Krays blinks at the display, then uncharacteristically, gives Vai a hug.
"I'm sorry you had to experience that, from one Champion to another. I'm so sorry."
He holds her back out at arms length, then lets go
"As your bother in law, I'm glad you returned." he said with a smile.
"Take your time. We'll go when you're ready."
"Aww! I missed you too, boy," she said, stooping down to scratch behind Rune's ears, and scrunching up her nose in distaste when she got licked across the face for her troubles. "But maybe not the whole being covered in dog saliva thing," she added scrubbing a sleeve across her face.His tail slows for a beat at the mention of the three-letter word, but his happiness to see her again far eclipses the minor indignity. From the look in his shining emerald eyes, Andromeda gathers they will just call it even for the bout of overenthusiastic face licking she just got... ;P
Satisfied that Andromeda isn't going anywhere, Rune walks over to Ephebe and nuzzles her hand reassuringly.
She reached out and scratched behind his ears. "I'm guessing this is pretty confusing for a wolf," she said very quietly. "Because it's sure as hell confusing for a dragon hybrid whatever."
Asha grabbed the distraught Rena's hand and pulled her into the hallway, where Asha touched the wall and waited for a moment for the arrows to come up before pulling Rena along after them until the two girls reached the SIM rooms.
"There. It says that the professor is in there," she said, pointing at the locked SIM room 3.
She reached out and scratched behind his ears. "I'm guessing this is pretty confusing for a wolf," she said very quietly. "Because it's sure as hell confusing for a dragon hybrid whatever."
Rune wags his tale sagely (but still manages to tilt his head to the side for better ear scratching).
"As your bother in law..."
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SIM Room 3
Asha grabbed the distraught Rena's hand and pulled her into the hallway, where Asha touched the wall and waited for a moment for the arrows to come up before pulling Rena along after them until the two girls reached the SIM rooms.
"There. It says that the professor is in there," she said, pointing at the locked SIM room 3.
Upon arriving at the sealed door of SIM Room 3, there is a 'hum' sound of sorts, as if dimming power, and it creaks open with the disheveled (tendrils of her otherwise well kept hair style, hanging down) face of Maya peeking out.
"Hello? Ah, I thought I'd heard some voices... Hello. Uhm. This room is on lock down for numerous reasons, students-- however, would any of you darlings be capable of ... Err, luring my wayward charge here? I'm in quite a pickle attempting to maintain the room without any qualified ... Handbooks, and desperate for assistance. He's left me quite a mess to sort, again..." She flashes a smile to whomever was still in the hall when doing this announcement, though her expression is a mix of fear and delight.
"I do believe, if you promise to touch none of the systems within, I could explain best inside."
With that, she smiled again and stepped back in. The door panel would indicate and unlocked state due to the door being open, but it was unclear if it would stay unlocked upon shutting again shortly.
"How did you get in there? You were not there when we left. Has he not returned to close the portal?" Vickory looks on in confusion and follows inside, suddenly forgetting about Arthur for the moment.
Hermes continues to hold the door open to the unused Sim room.
"Sir, is everything alright?"
Asha dragged Rena behind her, quickly moving through the door. She ignored the other people standing around and the questions from the snake girl. Which were probably for the professor anyways, and therefore not her problem.
"We're here because Tryko'Sam teleported away and we don't know how to find him. We can bring him back for you if you tell us how, but I don't know anything really. Rena was with him before he went poof! and she says there's something really wrong with him. You know, the memory stuff again. So I brought her to you because you know how to help him. Anyways, even if he doesn't know who we are, I'm pretty sure if he's like he was at the beginning and not all angry like he was lately that he'd be willing to go anywhere if a couple of pretty girls asked him to, and we are definitely willing to help. Even if it does mean that he's going to be all angry again," she said quickly in one big burst of nervous energy.
SIM Room 3 -- Interior
"How did you get in there? You were not there when we left. Has he not returned to close the portal?" Vickory looks on in confusion and follows inside, suddenly forgetting about Arthur for the moment.
Vickory walks on in ...
Arthur grumbles "well now the door decides to open" he gives a suspicious glance at a wall as though he expects it to be conspiring against him
... as Arthur follows, glancing at the wall while following up quickly behind ...
