"Yeah. But..." Wesley responds to Tumbler, "... at the risk of sounding like Indiana Jones, some of this stuff really does belong in a museum. The Curator wasn't just auctioning off magical artifacts. Some of this stuff is mundane, but culturally and historically significant. The Eye should go to Mexico, for example. Burying them in the sand on an alien world seems... wrong."
He nods to Wendy. "Yeah, I can keep them in my lamp. There's already piles of ancient treasures and artifacts in there. I'd like to someday go through them all." Wes sighs. "The problem with keeping them in the lamp is that it all goes back to the professor when, you know."
Ziss scratches her head, wondering that if Wes had the lamp with him during the gala and that he could have put all the treasure inside it, then why they needed the van? There was probably a reason for that for sure, so she doesn't bother asking.
"Well, if he gets de lamp back, he can wish all of dis treasure to magically appear in his vault again, no? Since we already know dat a wish isn't bound to just Earf as Tumbler's wish of seeing de Curator worked from here." She sighs.
"Strange how de lamp was able to be transported now and not before when you were pulled into Razzara..." She comments, wondering if this means the Curator's grasp on Wes fate is diminishing. "Well, it looks all our problems are solved den... we ditch de van, since it is useless, put all de treasure inside de lamp as well as everyone else. I'll carry de lamp wif me as I fly towards de outpost."
"It will probably take me a couple days to be ready to detect a place for me to worldwalk back to Earf, but until den, it looks we are on vacation inside de lamp."
Wendy suggests, ”Some of us should be out of the lamp though …specifically one who has powers for getting around, and another ‘buddy’ who doesn’t.
“Ziss, how about Wes and I take first watch after we get people and things in the lamp?”
"I'll eat, baf and drink in de lamp, but aside from dese moments I'll stay outside." Ziss says to Wendy. "This is my world and I'm de only one dat knows de place, de people, and de language."
"Our new friend, 86, should always stay in de lamp, and perhaps Megan too, since she is just too tall." Turning to Wes, she adds. "If you are up to staying wif me outside whenever possible, I fink it would be our best choice, since you can change your appearance to look more like my people... which means a couple inches shorter, no body hair, pink or purple irises and making your hair more bluish."
Wendy nods.
”I want to stay out with Wes until you’ve had your bath then.” She practically begs, ”You’re in charge here, Ziss. So I’m not telling. I’m asking, and saying ‘please.’”
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With Ziss doing the translating 86 fell out of her soldier's stance and gazed between the various members of the group before the obvious realization struck her that these weren't Treznak, they obviously wouldn't follow their naming convention. Multiple titles wasn't a sign of prestige or skill especially amongst a band of their cubs of all things. She gave a sigh inward of herself for her stupidity thankful that the other members of her pack weren't here to bask in her shame.
She could probably get their 'van' repurposed into a proper vehicle for this planet. Wait... planet, world... we're on... It was amidst all the talk that 86 seemed to zone out with the realization that she was standing on a planet. Not a simulation, not the grand scale of the craft world with it's gravity well and artificial atmosphere. This was an honest to goodness planet, she leaned down and placed a hand on the sand feeling it's warmth between her pads and pulled up a healthy swath of the stuff letting it trickle through her fingers with amazement. Big hydrogen-based tears welling in her eyes.
She zonked out somewhere along the explanation of Askara's people and the talk about staying in a puny lamp and looked like she was about to lay down on the open sands and kiss the course red grains. Which makes her look rather more like she's prostrating to some god in the team photo if Derby doesn't hesitate on that front. Sitting there running her hands through it all feeling that natural warmth, that scorching breeze, the strange scent, and open sky with actual clouds.
Ziss shrugs. "Sure, just be careful. It is just important dat we do not draw more attention to us, dan needed. Once we reach de outpost, people will see two people entering, and people will watch us because we are travellers. Me and Wes should den only enter de lamp when in a room or tent, where no one will see."
Wendy nods. She gladly helps pack the lamp, explains to 86 that she’s safe and not being imprisoned… and once it’s just her and Wes outside, she’s dying to chat with him.
