Psyker Landshark

Cacophony Concord

Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 5040/5040 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

Raiding supply lines was alright, Amulak supposed. He still really wanted to go burn down some villages instead, but apparently simulated video game atrocities just didn't sit well with the others. Oh, well. There's always next time.

His own part in the group's battle tactics was exactly how he liked it. Sit back, make minions, and take advantage of the fact that he'd implanted Weishaupt into Leif to use his mobility as a scout. Now he wasn't playing a MMO, he was playing a RTS. Stanislaw was in his element. Anything that Leif saw, he'd deploy his minions alongside the guy's wolves as bait before moving in for the kill. Plus, Amulak could still contribute even hanging back, since Weishaupt let him cast through the implantee as a conduit.

[Party]: How's it feel being a zergling, Leif? I feel like I'm back in fucking IEM again, like the good old days.

Amulak typed through text chat, keeping a watchful eye out even from his camping hiding spot.

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

What an absolute mess. The entire library burnt down in the span of a night, allegedly by the mad Frenchwoman, no less? Frankly, it all just seemed too convenient to Valeriya. After having been raised as a spy for most of her life, she knew this was better than average odds this was some sort of frame-job. The pieces fit together too well, as if by design.

Still, that didn't mean any of this was her problem. Let her peers run to Jeanne's aid. She had an interest in the case, but not enough to make herself noticed. Let all the do-gooders make it their problem. She had a job to do.

And so, Valeriya spent the remainder of the morning tinkering away in a workshop, nodding in satisfaction once she'd finished with her device. A quick test ensured that it worked how she'd designed it to. Perfect. Now to check up on her actual projects.

___

A few hours later, Valeriya emerged from her workshop after making some progress on her current armor and guns. Time for a late lunch. As she explored the island, she accidentally bumped into an Oriental girl also looking around.

"Ah, my apologies. You are unhurt?" Valeriya asked, backing away slightly.

@Vega7285

Cacophony Concord

Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 5040/5040 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

Well, shit. Amulak hadn't realized he was the only one with a concrete plan of action in mind on what to do. While that was a relief for him getting what he wanted, he couldn't help but feel like a bit of a dick for having the group go his way. Oh, well. If there was a problem, someone would vocalize it eventually and they could work it out. Probably. It was the current year, would someone really be enough of a passive-aggresive dickhead to keep their issues to themselves until shit boiled over? Naaaaaah.

Everything leading up to the recruitment office reinforced the belief that at the very least, the Mora-Sho were definitely the clan for Amulak himself. The sign was fucking hilarious on its own. The recruitment officer just had Amulak nodding and grinning.

"Of course I am!" Amulak cackled Slavically. "Want to start getting into world PvP, not just arena. You have initiation test or some shit?"

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Valeriya's investigation of the locking mechanisms had actually gone rather well. Breaking some of the bricks apart had revealed the wiring that gave the room the properties of the Starsteel Formula. Of course, cutting it right away would have given the game up from the start. A single room blinking out in the network would be too obvious. That was, if it stayed blinked out. Still, she had an idea or two on how to do that. Once she'd finished and covered her handiwork up by hanging a wall painting over the broken brick, Valeriya debated reporting her results to Lucretia.

Well, she'd considered it until she'd noticed the little German girl in deep thought. Eh, best not to bother her for the moment. Might disrupt her concentration. There was always the morning to catch her up, after all. And with that, Valeriya went off to bed not half an hour after she'd begun her investigation.

___

"SCHEISSE!!" Was a cry that woke Valeriya up immediately, the loud shout immediately putting her into a state of combat readiness thanks to her training. What the hell was going on? Were they under attack? The Russian teenager shot out of bed, her eyes scanning the room to find out exactly what was going on...

"SCHWARZRITTER! AKTIVIERE!!"

...Only for her to be greeted with the sight of Lucretia about to do exactly what she'd been afraid of last night. God help her, it was too early in the morning for this shit.

"Lucretia, no!" Valeriya shouted hurriedly, immediately jumping out of bed as she tried to get the god damned German to stop. "Call it off! Now!"

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Lucretia von Königsmähne

@Psyker Landshark @Izurich

---

---

The locks suddenly slamming into place was cause for alarm. The obvious implementation of the Starsteel Formulization immediately afterwards made it clear what was going on. The people in charge of Bermuda really took curfew seriously, didn't they? Still, this was going to pose an immense problem for her to get her job done. There was always the option of just being out before curfew began, but if there was an option to beat this lockdown, she needed it in her back pocket.

Unfortunately, the Ministry's training for working around the Starsteel Formulization wasn't particularly helpful here. Brute force, destruction of the engine powering it, or creating a blackout didn't particularly help when it was her own dormitory.

