lab, working on finishing up a software package for P.H.I.L. Her A.I. only knew how to translate various dialects of Chinese, as well as most western European languages. In her opinion, it was a gaping hole in P.H.I.L.'s capabilities and something that needed to be remedied. It had taken her all night to get the dictionary settings uploaded, as well as grammatical structures. A few empty cans of Monster were next to her computer on her desk and Guin tapped a key, finishing the sync between P.H.I.L. and her computer.
She put on her glasses, noticing the computer readout, and quickly typed in a phrase on her computer for P.H.I.L. to translate. A moment later, a phonetic pronunciation of her translated sentence appeared on the lenses of her glasses and she grinned a little wickedly. It was time to trick Pietro into thinking she could speak Serbian. All she had to do was discretely type the sentence she wanted to say in English on her computer and the translation would appear for her to read on the lenses.
"1Pietro mi treba tvoja pomoć!" Guin called out. She knew that he was around the mansion somewhere and that he'd likely show up in a second or two. He was a speedster, after all.
Pietro, after having ran into Mira on his way down, made his way to the lab. He heard Guin as he got closer, and was surprised by what she had said, but he shook his head. Knowing Guin, she was using a computer or something. "2Čekaj, da li Phil ima reči na sočivima ili tako nešto i tako govoriš to? Oh dobro, dođi ovamo i pomoći ću ti." he responded, giving her a smile.
Guin made a face at Pietro, having read the provided translation by P.H.I.L. She hadn't tried to trick him like this before, had she? No, she would have remembered pretending to speak another language. It had been a brilliant idea she came up with around 1 AM - on par with other ideas of hers. One of her favorites had in fact inspired her outfit that day. She was dressed in Pietro's Pink Floyd t-shirt and his leather jacket (the skinny jeans were her own, as were the combat boots). She quickly typed out As if. I went to a fancy ass boarding school. We learned Serbian and P.H.I.L. displayed the translation of the blatant lie on the lenses.
"3Lepa gimnastička škola gde je došao srpski narod i razgovarao sa nama, bili su ludi."
It took him a moment to realize that she had taken his clothes, but he was somewhat used to it by now. He was more concerned with WHAT SHE HAD SAID! Pietro gave her a weird look, and it was obvious that something was wrong, and she didn't know that she hadn't said what she probably thought she said. He shook his head, deciding to keep playing along for a little while. "4Da, u redu, hej Phil, tvoj propast u toj užasnoj situaciji. Pretpostavljam da nemate pojma šta ste upravo rekli?"
Guin was used to Pietro giving her weird looks. After the chaos and the fighting against the Brotherhood had calmed down, they ended up running into a series of cultural barriers that neither of them had previously considered. Some of these barriers, as it later turned out, weren't actually cultural - and just a product of the unorthodox upbringings they both had. Pietro had grown up in a different country, eventually working for the Brotherhood for five years - and Guin's father was Tony Stark. They were both bound to be a little weird.
She decided that the best approach would be to double down. The translations of what Pietro was saying seemed to be fine, anyways. Guin quickly typed in her reply - I know exactly what I said. Now come over here and help me already, Silver Balls. "5Znam tačno šta da radim. Zabavno vrijeme kod obale jezera gdje se ubijamo jedni druge uz živahne kugle." P.H.I.L. then activated his voice simulator, attempting to apologize to Pietro.
"6Želeo bih da te ubijem mister testisa."
Now, he was starting to get a little freaked out, his jaw dropping. They both said something about possibly killing him. So, either Guin was really pissed off at him or, the more likely one he hoped, something was wrong with PHIL. "7Uh, mislim da bi Phil mogao slomiti Guina. Bez uvrede čoveka, ali ime je Srebrna kugla, a ne Mister Testicles."
P.H.I.L. then attempted to apologize to Pietro yet again, as well as inform Guin that there was an error in the translation program she had just installed. "8Još uvek želim da te ubijem Mister testisa. Gospođo Stark, verujem da možda želite da koristite čekić." Guin groaned at Pietro's response, pulling off the glasses and setting them down on the table.
"Fuck? Is he? Damn it - I spent all night working on that code," Guin said, huffing slightly. She crossed her arms, practically pouting, and a bit of hair ended up in her face. She blew on it, too annoyed to use her hands to remove it, and it simply went up and then fell squarely on her nose. This just wasn't her morning, apparently.
He did not know how to respond. That computer program was crazy! The P in PHIL didn't stand for prototype, it stood for PSYCHOPATH. He was starting to fear for his life on this one, and the fact that it took until now for her to realize that there was something up was a little sad in his opinion.
Guin plugged a small chord into the glasses, quickly pulling up the source code for P.H.I.L. Hopefully, it would be a simple matter of rebooting P.H.I.L. Otherwise, she'd need to dig through all of the code she had done and see if any of it had corrupted his personality matrix. From the way Pietro was acting, it was as if she had invented a murder bot - not that it would have been unusual for someone in her family. Once P.H.I.L.'s reboot cycle finished, Guin unplugged the glasses and then put them back on, typing in her test message to see if the bugs had worked themselves out.
