"Can you light candles, or lanterns with your abilities? I've got some left overs. Maybe just keep one or two on you."
He shrinks the cane back down and returns it to his collar.
"You can follow the arrows with him, and I can grab you some food if you want. Won't take long. I hate it when people are hungry. Though, if you stay a little hungry, you can't fall through things any more."
He glances around at the stands.
Better that she didn't move. Dropping a stand hurts...
"I can't even make the tiniest spark. Well, not without a match anyways," she said with a laugh. "I'm a huge disappointment to my parents."
"Oh, don't worry about it...I can get food for myself. I don't mind. I...uh....need more at a time than you might think," she added, blushing slightly. "Let's just get Pyry enrolled before anything else happens that might let him put it off,"she added cheerfully.
Other distractions and issues complete, Aanandareavekki headed out into the hallway and fairly quickly, ran into the couple that is Maya and Vare walking aimlessly, in her general direction. Perhaps the school adjusted the course for interception, one might never know.As they were walking along, Vare would notice that Maya's humor and such, seemed to diminish as Aanandareavekki came into view for the woman at his side. She seemed almost altered at the sight of the Head of Security.
Just in case he didn't notice right off, she even stated she was approaching, "Oh, it's the Head of Security, she's coming towards us. We were going to speak before our jaunt out of the SIM Room. I had best inquire as to her status."
An attentiveness blossoms there, or eagerness, it would seem, that wasn't immediately noticeable before-- not that Vare is the Professor of Perception or Sense Motive.
To further emphasize this, Maya actually gives Aanandareavekki a wave to get her attention while stopping any forward movement.
"Ah, there you are...apparently you can leave the SIM rooms...I apologize for the delay. It's been one crisis after another all day. Well, I guess that's not so unusual. There's always something around here. Now...I've totally forgotten your name. If you ever told me what it was in the first place. Sorry. It's been a long weekend. In the bad sense. Ah, I'm Aananda Sunwake, by the way," she said, holding out her hand. "And you've already met Professor Vare I see."
Still unaware that she has company, Ginni starts to sort the loose sheets of music into piles. She ends up with five separate piles. She appears to be debating which one to work on now. Eventually she settles on one, and sets the others aside for now. It has to be this one, she thought. This one was for Morrivan. Maybe it would actually help. She sat down, music in front of her and started to run through this song, trying to figure out what kind of accompaniment would work best for it.Mel sat quietly listening. then when the song was done Mel makes a few adjustments to the recording. including a keyboard accompaniment. then once finished her mix. she replays it into the recording studio for Ginni to hear.
"Wha!" Ginni jumped, startled, when the playback started. She had thought she was alone.
"Oh, Mel, you scared me. I didn't even know you were there....oh," she trailed off, blushing and trying unsuccessfully to hide behind her guitar when she realized that there was a stranger there as well.
"Ah, there you are...apparently you can leave the SIM rooms...I apologize for the delay. It's been one crisis after another all day. Well, I guess that's not so unusual. There's always something around here. Now...I've totally forgotten your name. If you ever told me what it was in the first place. Sorry. It's been a long weekend. In the bad sense. Ah, I'm Aananda Sunwake, by the way," she said, holding out her hand. "And you've already met Professor Vare I see."
Looking at the hand and then up to Aananda's face, Maya extends her hand and greets with a shake.
"Hello. Yes-- I apparently am able to leave the room, self propelled, thank goodness. I am named Maya Catherine Rhys. I ... have the strangest urge to hug you, and give you an accurate accounting of my status. I believe my melding with your computer systems has had a slight bonding, experience."
Maya studies Aananda's face much like a daughter might their mother's, seeking a connection with eagerness born of familiar ties-- or in her case, software security protocols.
"Professor Vare was willing enough to escort me, so that I was always in company of a staff member, thus, not freely roaming. A pleasure to meet you, officially and in ...well, as I am now."
She smiles warmly at Aananda, then stands in place, her full attention on the Head of Security. If someone were to quickly speculate at the manner and expression, 'hero worship' or idolization, might be an appropriate read of Maya's manner.
"Well...I was asked by Royston to look at the scene of the crime, and see if I could find anything useful. I found the tracks of the gal leading from the school to the area she was attacked. She was...shuffling her feet from a certain point on. At that point, I saw the track of an adolescent human, probably male.
