[Nexus] Riverside IX

[happyturtle]

Northside Hospital

"Would you like me to be there when you do? Or would you like privacy?" Dr Coral asks.

[Gullara]

[Northside Hospital]

Nadia hesitates before replying. "I'll talk to her alone." It's not going to be an easy conversation in any case, but she's sure she can rely on Irena.

[happyturtle]

Northside Hospital

"Just push the call button when you're ready for me to return." the doctor says. She'll go into the waiting room and find Irena. "Nadia wants to talk to you now."

[Earl of Purple]

Lenai's Forest- Night

"Please stop. We won't leave with you; several gnomes travel with this caravan, and you might be testing our loyalty, and if you unbind the gnoll she will bite your face off. Her husbands and cousins were killed when she was captured." The goblin isn't speaking very loud, and doesn't touch Kallistax.

Outside the wagon, the gnome strapped to the ogre nods. "I will see to it that the dog is unharmed, and we don't catch our cattle this close to the city anyway. Thank you, milady, for allowing us to cross your land."

[Zefir]

"We plan on replacing the factions with a fair-minded democratic government. Of course, vampires will have a place in it, if they manage to get themselves elected in a fair manner. Perhaps we will have a representative of each of the groups living in Riverside. It all depends on how our movement develops," the young woman explains.

The winged man looks around through the other people. I assume the vampires aren't here right now?

"I help you, but I can't see the people your want to bring down."

[Slii Arhem]

Lenai's Forest- Night

"Please stop. We won't leave with you; several gnomes travel with this caravan, and you might be testing our loyalty, and if you unbind the gnoll she will bite your face off. Her husbands and cousins were killed when she was captured." The goblin isn't speaking very loud, and doesn't touch Kallistax.

Outside the wagon, the gnome strapped to the ogre nods. "I will see to it that the dog is unharmed, and we don't catch our cattle this close to the city anyway. Thank you, milady, for allowing us to cross your land."

Lenai's Forest - Night

The remaining trees in the way slide off, clearing the path as Lenai begins to sink back into the ground, "Do not cross me, or our truce will come to an end far faster than your life." And with that final warning, she departs from sight, but her presence can still be felt, and will remain until the wagons are off of her land.

[Halae]

[The Border of North, West, and South]

There is a common theme among some arrivals to the Nexus; they show up in a flash of light. This one is not different.

Above a building, a massive grey colored machine falls out of a white flash, destroying the top corner of a building's brickwork as it falls towards the pavement. It stands at eight feet tall when it reachs its full height, appearing completely unperturbed that it just slapped down onto concrete - which it cracked - from three stories up. It landed on its feet, after all, and those legs are made for nothing if not jumping and landing.

But... it doesn't recognize this place. Where is it? The sensory array on its back blinks as it sweeps the surrounding area; many life forms, rather than the urban warzone that it had just come from. Cameras turn toward the sky, but longitude and latitude is impossible to determine with a sky as screwed up as the one that is omnipresent in the Nexus. This will take some time to do, and give other beings a chance to approach the droid.

[Lost_Deep]

The Border of North, West, and South

An elf is nearby when the machine strikes the ground, and is knocked down when it lands. She gets up, and approaches it with curiosity and wonder. She gives it a discerning eye, trying to figure out what it is and what it is made of...

[Halae]

[The Border of North, West, and South]

The Elf will be paid no mind for a while, though it will hear beeping coming from the robot as it tries to determine its location. Damn, this is going nowhere. The sensors stop blinking, and the robot turns towards the elf, several of the different cameras on its body focusing in on its form.

"Citizen. I request the information of this unit's current location and means of arrival. This data is missing and/or corrupted." The voice it projects is surprisingly androgynous, though the large, booming quality of it, and the masculine chassis of the droid may lend towards masculinity in the minds of onlookers.

[Lost_Deep]

The Border of North, West, and South

"You're in Riverside. You fell out of the sky." She takes a few steps forwards. Made of some kind of metal... covered in odd devices... and it can talk?

"What kind of golem are you?"

[Slii Arhem]

Aegidus Manor - Hall

Spoiler

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Exbourne Manor

"So good of you to see me on such short notice. You may be aware that my son is getting to the age where boys tend to develop willful, undesirable streaks and shy away from the course their parents have set for them. Being the heir to our family name, his continued indiscretions are becoming something of a black mark on our name in the past few days. So, I am here to discuss his recruitment into the police force. Some structure and discipline will be good for his upbringing, don't you agree?" Marianna elects to stand, hands crossed demurely in the doorway.

As soon as he is out of the dining room and the doors have swung shut behind him, Zack's pace picks up from his affected stumble to a purposeful stride as his scowl comes fully to his face. He was ill alright, but it was a sickness of family that afflicted him, not of his body. Not caring what gossiping servants might see him, he strips the softskin gloves from his hands in two smooth motions, revealing his one feminine hand as he flexes the muscles in the powerful demonic arm.