How about now? Is the translation working, Silver Balls? If this message makes sense, kiss me. "9A sada? Gde ga udarim? Srebrni testisi, dođi ovamo da te udarim," Guin said with a bit of a wink.
He gave her another strange look, before backing away slightly. "Uh, no thanks, I'm good," he said, his voice a little shaky. She was scaring him a little, and clearly PHIL was mental still, and she had done nothing to fix him.
Guin sighed and took off her glasses, feeling a little hurt. Clearly, there was something either going on with Pietro or P.H.I.L. was still on the fritz. "Fine. I admit it. I don't speak Serbian. I speak English - sometimes - and math," Guin said, rubbing her eyes. She set the glasses down on the table, thinking about doing a full system wipe of P.H.I.L. and starting over from scratch. Maybe Gen II just wasn't meant to be. And of course, as hard as it was to add additional programing to artificial intelligence, she couldn't help but feel a little bit like a failure. She tried to make her A.I. be a better translator and instead, she was scaring her boyfriend apparently.
Pietro looked at her with a grin. "Yeah, I thought so. You would have been a better liar if you didn't have PHIL translating. With him translating I started fearing for my life." he replied.
Guin nodded for a moment before picking up her glasses and holding them out to Pietro. “You can get revenge on him if you want - stupid A.I.,” Guin grumbled. She was used to having everything come easily to her and it was clear she was more than a little bit frustrated with the program. In the back of her mind, she was reflecting on the code and trying to figure out how an error like they could have happened. “I couldn’t even flirt with you properly.”
"Yeah, do you really want to hear some of the things you said? Because I can guarantee you that you weren't saying what you thought you were saying," he said, shrugging his shoulders at her trying to fix the thing.
"I'd rather make out, but sure. I was up all night trying to revamp his language programming. Eastern European languages are always trickier to debug." Guin smiled slightly. It would be one way to take her mind off of things, kissing. While her mind was normally whizzing all over the place, as cliche as it was, she could always focus on him.
""So, PHIL lastly said "I still want to kill you Mister testicles. Miss Stark, I believe you might want to use a hammer" then you said "How about now? Where do I hit him? Silver testicles, get over here so I can hit you." Not to mention all of the other things you said, one about us killing each other by the lake with bouncy balls. That AI is psychotic."
Guin groaned, her cheeks flushing as she realized the things her A.I. had been saying to her boyfriend. It hadn't been anything even remotely close to the sentences that she had requested P.H.I.L. to translate for her. She glanced at the computerized glasses for a moment, debating with herself whether or not P.H.I.L. wanted her to die alone. She felt certain that this had to be an error in the personality matrix - it was either that or a protocol had been installed that she was unaware of. For a moment, she wondered whether this was a subtle attempt on her father's part to break her and Pietro up. He was the only one who would have had access to her A.I. and be able to implant the correct protocol so that way she wouldn't notice it. "Silver Testicles? Really, P.H.I.L.? That's gross - and a knock off of a waaay better name... Alright, sounds like I need to reboot his personality matrix. Well, wipe it and restore him to the original settings. Probably some sort of bug in the Serbian translation programming." She didn't mention her other thought to Pietro. As much as Pietro and her father fought, she really did want them to get along.
He let out a small laugh at her response to what PHIL had been having her call him. "Now, the first thing you said about boarding school or something? Well, what you actually said, didn't make me fear for my life, it just made me laugh. "Fancy dumb boarding school where Serbian people came and spoke to us, they were crazy." Everything you said was just weird at the beginning, but it slowly made its way to death threats."
"That's just fucking fantastic - guess I can add murderbot creator to the resume then," Guin quipped. "But that boarding school thing isn't entirely wrong - those places are dumb. Never send your kids to boarding school, Pietro. It just breeds loneliness, resentment, and egos....But is this a no to making out then?"
He continued to grin, before replying. "I don't know, it depends. Are you planning on hitting me over the head with a hammer like PHIL suggested?"
Guin rolled her eyes. If the bug really had been her father's design, she'd find out soon enough. J.A.R.V.I.S. was a terrible liar. "Not at the moment, no - and besides, the first time we met, I kneed you in the family jewels - and I'm pretty sure you let me, since you can move faster than my mind can even process images," Guin pointed out. She shifted slightly in her seat, putting her feet up against the deck, her knees bent slightly. She hadn't taken Pietro's jacket off either - though it was really her jacket at this point. Finders keepers, right?
He continued to smile. "Alright then, just wanted to make sure. Don't want to have to worry about you or you psychotic computer AI," he said, walking over towards her now.