Asha dragged Rena behind her, quickly moving through the door. She ignored the other people standing around and the questions from the snake girl. Which were probably for the professor anyways, and therefore not her problem.
"We're here because Tryko'Sam teleported away and we don't know how to find him. We can bring him back for you if you tell us how, but I don't know anything really. Rena was with him before he went poof! and she says there's something really wrong with him. You know, the memory stuff again. So I brought her to you because you know how to help him. Anyways, even if he doesn't know who we are, I'm pretty sure if he's like he was at the beginning and not all angry like he was lately that he'd be willing to go anywhere if a couple of pretty girls asked him to, and we are definitely willing to help. Even if it does mean that he's going to be all angry again," she said quickly in one big burst of nervous energy.
... are two rather attractive young ladies in various states of energetic display.
Maya turns to glance at the entrance of the four, and furrows for a moment with her thoughtful features, then back to smiling saying politely to the four students, "I'm a member of the staff here, Professor Maya Rhys, a pleasure to those I do not know-- do forgive me if I appear partially distracted, I'm attempting to maintain and build, Trkyo'Sam's personality in a matrix that could shut down in a moment's notice if not for our august computer and power sources in employ at this very moment. Now then..."
Her hair is starting to unravel slightly, with the tendrils of her otherwise proper do, clinging to her brow. She doesn't appear to be too stressed, but it's evident in slight furrow of brow and clenched teeth.
Looking at Asha, she nods and says, "Your instincts are correct, quite so and a testament to your superior genes, young lady. You will do femininity proud as you go forth into the world. The key here is, distraction without any reason to cause fear for a homo sapien-- male."
Then under her breath she adds, "Least, that's what we always thought he was. No matter."
Then back to the others again, "Finding him -- will be a touch of a challenge, though, more importantly, getting across the planet in a timely fashion. If nothing else, we can 'tag' him with some makeshift wrist band, or perhaps energy wash, to locate him should he chose to jaunt away as he is wont to do again. Er... I believe, there are some devices accessible to do this, but -- that requires some magical know how? I'm only getting up to speed on the like."
She motions to the table top near her where upon a few 'devices' appear to be laid out, scrolls and other 'teleportation' magical items that would have been in storage are.
"Do any of you know how these operate? they are not technical, or scientific, so I cannot speak to their proper use-- yet."
A simple Knowledge of such implements would easily indicate their use, but they require Arcane caster ability, or Use Magical Device skill to 'trick'.
"He's ... best I can sense, on the other side of the world, in some mountain range. He's not fearful, but exploring? best way to put it. Learning fast. No speech."
She glances between the students, smiling briefly.
"And here I thought he was just a little crazy or from a really weird culture. You guys are making him sound like he is a seriously messed up guy, then again who knows how the stupid demon thing turned out. We got separated." she says as she looks at the objects,
"Now these are sensible tools. I don't recall Sam using this stuff though. We need a solid idea of where we are headed though, whether it be his location or just a place we want to start looking. Otherwise there is no telling where we might end up. Also, depending on urgency and hoe close you pinpoint his location, we," she indicates herself and Arthur, "were about to create some devices to quickly search large areas for a person. If we have the time to build a quick prototype, that could not only be handy in finding Sam, but also be a good trail run to work out any kinks in the design."
SIM Room 3 -- Interior
Maya seemed to smile briefly and then frown at Vickory's comment about helping another.
"Oh dear, is someone else missing? Trkyo'Sam certainly would be able to assist covering distances if necessary- once's he's restored, again. But, if we had to choose between the two, certain the health of the other before his current status, I'd say. I will profess a personal interest here, naturally, but as a Professor, all students come first equally."
She winced at some inner thought, and it would be apparent at this point she was dealing with something silently with the occasional break in composure to her face while doing so. Almost as if an discussion was underway in her mind.
The items are your stock dimension door, teleport, and similar 'travel' abilities-- but nothing as potent as a Gate spell though.
"Yes, another is missing, but it see,ms we have plenty of time to find her, and a much larger area to cover than a single mountain range. Arthur, how quickly do you think it would take to construct the drone once the design is set? Any autoforge systems that might automatically handle some of the construction?"
