[Nexus] Inside 43

[Rebonack]

[Inside Streets]

And so we're back to the child crying behind a dumpster!

He sounds pretty darn sad. Which is understandable considering that he died here alone in a filthy side-street with no one to comfort him and no one to protect him.

At least...

At the very least Hildur might be able to set things right.

Maybe allow the poor ghost child to rest in peace.

Which certainly beats being stuck here in the mortal world reliving the final tragic moments of one's own doomed existence. That would be a pretty terrible way to spend eternity.

[Devixer]

[Inside Streets]

Hildur is kneeling next to the dumpster again, still considering her next words. "That's not true. I want to help you. What's your name?"

[Rebonack]

((last post for tonight. Need sleeps))

[Inside Streets]

The little boy peeks out at the woman, wiping the snot and tears from his eyes with one sleeve. Sleeve looks pretty crusty from all that wiping...

"I'm... I'm Jeromy..." he responds quietly.

And...

Huh.

The color here. The level of color hasn't changed at all. Not from the first encounter at least. Things are still pretty darn muted, but they seem to be getting more vibrant as the child calms down. Maybe that's important?

Who knows!

Ghosts sure are strange.

[Devixer]

[Inside Streets]

After a moment or two, Hildur decides to go from kneeling to sitting, leaning against the wall. "Well, Jeromy, why do you think nobody loves you? What about your parents?" She's trying her best to calm the boy down, though she knows that she knows nothing about helping a ghost pass on.

[happyturtle]

Vacant Lot

"I can't go back. I was to be married, but the Duchess wanted to get rid of Mori. So we ran away. I think they probably would have found us, but there was a blizzard. We shouldn't have survived. I don't know how we did. But I can't go back. Not after what I did." Cole says. He scritches Mori's ears as he talks about her, and the dog relaxes, laying down and rolling onto her back to beg for belly rubs.

Belly rubs make everything better!

[Lord Magtok]

Morningside

Magtok nods, idly calling up the MagSat with the invisible watch on his wrist to make sure the area is as safe-looking from an orbital satellite thing as it looks from down here. While we're at it, it might be a good idea to keep it around here for a while, too. Missy's player might be one of those ironic torture types, the sort who would callously murder a child the moment you turn your back and think everything's safe, just to make you hate yourself for letting your guard down.

"He looks like he's having a lot of fun out there."

[happyturtle]

Morningside

MagSat delivers some nice peaceful photos to Magtok's computer brain, along with the message "2 "

"He does, doesn't he?" Missy says. "Healthy and happy, just like I always hoped."

Magtok himself may notice they are being watched by a vaguely hispanic-looking man (not that 'hispanic' means anything in the Nexus, but whatever ) in a business suit.

[Rebonack]

[Inside Streets]

"My parents were mad at me..." Jeromy the ghost replies sadly. "I snuck out because they were yelling and fighting again. They were going to divorce and it was all my fault..."

Sadly this is an all to common with kids. Trouble in the family is often assumed to be their fault. That they're doing something wrong and that's causing mommy and daddy to fight.

"They don't love me anymore... that's why they hate each other and get mad so much..."

The ghost child begins to weep once again.

Poor, poor ghost child.

He's so sad...

[Vacant Lot]

"Mori is... your dog?" Fredrick asks tentatively. That seems like a pretty reasonable guess to him at least. "I'm sorry to hear that. That your bride to be rejected such a noble animal, I mean. And I thank the Emperor that you made it here safely and have been safe thus far despite the madness of this place."

That seems like a nice thing to say?

"I've heard that there are some parts of this city that are more peaceful. The area around Trog's tends to be rather... rowdy."

[Lord Magtok]

Morningside

Magtok makes a point of not looking in the man's direction. His red eye instead watches everything from MagSat's perspective, which he has zoom right in on the guy. Adoptive father, or deadly assassin? Has to be one or the other. The moment he reaches for a gun, knife, or knife-gun-torpedo-cannon, Magtok will know.

