Session Start: Fri Sep 08 22:05:36 2006 Session Ident: #lunar-iog2 * Logging #lunar-iog2 to 'logs\#lunar-iog2.log' * TheStoryteller changes topic to '-= Chapter 25: Silverado, pt 2 | Location: Vulcannon Lab Complex | Pools: 3287 §, 6 MXP =- http://storen.rpgcafe.net/IoG/' == SESSION START == After the GM used his cleaning kit to remove the scratch on the CD, the adventure resumes! The brave group was last heading up a spiral staircase to the second floor of the administrative building, hot on the heels of Dr. Sonyele... * Saki ... well, continues to look lost and out of place and just a little bewildered. She's lemminging along but her mind's clearly somewhere that isn't to do with complex techniques regarding things she has no clue about. [Dr. Sonyele] Sorry it took so long to get the clearance... it's been really tight around here with recent events. But, you're probably sued to that by now. << used >> You have no idea. Oh yeah. * Mikel follows the group up the stairs, staff resting on his shoulder for the moment. * Vytor follows behind Dr. Sonyele, eager to see what Chrissy has been up to I got good stuff; I'm happy. * Niri looks around at everything while they walk, finding the surroundings very interesting. Reaching the second floor, you ntoice a boxy sort of robot humming along the floow, leaving a little trail behind it. Hmm, a floor cleaning 'bot. << er floor >> * Mikel blinks at the robot. "...handy, that." * Trune stares at the bot, "...Do they sell these guys to average blokes like me? Cuz you'd make a killin for all the lazy shmucks of the world." * Saki stamps on it like any good Deus Ex player. * Angie slows down to watch the robot. She scuffs the floor with the tip of her boot where it has just passed by. «ooc: nuke » Anyone can buy one, but they're pricey Maybe when I'm rich. Like, really rich. But then I'd be more eccentric than I am now and people would laugh at me. ...maybe not. * Saki follows along, just a little spaced. A few employees that walk by pay it absolutely no mind, apparently used to it's routines. As Angie scuffs the floor it ends up doubling back and wiping up the scuff mark and re-waxing that particular square tile. * Angie drops to a crouch, leaning forward on her knees to peer at the tiny robot. "I wonder how hard it is to make one. I guess the hard part is the circuitboards." [Leah] I really wonder sometimes.. how life was way back in the oldtech days. The stuff we find in ruins can make little guys like that seem like toys... * Angie leaps up, quickly closing the distance the rest of the group has put between them. "We could summon the Elementalors to clean the floor!" she offers breathlessly. ...We really couldn't. * Niri gives Angie a funny look. ...And why would we do that? "...That'd be pretty mean." [Dr. Sonyele] excuse me? "Also Webbly would scold you." * Saki tilts her head, slumping just slightly to one side. "... Webbly would hold up a frowning sign at us," she puts forth, sounding just a tad weary. And, you know, there's the possibility of firey death if we offended them. * Angie looks ever so slightly offended at people's reaction. She shakes it off with a shrug. "Well, everyone always says it's so sad that they were created as weapons." So you'd rather them be maids? Geez, Angie. There's a long hallway of doors in this corridor, but it is also a lot wider than the other office spaces you've visited, accomodating a good amount of company traffic and visitors, as well as the robotos mingling in with everyone as best they can. * Mikel coughs. "Maids would be a step backwards." * Saki rakes a hand through her hair, a flash of horror going through her features. "... please do not suggest that to the Doctor. ... ever. He will try to dress them up." * Angie rolls her eyes to the side. "I'm saying maybe they'd prefer it! Man, you guys." * Angie almost doubles over snickering at Saki's remark. Within a second she's regained her composure and is walking along calmly; a cloudburst of mirth. Shiro just looks at the Theta Sentry, sniffing it as it goes past him. he stalks it curiously, not knowing what to make of it. * Niri gets down on her hands and knees next to Shiro and helps him stalk the little robot. ^^ Leave it alone, Shiro. S'may bite. It ends up rolling into a little slot in the wall that disappears! * Mikel blinks a couple of times as he watches Niri make like Shiro. "...should we warn Niri about the same thing?" ...Probably. Come on Niri, we have an appointment to keep. Shiro whines at Niri, pawing the wall. Yeah Niri, stop chasing the shiny things. [Dr. Sonyele] Yes, her office is right down this way.. * Vytor continues along in silent amusedment ^_^ * Niri giggles and picks Shiro up. "Come on, silly. Let's follow the others." The female doctor takes a right at a cross intersection, heading for a door framed by two exquistily crafted vases of pure silver. Inside them is not flowers that you might think of them, rather strands of thin material that seems to be glowing with a rainbow light that changes shades subtly now and again. They are hwoever, formed into "flowers", which gives the effect of an ever changing artifical boquet. I always wondered how she managed to pull that effect off. * Angie is stopped short by the vases. She stares into them in absolute rapture and makes a quiet, defeated sound of awe. [Leah] Ooh, cool! Does anyone know what these are? I dunno, but it's nice. * Ryllan bends down next to it, almost reaching out to touch it, "I dunno. Might be magic, as far as I can tell. Might be a bunch of little lights in each of those strands." * Saki blinks at the next new sight, starting to look a little jaded of it all; otherwise, she accepts it and moves on, following after the doc. I don't remember what she called them. She explained it to me once, and it didn't make a lot of sense. * Mikel considers for a couple of moments. "...Probably something technological, considering where we are... interesting, though." [Dr. Sonyele] I'm not entirely sure myself. It's an oldtech thing she dug up. Strands that transmit light energy, can be modulated. Not really exactly my area of expertise by a long shot. * Angie states simply, "Science is awesome." It can be. * Saki chips in. "And looks vaguely like jellyfish." As you gawk at the vases, you hear a woman's voice from the other side of the door. It sound senergetic, though a little tempered with age. "...admiring my genius are you?" * Trune snorts in laughter at Saki's comment, "Heh, didn't notice that before but it kinda does, yeah." * Vytor recognizes the voice at once * Saki just opts to look mildly befuddled, and goes with the flow by turning at the voice. * Niri peers to see who it is * Ryllan looks up at the voice, "Puzzling, more like. But yeah." * Mikel snickers at the comment, though he quickly shuts up as the voice sounds. *swish* the door slides open before you! In a rather roomy and spacious office sits the CEO, Chrissy Vulcannon. Her brunette hair, slightly greying, is up in a bun and she