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86 is snapped from her trance when Wendy talks to her again, "W-wait, no Wendy-Red. I just, we just got here." She holds up the sand as if it's supposed to mean anything to her. "I don't want to go back into any stasis yet. I do not understand what manner of nano-technology you have to make such a small thing a suitable vessel for any being, but I can't go there yet." If not for the natural deepness and growl-like nature of her voice or Ziss's translation, it would seem like she was almost pleading with her on this matter.
”Do you like the sun and the sand, 86?”
Wendy thinks a moment.
”Ziss knows how things work on this planet. I don’t. I’ve… never been to another planet before.”
It’s just now that reality punches some sense into Wendy, who was too freaked by Wes saving her from poison to even properly geek out.
”Holy f!*$… I really am on another planet. I mean, I get that half of you have been to other planets plural but… wowwwwwwwww……….”
To 86, ”How about you stand guard while we load the lamp?”
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"Sand?" The word sounds strange coming from the alien who tries to repeat it in Wendy's tongue as if the word doesn't mean anything to her or there isn't a word for it in her vocabulary.
All four of her hands curl with the warm stuff clenched in them, "I do not know sand, only dust... I-I have never been on a planet before." She admits without thinking about it, but her mind swiftly catches up and she seems to realize how childish this all must look. How unrefined and improper of her station, what would her packmates think seeing her prostrated across the ground... actual solid ground sure. They would laugh, berate her, even if they had never been on ground before either. But this was no way for a Treznak to present themselves, this... this was weakness and she couldn't be weak none of them could. The tears quickly soaked into her fur leaving only spots that one might think were from sweating just as much as one crying.
She quickly resolved to stand and clench her fists tighter before brushing the sand out of her hands and clearing her throat and looking to Ziss. "My armament, Fox-White" She held out a grasper expectantly. "I do not understand your 'loading' of the... lamp, but I shall stand guard for the time. You will return me to my pack in due time as honor dictates." The last bit seemed less a question and more an order being passed along.
”How could you ever have been on a planet? Were you born… in space?”
Wendy is pretty sure that sucks. She tries to internalize the geeking out.
”Like, always on a ship?”
"Your weapon is on the van, 86." She answered in her language. When she asks about the loading of the lamp, Ziss laughs. "Feels like you are being flushed down a toilet."
The Barbed Beret understands 86. She walks out to the edge of the truck’s interior and says, ”I, too, am made, not born. Yet, I live. Life is precious, 86. I do not know if you were made with love, but you are lovely. You should enjoy this planet because it is new.”
Barbs says to Wendy, ”I should retreat to the lamp. In this heat, melting is imminent.”
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Caught off-guard by yet another strange being from Earth 86 squints at the mobile doll. 'They get smaller too?' But looking for anyway to extract herself from talking about herself anymore she moves to the van and grabs her things. Taking the time to check her own personal supplies which are running dangerously low, since she didn't exactly have time to restock before being ordered to the pod.
Her great heart sank a little deeper in her chest as she stood by the van, hoping beyond anything that the others were safe and not in a similar situation as her not even a short-cycle ago.
After a few moments to steady her mind and refocus on the task at hand she clambers atop the vehicle, which was already starting to become very hot to keep watch over the area and these very strange earthlings. This quiet time slightly displaced from the group allows her time to take in the surroundings as well as whine internally about the gash on her muzzle, she'd love for Tor'Bek to take a look at it, he always had the most gentle hands.
Wesley was carefully laying out and mentally categorizing the liberated objects from the vault while the conversation with 86 continued. Once he had them arrayed to his satisfaction, he sets the lamp down on the sand next to them.
"All right, everyone taking a trip inside the lamp, grab hold and put a hand on one of these artifacts. Except the lamp. Wendy, 86, you're first watch outside, right? If you need me out immediately, give it a tap. Not a rub."
Once it's set, everyone going inside the lamp feels a lurching, spinning and weightless sensation before they're suddenly someplace else.
You're surrounded by opulence. Glowing braziers throw a warm light against rich tapestries woven with golden threads that line the walls. The air is heady with incense. Tinkling music is heard from an unseen source. Woven rugs and thick and soft, and the furniture is covered in pillowy cushions. Tables are laden with bowls of fresh fruit, roasted nuts, decanters of chilled wine, and steaming freshly baked breads.
