Fei smiles at the sight of his friend, whom he has seen far too infrequently given their schedules.
He bows deeply to Jeran after Mithros' introduction. (^-^)
"Adon!" she screamed, running towards him across the top of the wall before stopping abruptly when she saw the miasma surrounding him. "What the hell?" She looked from him to the guards. He wasn't being sent to the infirmary. Must be the SIM room safety. The damage wasn't real. She backed away a few steps. "Are you alright?" she called out, totally confused by his show of self-destructive behavior.
and doesn't reply, at least, verbally. The sword is pulled out with a huge burst of dark fog, the fog killing nearly every guard surrounding him, and three flicks of his blade kills the survivors, suddenly cutting through armor and flesh like butter. He starts charging right for the gate to the throne room, sword dancing through guard after guard.
Lang shows Gareth where everyone is. and makes some introductions. he offers Gareth some of his dinner.
and doesn't reply, at least, verbally. The sword is pulled out with a huge burst of dark fog, the fog killing nearly every guard surrounding him, and three flicks of his blade kills the survivors, suddenly cutting through armor and flesh like butter. He starts charging right for the gate to the throne room, sword dancing through guard after guard.
"Adon!" she screamed, running towards him across the top of the wall before stopping abruptly when she saw the miasma surrounding him. "What the hell?" She looked from him to the guards. He wasn't being sent to the infirmary. Must be the SIM room safety. The damage wasn't real. She backed away a few steps. "Are you alright?" she called out, totally confused by his show of self-destructive behavior.
Sadie took off running, not sure at the moment if she was still trying to win the game, or just running away from Adon. That dark fog was....just wrong. Even from a distance she'd felt the need to get away from it as quickly as she could. What had he done to himself? She was really worried now. But the SIM was still running, so he wasn't actually in real danger. Right?
Fei smiles at the sight of his friend, whom he has seen far too infrequently given their schedules.
He bows deeply to Jeran after Mithros' introduction. (^-^)
Jeran gave an awkward half wave back, like he started to wave and then wasn't really sure and aborted mid-action. Not uncommon for Jeran in social situations.
"Hello," he said a bit stiffly. "Sorry for the late arrival. My schedule's a bit...irregular lately. If you can wrap up what you're working on, we'll be moving into the classroom just through that door behind you in about five minutes. Get through all the boring but important stuff."
Ace visibly relaxes and gives Ty a hug, then morphs his blade into a plain walking stick. "You are quite the welcome sight Tyrrin. Thanks for coming to visit"
"Of course. Is there any change?" Tyrrin asked.
"Phaezeriel says that her consciousness is back together, but her demonic heritage is trying to assert itself because of the psychic connection to her murderer. So now she's being kept in a coma until we can figure out how to stop that," Tamina answered.
"Afraid I have some bad news on that front," Keme said from the doorway. "The girl who was supposed to act as bait for our trap got cold feel. She doesn't want anything to do with it anymore. So we need a plan J. Or is it K? I dunno. I just know we're already a fair way through the alphabet now."
Ace lets out a small string of curses in about half a dozen languages "Well frack. Now what? I'm at my wits end on what to do. Both regarding this killer and how to possibly help Ginni and her demon side"
"Afraid I have some bad news on that front," Keme said from the doorway. "The girl who was supposed to act as bait for our trap got cold feel. She doesn't want anything to do with it anymore. So we need a plan J. Or is it K? I dunno. I just know we're already a fair way through the alphabet now."
At about that moment, Alys comes around a corner a short distance away, following the arrows to Keme. She walks up to him with a smile and wave, and holds out a folded sheet of paper to him.
H͝e̕ll̸o͘ Cǫųs̷in, sorry to ͑ͣ͌͂͊̎̒ͫ҉̝̟̬͡ḯ̶͈̥̗͙̠̈́̿̔̎͗̚̕͘ņ̳̙̲̈̔̈́̓t̯̪̘̺̬̣̜͊̇͊ͫͩ̓̽̚e̵ͪͨ̃͒̔ͪ́͒̎҉̪̖̞̗̣̮r͊̉ ̛̫̪̺͕̤̦͔ͯ͘͞r̨͈͇̝̳̲͙͑̒͠ų͔͇̦̬̯̼̘͌͒̕p̵̜̗͇̜̯͋ͣͤ̕ťͨ̅́́͊̓͛҉̤͔̖̙̖. Do ́yo҉̡͢u ̷̀͜k̸͟n҉o҉w̕͡ of any i̢̕͘n̕͜t̵͢ere̢͡s̸̡̀t̵̸̛i̡͏n̵̷g͞͞ ̷t̶h̛į͘͝ņ͢g͝s͢͏ to dó a͘ro҉und̀ hęr̸e?
