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Post by Tokrochiru on Aug 27, 2017 11:35:19 GMT -5
The sensation of teleporting is never a pleasant one. Not for anyone. A loud, thunderous boom followed by the sharp crackling of magical surges assaults the ears. For a brief instance, the body experiences temporary disorientation as it becomes completely weightless. There is no indication of where the person should be. No place to plant one's feet, no force of gravity to indicate where they might land. The whole experience is, to put it lightly, nauseating.
This is the experience Sasha and Mars had after using their Stone of Recall to return to Skaldra. Disorientation at its worst. Thank Gods it didn't last forever. They recovered swiftly, though perhaps not as swiftly as SEEKER, who seemed completely unfazed by the ordeal.
The trio found themselves in an old, empty room. The floor and walls were cut from aged, cold stone. It would be completely unremarkable were it not for the complex arcane markings on the floor. They glowed bright and blue, and hummed subtly with the sound of flowing magic.
At the far end of the room, a horned, red-skinned female wearing heavy winter gear and carrying a rifle saluted the three.
"Welcome back," the akma said, looking to Mars. "Boss Norman wants you three to know he's on his way to meet you. You're just outside Agria, specifically at Recall Post 3, a few miles east-northeast of the city's eastern wall. How are you three holding up? Do you need any medical attention?"
SEEKER looked back and forth between the akma and Sasha. He was ill equipped to answer the question. He could confirm that he was fine, but he couldn't speak for the others.
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Post by Jisui on Aug 27, 2017 19:16:26 GMT -5
As usual of the stoic mercenary, Mars seemed to recover quickly from the initial disorientation of the teleportation, only giving a sharp intake of breath once his feet hit the ground. He spared the detective next to him a sympathetic glance once he regained his bearings, recalling the memories of his first experience with a Stone of Recall. He had made it a few steps forward before promptly emptying his lunch all over a poor guard. His current "immunity" to its side-effects was only gained after countless amounts of recalls over the years.
Snapping his attention back to the akma guard in front of him, Mars gave a curt nod and return salute.
"Understood. We'll be on standby until he returns then." Pausing to the guard's second question, he looked back towards his companions, passing over SEEKER before settling on his charge with wary crimson eyes.
"I just have a scratch or two. Could you check her?"
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Post by SlvrNight on Aug 27, 2017 20:21:47 GMT -5
Sasha felt as if her organs had been thrown into a washing machine and tossed back into her body by an uncaring surgeon, as if all her insides were in the wrong place. She had heard of teleportation devices like that before and was mildly interested in using the stone when Norman first gave it to them, but she had had no idea that the actual act of teleporting felt like this. Back when she was an agent she had never used such a device before and always traveled through other means.
The detective appeared in the room alongside her two allies and then immediately fell to the side, leaning against a wall and covering her mouth as she did her best to avoid vomiting. She coughed loudly with the occasional moan of sick discomfort, sprinkled with curses about how she hated teleportation and would never do it ever again. During this whole episode she had not noticed the allied akma asking if their group was alright.
"Goddamn teleportation!" Sasha finally spat out. "Why didn't either of you tell me it would feel like that?!" Her emerald eyes darted towards Mars and SEEKER. Logically she knew SEEKER most likely couldn't have told her in the first place because he was a machine and probably didn't feel anything like this at all. But when one was upset logic usually didn't have much of a place in their mind.
"Uuuuuugggghhh..." Sasha groaned as her breathing gradually returned to normal, still leaning against the wall.
"Never again. Never again. I'd rather have my rib cage ripped out of me than do that again."
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Post by Jisui on Aug 27, 2017 20:39:52 GMT -5
"Goddamn teleportation!" Sasha finally spat out. "Why didn't either of you tell me it would feel like that?!"
Mars had a distinct feeling that statement was directed to him moreso than Seeker. Having the good graces to at least look somewhat sheepish, the mercenary averted his eyes from the detective while scratching the back of his head. There were many things that he had gotten adept at handling over the years, including bandits, demons and werewolves.
Angry females had never been one of those.
"...It wouldn't have helped. Trust me."