"So she's finally had enough of me, and has tipped her hand then. Well, she'll be rid of me not in three days, but tonight." Zack fumes as he mumbles aloud, making a split decision as the hall forks, and heading left instead of right.

Left was where his parents quarters were, and something very important should still be there.

Sasha should be able to sense the panic, anger, and determination rolling around in his headspace at the moment. A haunting, chilling melody that had played all through supper idly in his thoughts was suddenly stopped when he heard those words, and excused himself from the table.

In three days, she was handing him off to the vampires? Only if she got the chance.

[Halae]

[The Border of North, West, and South]

"Exchange of information acceptable. This unit is an Omaga class war droid, serial number O-45. If this serial number is unacceptable as a means of identification, a designation may be given." It doesn't move at all; the elf will be able to go right up and touch it, should they so choose.

"What location is riverside in relation to the earth? Why was this unit present in 'the sky'?"

[Aegidus Manor]

Good stuff! I'm glad we're finally getting out of here, but two questions, Sasha says, Do you know where we're heading? And two, are you prepared to get there? Bringing enough money and all that, I mean. I went through being unprepared when I left my parents behind, and as much as I support you in it, I don't want you to get screwed over like I was.

[Lost_Deep]

The Border of North, West, and South

"Earth? I've heard of that. We aren't on the earth."

'Omega-class war droid?' what is that supposed to mean?

Furthermore, the devices all over it's hull probably serve more than a cosmetic purpose... but what? And how would it have enough magic to use all that stuff AND have intelligence without interfering with the basic animation magic?

She rubs some of her fingers together. Maybe she should just... find out.

[Slii Arhem]

Aegidus Manor

"Finally? You've only been here two days. Money is one thing I'll not have to worry about, but there is something more important than that waiting in one of these drawers." He replies verbally, not caring for secrecy as he opens the doors to his mother's private apartments.

Through his nose, Sasha may find herself hit with a sudden smell of sex and blood, faint and covered by cleaning chemicals, but undeniably present to his nose, which wrinkles as it adjusts.

He heads over to the stately asortment of jewellery drawers, removing a covering from a pillowcase as he goes. He immediately begins pulling drawers, looking for something in particular but taking anything particularly expensive he finds and shoving it into the sack. If he makes it look like a robbery, it may not be too obvious what he took, in his mind.

Unbidden, the same haunting melody begins to play again as he gets a second whiff of debauchery and violence from the pillowcase, but he keeps going without appearing to notice.

"As for where we're headed, I've heard rumors of a place, but I'll only know for sure once I'm there if it's where I need to be."

[Halae]

[The Border of North, West, and South]

"Indications including star patterns a racial appearance of Civilian lend credence to this statement. If this unit is not currently on earth, where is it?" the war droid continues to remain stationary, simply studying the elf in front of it, and attempting to run through scenarios about how it would have ended up off of the earth.

[Aegidus Manor]

Because your mom is a bitch, Zack. A few hours would have gotten a finally out of me. Especially after all the trouble you went through to get the gloves. Are you alright? That smell brings up some unpleasant memory, doesn't it?

[Lost_Deep]

The Border of North, West, and South

"This is the Nexus. Do you know how you work?"

If it knows, that would be nice. It probably won't, but it's worth asking.

"Or, maybe, who were you made by?"

[Halae]

[The Border of North, West, and South]

"This unit was manufactured by The Corenvus Trust, a liberal democratic government power in Old Britain. This chassis operates on a nuclear power system housed within, which provides more than enough power for decades of of service. Unit is currently three years old, and still considered top of the line."

"What is Nexus?" The droid doesn't really have a sense for where it is, of course.

[Slii Arhem]

Aegidus Mansion

"No, it doesn't The advantage of an orderly mind, I suppose." He replies after taking a calming breath, the music in his head grinding to a halt once again.

"I'll be fine once I'm out of here, with what I came for. Ah, here it is. Hard to believe she even kept it." He's come across a locked drawer, and he's sure that what he is looking for is behind it.

"Tell me, how good are you with locks?" He asks as he winds back with the demonic limb and tries to punch the drawer just below the handle. The lock is flimsy, more for peace of mind than actual protection, and should come flying apart if Sasha's arm is as strong as he suspects it is.

[Lost_Deep]

The Border of North, West, and South

"It's complex... it's like a lot of universes all overlapping, I guess. Does that make sense to you?"

The things that the "Omega" thing said make no sense to her... maybe...

She just casts a little spell, to detect what kind of magic is in it. Well, it would also learn whether there was any magic in it, but she's sure that there's some in there.

[Halae]

[Aegidus Mansion]

Zack can very well feel the frown on Sasha's face when she's denied an answer. And Zack is indeed correct about the strength of the arm; the entire front of the drawer should collapse inward, What is it?

[The Border of North, West, and South]

"It does not. Perhaps an analogy is best?"

There's no magic in the droid. At all. It is, in fact, completely devoid of any sort of magic at this point.