It looks like perhaps, because of the change in tracks, like she was mezmerized or otherwise manipulated away from the school to be attacked.
Like I told Royston, I don't know why he'd lead her that far away from the school, there were plenty of obscured places closer to do the deed."
"The wards. They wouldn't have let him attack her if she was still inside them. He led her outside the wards....but....she was resisting? Potentially. Or at least this mental control seems to be a bit awkward. He was better at holding people still. Or there's some other explanation....you said you found one footprint? No more than that? Not even leading up to where you found the print?"
The young man, who has a definite hardened look to him, with sharp features that seem to show defiance despite the current situation, stares at his questioner. "Vincent" Comes the terse reply.
"Alright, Vincent. Why were you shooting at us?"
Looking at the hand and then up to Aananda's face, Maya extends her hand and greets with a shake.
"Hello. Yes-- I apparently am able to leave the room, self propelled, thank goodness. I am named Maya Catherine Rhys. I ... have the strangest urge to hug you, and give you an accurate accounting of my status. I believe my melding with your computer systems has had a slight bonding, experience."
Maya studies Aananda's face much like a daughter might their mother's, seeking a connection with eagerness born of familiar ties-- or in her case, software security protocols.
"Professor Vare was willing enough to escort me, so that I was always in company of a staff member, thus, not freely roaming. A pleasure to meet you, officially and in ...well, as I am now."
She smiles warmly at Aananda, then stands in place, her full attention on the Head of Security. If someone were to quickly speculate at the manner and expression, 'hero worship' or idolization, might be an appropriate read of Maya's manner.
Aananda appears to be at a bit of a loss.
"Ryo is never going to let me live this down," she muttered.
"Well, uh, Maya...perhaps we should head over to my lab....those security protocols were never intended to be applied to a sentient being...they seem to come with some er....unintended side effects."
"Because I was paid to"
"Who paid you to do this, Vincent?"
Aananda appears to be at a bit of a loss.
"Ryo is never going to let me live this down," she muttered.
"Well, uh, Maya...perhaps we should head over to my lab....those security protocols were never intended to be applied to a sentient being...they seem to come with some er....unintended side effects."
Laughing good naturedly, at the potential seriousness, Maya says, "Oh, I'm certain there are some mental limits in place right now-- but, I'm not quite sure, unless you're a high powered telepath, how those can be undone, straight away. Are you a telepath? I'm happy to assist."
Maya for the most part is focused on Aaananda at this point, ready to go along with, or perhaps hop through a hoop.
"I have the oddest urge to call you Mum. I think your computer system is nearly sentient, if not already, just to share. This is quite an enjoyable state of mind to be in, I must remark-- being witness too, and yet, not minding, the thought process."
She stands and smiles, then looks over at Vare without really acknowledging him briefly before saying, "I apologize if I lost focus on you, Wizard Vare. I fear my decisions are slightly ...inclined to respond to Professor Sunwake. My apologies if I leave you out of this conversation. I'm /quite/ certain that this can be resolved by Aananda Sunwake."
She certainly sounds certain. The idolization is still present, and it's clear that she's rambling a touch more than necessary-- the flesh meets the programming, or something.
"Just to reiterate, I'm quite thrilled I'm alive and talking."
Dave mummers hmm a curse to prevent deceptions could prove useful...
Mel smiles at Ginni. amused by her sudden fright.
Hi Ginni, sorry to startle you, don't you rememeber Arthur here? or haven't you met. I'm sorry, This is Arthur, he's my co-pilot well more like a flight instructor actually.
Mel slips into the recording room That song was great, you really do have talent. I'm a little jealous actually.
she adds with a grin.
so what brings you in here anyway? Is everything OK?
"My boss" He says with small, infuriating smile.
"What is the name of your boss?" Jiminy said, not letting any hint of irritation show.
Mel smiles at Ginni. amused by her sudden fright.
Hi Ginni, sorry to startle you, don't you rememeber Arthur here? or haven't you met. I'm sorry, This is Arthur, he's my co-pilot well more like a flight instructor actually.
Mel slips into the recording room That song was great, you really do have talent. I'm a little jealous actually.
she adds with a grin.
so what brings you in here anyway? Is everything OK?