Korren stands quietly, waiting to see what would become of him. A little voice inside his head, one that would not be still despite how he tried very hard to strangle it to death, whispered that maybe he was free this time. Maybe it is not a trick.
What Ghalen gathers from his sense motive is that Korren's psyche has for some reason retreated nearly into a catatonic state. He is still cognizant enough to follow simple instructions and answer simple questions, but not much more than than. There is also some kind of internal struggle, though what it is exactly remains unclear. Given that insane level of sense motive, Ghalen would likely recognize the tiniest flicker of hope, there and gone too fast for any but the most socially perceptive to register it.
"It would appear here that our friend has been on the wrong side of fate enough that, he does not believe, or can not believe, his fortunes have changed. He's retreated within himself. I don't think he'll be an issue, as long as no one gives him a reason to lash out. Just don't expect meaningful interaction for the time being." he says to Repp.
Asha wrinkled her nose in distaste at Maya's comment about her superior genes. She'd heard too much of that kind of talk from her family to consider it a compliment. But she stayed silent as the conversation continued. The smart people were talking and she really didn't have anything to add. Magic was as much of a mystery to her as math and science and writing and almost everything else. All she knew was a bunch of outdated etiquette, how to twist her body into interesting shapes, and that sometimes when she was scared she went through things. Which might be useful if she ever learned how to control it. But her friend was in trouble and her helplessness was grating on her now more than ever.
Having spent the previous class periods entirely unnoticed both by teachers and by her classmates, Cindra sighs heavily and walks back to the Headmaster's office to apply for a class change, I may as well make use of it if I cannot avoid going unnoticed.
She stops beside another girl about her age also waiting for the Headmaster.
When Ghalen speaks, Korren's eyes flick to him and his body shifts to face Ghalen. There is no more response than that, and Ghalen suspects that it is a mostly reflexive reaction to his voice.
Ghalen gives him a nod, with a reassuring smile, as he talks to Repp.
|
"Yes, another is missing, but it see,ms we have plenty of time to find her, and a much larger area to cover than a single mountain range. Arthur, how quickly do you think it would take to construct the drone once the design is set? Any autoforge systems that might automatically handle some of the construction?"
"uh not sure, few hours maybe? If I did that thing I did back in the lab it'd only take a miniute or two, but then I have no idea how I did that, just that the back of my neck burned when I did it"
Vickory turns to the staff lady, "Anything in the school that can speed up manatronic and normal construction? Fabrication units and the like?"
SIM Room 3 -- Interior
Vickory turns to the staff lady, "Anything in the school that can speed up manatronic and normal construction? Fabrication units and the like?"
Maya looks back towards Vickory after a moment of studying her features saying, "I believe there are some ... factories and such, in the nearby town-- which is dealing with some destruction of late, so perhaps not there, but... nothing, immediate that comes to attention. Perhaps another student might possess talents to ... make things faster."
Glancing about, then back again she adds, "I'll profess I ... only did a quick cursory scan. If the schematics were presented to me, there's a likely chance I could have it built rather quickly-- certainly faster than a few hours. Permission would be sought to employ such techniques."
"We could certainly make use of another SIM Room to ... test and build, given known conditions. There are quite a few outside this one. I'm ... not sure what you wish to do first, however. Capture or lure?" looking at Asha and Rena, then back to the other pair, "or device building first? The best I can give is a sense of where Tryko'Sam is. Finding him ought to not be that difficult. Especially if you display yourselves -- mind yourself in the wilderness, however."
"As the design calls for limited self replication, a few prototypes are more than sufficient. These can help find both the reckless boy and thr time traveller."
SIM Room 3
Glancing at the Hologram Visual, Maya seems focused on it as it speaks.
The message to Aananda triggers another appearance by the hologram interface from earlier.
"I am sorry, Professor Rhys, but Professor Aananda Sunwake has set her privacy settings to only be interrupted by an emergency level 5. My calculations place this at an emergency level 1.5. However, I am capable of answering simple queries and providing any assistance that my programming allows. While full manufacturing capabilities are not readily available, these SIM environments are capable of replicating the nanite tanks that exist in the advanced mechanics lab for purposes of manufacturing prototypes. I can remain here to assist the students Arhtur Barren and Vickory West in their efforts if this will help you maintain the focus you require to address this situation."