[happyturtle]

Morningside

Eventually, Hal decides he's done with swinging, so he exits the swingset by jumping off when the swing is about 6 feet in the air on the upward arc. Missy is off the bench in a flash, running in that direction. If she had access to her wired reflexes, you can bet she'd be using them. But they've been disabled until she's fit for duty again.

The man was watching Missy and not the boy. He sees Missy's reaction, follows her eyes, and also runs, either to rescue the boy or attack Missy from behind. Hard to tell which.

The kid, of course, tumbles to the ground without injury, except maybe some scrapes on his hands, and some major grass stains on his clothes. Once Missy sees he's unharmed, she stops, now only a few metres from her son. The man is right behind her.

Vacant Lot

"The females here are so strange. The woman in Trog's threatened to kill a male, and there was a woman here earlier who told me to call her by her name, though I had never met her before, and she said this was common where she was from." Cole says. "I don't want to stay in this city."

Nothing bonds teenage boys like complaining about the inscrutability of women! =D

[Rebonack]

[Vacant Lot]

Or at least complaining about how inexplicable the practices of other cultures are. That's probably a little more accurate.

"Names...?" huh. Most be something to do with how nobility works where Cole is from. Because that's certainly not a peasant's outfit the young man is wearing. That's for sure! And usually peasants aren't married off to nobility.

Fredrick shakes his head.

"I'm afraid I don't follow. I had a simple peasant's upbringing. I'm not familiar with courtly manners, sir."

Wonder what it would be like to be born into a noble family? Probably fewer dirt-floors, for one.

[Lord Magtok]

Morningside

Magtok hurries along as well, hoping to get between Missy and the odd man. He tries to reassure her, dismiss her silly fears loudly enough that the strange man will hear and realize they're not a threat, if he did, in fact, think they were.

"He's fine, Missy, he knows what he's doing. I did the same thing like a bazillion times at his age."

Actually, what Magtok did when he was a wee little clone was probably a hundred times worse, and probably killed someone, too. Best not to tell Missy that, though.

[happyturtle]

Morningside

"Yeah, I know, I did too," Missy says. "I just thought... I guess I was expecting something dramatic and tragic to happen, just because I was here."

The man passes right by the pair, and the boy's face light's up. "Dad! Did you see my jump? I was all WHEEEEEE! and I went SO high!"

"That was neat, but it looks kind of scary." the man, who has now been confirmed as the adoptive father (BUT COULD STILL BE AN ASSASSIN!) says.

"I wasn't scared!" Halifax scoffs.

"No, I guess you weren't."

"Besides, when I jump up, I can aaaaaalmost touch the clouds, where the Prophet lives! Maybe next time, I will touch the clouds!"

The father leans over and kisses Hal on the forehead, causing the boy to and pull away. "Daa-aaad! Don't DO that!"

Dad just smiles and ruffles his hair, which causes more protestations. "Okay, okay, but you need to run home now and do your homework."

Surprisingly, this doesn't cause any whining, just a resigned sigh. The kid gets to his feet and heads down the street, while the man stays behind.

Once the kid goes in the back door of one of the nearby houses, the man turns to face Missy and Magtok.

"Submission-in-Adversity, I presume?" he asks.

Missy, looking like a deer in the headlights, nods, and shakes the hand he offers.

"Peter Flores." He offers the hand next to Magtok. "And you are..?"

Really? You don't recognize the most famous Nexus celebrity? Geez, Flores.

Vacant Lot

"Oh?" Cole asks. Then... "Oh! That's why she yelled at me and said all of that about nobility and commoners! She was angry that I thought she had to follow the rules of nobility!" Cole feels much more relieved now that at least a little part of the madness has an explanation. He shifts position so that his knees are up and he can wrap his arms around his legs, which makes his highly decorative and valuable looking anklets show. "I thought she wanted to... you know... like I was a prostitute."