"Ummm....hi, Arthur," she said shyly, still blushing. "I...I have really bad stage fright. I don't usually let people watch me perform," she explained.
"Umm....everything isn't really okay, no," she said turning her attention back to Melody. "I...I came here for a couple of reasons. Partly to dissipate some of the psychic resonance between us from earlier. Writing songs seems to help. But also...Morrivan is in the infirmary. She's...she couldn't handle it...and..." she paused, trying to choke back tears. "...and I was just trying to find some way to deal myself....a couple of friends of ours....they didn't come back after the attack. One of them was Morrivan's cousin. That song...it's for Morrivan."
Laughing good naturedly, at the potential seriousness, Maya says, "Oh, I'm certain there are some mental limits in place right now-- but, I'm not quite sure, unless you're a high powered telepath, how those can be undone, straight away. Are you a telepath? I'm happy to assist."
Maya for the most part is focused on Aaananda at this point, ready to go along with, or perhaps hop through a hoop.
"I have the oddest urge to call you Mum. I think your computer system is nearly sentient, if not already, just to share. This is quite an enjoyable state of mind to be in, I must remark-- being witness too, and yet, not minding, the thought process."
She stands and smiles, then looks over at Vare without really acknowledging him briefly before saying, "I apologize if I lost focus on you, Wizard Vare. I fear my decisions are slightly ...inclined to respond to Professor Sunwake. My apologies if I leave you out of this conversation. I'm /quite/ certain that this can be resolved by Aananda Sunwake."
She certainly sounds certain. The idolization is still present, and it's clear that she's rambling a touch more than necessary-- the flesh meets the programming, or something.
"Just to reiterate, I'm quite thrilled I'm alive and talking."
"Well...I'm glad that the alive and talking thing worked out for you anyhow," she said weakly. "I'm not a telepath actually. So we may not be able to do anything until morning when Miss Jones gets back. But I'd at least like to know what's going on exactly. I...am aware that my computer system is nearly sentient. But I don't think it's quite at the place where it would cross that line. I've tried to be careful about that...due to ethical concerns. You can't create a sentient being and treat it like a servant. That would be wrong. It would have to have its own free will. But then it could do anything, and...well...."
"Umm....how old are you exactly?" she asked. "It's just that, I'm going to feel considerably weird about it if you start calling me Mum and you're actually older than my kids."
Laughing at the situation, Maya says, "Well, biologically speaking-- I was around 32 when I, thought I died. So I was an adult. I .. not to worry, Professor Sunwake, I can resist the Mum comment, but there is an urge. I'm quite alright resisting urges-- have done so in the past, when I was a staff member of a program for exceptional beings. But, I digress. Given enough time, I'm fairly certain I could clear these things up, or with the assistance of a proper telepath, sort them out. I am rather excited by all this, hence the good naturedness and completely unprofessionalism I am sporting at this moment, my apologies."
Casually speaking, as if this were all the simple sort of talk similar to speaking of weather or clothing, Maya continues, "I so agree with that statement about sentient being and servitude, it would be quite against the innate freedom that any self and externally respecting individual ought to possess. We had similar mindsets where we came from, it's good to know such thinking is a universal standard."
She beams with pride at Aananda's thinking.
After a mere moment she adds, "Right then-- No Mum, no hugs. Resisting said urges. I was usually quite prim and proper-- I suppose being reborn does have it's .. adjustments. Nothing that can't be over come, however!" She sounds chipper about it, slight English accent.
"The wards. They wouldn't have let him attack her if she was still inside them. He led her outside the wards....but....she was resisting? Potentially. Or at least this mental control seems to be a bit awkward. He was better at holding people still. Or there's some other explanation....you said you found one footprint? No more than that? Not even leading up to where you found the print?"
"That one track was the only one I saw that wasn't the victims."
"That one track was the only one I saw that wasn't the victims."
"The wards. They wouldn't have let him attack her if she was still inside them. He led her outside the wards....but....she was resisting? Potentially. Or at least this mental control seems to be a bit awkward. He was better at holding people still. Or there's some other explanation....you said you found one footprint? No more than that? Not even leading up to where you found the print?"
"Hmm.....If the assailant was small enough, he could have forced her to carry him, which would also have caused a shuffling track, but you would have noticed it being a deeper footprint, wouldn't you?...and....the footprint was even the right size for the person he was trying to frame I bet. I wonder if it was placed deliberately..."