is wearing a modest business suit in a magenta color. * Vytor waves She sits in a silver chair in front of a shiny desk, lots of file cabinets open and knicknack technology laying about.. * Niri blinks at the suit's color. * Angie dips her head in a sort of half-bow. "Dr. Vulcanon! I'm very glad to be able to meet you at last." * Trune blinks at the color as well, as if it's just a bit too bright for his eyes. * Mikel peeks past everyone else, blinking at both the suit and the general clutter of technology. On the wall is a framed hammer, too. And some framed blueprints of her early work. * Niri waves. "Hiya!" [Chrissy] Well well... took you long enough to get here! Welcome to Vulcannon Laboratories! Sonyele bows her head a bit. "Sorry about the wait, Dr. C. Got a bit held up in Raculi..." Hi, Dr. C. * Saki inclines her head in something of a bow. * Trune waves a bit in greeting. Chrissy gestures to a row of visitors chairs behind you. Wait, did those just slide out of the wall? How convenient. Hey, nifty! *Sits down with Shiro in her lap* * Trune blinks in surprise, "Oh man, now THAT I want more then the cleaning bot." [Shiro] Arf! * Vytor slides into a seat, apparently used to the novelty of it all * Mikel blinks, carefully taking a seat. "...I want to get a place set up completely like this. That's nice." * Trune takes a seat, getting comfortable. Knowing how things have been going whenever they meet anyone with information, they'll be sitting a long time. * Angie unslungs the gauge-encrusted bazooka thing strapped to her back, sets it against a chair, and sits down. [Chrissy] Sit down.. put your feet up. Can't have my VIP guests being uncomfortable. «ooc: unslings » * Saki remains standing like normal, but makes her way over to the chairs anyhow, taking up position to the side of them. * Niri scratches Shiro behind the ears! [Chrissy] On that note, I'm obviously very curious what you've been up to! I hear a lot of rumors, but best to go to the horse's mouth, you know? Oy, where to start? * Angie steeples her hands in front of her and leans forward, hiding a wide smile behind her fingers. "That's a story." [Dr. Sonyele] Right... though maybe I should let our band of unlikely heroes explain the situation first. The doctor also lean in to whisper something to Chrissy, who looks a bit perplexed, then nods. Short version: you're in danger. * Mikel leans back, letting out a sigh. "The long version... is long. They can explain it better probably." Isn't that more the blunt version, Vytor? Blunt and short. * Angie goes blank, giving Vytor a flat stare. "Isn't that a bit too untheatrical?" Man, we don't want to scare these people, Angie....much. Chrissy stares at Vytor and then smirks. "When am I not in danger? I don't think I've ever been safe in this line of work." * Vytor leans back, "I figured you're the one to handle the theatrics Angie, being you're the heroine of this tale and all." * Saki mutters, raking a hand through her hair and talking past the others. "... this is rather more danger than usual. Half the Truth Seekers are in comas because of this woman." Oh man I can't believe we're gonna let her do this. [Chrissy] If you're talking about that strange magician, I'm wella ware of it... no matter what we've been trying, jack's still out of it. * Vytor frowns I've got a feeling they won't be restored till we beat up she-bitch. * Saki nods curtly. "... we don't know where her next strike will be, but we've some things to research that may help." [Chrissy] It's beginning to get me .. well.. real angry! I don't like feeling powerless. All this wonderful technology and I can't do much about the situation. If you came here, I'm guessing this means Ishtar also was vegged-out? Oh yeah. Her Husband isn't doing so hot, either. ...Yeah. * Saki visibly flinches at the term. [Chrissy] Hmm... OK. What research suggestions did you have? * Vytor pulls out his notepad Chrissy smiles at Vytor as he reaches for his note. "Good to have you back, by the way, Vytor. I've got some fun stuff planned you might want to see, later." I was hoping you would say that. * Saki looks a bit harangued, and starts counting off on her fingers. "... succintly; the past, the real story, Rachel and Noah, the south..." She casts a look Vytor's way, eyebrow raised. * Trune also raises his eyebrow at Vytor. Actually, both of 'em. * Vytor passes his pad of notes to Saki, listing the many leads the group wishes to follow up on * Saki raises an eyebrow at the pad, then sighs out a breath. "... too many things. The Treatise, Elementalors, Zophar, the U.N., Hiro, Lucia, John and Haylee, the Unravelling, the southern regions, Rachel and Noah. That's... a sprawling list." [Chrissy] Whoa, whoa... hold on there a minute. It' It's a lot to cover, eh? I guess it's best to start at the beginning. * Saki gives Chrissy a quick nod. "... the Academy's the starting point for most of those, really." * Angie takes a deep breath. "I guess I can try to explain. Let's see..." * Angie leans back in her seat and searches the ceiling with her eyes. She taps her steepled fingers rhythmically, aiding in her recollection. "It all started at the Festival. I'm sure you've heard what happened there, so I won't dwell on it." [Chrissy] ..right. This is a glorified R&D lab for machines and the like. My information's a bit specialized and limited, y'see. Chrissy nods to Angie. * Saki bares her teeth in what is hopefully an amused, if wry grin. "To be fair, you did ask." What you might not know is that most of the people here -- everyone except me, Mikel here (she indicates with a sweep of her hand) and the doctor -- were there when the Prophetess attacked, and she addressed them directly. She seems to have an interest in them, and also in me. Speaking of me! I normally do navigation and cartography, but I'm what you might call a "dab hand" at geomancy so I was helping out with the Big Dig, because that place is a huge nexus of magical energy. These guys came on by, because...the staff! When Bree died they stole her staff (for science) and Niri -- that's the Niri, I dunno if you know but you've probably heard of her -- remembered from when she was at the Big Dig that there were signs referring to something called an Elementalor, and it's called the Elementalor Staff, right, so they thought they'd see if there was a connection. [Chrissy] ...Elementalor Staff, yeah. I was told it was the key to those places. * Trune coughs a bit. * Saki watches on, mildly impressed. (q) To be fair, we stole the staff before she died. (q) To be fair /I/ stole the staff before she died. "The Niri"? Chrissy shrugs. "WEll, she WAS a thief before she became mayor... a little poetic justice?" * Mikel just facepalms as he listens. You're famous, it seems * Niri is entranced. It's like watching a train wreck. That's where I come in! *She holds a hand to her chest and feigns modesty.