Cole doesn't actually know in very much detail what 'you know' is.

[Rebonack]

[Vacant Lot]

Fredrick recently found out what 'you know' is like. Though he honestly wasn't expecting to. And not with the... uuhh... people that he 'you know'ed with. It all still seems really weird. Almost surreal...

And given that he is supposed to be a Priest in training...

Why hasn't Templar Gregoire said anything about it? Fredrick is absolutely sure he knows. Some small part of him knows that something just isn't adding up. But the rest of him is too excited over the idea of being able to serve the Emperor as a Priest. It's not every day someone is chosen by the Empyreum for an honor like that. Especially not a commoner.

At the mention of prostitute Fredrick wrinkles his nose. "Wait, really? Sir, I can't imagine how anyone would mistake you for a prostitute."

At least partly because men aren't prostitutes where he's from. And... there really aren't prostitutes at all. At least not in the Empyreum. Mostly because going around sexing up random people has very telling and very physical consequences.

"I suspect," Fredrick continues as he picks a dandelion and begins to twirl the flower between his fingers. "That there are people here with very strange ways of living. Ways of living that fly in the face of everything I learned as a child. Or... at least that's what I've found in the moon since Lord Archibald's fiefdom was uprooted and dropped here."

Waaaaait...?

What did he just say?

A man with political power?

What is this insanity!

[Devixer]

[Vacant Lot]

"Hey, hey," Hildur says, while trying to place an arm around Jeromy's shoulders (or at least as much as she can,) "I'm sure your parents love you very much. No matter what is going on between them, it isn't your fault." She unfortunately isn't very experienced in arguing parents, but she can still offer some form of comfort.

[Rebonack]

[Inside Streets]

And as Hildur attempts to put an arm around the child-

-said arm passes right through him.

He's a ghost.

What did you expect?

At this the child's eyes go wide and he quickly crawls away from Hildur. "W-what are you?"

That bloodstain on the boy's chest?

It's getting larger. And wetter.

And that chain around his leg is becoming more solid.

[Devixer]

[Inside Street]

Hildur sighs and looks down a little. "I'm just a normal person. My name's Hildur. Jeromy... could you look down for me?" She asks, already almost certain that she's going to fail.

[TechnoScrabble]

I see. And where does the person who brought you here come in? He said he'd punched someone to death, the soldier says.

"Er...****. *sigh* Someone shot Crosswire right before the slab of sterile stupidity showed up, and when he ran past, Jack punched him. Jack's not dumb, or impulsive, but he's a little...slow. Literally."

[Lord Magtok]

Morningside

"Peter Flores." He offers the hand next to Magtok. "And you are..?"

Really? You don't recognize the most famous Nexus celebrity? Geez, Flores.

Morningside

"Stupidity-Personified-For-Thinking-You Were-A-Deadly-Assassin-Just-A-Moment-Ago, Mr. Flores."

Magtok shakes the guy's hand. Phew, just a father. There goes all his fears and suspicions and paranoia.

"But if that's too much of a mouthful you can just call me Magtok."

[Rebonack]

[Inside Streets]

The boy scoots away a little further-

-then looks down.

Blinks.

Touches the red blot on his shirt. And now his fingers are blood.

All at once the chain around his leg is completely solid. His whole front is soaked in blood. His face is rotten and skeletal. And then he SURGES toward Hildur with a horrific screech, "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"

Only to pass through her.

For the chain to reach the end of its slack.

And then violently pull the ghost back into the skeleton on the ground.

The color returns to the surroundings. The temperature returns to normal. No visible trace of the ghost remains. Though a vague sense of wrongness still hangs in the air.

[Devixer]

[Inside Streets]

Hildur is afraid again when Jeromy surges through her. She's still afraid even when the temperature normalizes and color comes back.