Guin nodded, plugging a cable into the glasses and quickly typing a chain of commands into the command prompt. It wouldn't be too long a process to restore P.H.I.L. to the condition he had been in before this bug reared its head. And if the pattern of behavior happened again, then she'd know that her A.I. had been tampered with. And Tony would have to give her one hell of an explanation. "Mm, you should probably worry about me - but more over whether or not I drink myself to an early grave. Or start building metal suits to fight crime in," Guin teased. "Beast won't be back for a while, by the way~"
He let out another laugh, "Well, you do have a point with that one. You still can't outdrink me no matter how hard you try though." he thought for a moment, before speaking again, his voice flowing fluently in his native language. "Hej Guina, ako želiš da naučiš srpski jezik, mogao bih samo da te naučim da znaš."
Guin raised an eyebrow at Pietro and smirked. Rather than hearing that as it's scientifically impossible for you to outdrink me due to my accelerated metabolism, she interpreted it as a challenge. She had been attempting to find a specific compound that could be added to an alcoholic beverage that would allow Pietro to get drunk - without luck so far. But now she had even more motivation - she had to defend her self given title as the Heavy Weight Queen. "Gueen-ah? I'm guessing that's my name - it's kinda cute. But the rest of it...No idea what you just said, Silver Balls."
"Very perceptive of you, yes, that is your name. The rest of it? Well..." he said, hesitating slightly, before continuing. "I said, "Hey Guin, if you want to learn Serbian, I could just teach you you know.""
Guin tilted her head slightly at Pietro's hesitation. "Damn. Gotta admit it Pietro, you sound sexy," Guin said. But as to whether or not she truly wanted to learn Serbian? She had been programming P.H.I.L. in order to improve his capabilities - especially when it came to missions. She never even seriously considered learning the language for herself. Part of the prospect was frightening as well - as if it was the first step towards making a big commitment to Pietro. "You could. Mostly that's just to test PHIL's programming - eventually, I want him to be able to translate any language. And once I work out the bug, hopefully he won't be threatening bloody murder. But y'know - learning Serbian would be cool. I wouldn't mind it."
He gave her a nod,"Yeah, I'd hope that PHIL doesn't constantly want to kill people. "Alright then first lesson, try to guess what I'm saying. "Volim te Guinevere Stark. Nadam se da ćete popraviti taj kompjuter.""
Guin tapped her fingers on her knees as she thought for a moment. She had been able to pick out three words in that sentence - and two of them happened to be her name. She didn't have any clue with the rest of it. It wasn't like a romance language where she could follow the gist as long as she knew one of them. And the words, from what she could tell, didn't resemble any language she knew anyways. "Umm...Something Guinevere Stark. Something computer."
"Well, that wasn't too bad Guina," he said, grinning, he had finally come up with a nickname for her. Anyone else trying and it most likely wouldn't sound right. "What I said was: I love you Guinevere Stark. Hopefully you fix that psycho computer."
Guin blushed profusely. She actually had to blink back a bit of a tear. They had never actually said those words to one another - instead merely hinting at it and flirting with the idea of saying those three huge words. Even if she pretty much had known that Pietro loved her, this was indisputable proof of that. She hesitated for a moment, feeling the heat in her cheeks. "How do you say... 'I love you too, Pietro Maximoff. Now shut up and kiss me already!'?”
"I ja tebe volim, Pietro Makimoff. Sad ućuti i poljubi me već!" he replied fluently, still grinning.
"Right, um... I ya teba volim, Pietro Maximoff. Sad ukuti e polubi me vec. That was probably awful but really, if you don't kiss me now maybe the murder bot will come after you," Guin quipped. It was a lot easier to do the pronunciations with P.H.I.L. giving her a phonetic guide next to his translations. And of course, she couldn't help but giggle slightly, beaming widely at Pietro. She wouldn't have noticed if anyone else came into the lab at that moment.
He was still grinning as well, though her pronunciation could use some work. Clearly it was harder without the AI there helping her. "Actually, you were pretty close. Not too bad for not having PHIL there, we can work on it," he replied before he leaned in and kissed her.
Guin got out of her seat as Pietro kissed her, helping to make up for the height difference slightly but not completely. He was eight inches taller than she was - meaning that logistically speaking, he had to lean and she had to stand on her toes just a little bit to make it work. "Can we cuddle and watch Avatar the Last Airbender while we do that?" Guin asked in between kisses. Pietro's hands were in her hair and her arms wrapped around him.
Pietro was too caught up to notice the footsteps coming up behind them. "Sure, why not," he replied, still smiling. The footsteps grew closer, before another voice called out. "Guin? Are you in here?", the voice said as Lance Banner walked into the room.
Guin froze for a moment as she heard Lance. Why the hell was he here? And what hadn't he told her that he was coming to X-Mansion? She very carefully and slowly pulled away from Pietro's kiss, like a small child who was caught with their hand in the cookie jar. She then dropped her arms that had been around the speedster and turned to see Lance, her face as bright as a freshly picked tomato. "Oh...um...Hey Lance!" Guin said, very much aware of Pietro's arm on her waist.
It was obvious to Lance that she hadn't noticed him walk in, especially since she had called him by his actual name as opposed to Lando. Pietro was just as surprised and let go of Guin. "Wait, whose Lance?" he asked before turning around to see him standing there. There was an awkward pause before Lance spoke again. "Um, I just got here, and I knew that you were here, so I asked someone where you were..." he said, looking between Guin and Pietro.