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Post by Tokrochiru on Aug 28, 2017 20:37:43 GMT -5
SEEKER couldn't begin to guess what Sasha was going through. He'd never had any trouble with the effects of teleportation. Perhaps it was a human biology thing.
He took a look at the heavy cannon magnetized to his back. "It's been so long, but we still know so little."
The gun clicked a few times in response. 1A wasn't much for conversation, but she was a loyal beast, and not incapable of compassion.
Meanwhile, the akma soldier gave Sasha a quick checkup. Using standard medical scanner, she was able to present the group with a diagnosis in seconds. "Well, your body temp is below what's healthy, but that's to be expected. You're doing just fine. Better than fine actually. Considering the trip you guys made, I expected you to more exhausted, but I don't detect any signs of fatigue from you whatsoever. You must be a killer at marathons."
The instant that the soldier said the word "marathons", The door on the opposite end of the room opened. Norman entered, followed by Duster and Selatia. Norman approached the group while Duster and Selatia stood a fair distance away, allowing their employer to take the lead.
"It's good to see you two back safe and sound," said Norman, facing Sasha and Mars. His eyes lingered as he saw the tall, four armed metal construct. "As for you, welcome to Agria. I apologize for not having a more formal or organized welcome arranged for you. As you might have guessed, I currently have myself buried in work."
SEEKER looked down at the unimposing human male. "You're the mother of this collective?"
Norman blinked a few times before responding. "U-um, excuse me?"
SEKER could tell that the act of communicating with these creatures was going to just as difficult as he had predicted. He had downloaded everything he could on human and akma languages, but he couldn't simply install a program to make himself an ideal conversationalist.
"...Nevermind," SEEKER said.
Norman nodded awkwardly. "Well, um..." he looked back to Sasha and Mars. "Are you two well enough to give a full status report? Anything I should know about that you didn't mention in the call?"
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Post by SlvrNight on Aug 28, 2017 21:54:32 GMT -5
"Yeah, going for long morning jogs everyday will do that." Was all Sasha said about that. She was by no means ashamed of her ability but she had no reason to broadcast it. Not like she enjoyed being injured cause she healed quickly. That was when Norman entered the room, followed by Selatia and Duster.
"You're the mother of this collective?"
A pained expression overcame Sasha's features as she watched the awkward exchange between the CEO and geistmech. It took her a few seconds of thinking to figure out what SEEKER was really asking, or at least have a decent idea. He could be asking if Norman was the guardian/caretaker of the group but that wasn't accurate at all. He was simply their employer. Or, in her case, client.
"Not exactly, SEEKER. Norman here is our employer. We're paid to help him with certain given tasks." The agent didn't want to get into all the differences between her and the three mercenaries. Not like she could have anyways since she wasn't even aware of what the terms were for their own dealings with Mr. Salm. Sasha then turned her attention to the CEO in question, giving him a quick nod.
"Neither of us have any injuries, so we may as well get this started. No details were left out of our call from before. You know of the dryad that attacked us, the Midnight Rose, as well as of the...fate of the missing people."
She stopped, still obviously upset that she had failed to save a single person from their grisly fate. Then looked towards Mars to see if he had anything else to add.
The disappearances would, in no way, stop because of this. In fact it was possible things would get worse. The only way to really resolve this was to find the Midnight Rose and simply kill her. Of course that was much more easily said than done.
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Post by Jisui on Aug 28, 2017 23:08:08 GMT -5
"..." Meeting the gaze of his two fellow mercenaries who shot him inquisitive glances, Mars simply gave them a slight nod that indicated that he would fill them in later. It was admittedly a relief to see them again. Some familiar faces never hurt after a long mission. This one in particular would require some a few drinks to wash away the memories of mangled, burning flesh in that cavern.
Ah. Sasha was speaking. Time to focus then. The mercenary silently listened while Sasha began explaining about their trek to the dryad's den, his brow furrowing as he recalled the events that had transpired. It was true that she had filled Norman in quite well, down to a level of detail that left Mars reasonably impressed. But there was something else that was bothering him.