"Help yourself," Wesley says, gesturing to the food. "The hammam -- I mean, the bathhouse -- is through that partition. Now, I've never left anyone inside the lamp, so I'm curious what will happen. I'll just be out and back in for a second."
Tumbler doesn't argue with Arcanum's point at first. She stays quiet for a while, and when others go into the lamp she's still waiting outside, using her vest as a shade from the glaring desert sun. She's already sweating through her shirt at this point.
"...who do you trust in Mexico to have the Eye and not abuse it?" She asks. "What's your plan for returning all of these artifacts to their native museums that won't end up with them shipping the stolen property back to the Curator? I'll back you when you can give me clear answers to that," She tells him, sighing.
"I'm empathetic to you on this. Wanting to do good things with crimes is pretty awesome. And what we've just done would normally carry a seven to fifteen year sentence, if not for the fact a criminal investigation would uncover the insanely illegal stuff the Curator's got in the museum. So we shouldn't end up in jail when we get back unless the Curator's willing to fall on his sword just to stab us."
She turns to Wendy next. "By the way, you owe me a new uniform. That's a genuine St. Trina's you tore up and I expect you to get me a replacement when we get back." She rolls her shoulders, looking at Wendy's bare arms with an inscrutable expression and taps her foot on the lamp.
"Now, a bath and a change of clothes would be nice. Anything to get out of this heat."
Wendy replies to Carmen, ”Just one?”
After Wes takes others in the lamp, Barbs included, Wendy smiles. She closes one eye and tries to peek inside with the other.
—but jumps back as Wes returns! ”EEP?!”
"Hey!" Wes says as he reappears standing surprisingly close to Wendy. He takes a step back, giving her some room. "Everything okay out here?"
He looks over to Tumbler. "I get what you're saying. Once they're out of our hands, then they're not protected and they could be used for evil. Maybe we should hold on to them for a while, at least until the Curator is defeated for good. But just throwing them away... it feels so wrong."
He looks uneasily at the lamp, being outside of it while people were still in there. "So, you ready to go in? I need to check on everyone."
Wendy says to Carmen, ”You should go in. Enjoy. Relax… I will too once Ziss is back out.”
Considering Wes’ words, she adds, ”Maybe you really shouldn’t leave people in the lamp for more than an hour or two. At least I know it’s safe to stay inside longer, with you in it.”
She has a big grin. That it’s Guy-Wes now doesn’t bother her.
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Standing atop the wreckage 86 overheard the conversation between Wendy and Tumbler, there were plenty of words that didn't translate properly but she assumed she understood it. Her heart and head were starting to throb from the heat and she opened her mouth to pant. She didn't want to admit it but she needed to find good shade soon and wondered how close these humans were to collapsing if the heat were affecting her so badly.
She turned towards Wendy, sun reflecting off her armor, "Moving mox? This heat will be our Mortem."
”Then join Wes in the lamp, 86. It’s safe in there… and way cooler than out here!”
Diego was very clearly anxious at the whole predicament. But when talk of going in the lamp comes up, he vehemently shakes his head. ”Nope. I’ll wait out here, thank you kindly!”
Wesley gives Diego a flat look. "Dude. Seriously? There's food. Water. Wine. We're stranded in an alien desert, and the lamp can keep us safe for the rest of our lives, if necessary."
He sighs and shakes his head. "Whatever. You can stay out here and bake, then freeze. Tough guy."
Wesley takes several trips in and out of the lamp to confirm that the luxurious realm stays intact while he's outside of it, and ferries everyone who wants in in, and everyone who wants out, out.
Wendy sees that Diego does not want in, which means in or out, she’s not getting a moment with Wes to herself.
Comfort, then.
Wendy says, ”If others want to stay out here, I may as well go in.” She wonders if she and Wes can talk in private inside the lamp… or should that conversation wait?