Fortunate that Valeriya had another Technologist to consult with in here. Glancing over from her side of the room, she saw that Lucretia was still awake. So why not try to think of something? At the very least, it was an interesting thought exercise.

"Lucretia," She called out, sitting atop her bed. "Any interest in the Starsteel Formulization? I can't say I'm going to very much enjoy being constantly locked in every night without an option to get around it."

Truth to be told, due to her mental and physical exhaustion, mostly the former, Lucretia was already asleep by the time the clock were a few seconds away from striking ten o'clock. However, the unexpectedly loud chime that reached even the faux British castle of her dorm managed to disturb the German girl. To begin with, Lucy had never been a deep sleeper as it took effort to empty her mind of thoughts, there was always something to do, plants to make, projects to muse, a neverending turn of the neural industry.

"N... nnngh..." With barely-audible groans, the young girl's eyelids fluttered open, a blank look on her eyes for those precious few seconds as her mind geared back to life. This was certainly an unwelcome development, she really needed the sleep. "...?" However, any annoyance she might have expressed took second priority to intrigued curiosity as her emerald pupils focused on the world around her, specifically the constellations of the divine formula. They had grown denser, thicker, deliberately spun to be far more convoluted than they should be. She recognized this, knew this, as any Technologist worth their craft should, let alone a prodigious genius among geniuses.

"Starsteel..." Lucretia whispered to herself before she heard her name being called, Latin words spoken with that distinct feel of Russian accent, "Yes, Miss Zhukova?" She replied back, now seated on her bed, her pillow right behind her, "Yes. It's a brilliant invention by the Japanese Technologist, Mr. Sukuro Jinga, that's considered a breakthrough in the field of security, specifically against Technologists." She got talking quick, now with her interest piqued.

The silver-haired girl then scooted on her bed until her bare feet touched down on the carpeted floor, she immediately made her way toward the now-locked door of their massively spacious bedroom, "It seems to be connected to this curfew... a curious choice since Starsteel Formulization by itself isn't enough to truly secure something, you'll need sturdy material as well to prevent unauthorized actors from simply breaking in or out via... well, brute force." A proper bunker should have both thick steel doors and Starsteel Formulas, not just either one. So... if the school administration truly intended to lock the students in after curfew, why would they not do this? Hmmm...

Arriving at the door, Lucy's eyes closely examined the altered formula there, deep in thought, her savant mind already working on the puzzle. Even if it was a 64 by 64 Rubik's Cube, could it hold out against her wits?

Valeriya joined Lucretia at the door. If the German was going to brute force the Formula, she may as well go for the mundane method. After all, someone had to take it into consideration. Had she left Lucretia to her own devices, she may as well do something idiotic like order her robot to break the door down.

"Well," She began, starting to examine the doors and windows for any hidden locks or mechanisms. "I believe the intent is that while we could break the doors or windows down, whoever is in charge would notice the obvious damage and draw the logical conclusion. So while we could break out that way, we'd be caught instantly the next day. The Formula prevents us from simply repairing the damage the easy way. Hm..."

In truth, it'd be the exact opposite, Lucy would never even think of using Schwarzritter to brute force their way through, certainly not when its mistress had this treasure trove of a puzzle to clash her mind against. Admittedly, there weren't many technologist formulizations that the German savant couldn't understand or at least figure out at a rapid pace, this was one such exceptions. Perhaps... Valeriya was projecting herself a bit too much here to have such a backwards opinion on her roommate's motivations.

"An interesting perspective..." The younger student answered, her voice almost a murmur as most of her mind was focused on untying the Gordian Knot before her, "So it's simply a method to screen students followed the rules and those who didn't..." It was a test then, more of a mental boundary than a physical one. A worthy opponent indeed, see if she could outsmart it, see if she could prove to Mr. Sukuro that his so-called Starsteel Formula wasn't so stellar after all.

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Did...did Lucretia not understand what she meant? Valeriya blinked in mild surprise as the German girl seemed to not understand what she was getting at. After a moment, she decided to just go with it. Forget it, then. If Lucretia didn't know what she was talking about it, it wasn't her problem. She'd learn about the birds and the bees eventually.

Now that she was done unpacking, though, there wasn't quite much to do for the rest of the night besides sleep, was there? There was the option of breaking curfew to start scouting around the campus at night and get the lay of the land, but two factors told Valeriya that would be a poor idea, at least for tonight.

First, there was a good chance that the staff would be far more vigilant on the first few nights, before routine and lack of excitement set in. There was little point in not patiently waiting for a better window in which to sneak out.

Second, all that dancing earlier in the evening had worn her out somewhat. Valeriya was in very good physical shape, as befitting a trained spy, but dancing was still a good amount of exertion. No, if she were caught or if something untoward happened, it was too much of a risk, as tired as she was.

