{Nexus} GLoG 79: So Lonely.

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

Well that makes more sense than she'd like to admit. Even her "sister" Celena, the most noble person in her family, really didn't have a concrete reason like that.

"Must have been nice, being able to choose right off like that. Some people don't get the option to choose good or evil, just a series of deserving targets and a goal." Her tone is still conversational, but she's honestly curious as to what Sophie would do with that information, and it leaks through a bit in her posture.

[Morty]

[Main Cabin]

Sophie shakes her head. Choice... yes, before becoming a Hunter she had a choice. Later, not so much.
So... you didn't get an option to do good, I take it.

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

Julie shakes her head, "I never wanted one at first, but even if I had it wouldn't have been offered. When your main job happens to be torturing baby eaters and rapists you find ways to enjoy it, despite how sick it might be. That was me, for about the longest time."

Julie looks at the fireplace, and if it seems like it's dying down at all will concentrate briefly to add some artificial heat and fire.

"And then I retired, slummed around with my family for a while, and realized I couldn't stop. Only now, I had no more worthwhile targets." And there stands her main dilemma. The guilt that would eat at her whenever she was through harming someone that was anything less than repugnant was maddening, but the urge to keep going, chasing the adrenaline rush that came from a successful ploy... that was even worse.

[Earl of Purple]

Main Cabin- Shapeshifter

Natalie advises practice when people aren't looking and also when they are- sometimes it's easier to perform to an audience than it is to perform alone, and sometimes the reverse is true. Natalie has literally been practicing every waking hour since Christmas, which is why she's as good as she is. Plus, she's quite a dextrous person even without the monkey.

[Morty]

[Main Cabin]

Sophie nods slowly. So Julie is a demon or devil of some sort, made to punish sinners in some sort of punitive afterlife. Interesting. That explains a lot. And now you're addicted to doing evil. She looks into the fire again. You said you couldn't stop. Does that mean you tried to stop?

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

That produces a wistful smile, "Well, more like slow down. My sister tried talking me into quitting, so I eased off, for her sake. About a week later I blew up an abandoned school, just to feel something." A mostly abandoned school. She really had no idea the child was there.

Sometimes she wonders if it would have mattered to her if she did.

[The Bushranger]

[Infirmary]

Susanna makes a face. "Urgh. Probably just as paperwork-bound as the Celestial Bureaucracy in our universe."

"Pretty much. Although some of the Sidereals try to run a tighter ship than others," Shrike observes with a shrug.

[Main Cabin]

Natalie advises practice when people aren't looking and also when they are- sometimes it's easier to perform to an audience than it is to perform alone, and sometimes the reverse is true. Natalie has literally been practicing every waking hour since Christmas, which is why she's as good as she is. Plus, she's quite a dextrous person even without the monkey.

Jamie isn't a dextrous, but nods in agreement, and asks for the card to give it a try!

[Earl of Purple]

Main Cabin

Natalie will hand the card over, and also the book which provides diagrams, and settles back to watch. She won't laugh if it goes wrong; her first one did, too. And the second, third, fifth and so on for quite a while.

[The Bushranger]

Main Cabin

Jamie, as it happens, will accept the book and cards appreciatively.
Then practice for about an hour...

...with zero success the entire time.

[Earl of Purple]

Main Cabin

If Natalie can see anything painfully obvious that Jamie is doing wrong, she'll intervene to help. If not, though, she won't; sometimes it's easier to find out how to do something on your own rather than be taught or shown.

[FireFox]

[Lab]
"Hmm? Oh no. I don't think I have a brain tumor. I'm reasonably sure that's been done already anyways." Butler had a brain tumor. It made sadness.

Good. So, uh, follow me then. Toby leads Reinholdt down a stairway in a janitorial closet in the back of the lab and into an empty rectangular room. Assuming Rein follows and enters the room, he shuts the door behind them. As if the complete lack of medical equipment wasn't suspicious enough, the room is pitch black with the soundproofed door closed. Do you just want your brain done or would you like the full body scan?

[horngeek]

[Infirmary]


"Pretty much. Although some of the Sidereals try to run a tighter ship than others," Shrike observes with a shrug.

"Sidereals?"

----

{{Waiting to an answer from Jamie. }}

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Lab]



"Hmm? Oh no. I don't think I have a brain tumor. I'm reasonably sure that's been done already anyways." Butler had a brain tumor. It made sadness.



Reinholdt's grin widens as he's talking to Tobias all the same though.