"Ah, well, I'm just thinking out loud now...I doubt that we'll be able to find out much more if it's anything like last time. How someone can do that much stabbing without leaving behind any cloth or hairs or anything that can be used to track him is beyond me. Even a diviner would have a hard time because they don't know what to look for..."
"Wait! He took control of this girl while he was still inside the working wards! Maybe the security footage can find him!....at least it should be able to find him leaving the wards and returning, right?.....unless he made her stab herself....that would be really sick...."
Laughing at the situation, Maya says, "Well, biologically speaking-- I was around 32 when I, thought I died. So I was an adult. I .. not to worry, Professor Sunwake, I can resist the Mum comment, but there is an urge. I'm quite alright resisting urges-- have done so in the past, when I was a staff member of a program for exceptional beings. But, I digress. Given enough time, I'm fairly certain I could clear these things up, or with the assistance of a proper telepath, sort them out. I am rather excited by all this, hence the good naturedness and completely unprofessionalism I am sporting at this moment, my apologies."
Casually speaking, as if this were all the simple sort of talk similar to speaking of weather or clothing, Maya continues, "I so agree with that statement about sentient being and servitude, it would be quite against the innate freedom that any self and externally respecting individual ought to possess. We had similar mindsets where we came from, it's good to know such thinking is a universal standard."
She beams with pride at Aananda's thinking.
After a mere moment she adds, "Right then-- No Mum, no hugs. Resisting said urges. I was usually quite prim and proper-- I suppose being reborn does have it's .. adjustments. Nothing that can't be over come, however!" She sounds chipper about it, slight English accent.
"Yeah, my oldest kids will be 27 next month....so you're definitely too old to call me Mum," she said, laughing a little.
Maya might find it slightly strange that a woman who appears to be no older than perhaps nineteen has children so old, but that's just one more strange thing among a host of others.
"You were a staff member at a school like this one?" she asked, surprised. "Because if that's the case, I'm pretty sure we'd be happy to offer you a job here. Well, I'll have to clear it with Ryo, and we'll have to figure out what you're qualified to teach, but trust me, there's always openings. A lot of people just can't handle the demands of teaching kids like these, you know?"
"So this is my lab," she said as they arrived at the door.
"You're welcome to come in as well if you want, Vare. To be frank, I don't think you could compromise the security of this place if you wanted to. Since you don't really see it clearly."
|
"I can't even make the tiniest spark. Well, not without a match anyways," she said with a laugh. "I'm a huge disappointment to my parents."
"Oh, don't worry about it...I can get food for myself. I don't mind. I...uh....need more at a time than you might think," she added, blushing slightly. "Let's just get Pyry enrolled before anything else happens that might let him put it off,"she added cheerfully.
"You said you were going to come with me though. Why don't we get food we can carry and go enroll me then?"
Mel turns to Arthur. Arthur, maybe we can work of that project another time. I think Ginni and I need to some time. ok?
Mel tries to politely nudge Arthur out the door. she whisper to him I'll catch up with ya later, ok?
after Arthur leaves
Ginni, first of all, I'm sorry about that whole psychic resonance mess. but even more importantly though. you have got to remember, no matter what, you are not alone in all of this. all of us girls are in it together, to support ecah other, to pick each other up when we fall, to offer a hand even when it isn't asked for.
she grabs another guitar in the studio as she speaks
after the song, music helps me too. you wanna go together and see about Morrivan?
"Where would be the fun in telling you that?" The young man quips.
A small jolt of electricity moved through the bands that were restraining him. Not enough to do damage, but enough to hurt a lot.
"I am not playing games, Vincent. What is your boss's name?"
"Trust me, I get that /so/ much more than you think. Sometimes it's like a game to see how much you can eat at once. But we just need to get Pyry registered really quick. It'll take, like six minutes tops. Then you guys can grab some food. Here, you guys link hands and I'll blink us back upstairs."
"Yeah, my oldest kids will be 27 next month....so you're definitely too old to call me Mum," she said, laughing a little.
Maya might find it slightly strange that a woman who appears to be no older than perhaps nineteen has children so old, but that's just one more strange thing among a host of others.
