[NEXUS] MagCave VI: What Is a Mag? A Miserable Little Pile of Circuits!

[Lord Magtok]

Mess Hall

"Ilpholin left me in charge of AMEN when she went off to do a thing for a week. The very first bit of business I had to deal with was two magical lesbians I was never fond of, who Remnant says were using magical hypnosis powers to try to run off with two underage staff members in Sitar Strings. Ilpholin said I could do whatever I wanted about the matter, save kick them out of AMEN.

I immediately found the two, called them out on their shenanigans and how it wasn't at all going to help with getting rid of Starling, they promptly responded by calling me gay and sexually deprived and a huge peeping tom pervert. I used that, instead of the Sitar stuff, as justification for kicking them out until Ilpholin gets back. When she does, depending on how things go, I might leave the Association.

I won't lie, I've always loved AMEN and the sense of belonging to something greater than myself, but lately I'm starting to wonder if trying to accomplish anything through them is like getting water from a stone, or if the whole lot of them are just holding me back. And if that's the sort of thing I'm expected to go along with, sexual mind control and ****ing teenage girls trying to be dark and edgy, to hell with all of them."

Magtok lets out a huge sigh, shocked to hear those words and feelings actually coming from his lips, and stunned by the relief that speaking them aloud brings him.

Ponies

"Look. If the satellite finds her, it'll just instantly let me know, sorta like magic or whatever, right? Then I tell you guys, then we drop everything and go teleport there, because teleporting is a thing I can do, and then the friendshippy magic stuff happens while I go find a rock to hide under. It's simple."

Fudging poines, man. Magtok doesn't even need to explain this anymore, since most of them seem willing to just go along with this stuff, but their collective ignorance is just...uugh! DX

Other Stuff

I'll post it tomorrow.

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"I do admit, I feel a little less apprehensive about AMEN, knowing that you're there. But if it makes you miserable being there, then don't be there. Remnant will deal with those members if they try anything similar again." She checks her neural net for the time. "Oh, your birthday present should be arriving soon."

Mainframe Design

"Chimpanzees are aggressive and murderous. Would they not frighten humans?" Mainframe asks.

[Lord Magtok]

Catgirl Stuff

Magtok shakes his head, avoiding the minefield that is the subject of wars and mortal choices, and instead goes right back to the Zeus business.

"It wasn't really all that much planning. Olympus turned out to be too high up for me to weather-machine him to death with lightning bolts, and then the genetically engineered godblood splicing thing wasn't enough to mitigate him being an almighty king of gods who regularly stomps other deities. I just saw him still dealing with a hangover headache as he was stomping my face, and suddenly thought I'd go all karmic on him."

Enough of that, though. Devote any more time to Zeus and Libby's going to start thinking you have an ego or something.

"There's some new stuff going on in Mallside, by the way. The Thanksmas season has started, and there's no big apocalypses going on, so I think all the cheer and festivities might be completely canon this year. So I was thinking we could prank Santa and throw a snowball at that time machine guy's face if he shows up again."

Firing Range

"I do. Oh, and if you could put an 'M' on that gun while you're at it? Thank you."

Magtok waits for these questions, eying a fallen robot duck on the other end of the firing range. Man, you're just wasting Maggy's time asking for permission to ask questions, Riss. I mean seriously, who does that?

Mess Hall

"...Present?"

Magtok blinks. He'd intended to transition from that AMEN stuff to complaining about the Nexus in general, and that it's completely tasteless and willing to mock a person for the loss of loved ones, when once that sort of thing was totally off the table. Nonsense about feeling old and getting old and blah blah blah, who cares, birthday present! =D

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"Yes. Should be arriving soon," Missy says. So, you know, might want to clear all the pony related stuff out from in front of the front door. Especially any pony poo.

[Terumitsu]

[Firing Range]

Making a mental note to properly emblazon her employer's preferred mark on the side of the weapon, Riss set that aside for now and asked; "Well.. Sir.. When we spoke last over vidcom, you seemed to be.. Distracted? Um.. By the recent cosmetic alterations and.. Well, is there anything wrong with them? I-I don't remember anything prohibiting such things but if it's something I missed.." Magtok's staring hadn't gone unnoticed during that time but the previous occasion had been less than conducive to dialogue.. Or so it had seemed to the muse at least.