”Dude! Don’t you get it?” Diego asks in frustration. ”I am f$!#ing trapped! Ever since I got my powers, I’ve been free. It took me months to get around the world and find me some good spots to teleport to, and now I am what? In a new planet. Dimension? Wherever we are, I have no idea about where to go! And then I’m supposed to make it worse by going into some damned magic sex changing lamp!?!?”
He kicks some sand and says ”Whatever. Fine. But if I turn into a girl, you damn well better make me a hot señorita, got it?”
All right. I get it," Wesley says to Diego. "It's a new world and you can't just peace out to wherever you want to go. That makes sense. But we're stuck here until Ziss can get us back to Earth, so let's just make the best of it."
Wes slaps him on the back. "So what you're saying is, C-cup or bigger. Got it." With a smirk, he pulls Diego into the lamp with him.
And while there was a real temptation to flip Diego to a señorita, Wesley keeps his male friend male.
"Help yourself," Wes offers, gesturing to the piles of food and vessels of drink.
Ziss just goes to the strange and confusing bathroom, eat and drink something and then she is ready to leave the lamp when Wes re-enters it.
"Ready to go, Wes? We need to reach de outpost before nightfall." She looks over to the treasure. "What here is de least historically valuable? Just in case we need to trade for somefing, since credit cards aren't a fing here."
"Oh, and I need to help you look more like a native..." She says, amused with the idea.
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86 looked at Wendy and then the lamp and Arcanum still not sure how exactly it was all working and more than a little worried about trusting them with this kind of stuff so quickly. She grumbled milling it over in her mind.
"I go, but you find tribulatio promitto call me. Stipant no survive with no dux." A heavy hand is placed on Wendy's shoulder, and then she looks over to Tumbler noticing the missing limb and the scars associated with it just before Wes goes for another round.
She lifts one of her large arms flexing slightly, "Is good vulnus proelium, strong to continue fight. Good warrior cor." She thumps her chest in recognition before looking to Wes for salvation from this damned heat. The cooled gel layer under her solid armor only providing so much aid.
Inside of the lamp, Tumbler takes a bath and scrubs...and scrubs...and scrubs until her skin is all flushed pink. She douses herself in cold water, letting it drip off of her body naturally as she shakes and breathes heavily and tries to keep her cool.
Finally, after spending some time cleaning up, she walks out of the bathroom in one of the silk robes left out, drying her hair with a towel and stopping as the strange beast-slash-alien speaks to her. She's confused at first, then a little angry as Ziss translates.
"It's not a good wound. It's ugly and a reminder that you don't get out of the game without leaving something behind," She tells her, though it's enough to dispel her anger. "Also, don't you aliens have some kind of universal translator or something? I know there's this big shot in Halcyon from another planet who doesn't have a problem with these language barriers."
Wesley leans against the wreckage of the van while talking with Ziss. "You seem really excited about giving me a makeover. I'll do what I can, but why do we need to get there in one day? Are the nights that much worse than the day? Are there creatures that fly around at night and we need Vin Diesel to save us?" He smiles at his own joke. "Sorry. Old movie reference."
Ziss shrugs. "Not excited... just curious about how you'll look like one of my people."
"And yeah, nights are very dangerous in the desert. The heat is so oppressive during the day that predators hunt at night... and I say predators in the sense that we are prey." She answers, serious. "Aside from them, there is the danger of sandstorms, so we it would be risky both to keep a watch in the middle of the night, and to retreat to the lamp, because if there is a sandstorm, the lamp would be buried and we'd be trapped, right?" She asks to confirm. "But since we both can fly, I'm pretty confidant we'll be able to reach the outpost."
"Now..." She smiles. "Here in Askara, I'm not tiny at all, I'm about above average in height, to you if you could shrink to about 5 feet, that would be great." She starts, checking on him thoroughly. "Our eyes go from blue to red, but generally the color is closer to pink or purple... if you can get rid of the hair on your arms, legs, chest and wherever else you have it... light hair is unheard of, so you'd need to darken them, and in terms of clothing, something close to what were dressing when you first turned into a girl, but for man of course. Can you change my clothes as well?"
Wesley adjusts his look based on Ziss's instructions, then adjusts her clothes as requested. "They're not going to be upset with me trying to look like someone I'm not?" he checks.
