{Nexus} GLoG 79: So Lonely.

[The Bushranger]

[Garden]

"Zombie plants? No, I don't believe there can be. Plants tend to be natural enemies to zombies, from what I've heard." He also manages to keep a straight face. "There are a few plant monsters, however."

[Darklord Bright]

[Garden]

"NATURAL ENEMY OF ZOMBIES?" Annabelle looks around worriedly for a moment, before seeming to relax.

"OH WAIT, I'M A GHOUL! I'M NOT A ZOMBIE. THAT'D BE SILLY." she giggles to herself for a moment. What an odd ghoul she is.

[The Bushranger]

[Garden]

"And a most unconventional ghoul you are, which is a good thing," Taurus points out, smiling as he plucks a strand of crabgrass.

[Darklord Bright]

[Garden]

"IT IS? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

Annabelle looks puzzled.

"DO YOU MEAN THAT NORMAL GHOULS ARE ALL NASTY AND EAT PEOPLE AND I DON'T?" she raises a finger to her lips in thought, looking down.

[Morty]

Spoiler

Show

[Lab]

"Actually, about that... I sort of recalled that I need that file in full. I remembered that Liquid Agony is up and up patented." Reinholdt says, leaning against the wall.

[Lab]

Toby looks at both of them, then slowly walks to a corner of the room and unlocks a small file cabinet. He hands a folder to Sophie, which contains a few dozen sheets of paper completely covered with druidic runes. And I care about patents... why?

[Lab]

"Because it would be wrong to steal someone's hard-earned intellectual property without permission. Something I'm sure you can at least appreciate." Reinholdt replies.

[Lab]

It's not like I'm going to make that poison and sell it. Toby rolls his eyes.

[Lab]

Sophie shrugs. All I need to know is whether withdrawl is lethal or not. After that, we can get rid of the data for all I care.

[Reinholdt]

[Lab]

"It's not a poison."

But Sophie seems to agree to getting rid of the data. Yay.

[Earl of Purple]

Main Cabin

"Oh! Hi, Jamie. I'm reading this book. I got it for Thanksmas. It's a book of magic tricks- Watch." Natalie holds up her left hand and clicks her fingers, at which point there's a red flash and she's holding a playing card- the Queen of Clubs, specifically. "Yes! I knew I could do it. The book has two ways of doing everything, a mundane way and a magical way. Apart from one spell in the back, but I need more practice before I try that. Anyway, I hadn't tried the magical way before." Natalie smiles.

[The Bushranger]

[Garden]

"That is one thing, yes," Taurus says honestly. "However they also seem to lack your...personality."

===

[Main Cabin]

"That's pretty cool! I think it's best to use the mundane way as much as possible, though," Jamie points out. "Lest you become dependent on the magic."

So says the Magical Princess...

"...but it's still totally awesome! What's that one spell do though?"

[Earl of Purple]

Main Cabin

"I'm practicing the non-magical methods, don't worry! Dad doesn't really want me to know magic yet, so... Don't tell him." Natalie grins sheepishly. "It summons a Siberian Tiger. Done correctly, the tiger does what I want it to. If I don't do it right, though... I may get eaten." And that's one reason why her dad doesn't want Natalie to become a sorceress.

[The Bushranger]

[Main Cabin]

Jamie's eyes go wide.
"Um, that could be bad, yeah."
...especially since Mister Buttons might not appreciate interlopers on his turf!
"But don't worry, I won't say anything! I can try and help though, if you want."

(and unfortunatly I'm already being dragged off, sorry...)

[Earl of Purple]

Main Room

"Yes, because then I'd have to explain to Dad that I'm learning magic when he doesn't want me to. And I'd be in the belly of a tiger summoned through magic. As for help, do you know much magic? Either magic tricks, or spells emulating magic tricks? Because if not, I think an audience would help." Both as support, and so Natalie can show off.

[Darklord Bright]

[Garden]

Annabelle's confusion hasn't really waned at all from this comment.

"WHAT ABOUT MY PERSONALITY?" she asks, leaning in a bit.

