[Nexus] Home 7

[Beans]

[Nest]
Of course I will...

What are they like? Are they nice?

[Lady Serpentine]

[The Nest]

"They seem to be."

She stops for a minute, looking conflicted.

"So... Could you turn the Quill Wolves that died into undead?"

[Beans]

[Nest]
... I could... if that's okay...
She frowns.

[Lady Serpentine]

[The Nest]

Karyana looks confused

"If you're not comfortable with it, don't worry about it. But why wouldn't it be okay?"

[The Alexandrian]

[Aureolin Apartments Building - Yellow Zone of Inside]

"You live very frugally, Doctor Godlark."

Percilia observes. This place definitely needed a woman's touch. She notes the lack of anything really substantial in the place. It made her wonder what Tom really appreciated in life. It certainly wasn't ownership of material possessions or dominance over a large group of friends. In fact, it seemed as though Tom didn't have a friend in the world. It struck her as odd.

What struck her as odder was that Tom never seemed to carry a weapon around with him in spite of living in such a shabby area. The building was shoddy and the neighborhood seemed rough enough.

"Have you ever shot before, Tom?"

He certainly needed some sort of defense against all of the psychos around here. Tom was kidnapped, after all. Even the plant life in this city seemed to have a life of its own. She'd need to acquire a flamethrower eventually to counter that. A flamethrower and a chainsaw. Yeah. She'd have to get her hands on those pretty soon.

[Beans]

[Nest]
It's just a request I've never gotten before... I'll do it.
She smiles slightly.

[Lady Serpentine]

[The Nest]

"Okay. Do you want to do it now, or wait for a while?"

She recognized the spell being cast on them, so she knows it's okay to wait for a bit.

[Beans]

[Nest]
We can do it now.
She sits up.

[Lady Serpentine]

[The Nest]

"Okay."

Karyana starts getting dressed.

[Beans]

[Nest]
Zwei dresses again, now in her normal clothes.

[Lord Magtok]

Aureolin Apartments Building - Yellow Zone of Inside

"Well, up until recently I kinda needed to be able to pick up everything and run, on the off chance that psychiatric hospital ever caught up to me. I mean, until it was blown up and all."

He bites his lip, thinking over the question of whether he's shot another in silence. Do things done as Magtok count? He's been trying to distance himself from all of that, so-

"Once or twice. Self-defense, of course. Why?"

She might or might not happen to notice a new gun-shaped bulge in a coat pocket. The organic gun that the jeanstealer girl gave him rests there, and has yet to be fed, as she instructed him to. He'll probably have to find some denim or something to offer it later. Good thing he didn't put it in a pants pocket, too.

[Lady Serpentine]

[The Nest]

"All right. I have someone that's going to come along, though, so we'll have to pick her up."

She then tries to lead Zwei though the Shadow-Door to her room in HALO.

[The Alexandrian]

Aureolin Apartments Building - Yellow Zone of Inside

Good! The man knew how to handle himself just fine in this neighborhood.

"Just checking. You need to know those sort of things around here. Heh."

Nervous laughter. Percilia just noticed the gun-shaped bulge in Tom's coat pocket. What a stupid question to ask!

If you change the topic quickly, he may not notice the error of your ways!

"So, what did you do before that wacky shrink came after you?"

Yes! Get him to remember things long gone that he will take his mind off of your last idiotic question! Smart!

[Beans]

[The Nest]

"All right. I have someone that's going to come along, though, so we'll have to pick her up."

She then tries to lead Zwei though the Shadow-Door to her room in HALO.

Zwei follows through, smiling.

[Lady Serpentine]

[The Nest]

Karyana, and, I assume, Carrie and Zwei, appear back in Karyana's room. It's possible that there's evidence that they curtained recently, or not, depending on whether or not Zwei did anything to hide the fact.

[Beans]

[Nest]
The bedsheets are rumpled, but Zwei folded any clothes they left out.

Carrie looks around.

[Lord Magtok]

Aureolin Apartments Building - Yellow Zone of Inside

Thomas takes a deep breath, and then lets it right back out. Ouch, that's a hell of a tough question. Not because Thomas doesn't know the answer, which he most definitely does, but because the truth is really freaky and might bother Percilia, and Tom doesn't feel comfortable with the idea of lying right to her face, either.

"I umm...well, I was sorta this clone of a guy on the city's ruling council, the one called Magtok. He has a bunch of clones like me and does this memory transfer thing so that they're all basically the same. He's also a bit of a rich, pompous, egocentric jerk, so when I remembered that I was a clone and all, I figured it'd probably be for the best if I continued to distance myself from that name, remain my own individual and whatnot, and try not to get kidnapped any more than strictly necessary."

