[Nexus] Mallside II

[Rebonack]

[Outside Hoarder's]

Amil just...

Sort of...

Stares at Nadas for a few moments as if he had worms coming out of his nose.

"...what?"

Do people seriously talk like that? Seems kind of round-about and unnecessary. Kind of like having totally pointless commentary in all the OOC text.

"Are you saying someone knocked my ladder over?"

Sounds like that's what he's saying.

[Reinholdt]

[Outside Hoarder's]

Can't imagine anyone who has that.

"It is a distinct probability based on the evidence of what I witnessed. I cannot give a certainty due to not having directly observed the incident taking place."

It's exactly what he's saying.

[Rebonack]

[Outside Hoarder's]

Amil isn't quite sure what to make of this guy. He seems weird. Friendly enough. But weird. Of course... Weird is often times par for course in the Nexus. Some brands of weird are just weirder than others.

She's hardly one to speak, though.

Jean-stealer and all.

Anywho!

"Right... So... I don't suppose you could tell me who knocked the ladder over? Or did you not observe that part?"

As she speaks she glances around on the off chance that her tormenter would show himself somehow.

[Reinholdt]

[Outside Hoarder's]

Nadas is weird. Out of place, even in the Nexus. To an extent.

"The personage I noticed had the appearance of one akin to a circus funnyman. A clown in more colloquial terms."

I... don't think that's more colloquial. I think that's just what it's called.

"Unfortunately, he appears to have disentangled himself from our normal visual capabilities."

He disappeared.

[Rebonack]

[Outside Hoarder's]

...

Okay.

Nadas is just being silly now.

He isn't usually this convoluted when he speaks. Or at least he wasn't since the last time Rebo saw him.

"Okay. A clown."

A clown?

Really?

"Well... At least it wasn't that Creepy Clown," Amil comments as she begins to gather up her ladder. "I've heard that spotting him usually means he'll stalk you and play mean-spirited tricks for a while."

Good thing Nadas didn't see any Creepy Clowns!

[Reinholdt]

[Outside Hoarder's]

His verbosity is directly related to how comfortable he is.

"How would one go about differentiating between a Creepy Clown and one under the guidelines for normal?"

Obviously, they're all Creepy!

[Rebonack]

[Outside Hoarder's]

Amil opens her mouth to reply.

Then closes it again.

"You know. That's actually a really good question. Clowns in general can be kind of creepy. But some clowns are intentionally creepy while some are just... unnerving. Without really tying."

She honestly isn't sure which is worse.

At least the clown is gone now, right?

"Well, thanks for the concern. I should probably be getting back to work."

Away!

[Reinholdt]

[Outside Hoarder's]

"Well, beware of any potential ladder knock-overees in future situations. And get your cranium checked for concussive injuries!" Nadas waves after her, before returning to his book.

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

The scarred lady is, lucky for Justin, a little busy studying the kevlar. She's a rather odd character - scarred that way, but colored with makeup and wearing a form-fitting white dress. Like she just went on a date. A pair of tiny onyx rings dangle from her ears, and her hair falls between her shoulder blades in a long braid.

She turns, appraising the boy with her good eye. "Um... hullo." She smiles mildly. "Aren't ye a little young t'be buyin guns?"

[OrchestraHc]

"Oh absolutely," he says, finally at ease enough for a smile to cross his face, "Which is exactly why I'm hoping this place has a decent energy weapon selection." He pats the stock of the laser rifle strapped to his back as he says this, jostling the large dufflebag it's sharing the space with. The rifle is just barely recognisable as such, looking more like a long metal box on a metal stock."That and I can't use a real gun worth jack."

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

That gets a short laugh out of Cornelia. It's low and rich. "Ah. I see. Well, I'm sure there're plenty o' toys for ya here." She points at his rifle. "How do those things work, anyways?"

[OrchestraHc]

Erin's Emporium

Always interested in discussing his favorite weapon, he pulls the rifle off of his back to show it off. "If you're asking how you use it, it's pretty point and shoot, same as a regular gun. Trigger, safety, intensity, battery." He points out each one in order and even demonstrates the battery latch for removal. "If your asking how the laser itself works, when you pull the trigger, the the gun draws power from the battery and creates a light wave. The light wave is focus and intensified by crystals several times over before shooting out of the shaft." He mimes the entire process by running his finger along the top of the gun.

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

"So whatsis battery, then? S'like gunpowder fer the laser, right? Powers it?" Cornelia is obviously unfamiliar with most of these components. Even the safety is beyond her. She's likely from a much more primitive culture.

[The Bushranger]

[Erin's Emporium]

"Even from a suppressed firearm?" Boris jokes, then shakes his head as he takes the package. "No, I understand. Would you mind explaining the modifications made, at least? I'd like to know what specifically was changed."

The FOL nods, and starts in on a full explanation of everything.

[OrchestraHc]

Erin's Emporium

He flicks the battery latch open again and unclips it. "Essentially, yeah," he says holding up the battery, a squat, yellow, cylinder the size of a tangerine. "On a decent intensity, you can get about twenty or so shots before you need to reload. Too high and you'll be lucky to get ten shots. Ten put-a-whole-in-a-rock shots, but still not very ammo efficient." He reclips the battery and closes the latch. "Hell on the crystals and the barrel too."