"Is that what the visions call me? I'm almost flattered. It's a much more elegant name than 'Master of the Spirit.'"
He spent a few seconds mulling the words over in his mind before catching Sasha's look towards him. A pause in the conversation indicated that it was his turn to speak. Glancing around the room warily, Mars gave a slight nod to himself on confirming that everyone in the room knew about his precognitive abilities.
"...There's one thing that's still bothering me." He began, a troubled look passing over the usually stoic mercenary's face. "I think... no, she definitely knew about my visions. More than that, I don't think Midnight Rose is her usual alias."
Pausing for a quick second, he glanced over at Norman to see his reaction before continuing.
"She called herself the 'Master of the Spirit'."
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Post by Tokrochiru on Aug 29, 2017 0:42:13 GMT -5
"Hmm..." Norman stewed over the name. "Doesn't ring any bells, I'm afraid. You're probably right about Midnight Rose not being her actual name though. Like nature itself, fey are often deceptive. If the folklore is to be believed, some even have a different name for each person they meet."
"Doesn't matter." Duster chimed in with sudden, straightforward insight. "What's she after?"
Norman nodded in agreement. "Duster speaks truth. Without any clue of what she and her fey followers want, we have no way of determining where they'll strike next."
SEEKER stepped forth. "CLANG, CLANG" went the floor as he stepped toward Norman, who backed up a foot reflexively. Shasha could tell he was wary, but his attention was fully rapt.
"They're trying to drive you out. She said as much when we spoke to her. She spoke of the color of the earth and how it disgusted her, how it was poisonous to her kind."
Norman's eyes were pulled apart by a great revelation brought by SEEKER's explanation. The truth dawned on him, dragging his shoulders and back down to a grim hunch.
"Of course! The Eight Hour War!"
Norman looked to Sasha as he began to think out loud, indicating he wanted her to follow him through his theories.
"The Eight Hour War changed the landscape of the entire continent. Its core nature was morphed by the energies that flooded from the deep. Its nature! Fey are creatures are bonded to nature. What happens to them when nature itself is turned on its head?"
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Post by SlvrNight on Aug 29, 2017 14:31:48 GMT -5
Sasha wanted to smack herself. She had neglected to mention something. The entire reason for this to even happen in the first place. Thankfully SEEKER was on top of things. Despite feeling like a damn fool, she paid full attention to Norman's words and train of thought. Her eyes widened in response.
"If they're connected to nature on such a deep level and nature itself goes through such an extreme change, then those connected either have to change with it or be harmed by it. Having your own home, a part of your very being, be turned into something corrupted, would most definitely make you angry. Irrational. Unreasonable."
The detective put her hand to her chin as she continued on with the line of reason and logic.
"Those who don't die from the sudden change and those who don't adapt to it are left with nothing but the anger and pain that comes with the suffering of said change. Finding something related to the cause of that change and exacting some type of vengeance upon it is something many beings with free will would consider doing."
Sasha understood why the Midnight Rose was angry. She understood her reasoning. It was a classic tale of revenge. Retribution. But it didn't make it right, nor did it mean she had to agree with it.
The Midnight Rose, or whatever her real name was, still had to die.
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Post by Jisui on Sept 2, 2017 14:10:26 GMT -5
"The Eight Hour War changed the landscape of the entire continent. Its core nature was morphed by the energies that flooded from the deep. Its nature! Fey are creatures are bonded to nature. What happens to them when nature itself is turned on its head?"
"The same will happen to them..." Mars muttered out without thinking, leaning backwards against the wall while Sasha began analyzing Midnight Rose's motivations. Even for him, it made sense for some reason. The Eight Year War must have been a total aberration to their very being. In a way, he could understand. He was no stranger to sudden, irrevocable change.
Understand, but not sympathize. Perhaps there might have been a time when he might have sympathized... but that line had been long crossed when Midnight Rose had vented those emotions to unrelated innocent people. That meant...
