[Nexus] Mallside V

[Chaotic Bob]

[Dana's Place!]

Oh hey, Maggy's here.
Almost ice-cream time.

Libby's been looking forward to ice-cream time.


Meanwhile, Magtok seems to be looking forward to figuring out what the little (metal?) cube does!
At the moment, it appears to obey conventional physics. He tosses it, and it goes. He stops it, and it stops.

...how fascinating.

"Indeed you did. And therein lies your gift."

[Gullara]

[Viconia's Secret]

"Oh, that'd be cool. Sounds like a great idea." Pavati agrees readily. "Do you need to get something for that, or...?"

[Lord Magtok]

Dana's Place

"Mhm."

Magtok nods, but otherwise doesn't seem to notice that there's anything else in the world right now besides himself and the cube. And why would he? THERE IS A RIDDLE CUBE TO SOLVE! HE HASN'T THE TIME OR ENERGY TO SPEND CAVORTING ABOUT WITH THE LIKES OF YOU, LIBBY! NOT WHEN THE WORLD'S GREATEST MYSTERY LIES UNSOLVED WITHIN HIS HANDS!

*Cough*

...Ahem. Anyways, unless excess enthusiasm is the secret to uncovering this magical box's dark power, Magtok doesn't seem to be making much progress. Poking and prodding probably isn't going to do anything, nor does trailing a finger along the gilded etchings, for that matter. He tries flicking open the lighter built into a finger on his left hand, to see if the box will react to close proximity to an open flame in any way. It's a bit of a long shot, but hey, if he has that function built into his hand, he might as well use it, right? This curiosity won't solve itself, after all. Someone has to-

"So does the cube do anything, or just be a cube?"

Oh, right. We forgot to consider the possibility that it might do nothing. That's exactly the sort of sneaky shenanigans that Rhode would approve of and encourage Libby to participate in, isn't it? And he was the delivery-raptor for this thing, wasn't he? Hrm...

[The Bushranger]

[Viconia's Secret]

"Oh, that'd be cool. Sounds like a great idea." Pavati agrees readily. "Do you need to get something for that, or...?"

"Oh, no, I have everything I need back at home," Erin says with a smile. "It'll take me a little while to fix them up, though."

[Gullara]

[Viconia's Secret]

"I wouldn't mind waiting for it if you wanted to do it soon. I've got nothing else to do now anyway." The selkie says.

[Dana's Place]

While Maggy's pondering that, the Dana's father returns bearing two big bowls of Ice Cream. "Here you two go. Enjoy." He gives them a friendly smile and will go back to his work if they don't need anything more of him.

[The Bushranger]

[Viconia's Secret]

"Well, you could come along if you want. If you're not afraid to visit HALO." Erin grins.

[Gullara]

[Viconia's Secret]

"I have no idea what HALO is, but sure, I'll come along." Pavati says, returning the smile.

[The Bushranger]

[Viconia's Secret]

"Alright, then, let's go!"
And Erin will lead the way to the base under the sea.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Dana's Place]

What a to-the-point man.
Deliver the Tasty Delicious Stuff and then move off.
Not even try to butt into their conversation or provoke a different one.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Libby doesn't seem to think on it too much, offering him a warm smile in thanks and sliding a bowl over to herself.
A spoonful of that vanishes pretty much immediately.

"Mm...you tell me, Maggy dear."

Tell her what?
Oh hey, where the fire is drawn near the cube, the lines seem to be...shifting, into faintly different positions. Lengths shortening or lengthening, before their 90 degree turns in different directions. Patterns rearranged accordingly.

And the color of the cube, shifting from blue to a dull purple.

[Lord Magtok]

Dana's Place

"Well it responds to temperature shifts, apparently. Not sure I want to risk putting a Thanksmas present in the furnace just to see what happens, though. I could see if a freezer nets any sort of results. Hrm."

Speaking of cold stuff, the ice cream is here! Magtok reluctantly sets his toy down, carefully plopping it on the table between himself and Libby. Can't very well let anyone walk by and steal that thing while he's eating, after all. It'd be terribly embarrassing, to have to chase and beat down some random crook for stealing a mystery box.

"It's not, like, a really wonky mood ring sort of thing, is it?"

[Morty]

[Arcane Threads]

Dorota is once again here, presumably with Crissy and Syela. This time, they've come to purchase golem clothing.

[The Bushranger]

[Arcane Threads]

Crissy is probably arm-in-arm with Dorota, humming to herself, and dressed up in her best sunflower-yellow dress.

[Gullara]

[Arcane Threads]

Syela follows along behind the two women, walking casually with her thumbs hooked in the pockets of the pants she's wearing today. "It probably won't be too hard to find such big clothes."

[Halae]

Azik's Enchantments

Into the store slinks the Cat Burglar, dressed as usual in a black vest and black bowler hat, along with a purple mask covering the portion of his face immediately around his eyes and not much else. "Er, hi?"