"That's Lance - he was my lab husband in high school," Guin explained, before realizing that Pietro wouldn't know what that meant. "Basically, he was my lab partner in all things - not like a boyfriend or anything like that. And Lance, this is Pietro - my boyfriend," Guin then said.
They looked at each other, with Pietro's gaze seeming like more of a challenge. Lance didn't really care, he held out his hand, and the two shook. "Uh, I'm Lance Banner, or Lance Calrissian. Depends on who you ask. I've heard about you from Mr. Stark." he said to Pietro as the looked at one another. "Wait, Banner, as in like the Hulk?' Pietro replied, looking him up and down.
"Yup, Lance's dad and my dad are super tight," Guin explained. "If Dad ever told me he was gay, I'm 100% certain his first move would be to ask Banner out. I've known Lando here for ages," she then turned her attention to Lance, not noticing the tension already developing between him and Pietro. "I hope Dad didn't tell you any bullshit about Pietro. You know how dramatic Dad can be - well, me too I guess..."
"He just told me a little about his dad, but you know I don't let that sort of thing cloud my judgement of people, Lance replied, glancing over at Guin. "Wait, so which is actually your last name? Banner or Calrissian? Or do you just use the Star Wars character last name just because you can?" Pietro asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "My mother's maiden name, and the name that is n my birth certificate, is Calrissian. However, once people realized that my dad was Bruce Banner, everyone, including the teachers, started using that. Also, Guin, that thing about our parents is a little weird."
"It's 2020, man," Guin teased. She didn't care if Lance thought it was weird. Their parents were in a scientific bromance and she didn't see anything wrong with that. However, she couldn't help but smile as it seemed that Lance and Pietro would get along. "So what brings you to the institute, Lando?" Guin asked. She didn't know if he had just come by for a visit or if he was thinking about joining the team. She knew his opinion of the Avengers, but not of groups like the X-Men.
"Um... Well... I'm staying here at the institute, joining it really. Our parents were starting to annoy me a little bit, and I really wanted to learn more about my abilities, aside from self-teaching or something." he replied, looking down more at the ground now.
"Really? That's fucking fantastic. It'll be like when we were kids again, having sleepovers with Uncle Rhodey watching us," Guin gushed. "I've got a programming project I'm working on at the moment, but if you want, we can tinker around with something? Just like old times?"
"Maybe later, I was supposed to go check in with Professor Xavier, but I wanted to say hi to you first," he said, before walking towards the door. "See ya later Guin." After he had gone, Pietro let out a whistle. "Well... That was awkward."
Guin shrugged, before leaning her head against Pietro's upper arm. "He's just a little bit shy - but once you get to know him, you'll love him," Guin said, before lacing her fingers with Pietro's and clasping his hand. She couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of seeing Lance around more often. They had worked on the coolest experiments and designs together, since they were both heads and shoulders above the rest of the kids at MidTown Tech. Plus, Lance understood how it felt to have a parent that was an Avenger when no one else did.
"Right..." Pietro said, looking at her. She was so oblivious to everything that had just happened. Didn't she know that the guy liked her? He thought about telling her, but decided against it. He'd just have to see how it played out. "Anyway, what were we talking about before he showed up?"
"I believe we were making out," Guin mused, winking at Pietro once more.
1 = Pietro I need your help 2 = Wait, are you having Phil have words on the lenses or something and that's how your speaking this? Oh well, get over here and I'll help you. 3 = Fancy dumb boarding school where Serbian people came and spoke to us, they were crazy. 4 = Yeah right, hey Phil, your failing at it horribly. I'm guessing you have no idea what you just said do you? 5 = I know exactly what to do. Fun times by the lakeside where we kill each other with bouncy balls 6 = I wish to murder you mister testicles 7 = Uh, I think that Phil might be broken Guin. No offense dude, but the name is Silver Balls, not Mister Testicles. 8 = I still want to kill you Mister testicles. Miss Stark, I believe you might want to use a hammer. 9 = How about now? Where do I hit him? Silver testicles, get over here so I can hit you.
"Precaution," Nine answered simply when asked why she was aiming her gun at them. "Doesn't it strike you as a little strange that they were set aside from the rest of us? No reason why the sadistic motherfuckers that did this to us didn't put themselves in stasis as well to wait out the war," Nine reasoned. But once it was clear that the newcomers didn't have a clue what was going on, she lowered her weapon. Despite Two's efforts to previously get her to lower it, she had kept it aimed. As far as Nine was concerned, they weren't out of dodge - not just yet.
"And kid, we're gonna need weapons," Nine then pointed out. "If the war was over things with abilities - and given that they were sent here to destroy the lab, I'm not guessing we'll be welcomed with open arms anywhere. There'll be more people coming to kill us - probably until we die." It was a bit of harsh reality that didn't seem to be getting through to the kid. She went with the others to the storage room, hoping that there'd be answers for them - or at least something to get the bullet out of her arm. It wasn't bleeding too badly, mostly because the bullet itself was keeping the wound closed.