* I'm all awesome so I decided to help them down to the bottom of the Pentagon because there's like monsters and robots and stuff. so we went down there, and the staff opened a door that none of us had been able to get into, and behind the door was a guy! * Trune smiles, "Well, glad SOMEONE isn't all grousey with me on that." * Ryllan raises an eyebrow at Trune, but says nothing. [Chrissy] In any case.. Elementalors! Haha! Did you know I've discovered one of those locations right under this very region? Handy. (w) It's more disjointed than when I try to tell a story! And I think she even talks faster than me. Didn't know that was possible. You know where it is? Like, exact location? * Saki covers her forehead with a hand, and mutters beneath it sotto voce. "... Angie has met Angie. Heaven help us." She blinks up at the mention of that. "... yes. And it's going to explode soon. That's why we're here," she adds bluntly. [Chrissy] But please, do go on... *to Angie* * Mikel mumbles something indistinct under his breath. He was this weird, sort of ethereal-looking guy in suspended animation or something. By going in we awoke him, and he went all nuts and attacked us, but we beat him down. Then a robot appeared! I mean, it was there already but it started doing stuff. The robot got the guy under control and explained that both of them were relics of the old world. The robot was a scientist named Dr. Webbly who had preserved his consciousness in the machine and thus survived the end of the world. The magic guy was an Elementalor, an ancient bioengineered elemental superweapon of the old world. * Angie pauses for effect, unable to contain a little smile. Chrissy is caught between Angie's riveting tale and the prospect of an explosion. They're both on the moon now. We have a little communicator thingy for talking to them. Can we get that on, Trune? *She looks apologetically at the doctor.* Sometimes it doesn't work if there's a lot of ambient energy interfering. They make Moon Chocolate up there. *nods sagely* * Mikel groans. Er, I can try anyway. As a matter of fact, it appears the ECC is picking up interference with it's connection in this particular room. * Trune pulls out the ECC and fiddles with it, "Huh, something in this room is effecting it." ...I still want to try Moon Chocolate. [Chrissy] Erg.. um... whew. I THINk I got all that right. It's unbelieveable.. but frok what I've seen with my own eyes, I can see it as being possible! << er from >> * Angie sucks in air through her teeth, a bit embarrassed. "We'll show it to you outside the facility sometime. Or it might even work in like a different room? It's sort of picky." Believe me, It's real. I'm sure the doctor would be happy to discuss matters with you too. * Saki makes a little '...ohgodno' under her hand. [Chrissy] AS for an explosion here, I assure you everything is under control... but now you've got me wondering. If you've met one of these ... lifeforms... and know how to control them, I may have a job ight up your alley. Oh? * Mikel lifts his head from the palm, frowning. "...That being?" [Chrissy] You've probably saw the memos about the quakes recently, right? Yeah. It's a big reason why we came. * Saki rakes the hand over her forehead and through her hair, nodding. "... that's why we're here. We got word from the Doctor that one of them is underground in the region and stirring, causing quakes. ... we're here to help sort it out." * Vytor nods Well, I just wanted to come, too. [Chrissy] In our experimentations bringing the relic power grid online again, something started to suddenly make the power level fluctuate madly and we have to emergency shut down before something blew. [Chrissy] WE also found a sealed chamber that looked exactly like the barrier in the Big Dig... * Angie brightens. "You have no idea how happy I am to hear that! I mean adventuring is nice and all but it'll be nice to just go right to the door for a change. And it should solve your problem, too." * Niri presses her hands together. "All right! Another Elementalor to add to our collection!" [Leah] Gotta catch them all, Niri? Man, Niri, it's not like the Elementlors are cards to collect...damn it, Leah! This is sort of how it was at the beginning too. We're after the Prophetess, but we want to gather the Elementalors too. For science, but also because they'll help in blowing her up. Suddenl;y Chrissy's eyes light up when she mentions "blow her up" ...Niri, remember. They're people too. * Mikel looks at Niri and Leah. "...Don't forget they are people." * Niri sticks out her tongue at Leah, then shrugs at Trune. "Well, no. But it's better than saying, 'YAY! Another new friend!' which was my first impulse." * Angie catches Chrissy's sudden interest and matches her enthusiasm, grinning. Besides, Chrissy, it's wrong to leave the Elementalors where they are, trapped in those buried rooms with all those machines. :/ Very lonely. [Chrissy] Now we're talking... there's nothing I like better than unearthing superweapons in my spare time. That's the story up to there. But we've covered a lot of ground since then! That was just, like, Episode One. * Vytor raises an eyebrow at that. The main goal of the group at this time was to try to find a way to stop the Prophetess, but it looked like finding the other Elementalors -- there were seven more -- could help, so they decided to try to do that too, and Dr. Webbly agreed to go with them to help because he had an interest in that. [Chrissy] I'd gladly free this being if it can help us. Of course, i'd have to resist the urge to order bio to take DNA samples... ^^; * Mikel lets out a sigh, shaking his head. You'll have to do it fast, if so! They're going to the moon too. I wouldn't bother. I'd work on understanding the computers they have down there. They probably have all the DNA samples you could want. I'm sure he'd be happy to help, if you asked. Not with a gun, just like...dzoot! [Dr. Sonyele] It might cooperate... who really can say? * Saki frowns. "'He'. Not 'it'. Ask, don't order." They seem terribly nice, when they're not trying to kill us. Right, what Saki said. (And they're awful cute, too.) [Dr. Sonyele] Sorry. I'm not quite used- *abruptly holds her tongue, looking somewhat vexed. Yeah, seriously, they're people. Not specimens. Ok ok shut up. Where was I? [Chrissy] Sonyele, maybe you ought to get some rest. You've been through a lot. I'm going to look into that for you when I can. Oh right! We were going south after getting Jupiter. (Jupiter was the Elementalor) Saki here *she points* has like this freaky psychic hoodoo that lets her tell where the Prophetess is going next -- I'll explain that later -- and she knew she would be going south, likely to New Takkar. Webbly knew an Elementalor that was near there -- there's an old military installation, you might know about it -- so we could combine the trips. * Saki scratches at her forehead, looks vaguely uncomfortable, and nods to the doctors. "... it's alright. It's a hard thing to get used to--" she blinks as she's suddenly targeted. The base also had something else important: a big gun thing