"And.. One more thing." Riss began, feeling more than a little silly for having to ask this particular question. "I was wondering.. Do yo have a favorite color?" Hopefully, Magtok would answer the initial question first as, when paired together, even though Riss had a very good reason to ask it still sounded as if it was completely nonsensical to the subject at hand.

[Lord Magtok]

Mainframe Design

"They would, when they're being murderous and aggressive. The rest of the time, they just seem sort of odd-looking. Presumably, you wouldn't be murderous and aggressive, so I don't think we have to worry so much about you being shot up on sight for being a robotic ape or whatever."

Magtok shrugs. Honestly, now he just wants this over and done with. If it doesn't work and Mainframe gets exploded by GLoG a second time, they can always try again, right?

Mess Hall

"Mhm," Magtok replies with a nod. He then glances upwards for a moment, staring off into space, which probably means he's looking at something going on in another room or something. After a second or two of that, he frowns, and shakes his head.

"Drat, MagSat's over Inside. Looks like you and your mystery surprise present win this time, Halifax."

Firing Range

The cyborg hesitates for a moment, his eyes still focused on the firing range. Addressing Riss directly on this subject would be awkward, at best.

"I'm not particularly fond of fey, is all. Forest folk and nature spirits have a bad tendency to disagree with the ways of technology, civilization, and progress, and I have a tendency to embrace all three of those things. Your horns reminded me of some silly story I read once, as do your illiterate compatriots. Yes, we've already negotiated our peace treaty, but it doesn't make the presence of arboreal magic any less unsettling, does it? So as long as the willful ignorance of your friends doesn't blossom into open belligerence, I'll do as I said I would, and simply stifle and ignore those feelings of discomfort. I hope that's explanation enough.

Oh, and the answer to your other question is purple."

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"I bet you read the ending chapter of novels too," Missy accuses, as she finishes her cake.

[Reinholdt]

Mainframe Design

You can't satisfy this one. Mainframe deserves the emote box!

"Not that I know of. Could always go Meerkat with chimp hands/feet. But you'd be better off with one or the other." It'd destroy any semblance of cute.

[Chaotic Bob]

[The Ponies Are Leaving, Grump Head]

"You better be right, Monkeybutt. I've got my eyes on you."
But Rainbow just had to get out one last jab before they left.

It's almost as if she doesn't really like Magtok.
Huh.

[With the Catgirl and Bragging Cyborg]

Libby gives a somewhat patronizing smile in the face of Magtok's sort-of-not-really attempt to downplay his success.
Kinda. Not at all.
"Even impulse can be another sort of plan. One way or another, you have quite the talent for it.
Did I already miss the celebration?"

Not quite as quick to dismiss it herself, although the topic of Thanksmas might do a good enough job of it.
It's getting her thoughtful, at least.
"Pranking Santa Claus...we'd have to make it extra good, you know. Something that won't just be forgotten the next day."

[happyturtle]

Mainframe Design

"I do not want a meerkat with chimp hands and feet. I want hands and feet that are designed for multiple purposes rather than accidents of evolution. I am using organic life forms as launching points, not end points. I do not wish to be mistaken for an organic." Mainframe says.

[Reinholdt]

Mainframe Design

"Right... well short of being WALL-E then, you're going to be intimidating and uncomfortable for people." Winston says, with a slight frown. He's an organic, and he does just fine.

[Terumitsu]

[Firing Range]

Although it hardly took any effort to suppress the urge, there was a moment or two that Riss felt like quibbling over a few of Magtok's points but.. Well, half of them are semantics and none of it would be beneficial to either of us right now. Instead, she answered with an "Understood." and offered a short explanation instead. "Well.. If it would help your perspective... From where I come from, these kinds of things are akin to.. I guess the closest analog would be tattoos or piercings." she said, shifting her weight from one leg to the other while folding her hands behind her; the other recent acquisition simply held still around her waist like a red belt for the time being.

"Anyway, um.. Is there anything in particular that you would like me to focus on once I finish with this project?" the muse inquired. She was trying not to sound too eager but having a set goal or project would be nice every so often. Sure, free reign over one's pursuits was nice but also had the detriment of possibly not seeing use or production if they ran counter or simply did not mesh with the current regime.