He takes flight when Ziss is ready and they've packed everything they're taking with them. He converts his body to air to endure the heat better.
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Inside the lamp 86 refuses to disrobe from her armor, it would be foolish to do so in such a place and around aliens of all people. She is taken aback at the interior of the space it looked so nice, but she wondered why anyone would waste their resources doing such a thing. It didn't seem to improve the quality of it's function as a living space.
When Ziss got around to translating for her to robe wearing Tumbler she waits for a translation herself and cocks her head slightly at Tumbler's apparent dismissal of her approval. The following question set her own mind to work on a why, "Yes, we have translators. However your lexicon is vast and unreliable. Takes time to parse, had no signal within confinement." That fact makes her heart jump a bit knowing she has no idea how long she was held in that location. "Unable to transcribe without information, you understand this yes?"
86's stomach or whatever word fit the human equivalent howled in protest at the lack of eating things. Grapes and wine would not do well enough to satisfy her, she followed her nose around the place looking for something more satisfying, while also trying not to stray too far from the rest of the group in this labyrinthian vessel.
"Oh, dey will be mighty pissed!" She says as she looks around at her clothes. "But it is still better to risk dis dan openly show you as a foreigner, since dey could fink you are some magical evil creature of de desert. I'm hoping we can trick dem."
Ziss looks at Wes for a moment... as if lost in her thoughts. She turns around quickly to grab her hoverboard, her face a bit blushed, ashamed and confused.
As Wes turns into air, they fly towards the outpost. "Once we get closer, we need to land and finish walk de rest of de way. If we look tired, better yet and oh, if you could make our clofes look old and ragged, it will help us in our story of how we got dere."
Wes and Ziss fly above the desert sands, the rest of the team safe and comfortable inside the magic lamp. You travel for several hours, and the hot sun has begun to set behind the dunes when you at last reach the outpost.
A dozen buildings of white stone are clustered here, arranged around s central well. Several short, dark-haired people go about their business, but they give Wes and Ziss suspicious looks as they draw near. A pair of burly men approach before they get too far.
”Halt. State your names and business here, outlanders.”
"I'm Ziss Na-Lathrin, and this is my husband Nuragg. Our mack's navigation system broke and we had not noticed until it was too late." She explains. "We are looking for a place to stay until can find transportation."
She makes sure to be as vague as possible while she discreetly looks around, trying to figure out where they are.
"Ugh, if we were still on Earth I'd say just plop down and watch the whole series of Law and Order," She tells 86. "Translating is going to be a pain. If you want to start compiling, just listen to me while I talk and tell you about what just happened and how we came to find you..."
She'll spend her time in the lamp discussing things to 86 even if Ziss isn't around in order to try and help her build up that database of words she would need to understand and communicate with them all. Though some of it would be behind the dressing curtain as she tries on different outfits here in Wes' sanctum - all which seem to be various themes of belly dancer. Tumbler was not big on midriff baring so she kept looking.
“You hold a kind of honor code. I wonder if you’re so different from the Hatrix family.”[/dice]
The guards look you up and down before grunting. ”Very well. You may stay here for tonight. We will make room in the barracks for you. But we do not have the resources to support you long term, so you must be on your way in the morning.”
Ziss recognizes this outpost is a military installation. They should have maps of the area in the command building if she can get inside. All of the soldiers here would pose an equally large threat. The best way past the guards would be to maintain your false identities and not give them reasons to be suspicious.
Ziss makes an elaborated gesture with her hands that ends with both of them on the middle of her chest. "We thank you for your kindness as we know we should not be here."
She doesn't step forward, though, waiting for the soldiers to guide them towards where they'd be allowed to stay. "As we do not want to be a burden for you, we'll be on our way as soon as possible. Do you have any means of transportation we could use tomorrow morning? We'll pay, of course, and any city or trade outpost will do." She asks, expecting there will be something to help them, since kicking them out of the outpost in the middle of the desert and on foot would be the same as killing them.
”We will be sending a transport to the city-state of Zakabb tomorrow morning, to deliver a dangerous prisoner,” the guard states. ”You may travel with them, but you will do so at your own risk.”