<several lines are started and scribbled out here>
I am <scribble> g̸̴͠é̡t҉̸̢t̕͝͠i̴̡͟n̵͢g͘͟ ͝҉̵s̀͡ǫ̴̡́͝ <scribble> bored.
I ́w͏o҉u҉l҉d̸ n͠o̸t b̴̛ò̵̢t̷̨̢̀͟h̛̀́ę̶́̀͢r̀͘͝ ̷̀ý̵̵͜͝ǫ͞u̶̢͝ butI̸ ̴̀càn̕n͜͢o̴̡͘t̢̕̕ f͏̵į̴͡nd̕ ̨̛m̕y ̶̻̗͈͍̪̣̣̜ͭ͑ͯ͛͝n҉ew̸ f̡rien̸d̨, E͜ho̵s͘;̛ t̡́̀͞h̶̸͟e͝͠ ̧͠͠a҉͢҉̡̧r̷̶r͜͞ơ̷̢̢̛ẃ̵͝ś̷͟ ҉̸̸w̧̨͘i̵̵͟͟͠l̶̀҉l̸͟ ̸̧̛͘n̴ó̷ţ͠ ̵͢͝͠l̢͜͞͝e͢͜á̶̧͟͡d̢̛ ̡́҉ḿ҉e̷̸̡͜ ͏̵t̢̛͜͝ơ͘͝͡ ͟͏̡͘h͘͜҉̨͏į͟m̴͝!̶̛̛
"Afraid I have some bad news on that front," Keme said from the doorway. "The girl who was supposed to act as bait for our trap got cold feel. She doesn't want anything to do with it anymore. So we need a plan J. Or is it K? I dunno. I just know we're already a fair way through the alphabet now."At about that moment, Alys comes around a corner a short distance away, following the arrows to Keme. She walks up to him with a smile and wave, and holds out a folded sheet of paper to him.
** spoiler omitted **
Keme reads the note carefully since it was difficult to make out the words exactly. "Oh. Uh, he was probably having some private time with his girlfriend. The arrows are either a bit prudish or big respecters of privacy, depending on how you look at it. Or he was outside. If they lead you to a door before they start spinning that means the person you're looking for is outside. If they lead you to the teleport room before they start spinning the person you're looking for is off campus. If they just start spinning, the person you're looking for is currently unavailable. But if you're bored," he said, as something occurred to him, "maybe you can help us with what we were working on."
Alys shrugs slightly and nods in agreement, her expression clearly indicating that she is waiting for more information.
Sadie took off running, not sure at the moment if she was still trying to win the game, or just running away from Adon. That dark fog was....just wrong. Even from a distance she'd felt the need to get away from it as quickly as she could. What had he done to himself? She was really worried now. But the SIM was still running, so he wasn't actually in real danger. Right?
it isn't long until the vast majority of the guard that was in adon's way lies dead, and he walks up to the gate. He pauses, a moment, before he smiles, mouth dripping with his own blood. He slams the rapier into the gate, and starts dragging it along, the black aura cutting through the steel. He cuts out a triangle from the wall, before a forceful push with his off hand sends the cutout steel toppling over, the black aura flickering as it runs out of time. He laughs, a gargled, watery sound, as the blood in his throat comes up and runs down his neck, with that same, plastered smile.
Alys shrugs slightly and nods in agreement, her expression clearly indicating that she is waiting for more information.
"Someone has been luring girls off campus or out of the town or the refugee camps and murdering them. The murderer has some kind of psychic abilities as they plant false memories in their victims making them remember someone close to them being behind the attack. We're trying to catch them and stop them. That girl, Ginni," he said, nodding towards the bed, "she was one of the victims, but she has powerful psychic abilities of her own. Instead of giving her false memories, the killer shattered her mind. We're trying to set a trap to catch the killer, but the girl who was going to act as bait backed out."
"That's the super short condensed version. Obviously there's more to it than that."