So with a mental shrug, she started pulling out some more comfortable clothing to sleep in from her just-unpacked garments, briefly glancing over to check on what the German girl on the other side of the room was doing.

Cacophony Concord

Amulak al Acturus (Stanislaw)
HP: 2370/2370 MP: 5040/5040 SP: 460/460
Character Sheet

Well, Mags and Raime got to the point he'd wanted to make. What to do? What side to take? Amulak knew what he wanted, but as for whether the others would go for it, that was up in the air. Still, might as well try if they were all making their cases now.

"I think you guys know what the fuck I want to do. Very obvious, yes? Take Mora-Sho side, go PvP hard. However, I do not want to be dickhead that breaks up group. If you guys want to do merc work, I will do merc work and join Mora-Sho some other way." Hopefully, he'd get want he wanted. Realistically, there was no chance in hell.

Amulak turned his attention back to the conversation, joining in.

"Africa, huh? When you visiting Poland anyway? Come to Krakow, we get drunk." He turned to Leif, flipping him off right back. "Anyways, yes, dumbass, you can change classes. Build multiple off each other. You grind how much and not realize this?

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Well, if nothing else, the end of the ball had been a splendid diversion. Valeriya was more than certain she'd cemented herself in the minds of more than a few boys and girls among her peers. Perfect if she ever required connections for one issue or another. Or if she just wanted a different bedmate for a night. Not that the two were separate, of course.

Her assigned quarters were...interesting, to say the least. Of all the possible options, a British-style castle wouldn't have been at the top of her list for a place to live. Still, she couldn't complain. It certainly beat her quarters back when she'd been in training at the Ministry.

Valeriya's roommate was even more of an unexpected occurrence. What were the odds that she'd be sharing her quarters with one of the more notable students of the lot? And an utter brick wall in social terms, at that? Still, like with the quarters itself, she supposed it could be worse. Lucretia didn't seem inclined to be the first one to speak, so Valeriya supposed she'd have to be the one to start setting ground rules.

The Russian hadn't brought too much luggage with her. Well, most of her materials and prototypes were already shipped to Bermuda's armory. So all she really had to unpack were clothes and the tools of her trade. Once those were squared away, she decided it was high time to make some attempt at socializing with the German. At least she had a better handle on the girl's personality, now.

"Lucretia," Valeriya approached from across the room. "I thought it best if we establish some boundaries considering we'll be dorming together. I doubt we'll have many issues most of the time. I won't bother you, you won't bother me, though feel free to if you wish. At night, though..." She paused, thinking of how best to phrase this to a thirteen-year old before deciding to simply be blunt.

"Occasionally, I may invite other students into the dormitory and into my bed. Even with the partition, there may be some noise at night, and I apologize in advance should that disturb you. If it's too much, I'll make an effort to use the rooms of others instead. And I'll likely be doing so half the time regardless. That's all, really. Any objections?"

She paused, smirking as a thought struck her.

"Of course, you could always join in, if you were so inclined."

-FV-

The only reason Jin-Sun didn't intervene was because he could see from the wind-up that the attempted punch had absolutely nothing in terms of power behind it. God, how the hell were this kid's parents raising her? It was like Kyouko, but worse.

So instead, the cyborg just sighed and took another sip of orange juice as Victoria finally took her seat. As weird and mildly annoying this situation was, he still owed it to Mason to be polite to the kid. Therefore, Jin-Sun simply pretended nothing out of the ordinary had happened, and nodded in response to the girl finally answering his question.

"Okay, cool. Anyways, good to finally meet you, Victoria. Pick whatever off the menu, our treat."

Qualia: Mission Sub Rosa

Valeriya Zhukova

Well. Bang danced better than Valeriya expected for a cripple. Still, she could see that he was tiring. After just one round of dance, Valeriya disengaged herself, favoring him with a slight smile as she made a quick excuse to leave. After all, she wasn't looking to kill the boy. Another round of that might as well have him collapse, from what she could see.

The Russian engineer snatched another glass of all-too-weak wine champagne for herself, looking around for somewhere to sit and keep herself occupied. She could continue to go after her target, but being too pushy might just tip him off. Best to lay low for the moment. But where to sit...ah.

The only table near her with available seating just so happened to be occupied by one von Konigsmahne. So with no better options and without further ado, Valeriya took a seat at Lucrezia's table, resting one leg on her knee as she took a swig of bubbly.

"And here I thought they said Germans have no sense of joy." Valeriya remarked, taking note of the slight smile on Lucrezia's face and following her gaze. "So what strikes your fancy more, then? The music, or Herr Steiner?"