[Nexus] Inside 44

[Reinholdt]

[Animal Shelter]

Reinholdt nibbles his lip.
"Doesn't that mean the vines are affecting your mind?" Reinholdt asks nervously.

[Soul Quest- Warehouse]

"All right, all right, I'm going." Irene says, moving towards the door.
Slowwwwwly. Hoping Sophie can catch the perp or at least hide out of the way.

[Rebonack]

[Market Street]

Actually the ear on fire adds a nice touch. That impression that perhaps the Catamander gets a little too into her work.

Suffice to say that the display manages to get some very real interest. If only due to the theatrics! And everyone knows that adventurers love theatrics. It won't be long before customers are dropping by a few at a time so long as the Catamander keeps up the good work!

At some point whilst Neph is busy hawking her wares Freddie will quietly slip away, leaving the singular wisp of foxfire to continue playing the role of a fancy booth until such a time as Neph closes shop for the day.

Seems this is all the Catamander needed.

Just a gentle nudge in the right direction.

The extra pouch of gold left behind probably doesn't hurt either.

[Forever Curious]

"Yeah, you should go back later and get your fancy clothes," Cass says. Despite the slight joke, she still isn't smiling about much. She is glad she doesn't have to deal with a tailor, though. "Me, I've got all I need for right now." She pats the spot where here extra clips are, though it's hard to see with her lined coat over the bandolier. "Where we headed next?"

Kaalia was a bit irked that they wouldn't be able to clothes shop, and, although she wanted to continue with what she thought was an excellent tour, couldn't think of anything else she needed or wanted. "You know, we should probably-"

"Ladies! Gentlemen! Sprites, pixies, shapeshifters, and spellshapers! Orcs, Ogres, Orkz, and man with crabs in his mouth...? *Ahem* Have you found yourself or a loved one suffering from ills lately? How about you adventurers out there? Find yourself in need of a good salve after a pitched battle? Or maybe you just an extra edge? Well simply step in line for I've got the mixtures for your malady, the brew for your bruises, and the elixir to ease you on top."

"-check out what's going on over there!" she exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the strange cat creature that just belched fire. Kaalia had never seen such a... woman, the assumed, plus a fellow craftsman to boot. Unless Cass stops her she'll march straight over to the Catmander's blanket.

"Well hiya!" she greets, smiling broadly. "What are these marvelous wares you promised?"

[Terumitsu]

[Market Street]

A catamander was obviously a four foot tall (and a bit of change) humanoid that had both the traits of a black cat and salamander. Also pointy horns behind her ears but those were hidden under a newsie cap. She sounded just a bit young to be called a 'woman' though. "-and make sure you apply it once a day for a full week. I don't care if it looks healed before then either. And that'll be twenty silver... Here's your change! Have a nice day sir!" Nephea made sure to finish with a rather burly looking ogre with quite the number of scars before addressing her new customers.

"Hello there! Well, I've got a potion for nary every problem you might have. Well, no bringing back any long dead grandmothers or restoring ancient cults or anything. You'd probably want to see some of the clergy around here for those problems. Don't truck with any love potions either. Stuff is dangerous and usually implies one person has some issues they need to sort out. Obsession's a bad thing. Um, but other than that, I probably have something for you! Anything you might particularly be in the market for today Ms..?" Nephea had on a bright smile that was expected of any good shopkeeper but this one was apparently quite genuine at least.

[Shadowcaller]

Spoiler

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Master Dahl's Bakery

Oh right, well time to fall back on another old trick. Kashi concentrates a bit, leaving his current snack of muffins undefended for a moment, and spits out a rolled up scroll of copper parchment with the words he already spoke to Elias embossed into it. He nudges it over to Elias' foot before going back to his current prize.

By this time, a significant pile of gold, silver, and gems has piled up around him, having constantly fallen from between his scales as he's been eating. Since he reached full grown size, it seems like Kashi only makes money when he eats, or when he wills it to happen these days.

Either way, Hekta really shouldn't bother trying to pay to have more food made. The big dragon apparently has that covered.

The note says, for reference, "Maybe I could come by here every night and pay to eat all your leftovers?"

"Hekta! It's cursed money! You stole that from a temple! Give it back! You know I won't let you starve!" Elias says, quite alarmed. He's remembering the church they burnt down and how much trouble they got into for that, and how he still hasn't saved a life.

He blinks, then reads the note from Kashi. "Er, I guess that would be okay. I'll have to check with Master Dahl, but as long as it's not stolen money, it should be fine... Where does the money come from?"

Master Dahl's Bakery

"But I found it!" Hekta replies self-consciously as she presses the idol against her chest. "It even got a little voice inside it, here, listen." The demon states as she offers Elias the idol.

