Session Start: Sun Mar 16 04:30:26 2008 >> Horam still buzzes with nervous tension, especially this late in the waiting game; on the other hand Horam looks impressively locked down, and the ramshackle battlements aren't quite as ram or shackle anymore and may even save a few lives. The streets are quiet, though, even at this time of day; one patrol sticks his thumb in the direction of Saki's dojo when asked. * Niri strolls unhurriedly down the street toward the dojo, peering in the door once she finds it. * Saki is meditating. Possibly. If meditating is 'laying prone in the middle of an empty dojo' then it's definitely meditating, and good meditating at that. Or sleep, or violent injury. One of them, at least. * Niri steps forward, standing next to Saki and peering down at her. * Saki opens one eye and raises a claw-like hand. "Boo," she states without tone. Hiya. So....everything come together okay? * Saki thinks about it a long time, attention drifting. "Mm... I don't know about 'okay'. That remains to be seen, I suppose." She hauls herself up to sitting, face turned away, and rotates a stiff neck. But you and Rachel are ah...back to the way you were, anyway. Right? And hopefully horrible things are not going to happen to you anytime soon? * Tanan chimes in now, his voice a mixture of calm and puzzled. "They're not, though. Can't you see it? Whatever did you two do to yourselves?" * Niri blinks * Saki sits in silence for another long moment, and before answering gets up to her feet, shaking down the last of the kinks. When she turns around she's got a grin on her face. "No... well. ...mn, both right, maybe. Yes, we're back together, but something's ... maybe a little off." How so? You don't feel like a human anymore. You don't feel like anything I've seen. * Saki tilts her head forwards in a slight nod. "We're... something. Since it's been split, the link's kind of weak; no, more that we're both at the forefront at the same time. From there it was just a matter of... remembering how to do things." * Niri is silent, waiting to see if further explanation is forthcoming. * Saki grins again, and then shrugs her shoulders. "--heh! If she can't see it, how about a demonstration?" That might be simplest. If you're sure it's safe for you to, anyway. * Saki hops back two paces; in surprisingly quick time, her gauntlets are on and buckled like she's been wearing them all her lives. "Mm. It won't-- it might hurt to try. But nothing can beat what I'd been dealing with the last few days." * Niri looks a bit serious, somewhat sympathetic. She nods. "All right. I don't quite understand what Tanan's talking about, so..." * Saki sweeps a hand through the air in some kind of martial art. Nothing really changes about her, though she's got a hint of heat haze around her. "Mm... well, I hope we don't burn the walls, at least." Hm. Think of it like this, Niri. They've done a reverse Mikel. Saki's... their body seems like it's taken on some variation of the properties Rachel's had. * Tanan sounds speculative. "Reverse Mikel. May have also increased her common sense, I suppose." * Saki fires back with a loud scoff so fast it's got to be Rachel. "What, joining with me? Fat chance there." * Niri blinks. "That's...interesting." She appears to ignore the snide remark about Mikel, however. Nnn. That's part of what I want to talk about, actually. But please, carry on. * Saki holds out a hand towards Niri and Tanan, turning quiet and serious again. "Mm, I'm ready here." What would you like us to do? * Saki blinks. "Ah. Er. Not healing, I think. Beyond that it's up to you." * Niri gives Saki a bit of an odd look. I think she wants zapped, Niri. ...Oh. Oh! Hmm. Okay. Well, if you're SURE... * Saki waggles her hand. "Careful, I'm very delicate," she deadpans. * Niri can't help but snicker as she gathers lightning energy in her hands. Once her palms are crackling with electrical power, she unleashes it in Saki's direction. * Saki just lets the bolt approach, smiling at some inner joke; all looks normal until the magic impacts, then ... stops dead, then twists and drifts off the woman, fading into part of the haze around her. With a happy sigh, Saki rubs at her neck. "... mn, that's better." As I said. * Niri blinks. "...Wow." That's...that's actually pretty cool. How'd you do that? * Saki shakes her head. "... it's less 'how' than... some part of me remembers it. Rachel can go on and on about it, inverting willforce flow and-- she tells me she won't," she finishes, then shakes her head again. "It takes some concentration to tap into it fully, but part of me's changed enough for it to be... there." Hmm. Do you think this is a