"You were a staff member at a school like this one?" she asked, surprised. "Because if that's the case, I'm pretty sure we'd be happy to offer you a job here. Well, I'll have to clear it with Ryo, and we'll have to figure out what you're qualified to teach, but trust me, there's always openings. A lot of people just can't handle the demands of teaching kids like these, you know?"
"So this is my lab," she said as they arrived at the door.Assuming they've been walking and talking.
"You're welcome to come in as well if you want, Vare. To be frank, I don't think you could compromise the security of this place if you wanted to. Since you don't really see it clearly."
Smiling and nodding at the Mum bit, Maya does not appear bothered by the visible age of Aanandareavekki.
"Yes, due to my experience and abilities, I was given a teaching position. Rather proud of that accomplishment, having been a member of the initial founding team. I might be young, but I've been been around the world a few times and saved it, among other things." She beams with pride.
Then adds quickly, "Though, never strictly due to myself alone-- I'm quite the team player as it were. I'd be happy to contribute again. From what Wizard Vare tells me, there's some decent gold to be had too, a good chunk." She grins at that.
Walking along with, and going into the lab, she peers around and smiles at the technological things. "This reminds me one of our techie's labs-- engineering person." She doesn't seem sad by the memory, but goes a touch quiet.
She doesn't touch anything, but stands around looking at the place.
"So... what shall we proceed with? Naturally, I'd like to make sure I'm cleared for any 'public' interactions." She makes quotes with her fingers to indicate the term.
"there are many ways to get what we want," if he goes uninterrupted he continues, standing up, and manifesting first detect compulsion then empathy "we could go with traditional physical torture, though not only is that boring, I have a feeling you're not scared of that,perhaps you've been trained to resist it, perhaps you don't think we'd dare to, that's fine I never much enjoyed physical torture, I'm not a sadist, no putting a sadist in charge of interrogation is inefficient, with a sadist doing the torturing you may get it to the point where the subject'll say anything to get the pain to stop, truth or not, but there are other options, we could try psychological torture, though it takes longer I find it more satisfying personally, my friends here though, they look a touch impatient, we could try torture of a sexual manner, though that always leaves a bad taste in my mouth, we could use various drugs, ones that heighten sensations, ones that cause pain, ones that cause hallucination, loss of balance, ones that inhibit the ability to lie, though again you could have been immunized against them, or trained to resist them, we could use various compulsion magics, I'm a rather daft hand at those, enthralled a dozen or so students completely by accident just a few days ago, but then you might come out of it a gibbering vegetable and we're the "good guys"" he says putting up finger quotes to illustrate such "and that's something we generally try to avoid, we could perhaps work out a bargain, something to compensate you for your cooperation now the easiest option bar you being a good little boy and telling us what we want we could just kill you and use speak with dead, or bring you back as an undead under one of our command, this plan probably has this lovely lady's vote" he inclines his head to the woman in question "but then you might have some form of magical protection against such simple methods, plus like I said we're the "good guys" so we'll leave that for last, there are more, not to mention oodles of gory details, but I think you get the picture, now, with all the options at our disposal, it's not a question of if you tell us, but when, and what state you're in when we're done"
Mel turns to Arthur. Arthur, maybe we can work of that project another time. I think Ginni and I need to some time. ok?
Mel tries to politely nudge Arthur out the door. she whisper to him I'll catch up with ya later, ok?
after Arthur leaves
Ginni, first of all, I'm sorry about that whole psychic resonance mess. but even more importantly though. you have got to remember, no matter what, you are not alone in all of this. all of us girls are in it together, to support ecah other, to pick each other up when we fall, to offer a hand even when it isn't asked for.
she grabs another guitar in the studio as she speaks
after the song, music helps me too. you wanna go together and see about Morrivan?
She shook her head. "She basically kicked us out earlier. I think right now she just isn't ready to deal with everything. I can understand that. I've been walking around all day like nothing's wrong. Like if I just don't stop and think about it, they won't really be gone. But they are, and they aren't coming back."
"I...there aren't even words."
She sat there thinking for a moment. "At some point, there's some stuff I need to tell you, too. From yourself. But not all of it. Some of it you're not supposed to know. Because it would put you in danger. So, I am keeping secrets from you, but I promise it's with your permission. There's parts of your mind you keep closed off for a reason."