What Thomas doesn't mention is that Magtok has a tendency to murder any clones deemed 'defective'. On top of that, being seen with his arm around a girl other than the one the MagCollective was dating would probably be the closest thing they have to high treason. He's just lucky that Percilia's around as a potential witness, otherwise one of the primary Magtoks would probably be murdering the hell out of him by now.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Nest]
The bedsheets are rumpled, but Zwei folded any clothes they left out.

Carrie looks around.

((Sorry about the sudden deadtime))

She sees that the room is very green, probably. It's also extremely luxuriously furnished.

"So, you ready to go?"

[Beans]

[Nest]
They both nod. Carrie smiles.
Hope I'm not prying, but are you two girlfriends?

[The Alexandrian]

[Aureolin Apartments Building - Yellow Zone of Inside]

Percilia doesn't quite know how to respond to that. Geeze. It must have sucked to be Tom. They are all people without their own individuality. Even the lowliest beasts of the earth can lay claim to their uniqueness. It was something that Percilia didn't think could be taken away. She stands sadly corrected.

"Oh you poor baby!"

Percilia cries as she runs over to Tom and attempts to hug him again.

And then she gets an idea. A dastardly idea! A villainous, fiendish, and cunning idea!

"So, if you are weak to EMPs then they are weak to EMPs."

Hmm...

"As soon as we get you shielded against EMPs we'll have to arm you with EMP grenades or something."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Nest]
They both nod. Carrie smiles.
Hope I'm not prying, but are you two girlfriends?

Karyana will head over to the portal to the roof.

She glances at Zwei as she does so, but then says "Yes."

[Beans]

[Nest]
They follow; Zwei grins and giggles.
Very yes.

I thought so. Carrie smiles back.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Nest]

"So... Carrie, those wings let you fly right?"

She also smiles, and looks very relieved.

[Beans]

[Nest]
Yep, not just for show.

Zwei squeezes Karyana's hand.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Nest -> Peaceful Field]

"Then let's go."

Karyana squeezes her hand back.

[Beans]

[Nest]
Carrie nods, following after the two girls.

[Lord Magtok]

Aureolin Apartments

Thomas quirks an eyebrow, as if to ask how not having an identity is that bad and big of a deal, but somewhere just before she hugs him, the implications sink in. Magtok would kill him for that hug, would brutally smash him to bits just for breaking what had been set in stone as in-character for MagClones. The oppression doesn't seem quite so bad when you consider yourself to be a part of the machine, but if you're on the outside, looking in...wow, that system is horrible.

With that said, it probably comes as no great surprise that Thomas is more than willing to accept another hug from her. The 'baby' bit gets just a little under his skin, but not at all worth mentioning. So long as it doesn't become a habit, I mean.

"Sure, I suppose. I always kinda thought of EMP as cheating, but as a single entity and all, probably need every edge I can get.

What about you, though? I mean, if you need something, there's the magic helmet I've been using as a money-bucket. It comes with an iron suit of armor that you just sorta will into place, if I understood the instructions correctly. People who hit it have a chance of being hypnotized for sixty seconds, too."

...Wait. He has a helmet that can grant him a magical suit of hypnotic iron, and he's just been using it as a crude, improvised wallet this whole time? Thomas, you idiot.

[The Alexandrian]

[Aureolin Apartments]

I wouldn't imagine that the whole "baby" thing would become a habit for Percilia. "Tiger" might, but definitely not "baby." It just isn't her style.

"Actually, there is one thing I want, now that you mention it. I want to see how you look in your armor! It sounds really cool and...and..."

And what, Percilia? Spit it out girl!

"And I want to see it!"

Doh!

[Lord Magtok]

Aureolin Apartments

The cyborg shrugs, dumping out the shiny content of the helmet onto a couch, before pulling the Helm of the Iron Tyrant over his face. It shifts into a skull cap briefly, prompting Thomas to raise an eyebrow before a suit of iron armor suddenly appears over his clothing.

Wow. That's umm...that's something, alright. Definitely see how the armor gets its name. It looks like the sort of thing gods might wear. The tyrannical ones, anyway.

[The Alexandrian]

[Aureolin Apartments]

Wow! That is cool! Percilia thinks that Tom looks very manly in that armor. Very manly indeed.

"Daaang! You look awesome! I wish I had a camera!"

Percilia's eyes light up with curiosity! She takes a step toward Tom.

"You don't mind if I punch it, do you Tom?"

There is a reason Percilia went into a scientific field. She always has had a thing for testing the limits.

By the way, Percilia, are you sure this is such a good idea? I mean, think of all of the things that could happen to you in sixty seconds! You hardly even know this guy and you are...

Yep. She's ignoring me again.