[Nexus] Inside 39

[Lord Magtok]

Truth

It's a funny word. It stands for solid fact, fidelity, objective knowledge. Things that we believe, beyond the faintest shadow of a doubt, are a part of reality. People have died in the pursuit of it, equally many have dedicated their lives to destroying or distorting it. There are some we consider wise, and full of great truths, and others who wouldn't know truth even if you bashed them over the head with it.

As one might expect, with the Nexus being what it is, truth is just as funny a word there as in real life, perhaps even more so, for being so strange. Cities and empires rise and fall with the same frequency as the sun's routine voyage across the sky. People suddenly exist, and then just as abruptly cease to be just as quickly. Nothing is absolute, and everything is in constant flux. A maelstrom of blood and tears, with no end in sight, and no definite origin.

Meet James Dalton. Just ten minutes ago he had four very simple beliefs, that to him, were absolutely, indisputably, the truth. Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, that hell had finally come to earth. The dead were walking, they were shuffling along in search of human flesh, and weren't going to take no for an answer. The evidence was all around him, of course, and numerous other survivors were in support of this theory, so it clearly wasn't all in his head.

Secondly, Dalton was certain he was going to get out of this hell-hole entirely unharmed. It was a solid fact in his mind. The end had come, and by sheer force of will, he was going to beat it. By gun, by sword, by whatever else he came across in his travels, he would single-handedly take on all comers and rise above all the gore and destruction, triumphant and proud. Of course, this obviously wasn't very likely, and his hubris had already gotten a few other folks killed, but nothing short of death would've ever wrested that idea away from him.

Thirdly, James was, like many other people, under the impression that interdimensional travel was just some sci-fi nonsense, or something that could only happen in the far, far future, and definitely only if a cure to the zombie virus was found. He quite reasonably assumed that the warehouse full of zombies he was cornered in was going to stay a warehouse full of zombies, and no interdimensional portal was going to suddenly change that. As turned the nozzle on his homemade flamethrower, the very last thing he expected was to suddenly find himself in somebody's house, with a family eating a perfectly ordinary dinner on the business end of his flames, instead of the undead horde he'd been expecting.

This wouldn't have been as big a problem, of course, if it wasn't for the fourth of Mr. Dalton's beliefs. The fourth, much to Dalton's delight, was that people and zombies burned exactly the goddamn same. Fire was elegant, beautiful, and absolutely amazing. There wasn't a reason in the world for him to save it for just the dead who got in his way, not one that he could see. Had anyone else been caught in that rift, they would've cut off the wave of kerosene and stopped right after the first accidental casualty. They would've stopped upon realizing the sudden shift in realities, and apologized profusely for killing a little boy. A little boy who, by strange coincidence, was also named James Dalton.

Our James Dalton did not stop, though. He didn't stop to reflect on how he'd suddenly found himself in a whole new world, didn't stop to ask why the family had pointy ears, and sure as hell didn't stop burning things. Not after burning the boy with the same name, not after the boy's little sister, and not when he had turned his crude fire-spouting device on the entire dining room, kitchen, and second floor of the Dalton household. The entire building was little more than a pillar of smoke that evening, because James would not, and could not, be stopped.

[Rebonack]

[One-Eyed Pete's Hideout]

A note is left and a fork is thrown!

*thunk* goes the fork.

"Hey, wassat?" comes a voice from outside the office. Shortly there after a pair of thugs walk in and begin to snoop around in a bid to find out what that oddly fork-like sound was.

Couldn't have been a fork after all.

*ahem*

Yeah.

The way is clear for our hero to escape!

[Six-Dollar Saloon]

Amil gives a sight, pulling off her hat and running a hand through her hair. "That's how it goes sometimes. But justice will find them eventually. All of them."

She's resolute!

Probably because she figures even if they don't get their just rewards in this life they'll get them in the next one.

[OrchestraHc]

[One-Eyed Pete's Hideout]

A note is left and a fork is thrown!

*thunk* goes the fork.