When she eventually calms down, she realizes that she still wasn't done. So despite her instincts now telling her to run, she talks to the skeleton, saying, "Jeromy, I didn't do anything to you. I just want to help you... pass on, I suppose. Please let me help you."

If that doesn't garner a response, she'll just draw her knees up to her chest and look down at herself. Of course she failed. She couldn't do anything right if it wasn't about some dumb sport.

[Rebonack]

[Inside Streets]

The skeleton doesn't reply.

It is a skeleton and as such is unable to hear or speak, being an inanimate object.

Hildur may be surprised to suddenly hear... clapping? From above her. Should she look up she'll probably spot the most jaw-droopingly beautiful person she's ever laid eyes on. As a matter of fact, the person is exactly what Hildur's most alluring, attractive, ideal person would look like. Male or female, depending on her preferences.

Said person is sitting on the edge of the roof, legs dangling down and kicking slightly. "That was..." a sniff, a tearful gasp. "That was the most touching thing I've ever seen," the paragon of beauty says. "How you reached out to that boy, how you tried to help despite your fear! I'm so. Deeply. Moved..."

Their voice is intoxicating. Enthralling. Something in the back of Hildur's mind might be warning her to get the hell out of here. But just a likely another part of her mind won't want to let her take her eyes off this angel of perfection.

"He was killed by a Wight, you know. And now his lost soul is all that's left! Such a shame, don't you think? For someone to be bereft of their rest."

[LadyOfWar]

[Clinic]
She shakes her hand.
Either is fine; Mr. Dave calls me Tsan, but I don't mind if people call me Tsade either.

"Well, Tsan is a little shorter, so Tsan it is." Wes says with a smile and nod. She opens her mouth to say something more, but is then distracted by:

Dave's Free Clinic
"Okay then. You have a nice day now." he said as he opened the door to go out of the room.

Once they leave, he'll go out to the waiting room.
"Ah, Westlanna, you're here!"

"Good morning, Dave! Here and ready for work. Where do we start?" Westlanna looks a little different today than the day they met. She's wearing a white button-down shirt and black slacks. Her shoes, however, are less formal. They're black, so they'll pass for dress shoes at a glance, but they're actually tough work boots designed to support her feet through a long, long, loooong day.

[Erin's Emporium]


"Well, then, I suppose that is a good point," Aeryn says with a chuckle. "You'd think somebody would have gotten a food replicator running at some point, wouldn't you?"

"Replicated food, hmmm... " she pantomimes a 'thinking stance' with her fingers rubbing her chin and her eyes turned toward the ceiling. "...if an 89cent TV dinner and a McDonald's hamburger had a love child, it would probably be identical to 'replicated food'." She makes a face. "I'd rather just pay for something palatable."

===

[Across the Street from Jessica's]

"Yes, and we believe that an enemy of hers followed her here and made an example of her friend," Rhyan says coldly. "It might be interesting to see if he decides to eliminate any potential witnesses as well. And it is a good thing that you are not my neighbour, as your sort is hardly anyone's good neighbour."
Huffing, Rhyan turns to head back to Jessica's, and in the process to git offa her lawn.

"You threatenin' me!? You better leave!" is the last thing Rhyan will hear from the nosey neighbor's house.

[happyturtle]

Morningside

Peter looks a little . "I don't think anyone has ever confused me for an assassin before." He turns back to Missy. "Your father said you wanted to see Halifax. That you were somewhat insistent about it. Is that really all you wanted?"

"I'm not going to try and take him from you. I wouldn't do that to him," Missy says. "I just needed to see him, to know that he's alive and well and happy. I won't bother you any more, Mr Flores."

"Will you be coming back here?"

Missy shakes her head. "No. No, I don't think so."

He looks relieved, and a little ashamed to be relieved. "I think that's best. We've always been very grateful to you for letting us adopt him. That's why we named him after you. But your profession ... we don't want him exposed to that. I'm sorry, I hope you understand."

Missy just nods, tries to say something, and nothing comes out. She looks conflicted, and finally mumbles. "I need to sit down."