Sadie took off running, not sure at the moment if she was still trying to win the game, or just running away from Adon. That dark fog was....just wrong. Even from a distance she'd felt the need to get away from it as quickly as she could. What had he done to himself? She was really worried now. But the SIM was still running, so he wasn't actually in real danger. Right?it isn't long until the vast majority of the guard that was in adon's way lies dead, and he walks up to the gate. He pauses, a moment, before he smiles, mouth dripping with his own blood. He slams the rapier into the gate, and starts dragging it along, the black aura cutting through the steel. He cuts out a triangle from the wall, before a forceful push with his off hand sends the cutout steel toppling over, the black aura flickering as it runs out of time. He laughs, a gargled, watery sound, as the blood in his throat comes up and runs down his neck, with that same, plastered smile.
Inside the fortress it is quiet. Too quiet. It seems that most of the guards rushed to fortify the door against his initial attack. There is quiet groaning coming from one of the side hallways. If he looks that way he finds a trail of wounded guardsmen along the corridor and a broken window high overhead.
The firebird trio were the first to head into the classroom, their earlier exuberance replaced by sullen obedience.
Jeran raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly at Mithros. "What's their problem?" he asked softly.
Inside the fortress it is quiet. Too quiet. It seems that most of the guards rushed to fortify the door against his initial attack. There is quiet groaning coming from one of the side hallways. If he looks that way he finds a trail of wounded guardsmen along the corridor and a broken window high overhead.
adon very quickly realized he isn't quite sure where he's going. He looks around the fortress, trying to find where to go, but the blood pooling in his eyes and dripping from his mouth is more then just a little distracting and hard to see through.
Fei quietly enters the classroom while Mithros and Jeran are conversing. He takes a seat in preparation for the next stage of their instruction, looking through any manuals if they are available.
Sim Mel goes to the view screen, Hey professor. Glad you are here. Anyway, if necessary can we have access to your lab. I mean we probably won't but if we do, well we need your permission.
Turning to be sure all can hear her, Now As I may have said before, I found a weak barrier between the two dimensions, in the Infirmary. Maybe there was some temporal event there in the past. All the data to create a small hole to pass the device through is in the data base in this Sim. I will work on this end to control the hole from my end.
"I think there's a glitch in the interface of this SIM," Aananda said from the view screen. "She just forgot a large portion of the conversation."
"Yeah, time bubble I'm guessing," she said, examining the SIM Mel. "She may not be experiencing events in the same order we are. That's gotta make it hard to keep up. Hey, Mom. Wait....are you in the infirmary?!"
"I'm fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "Just a little trouble with the anti-nausea potion having the opposite effect. I just need rest. Don't you start. I'm getting enough nagging from the infirmary staff as it is."
"Uh-huh. No problem. No nagging. I'll just call Dad."
"So, I'm basically here for what? To ensure that you guys aren't gonna repeat my mistakes and punch another big hole between universes? Or as a kind of living detector so you guys can find the right spot exactly? This is more...." she stopped and winced putting a hand up to her temple. "Okay, no idea why, but we need to keep Ephebe out of this. Maybe it's like before. Because she's native to a different universe than this one, she might make the problem worse."
"And there was a temporal event in the middle of the infirmary?"
"I told you about this one. Other-Vai set off a bomb in there last week."
"Oh. Yeah. Right. Sorry, it was a lot of stuff to catch up on. For some reason I thought that was less recent. Okay. Well, yeah, that would definitely create temporal ripples. I should be able to locate the area pretty easily."
"Good. I think Tryko'Sam went to the lab to fetch the parts needed. Arthur knows how to assemble them since he helped with the first one. And if not, the schematics are available to consult. At a quick glance I noticed that there were several minor changes in the schematics Melody provided within this SIM from the original, so I would recommend going with her version. She's had more time to work on tweaks to reduce the chance of error."
"Okay, got it. You rest now."
"Er, which one of you is Arthur?" she asked, looking back and forth between Arthur and Hermes.