Once inside, her eyes instantly spotted the chest marked 9. This was it, then. She quickly moved over to it and gave the padlock a good hit with the butt of her gun. The padlock fell to the ground easily and Nine opened up the chest. The items inside were covered in dust and Nine didn't recognize any of them. There was a silver signet ring that Nine slipped onto her left thumb. It didn't have any distinguishing features that she could tell. There was a sketchbook and as she opened it up, a faded patch fell out of it. And despite having no memories of any of it, Nine found she could explain almost every design in there.
"I was a mechanic," Nine mused to herself. She next found a change of clothes and instantly changed into them, not caring who else was there. Once dressed in a tank top, leather jacket, pants, and combat boots, she felt a little more at ease - and less like a lab rat. She then picked up her discarded clothes and tore a long strip from what had been her shirt. It could be made into a makeshift bandage until they found something better and she wrapped it around her arm before tying it off. There was a small tool kit in there as well, complete with safety glasses and a blow torch. However, what caught her attention was the pocket knife and the loaded handgun, along with a spare clip.
For those of you new to our group - the date I've noted above is the current date your counter is on. Once your counter hits day 8, you are removed from the RP. I won't always remember to bug you about your counters, so please do keep track of them.
Location: Ville au Camp: Road Heading Towards Servants Quarters Skills: None
While Alicia's bedside manner could use some work, Andromeda got the message from both her and Eve rather clearly - she needed to calm herself. She made herself look away from the grisly scene and take a few centering breaths, attempting to put herself back in the memory of stargazing. But rather than the relative ease from a few moments ago, it was additionally challenging. Each time she felt like she had done it and found calm, vivid flashes of the bodies and such came back to her. She pinched her arm slightly and continued to take in deep breaths, until she was finally able to hold that feeling of calm without thinking about the blood.
Nancy locked eyes with George, knowing there was relatively little she could say that could comfort him. She knew exactly what had happened - and beyond being able to relate some with what had happened to Drem, there wasn't much advice she could give. As long a life as she had lived, she didn't know everything. And she certainly didn't want to know everything - it would take the randomness and chaos out of life, depriving it of its beauty. "Scrapbooking?" Nancy offered, her voice quiet and low. She knew it was one of George's hobbies and it partnered well with her skill in photography. For a moment, she considered offering to pose him and Peter - at one point in human history, photographs and portraits were done with the recently deceased. But it was too soon - too fresh. Whatever George needed to take his mind off of things, however he needed to process it, that's what they'd do.
"Gio, would you mind undoing these cuffs?" Nancy then asked, not bothering to explain herself to anyone else. Truthfully, she was also starting to become a bit irritated by the restriction in motion. It had made running here from the main house a bit of a challenge in balance and if she had to do a reading, it'd be a pain. She hadn't been especially close with Peter, yet it still pained her to see one of their own lying prone. Sure, he had been a bit stuffy - but so was Eve. And even Gio on occasion.
Andromeda gravitated over towards Alicia and Faith, sensing that Eve would have her hands full for the time being. The two that had just arrived - they weren't new Paradoxes. She felt certain of it. In that moment, she felt the gravity of the entire situation - and realized just how much training they would need. Whatever they were up against, it was deadly and cruel. She glanced at Alicia for a moment, wondering just what kept the Destruere from entering the grounds - but she decided to hold her question for now. They had just lost someone. It didn't seem like the time or place.
Fitz glanced down at his cards once more, giving them a proper look over. His hand wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either - it seemed to be somewhere squarely in the middle. However, Jahosafat's explanation that part of his reason he joined the crew was over looks caused Fitz to blush in a sort of second hand awkwardness. Had he said that back on Osiris, Fitz was fairly certain that whatever woman he was speaking out would promptly smack him silly - and then tell his twin, who would then proceed to beat him up once more.
However, he could understand the driving force that a sense of adventure could bring. "Th-that's sorta why I left Osiris," Fitz admitted. "N-n-not the good looks b-but the travel. Only s-so much you can learn from books a-and engines." He rubbed the back of his head a bit bashfully, before following Foy's explanation. At first, it sounded a bit classist to him - but then, he brought out what Fitz assumed was a tin of mustache cream. When Foy slid it across the table, though, Fitz recognized it instantly. "M-m-my f-father uses this stuff," Fitz said. "D-don't think I have the facial h-hair for it though, thanks," he then replied. He didn't want to waste it if someone else would actually use it.
Fitz then waited patiently for Jackie to take his turn, still mulling over what choice he would make exactly. Meanwhile, Dorothy had turned her attention fully to Mei. She had been a bit shocked at Daphne rebuking her, but she decided to just drop the subject. While she wasn't the best sibling out there in the 'Verse, she at least knew to respect Daphne's wishes - especially after everything that had happened that evening. "You'd be surprised - some people can do a bang up job even if they aren't called doctor this or that. Just matters if they got the skills," Dorothy couldn't help but mention. She had started her medical training as a small child in a bar, tending to her father and on occasion his customers after drunken brawls.