Vacant Lot

Cole blinks. "Your fief is ruled by a Lord? Did Her Ladyship die?"

[Devixer]

[Inside Streets]

Hildur does indeed look up. Her jaw doesn't drop, but her reaction to seeing an incredibly good-looking man is pretty obvious. Something does strike her as off a bit, but she's pushing that down right now.

"But I still failed. It doesn't matter that I tried. Not at all." And she's back to self-loathing again.

[Rebonack]

[Vacant Lot]

"I think... the ruler before the last was a Lady?" Fredrick replies somewhat uncertainly. "I recall hearing my grandfather telling stories about her. She was... well... somewhat mad. Or at least that's how the stories go."

Maybe not quite Red Queen level mad.

But still bonkers.

He nods slightly. "Lady Archibald. She was Lord Archibald's mother. Or maybe grandmother. I'm not sure which."

A beat.

"Sir, is it usual for a man to rule in your homeland? Is it usually only Ladies who hold the power?" now Fredrick sounds intrigued!

[Earl of Purple]

Silent Sleep

The three humans note the idol and hurry, careful not to make the wrong runes. It won't take them long- they're used to doing this. When they're complete, the three humans quickly retreat from the room as the runes glow faintly (not enough to wake most people up). The rune's aim is to slightly corrupt Astrana mentally; make her more likely to think the unthinkable and perform her darkest desires, by replacing them with darker desires, ones that even now she wouldn't consider performing. When this is complete, the runes flare slightly and disappear.

After dripping the liquid, this figure also retreats through the mirror, closing it with a slight click. Like the runes around Astrana, the liquid should corrupt Cynthia. The difference is that this isn't a mental corruption, but a physical one- a mutation. It's slow, and will take a while to fully develop, and can be removed through shape-shifting; it might be a bit uncomfortable removing it, though, and the longer it isn't visible the more uncomfortable it becomes.

[Rebonack]

Bluh, Rebo missed Baron's post! Rebo apologizes for ineptitude of Rebo.

[Inside Streets]

"Oh come now," the super hawt guy responds in a chiding tone. "Don't be that way. You did the best you could. And you had no way of knowing a ghost would react like that to being shown their state. They are mysterious in their ways you know."

He then hops off the roof, landing gracefully on the street. He's wearing a pair of jean-pants and some nice shoes. Oh... and he's topless. His white shirt is presently slung over one shoulder and serves as little more than a decoration.

...if Hildur manages to get a glimpse of the man's back she'll probably notice that it's covered in mossy oak-bark. Weird... The rest of him look normal, though. If supernaturally handsome.

"He needs a proper burial. That's all. Often that's all it takes to put a ghost to rest," the man explains as he stands over the skeleton, leering down at it.

[Devixer]

[Inside Streets]

Hildur isn't particularly reassured by that. When she sees that the man is shirtless, she immediately pulls her goggles over her eyes, probably as a nervous reaction.

"Wait a moment," she says afterwards, "how did you know that a... whatever a wight is killed him?"

[Rebonack]

[Inside Streets]

The goggles.

They do nothing.

"Mmm? You can't tell?" the man asks in a rather silky tone before gesturing at the skeleton in such a fashion that it shows off his musculature rather nicely. "The way the ribs are cut? Tore the poor child open. Ripped his soul free from his spirit. That's what Wights do. Dreadful creatures."

The man shakes his head and makes a 'Tch' sound.

"Such brutes. But he's fortunate, you know. Usually a Wight attack creates another Wight. This lad must have had some protection."

He stoops down, carefully leaning over the skeleton and sniffs at it ever so lightly.

For a moment.

The briefest of moments.

Hildur might spot four midnight blue tails lashing about behind the man. It's but a flicker. But a phantom image.

"Hmhm... Garlic. The child ate garlic shortly before the Wight attacked him. That would do it, oh yes."