"Hey, wassat?" comes a voice from outside the office. Shortly there after a pair of thugs walk in and begin to snoop around in a bid to find out what that oddly fork-like sound was.

Couldn't have been a fork after all.

*ahem*

Yeah.

The way is clear for our hero to escape!

Clever Improvisation time, Over!

Justin makes his way through the door and maintains his usual box sneaking strategy. The next order of business is simple. Locate the ways downstairs.

[Rebonack]

[One-Eyed Pete's Hideout]

Justin will be able to escape from the hideout without issue!

That's a good thing. He probably wouldn't enjoy getting shot at by all those automatic weapons.

So...

He got in and out easily enough.

But he didn't find the artifact.

But he did find the booze works!

Of course... alcohol is legal in the Nexus. So why would Pete go to all this trouble? Seems kind of strange...

[Neon Knight]

[Six-Dollar Saloon]

Amil gives a sight, pulling off her hat and running a hand through her hair. "That's how it goes sometimes. But justice will find them eventually. All of them."

She's resolute!

Probably because she figures even if they don't get their just rewards in this life they'll get them in the next one.

[Six Dollar Saloon]

The deputy nods, then frowns. "You alright, miss? He must have darn clobbered you good." Taking off her hat must have reminded him of her injury.

[Ashen Lilies]

Scarlet Manor

"An assumption, yes, but an educated and accurate one. I know you are here to kill me, so let us dispose of this double speak. You're not very good at it, and I'm bored." Now the voice sounds cranky. Kal had to go and ruin the fun by declaring his intent on the wall. If he hadn't done that, the shadowy figure could have had all sorts of fun trying to divine his motives, but no, now the only fun to be had was ripping the assassin into tiny little pieces.

The cloud of darkness expands, sweeping over everything and obscuring the entire room, except for a small patch of luminescence around Kal, like a spotlight on a darkened stage. "Well, let's hurry this T'oeas'y thing up. Pretty clever of you I suppose, to name such an unbalanced form of combat" The voice says, clearly emanating from a spot just a few feet in front of Kal. Less obvious, however, is the sound of quiet, steadily approaching footsteps as something tries to sneak up on Kal.

Kal yawns ostentatiously at the display, subtly shifting into a more combat ready stance as he does so. He doesn't turn yet, though he can clearly hear whoever's trying to sneak up on him, rather remaining focused on the voice in front of him. Neither does he move from where he's standing. He's not stupid enough to simply go charging into darkness.

[Rebonack]

[Six Dollar Saloon]

"Pretty hard, yeah. But I'll be fine. I've been told I have a pretty thick skull," Amil replies in a rather jocular tone.

Of course...

She's quite serious.

But again, she doesn't feel inclined to make the fellow worry about her.

"If you folks need any more help with the gang I would be happy to help. I've got an office over at Mallside, so finding me shouldn't be terribly difficult."

She doesn't wear a cowboy hat there, though.

Doesn't fit the theme as well.

[Gullara]

[The Heavens -> The Earth]

A single star in the heavens winks out of existence. A minute later a small light appears in the sky, growing ever nearer. It doesn't take long for it to light up the night sky like the sun. It plunges toward the city, but just before it connects the flame engulfing it gutters out. A resounding crack sounds through the city as it makes impact, then all is silent and dark once more.

[Park]

What had fallen from the sky has chosen here to land, in a large crater made by it's impact. It's... a seraph. She lies flat on her back, her limbs and all six wings spread out around her. She is simply beautiful, her features unmarred, her skin a milky white. Encircling her head and covering her eyes is a halo of brilliant light. Her wings must once have been a pure white, but are now only a smokey grey. Covering her slender body is a thin, silken robe. It was also white, but has been burned and tattered, leaving it little more than rags. She lies completely still. She looks cold, her lips slightly blue.

[Neon Knight]

[Six Dollar Saloon]

"Pretty hard, yeah. But I'll be fine. I've been told I have a pretty thick skull," Amil replies in a rather jocular tone.

Of course...

She's quite serious.