[Lord Magtok]

Ponies and Portals

Magtok hangs back as the others leave, glancing at his wrist one last time before he follows after. As much as he doesn't want to join them, he does so anyways. This is all just a humongous disaster in the making, and yet he can't help but tag along and watch it messily unfold. Why?

Catgirl and Cyborg

"Extra-good, you say? Well then, how about-"

The cyborg reaches into his robe and pulling out what appears to be a live lobster, painted in stripes of peppermint white and red to better suit the holiday spirit. Nobody seems to have taken the time to put rubber bands around those claws or anything, which surely can't be very safe or smart, especially if the lobster manages to wriggle free of Magtok's grip, which it seems to be trying to do.

"-this? Libby, meet Santa Claws. He may not look like much, but he's been training for this prank his whole life. Got a bone to pick with the fat bearded guy who stole his name, y'see. Claws, say hi to Libby!"

The lobster waves a claw at the death goddess. I'm not sure if it was following Magtok's orders, or just felt like waving an arm at just the right moment, but either way, it looks absolutely ridiculous.

"I've gotten the plan and everything all sorted out, and I'd tell you more, but that'd probably ruin the surprise. All we need is someone to distract Saint Nick for us. You in?"

Mess Hall

"One time! And it was an accident! I was looking for the bit about the author himself where it says what he does when he's not authoring and junk!"

It's just a lot harder to resist temptation when you've been spying on everything for years, out of a habit borne from apocalyptic necessity!

Mainframe Design

Magtok shrugs. He is really not fond of this conversation, is he?

"Sure, let's do that, then. And maybe a forcefield in there to give you time to explain you're not a terrible doom-monster somewhere. Something strong enough to keep even you yourself from fighting while it's in use. To better seem peaceful and junk."

[happyturtle]

Mess Hall

"I should probably be going. Unless you had anything else you wanted to talk about?" Missy says.

Mainframe Design

"Organics are stupid," Mainframe says. "I would be pouting if this chassis were not insufficient to the task."

[Reinholdt]

Mainframe Design

"What an entirely organic thing to do. Matches the attitude." Winston says, turning off his tablet to save power as he puts it away and taking a large drink of coffee.

[UncleWolf]

Entrance

"Well, here's our...I'd say humble but it's no such thing. It's my family's Secretly Obvious Evil Hideout Lair of DOOM and Evil Evilness." Cassius says with a grin as he sweeps his arm towards the entrance of the MagCave. The sad part? He's not really exaggerating much.

[happyturtle]

Entrance

Nora's BrainPal automatically pings her surroundings, and so noticing a computer network nearby, tries to connect. Seems she already forgot Cassius's warning.

"Evil lair of evilness? Is that a metaphor?" Nora asks. One of her squad mates was a literature fan and tried to explain to Nora about metaphors, but no matter how she unpacked the information, it simply didn't make sense. Words should represent what they mean, not something completely different!

[Lord Magtok]

Mess Hall => Entrance

"...Go? Before the mystery present arrives?"

Magtok raises an eyebrow in suspicion, before peering down at the birthday cake.

"This isn't going to have, like, a stripper teleport out of it or something like last year, is it? Because that was just the biggest disaster, and-"

No Magtok, I'm sure your precious cake will be fine. Also, you might want to go to the door, someone's waiting for you there. I'm sure Cassius doesn't mind standing around a few extra minutes, given how long he was away, but-

"Cassius!"

The cyborg drops everything and makes a made dash for the door. Luckily he doesn't take a telewarp portal, or Missy could've been stranded here, with absolutely no idea where to go.

Entrance

The network easily recognizes Nora as an unwelcome invader, and keeps her at arm's length. Magtok will have to decide whether or not to hold this attempted intrusion against her later, because there's far more important stuff to worry about right now. The front door swings open, Magtok practically flings himself right out of it.

"Cass! You're out! How the hell did you manage that?"

No attention given to the green lady just yet. Cassius can introduce her himself. Otherwise, Magtok's liable to presume something potentially offensive about her, and with her maybe-comrade Missy probably catching up behind Magtok right now...

Mainframe Design

The cyborg sighs.

"Organics are stupid, yes. Can we just focus on the design right now and worry about that later?"

Firing Range

The cyborg nods, turning as he intends to goes to leave.

"Defense technology. Less guns, more armor. Something all-purpose, capable of keeping one's skin intact even in the face of all the varied sorts of weirdness and danger the Nexus has to offer. And I never said my being unsettled by the horns was rational, just wanted to explain why it was there."