[Halae]

[In the Middle of a Street]

There's a white flash, something similar to what can happen to people being brought in from different realities. But this one is a lot bigger, maybe big enough to momentarily blind anybody who was looking at the spot when it happened.

A large machine falls from where the flash originated, landing on its side. Cars swerve not to hit it - just another Nexus phenomenon, even if it was an annoying one.

Spoiler

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It seems not to have any power at the moment, but just about anybody could approach it.

[Shadowcaller]

[In the Middle of a Street]

Whoever is inside the mech might hear someone on the outside activating the emergency switch of the mech. Now what will happen next?

[Halae]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

The emergency generator kicks in to follow the commands of the panel on the rear of the mech.

The back opens and slowly coming out of it is what appears to be a large oval, though it's still attached to the mech itself. The oval splits in half, the top raising up from the bottom, revealing a cushioned space inside meant for a pilot to lay inside - it would prevent any rocking and the like. while he was inside.

Speaking of which, the pilot himself is inside! As whomever pressed the panel watches, a set of long jacks will disengage from the pilot's head, withdrawing into the seating and out of the black sockets. He's a young-ish man, maybe in his mid twenties, with short red hair and pale skin. He also doesn't seem to be very muscular - in fact, he's rather scrawny, despite the military style flight suit he's wearing.

Once the jacks have disengaged, he sits up, holding his head. His eyes open slowly, revealing them to be green. He's a ginger! Or he would be, if the sun ever reached him enough to produce freckles, "What the hell just happened?" it's clear he's suffering from a headache.

[Shadowcaller]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

He will get no answer, at least not from the person who activated the switch. I imagine a few bystanders mumbles comments though but he's too far away to hear them.

The person in question is a woman with sliver-white skin and let-out long bluish-white hair. Her eyes, light blue without any visible pupils firmly gaze upon him as if had just risen from the dead. She seems confused and afraid, close to panic. As if not not sure if to run away or just stand so he may not notice her.

That might be hard though as unlike anyone nearby her body is unclothed like the day she was born. It almost seem unnaturally clean too considering their surroundings.

That she have what most humans would call an ideal build for a woman doesn't exactly help her case either. But the nexus is filled with beautiful people, it isn't that uncommon. The pilot may not be aware of this fact yet though.

[Halae]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

The pilot just looks quietly at her for a moment in disbelief, but then turns back to a control panel on the side of his bed/pilot seat thing. After pressing a few keys, and box starts to come out of the mech next to the oval pilot-slot. he immediately goes over to it, and opens it up. inside is basic survival gear - rope, a hatchet, equipment for first aid, a compass, and more, but also a set of men's clothing.

And then he'll take it out, slipping onto the ground, before offering the clothing to the woman, "Are you alright? What happened?"

[Shadowcaller]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

The woman's eyes still seem directed at the seat he just got out from rather then him. But as he offers his clothes her eyes dart back the pilot, taking a step back, seemingly afraid. "W-what are you?" She asks, not really ready to accept anything from him.

[Halae]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

"W-what?" and not the pilot is just confused, "I'm human, like you... I think." given the eyes, hair, and skin, what exactly she was was up for debate. He looks around a bit, to see the other people around. given that there's definitely people looking at the two of them and the mech, he can tell there's humans around, "Like the people around us. Seriously, are you alright? Put these on, people are staring."

[Shadowcaller]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

"But you came out-" The woman seems unsure until she looks around at the mech itself. Pointing at it she asks. "Who is He? Why were you inside of Him?" She asks, her tone demanding an answer to her great confusion as her hand gently touches the metal once again as if it were a part of her.

Once again she ignores the clothes, she have more important things to think about.

[Halae]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

"It's a mech. You know, a vehicle? It just looks humanoid, nothing else," He's starting to think she might be a crazy mutant. No clothes, no idea about the difference between a vehicle and a person, and apparently no regard for clothing, "Are you going to put these on or am I going to end up standing here like an idiot?"

[Shadowcaller]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

"A vehicle...? Like a boat? You-" Of everything he just said, this seem to shock her the most. She let's her hand press against the mech again as if to make sure it's still there. "It have no life? It's dead? I don't understand." All her attention seems to go to this particular question, the rest of the world seems closed off at the moment.

[Halae]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

"Yes, like a boat or a car, it's just a vehicle. It's not moving right now because it doesn't have power or a driver sitting in it, which is where I was before you opened up the back," The pilot puts the clothes back down onto the survival kit, and glares at a group of pedestrians who were oggling the woman. He waves them to leave, and they all get embarrassed looks on their faces before doing so, "It was never alive - I just make it move when it has power."