"Hmmm. Interesting deal. I'll consider it. But from this point on, you're no longer in charge of negotiations here. I am. Tobias is... the one person I trust to catch a detail like you. He's thorough, paranoid, and smart enough to catch on, that's pretty indisputable. Of course, I'm willing to work with you. What you want isn't that unreasonable, as is clearly evident by their reactions. You, sir, however, are quite unreasonable. So, if you want your precious data, you will cease threatening me immediately and get out of my head. THIS. INSTANT."

Well...this is rather...unexpected.

Affidavit isn't quite sure how to react to this. Does Reinholdt really care so little for his own life?

I don't exactly have any other options here though, you know. While this is undeniably a fairly heavy-handed approach, if I departed now with your assurance that you'll assist, there's no guarantee that you will. As soon as I have my creation leave you could simple spill the beans, cut me off, and leave me with no means to retrieve the data, and they'd then know that I want it back and take measures to prevent me. I have no desire to kill you, of course, but this seems like my only means of guaranteeing your assistance.

Try to be reasonable...

And to be fair, Affy does have a point, I think? If he backs off now, Reinholdt could just screw things up and ensure the data never gets removed.

If...if you had some way to guarantee your assistance, I'll consider leaving. But in the current situation leaving potentially leaves me completely cut off, whereas killing you would still leave them unaware as to how I might gain access to the data.

[Reinholdt]

[Lab]

Good. So, uh, follow me then. Toby leads Reinholdt down a stairway in a janitorial closet in the back of the lab and into an empty rectangular room. Assuming Rein follows and enters the room, he shuts the door behind them. As if the complete lack of medical equipment wasn't suspicious enough, the room is pitch black with the soundproofed door closed. Do you just want your brain done or would you like the full body scan?

Reinholdt follows Tobias into the dark room. Kind of really creepy in a please don't touch me like that sort of way actually. "Well I'm sure you'd love the latter, only the brain scan is necessary for this, yes?"

Well...this is rather...unexpected.

Affidavit isn't quite sure how to react to this. Does Reinholdt really care so little for his own life?

I don't exactly have any other options here though, you know. While this is undeniably a fairly heavy-handed approach, if I departed now with your assurance that you'll assist, there's no guarantee that you will. As soon as I have my creation leave you could simple spill the beans, cut me off, and leave me with no means to retrieve the data, and they'd then know that I want it back and take measures to prevent me. I have no desire to kill you, of course, but this seems like my only means of guaranteeing your assistance.

Try to be reasonable...

And to be fair, Affy does have a point, I think? If he backs off now, Reinholdt could just screw things up and ensure the data never gets removed.

If...if you had some way to guarantee your assistance, I'll consider leaving. But in the current situation leaving potentially leaves me completely cut off, whereas killing you would still leave them unaware as to how I might gain access to the data.

"You have no guarantee of my assistance, that I've offered freely anyways. Only the guarantee that if you don't get out of my head you're not going to get anything at all. My previous demand was not a request."

Reinholdt considers thinking more about this, but figures the answer he gave was strong enough if he ended it right there alone.

[The Bushranger]

Main Cabin

If Natalie can see anything painfully obvious that Jamie is doing wrong, she'll intervene to help. If not, though, she won't; sometimes it's easier to find out how to do something on your own rather than be taught or shown.

Jamie just seems to struggle a bit...but at the very end, finally successfully manages a trick!
And beams happily.

*****

[Infirmary]

"Sidereals?"

"The Sidereal Exalted, Chosen of the Five Maidens. Essentially, they're in charge of Fate." And Shrike explains!

====

[Front Porch]

"Hmmm... who are they?"

"My dad is Tobias Druid, and my mom is Quinn. She runs the Infirmary and he has a medical lab here," Jamie tells Rose.

[FireFox]

[Lab]

Uhuh. I'm going to scan myself first, to make sure it's working right, and then I'll do your brain. Stay still and try not to touch me. Toby takes a deep breath and concentrates. METIS: Power up. Run test scan. A narrow band on one of the walls glows green, partially lighting up the room. If Rein looks closely, he may realize that the walls are covered with millions of tiny druidic runes. The glow comes from a long series of these runes activating, as if Toby is reading a prepared spell off a scroll.

[Hyozo]

[Cakeing forever]

Holly climbs up into the treehouse carefully.She trusts her friend, but she also trusts her eyes. When she gets inside she'll look around excitedly. "Wow, This has been here all along and nobody knew it?"