[UncleWolf]

Entrance

"More like a bit of an exaggeration." Cassius admits right before he sees his father fling open the door. "Dad!" He shouts, grinning before he runs up to give the MagClone a hug. "I got out through the usual means. Extortion, blackmail, bribery, you know how it is." He jokes happily. "My term was up." He adds, just in case he didn't catch it was a joke and things turned bad.

[happyturtle]

Entrance

Missy is not far behind Magtok. "Parole, actually. He saved a lot of lives in the big invasion that totally happened offscreen to justify him being released so soon a few weeks back." She glances over at Nora, but doesn't have anything to say about Cassius having arrived with a girl. A girl who seems to be pinging her network, with as little success as she was having with Magtok's.

She steps out, giving Magtok a squeeze of the hand, and Cassius a thump on the shoulder, to let the family reunion proceed without her. "Happy birthday, Magtok."

Nora, meanwhile, stops trying to connect to the networks once they've refused her. It feels just wrong being isolated and alone in her own head. She heard stories about Special Forces who went insane if they lost their integration. She hoped that wouldn't happen to her.

::Maybe it already has. I mean, seriously, Ant-person?::

She stands very still, her Empee hanging from her shoulder strap, but she was mentally preparing for an attack on any of the three targets in front of her, should it become necessary. She doesn't see any reason to say anything, so she remains silent.

Mainframe Design

"Do you have enough information to create a prototype?" Mainframe asks Winton.

[Lord Magtok]

Entrance

"Well either way, it's great to have you back, Cass. Who's your friend?"

Magtok withdraws from the hug after a moment or so, turning his head towards Nora as if he only just noticed her presence now, which is almost certainly not the case. Playing dumb is just what he does when he has no idea what he's up against, I guess.

[UncleWolf]

Entrance

"Private Nora. We intercepted each other on the way here. She's new and I said this would be a safe place to acclimate to...well, here." Cassius explains, looking rather sorry and sounding apologetic. "I figured it was better if we got to her first instead of letting her run rampant for a week and either get killed or picked up by someone els-."

"No, Cuddles, no!" A little girl shouts from the entrance as a SKREEE!! of joy fills the air. Cassius looks past Magtok for a second before his eyes go wide. He doesn't have time to scream before a maggot looking creature that is currently flying through the air at him seems to split open and grab onto Cassius' chest with a pair of bony web-like wings. Cassius stares at it in shock until it begins to purr happily.

At the entrance, a little girl, perhaps about 12 in appearance, with ant-black skin and slightly curly shoulder length light brown hair steps out, dressed in a Napoleon uniform except for the hat. "It's okay! He doesn't bite!"

[Chaotic Bob]

[Cyborg and Catgirl]

Ah, the good old Claus/Claws joke.
Always a classic.

Enough so for Libby to look suitably amused, as she (for some silly reason) gives a little finger wave back to the lobster.
Not that weird, perhaps, considering she talks to a mechanized sloth on a regular basis.

"Well, if you place him in a box and present him as a gift to Santa, you may not need the distraction...
But I suppose that may go against your other plan."
Hmmmm, a trick for another time, perhaps.
"Of course I'm in, Maggy dear."

Oh goody, another prank to participate in!
Truly one of the purist forms of mortal short term values.

[Reinholdt]

Mainframe Design

Hmm... Winston's attempt to be snippy at the rude Mainframe must not have been direct enough. Bah. He drinks some coffee. Coffee always helps.

"Yes. I'll start with the emote-box and build up from there." Winston replies, forgoing his previous endevour and just settling for the easiest option. If for no other reason than he can't figure out for the life of him what else would satisfy Mainframe's rather conflicting list of requirements.

[happyturtle]

Entrance

At the sound of the SKRREEE!, Nora raises her Empee and fires with perfect accuracy, putting three rounds into Cuddles, and killing it. She swivels around, ready to fire again if another such monster appears.

((godmod approved))

Mainframe Design

Mainframe is better at experiencing emotions than interpreting them.

The Magbot returns to whatever duties it usually has, as the Mainframe identity has left it.

[Lord Magtok]

Entrance

Magtok peers his left arm with disgust, wiping some of the late Cuddles off of his sleeve. He shakes his head, and reaches an arm out towards Renee, to hold her back and give her someone to cling to before she can make a fuss about the newly deceased maggot-thingy.