[Azik's Enchantments]

I believe that type of mask is called a Domino Mask.

Azik inclines his head, "Welcome to my shop. Let me know what you need; if I do not have it on hand, I will likely b able to craft it for you."

[Morty]

[Arcane Threads]

"No, probably not. There are people bigger than him here. Like I said though, we should remember that he doesn't bend as easily as people with muscles and bones," Dorota says as she heads towards the XXXXL section.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Dana's Place]

It would be fun though, to chase down a crook and beat them for taking a mystery box.
Very silly, very entertaining.


Meanwhile, mid-Delicious Cold Incarnate bite, Libby shakes her head.
"It has a specific purpose, and mood-gauging is not one of them.
...although I guess you could use it as one, until you solve it."
Those things are just run by temperature shifts too, right?
Not sure how well the cube would work for that, but...

Magtok could probably find a way. It could probably be an old potato and he'd figure out a method.
"It's Rhode's contribution to your proper gift."

[Lord Magtok]

Dana's Place

Magtok nods. He puts down his spoon, reaches a hand out for the cube, and...

CHILD UNIT 564-J! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!

-and then abruptly stops, shivering in terror. There was a rule against bringing your science with you to the cafeteria, back when he was a child. A particularly enterprising and sadistic clone had designed robo-nuns to patrol the area, to ensure no violations of that rule, to keep anyone from causing another Mashed Potato Tuesday Incident. He'd never been caught himself, but there'd been a few close calls, and he remembers the time that one guy from his table accidentally left his lab goggles on when he came in...gods, those mechano-matrons were vicious.

"So I'm getting even more than the cube?"

Magtok scoops spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth, his gaze still locked on the cube he can't bring himself to toy with right now. Gods, and he has so many ideas for what to do to it next, too! This must be what Tantalus felt, to be so close to his greatest desires, only to see them fly just out of reach whenever he moved towards them. He buries the thoughts, trying to focus on the perfect ice cream instead of the perfect mystery. To try talking to Libby about something other than this cube he's been setting unrealistic expectations for, instead of teasing himself with his own inability to understand the gift.

"Hrm. Oh! Libby? Would you mind letting me know, next time there's no fun or exciting mood to spoil? I have a serious, sorta gloomy question, but it can wait indefinitely. Also, a theory as to what you wanted me to say about the coffee mug, but that quickly goes in an unhappy direction, too."

[The Bushranger]

[Arcane Threads]

"No, probably not. There are people bigger than him here. Like I said though, we should remember that he doesn't bend as easily as people with muscles and bones," Dorota says as she heads towards the XXXXL section.

"So, like, we need to make sure we don't get anything that would restrict his movements or anything," Crissy agrees, starting to look through the "overhauls".

[Gullara]

[Arcane Threads]

Syela helps the two poke through the racks, looking for clothes. "Maybe something that has a zipper all the way down so he doesn't have to try and bend a bunch to get into it."

[Morty]

[Arcane Threads]

"That might be a good idea, yes. Something he can take off without bending over like we do." Dorota examines a pair of very large trousers on suspenders. "I think these might work."

[The Bushranger]

[Arcane Threads]

"That, like, totally makes sense," Crissy agrees, casting a critical eye on the trousers in question. "Maybe we could find, I dunno, suspenders with flowers on them or something?"

[Gullara]

[Arcane Threads]

Syela giggles at Crissy's suggestion. "Flower suspender would be cute." She agrees.

[Morty]

[Arcane Threads]

Dorota smiles. "I'm not sure how Sizewell would like them. Maybe we should buy him some more neutral clothes before he works out a taste of his own."

[Chaotic Bob]

Spoiler

Show

Dana's Place

Magtok nods. He puts down his spoon, reaches a hand out for the cube, and...

CHILD UNIT 564-J! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!

-and then abruptly stops, shivering in terror. There was a rule against bringing your science with you to the cafeteria, back when he was a child. A particularly enterprising and sadistic clone had designed robo-nuns to patrol the area, to ensure no violations of that rule, to keep anyone from causing another Mashed Potato Tuesday Incident. He'd never been caught himself, but there'd been a few close calls, and he remembers the time that one guy from his table accidentally left his lab goggles on when he came in...gods, those mechano-matrons were vicious.

"So I'm getting even more than the cube?"

Magtok scoops spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth, his gaze still locked on the cube he can't bring himself to toy with right now. Gods, and he has so many ideas for what to do to it next, too! This must be what Tantalus felt, to be so close to his greatest desires, only to see them fly just out of reach whenever he moved towards them. He buries the thoughts, trying to focus on the perfect ice cream instead of the perfect mystery. To try talking to Libby about something other than this cube he's been setting unrealistic expectations for, instead of teasing himself with his own inability to understand the gift.