[The Bushranger]

[Time and Cakeishment]

"Apparently Palon did," Jamie points out with a grin as she helps Holly into the treehouse, looking around happily. "Maybe this can be our secret base!"

[Hyozo]

[cake status: Have: Y Eat: N]

"Well of course he knew about it." Holly says with a laugh "And you're right, it would make a good secret base." Then she'll point at the presents "do you think those are the prizes he was talking about?"

[The Bushranger]

[Let Them Eat Cake]

"I'd bet. Let's see what he left!"
And grinning happily, Jamie goes to...
...investigate!

[horngeek]

[Infirmary]


"The Sidereal Exalted, Chosen of the Five Maidens. Essentially, they're in charge of Fate." And Shrike explains!

At this, Susanna makes a face. "Fate needs caretakers?"

[Front Porch]

"My dad is Tobias Druid, and my mom is Quinn. She runs the Infirmary and he has a medical lab here," Jamie tells Rose.

"Hmmm... I've seen them around, but haven't really talked with them..."

...by now, Jamie may have noticed that Rose carries herself way more maturely than anyone her seeming age should.

[The Bushranger]

[Infirmary]

"Yes, yes it does. After all, somebody has to mind the Pattern Spiders..."

====

[Front Porch]

"You should! Well, you should talk to Mom, anyway. Dad can be pretty cranky sometimes."
Jamie giggles, then tilts her head curiously.
"How old are you, anyway?"

[horngeek]

"Huh. In our world, Fate is... closer to the collective unconsciousness of humanity than anything else."

----

"...twenty-six."

[Zefir]

Main Cabin

Andy again enters the Main Cabin. When he looked sad the moment he left he now looks even sadder. Speaking in anime terms you would see an aura of sadness around him and a clould flying over his head. He sitts down in his char here and looks around, nodding a hello to everyone inside.

[Morty]

Main Cabin

That produces a wistful smile, "Well, more like slow down. My sister tried talking me into quitting, so I eased off, for her sake. About a week later I blew up an abandoned school, just to feel something." A mostly abandoned school. She really had no idea the child was there.

Sometimes she wonders if it would have mattered to her if she did.

Sophie listens quietly.
I see. So if I understand it, you go into a withdrawal of sorts when you stop doing evil. We'll need to deal with this, then, she says thoughtfully. Is there anything you've really enjoyed after leaving your home and living among mortals?

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

"Sex." Well that was blunt. If Sophie looks over at Julie, she'll see an interesting expression on the succubus' face. It looks like Julie is trying to guage Sophie's reaction to the response, and sex in general.

But the moment passes, whether or not she gains any knowledge from Sophie, and she leans into the fire a bit more.

"I've had a lot of free time on my hands lately, and in between cravings I've managed to hone certain skills. Since coming here, for example, I've been keeping busy retailoring some shirts, and taking out my own clothes to make up for this." Julie pats her distended stomach lightly, realizing how odd it is that Sophie, who hadn't been told about the pregnancy, or seen her since it had become obvious, hadn't commented on it at all.

[Morty]

[Main Cabin]

Sophie preferred to let Julie do most of the talking. At this point, it's better to listen.
When the succubus mentions sex, the Hunter appears slightly surprised - she thought succubi were sexual demons, so Julie would do it a lot even before coming to the world of mortals - but this look fades quickly. She then looks her up and down. Interesting. It wasn't without consequences, I see. May I ask who the father is?

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

"I'm fairly sure you can guess. Even if you can't, it's a touchy subject for me, so I'd rather not dig it up any further." That's an understatement. Julie keeps her cool though. No need to snap at someone for your own mistakes.

"Through a genetic quirk, succubi can control when they are fertile. As it happens, my concentration may have slipped one night, and this is the end result."

[Morty]

[Main Cabin]

Touchy subject? It means he's the "friend" of Julie's that Magtok killed. Sophie won't pry for now, but she's going ti have to find out more sooner or later.
I see. She's silent for a moment. Thanks for telling me all this, Julie. I can tell it's not easy for you to be this honest.

[Slii Arhem]

Main Cabin

"It's what I'm supposed to do, right? How am I supposed to improve if I'm not honest with you?" Julie's answering grin is wide, cheery, and honestly faked.

"But while I'm being honest... You're pretty much seeing me at my best here, behavior wise. The consequences of what happened at the casino are still in the back of my mind, and I'm not really feeling to urge to try my luck again. That might change, if I go too long without."