[Nexus] Mallside I: You Do Not Know the Power of the Mallside

[AmberVael]

[The Mental Menagerie]

There is a moment's hesitation before Aleph responds. "Okay." Two years seems like a lot to her, but then again, she was probably asking for a lot, wasn't she?

[Slii Arhem]

The Mental Menagerie

Nate nods once and gives the machine a wave, prodding it into motion. The process takes quite a bit longer than the other times it has been in action, but still doesn't last more than a few minutes. Images may flash before Aleph's eyes, but fade before they make any sense. Unlike the others, there is no sudden inspiration or disassociation, just a slow build up of faded remembrance. As the machine whirs to a halt, all of Aleph's forgotten years should stand clear in her memory, and two years of her time spent reading has been copied into the machine.

[AmberVael]

[The Mental Menagerie]

The process goes off without a hitch. On the other hand, while the memory restoration is normal, a notable number of the memories they collect are probably highly unusual, not only entirely pristine due to what is apparently a photographic memory, but also filled with more detail and information than a human should normally be able to process. Aleph recalls everything from the time (down to the centisecond, no less), to the temperature. Her reading speed is about as remarkable. She scans each page only as long as it takes to look at it, though it seems she processes the contents a bit later than she actually reads them. Really, it seems more like she's a computer than a human, though clearly she is not robotic.

[Slii Arhem]

The Mental Menagerie

Well apart from a rather cluttered chart that appears on the screen, an indistinguishable mess of green and blue meshed together, Nate has no access to the memories she just uploaded. If he's surprised by the absolute density of the information he just recieved, he doesn't show it. Instead he motions for her to stand up with a bright smile on his face,

"Well that's that, I hope you enjoy your old memories, and that if there is anything you need to know, you'll come to us first." he begins walking around the corner of the machine, and even though all four sides are occupied, has disappeared entirely from the store once more.

[Murkus]

The Mental Menagarie

Since I assume Celena was picking up on useful pieces of information rather than Adir's random memories, she'll likely come across three things from his homeworld.

Namely, his ranger training. Hunting, hiding, scenting, chasing. Then his ability to speak and write the crude wildfae language. It all flows into the cube without any issue while Adir sits patiently.

The stag looks over at Sakura while he waits, hoping for good results.

[Slii Arhem]

The Mental Menagerie

While the cube does indeed get his knowledge of wildfae language, it is a very exacting device, and doesn't get anything that it wasn't instructed to find. Also, the process is usually immediate, so Sakura should already be able to read anything he can, she just has to try.

[Chezmarine]

EE

"Phased Plasma Rifle in the 40 watt range." He grunts.

[Earl of Purple]

Mall- General

A variety of large stone, wood and/or metal figures are wandering around. Each one has a large sign painted, engraved, stamped or carved onto its front. The sign advertises one of the myriad stores within this great shopping centre.

Pontius's Custom Constructs
Come now, and take advantage of our New Offer!
For a Limited Time Only, Buy One Get One Free at the Premier Golemcraefter's workshop!

This Unique Offer applies to All Stone*, Wood, Ice, Paper, Metal**, Clay, Glass, Plastic, Concrete and Miscellaneous Constructs.

* Excluding Crystal, Gemstone, Marble, Jasper & Jade.
**Excluding Gold, Silver, Platinum, Mithril and Adamantine/Adamantium.

[Slii Arhem]

Pontius' Custom Constructs

Waldorf falls through the door, his wispy hair ruffled and wild. He scrambles to his feet, grasping a large metal suitcase.

"Eck-scuse me?"

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius's Custom Constructs

Inside the store are many rows of statues made from many different types of material. Pacing up one of these aisles towards the door like an oversized spider is a six-legged wooden chair. Seated upon the chair is a brown haired gnome of middle age; his eyes are black and he has an impressive nose. He's wearing a white toga. "Yes? How may I help you?" The chair has two articulated arms, one of which is holding a glass of lemonade steady enough that the level doesn't move very much and none is spilt.

[Slii Arhem]

Pontius' Custom Constructs

Waldorf doesn't move from the doorway, "You do ef'figies? We need twoo Sspider Eaterr ef'figies, made of bronnze and grani'te. Quar'tz eyez. poizon pouchess. Will thiss suffice?" He holds out the briefcase, by the time his arms are fully raised he is no longer at the door, but standing right in front of the spidermech.

[Lost_Deep]

MagMart

Kate Kyland has been arriving slightly early every day like clockwork ever since she got a job at MagMart. Today, she is doing something out of the ordinary. Her shift is up, she has clocked out and is no longer on duty. Instead of leaving with her usual expediency she is instead browsing...

...the weapons? What?

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius's Custom Constructs

"I could, but the way I make anything animates it from the beginning so if you don't want it to move find a sculptor and not a golemcraefter." The animated chair will reach out with its arm and tries to take the briefcase and hand it to Pontius, who will (if the chair is successful) attempt to open it.