But again, she doesn't feel inclined to make the fellow worry about her.

"If you folks need any more help with the gang I would be happy to help. I've got an office over at Mallside, so finding me shouldn't be terribly difficult."

She doesn't wear a cowboy hat there, though.

Doesn't fit the theme as well.

[Six Dollar Saloon]

The deputy tips his hat to her. "Much obliged, ma'am. I don't think you can help us much more right now, unless you're up for digging six feet of dirt."

[Reinholdt]

[Park]

Such an event is made for investigating.
Which is pretty much what Neme Hat Reinholdt is doing right now. He was busy talking to a few stray cats about Bast, when this whole crater causing event happened.
Such an event tends to be distracting.

After actually finding the crater and the person inside, he'll shout, "Hey! Hey, are you all right?!" As he slowly makes his way down the crater.

Unless there was a pre-planned person who's supposed to be here or something. In which case, nevermind all of the above!

[PurityIcekiller]

[Underbed]

Kyinde whirled around to face the thing, spraying a bit of icy mist around herself as she did so. Beings that looked like that, especially ones with deep, dark voices, were not usually the most friendly things around. "I suspect you know the circumstances better than I do," she said somewhat coldly, "since we merely ended up here while springing a trap for someone else, and you seem to belong here."

[Gullara]

[Park]

Nope, open to anyone.

The seraph stirs slightly, her head tilting toward the source of the sound. Her lips begin to move as she says something continuously in barely more than a whisper.

[Reinholdt]

[Park]

Neme Hat Reinholdt finally reaches the woman. "Hey. You're moving. That's good. But try not to."

He takes great care to not step on her wings as he gets close enough to kneel down and try and take her pulse to see how weak it is, while he tilts his head so his cat ear is close enough to her mouth to listen to the whispers.

[UncleWolf]

[Drug Store]

"Unfortunately, you may not even see much of that."

The shopkeep will show them the tape, playing on a monitor he has in the back. The video will show an image of four human-faced people, two snout faced people, and the tiger and cat before it cuts out. All of them are wearing goggles and masks to cover themselves, but the unusual head shapes of the two suggests something feline

Drug Store

The investigator frowns as she watches, making notes about looking for cat-people, but more importantly, recording exactly how the two "animals" looked. They were the unique aspects of the group, and knowing this place, might even be the leaders. "Mind if we keep the tape?" She asks. "It may help us later on."

Jack frowns a little. He's the quipper around here. "I hardly know a thing about this religion. Maybe we should start there."

Masks Temple

"It was once explained to you before." Aluskal says with a quirked brow. "Don't you remember?" She asks. Of course, he was explained this before he got mind-wiped.

(I think it was a mind-wipe anyway. Been a while.)

Near Truth - 7th Precinct Remnant Firehouse

The alarms ring, and Captain Jefferies wakes from her bed, grumbling as she's told a fire is going on. She and a dozen firefighters who had been sleeping in the upper floor all get dressed in moments, pulling on their Hot Suits. The suits appear as a variant of the normal Remnant armor, but lacks nearly all the weapon systems, cape, or pristine appearance. Unlike normal Remnants, each one of these is personalized with varying flame motifs, names, crude language, and pictures of naked ladies(or men) all in the name of luck. Their helmets have breathing filters in them, but on their backs are air reserve tanks as well as fire extinguishers.

Also unlike the soldier variants, the cloth between the harder plates on this armor is made to resist heat, not bullets, but the strength enhancers are somewhat stronger so they can move things more quickly. Overall, it does the job as best as it can, even if people still die.

"What address?" She asks after her helmet is pulled on.

House 548 on Rental Block 7-B, between blocks 7 and 9. The Twi'lek on the other end adds the last bit to clarify, making sure that the Captain knows that its not a mistake. Fast buildup, probably a starter of some kind, so be careful.

"On it." She says before dropping through the hole in the floor and into the modified APC. She moves out of the way quickly, letting her men behind her land and strap themselves in after her. Once they're all in, she thwaps the partition to the cockpit. "Loaded!"