[Shadowcaller]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

She seems sad at this revelation almost to the point of tears as she slowly takes her hand off the mecha. "Please... take me inside of Him. I need to see."

[Halae]

[In The Middle Of A Street]

The pilot rolls his eyes, "Yeah, sure. Just step inside, alright? And try not to touch most of the equipment - a good deal of it is delicate and i have to make enough repairs as it is."

If the pale woman indeed steps inside the mech, she'll have to walk along the wall of the entranceway due to the fact that the mech is laying on its side. It's a short hallway to a black metal room with a few buttons along the walls listed to do different things, such as "Manual Override" and "Core Ejection", among others.

[Shadowcaller]

[Inside the Mech]

The woman nods and slowly climbs inside the mech as if it had been a holy temple. He doesn't really need not to touch anything as it looks like she treats everything inside like something utterly sacred.

After looking around in wonder a while she turns to him. "You- you made all this? By yourself?" She asks, seemingly slowly trying to grasp it now that she can see the insides.

[Halae]

[Inside the Mech]

The pilot, of course, followed her in

"Of course not. This is a custom model, sure, but it was built in a factory like any other mech. I know how everything works so that i can repair it when I need to. Which seems to be now, since just about everything short of the guns, navigation system, and targeting array are fried."

[Shadowcaller]

[Inside the Mech]

"A factory?" She replies, blinking. "I think I know what this is but... this is still wrong. This shouldn't be. How can a man..." The woman shakes her head, this was simply not fitting together.

Then she suddenly turns to him, "You claimed to be a man, yes? Then what's your name. You need to explain all this to me."

[Halae]

[Inside the Mech]

"Michael Brennan. And just what aren't you understanding? It's a mechanical vehicle, nothing more," the now named pilot frowns leaning against the floor of the cockpit as it acts as a wall.

[Shadowcaller]

[Inside the Mech]

She sigh and closes her eyes. "...I'll guess I should try to explain. When I saw... this. I thought it was one of my kin. An angel I mean. I tried to call His attention but didn't respond so I thought He was sleeping and then... He opened up." The woman slowly sinks down against the opposite 'wall'. "All of this is so confusing. I'm probably not making much sense to you."

[Halae]

[Inside The Mech]

"... yeah, I'm pretty sure neither is making much sense to the other. So, what, you think angels are giants in armor?" Michael asks, looking her over. she certainly didn't look like a mech, "And what does that make you? If these things are your 'kin' then realistically they'd have pilots too, wouldn't they? What's your name?"

[Slii Arhem]

"Hekta! It's cursed money! You stole that from a temple! Give it back! You know I won't let you starve!" Elias says, quite alarmed. He's remembering the church they burnt down and how much trouble they got into for that, and how he still hasn't saved a life.

He blinks, then reads the note from Kashi. "Er, I guess that would be okay. I'll have to check with Master Dahl, but as long as it's not stolen money, it should be fine... Where does the money come from?"

Master Dahl's Bakery

Another scroll comes out in between bites, this one made of gold, I turn food into gold and stuff when I eat. It's how I make my hoard when I want to lie down and sleep at night.

Although, with all the flying around Kashi has done, he hasn't spent enough time in one place to make a proper hoard in quite a few nights.

[Shadowcaller]

[Inside The Mech]

"I misspoke. I am... no longer an angel. I committed a crime and fell from heaven. God in his kindness gave me this body but..." She sniffs and wipes away a tear. "...anyway, angels need no man. No pilot. We- they are perfect, man can't even compare." She explains.

[Halae]

[Inside The Mech]

Very, very strange.

"Look, angel or not, at this point you need some clothes, otherwise people are going to flip and a lot of men are going to be staring at you. I've got my flight suit, so why don't you take my other stuff? I can find something else."

[Shadowcaller]

[Inside The Mech]

She looks up at him and slowly appears to realize something. "Oh... I guess I need to cover my flesh now." She says, uttering the words 'my flesh' as if were something disgusting. "That's what men do." She tells herself as if not really believing it yet.

She breathes out and opens her mouth as if to say something but closes it again, blushing. "God have mercy... I can't remember your name, but you just said it! What's wrong with me?!"

[Halae]

[Inside The Mech]

"Most people need to hear a name a few times before they can remember it properly," Michael says, "It's Michael Brennan. Say it out loud, it'll help you remember it better." And he'll go to get the pants, shirt, and shoes from the survival kit outside. He'll be back momentarily to give them over.

[Shadowcaller]

[Inside The Mech]

"Michael Brennan..." She repeats to herself in a somber tone as he says it. As he returns with the clothes she slowly stands up to accept them. "I hope I can repay you for your kindness, I didn't do anything to your... vehicle did I?"