The two men show Wes and Ziss to the barracks, where they are assigned a pair of bunks in the corner of the building.
Zakabb! Ziss thinks, relieved. She had never visited it, but it wasn't far from Marthra, which she did visited. If they could not find a focus point for her power in Zakabb, they could then travel to Marthra, then Edanna and finally the caves between there and her mother's home of Babalar.
"That will do." Ziss says to the soldiers. "Could we have something to eat and drink, please?" She asks before the soldier leaves. While they could access the lamp, it would be suspicious if a couple lost in the desert wasn't hungry and thirsty at this point, so it was better to keep their disguise.
Once the soldier is gone, Ziss talks to Wes. "I've told dem you are my husband, Nuragg... did dis just so they let us stay togeder and do not have any silly ideas wif me." She says, as if apologizing, and looking around to see if they'd be able to have some "privacy" in order for people to leave the lamp. "Dis is a military outpost, where civilians aren't allowed, but dey will let us stay until tomorrow, when dere will be a transport to Zakabb... it is a prisoner transport, but we should be fine."
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86 grunts towards Tumbler "Translator is self-updating, if have access to Terran lexicons then it will finish. You likely do not have sufficient skill to explain in enough detail for accurate use. That is not to say you are illiterate to your own language, but it is like trying to teach a machine to learn without the correct tool." She relents slightly at the desire to speak about how they got to her stasis pod, even more so on how her pod got there, but she had doubts that those who aided her were also those who entrapped her.
"I will listen for a time on how things came to pass." She hangs around Tumbler for the majority of the evening, though there comes a time where she actively complains about the lack of proper sustenance for a warrior of her caliber. Explaining that the scanner on her wrist, which looks very blank to Tumbler, shows that the foods provided here offer little nutritional value to her kind.
Wesley had stayed silent and hopefully unobtrusive while Ziss chattered in the alien language and got them entry into the base. While he doesn't know what is said, he tries to nod along like he understands rather than looking completely dense.
""Are we walking or is the transport some kind of vehicle?" Wes asks when Ziss explains the plan for tomorrow. "And is there any way of knowing what kind of prisoner?" He doesn't comment on the ruse about being Ziss's husband. It made sense, so there was no reason to make it awkward.
"Dey said it was a 'dangerous prisoner', but aside from dat, I do not know... we could try to discover, but if we are caught, well... dey will probably kill us." She says.
"I'm mostly sure de transport will be military vehicle that looks like a two sail ships togeder." While behind Earth in many technological discoveries, the people of Askara are very developed in terms of solar energy and the Zuuk, as these vehicles are called, have large sails that serve both as solar collectors and sails to propel the vehicles forward as massive turbines blow towards them.
"As an alternative, while also risky, is for us to sneak into de command barrack to take a look at deir maps... if I know de direction of Zakabb, we could fly dere on our own."
Wesley takes the offered food, especially the meat, and slips inside the lamp when eyes aren't on him.
"Hey, everyone. Good news, Ziss and I are in the military camp. Ziss talked us into a place to stay tonight, and we're getting a ride tomorrow to the nearest civilization. It's a proisoner transport, so there are ways for that to go wrong. I'll pull you all out in the event of a crisis. But, fingers crossed, we'll be heading to a big city that will let you all out in no time."
Wendy is bathed and wearing the blue robe she wore her first time in the lamp with Jinn Wes.
”A prisoner transport, huh? I’m sure everything will go smoothly. Huh. I should start storing gadgets in here for situations like this.”
When Wes comes in, Tumbler's wearing what looks like the most conservative harem outfit she could find, with a cropped halter top that had a gauzy fabric stretched up to the neck, leaving her whole midsection exposed, and an ankle length skirt over the sheer harem pants underneath. Brass chains hang decoratively off of parts of her skin as she finishes polishing off a pear.
"Prisoner transport...so we're staying in the lamp or are we trying to slip in with the prisoners?" Tumbler asks. "Also, do you know where I might find some cloak or something to wear over this?" She gestures, the only thing marring the image being, of course, her ruined arm that she's bandaged up at least for asthetics.