With that, the sirens wail and the APC speeds off as the Captain holds her fireaxe tightly in her grip.

[Gullara]

[Park]

The seraph seems to be looking at NHR, but not quite looking right at him. It's hard to tell with the halo over her eyes in any case. Her pulse is rather weak, but it's steady at least. He more than likely won't understand her whispering. It's Latin. Whatever she is saying, it's with a profound reverence.

She stops suddenly, and sucks in a breath like she's surprised she needed it. "S- so cold." Even as she speaks her body begins to shiver violently. Though her tattered robe would do little to keep her warm it isn't quite that cold out.

[Shadowcaller]

[Gray Zone - Pizza Parlor]

"As far as it goes, the abyss is anything but a nice place. All demons want to spend time on the material plane, and in exchange are usually willing to do a service for mortals. With the group I've gotten together, I summon them so that they're on the material plane for a while, as long as I can maintain the spell, and they just help me out with things, such as my work." Tom says, also still eating

[Gray Zone - Pizza Parlor]

"A horrible fate being forced to live where you don't like to be." Dawn comments. "Isn't there any way to bring them here permanently? Who are these demons exactly? What are their names?"

[Reinholdt]

[Park]

NHR does not understand Latin, sadly.
He does understand cold though.
He takes off his hat and fishes in it for a bit, pulling out a blanket in short order. He goes to cover the seraph up with it as warmly as he can while he looks her over for any injuries that might not have been obvious prior.

"Ok. Stay calm. You seem to have had a nasty fall and are probably in some sort of shock."

[Neon Knight]

[Tea for Two]

Tarin arrives here, hopefully leading Missy.

[happyturtle]

Tea for Two

And in Missy goes, as submissively as her name, like a lamb to the slaughter.

[Neon Knight]

[Tea For Two]

Mwahahaha! Her doom will be swift, with a side of biscuits!

Tarin orders and pours some tea for Missy. "What do you like your tea with, dear?"

[Gullara]

[Park]

The blanket seems to help a bit, but her shuddering doesn't stop. "God bless you." She clutches the blanket closer to herself, as if it it's her only salvation is this new world. She has no other injuries, oddly enough for the fall she took.

[Lord Magtok]

Truth

Sirens.

It's been ages since James heard a siren. The noise attracts zombies, after all. Anyone too stupid to realize the danger in using something that loud deserved death, and all too often, that's exactly what they got. This one's getting louder, though, and moving fast. Who in their right mind would want to move that fast, with all the horrible things cluttering up the roads nowadays? That kind of recklessness is an accident waiting to happen, and with that bloody zombie-alarm going on like that, it's practically guaranteed to happen in the next few minutes, too!

God, some people are just so stupid! You'd think this whole apocalypse thing would cull idiots like that, but just listen to that retarded siren blare! There's a reason James works alone these days, and it's not just the pyromania thing, either.

He steps outside, still carrying his kerosene-fueled length of hose and with his finger on the trigger when the APC comes rolling in.

"...Wait. APC? What the ****?"

Are you ****ing serious? A goddamn APC is rolling in towards him? There's no military base for like, miles! How in the hell did anyone on the island get their hands on one of those?! Christ. Should he go hide back in the building until they pass by, or is it already too late for that? Are they armed?! There's no reason to assume they are, of course, as most folks have already spent their entire supply of bullets by now, but when all he's got is a fancy fireworks toy and maybe a machete hidden on his person, he knows it's best not to go gambling his life on a stupid thing like that.

James Dalton backs away towards the house, hopping behind a rose bush, which is about close to the burning building as he's willing to get, as he can still feel the superheated air and poisonous smoke from here. He points his fancy improvised weapon at the ground, gaping in shock as he hopes to get a look at the people inside before they can see him.

[Reinholdt]

[Park]

Reinholdt will provide a small pillow as well, going to lift her head gently and slide it under. Though I doubt they want to stick around here long enough to make it much use.