She handed Melody a stack of sheet music. "And that's for you, too. It's kind of a joke, a little bit. But it's really suited for your performance style so there's that."
"Sorry. I'm all over the place."
1d20+16+3+2
"Trust me, I get that /so/ much more than you think. Sometimes it's like a game to see how much you can eat at once. But we just need to get Pyry registered really quick. It'll take, like six minutes tops. Then you guys can grab some food. Here, you guys link hands and I'll blink us back upstairs."
Asha took Pyry's hand, the amulets Tybalt gave them keeping it from being painful.
"He's right," she told her brother, smiling. "I'm really hungry, but I can make it a few minutes. I used to be hungry all the time. This isn't so bad. And getting you enrolled is important."
Smiling and nodding at the Mum bit, Maya does not appear bothered by the visible age of Aanandareavekki.
"Yes, due to my experience and abilities, I was given a teaching position. Rather proud of that accomplishment, having been a member of the initial founding team. I might be young, but I've been been around the world a few times and saved it, among other things." She beams with pride.
Then adds quickly, "Though, never strictly due to myself alone-- I'm quite the team player as it were. I'd be happy to contribute again. From what Wizard Vare tells me, there's some decent gold to be had too, a good chunk." She grins at that.
Walking along with, and going into the lab, she peers around and smiles at the technological things. "This reminds me one of our techie's labs-- engineering person." She doesn't seem sad by the memory, but goes a touch quiet.
She doesn't touch anything, but stands around looking at the place.
"So... what shall we proceed...
"Well, in your current state I don't think you could betray the school if you wanted to. Sorry about that. But I definitely want to know more about you and where you came from. Enough to hopefully get some idea of what you're like apart from the security software protocols."
"As far as money goes, we do pay our staff well. We have to. No one would want to teach here if we didn't. Hazard pay, so to speak. These kids are often treated like they're monsters in the places they came from. Lot of psychological trauma. Abandonment issues. And I think I just described at least half the staff as well. With great power comes great emotional instability. That sort of thing."
"To start out, do you have any questions for me? I've got a whole list for you, so it might be quicker to have you ask first."
Mel looks at the sheets, then back at Ginni.
Ginni, lets not worry about what's inside my head. right now you are a bit upset, and so is Morrivan. lets put our efforts to that.
Mel takes Ginni's hand. Like I said, I'm here to pick you up if you fall, and stand by your side and support you when you feel weak. what you and Morrivan both need right now are friends.
she hands the music back to Ginni, This is your work, I can't take it. You have some really great talent, and some day you will standing up there on a stage with thousands of fans cheering your name. And I hope that I'll be there to see it. Of course i be jealous as ever, but I'll try not to let that bother me.
you wanna go back and see Morrivan? together? she needs you right now. if you need a little encouragement, well then I'll be right there for ya.
Mel tries her best to cheer ginni up. from her perspective at the moment Mel never really experienced that kind of loss but somehow she feels like she can relate.
The young man starts to laugh at David's threats. At first, its just a normal, derisive laugh, as if he clearly doesn't even care or is phased by the words the strange diamond skinned man utters.
But then it becomes more a maddening cackle, quickly getting out of hand as Vincent begins to foam at the mouth. His body starts to convulse, shaking violently and then he stiffens and is dead.
Jiminy swore.
He stomped away from the others for a moment, taking deep breaths to try and calm down.
"You," he said to Dave, "need to work on your interrogation technique. Never threaten what you won't follow through with. You knew full well I wasn't going to let you torture him under any circumstances. They can always tell. It's best to just stick to the facts. Although you do seem to have a decent grasp of good guard, bad guard. And no, I'm not blaming you. He was either killed with poison or remotely. Probably by whoever hired him. I'm angry with myself for not checking him for poisons earlier. If nothing else, the people of Kuros deserved better than to have this loser cheat them of their chance to enact justice in this matter."
He turned to the gathered townsfolk who had formed an impromptu jury. "I am so sorry. I should have taken more precautions. And I promise you, we will do everything in our power to find out who was behind this attack."
"Dom, can you tell me if this man was killed with poison?"
"Tyrrin, are you able to cast speak with dead? If nothing else, we might still get a little bit of useful information."
Mel looks at the sheets, then back at Ginni.