"A shoot first, waterboard prisoners later type, then."

Magtok refrains from saying any more, not sure just how much Renee cared for Cuddles. Hopefully it's expendable, because otherwise this gun nut isn't likely to get the warmest of receptions.

Cyborg and Catgirl

"Great! C'mon, there's no time to lose!"

Magtok puts the live lobster right back into a pocket, opens a portal to the Thanksmas thread, and then hurries right on through. Looks like he intends to leave Libby mostly in the dark about his nefarious scheme, and let his actions speak for themselves once the plan is in action. Such a silly, dramatic villain kind of thing to do, isn't it?

[Terumitsu]

[Firing Range]

Defensive tech? The serendipity was enough to coax the muse to at least crack the smallest of smiles. Still, even though she could simply say that wouldn't be a problem, she held her tongue on the matter and simply replied with an "Understood, sir." Some things were probably best left as, hopefully plesant, surprises.

As it appeared that Magtok was readying to leave, there wouldn't be any attempt to stop him. At least, not from Riss. Unless the cyborg had anything further to say, then once he was gone the muse would turn once again towards the Mainframe-inhabited Magbot and try to pick up the conversation where it had left off.

"Discontent? Does it relate to a specific function or event?" she asked, trying to inquire further on the matter.

[Outside the MagOffice - A Half Hour Later]

A colorfully wrapped package would be sitting on the floor just in front of the door to the office in question. Given that it posessed a small tag that clearly had the words 'To Magtok' on it, all appearences indicated that it was some kind of gift...

[UncleWolf]

Entrance

Magtok will find Renee against his arm, but only because she's fallen limp. Should he or anyone else look, they'll find her covered in the remains of what had been Cuddles, her eyes open and glazed looking, and a tiny trickle of blood coming from her nose. The arm will only keep her up for a moment before she falls limply to the ground, unmoving and unseeing because of the trauma her mind was subjected to.

Unlike most pets, Cuddles had been mentally linked to its master, in this case Renee. The sudden and severe amount of pain followed quickly by death was too much for Renee's unshielded mind to manage. The loss and pain quickly backtracked along the connection leaped right into Renee's brain, bringing her just as much pain that Cuddles would have felt. It's happened too quickly for anyone to have likely noticed her grimace before falling, but Cassius could feel the tie between her and her pet sever through his own link to the Hive.

And since he knew what occurred, the sudden hatred in his eyes is entirely justified.

Without waiting for anyone to try and stop him, Cassius sends out a clawed hand to rip the Empee from Nora's hands before grabbing her by the neck with the other. Unless anyone can stop him physically, Nora will be thrown through the air and into the wall next to the cave entrance before Cassius runs to Renee's side to try and get her to wake up.

[happyturtle]

Entrance

Nora loses her Empee and is flung. Her head connects, leaving a smudge of gray SmartBlood on the rock wall.

Missy's first instinct is to run to the fallen child, but between Magtok and Cassius, they seem to have that covered. Instead, she draws her sidearm from a thigh holster and moves between the green soldier and the Godlark family.

"Face down on the ground! Hands on your head!" Missy yells.

Nora considers briefly. She's lost her combat knife and her Empee, but she still has her combat unitard, which might protect her from whatever this brown skinned woman might be about to shoot at her. Nora could probably move fast enough to strangle the woman or break her neck. On the other hand, this woman might be a shapeshifting "Ant-Person" too. And what would Nora gain by killing her? Then she'd have to kill Cassius, and presumably the man with the metal face, and the smaller person - was that a "child"? - as well. Then even if she succeeded, which was doubtful, she'd still be lost and confused and unintegrated.

::The best solution is to surrender:: But she wasn't sure whether that choice had been made by her or her BrainPal.

Either way, she complies, lying prone on the ground with her hands on her head.

[Lord Magtok]

Outside the MagOffice

Oooooh, a present! What could it possibly be? Magtok takes it into the office to have a look opens it right here and now because he doesn't even have the patience to return to his desk before exploring the contents of the wrapping paper.

Entrance

Magtok just stands idly by as people far more qualified to incapacitate Nora do so. He does attempt to finally respond to that ping and let her say hello, though. Maybe he can be secret good cop, whilst Missy and Cassius do the bad cop stuff.