Dorothy then considered Dr. Townsley's question - why she had joined this crew. "I fought for the wrong side the first time around - thought it stood for something it didn't," Dorothy said. "Got red in my ledger. Abandoned my only family. It ain't a pretty story - but yeah, joined the crew to right some wrongs - hopefully I've got it the right way around this time," Dorothy admitted. While it was a bit of a personal story, she also felt it was an important one to share. There was a stigma about switching sides that Dorothy felt was counterproductive. People were human - they made mistakes. It mattered to her more what they did to make things right than what the mistake was in the first place.
Cecily couldn't help but feel a little bit relieved when she noticed Natasha had set the temperature for something decently cool. Even if she could deal with whatever temperature the car was at, she always found driving to be easier when she was cold rather than warm. It helped to keep her awake and alert. The warmer she was and the more tired she felt, the sleepier she became. She didn't want to end up being yet another statistic of drivers who died falling asleep at the wheel.
Cecily grinned at the choice of music, keeping her eyes on the road with the occasional glance over towards the GPS as needed, as well as the mirrors. "My roommate and I used to jam out to this on Just Dance all the time in college," Cecily said. She was moving her head slightly in time to the music as she drove. "If you want my future, forget my past / If you wanna get with me, better make it fast / Now don't go wasting my precious time /Get your act together we could be just fine," Cecily sang. It was nice - for a moment, she was back in her and Will's apartment, where her biggest worry was whether or not her NMR spectrum would come out looking okay after a challenging synthesis.
The rest of her problems and worries seemed to be a little bit further away.
Iris Kingston
Location: Justice Asylum Skills: None
Jaina paused for a moment. Where did Cynthia play hide and go seek? Well, wasn't that the point of the game - the location changes each time! She furrowed her eyebrows for a moment as she looked at Risa. Maybe this was the way the Brits played - maybe they only had a list of locations they could choose from? "Hmm I think it would depend on where she is," Jaina finally said. "Like at this asylum, I love the laundry room. It's beautifully equipped for hiding! Once, when I was on laundry duty, I found a person in the dryer! Totally a nifty hiding space. Maybe we should go look for her in a dryer? I don't think a washer would be nearly as comfortable, but we could try~! Oh, this'll be so much fun...Do we need to count to ten? I think we do otherwise it's not fair and cheating is wrong."
She then looked out the window before another brilliant idea popped into her head! "Oooh, I know how we can find her~! MARCO! MAAAAAAAAARCOOOOOOOOO! MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACOOOOOOOOOOO!" Jaina practically screamed. She then fell very quiet, listening to see if she could hear anyone shout back Polo. She held a hand up to her ear in order to make it easier to hear. "Huh, maybe we need to be louder! MAAAAAAARCOOOOOO!!!!!!" Jaina screeched.
Back in the asylum, Iris stared at Nurse Cratty dumbfounded. She knew that there was some cynicism in this field of work and that the job wasn't easy - but the nurse stared at the orderly as if he wasn't even a human being. That wasn't normal by any standards - it was desensitization to an extreme. And it didn't help that Iris began to feel rather childlike in comparison. If this was normal for a nurse to stare at a fallen coworker as if it was nothing...Odds were, Cynthia and Jaina wouldn't be rescued. They wouldn't get the help they needed.
"But we can do better than that," Iris insisted. "Two of our coworkers are dead. Two of our patients - who are not just a danger to others but themselves - are loose on the world. We can't just call the local precinct and...and write this off like it was nothing. 1C'est bizarre! C'est pas comment le monde marche," Iris paused for a second, tucking her hair back. "I...I didn't take this job to just sit back and do nothing. I want to help people - and I think the best way I can do that is letting Agent Tinder know. The cops aren't going to be enough to stop this from happening...These people need our help."
Present Day - The Castle: December 21st, 12,507 - 9:15 AM
@jdh97: Jadis' eyes flashed with a bit of amusement at Bell's excitement. There was a range of emotion amongst the Wendron Witches - yet above all, there was a spark of excitement and adventure. This was not just an important day for Valda - it was the dawn of a new age for their coven - for witches in the Small Wet Country Across the Sea. While wizards were revered and respected, witches were regarded as mere filth by most of the big movers and shakers in society. Maybe it was simply due to fear of something they could not understand - or perhaps the practices that witches kept that distinguished them from wizards. Whatever the reason, it was their reality - and now, they had a chance to change that.
In total, all but four members of the coven were going to attend Valda's coronation. Someone had to stay behind to protect camp, just in case anyone attempted to take advantage of the witches' many supplies that made life in the Forest easier than it would be otherwise. "Are we gonna snatch any little Castle children, Jadis?" one of the witches asked gleefully. They had made it to the North Gate. Jadis merely nodded in reply, before turning her attention to the two guards posted on the bridge. There was a hint of resentment in the guards' faces, but they allowed the witch coven to pass nonetheless.