The hologram would realize that Maya 'thanks' it personally, as if it were a real being too.
"Looks as though permission is provided."
Maya then turns to Vickory and adds, "Easy with labels, Miss. Loose lips and what not. It might offend-- especially the 'boy' terminology. Manners above all else. Now then, if you two would accompany this fine hologram here, another SIM Room can assist with your project, while the Ladies and I attend to our "lost his mind, brain trust", that is Tryko'Sam after seeking to assist a city captured by devil worshipers. He always did get into the oddest of situations, I wonder if it's just Fate or something else."
It's fairly apparent the state of that student doesn't weight too heavily on Maya's less than expressive features, but causes her to dwell slightly.
"Just tell us where to go. I...don't really understand the magic stuff. I don't understand much," she added dejectedly. "But I'm willing to help," she added squeezing Rena's hand.
Once she's seen that Vai is okay, Ephebe takes a step back from the family chaos. It's too much. She quietly leaves the room, letting Krays know telepathically that she needs a minute to herself right now.
Out in the hallway, she leans her head against the cool stone wall, trying to keep calm and not just go hearing off into the past or the future to get away from it all. But she was sorely tempted. That would be a lot easier than dealing with her own thoughts right now.
"Just tell us where to go. I...don't really understand the magic stuff. I don't understand much," she added dejectedly. "But I'm willing to help," she added squeezing Rena's hand.
Once she's seen that Vai is okay, Ephebe takes a step back from the family chaos. It's too much. She quietly leaves the room, letting Krays know telepathically that she needs a minute to herself right now.
Out in the hallway, she leans her head against the cool stone wall, trying to keep calm and not just go hearing off into the past or the future to get away from it all. But she was sorely tempted. That would be a lot easier than dealing with her own thoughts right now.
Fei, who had quietly moved down the hall away from the lab door, sees Ephebe exit the room. Torn between helping his friend and honoring her body language's declaration for privacy, he is unsure what to do.
The choice is made for him when the door opens again a moment later...
...and her father steps out.
Tamrin looks over to Ephebe.
"C'mon, let's go take a walk and get away from the ruckus for a few minutes."
"We're on it." Vickory says before following the hologram to the next sim room.
...and her father steps out.
Tamrin looks over to Ephebe.
"C'mon, let's go take a walk and get away from the ruckus for a few minutes."
She hesitated for a moment. Aananda was easy to read. She wore her heart on her sleeve. Tamrin was more difficult. He was mostly calm. She'd only seen him lose his temper a very few times in the year or so she'd known him. But given what those were about....She squared her shoulders. Might as well rip the bandaid off so to speak if this was going to go badly.
"Yeah, okay," she said quietly.
Tamrin leads Ephebe outside, and they make their way to the gardens behind the Sunwake home. He motions to a bench for her to sit down as he leans casually against one of the many trees close to it.
"I can almost hear those gears grinding away, Ephebe," he says with a soft chuckle.
"Sooooo....where do you see yourself in the next five minutes?"
Tamrin leads Ephebe outside, and they make their way to the gardens behind the Sunwake home. He motions to a bench for her to sit down as he leans casually against one of the many trees close to it.
"I can almost hear those gears grinding away, Ephebe," he says with a soft chuckle.
"Sooooo....where do you see yourself in the next five minutes?"
Ephebe grimaced. "Oh, I don't know. 5,000 years ago sounds good. I know this place. Tirago. Mostly primitive planet, but they have this one city that's basically a year round festival. Best time you'll only vaguely remember," she said glibly. "Probably not the future though. It's become....problematic. I keep changing things and then nothing is where I expect it to be." She sighed. "Or I could be making the responsible choice and actually attending to my jobs. I basically abandoned a class on a field trip. I mean, they have responsible adult supervision. The monks aren't going to let anything happen to them. But I was supposed to be there. And I've been neglecting my responsibilities in hell. There's an uncomfortable subject to have to bring up. Tirago is sounding better and better."