that shoots you to the moon. The doctor wanted to go there to see what had happened, because I guess there were some installations on the moon even back when it was a dead world, and he wanted to see what had changed and use some instruments that were located there. By "there" I mean the moon, not the base. But I guess both since you get to the moon from the base? But I mean the moon was the ultimate goal. [Chrissy] Space travel now...? This gets better and better. Yeah, I wanted to go. But you can't really get back right now, so...ehehe. So we found the next ELementalor, who was in the same vein a crazy fairy guy, and we sent all of them to the Silver Star, which is why they aren't here now. Then we headed back to New Takkar (that's where I'm from) to warn Leon. Except you know how that went. This was pretty weird, though. The prophetess talked to us all directly again. She has this thing going on where she wants us to be there when she uses her soul drain attack -- wants us to be "witnesses." We have some loose theories about what this means but at the time it was all a mystery. So what happened was she waited until we arrived in town, zotted over, and wrecked everything again. She's incredibly powerful. She has time and space willforce like Professor Hylan, and she can summon all sorts of crazy monsters. We couldn't even fight her, we ended up fighting a huge ninja guy. So anyway! It was all super demoralizing. Saki had a feeling the Prophetess was heading north again, to New Raculi, and as you can guess we went there. But we didn't go there right away. At this point we were all like "augh holy shit how can we do this" so we decided to stop at the Academy, since it was sort of on the way, and try to arrange a meeting with the headmaster. We managed to do that, but he wasn't able to give us any huge help. Well, he tried anyway. [Chrissy] You actually MET Professor Hylan in person? Um, yes. He likes pears. [Chrissy] ...you do realize that he hasn't held audiences in years. * Vytor nods Yes. * Niri says this as if it is a perfectly obvious explanation. Yeah, it was an honor to meet him, actually. But I guess we're just too darn likeable to turn away. Or too persistent and annoying. * Mikel glances at the others, looking a bit surprised. I mean, I guess my meeting him went a lot better than the last time I tried. We're just that awesome. (m) Stupid closets. Chrissy continues to look intrigued, soaking up every detail with rapt interest. "Even I've never got a chance to meet him.. at least since the Unraveling went down." he's scarily normal, actually Yeah, I think he just isn't very social. Like you know he's crazy but you can't tell why so you're all scared. * Saki wobbles a bit, and finally decides to sit down. She looks like she has a mild headache, or is possibly just despairing quietly. But he's a good guy. The Prophetess's likely even more powerful than him, from what we can tell, and although he's been looking into it he didn't have any superweapons or secret advice or anything. He helped us, but it wasn't enough to make me feel real good about our chances still. Well, who's to say what's normal for someone with that sheer scale of power? For all we know, he's so crazy he's normal. I think people exasperate him. You know, kinda like Saki. * Saki doesn't look up. "People who exasperate me won't get lunch," she points out bluntly. I think Saki just gave Niri the kiss of death. [Chrissy] Didn't he try to set up some willforce device or another to mess with her magic? * Niri gives Saki a cute grin. [Chrissy] I'm sketchy on how it worked, but that was the word from my contacts there. * Saki blinks up and nods. "... as far as we know, it's still active, though it's weathered an attack or two." Yeah, but it wasn't the silver bullet we were hoping for. He's still looking into it. If we're lucky he'll come up with something better. He sent some adepts to try to hold her out, she attacked those and managed to knock at least one out. * Niri makes funny noises at Shiro. So OK. I thought we should try to gather all the Elementalors to use on her, and luckily there was another one near New Raculi, so the two things dovetailed really well again. It's lucky they're so spread out -- no matter where we go it looks like we're near one of them. He also sent another device with me to try to screw with her directly. That worked... a little too well. * Angie laughs. "Yeah, wait till you hear the exciting conclusion to our story." Anyhow, the main goal of the group was to try to find a way to stop the Prophetess, but it looked like finding the other Elementalors -- there were seven more -- could help, so they decided to try to do that too, and Dr. Webbly agreed to go with them to help because he had an interest in that. Oh, but I'm forgetting! Do you know Damon the Sage? While we were at the academy we ran into him and he told us some really interesting stuff. I guess the records from the century or so before the Unravelling -- tales of the Virtue church and the death of Zophar and stuff -- go together badly with things we know right now. There are a lot of dates that just don't add up if things we know are true. Like, Niri. Sorry, Niri, can I...? Yeah. Niri's parents, who you of course know, have said some stuff about the old world that doesn't go well at all with the dates we have. This was combined with Saki here's weird memories of the pre-transfer time and the fact that there have always been a few people with ambiguous memories from that time. Huh? Oh yeah. Oh, and Damon gave me a book, too. There are a lot of inconsistencies in it that we want to investigate. Chrissy looks a little pensive as the subject changes. "Well... even I have some fuzzy moments now and again..." You do? You remember stuff before the Unraveling? [Chrissy] I know I worked for the Virtue Church on certain projects. The things I do well now like robotics, energy transfer devices, maintenance... I started originally as a Vane Magic Guard Engineer under old timer Kash Ausa. * Angie shakes her head. "I can't remember much of anything. I was only like three or something at the time. My older brother remembers a lot, though." [Chrissy] I crossed paths with the Truth Seekers here and there as they gained fame, eventually helping restore the towers even! But when i try to think of what i exactly did in the tower, my mind is all cloudy. My dad said he was from Vane, but beyond that he didn't tell me much, really. Even when I asked him. [Chrissy] But, just the same as everyone right? The sending sickness or whatever you want to call it. Why is that, though? I mean, I wasn't born then, so I don't know anything before the unravelling, but it just seems so weird everyone has this collective amnesia. I wonder about that too. Especially when it comes to the actual crossing over. * Saki visibly twitches for a moment, and blinks up from her thoughts, her lips silently reeling off a list of names, trying to pick out an Ausa. Then she shakes her head, and