@LadyRunic: Now, this map is incredibly detailed and valuable, having notes in the margins that detail Palace schedules and traditions. It's as if someone made it with Rhys in mind, knowing how useful a tool it could be to him. As he studies the map, he will notice a label called the Queen's Room in the easternmost turret of the Palace. Next to it is another explanation, underlined twice - Main entry is Concealed. The map also shows the expansive corridor that leads from the grand entrance of the Palace directly to the Throne Room called the Long Walk. Off the Long Walk are two other features of note - the bedrooms of Myrus and Princess Luna.
@KazAlkemi: Cuyler makes his way into the Castle with no trouble, with the guards at the South Gate waving at him cheerfully. They recognize most of the Northern Traders at this point, having to let them in and out of the Castle constantly. And whenever a Northern Trader stays out of the Castle walls past dark, they get to collect a small fee from them in order to open the gates for them. It's caused some of the guards that work evenings to have a healthy supply of silver guthrums lining their pockets. At the Traders Market itself, the place is bustling with activity. Some of the stalls have already sold out, with people scrambling to buy a coronation present for Crown Princess Valda.
There's no sign of Arya unfortunately, but two individuals will catch his attention. The first is an Ordinary Wizard by his robes - Jarvis Yule. The second has a traveled aura to him, with a wizened and slightly unkempt beard - Blaise Rowland. Cuyler can just barely make out their conversation - "It's a shame they're all so picked over...I wanted to get a surprise for my daughter," Rowland said to his friend. His friend then promptly replied, "I believe your presence will be a surprise enough for Arya."
@Nallore: The rat stood up on its hind legs, shaking out its limbs for a moment. "Are you Princess Luna of the Castle?" the rat then paused, waiting for Luna to confirm her identity. "Message from Golds for Princess Luna of the Castle. Message reads: Princess, wizards don't know everything. Sometimes you need to look at things from a different perspective. I can help you find what really happened to your mother. Meet me at Sally Mullin's tonight at dusk. Come alone." The rat then paused for a moment, looking at the princess with apprehension. "Would you like to send a reply, your highness?" As Luna would know, message rat communications are strictly confidential. Yet there is still just one problem - she won't have any idea who Golds could possibly be.
@BlueSky44: As the herald led Valda to the Throne Room, Puck was already awaiting her. He was of rather short stature, yet underestimating him was a mistake that many had done before. He lacked his sister's witchy blue eyes, his eyes instead hardened like stone. His face was marred by a lengthy scar, yet it only served to make him appear ever the more intimidating. As Valda entered the room, Puck bowed cleanly before rising to his full height. "Valda, my dear, you've grown since I saw you last!" Puck exclaimed. He knew the proper rules of etiquette, but he had known Valda since she was but a babe.
"Thank you, your majesty, for agreeing to meet with me under such urgent circumstances. I have two subjects of which I am afraid we must discuss before you are crowned," Puck began, not waiting for an invitation to begin. He wanted this to be dealt with quickly. "Before your mother died, we spoke of reinstating the Young Army in the Castle. Queen Meliscente and I did not always agree - but this was something on which we were in an accord. She had meant to make the declaration the day she died - and while I wish it could wait, you are in dire need of forces, princess. Half of your guards believe that you have the Queen's blood on your hands and the other half will not respect you because of your Magyk."
"My troops lack bias - they do not see you as a murderer or a pretender to the throne, princess. I am offering you the support of the Young Army, in exchange for the permission to create a base here in the Castle," Puck said. He then paused for a moment, before pulling a dragon ring from his pocket. "I then offer you myself, Princess Valda, and all of my expertise," Puck said, before bending down onto one knee. "I do not imagine that you care for me - but you will need help, Princess Valda. We have been friends for many years, have we not? Allow me to help you rule the Castle by your side - as your husband."
Arya Rincewind
Location: Wizard Tower - 21st Floor
Breakfast was rapidly assembling itself, while Arya was fetching the formal robes she and Atkin would require for the ceremony. Botts' Cloak Emporium was the gold standard in her opinion - as well as almost every other person in the Castle's opinion. She had placed the order as soon as possible, hoping that Atkin's measurements would not change too drastically by the time the robes were prepared. She hated having to use Charms on clothing - there always seemed to be such a large potential for it to be not just quite right - and she expected perfection. With practice Arya knew that she would be able to master clothing alteration spells herself but she didn't see much of a point in it - she'd rather practice Magyk that boggled the mind and the senses.
"Who the bloody hell could that be?" Arya muttered, hearing a sharp knock on the door just as she was about to sit down. Tea had been poured for both of them - two scoops of sugar and a spot of cream in Arya's, with Atkin's prepared identically. The tea kettle had been attempting to figure out Atkin's favorite way to have tea, trying a different combination each day. Arya had only had to intervene when the kettle attempted to add ale to the cup. There was decently sized pile of biscuits, the heat rising and just able to be seen in the air, with two types of jam available - raspberry and heather-berry.