good thing, or not? On the whole, it's good. But... there's something you and the others should possibly know. ... try that healing spell, now. ...Oh. Hmm. Okay. * Niri hums softly, using her song magic to send healing energy toward Saki - half expecting this to fizzle out as well. * Saki doesn't disappoint; the magic almost takes hold, but then is again burnt off into so much mist and energy around her. Saki speaks through it even as it happens. "... the problem is that offensive magic's got too much... mn, 'force' behind it?" * Saki absently plays with a little ball of magic left over from the spell as if it were the most natural thing in the world, tossing it from gauntlet to gauntlet. "Stopping the healing, I'm doing without any thought at all. I can't help it." That's...hmm. Pretty impressive, but also potentially problematic. There's no violent driving force behind most healing, nothing to punch through that. I guess you're right. * Saki closes her eyes for a second, then grins and shrugs. "--maybe, maybe not. I fought like this against mages, against soldiers, against /armies/. I've got my tricks that'll work with it." It's possible the sword can channel enough energy to punch through that, but I'm not sure. It's too draining to try casually, at any rate. * Niri nods. "So, Rachel...we can count on you to take care of things, then?" I have to admit, although I'm glad you sorted things out, it was kind of fun having Rachel around separately. Oh well. * Saki opens one eye, and crosses her arms. "Is that a veiled question of my loyalty? You're getting too much like him. At this point, ... ehn I suppose I'm in for the long haul." No! Not at all, I was just saying...since you seem to know what to do, Saki's safe in your hands, right? I'm sure we can trust her. At the very least, if she's sticking with Saki it makes no sense to not help, and if she still want to try for a body from Lazarus, we're the best shot there too ...I'm sure we can trust her, yeah. That's not what I meant. I just meant...oh, bah. I just want to be friends, all right? Rachel's kinda fun to have around. * Saki looks a bit put-out at the denial, like it was ruining her fun. "--tsss, it'll take a while to get used to it. I've more power than this locked away. We'll get through. --Lazarus isn't an option anymore." No? It isn't? * Saki is definitely in a sulk now, and turns somewhat to brood menacingly at a corner. "Bottom line is that I'm not trusting my soul to anything that rat bastard's using or has used in the past." ...Oh. Very good point. Mm. They were made by his enemies, though. Well, maybe we'll come up with SOMETHING eventually, even if it isn't Lazarus. * Saki turns back and shakes her head slowly. "... doesn't matter who 'made' them," Saki responds; "Anything that can be used can be modified. ... heh, at least we're agreeing on it." I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss the place outright, but it's your choice. Once Zophar's gone, it could be quite useful. Noah and the others might find bodies there. Any of the seekers who wind up like Bree, with her original body destroyed. I might try to take an empty body myself, when this is all said and done. ...of course, I suppose people would be rather annoyed with us if we helped Bree out like that. Hmm. * Saki blinks, and then starts to head over towards a sliding door, motioning Niri to follow. "... I won't stop anyone else using it. It's just what we feel. ... I thought she was so much space dust now?" Difficult to say. Her body's certainly shattered, but her soul's in Pandora's hands. * "Think she'll go kill that moron for me?" Rachel responds perhaps a little eagerly; hard to tell if she's joking. The fact she says it as she leads Niri into a small and well-appointed collection of living rooms with a definite gentle homeyness about them just makes it stranger. Which one, and which one? * Saki motions absently to a table for Niri to sit down, thinking as she disappears into another room. After a long pause she decides on, "Yes to all." That's not terribly descriptive. * Niri sits down, looking a bit confused at the conversation. Which moron...? * Saki returns a few moments later. "Bree /and/ Pandora kill Moron One and Moron Two. Three through ... some very large number, I couldn't care less about right now." Rachel's rant is delivered while Saki's body delivers tea for her and Niri... and a third cup, made while running on automatic. * Saki looks at the third, and studiously ignores it. * Niri can't help but quirk a smile at the cup. She nods her thanks and takes a sip of her own tea. Not terribly productive, having them do that. I'd rather we got