just broods. * Mikel remains quiet as people discuss things, looking to be thinking. [Chrissy] If I wanted to try to give a 'scientific" explaination, I chock it up to massive trauma forcing the mind to block out a dangerous memory. Yeah, but everyone having this problem? That makes no sense at all. That's sort of what I thought. But with these weird records it makes you wonder. Anyhow, we don't really know what the hell is up with that, but it bore mentioning. Damon also told us some stuff about the Prophecy, the old, uh, the old prophecy. That the Prophetess seems to be trying to fulfill. Do you know about it? It talks about the Truth Seekers, and it predicts the return of Zophar, and bad stuff. I hadn't heard the full details but he was able to give us the actual text. We've been thinking about this a lot, since it guides the Prophetess's actions. [Chrissy] Sure I do. There were 10 Truth seekers in total, foretold in that old tale spoken by a heretical order of mages in vane long ago. * Angie nods. That's the one. [Chrissy] Some have said it said Zphar was coming back soon. But I don't like to try to leave everything to some vague prophecy, mmm After that we went north. There's this dank swamp in the bottom of a dried-up old lake near New Raculi, and there's an old world facility in there that was underwater back then, and that's where the water Elementalor was. We hadn't tried using the Elementalors on the Prohpetess yet (that was one of our next plans) so we stopped to get that guy, except he was all split up into animals. /me squinches up her face as if eating a lemon slice. "It's hard to explain." * Angie squinches up her face as if eating a lemon slice. "It's hard to explain." '/ooc er mmm? << bah >> «ooc: it spreads! » * Angie thrusts a finger at Mikel. "We et Mikel there! He's a secret agent working for the church." «ooc: met » [Chrissy] Weird.. his biological structure break down? That tends to happen to anything we try to create... Not exactly. His body was intact, but his mind was animals. [Dr. Sonyele] Actually, he's working for me. I had him doing some surveying when you got there. * Angie arches an eyebrow at Sonyele and smirks. "A likely story!" I suspect that those animals were some massive willforce working. * Vytor continues to listen * Mikel gives Angie a cool look as he waves a hand, speaking in a deadpan tone.. "You weren't supposed to know about that. Now I'll have to kill you." Kill when story done. Story not done yet! So we did that and then headed over to cathedral town to meet with Ishtar and Adam. We were sort of expecting the Prophetess to turn up as soon as we got there like in Takkar, but she didn't, because they had all this warding magic up. We spent a couple days in town, Sonyele rolls her eyes and Chrissy leans back in her chair, laughing quietly. and we also went into the Bluetooth valley (seriously) and found some really creepy-slash-awesome stuff that I'll tell you about separately but was half the reason I wanted to come here * Angie breathes * Trune buries his face in his hands. And while we were doing that part of the group stayed behind in case the Prophetess attacked. She didn't attack directly, but she sent these flying things to destroy the wards on the town. We got back just as that was happening, but they broke the wards anyway, and she was able to appear and do the same to Ishtar as she did to everyone else. We put up a good fight this time, though. A lot happened. This time we actually fought her -- we had a little help from John and Ishtar was with us because she didn't do the soul drain thing until we lost. Which we totally did. She's just that powerful; it's nuts. Ryllan here has this trick where he can shape other people's magic, and we planned to have him use it on her soul-drain attack to see if we could blunt or reverse it. It didn't even half work, it was a total disaster! Ryllan got possessed by a part of the Prophetess's composite soul -- by a Prophet. This is something we've talked about a lot since then: from what my diagnostic magic has been able to detect, the Prophetess is actually a composite of eight souls, which we now know are the souls of the eight Prophets who created the original Prophecy. The ninth of the Prophets' group, a guard named Leah, broke ranks with them, and somehow her soul ended up in like a timeshare deal with Saki here. That's how she knows where the Prophetess is going to go next. But unlike Leah, Noah -- Noah's the prophet in Ryllan -- is completely not on our side. * Angie is now known as RECAP_QUEEN (m) Oh, it worked. << soul is Rachel, not Leah. ^^ >> [Chrissy] Right.. Sonyele told me about those winged cyborgs that attacked you. Another strange memory surfacing. And did WHAT? Dr Sonyele looks aghast. [Chrissy] I barely understand how that's even possible.. but... damn. That sort of magic is right over my head. «ooc: Rachel, yes. » «ooc: wtf. » * RECAP_QUEEN is now known as Angie I still can't see how Ryllan did it without his head litterally exploding. * Saki nods, not looking up. "... I've got scattered memories. Feelings. Bits and pieces, nothing specific. Something's tying me, or Rachel, or ... whoever to the south. So there's a vague lead there." The headmaster lent me a immortality in a can. [Leah] Itw as scary... I thought you were going to be ripped apart.. then the orb shattered and you survived! Yeah. We could have tried to have the soul exorcised while we were there in cathedral town with all the priests, but Ryllan decided to keep him in there for now. So if he suddenly goes on a killing spree that's why. [Chrissy] ...greeeeat. I'll advise you as to the rather easily spooked security sentries, if you are going to start running around like one of those crazies. * Vytor arches an eyebrow at Angie, but let's that go * Angie escapes the wrath of Vytor to wreak havoc another day. If I'm going to start running around like one of those crazies, they'd damn well better be spooked. * Saki twitches very slightly at the word 'crazies', then growls under her breath, addressing Chrissy. "... believe me, if that happens I get first shot at him." Session Time: Sat Sep 09 00:00:00 2006 Wow, I'm feeling the love. [Chrissy] Mmm, considering all you've said so far... I think I need a breather to digest all this. [Chrissy] How would you like to get a tour of the Labs, everyone? Stretch your legs a bit and show you a little of what I can bring to the table in this little crisis? << er -second little) >> * Angie beams. "I'd more than like! I've always wanted to have a look around here." I don't mind looking around. Me and machines don't mix well though. I'm sure I'll get maimed. A tour would be a nice breather, I think I think Shiro needs a walk. * Saki hauls herself to her feet carefully, not really paying attention to her surroundings. "Try not to blow anything up," she offhandedly states to the more excitable members, sounding perfectly deadpan and resigned. ...I suppose I should take the tour, then, just to hkeep thing sfrom being blown up. <> * Mikel chuckles. "That sounds good..." He gets up, waves a hand. "Bah, that hurts." Or crashed through a cathedral. [Chrissy] Crashed? "...hey!" It's their own fault if they don't have Hero Insurance. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?" Mikel here decided to jump the poor Destiny into the cathedral. Yes, I mean INTO * Saki sighs out. "... the Destiny needs some fairly heavy-duty repairs." "It was either that or not get there before the crazy woman did." * Trune shakes his head, trying not to laugh. Is it wrong of me to sort of wish in some crazy way I was there to witness it all? Yeah, that was our ulterior motive for coming here. Our inferior, anterior, posterior motive. Nope [Chrissy] The Destiny? You're lucky it's built like a tank. jack wouldn't have had it any other way. * Mikel lets out a siiigh. "There goes our chances of getting ahold of any of the other vehicles to take for a spin." Chrissy rubs her chin, getting a little secret gleam in her eyes. Just what is she planning? [Chrissy] This might be a great opportunity in disguise.. mmm... I'll fix her up better than before. ...Just what are you plotting? And how long does it set us back? We're on a schedule and we don't know what it is. Right, chop chop and all that rot. It keeps us on schedule. I'm sure a bitch to deal with though. «ooc: Er, we're sure a bitch to deal with. BUT HEY THAT WORKS TOO » «ooc: *thumbs UP!* » * TheStoryteller mumbles something about "beta test" to herself, but quickly wave s hand. "You'll see in a bit." << ack >> Chrissy mumbles something about "beta test" to herself, but quickly wave s hand. "You'll see in a bit." ...That's not exactly reassuring. No offense. As long as you're helping us out, we'd be super mega grateful if you could get us clearance to wherever that elementalor door is. * Saki blinks once mid-walk, then immediately starts deadpanning, sounding rather world-weary. "... don't worry. The Super Saki Senses aren't going off." I'm kind of excited! Yet very scared. * Niri runs off to take Shiro outside for a potty break. :/ The CEO gets up from her chair, straightening her blouse and waves a hand, motioning for you to follow into the blue section of the lab complex. [Dr. Sonyele] I'll go take that rest now, if it's alright... this has been a long week for me. * Vytor follows, trying to reign in his excitement for seeing what the lab has been developing * Mikel nods towards Sonyele before beginning to follow. Eh, I'll catch up, Niri stepped out a moment and she'll wonder where we went if no one stays behind. * Angie leaps up in a flurry of movement. She grabs the long tube, slings it back over her arm, and runs after the doctor, coming up on her so quickly that she almost kicks her heels. We...don't want to leave her unattended for long. Eh heh heh. * Ryllan follows out, frowning sligntly in thought. == AND PAWS HERE! == == RESUME!== Ever eager, Angie takes the position behind the head of Vulcannon Labs, while Sonyele slinks off to her working quarters here. The blue lined floor leads into the Support Section, where the first thing you notice is a huge tool room. o_O * Saki follows along listlessly, not quite clicking with the surroundings. After a little bit, Niri returns with the ice mongrel and looks around for the others of the party. It has everything from robotic replacement parts categorized in bins to every hand tool and personal equipment neatly hang up and tracked. * Trune waves to Niri, "They went thattaway. Follow me." * Angie zips from tool to tool, fondling this and that and leaning in to peer over her glasses at the detailed instruments. * Trune heads into the lab, trying to be careful of where he's walking so he doesn't accidentally kill himself. * Vytor has seen much of this before, so he refrains from excessive ogling [Chrissy] Well, every tour should start humbly! Right here is the totally reorganized backbone of all our operations. No worker's worth his salt with a bad tool or part... right here is where it all happens first." Oh! Thanks. So uh...where are we going and what are we doing now? I think Chrissy is basically stroking her ego by showing us her swanky lab so we can oo and aah at it. * Mikel elbows Trune in the side. "Manners." * Trune coughs, "I'll be good." You should pay attention, Trune. You never know when something like this might come in handy. Maybe you'll meet some girl who swoons at mechanical talk. * Vytor prods Angie, "Remember, your instruments. Ask." The day I impress a girl with my wrech and sproket is the day hell freezes over. Machines don't mix with me. Did I tell you I once scalded myself on the espresso machine in the cafeteria? It was a hoot. "I thought that was Angie, Ryllan?" Chrissy moves into the first bay, which looks to be dedicated to various robot repairs. There are many familair body-types hanging up here or being modified, as well as a few radically different ones. In fact, one even looks vaguely familiar to Niri.. a small bot with guns and a tank tread on it for propulsion. Ah. I think I'm a little overwhelmed by technology for the time being, though... THe foam shot three feet out of that thing. I dunno how that was possible. It was neat until it freaking burned my hand. I only know what half this stuff is. Wow. Oh yeah! I have some really precise gear that needs calibration and a few minor fixes. Can I impose upon you guys while we're here? There aren't many places to do that sort of thing. * Niri peers idly at the small bot with the treads, trying to think where she's seen its like before. [Chrissy] Right here is where we constantly wrk on improving our line of Sentry models... as well as reverse engineering things unearthed in the ruins! It is a neverneding job, but these men and women do it with gusto. * Vytor examines a few of the things he hasn't seen previously [Chrissy] Oh really Angie? I suppose I can set you up with some equipment if you need to calibrate something. That'd be great. *She spins around, cheeks flushed with enthusiasm.* Hey...do you have much optical stuff here? Like...telescopes? Niri notes the robot is a 'Talon'. It was shooting at her and Hiro in the Pentagon ruins! Wait...Chrissy, where did you say these robots came from? [Chrissy] Well, I do have some imaging devices and optics... if you're looking for some high powered scopes for the field? [Chrissy] Oh, that one you're looking at was sent here from the Big Dig. Not even necessarily for the field. I just wondered: you guys are doing some really amazing stuff here, I can only guess what kind of power you could get on a telescope if you really put your mind to it. [Chrissy] We could! Though that isn't one of the focuses of the budget right now. Silver achelmy is our big thing, followed closely by the old stanbys of robotics and even some biology. * Niri nods slowly. "Ahh...I saw some of those there. Of course, they were kind of shooting at me at the time. :P " Huh, those were in the Pentagon? Supposedly in the old world they had giant telescopes with, like, three-foot apertures. It just get me dizzy. *She rises up on her tiptoes at the mention of alchemy.