And it's not really spiderlike, I just likened the way it moves to a spider. It's more of a very ornate throne with six legs and two arms, each of which has been articulated.

[Slii Arhem]

Pontius' Custom Creations

Waldorf blinks slowly before handing over the case, inside are three bars of gold, each weighing about one troy pound. "Yess, they should move. Robot'ic, magical, sseemz a'live. Ef'figies." he attempts to elaborate, poorly.

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius's Custom Constructs

"Do you want them to fly? Because if so, another bar would be enough. Bronze and granite are heavy; tying in a controlled levitation enchantment would be difficult." Pontius doesn't react to the amount offered, though he is impressed. "And I don't do robotics; magical animation only." He snaps that last bit; he sees robotics as a form of competition too complex for him to add it to his existing knowledge base.

[Slii Arhem]

Pontius' Custom Constructs

For the first time in... ever? Let's just say a long time. For the first time in a long time, Waldorf smiles, his lips curling back over his teeth like a jackal's snarl. It is very apparent that he doesn't know how to emote, and an expression that should be familiar and warm on him is disturbing and eery.

He holds out a card.

"You come to ourr shoppe. Learnn robot'ticss. Thenn you make uss ef'figies? For fourr barrz."

[Gullara]

The Mental Menagerie

Celena struggles with her touchpad, and the machine comes to life again, buzzing lethargically as it collects what it needs.

She walks over to where Adir is sitting and holds up the screen to his face. On it there is three tiny blue spikes among a sea of green. "See these blue bits? Those are scraps of information that you have which we don't! It just goes to show you, every person is a wealth of information. Well then, here goes nothing!" Celena manipulates the clump of wires that sits at the corner of the cube between the couple, and the machine completes its complicated motions. Nothing is obviously different after it's done, and then Waldorf shows up with the children's care book from their unattended shopping cart. He holds it out to Sakura wordlessly.

Trying to read something should jump start your brain, go ahead, try it out!"

((I'll leave it up to one of you to describe what she learned from him, most likely Murkus, as it's his character's memories.))

The Mental Menagarie

Since I assume Celena was picking up on useful pieces of information rather than Adir's random memories, she'll likely come across three things from his homeworld.

Namely, his ranger training. Hunting, hiding, scenting, chasing. Then his ability to speak and write the crude wildfae language. It all flows into the cube without any issue while Adir sits patiently.

The stag looks over at Sakura while he waits, hoping for good results.

The Mental Menagerie

While the cube does indeed get his knowledge of wildfae language, it is a very exacting device, and doesn't get anything that it wasn't instructed to find. Also, the process is usually immediate, so Sakura should already be able to read anything he can, she just has to try.

Sakura takes the offered book and blinks at it in surprise. She can read the title. The dryad flips it open and reads a passage aloud. "I can read it." She looks up to grin at Adir.

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius's Custom Constructs

He doesn't want robotics; he sees golems as superior. They do what they're told without needing programming enforcing their inability to take control. He refuses to do anything above a certain level of intelligence, and robots tend to be above that level. Besides, if he goes into robotics, he'll have actual competitors; at the moment, there's no other golem shop in the Nexus. He gripes about it, but he wouldn't really want robotics; he's happy with what he's got.

"I don't want robotics. Golems are better, more adaptable. Besides, there's loads of roboticists, computer engineers, practical mechanics and self-replicating machines around, but I'm the one and only stop for golems." The smile unnerves him, but the oldest surviving member of his family is a lich with a worse one. He's frowning, too; the offer insulted him. In his mind, the guy who just walked in said 'my shop can give you robotics because golems aren't good enough'.

Besides which, the parts for a robot can be shoddy, but shoddy parts effects the performance. Shoddy parts for a golem also effects the performance, but not in a dangerous way.

[Chezmarine]

Finally the Wolf Adds, "9mm Uzi Personal Defence Weapon."


NOW IT'S TIME TO TERMINATE SARAH CONNOR!

[Slii Arhem]

Pontius' Custom Constructs

The smile just gets wider. Between one moment and another, Waldorf isn't just holding out a business card, but now a card and another gold bar tied together with a bit of red ribbon done up in a bow. He inclines his head, his expression remaining fixed and vacant, but his eyes leering at the gnome, never blinking.

"Oh-kay, jusst golemz. No meck'canics. My miss-take. Ss'top by whenn the orrder iz ready?"

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius's Custom Constructs

"Come back in a week. They'll be done then. Anything else you want? A stone golem for heavy lifting? A gold golem to defend your hoard? A paper golem to defend yourself with?" Paper golems are surprisingly effective as bodyguards- they can fold up to be stored in a pocket, fly by creating origami wings, and paper cuts really hurt, even if the paper hasn't been magically strengthened.

