[Nexus] Inside 48

[Rebonack]

[Blacklight Street]

Sigil is pretty busy inspecting the rewritten array. No sense in trying to seal the thing again if whatever is on the other side can just pop it open again. Was worth a shot at the very least though, right?

Despite Dash's comments to the contrary odd green clouds still linger in the skies above, occasionally dropping showers of plastic green army men with parachutes for no readily apparent reason. As a matter of fact one of them is about to land in her prismatic mane!

"Maybe Twilight has already come through then..." Sigil sighs. "Though I guess this is as good of a place as any to begin the search. Hey Rarity? Can you spare a mirror?"

In asking he turns and spies a cat!

And frowns at the thing. Life lesson learned from the Nexus. Be wary of everything. Especially things that look harmless. "Good chance it doesn't want to be friends," he says as he channels magic through his horn and begins stringing together a strange, sing-sony incantation. Bright and warm and energetic.

With a fizzling POP an area of brilliant omnipresent sunlight springs into being around the unicorn, banishing all shadows within. Bad kitty. Go away.

[Morcleon]

[Red Zone- Sewers]

Landing in the darkness in a crouch, Yuki's white wings curve over his head, covering him from sight. A few moments pass, then a bright light emanates from him, filling Kirlia in a sense of happiness and warmth.

He draws his scalpel, and shaves of a small sample of the floor, examining it. "Interesting architectural idea. Seems organic, almost. We're almost definitely on the right track to finding these... things."

[Zefir]

[Deus Mechanicus Church]

"Have a pleasant day."
Saul says, turning to go back to whence he came.

[Deus Mechanicus Church]

"Good bye." the man says ashe goes back inside. He will leave the door work to the other acolyts and heds straith after the robot with the books.



The rest will now wait again for other visitors. The welcoming banner, which was placed inside, will now be taken outside so people can see it.

[Mindfreak]

[Red Zone- Sewers]

Landing in the darkness in a crouch, Yuki's white wings curve over his head, covering him from sight. A few moments pass, then a bright light emanates from him, filling Kirlia in a sense of happiness and warmth.

He draws his scalpel, and shaves of a small sample of the floor, examining it. "Interesting architectural idea. Seems organic, almost. We're almost definitely on the right track to finding these... things."

Red Zone - Sewers
You mean possibly filling her with a sense of happiness and warmth
And Kirlia, as she jumped down first, lands crouched in the darkness. She moves slightly forward, getting out of the way just before Yuki lands.
She peers into the darkness for a moment before Yuki lights up the darkness.
Kirlia looks at the black substance with disgust. This was worst than a regular sewer!
"Shhhh! What if they hear us?"
She hovers slightly above the ground, not wanting to touch the black substance.

[Morcleon]

Red Zone - Sewers
You mean possibly filling her with a sense of happiness and warmth
And Kirlia, as she jumped down first, lands crouched in the darkness. She moves slightly forward, getting out of the way just before Yuki lands.*
She peers into the darkness for a moment before Yuki lights up the darkness.
Kirlia looks at the black substance with disgust. This was worst than a regular sewer!
"Shhhh! What if they hear us?"
She hovers slightly above the ground, not wanting to touch the black substance.

[Red Zone- Sewers]

Yeah, probably.

"Then we hear them back." Yuki replies in a slightly quieter voice, shrugging and grinning.*"And by 'hear', I mean, 'capture at least one and eliminate the rest'."

He reaches into his bag and pulls out a thin canister of a translucent orange substance and offers it to Kirlia before pulling another one out for himself.*"Here. It's a blessed/cursed nanite-based debilitator mixed with several magical poisons in a hypospray." He shows her the applicator and the trigger. "It'll probably shut them down long enough for me to put them in a holding box, and has enough for ten doses. See how many we can capture, 'kay?"

He smiles, then turns to reexamine the shard of black... stuff.

[happyturtle]

Warwick Works

"But this is definitely something that most people would find shady. Might be laws against it." Arthur reaches out to inspect the device a bit more closely, trying to take it in his hands and bring it a little closer. "Reminds me of when I turned to weapons design. You got a talent, and there's not a lot of legitimate ways to use it." He sounds...'Disappointed, but understanding' is a good word for it. It'd take a careful observer to note that he's not just talking about Willow.

"Mhm. I imagine most people would disapprove of their brain waves being tampered with. Then again, most people don't realize that their brain waves are already being affected by everything within the range of their sensory input." Willow says.

[blackouttwo]

[Warwick Works]

"You sure you wanna do this?" Arthur's tone indicates he's trying to warn her off of it; he really got his start in shady dealings through weapon design, and it led to a lot of places. Dark, scary places. With stuff in them. "You get this perfected, you're either gonna have a dangerous device in circulation or need to get a high-quality lock and key and keep an eye on it for a good, long time."

[happyturtle]

Warwick Works

"Or I use the research as a launching point into curing people with brain injuries," Willow says. "Chances are, it'll never get as far as a working prototype, but because I've been working on this, I'm going to ace my Neurobiology final without even trying."

[Murkus]

[Lots of Hope Hospital]

Sakura turns back to Adir, looking like she hasn't quite processed this yet. "Yeah." She returns his smile. "We'll need to double the baby shopping too. Wow, twins. That's a lot of babies." It's kind of daunting.

"Only three," Adir says, as though it's no big deal. "Just enough rooms for all of them, when they get older. Can't forget about Hanna, though." The stag leans in to try and hug Sakura, hopefully without disrupting the ultrasound. "Twins. Aw, honey, you are amazing." He looks up at the black n' white screen, watching the two little proto-fey in silence.