Ginni, lets not worry about what's inside my head. right now you are a bit upset, and so is Morrivan. lets put our efforts to that.
Mel takes Ginni's hand. Like I said, I'm here to pick you up if you fall, and stand by your side and support you when you feel weak. what you and Morrivan both need right now are friends.
she hands the music back to Ginni, This is your work, I can't take it. You have some really great talent, and some day you will standing up there on a stage with thousands of fans cheering your name. And I hope that I'll be there to see it. Of course i be jealous as ever, but I'll try not to let that bother me.
you wanna go back and see Morrivan? together? she needs you right now. if you need a little encouragement, well then I'll be right there for ya.
Mel tries her best to cheer ginni up. from her perspective at the moment Mel never really experienced that kind of loss but somehow she feels like she can relate.
"I wrote that song while I was in psychic resonance with you. It's practically yours anyways. It's called a present, Mel. I can write other songs. That one belongs to you," she said, refusing to take back the music. "Heck, I wrote four other songs just tonight. And I'm not giving those to you. They're meant for other people. Besides, you have nothing to be jealous of. You're a very talented musician yourself, you know."
"I don't know, Mel. Of course I'm going to be there for Morrivan, but I think maybe Tami is right. Maybe what she needs right now is a little bit of space. I'm really not sure what the right thing to do actually is."
"I never threatened with anything I wouldn't have followed through with, I made no assumptions on your own methods, I told him the facts as I saw them, I even said as much that physical torture was not the main thrust of my methods, I find it distasteful,I wanted him aware there were far more ways to break someone, and I have little to no problem using whichever works"
"I never threatened with anything I wouldn't have followed through with, I made no assumptions on your own methods, I told him the facts as I saw them, I even said as much that physical torture was not the main thrust of my methods, I find it distasteful,I wanted him aware there were far more ways to break someone, and I have little to no problem using whichever works"
Jiminy's eyes narrowed. "Someone remind me when we get back to the school to talk to Uncle Ryo about adjusting Mr. De'Foul's schedule to include philosophy with Professor Genosuke. Someone needs a crash course in ethics."
"I can't cast it, but I'm sure a scroll could be procured if we returned to the school." Tyrrin says grimly, looking at the corpse. "Can you ensure whatever poisoned the man does not also dissolve his jaw? That would may it more difficult to speak with him after the fact."
"And the problem with torture isn't the ethical implications - it's the fact that it's simply unreliable. People are fragile - you cannot trust the information from torture, because people will say anything to make the pain stop." Tyrrin says with something of a shrug at that.
Well maybe you are right, but remember, your not alone. I'll be there for you, and everyone else too. And I was joking about the jealous bit.
Mel smiles, giving Ginni the "everything will be alright" look.
So you wanna play those other songs?
Vare is quiet as they walk through the school, having greeted Aananda upon their approach. He chuckles at Aananda's assertion that he couldn't really be a security risk. "Perhaps if we applied the Sim Room's power here, I might be a risk after all." he says jokingly, still in a good humour.
Beyond that, he doesn't interfere with the pair of ladies at they do what they do, listening in thoughtfully, hand on his chin during those pensive moments.
Stretching out some on the sunchair, one of the lounging variant, Tryko'Sam puts his arms above his head while the towel still sits around his neck, and down his chest.
His swim trunks at this point have dried some, though still damp, one leg bent at the knee with foot flat, the other leg stretched out.
His uniformed slightly darker skin might mean a sun tan, but it appears more of a natural pigmentation than exposure.
"Dry weather, altitude, good combination. I'm more of an ocean or large body of water guy-- and mountains. Green and stone, that's me. Then again, I like it all. Except freezing-- artic, sub-zero conditions. Nothing like being a popsicle for months on end. No bueno." He smirks at the thought.
Glancing over he studies her face for a moment or two, considering her features, then looking off once more says, "Birth parents, eh? So you were adopted? Guess you're fortunate enough to know both sides of things there. Being raised by one set, while knowing the biological other side, huh? Hey-- maybe you can give some feedback, nature or nurture?"
He grins, seeming to turn things towards the positive in his conversation.
Vai does actually giggle a bit at the mention of being frozen like a popsicle for months on end. Obviously whatever mental image she had of that was funny to her. Starting to relax a bit, reclining on the chair.