"And you have a husband and some soon-to-be hatchlings as well. I think that sounds better than even Tirago. But I'm a boring old fuddy-duddy, so what do I know," he says with a wink. ;)
She snorted. "As if there were ever any danger of my abandoning them. I could as soon cut out my own heart, and you know it. But I've had a lot dumped on me in the last couple hours. Lysander is dead. I'm no longer champion of time because I'm apparently something even more frightening. And far from least, Andromeda is back. Which is a whole freighter worth of emotions right there." She looked away, fidgeting uncomfortably.
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"Sounds like any other day that ends in 'y' in this family. Which you are still a part of...despite trying your best to sound like Taron having one of his hissy fits." (^-^)
He sits down on the other side of the bench.
"Now - cut to the chase, kiddo. What have you decided that I am going to do to you that has got you in fight or flight mode? Because I'm not kicking you out of this family, if that's what you're worried about. If I did that, I'd have to boot out Vai with you. And despite me being angry as hell at the stunt she just pulled, I promise you that isn't happening."
He reaches over and places his hand, steady as ever, on hers to stop her fidgeting.
"We love you just the same as we did before, and that isn't going to change. Wherever you're thinking about running away to...please don't."
"Sounds like any other day that ends in 'y' in this family. Which you are still a part of...despite trying your best to sound like Taron having one of his hissy fits." (^-^)
He sits down on the other side of the bench.
"Now - cut to the chase, kiddo. What have you decided that I am going to do to you that has got you in fight or flight mode? Because I'm not kicking you out of this family, if that's what you're worried about. If I did that, I'd have to boot out Vai with you. And despite me being angry as hell at the stunt she just pulled, I promise you that isn't happening."
He reaches over and places his hand, steady as ever, on hers to stop her fidgeting.
"We love you just the same as we did before, and that isn't going to change. Wherever you're thinking about running away to...please don't."
She looked up, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "That's what Krays said you'd say. I wanted to believe him, but...."
She looked away again, trying not to start crying because she needed to talk about this and she wasn't sure she'd be able to get the courage together to bring it up again. "It would be convenient to say I had a bad childhood, but it would also be a lie. I mean, yeah, I was raised by demons, minions mostly because evil foster mom wasn't really the nurturing type, but I didn't know anything else so it was fine. I had Jiminy. The two of us didn't need anybody else. And yeah, the experiments sucked. I could get away from time to time. Literally, from time to time. I went everywhere and everywhen. But Jiminy was stuck there. It just got worse as we got older. That was why I went looking for power. That's how I ended up with the strongest weapon hell ever produced under my direct control, not to mention substantial real estate at the junction between hell, the abyss, and abaddon. I looked everywhere for ways to take out evil foster mom. I did things...a lot of bad things. The kind of things you'd expect from a demon lord. Trust me, no one is ever going to question my qualifications for that job. But I could have done it. I could have saved him. And that's when your daughter kind of took over my brain. You know how that ended. Saved the universe. Killed my brother. He was all I had, and I did it myself because I promised him that I would never let him become just that woman's puppet." She brushed away the tears that were dripping down her cheeks. "I know it was a long time ago for you, but it's only been a year for me. After....you know what I was like right after. But I didn't get better for a long time. I sort of curled up inside my own head and just hid for...I don't know. Weeks at least. When I woke up from that, I was smack dab in the middle of Andromeda's life. Her family, her friends, her things. Somehow she had got it stuck in her head that her death would be okay if I just sort of stepped into her shoes. Like she wouldn't really be gone. And I tried. Memorizing all your names and histories was....not easy. Especially with James in my face all the time. He looks like my brother. He sounds like my brother. He even uses the same nickname. But that's as far as the resemblance goes. I can't imagine two more different people. Actually, I think James is a lot like you. Maybe Jiminy would have been like that too if we'd been raised by our birth parents. I guess we'll never know. And after her ghost was gone....I've been turning myself inside out for months trying to be her, all while trying to untangle me from her. I can't do it anymore. Even if I wanted to. She's back now, and I can finally be just me. But..." She stopped to take a deep breath. "But I don't think any of you are actually going to like just me."