"I'M JUST BEING NICE TO PEOPLE, AREN'T I?"

[Lost_Deep]

Main Cabin

Kate comes in, takes off her coat, and heads towards Julie's room. She knows what she has to do. She knocks on the door. Julie will probably notice that she looks upset, but determined.

No point hiding it.

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

Julie's door is open, and she's sitting at a little fold out sewing table, putting the finishing touches on something.

"Oh hey Kate, I finished with your shirts a while back, and had some time on my hands, so I've been working on something special." Julie holds up a pale lavender dress shirt, measured to Kate's sizes perfectly. As she does so, she turns her head from the piece to guage Kate's reaction, and takes note of the antennae with a shocked look that quickly melts into a frown.

"Let me guess, something happened in the park?"

[Lost_Deep]

Main Cabin

Oh, yeah, the antenna.

Kate sighs. "Well, yes, but I have something much more important to tell you because it directly affects you."

Kate will move into the room and close the door behind her. How to say this... "Okay, remember that I met a god? So, he says that I could ask him anything and he could probably find out..."

[The Bushranger]

[Main Room]

"Well, there's the princess stuff I can do," Jamie points out. "And I know an odd trick or two otherwise. But I'd love to provide an audience," she tells Natalie with a grin.

===

[Garden]

"Indeed you are. And that makes you different from, well, most other ghouls. Unique. In a very good way."

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

Well that's never a good lead in. Julie nibbles a bit on her lower lip as Kate closes the door, wondering just what she could have found out that was so horrible.

Julie turns around in her chair, setting down the shirt so that she can stand. Doing this makes it apparent to Kate that, despite the short amount of time since Kate was last here, Julie is looking very pregnant all of a sudden. Whereas she was more or less three months before, the succubus now has to deal with being more than five months along with her twins, and it's showing. In between doing Kate's shirts, she's had to take out her own clothing more and more each day just to accomodate.

"Come on over and take a load off before you get to heavy into this. You can have my chair, I need to lay down and rest my back a while." She's partly stalling for time, but her back really does ache. Assuming Kate follows her directions without fuss, she'll go to lie down on her bed, turning her head over towards the table so she can see better.

[Lost_Deep]

Main Cabin

Kate does sit down. Wow, that's kind of creepy, just imagine- NO! FOCUS!

"So, I asked about what had happened... about Eric's death? I don't remember exactly. So, this god, Cosiellio, knew Dionysus, the god of alcohol? And Dionysus had a ton of blackmail on Hades who apparently keeps tabs on you. So, all of a sudden there is a sheaf of papers this big," She holds her hands apart to demonstrate, "about your life, on my coffee table. Suffice to say, I know most everything from a bit before your first... show to sometime after you settled down in GLoG So... yeah. And it was really detailed. I didn't read the whole thing in detail, I skimmed some of... the..." She shudders. "I'm sorry, I didn't really ask for it, but there it was, and it was given to me, and... I'm sorry."

Kate relaxes. That's a weight off her chest.

[Darklord Bright]

[Garden]

Annabelle smiles brightly! She's not used to being complimented. Usually people scream and run, or try to smite her with their swords and hammers. It's not very nice.

"OOH!" she exclaims suddenly, "ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING AFTER THIS? I'M JUST WONDERING BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING TO DO AND MAYBE I CAN TAG ALONG WITH YOU FOR A WHILE."

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

Julie is silent for a very long time, both during the exposition and immediately after, just trying to imagine the sequence of events that led up to this, and the magnitude of it all. Kate knows everything that's happened? Well, not everything, most likely. Julie knows the extent of her agreement with Hades and the Fates, and even having them peer over her shoulder like she is doesn't give them perspective.

"Kate? Can you just... come here for a second?"

"Please?"

[Lost_Deep]

Main Cabin

Kate will get up and sit down on the side of the bed. She does not look like she expects to enjoy it, but does not tense up or prepare to flee at all.

Kate has no clue what to expect, but hopes that Julie won't do some of the things Kate knows she can do...