"I pick nurture." Vai responds, though her voice dropped to a more quiet tone at that. "Can we not talk about that though? It's... a bit personal right now." she says, looking away slightly. Bucket full of issues for Vai apparently.
"So, I take it you probably have a similar settings, but up in a mountainous region, if that's your favourite?" she asks, changing the subject away from the sensitive topic.
The Botany professor sat on a rock next to a pot of seedling snapdragons, stroking their leaves and talking to them as they feed.
Ehos pads silently up next to Professor Agave, though coming towards her from the front so as to not take her by surprise. She was one of Ehos' favourite professors, even if he had virtually no interest in botany. Something about her gave of this feeling of... well... serenity.
He waves to get her attention, before presenting the pad to read. 'Good evening, Professor. I hope I'm not interrupting.' the final phrase is displayed with a motion towards the snapdragons.
The young man starts to laugh at David's threats. At first, its just a normal, derisive laugh, as if he clearly doesn't even care or is phased by the words the strange diamond skinned man utters.
But then it becomes more a maddening cackle, quickly getting out of hand as Vincent begins to foam at the mouth. His body starts to convulse, shaking violently and then he stiffens and is dead.
Jiminy swore.
He stomped away from the others for a moment, taking deep breaths to try and calm down.
"Dom, can you tell me if this man was killed with poison?"
"Tyrrin, are you able to cast speak with dead? If nothing else, we might still get a little bit of useful information."
"I'll see what I can find out." Dom replied sounding satisfied with the man's demise. "I'll just give him a thorough autopsy and let you know." Dom continued as he melted away the cell of ice. Bending some of the melted ice to his hand he knelt down beside the corpse and pressed his hand against his forehead.
The statues symbolize the aum (beginning and end of all things), one has an open mouth and the other a closed mouth. Mìjī jīngāng (open mouth) represents overt violence and Nàluóyán jīngāng (closed mouth) represents latent strength.
"Do they protect the temple too, Lang-kun?" Midori asks, looking up at the statue, specifically at the face. It... to her, it looked almost like a painting she'd seen of an oni. Which was strange in and of itself. Maybe this was another thing she wasn't understanding properly about Lang-kun's culture.
If Lang or Grim has taken time to look, they will have noticed that Midori has not brought her weapon and tool pouches with her.
Well maybe you are right, but remember, your not alone. I'll be there for you, and everyone else too. And I was joking about the jealous bit.
Mel smiles, giving Ginni the "everything will be alright" look.
So you wanna play those other songs?
"Thanks, Mel....yeah, I guess that now would probably be a good time to work on these. You're way better at figuring out the accompaniments than I am anyways."
"Umm...this one is kinda intended as a belated birthday present for Ace," she said, blushing. "It's kinda cheesy."
song
"I can't cast it, but I'm sure a scroll could be procured if we returned to the school." Tyrrin says grimly, looking at the corpse. "Can you ensure whatever poisoned the man does not also dissolve his jaw? That would may it more difficult to speak with him after the fact."
"And the problem with torture isn't the ethical implications - it's the fact that it's simply unreliable. People are fragile - you cannot trust the information from torture, because people will say anything to make the pain stop." Tyrrin says with something of a shrug at that.
Dave nods at Tyrrin "well stated, I believe I even said something to that effect earlier great minds and all that" he grins briefly at her "though I suppose the ethics debate should be left for another time, when there are not more important things to be done," he switches to telepathy, projecting to their group but excluding the townspeople ::and when the, skittish, impressionable, innocent bystanders aren't around, wouldn't want to frighten them, especially after all they've been through, due in no small part to this man here,:: he continues on as though nothing had happened "as it just so happens I do happen to know that spell, and would gladly do all that I can to help"
"Both of you need to remember that we're dealing with people, not ideas. And you have no idea what circumstances may have led someone to doing something awful. That doesn't mean ignoring a crime. It does mean remembering that if you start acting like the monsters, it's what you'll become. Don't get so caught up in anger, no matter how righteous, that you forget that."
::Sorry, but the lecture was necessary. You thought about the bystanders a bit too late there. They're already scared enough of the students of Avalon. We don't need to add any more fuel to that fire.::
"Now, let's see if we can't get some answers from this guy after all."