Mars glanced over at Sasha, seeing a hard glint in her eyes that affirmed what they had to do. That's right. There was only one path forward. Whether by their hand or someone else's, Midnight Rose could not continue to live in this world.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Sept 10, 2017 1:48:02 GMT -5
Norman's eyes closed as he shook his head. When the lids opened, his affability had taken a back seat to the stern determination that cemented his position as CEO.
"No. Not before you get some rest. From what I understand, you almost died down in that cave. I know putting your lives on the line is nothing new to you lot, but I'm not about to send you back out into the storm on an empty tank. As your employer, I insist that you stay in Agria, at least for the night. I have other agents that can follow up on what you've found so far. Let them carry some of the weight. Besides..."
Norman pointed towards SEEKER's highly elevated half-cylindrical head.
"I need to know what you plan on doing with this one. At a glance he might look like an advanced golem, but if people discover he's sentient, he'll become the center of attention. Knowing your species' history, I'm willing to guess that you aren't entirely comfortable with becoming the city's hottest topic."
SEEKER looked down at the dapper young human. He assumed a great deal more than he would have preferred. SEEKER would have corrected him if he hadn't been one hundred percent correct. While he couldn't speak for the rest of his kind, he personally didn't relish the opportunity to make himself known to the entire city. He was never home among crowds.
Quizically, SEEKER looked to Sasha and Mars. Their decision making skills were to be admired, and he was willing to admit that his first impressions of them were a vast underestimation. He hoped that they would have a solution.
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Post by SlvrNight on Sept 11, 2017 22:55:20 GMT -5
Sasha normally wasn't against the idea of taking a rest after a difficult mission. But, then again, that was mainly towards others. She held herself to unreasonably high standards, especially when it came to serious situations such as this. This whole ordeal was gradually turning into something she would have handled back when a part of APAIC. It had the potential to turn into something big, far bigger than her, Mars, and the others.
But if things went well, it wouldn't get that bad. She would have to trust Norman's other agents for now, briefly glancing at Mars to hopefully give him a hint of her intentions.
"Fine, if you insist, Norman. Just let me know the moment any of your agents find anything. As for SEEKER..."
The redhead looked at the geistmech. The CEO had a point. Right now the last thing they needed was for the autonomous machine to be the center of attention. It could prove to be disruptive to the investigation as well as bring in a myriad of other problems.
"I can pretend to be in control of you. To give the illusion that you're nothing more than an advanced golem that's still limited to some form of rules set by their owner."
Sasha's expression shifted to apologetic, showing she wasn't too comfortable with the idea herself.
"I could easily think of a cover story and say you're an investigative assistant golem, crafted by me, or for me, to help keep track of various information regarding the many cases I deal with. If someone were nosy enough, I could also just say that you have a form of free will because it helps to have someone to review a case with in case I missed anything."
She placed a hand on one of SEEKER's arms. "Only if you're comfortable with that. I don't want to make you feel like you're worth less than any of us."
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Post by Jisui on Sept 15, 2017 21:48:35 GMT -5
Rest. Logical.
He hadn't noticed it, but there was a noticeable ache in his body that slowly permeated through his bones. Mars may have been a veteran mercenary, but a few days of relentless travel within The Eye would take a toll on anyone. It had been nothing but dull frost and harsh wind for days on end.
"I can pretend to be in control of you. To give the illusion that you're nothing more than an advanced golem that's still limited to some form of rules set by their owner."
The idea had come to him as well. It was, logically, the best solution to the issue besides just leaving SEEKER behind. Still, it wasn't perfect by any means. Catching Sasha's glance at him, he paused before giving a slight nod in affirmation.
"It should work. Just be careful." Mars cautioned to the giant golem, folding his arms with a small frown. "One slip of the tongue..." He paused, eyebrows scrunching as if trying to find a more fitting phrase to use for a giant geistmech. Shoulders drooping slightly in defeat, the mercenary continued on with his line of thought.
"...and we'll have all of Agria on us. Or worse, our pursuers."
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Post by Tokrochiru on Sept 15, 2017 22:36:02 GMT -5
It was a decent solution. SEEKER wasn't fond of deception in any form, but the citizens' peace of mind and his own safety were a worth a lot more to him than his pride.