"Do you think you're strong enough to handle being moved? I'd like to get you to a clinic as soon as possible." He asks, going to feel her forehead and check her temperature, though finding it hard on the eyes with all that brilliant light.

[Gullara]

[Park]

Her forehead is a fairly normal temperature. Maybe a bit cool, but nothing that should make her lips blue like that or cause that shivering. "Please. Somewhere warm. Anywhere." Moving her with those wings of hers promises to be difficult. Thankfully she doesn't look overly heavy otherwise.

[Reinholdt]

[Park]

It is odd, but then again so is a seraph falling from the sky.
"Alright. Just hold on."
Reinholdt goes to pick her up gingerly to carry her to the nearest reasonably warm location. Could be Black Dragon's Den or Bast's Animal Shelter Temple or an Emergency Clinic. I'll let Ghar choose where seems most appealing and reasonable.

Actually carrying her proves quite difficult though. It's hard to get a proper hold while not hurting the wings and keeping the blanket on. Hence why Reinholdt changes his mind from nearest clinic to nearest place with warmth to be had.

[UncleWolf]

Truth

James will see the APC, a large white vehicle with a firehose like turret on top stop in front of the house. Several of the aforementioned firefighters leap out of the back and storm into the house through the front while a couple others start to head through the back, the Captain among them. While they work, the turret on top swivels and begins spraying a thick foam at the flame to try and kill it. It's obvious the team has worked together for quite a while and has done this multiple times.

[Gullara]

[Park]

Bast's Animal Shelter Temple seems appropriate. Rein will face no resistance from the seraph. In fact, her wings suddenly fade out of existence. A large hole is left in the back of her robe where they were. If NHR were to look, he'd see black tattoos on her back in the shape of six remarkably details wings.

She hugs herself close to him as she's carried, still shivering, but comforted. She starts whispering in Latin again.

[Murkus]

Masks Temple

"It was once explained to you before." Aluskal says with a quirked brow. "Don't you remember?" She asks. Of course, he was explained this before he got mind-wiped.

(I think it was a mind-wipe anyway. Been a while.)

"Humor me." Jack says, drawing a blank. Even if he doesn't say it outright, he let's the confusion show on his face.

[Halae]

Drug Store

The investigator frowns as she watches, making notes about looking for cat-people, but more importantly, recording exactly how the two "animals" looked. They were the unique aspects of the group, and knowing this place, might even be the leaders. "Mind if we keep the tape?" She asks. "It may help us later on."

[Drug Store]

"Yeah, go ahead. This is why I make the tapes in the first place." and the shopkeep with eject the tape to hand it to the investigator.

The cat is a gray tabby, very fuzzy, and wide eyed. somewhat small for a cat. The tiger, on the other hand, is about 6 feet at the shoulders if the strip beside the door is any indication, which is, needless to say, larger than tigers usually get. It's fur is also an interesting shade - A sandy dark yellow that's almost orange, with stripes of a slightly darker orange... almost like a tabby cat. In fact, the observant may note that the cat and the tiger have very similar fur patterns

[Gray Zone - Pizza Parlor]

"A horrible fate being forced to live where you don't like to be." Dawn comments. "Isn't there any way to bring them here permanently? Who are these demons exactly? What are their names?"

[Gray Zone - Pizza Parlor]

"Avastol, Ravulos, Razkir, Treaglast, Quasnaeg, and Throrin'davros," Tom says, "Those aren't their real names, of course. They're the names they use when interacting with mortals, like myself. Forgive me, but a summoner keeps the protonyms and neonyms of their summons carefully close."

[Reinholdt]

[Park -> Bast's Animal Shelter]

The catboy steps into the temple area and heads for the High Priest quarters he managed to argue into getting when they were remaking the place, ignoring any odd looks the other cats might give him.
>>
The room has a warm radiator that he likes to sleep on top of sometimes while he's in cat form. It's why he wanted it.

This radiator in particular will be where she's laid next to and will be when he notices the tattoos.

Reinholdt frowns with some worry.
"You must've gone through hell."