[Slii Arhem]

Aegidus Manor

Zack slides the drawer free, letting the front panel fall off and pulling out its contents, a package wrapped in a waterproof slip-cover, "My great-grandfather's diary, and his notes on everything he thought a proper nobleman should be. He traced entire families through generations in here, up until they fell, to corruption in his opinion. He meant for it to be required reading for his sons, and their sons, with knowledge added to it, revised and passed down the generations. I only ever read a small bit before my mother found out, and locked it away."

A staunch military tune plays, and the shadows in his mind part to reveal a blank section of wall above one bookcase, adorned by a single, faded photograph of his great grandfather. The piercing, violet eyes are the only feature that seems to be well remembered.

Back in reality, Zack opens and divulges the contents of several more small drawers, tossing the empty shells across the room and then twisting his makeshift sack shut and heading back out into the hall, this time to his own quarters.

[Lost_Deep]

The Border of North, West, and South

What?

"It's complex..."

how could there be no magic?

"So, you see..."

How would that work? It wouldn't.

"Hypothetically-this is going to bug me until I figure it out just give me a second okay?"

She hold her left hand out and a soft glow extends from it. It should go into the robot and analyse it, finding out what it is made of, what the magic on it does, what the inside is made of, especially details like runes. It's a very powerful spell, and while it would be more effective against magical things it should be able to get some information from it... even if she won't know what to make if it.

[Halae]

The Border of North, West, and South

"Very Well" the droid says, waiting.

This spell should reveal the multitude of pistons, electronic interfaces, circuitry, and various other things existing within O-45, though she may not understand them. And then she'll detect the power source; a small nuclear reactor. the power coming off of that thing is staggering. It wasn't kidding when it said it could run for decades without needing a recharge.

[Aegidus Manor]

Sasha remains quiet, wondering just what Zack thought of his grandparents. she'd never known hers; she didn't even know who her father was, much less who her grandparents were. That's the sort of connection she lacks, and it hurts deep down to see someone who has that.

[Lost_Deep]

The Border of North, West, and South

She does not understand ANY of it.

"Well... the idea is there there are alternate universes, like alternate versions of earth where things are different... but this universe is so different that it doesn't even have an earth. Does that make sense to you?"

And apparently their universe has magic that is not magic at all? What's up with that? How... how does that even work?

[Slii Arhem]

Aegidus Manor

She could ask him, but it seems he's grateful for the quiet while he's working, heading back to his room at great speed and with a look on his face that sends nearby servants scurrying off to do more important work, elsewhere.

Once there, he tosses the sack of jewellery into some luggage he had under his bed, already packed with sets of good, well-fitting clothing. The only other thing he takes besides his wallet is his violin case, which he lashes to the handle of the luggage with a few belts.

"You may or may not like what we're doing next, but I feel like I've done you a wrong by not letting you know why. We are stuck together, possibly forever, and a certain amount of trust is going to have to happen before we can function. So, some light reading material while you wait for me to reach my destination."

Three notes of that chill, haunting melody play, and a book falls off the shelf, pages spread to a particular page. "Being pulled in there gave me a unique insight to how my own mind works." He mentions casually.

[Lost_Deep]

Lenai's Forest

"What is this place, where blood flows through the trees? It's magic, for sure, and it reeks of godhood. Perhaps I should leave, or perhaps I am wished to enter... my life would be much easier if more gods would make statements of intent."

A lone woman walks through the forest, looking rather lost. Her skin is purple, she has odd, tentacle hair... and she seems to gaze into each tree as she passes it.

[Slii Arhem]

Lenai's Forest

"Usually, the gods speak through another. This day, you are fortunate enough to have a speaker, although you might be resentful of that fact soon." Lenai speaks, not present physically yet. The trees bend and twist in the wind, almost anxious for something.

[Lost_Deep]

Lenai's Forest

"That is how words are twisted. One hears, one parses, one speaks. It makes heretics, offshoots, zealots... sometimes I wonder if any of what a god is thought to have said is actually said by a god, or merely by a mouth that believes it was... or by a mouth who wants others to believe it was. I mean no offense, it is just a thing I ponder... frequently. What is said, and what they say is said."

The woman meanders forward, lost in thought...

"This place has enough god in it, it seems that the words spoken here may be some of the accurate ones. Speak, mouth; I listen."

[Slii Arhem]

Lenai's Forest

"The god in question spoke his words to me directly, as he held me in his arms and nipped at my neck with his fangs. He wished for a drink made of his blood, and I had shown him I knew how to make such drinks, so he asked me to make one for him. The plants have his blood, given to me freely, and their fruits will have it as well. Soon, it will be time to harvest those fruits and make the drink."

Lenai's voice wavers, but continues on, "What drew you here, odd one? You don't offend me like you should, and that worries me."

[Lost_Deep]

Lenai's Forest

"The blood... I feel the blood, the way is should pump through flesh... but it is in trees. A conundrum. Does it help the trees, feed the trees, or is it purely for the-wait a minute, I don't offend you, and that worries you? Why would-"

She looks around, confused. "Where am I now? Was I talking to someone? What's going on? I hate it when this happens."