"I accept these terms." Seeker said, looking to Norman.
Norman nodded approvingly. "Alright. So long as he wishes to help us, he'll be in your care...under one stipulation. You need to tell us why you're here."
SEEKER was puzzled. He had freely given the answer to Sasha and Mars, and he assumed that Norman knew as well. It was a relatively simple reason too. Easily remembered.
"I'm here because I'm worried about your people."
"That much I understand. I believe you. But why do you care about us? As far as I'm aware, you're the first geistmech to openly converse with a human being in hundreds of years, maybe even more. Some scholars have even theorized that geistmechs aren't capable of speaking or understanding speech. What's more is that under a dozen of your species has been spotted since the Eight Hour War."
Norman paused, presumably to think and clear his throat. His lips pressed hard against each other. ""I need to know that we can trust you. In order to do that, I need to understand where you're coming from. Motives are everything. If I know yours, then I won't have any problem granting you any accommodations you need.
SEEKER had hoped the subject of his origins wouldn't arise. He expected it would, but he hoped it wouldn't. It wasn't that he was reluctant to share. He would have told the world his story if it helped foster understanding. Unfortunately, some things simply could not be spoken of.
"There is much I can not tell you. There are...barriers in place. Digital safeguards that prevent me from divulging sensitive information. I want to say more, but my software will not allow me to."
"Is that so?"
Norman's disappointment was obvious, even for someone as unfamiliar with human expressions as SEEKER. At the very least, he seemed understanding.
"Promise me that under no circumstances will you intentionally harm my people, even if it's for the sake of your own."
SEEKER didn't feel that a statement would convey his conviction. An alternative came to mind after only a few moments of hard thinking. SEEKER began to pull at one of the panels that formed the exterior of his torso. He was able to loosens some of the restraints with the ease of moving a muscle. He reached inside his own mechanical skeleton and gently removed a small, rectangle shaped computer chip from his innards. It was a relatively small part that helped him raise and lower the temperature of his body. Considering that there were multiple its kind scattered about his body, he felt it acceptable to part with one.
SEEKER placed the chip in Norman's hand. "I promise," he said. Norman smiled enthusiastically, pocketing SEEKER's gesture into his coat.
"Welcome to Salm Industries, SEEKER."
Norman looked to Sasha. "I need to get going. I'll contact you later today, Sasha. For now, just focus on getting SEEKER acquainted with the city. Feel free to start with these two-" he pointed at Duster and Selatia "-if you like."
With that, Norman headed out of the building. The door guard saluted him as he approached the door, and resumed her stalwart stance once he was gone. Selatia took the moment to approach Mars and Sasha, Duster following shortly behind her.
"Today's been a weird one, hasn't it?" she said.
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Post by Jisui on Sept 15, 2017 23:34:47 GMT -5
The mercenary could share Norman's sentiment about the geistmech. The idea of a traveling machine aiding them out of pure altruism was something that would make anyone skeptic. He had no idea of where SEEKER had come from, nor where he had been intending to go before he had met them. Yet... watching the machine place the chip in Norman's hands, Mars couldn't help but feel reassured in a way.
He didn't understand others very well. Humans could be so very irrational. But even he could tell that SEEKER's intentions were clean and straightforward without any malicious intent.
It was like he said. SEEKER was here because he was worried about their people. Such a honest, pure intent made him almost envious in a way, and comforted in another. He didn't dislike that kind of a person.
Giving a curt nod to his superior as he left the room, Mars' scarlet eyes locked on to his two mercenary companions as they moved towards them, catching Selatia's eyes and quickly remembering a recent memory.
"Sure, Fiona."
"..." Ah. That had been the last time they had spoke. The mercenary awkwardly averted his eyes for a second, scratching the back of his head and trying to banish the memory from his mind. Wrong time to think about that. Maybe later, when he was backed by the support of alcohol and solitude. He quickly regained his composure on hearing her words however, a quiet and deep chuckle leaving his mouth. Weird? That was a way to describe it, he supposed.
"Damn straight. Is it too early to make Duster pay for our drinks?"
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