[Lord Magtok]

MagMart

Kate Kyland has been arriving slightly early every day like clockwork ever since she got a job at MagMart. Today, she is doing something out of the ordinary. Her shift is up, she has clocked out and is no longer on duty. Instead of leaving with her usual expediency she is instead browsing...

...the weapons? What?

Always a good idea to check in on your employees when they're checking out firearms and such. It might just be a matter of self-defense in this big and scary Nexus, insurance against muggers and such, but workers going postal could be a serious issue both in terms of physical damage and public image, even if it only happens once.

"Hi, Ms. Kyland. In the market for a new weapon?"

Maggy, you know it's not a good idea to sneak up on people like that. I don't care how fun it is to float up behind someone, perch on the top of a stack of ammunition boxes, and then speak up like that from out of nowhere. It's totally not cool, and you're going to give a victim of this mischief a heart attack or something one of these days.

[Slii Arhem]

Pontius' Custom Constructs

Waldorf shakes his head, making a motion with his arm as if urging the gnome to take the extra bar.

"Jusst mmake sure they cann fly. Annd sstop by someti'me, we ha've thinngs for ev'eryone."

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius's Custom Constructs

"I'll think about it." That's basically a 'no'. He wouldn't give away his secrets willy-nilly, so doubts they have anything that would interest him.

[Slii Arhem]

Pontius' Custom Constructs

Well I'm assuming he took the bar, but if he didn't Waldorf will be gone and it will be sitting on the floor where he once stood.

[Earl of Purple]

Pontius's Custom Constructs

Pontius did indeed take the bar, and will put it in his lap. He'll then scratch the arm rest of his walking throne, causing a hidden drawer to spring from the side above the legs and beneath the seat of it. The bars will be placed carefully within the drawer before the chair swivels around so Pontius is facing the opposite direction and walks off.

In a back room, dominated by animated arms carving, nailing, forging and casting golems, Pontius will check his supplies before nodding and designating some bronze ingots and granite blocks. He'll then take a book out of another drawer in his chair, this one about animals. Kicking back with his legs, a set of stairs unfolds from beneath the walking throne and he climbs down. He then motions for a small toy helicopter to enter the main shop and come for him if anybody enters.

His preparations complete, Pontius then gets carving for the first of the spider eater effigies, absorbing himself in his work. It'll take him a few days before he's happy with one, and then the second will not take as long as he'll have learnt from the previous one, but they will almost certainly be ready before the deadline is half a week away. After that, though, he'll crash, sleeping and eating to make up for the meals and rest lost during the creation period.

[ThirdEmperor]

Mental Menagerie

"Oh, wow. Oh, ick." Are the first two things Strahd says when the memory machine finally ceases to pour raw data into his thinkpan. Some of the stuff those necromancers did... Ick.

[Slii Arhem]

The Mental Menagerie

"There you go deary! Have fun manipulating forces mankind was not meant to behold. If at any time you feel dissatisfied with your choice in skills, we can, for a nominal fee, wipe your memory and start again, fresh as daisies."

Rita flounces from the shop, skipping away to do something or other.

[KerfuffleMach2]

Mall- General

A variety of large stone, wood and/or metal figures are wandering around. Each one has a large sign painted, engraved, stamped or carved onto its front. The sign advertises one of the myriad stores within this great shopping centre.

Gadgets and Gizmos

Molly sees an opportunity as one of these figures walks past her store.

Within moments, she approaches it with one of the large signs that people wear. She'll try and slip it over the figure.

Of course, it's an advertisement for her store. She just thought it'd be funny.

[Lost_Deep]

Always a good idea to check in on your employees when they're checking out firearms and such. It might just be a matter of self-defense in this big and scary Nexus, insurance against muggers and such, but workers going postal could be a serious issue both in terms of physical damage and public image, even if it only happens once.

"Hi, Ms. Kyland. In the market for a new weapon?"

Maggy, you know it's not a good idea to sneak up on people like that. I don't care how fun it is to float up behind someone, perch on the top of a stack of ammunition boxes, and then speak up like that from out of nowhere. It's totally not cool, and you're going to give a victim of this mischief a heart attack or something one of these days.

"Oh!"

Kate turns around to see Magtok.

"Oh, hello..." What was the proper way to refer to him? He's "Lord Magtok," but does he prefer "m'lord?" Just default and hope he isn't a stickler about that. "Sir. I've seen a couple things that have scared me a bit, and was hoping for a bit of protection on the streets, yes."

Especially now that she's taken a freelance job for someone in Red zone. She's heard horror stories.

Kate is obviously a bit unsure about how to take this. Mag knows that she probably has never seen him in real life... the two of them just don't come into contact during the day. And she shares an office with the wireless router, on the far side of the store from Mag's office, so there isn't the time to just stroll over and say hi.

((If I make any statements about MagMart that you don't like, just say so and I will edit it.))