It's pretty obvious which way Sadie went. But she didn't kill any of the guards, so it might be possible to question them to find out where he needs to go. Or he could just guess.
adon eventuslly realizes that some of the guards on the floor aren't drenched in blood. Also nowhere near the ones he killed. He blinks a few times, slowly regaining basic logic after his manic killing spree. He starts walking the way Sadie went. He tries to run again, but the masive gaping hole in is gut doesn't seem to like the prospect of any more running, so he's forced to walk.
|
Arthur looks up from where he was fiddling with some sort of program "ah yes, Arthur, that's me, sorry, I was distracted by this figure here, there's a tremendous amount of potential power in this spot here, why if we can keep our hole with just the slightest of openings, a scant dozen microns across for example, we could draw power from neigh infinite parallel worlds, converting the mass of those planes into energy at a rate of 89.9 terajoules of power per gram harvested, you could power a light bulb for thirty thousand years with such power. And with four times ten to the seventy ninth atoms in a universe of comparable size and density to ours we could harvest an untold amount of power!" He blinks a few times and says "ah... But um... that's a project for a later date...."
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Arthur looks up from where he was fiddling with some sort of program "ah yes, Arthur, that's me, sorry, I was distracted by this figure here, there's a tremendous amount of potential power in this spot here, why if we can keep our hole with just the slightest of openings, a scant dozen microns across for example, we could draw power from neigh infinite parallel worlds, converting the mass of those planes into energy at a rate of 89.9 terajoules of power per gram harvested, you could power a light bulb for thirty thousand years with such power. And with four times ten to the seventy ninth atoms in a universe of comparable size and density to ours we could harvest an untold amount of power!" He blinks a few times and says "ah... But um... that's a project for a later date...."
Andromeda walks up to him, and stands right in front of his face so he can't just ignore what she's saying, and punctuates her words with occasional pokes to the chest, just to make sure she still has his attention. "No. And in case you missed it the first time, NO. Would it work? Absolutely. Do you know what happened to the last people who tried it? They cooked their own universe. Because even a tiny pinpoint hole left open will do that. And do you know what happened to the idiots before them? They got slaughtered by an army of cyborgs from the next universe over. And then the cyborgs left the door open and cooked both universes. That is absolutely, positively not what is going to happen here. Because I am going to stop you. It's what I do. Stop people from unraveling spacetime. Do you have any idea how absurdly many beings there are who wake up every morning and think hey, you know what would be a great idea today? Let's play with the fabric of the universe and see what happens. If I didn't have the ability to step outside of time, I would literally never be able to get to all of them. And I seriously miss having free time, okay?! So, no, you do not get to be one of those people. Not today. You do not want to be making more work for me right now. Got it?" she asked. Her eyes had switched to their draconic aspect midway through her rant, and she was clearly not pleased. "So no, it is not a project for a later date. It is a project for never."
Jeran gave an awkward half wave back, like he started to wave and then wasn't really sure and aborted mid-action. Not uncommon for Jeran in social situations.
"Hello," he said a bit stiffly. "Sorry for the late arrival. My schedule's a bit...irregular lately. If you can wrap up what you're working on, we'll be moving into the classroom just through that door behind you in about five minutes. Get through all the boring but important stuff."
"Err...alright, we haven't gotten started yet, so let's head to the classroom..." he makes a sweeping gesture waving the recruits to the classroom.
The firebird trio were the first to head into the classroom, their earlier exuberance replaced by sullen obedience.
Jeran raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly at Mithros. "What's their problem?" he asked softly.
He waits for the recruits to get into the other room, then replies quietly "I kinda hollered at them. The playful shoving and gut punches got to me, I asked them to knock it off and we argued a bit. You arrived just as that exchange ended."
Fei quietly enters the classroom while Mithros and Jeran are conversing. He takes a seat in preparation for the next stage of their instruction, looking through any manuals if they are available.
Follows Fei in, and takes a seat, looking around the room. He could see no mirrors, and wondered what hidden devices would track their progress.
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Arthur briefly considers asking if it would be ok if it was only left open for a little while or only to a smaller, uninhabited plane, but decides against it... At least for now... Damn she was scary. "Ah.... Yes'm, reading you loud and clear.."
"Okay, good," she said cheerfully, going back to her pleasant demeanor from before as if her little outburst had never even happened. "Tryko'Sam should be back soon with those parts you need. How about tools? Got everything you need already?"
Jeran gave an awkward half wave back, like he started to wave and then wasn't really sure and aborted mid-action. Not uncommon for Jeran in social situations.
"Hello," he said a bit stiffly. "Sorry for the late arrival. My schedule's a bit...irregular lately. If you can wrap up what you're working on, we'll be moving into the classroom just through that door behind you in about five minutes. Get through all the boring but important stuff."