Arya rose from the table and headed quickly over to the door, opening it to find a messenger from the Palace. The conversation was quick and brief - with the highlight being another request from the Palace. "I'll be over within the hour," Arya told the messenger, before closing the door and returning to the breakfast table. "They want me there early to ensure the Palace is secure - of course I did mention that this would be necessary last week but they didn't listen...Atkin, you'll have the morning off. The spells will be a bit too advanced for you. You'll be needed at the Palace at 11:30 for final preparations," Arya continued, picking up her cup and taking a sip of her tea. She wished she had the time to properly enjoy it.
"And while you are very much aware you are not to go into the Pyramid Library alone, if you do find yourself in there, make sure to replace everything exactly where you found it," Arya added. She quickly finished her cup of tea before smiling slightly at her apprentice. She knew that anything she declared off limits would only increase his desire to go there. "Your dress robes will be at your desk - if you need help with them, ask Jarvis. He's got a knack for these sort of things," Arya finished, before picking up her own dress robes and heading up the staircase to her room.
Nera Hawthorn
Location: Port Witch Coven House
"Of course, Fleur," Nera said with a soft smile. It was true that she tended to be a bit old fashioned in her own customs and mannerisms. She grew up as the servant's daughter, before leaving for the Badlands to become an apprentice - a pupil. Her life had been filled with titles and various rules of etiquette - it was a hard habit to break, even if Fleur had insisted before not to refer to her as Witch Mother. She reached up for a moment, adjusting the hairpin she had chosen to wear that day. She only took it out for special occasions - and certainly, this qualified as one.
"I believe the warlock is in his cave," Nera quipped, referring to the dreary cell that Malekith insisted was a room. She didn't bother to hide her distaste for him in front of Fleur. While he was a member of the Port Witch Coven, he posed a threat and a danger to them. He was not someone that could be reasoned with. Some men wanted for money - others power, love, attention. Malekith wanted only for bloodshed and suffering. Those were two demands that Nera did not wish the Port Witch Coven to fulfill for him. And should she ever suspect a member of plotting to overthrow Fleur, it would be him.
It wasn't long before Nera spotted Malekith in the hallways. She disliked the idea of leaving this to chance - and she was also confident that she would be able to sneak them into the ceremony if needed. But Fleur was her Witch Mother and she would respect her requests. "Perhaps after we deal with the new Queen, we make a witch out of her sister," Nera suggested. If they were to CradleSnatch Luna - even if she was a bit old for it - then the Port Witch Coven would sit on the throne. They would only have the Wendron Witches to oppose them.
Of course, the relative silence of the house was broken as there was a large racket at the door, with someone banging their fist against it repeatedly. "YOU STINKIN' WITCHES CURSED ME BOAT! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS! DEMON SCUM THE LOT OF YOU!"
Myrus Silvers
Location: Servants Quarters - The Palace
Myrus hesitated for a moment as Lyra opened her door for him, in order to allow him entrance. He had never been in a girl's room before - well, he had been in his sister's, but that didn't count. His cheeks turned a light shade of red before he nodded slightly and entered, trying as ever to be the diplomatic prince his mother had hoped he would become. Once he was inside the room, he realized that it wasn't too terribly frightening. It seemed to have just about all the same things any room did - wardrobe, desk, bed...
He then cleared his throat and nodded. "I'm well, thanks. I mean - today is a bit hard," he admitted, his smile fading for a moment. As much as he wanted to be happy for Valda, the coronation was only happening because his mother was dead. Once Valda was crowned, the reign of Queen Meliscente would officially come to a close. It was as if his mother was about to truly die a lasting death - the death of becoming irrelevant and forgotten. He then held the book out in front of him, its title in gleaming gold letters.
"If you wouldn't mind...Could you deliver this? I have a friend - Mavis Moll - she lives on Alchemie Way in the Pye House, room 106," Myrus requested. He turned the book slightly, about to open it up to show it to Lyra, when a piece of paper fell out from in between the pages and hit the floor. Myrus bit his lip before bending down to pick it up, before looking at it in confusion. It appeared to be some sort of portrait - yet he had never seen one like it before. He knew that there were talented painters who could achieve realism - but this looked as if someone had actually captured life to its each and every detail, as if they had made an imprint of reality on paper.
"This...this is weird. Take a look," Myrus said, before passing the paper to Lyra. The scene had a bunch of weirdly dressed people, in strange and constraining garb. They were fighting on a land that appeared to be covered in hardened tar, with imposing structures on either side of them and odd contraptions made of metal. In the upper righthand corner, there is the barest hint of a word - perhaps a scribe could enhance the photograph. "Does that look like the Lagoon to you, maybe?" Myrus asked. He had never heard of any land that looked like that and he didn't understand why it would be in an Alchemie text from the Land of Long Nights either.
RPM
Achronum
kittyluna45
Scrawl Banditta
Not a Sayan
KazAlkemi
Neziul
Kirah