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

Julie leans over ponderously so that her entire body is facing Kate, and then the arm she isn't laying on reaches up, and whips out, intent on delivering a ringing slap to Kate's right cheek.

Whether it's successful or not, Julie rolls back onto her back, too emotionally turbulent to do anything else. There are no tears in her eyes, just a look of profound worry, tinged with betrayal.

Kate knew almost everything now, there really wasn't any incentive to keep her coming back. Julie couldn't withold any information, and now for the first time since she'd opened up to Eric, someone knew just how hopeless redeeming her is.

She has to say something though. Anything.

"That's for asking in the first place. I can't really blame you for reading it, but you shouldn't have violated my privacy that way." Even though, in the same situation, Julie would have done the same thing in a heartbeat. What's worse, she wouldn't have even told Kate. Just abused the power it gave over her, just like she always had, and always would.

I guess some part of Julie thought better of Kate than that. She was supposed to be one of the good guys, right?

[The Bushranger]

[Garden]

Annabelle smiles brightly! She's not used to being complimented. Usually people scream and run, or try to smite her with their swords and hammers. It's not very nice.

"OOH!" she exclaims suddenly, "ARE YOU DOING ANYTHING AFTER THIS? I'M JUST WONDERING BECAUSE I HAVE NOTHING TO DO AND MAYBE I CAN TAG ALONG WITH YOU FOR A WHILE."

"Well, I planned simply to spend the evening reading a good book. But if you have nothing to do, I wouldn't mind the company," Taurus says with a shrug, and a smile.

[horngeek]

Front Entrance

A woman's currently walking down the path towards GLoG...



She also has a pistol at her belt. Think a Desert Eagle in size, but a slightly different make and with runes of some sort carved into the barrel.

[Darklord Bright]

[Garden]

Annabelle smiles. She's made a friend! A friend who is not a small furry creature! Hooray!

"YAY!" she replies excitedly, "BUT DOES THAT MEAN YOU'LL BE SITTING THERE READING A BOOK WHILE I WATCH YOU READ A BOOK?"

She pauses for a moment, mulling over this thought.

"THAT SEEMS WEIRD."

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Lab]

"It's not a poison."

But Sophie seems to agree to getting rid of the data. Yay.

[And inside Reinholdt's head...]

That's all she wanted to know? Tsk, did she really have to cause such a fuss over such a simple little detail? I've never tested it, but my hypothesis would be that withdrawal would be lethal. The pain caused by liquid agony is...significantly higher than anything possible through self-harm without causing permanent or at least long-term damage. In your attempts to replace the pain you'd likely end up doing serious harm to yourself, potentially lethal harm. You'd need to find a suitable alternative...or gradually reduce the doses of liquid agony.

A fairly straightforward hypothesis that Affy is confident is correct, but...

This is still a hypothesis until I perform such an experiment though. You'd serve as an ideal test subject, you know.

[Reinholdt]

[Lab]

"Oh yes. I can't imagine ANYONE who would make an overblown fuss over little details without being reasonable. I mean she practically bowled over two people, killed a third, and threatened a fourth's children. Not like anyone else here. No siree."

Reinholdt waits on Sophie.

[FireFox]

[Lab]

Sophie shrugs. All I need to know is whether withdrawl is lethal or not. After that, we can get rid of the data for all I care.

Toby looks down at the folder. Uh, well, the thing about withdrawal is that it depends on more things than the drug in question. I'd have to take a look at... the patient's neurochemistry to figure out how messed up the drug made it. Based on what I know about the drug, I wouldn't recommend quitting cold turkey. But, I can definitely treat the symptoms of withdrawal, help get the brain chemicals back to a healthy balance, and even synthesize a diluted version of the drug to wean someone off the dependency.

[Morty]

[Lab]

Sophie nods. Right. Well, I'm sure you can guess who the patient will be.

[Reinholdt]

[Lab]

Reinholdt rolls his eyes and scowls.
"I don't need more people poking at my brain, thank you very much."

He frankly thinks everyone's making a way bigger deal out of this than needed.