* Oh, hey! I heard you guys have a portable silver forge. I have to see that. Chrissy snickers, then starts walking into the next, much larger area. This is also a holding place for technology, but unlike the small robots, it servcies LARGE items of interest. * Mikel raises an eyebrow. "Shooting at you, hu- oh wow." * Niri nods to Trune. "Yep." Crazy. * Saki frowns, scanning slowly around the room * Trune sounds a bit impressed. «ooc: +. » * Vytor notes the larger mechanical specimens with some interest Like, right now, swarming with workes and wires from all angles stands a human-shaped metallic suit. It is over 10 feet tall, with articulated joints, a clear canopy in the head/chest that looks to seat a human within the steel shell of a body. The arms house automated guns, and even a launcher. Whoa, okay, now THAT is impressive! * Angie leans forward and adjusts her glasses. "Yikes! Is that what I think it is?" * Trune whistles at the strange robot-like humanoid...thing. "...can I have that?" [Chrissy] That my friends is the latest arrival... a largely preserved powered suit! [Chrissy] I get all tingly when I think of how much this baby could dish out in it's day! Does it work? Here's hoping we don't have to find out * Saki gives the mass of metal a Look. It is not a pleasant Look; she looks distinctly unimpressed, in fact, as if it were somehow cheating. "I still want one." [Chrissy] sadly, we're having some trouble with it. The systems are well-made, but apparently something happened to it's power supply. Our current engines can't give it enough juice. Vytor, if it works... Well, never mind, then. * Emiria enters the room from a side door, walking briskly towards Chrissy and the group. She's wearing the same clothes as when in New Takkar, although her reinforced boots look grimy and dented, her red coat looks ragged, and her face carries traces of dust and soot. She also seems to be carrying an additional sword, a hammer, and several knives strapped around her body, and contrasts heavily with the researchers in place. But it could've been useful. A bunch of the researchers look somewhat bewildered as the woman barges into the bay. Then again, she DOES have access... Is that Emiria? * Angie doesn't notice the witch right away since her attention is devoted entirely to the suit of armor. * Emiria stops in front of Chrissy, grinning. "Ehehe, if it isn't the boss herself? They said you'd be giving some folks a tour. Nice new toy you got." Chrissy squints a minute, then folds her hands. "I'll be.. Emiria! I'm kind of in the middle of something here." * Vytor waves to Emiria as she approaches << er arms >> Hello! *Waves* * Emiria tilts her head and frowns at Vytor. "Hey, don't I know you guys from-" New Takkar, yeah. Well, fancy that! Did you kill the woman with the things? * Mikel glances at Emiria, then back at the others. No such luck. * Saki tilts her head. "... not yet." [Chrissy] So you've already met the "Iron Witch" as we like to call her.... why am I not surprised. "Friend of yours?" She helped us squash one of the Prophetess' monsters in New Takkar * Emiria shrugs, and smiles. She's obviously excited. "Well, I've had no luck with that army of tanks I wanted, so... and hey, what's that supposed to mean?" * Vytor gives Emiria an odd look, "Iron Witch?" * Mikel just nods towards Vytor, though he still looks rather confused. Yeah. Good to see you again. Eh, yeah. That's what they used to call me when I worked here. Chrissy doesn't answer Emiria's challenge immediately, instead giving Angie a knowing wink. «ooc: Whoops, nuke. Didn't meen to post that. » Ah You look like you've had a rough time. * Angie finally registers the presence of another in the room. Her eyes widen when she sees Emiria, but she says nothing. She nods in greeting and returns to looking over the suit., * Emiria shrugs at Vytor. "Like you have no idea- but I'll go into that later..." * Vytor nods * Emiria places her hands on her hips and gives the powersuit an admiring glance. "It really is a beauty, eh bo- Chrissy?" [Chrissy] That it is. a 16-barrel autocannon... rollen tungsten armor plating.. fully articulated joints and all terrain capapbility. But it's sueless without some get up and go under the hood. Can it make toast? * Emiria grins. "And all that silver alchemy you tossed in my face can't really do much about that, can it? And you can't just retrofit any old Blacklace engine because it wouldn't be powerful enough, would it? Wouldn't it be nice to have an iron witch that can repair it properly?" Only violently With butter. Of course. "...seriously, can I please have one of these?" ...You can repair that? Do you plan to use it if you can get it up and running? * Vytor looks at Emiria, somewhat impressed, "Can you realy get that relic working again?" [Chrissy] WE've TRIED the Blacklace engine already.. it was no good. And yes, I hate to admit this but silver parts won't work for this beast. * Emiria flashes a smile at Ryllan and Vytor before turning back to her former employer. "Yeah, I figured. So I'm here to offer you a deal." [Chrissy] I know we've had our..disagreements over the direction of this company, but you're still one of the best at what you do. The best, at least since I learned Blacklace's schematics. Chrissy does a double-take. And I could still be working for you if you hadn't stripped me and left me to rot. Shame, huh? ^^ [Chrissy] You actually got their design plans? You shrewd operator, you! * Vytor glances back and forther between Chrissy and Emiria, getting a sense there's more backstory than he's aware of here * Angie finally tears herself away from her examination as the conversation turns dramatic. She gravitates to one side of the room and stands there to listen. * Emiria So, I'll fix this baby for you. In return, I get to study it as much as I want. I get access to all the information you have on it, a proper workspace- hey, this place would do- a couple engines to scavenge, and any tools I want. (w) She's shrewd. (w) Very. * Emiria rubs her chin, and adds as an afterthought "Oh, and food. And a mattress. And maybe transportation somewhere later. I can't really think of anything else... uh, a lab coat and a laundry? I have to get my clothes fixed." Chrissy eyes her former employee awhile, biting her lip. * Ryllan looks at Chrissy, head dipping just a little. [Chrissy] You drive a hard bargain Ms. Razgriz... but it's not like I have much choice here. * Emiria looks cheerful. "No, not really." [Chrissy] ...eh, fine. Consider it done. I'll even throw in some of my finest lackeys for you! * Vytor glances back at the giant automiton with some concern [Chrissy] Even reinstate your old department and staff at least temporarily. I want this thing working soon. especially with the current situation... * Mikel slowly edges over to the automaton, trying to get a better