"Err...alright, we haven't gotten started yet, so let's head to the classroom..." he makes a sweeping gesture waving the recruits to the classroom.
The firebird trio were the first to head into the classroom, their earlier exuberance replaced by sullen obedience.
Jeran raised an eyebrow and looked questioningly at Mithros. "What's their problem?" he asked softly.
He waits for the recruits to get into the other room, then replies quietly "I kinda hollered at them. The playful shoving and gut punches got to me, I asked them to knock it off and we argued a bit. You arrived just as that exchange ended."
Jeran sighed. "Well, I guess there was bound to be some conflict eventually. Just...look, you know how your world just got turned upside down? So did theirs. Try to remember that when they're driving you crazy. It was the thing I most goofed up after the other lycans and I were freed from Nala's mental controls. I held things together for a while, but it couldn't hold because I forgot to take into account that all of them were struggling just as much as I was. So, you know, learn from my mistakes and all that. Plus, training people is like herding hummingbirds in the first place. The more you get used to it, the less nuts it makes you. But it's easy to wear yourself out in the beginning if you run around trying to catch all of them."
adon keeps walking after the noise, changing direction if it happens to be different frm the way he was going. Unable to run properly due to the gaping hole, he uses his not so busy hands to tie his clothes so they cover the hole visibly.
Jeran sighed. "Well, I guess there was bound to be some conflict eventually. Just...look, you know how your world just got turned upside down? So did theirs. Try to remember that when they're driving you crazy. It was the thing I most goofed up after the other lycans and I were freed from Nala's mental controls. I held things together for a while, but it couldn't hold because I forgot to take into account that all of them were struggling just as much as I was. So, you know, learn from my mistakes and all that. Plus, training people is like herding hummingbirds in the first place. The more you get used to it, the less nuts it makes you. But it's easy to wear yourself out in the beginning if you run around trying to catch all of them."
"I get all that, I really do. I guess I'll let it go for now. I'm just worried about perception, really."
"I get all that, I really do. I guess I'll let it go for now. I'm just worried about perception, really."Jeran sighed. "Well, I guess there was bound to be some conflict eventually. Just...look, you know how your world just got turned upside down? So did theirs. Try to remember that when they're driving you crazy. It was the thing I most goofed up after the other lycans and I were freed from Nala's mental controls. I held things together for a while, but it couldn't hold because I forgot to take into account that all of them were struggling just as much as I was. So, you know, learn from my mistakes and all that. Plus, training people is like herding hummingbirds in the first place. The more you get used to it, the less nuts it makes you. But it's easy to wear yourself out in the beginning if you run around trying to catch all of them."
"I wouldn't worry about it so much, Mithros. Everybody in that room has some form of military experience," he said, tapping the folder in his hand. "At least, that's what the write-ups the boss sent say. So I'm pretty sure that they are able to handle themselves alright. Different people have different styles of dealing with stress, that's all. I withdraw and do the whole lone wolf thing. You, my friend, kind of turn into a control freak. I'm guessing some of those guys joke around, sometimes too much. None of us should be allowed to take those coping strategies too far or the whole thing breaks down. I'm just suggesting that it's helpful to recognize that you're not the only one who's stressed out."
He grimaced. "Definitely not the only one. The last time I was in charge of a group of people it ended in a violent coup. Here's hoping not to repeat history."
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"Someone has been luring girls off campus or out of the town or the refugee camps and murdering them. The murderer has some kind of psychic abilities as they plant false memories in their victims making them remember someone close to them being behind the attack. We're trying to catch them and stop them. That girl, Ginni," he said, nodding towards the bed, "she was one of the victims, but she has powerful psychic abilities of her own. Instead of giving her false memories, the killer shattered her mind. We're trying to set a trap to catch the killer, but the girl who was going to act as bait backed out."
"That's the super short condensed version. Obviously there's more to it than that."
She cocks her head slightly to one side, then shrugs and nods. She speaks a couple of unintelligible words and a silent illusion springs into existence beside her. The animated image shows a rather cartoonish looking Alys skipping through a forest and climbing into the pan of a very large bear trap where she settles down to wait.
"I wouldn't worry about it so much, Mithros. Everybody in that room has some form of military experience," he said, tapping the folder in his hand. "At least, that's what the write-ups the boss sent say."