Pandora to return everything peacefully, though who knows if she will. That should calm Mikel down some. ...speaking of, I'm glad to see things are in hand here. You're the only one who's really done what they set out to, though heaven knows Vytor's troubles aren't his fault * Niri just sips her tea in silence. * Saki smiles with pride and hides behind her cup. "Mm," she starts. "... the secret's easy. I've an entire district that likes a fight and likes being indignant heroes." * Tanan sounds just a little annoyed. "You also haven't had to kill their leader or detonate their headquarters." * Niri sighs. "Things have not really gone as planned." * Saki sighs in irritation. It's definitely her: there's little differences in tone and pitch and the fact she's not punching things. "We've done what we can, other problems notwithstanding. Horam knows how to look after itself." Not needing to ask 'will they work with the others' is comforting. Yes. I'm sure things will go all right from here on... Hopefully we won't lose too many. * Niri stares down into her teacup at that thought. * Saki nods. "The kids will be holed up protecting townsfolk. Hope you weren't needing me elsewhere for this." Too much will depend on what actually happens. One thing we need to remember is no heroic self-sacrifices here. We can't afford to save the town but be unable to fight afterwards, or the town is finished anyway. I'm sure you weren't intending to, but... try to pass that along if you see any of the others who look like they're thinking about it. For some reason no one listens to me if they can help it. * Saki smirks. "Probably the lack of mouth," she answers offhandedly, then nods. "Your father will be good for morale, at the very least. Hope he can fight." Dad'll be fine. It takes more than that to keep him down - he just needs a bit of rest and he'll be holding off hordes single-handedly. * Saki nods quickly, and seems satisfied. "... then, what exactly are we going to do with the bits of town that aren't Horam?" Hmm. A good question. Vytor has a.. sort of agreement with his people. It seems a lot aren't taking it seriously Ryllan, Mikel, and Heath have pieces of the guard and the... rebels. I think they'll work together just fine. You'd be surprised how civil things appear to be so far. It all depends on how many stand and fight, and how many fall. The resistance aren't really fighters. * Saki folds her arms. Back into a sulk. "Mm... I can't blame the craftsmen. After all, they're. ... craftsmen first." Yes. Still, hopefully they'll do what we can. * Tanan sounds mildly annoyed. "What they can, sorry." * Saki smirks at that. "Feeling a bit without support?" * Tanan goes back to his recently-customary calm tone. "It's for their sakes that we're not already marching north." * Saki snorts, and shrugs. "We're good at playing heroes." We'll protect as much of this city as we can. I just wish I know why they suddenly marched. I have a feeling we'll find Emiria up there, behind this. * Tanan sounds angry for a moment. "Tch. We should have killed her back when we had the chance." ...Maybe. But...well. Hindsight, you know? * Saki tilts her head. "... more importantly, how are we supposed to do anything to attack Zophar afterwards? I'm not sure I could take him while stomping around in a radiation suit like last time." You're not going to like the obvious answer. * Saki glances at Niri, then frowns a little deeper. "... I've got more than a couple of obvious answers. You'll have to specify which." Don't wear one for the fight itself. * Niri shudders, almost spilling her tea. That time of exposure to that level of radiation shouldn't cause any problems for almost a week. Far better to get him to leave the irradiated zone, but if he intends to end everything from up there, it may come to that. * Niri carefully puts her tea down on the table, hands shaking. Then get back in the suits as soon as you can. I.. believe, now, that I have the power to fix that much damage. * Saki nods slowly, having been expecting it. "Mn," she adds, non-committal. "Of course, there's the chance I've a wildcard that means I won't need fixing." * Tanan hesitates. "At least, I do now. I... may not, afterwards." * Saki shrugs carefully, keeping watch on Niri for her reactions. "... nn... we've gotten this far on ifs and maybes. If we're lucky, something from the army's movement has displaced things there." Y-yeah. I'm sure it'll be fine. Vytor made some repairs there as well. It's very possible the level of radiation has gone down to the same level as the rest of the icefields. That's much more managable. There are a lot of people who've had a few