look at it. * Emiria crosses her arms. "Neat. What current situation?" Those staring at the large armor can imagine a soldier sitting in the body, protected by har armor, and walking and shooting much like they would naturally. It is essentially a gint metallic man, increasing the rider's abilities several times over. [Chrissy] A scary magician with a chip on he shoulder making trouble. We've got to be prepared for wherever she pops up next. Agreed? << er her >> Uh, Mikel, you do realize no one is gonna let you drive that, right? * Angie slinks over and taps on the armor with one finger. "It's a piece of work." She turns around with a smile, launching a sneak attack topic change. "What's this about, eh? I smell drama." "Let me dream, Trune." Oh, her? "Let me dream." Oh goddess, I'm dreaming too. Is that why you guys are here? Partly. We also came to get the Destiny repaired. * Saki nods. "And to settle your quake problem." Not to mention brush up on the latest developments from Volcanon Labs Really neat. Maybe I can give you a hand with some of that... * Mikel is too busy oogling the mech to offer any input into the conversation. * Trune is doing likewise. * Emiria walks over to join Mikel, Trune and Angie by the mech. "Wouldn't you guys like to-" I dunno, are you up to it? We're rebels. We walk the razor's edge. * Vytor throws another look at Chrissy We're a special breed. Very special. * Emiria blinks and walks a bit closer, her eyes wide as saucers. She brushes its left leg softly, carefully, and lets her fingers trail down the smooth metal surface. "... this... I know you..." "Possibly even unique." Eh? * Trune blinks at Emiria, "Know who?" * Mikel ...snaps out of his haze with that. "Erm, Miss Razgriz?" * Emiria holds her breath, lifting her eyes to the canopy. "... you're so beautiful..." I think we found your girl, Trune. * Trune 's expression grows more and more befuddled, «ooc: er » "...That was rather fast." * Trune 's expression grows more and more befuddled, "Speaking of special bre...hey! What do you mean by that!?" * Vytor raises an eyebrow at Emiria Chrissy seems to agree with Emiria's sentiments. But she looks somewhat puzzled the way Emiria caresses it almost lovingly. * Angie steps back and squints at the woman. Where is she going with this? * Mikel contemplates the pros and cons of tapping her shoulder. Mostly between how much that sword can hurt and snapping her out of the odd daze she seems to be in. Maybe she's /really/ into her work? If I start acting that way with the Elementlors, I expect intervention. Pronto. "I think they'll take care of the intervention." * Saki frowns, watching the scene in silence. * Trune grows a pair and gently taps Emiria on the shoulder, "Uh, Miss Razgriz? You all right?" * Emiria smiles, feeling the tungsten plating carefully. "... eheh... I see it in y-" * Emiria turns to face Trune, blinking. "Eh? Sorry?" Er, sorry. You just kind of zoned out there. You okay? "You sorta spaced out fo- ...what he said." ... * Emiria looks at the powered suit, then back at Trune, then at her hands, and steps back self-consciously. "... huh. Really? Uh, sorry about that." "Happens, I guess? So what were you saying before then?" * Trune shrugs, "Don't sweat it." [Chrissy] ..well, I guess I don't need to worry about you treating it carefully. I almost thought I'd have to leave you two to your private room.. *thumbs a finge at the mecha* I don't, uh- * Vytor schols his expression into neutrality * Emiria flushes in embarrassment. "Ah, anyway..." Chrissy whistles loudly and a foreman comes up and she explains the situation. You, uh, said something about fixing something? Your, ah, special friend there. * Emiria waves her hands, hurriedly dismissing the idea. "No no, your, uh, whatchamacallit, De- Delta? Something you were here for?" We ourselves came to get the Destiny fixed up "The Desti-..." "Dammit!" The jury rigs we got on it won't hold indefinitely Yeah, I was saying maybe I could help you a bit on that, if you show me later! Sure, many hands make light work. [Chrissy] You're welcome to look into that.. but I have a special gift lined up for your Destiny in the overhaul. Ah, neat. Sure be fun working with you guys again... ah, oh, what gift? Oh? "...like what?" [Chrissy] That's a secret for now! Once I show you the powerplant and get this Elementalor issue straightened out, Vytor, I'm going to need your help for a very special rpesentation to our industry insiders. Tsk! Lucky. No problem. You can count on me. * Emiria sighs in relief, glad for the topic change. "Special presentation? What do you do, Vytor?" * Trune frowns, "I wonder how close we are to the Elementlors? I haven't heard a peep from them in a while. I wonder if silent meditation helps with sort of crap. Either that or a good nap, since the only thing I'm good at technology wise is...nothing!" I'm a Silver Alchemist by trade, so I guess whatever I'm doing is along those lines. * Mikel glances at Trune, blinking. "Well, if they found a door..." I'll see if I can stand right outside it. Sometimes I can hear 'em if I'm close enough. S'nice to know what we're up against. Oh. Hum. Unless it's like thirty miles away or something, which most likely it is. "Ask the boss?" * Mikel goes back to staring at the mech. [Chrissy] That we did. Come on! Off to the yellow quadrant! And don't forget to grab one of these n the way out. Yeah. You uh...go back to your mech. Chrissy reaches for a hard hat from a bin in the previus room, doubling back. * Vytor dutifully grabs a hard hat, and puts it on * Angie snags a hard hat. She puts it on and leaves her old hat hanging from the peg. * Emiria brushes her hair back and away from her eyes. "Uh, good luck with your tour. I'll probably be around here later, so look me up if you need anything." * Trune looks a little flustered and goes to follow Chrissy, hoping to ask her a few questions about the Elementlor. * Mikel reluctantly tears himself away from the mech to grab a hard hat anf follow along. "One day I'll get one of those." * Vytor tips his hat to Emiria, "Seeya later then." * Emiria waves, smiling awkwardly. And don't go too far, since we don't know what we're doing first at this rate. * Mikel offers a quick wave before scrambling after the others. "So, hey. If they get the Destiny all fixed up, can I drive it again?" Leah laughs Only if Chrissy makes it crash-proof ;) "...can you do that?" No "Pleaaaase?" "Aw." [Chrissy] If anyone can do it, it's us! And fin, for now.. as Emiria is left to bond with her sexy destructive mecha! :o == SESSION END == Tah dah! * Mikel will fight you for that mecha. That was fun. :P ENGUARDE SEE NOW EDELRITTER I KNEW SINCE VAYRPG YOU WOULD FALL IN LOVE WITH ANOTHER MECH * Vytor is now known as DNW * Mikel dramatic one on one duel * Mikel is now known as Zack 4 XP to all. MVP vote? angie I think. Haha XD Angie for XP Yeah me I'm awesome * Angie is now known as Gayo Recap QUEEN Angie. Hands down Angie \o/ Session Close: Sat Sep 09 01:59:24 2006