"Hrm. Oh! Libby? Would you mind letting me know, next time there's no fun or exciting mood to spoil? I have a serious, sorta gloomy question, but it can wait indefinitely. Also, a theory as to what you wanted me to say about the coffee mug, but that quickly goes in an unhappy direction, too."

[Dana's Place]

Unreasonable expectations are some of the best sort of expectations!

Magtok's initial question is answered with nothing more than a simple smile, after a very briefly curious look following the whole "robo-nun flashback" thing.

No matter, he's already peeling off in an entirely different direction.
Maybe if she were someone else, this conversational whiplash would be a bother to keep up with, but it seems to suit her fine enough.

"You may speak your mind whenever it pleases you. To stifle the mind of genius is to starve it."
Which largely has absolutely nothing to do whatsoever with Magtok's actual-stated reasons for not speaking up already.

Although that little smile of hers supplements the proper reason.
"I am resilient to gloom, as per my purpose.
If you would prefer, though, we could talk about something else. Perhaps the looming catastrophe, or the collapse of the pistachio market."

[Lord Magtok]

Dana's Place

Magtok stops to consider the offer. If he waits until later, when things are less than happy and ice creamy and fun, that will just plunge the mood even further south than it would now, wouldn't it? Also, it's not like you'll never be able to go here with Libby for ice cream, cyborg. This isn't exactly a once-in-a-lifetime moment, y'know.

"Right...I'll go with the slightly more polite but maybe more difficult subject, then."

Best take a bite of ice cream before diving right into the subject.

"It's past the point where I could reasonably expect anything from guessing, but after putting some thought into it, I think you might've been trying to lead me towards a certain three word phrase as my past self's reason for the coffee mug. Two pronouns, separated by a verb."

Best take another bite of ice cream, while we're at it. This is a heavy subject, and we'll need all the help we can get.

"If that's not the case, I'll feel fairly silly at the moment. On the off-chance it was, though, I feel vaguely obligated to let you know that I have no idea whatsoever as to whether or not that three-word sentence applies. I'm not saying it doesn't, nor that it does, but that I can't tell right now. I don't know. I like you; I can't think of anyone else who I'd let get away with a raptor chase across the mall without at least whining about it afterwards. Also, a distressingly lame, boring part of me wants to just cuddle and complain incessantly about all of life's problems on some couch somewhere until you're sick to death of me, but I have no idea if any of that counts as love. Definitely counts as the worst way to spend an evening I can imagine, though. Blegh."

[CapedLuigiYoshi]

[Mall Entrance]

A young man peers inside the mall, before stepping inside. He's of fairly average height for the human male that he is, and he is dressed very casually in blue jeans and a green shirt lacking any sort of design. The boots are a little odd, but that wouldn't really be that out of place in such a location, would it? This isn't to say there's nothing of note about him, though. A hat sits atop his head, green and adorned with a circled L, much like a particular video game sidekick, and a green cape hang from the guy's neck, waving a bit with each step the person takes.

Cly takes a quick look around for anything or anyone that might be immediately noticeable from the mall's entrance.

[The Bushranger]

[Arcane Threads]

"Aw...well, I guess you're right," Crissy admits with a sigh and a smile.

===

The mall is...well, a super mall. Although the clientel isn't like any mall he might be used to, a bustling horde of NPC shoppers being seen. Elves, half-elves, dark elves, filthy elves, half-orcs, cyborgs, pixies, there's an Ork on a Segway in a Mall Kops uniform...

[CapedLuigiYoshi]

Cly isn't exactly used to seeing any of those types in person, and he really wasn't quite expecting cyborgs right next to "fantasy" creatures. Oh well, this should prove more interesting that he originally expected.

After pondering, Cly decides to look for the first shop advertising spells. He isn't really intending to buy anything yet, just to note the relative locations of any shops he might want to buy from later. (However futile such an effort might be.)

I'd mention the possibility of him noticing or being noticed by someone who's not an NPC, but I somehow doubt that'll actually happen.

[ThirdEmperor]

[Azik's Enchantments]

I believe that type of mask is called a Domino Mask.

Azik inclines his head, "Welcome to my shop. Let me know what you need; if I do not have it on hand, I will likely b able to craft it for you."

"Right, I need, uh, a silencing thing. Something to silence things. Preferably fairly wide radius?" What's the terminology for that, even? Is there a terminology for magic? "And fireworks. Really flashy, really loud fireworks. Magic ones, er, obviously. You know the first Lord of the Rings movie?" Something like that.

[Halae]

[Azik's Enchantments]

Azik rubs his adamantine chin, "Yes, indeed I have such a silencing device. the fireworks will take some time, but should be ready in a day or two, if you're willing to pay ahead of time. the cost would come to [surprisingly low price]"