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

"So the hotter, uh, lasers wear out the gun quicker?" Cornelia looks a tad worried, all of a sudden. She's thinking of her own weapon, and wondering if the firebomb bullets she uses might be damaging the barrel. "Ah well. If yer not old enough fer guns, mebbie I'm too old for this lasergun thing." Cornelia shakes her head. Too confusing. Making 'bullets' from batteries.

[Devixer]

[Erin's Emporium]

The FOL nods, and starts in on a full explanation of everything.

Boris listens to the explanation. A couple of terms might go over his head, but he'll get everything for the most part. "My thanks, ma'am. Did you need anything from me before I take my rifle back?"

[OrchestraHc]

Erin's Emporium

"Exactly. Burns the crystals, tarnishes the barrel, accuracy goes to hell, the thing stops shooting half the time, then at all. I went full blast for a while. Eighteen shots before I couldn't even fix it anymore. This is my second one, actually." As she makes her second comment he pulls his rifle back over his head. "I'd normally make some light-hearted joke about age, but I recently learned age is really relative here in Nexus. You aren't actually a month old are you?"

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

"Oh, gods, I hope not. I'd make an awful baby." Cornelia laughs. The kid's got a good sense of humour. "Anywho, I'd buy a couple more o' those if I was you. Sounds like they wear out quick."

[OrchestraHc]

Erin's Emporium

Ha-ha. He was only half joking, but he certainly won't tell her that.

"Only if you overdo it though," he says back. "Use it properly and know what you're doing when you clean it and repair it, it'll last as long as any other gun. These things were military grade, back in the day. So, what about you? Do you use actual firearms or are you one of those sword types you see all over the place?"

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

"Honey, I wouldn't be caught dead usin' a sword." Cornelia says, finding the concept laughable. She shakes her head. "Jus' a revolver, that's all. An' I'm not a soldier or a merc or anythin' like that. How bout you?"

[OrchestraHc]

Erin's Emporium
"Never enlisted, so I'm not a soldier. I also don't really consider myself a mercenary," Justin says, but adding a little addendum, "I mean I've done dangerous and stupid jobs for money before, guys gotta eat, but I've never signed a contract in my life. It had always been a word and a handshake sort of thing. As for swords the closest I've ever had was a switchblade I had when I was ten." He gives a sigh and stares off into space with a smile. Aah, nostalgia.

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

"Hey, sounds like a merc to me. Dangerous n' stupid is how I used to run it, anyway." Cornelia says, smiling at the boy warmly. She watches him get caught in a bit of nostalgia. "Oh, boy. Wish I looked that way when my pap made me hold a gun fer the first time." Seems she doesn't have a whole lot of nostalgia for the early years.

[ThirdEmperor]

Main Plaza

"Yes, I would very much like to depart from this place as soon as possible. The sights, the sounds, the people on all sides, shoving and pushing.... Prometheus shudders slightly, shooting murderous glares at random people as they walk by, as though this was their fault. If he has his way, he will never again return to this hellhole, except perhaps to retrieve the hat he ordered. "It's an affront to humanity, that these people would congregate in a place such as this, that they would embrace such horrid conditions."

[OrchestraHc]

Erin's Emporium

"It was a gift from my big sister, actually," Justin says, snapping out of his nostalgia trip. "All the kids got knives at that age. Then the adults make this big circle in the atrium, stick two of us in there and have us go at it. Sis actually taught me how to use it though, so I was at an advantage. It was a blast. She said I kept us fed that whole year with the money she won betting on me, same as her with Mom and Dad." There's more than a little bit of pride on his face when he finishes the story.

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

"Ye didn't actually hafta... stick eachother, right?" Cornelia says, eyes a little wide, brow furrowed. The blacksmith isn't sure how to react to such a strange custom.

[OrchestraHc]

"Yeah, wh- Oh," Justin says as he gets a look at Cornelia's expression. "Only to first blood or first tears," he explains hastily. He had forgotten how off putting something like that could be, and the look on Cornelia's face was a decent reminder. "No one certainly died when I did it, and any years after that as well as I can remember. That was pretty new, though. I heard Sis had to go all the way most of the time." He sticks his hand in pockets. "If it makes you feel any better the guys who made our parents do it are dead. Very dead. Her kids will never have to do somthing like that."

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

"Well thank goodness fer that. I mean, I ken unnerstand some harmless sport, but that sounds awful." Cornelia shakes her head. Though the fact that the custom has been abolished does appear to improve her opinion. "Anywho, ye said ya won your fight? Musta been scary."

[OrchestraHc]

Erin's Emporium

"Fights," he emphasizes. "It was a sporadic thing over a long period of time, about a year. I remember about... five or six?" He scratches the back of his head and tries to count the opponents, but it was so long ago.

"But scary? No. Like I said, I was one of the few who actually knew what he was doing. I pretty much had all the other kids cut or crying in the first ten seconds. Useful too, nobody messed with me until I was fourteen, when they found out I didn't actually carry the damn thing around all the time."

[Murkus]

Erin's Emporium

"Well, I s'pose that's why ye carry that thing around, now." Cornelia points at the lasgun with mild amusement. "Deter messin'. How old are ye, anyway?" She looks at his face closely. "Can't be too much more'n fifteen, ken ya?"