minutes of exposure to that who're still walking around just fine now. * Saki raises an eyebrow carefully, not looking directly at Tanan. "In your case, 'walking' is iffy. --and come to think of it, were you /faking/ back then?" Of a sorts. That body was damaged, certainly. I wasn't in any danger myself though. I didn't expect the rush out of there. Mm. * Tanan sounds a little regretful. "I think I may have managed to turn the damage around, but Niri made all that moot. Would have been an interesting experiment, to see if I'd have 'survived'." * Niri stares out the window, visibly uncomfortable with the topic. * Saki shakes her head and shrugs a little helplessly. "Mn. I had Trune say hello. Seems he's worried, though I admit to seeing what's new." He's...yeah. That's another problem. * Niri seems grateful for the subject change. Trune... what's happened to him could be a boon and could be terrible. Leah kept on top of it nearly forever, in spite of all the games she had played with her mind. Hopefully Trune can do the same. The thing SHOULD be on our side, or at least against Zophar. * Saki frowns. "My situation isn't quite like his. There wasn't a lot I could say to help." True. Rachel's been with you for your whole life, this is new to him. I wonder if it jumped to him because of an afinity, or because he's the one who decided to cut down L-... ...sorry, Niri. This isn't being very sensitive, is it. * Niri coughs. "It's- I'm okay." * Rachel whistles, raising her eyebrows. "And here I thought I'd done that part. Damn." She slides her eyes over to Niri, then looks out a window. "... no, it isn't. But we're rapidly running out of breathing room for sensitivity," says... one of them. Hard to tell which. * Niri nods. "Been getting used to that for a while now." Your opinion of me's dropped quite enough as it is, though. I should try not to alienate you completely. * Saki holds back a laugh just enough to make it clear she's done so. Hasn't dropped...THAT much. Just. Well, you have a few things to learn about being human still, I guess. Or at least, interacting with humans. But you're making an admirable effort I suppose. * Saki leans forward and rests her head on one hand, grinning to herself. "Had an easy enough time of it before his makeover, though. Wonder if he's faking now, too." It was so much easier when I had eyes to see through, ears to hear with. When I got hungry, sleepy, thirsty. * Tanan sounds a bit nostalgic. "I remember watching out my office window, I could see one of the ponds where students swam. It was.. fun to see them having fun. I can't quite understand why now." There's a lot I can see now that the body couldn't, so much more I can do. This is good too. ...but it's so much harder to relate without it. * Niri nods. "I'm not entirely surprised." * Saki snorts in amusement again, utterly deadpan. "Ah. Must've taught summer school. Peeking on the quad, huh. Guess that's why you're now a set of women's unde--overwear, Prof." * Niri blinks at Saki ...I would strike you over the head but you'd just block it and we both know it. * Saki lifts her cup solemnly. "Also, no arms," she intones. Difficult but not insurmountable. Besides, it was mostly little boys that used the pon-... Tanan? This is really not helping. You know, just for future reference. * Tanan sighs. "I know. I hate everything. Carry on, I walked into this one." * Niri sounds vaguely amused, however. She seems to have forgotten most of her earlier discomfort. * Saki finishes her tea and sets the cup gently down. "... mm. I might have to kick you out, I'm afraid. I hadn't been getting much sleep even before this; I've some catching up to do." That's fine. As long as Tanan didn't have anything more to ask? * Niri finishes her tea I think we've covered everything. What happened to them, how Horam is, making myself look like a closet pederast. That's the whole checklist. * Niri chuckles slightly. * Saki rubs at her forehead, looking a little lost. "... mm. We'll hold up, I think. ... trying to sleep via group consensus is a little disorienting." * Niri then stands. "All right, guess we'll head off then. Just take care. I'm sure you'll both be ready for the attack." * Saki doesn't stand, looking up and nodding. "Get some yourself--selves. We're still not too sure when it's going to happen, after all." Indee-.. yes. Yeah. We all should get some rest. Right. I'll probably do that soon. * Niri heads for the door, with a bit of a wave to Saki - and Rachel of course. "Thanks for the tea.: * Saki gathers the things in question. "Mm. You're welcome." >> Le end etc, too tired for finisher line Session Close: Sun Mar 16 07:24:30 2008