Relatively Alright Day in the Red Zone

"No, you don't. But I doubt you know the guy who said he would help, either," Ashley says. "I'm not saying you have to come with me, but you could probably use someone who knows the city and can get you supplies."

Kailee goes over the options clinically, trying to think like the machine they all said she was. She would need a new source of power soon. Her battery was only short-range, after all - it would last a few more days at best.

The Escort nods, once, and then steps past Ashley, peeking around the corner at the two men. Oh, damn it. She thought they'd stopped fighting, but she couldn't be sure why.

Not Even Close to the Worst Day in the Red Zone

I... I think I do.. But he's not so sure... It's beginning to occur to Wrath that he never thought to ask why Kailee was running, or from who, or why- He rushed ahead to quick to check if he was fighting for the right side. Go on.

"It's an android. Got away from this big corporate hospital named Elexxion. There's bounties everywhere, man," the hunter says, gathering his sword and slowly trying to make his feet. "I'm just trying to earn a little coin." Well, five thousand gold is hardly a little, but he's not saying as much.

[Gnrlshrimp]

Institute of Humanist Studies

Bauer hangs up the phone. A few minutes later, the door opens and she steps outside. "Okay. Let's see, Roberts."

"My apologies, Dr Bauer, I'll endeavour to ensure I am clearer about things in future. I had no idea you'd interpret what I said in that manner." Huh, Roberts even sounds somewhat apologetic.

Not overly so, mind you. Just acknowledging that he should be more careful with his wording.

Standing beside Roberts is a drone. There are many sorts of drones out there, however, so let's go into a little more detail.

The drone stands about four feet tall, and is humanoid in appearance. It has a simple grey body, with slightly elongated arms and legs and a comparatively small torso. There are zero features to speak of, even the head is blank, save for two glowing eyes staring blankly forward.

All in all, it looks unimpressive, not even remotely intimidating, and it doesn't seem like it would be all that strong either.

[happyturtle]

Institute of Humanist Studies

"Is that a mutant or a machine?" Bauer asks in disgust. Well, she is a staunch Humanist.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Institute of Humanist Studies]

"Machine of course. Though most likely far more advanced than anything you've encountered before." Roberts has quite the smile on his face. "This is why I say only the mind matters. Wherever we encounter something that our bodies aren't good enough for, our minds develop a solution instead."

But since the drone appears lesser than a human in pretty much every way, one might wonder just how it is of any use.

[Terumitsu]

[Above Inside]

Mimi flies over the lower buildings in her search. Why do all these places have to be so tall? how is she supposed to find anything? The pixie flies around for a bit, starting to feel like this is a hopeless venture.

That is until she hears a ringing... Singing mesa was what the riddle said, right? It was worth a shot to check out the source of the sound.

It wouldn't be long until Mimi found a bell tower, atop of which was a small terrace where a few umbrella-shaded tables sat. Once the peals of the bells had stopped counting the hours, and perhaps once her ears had stopped ringing, it wouldn't be terribly difficult to pick out a song that Mimi may remember from only a short time earlier. Nor would it be difficult to follow it back to it's source, a small egg-shaped ovoid like the one before it sitting on a far table.

Once she was close enough, the song would cease playing and another greeting would follow: "Seems like you've made it this far. That means just one more left, Mimi! Alright, this next one is relatively close by but that's the only hint I'm gonna give you.

Storage in name but not in function.
Walls of glass with treasures behind.
Hoards of fabric, services of unction,
Material delights of varying kind.
A market of markets between markets and stalls;
A place of things and rings you must find,
Of gold and glitter inside well traversed halls."

Like before, the message would repeat itself when prompted but, other than that, it was all Mimi was given to find this last location.

[ThirdEmperor]

Red Zone!

That explains some things. But it only confirms what Wrath had already guessed on instinct, that Kailee's definitely the victim here. Then, no. I'm going to have to ask you to leave her alone... As the ringing in his ears fades, Wrath notes that the voices past the corner have gone silent. That could be a good sign, but more likely, it was very bad. ... And even if you get past me, there's someone else with her.. Might be another bounty-hunter, might be a friend, but either way, why would they let you have her?

[Gullara]

[Lots of Hope Hospital]

Sakura grins and puts one arm around him. "Yeah, it's pretty amazing." Laela reaches out and grabs Sakura's flowers while they're close. The dryad giggles. "Look at the screen, Laela. Do you see your brothers?"

((I assumed Adir is holding Laela.))

[Bell Tower]

Mimi thinks hard. "Hrm..." Now what could this place be? It almost makes her think of her shopping trip with Riss. With that thought in mind, she takes off to take a look in the immediate area. Maybe it would come to her. After a bit one particular place catches her eye and she shoots off at full speed.

((Follow up post in the appropriate thread will come later.
EDIT: Here.))

[Chaotic Bob]

[Blacklight Street]

Spoiler

Show

[Blacklight Street]

Sigil is pretty busy inspecting the rewritten array. No sense in trying to seal the thing again if whatever is on the other side can just pop it open again. Was worth a shot at the very least though, right?

Despite Dash's comments to the contrary odd green clouds still linger in the skies above, occasionally dropping showers of plastic green army men with parachutes for no readily apparent reason. As a matter of fact one of them is about to land in her prismatic mane!

"Maybe Twilight has already come through then..." Sigil sighs. "Though I guess this is as good of a place as any to begin the search. Hey Rarity? Can you spare a mirror?"

In asking he turns and spies a cat!

And frowns at the thing. Life lesson learned from the Nexus. Be wary of everything. Especially things that look harmless. "Good chance it doesn't want to be friends," he says as he channels magic through his horn and begins stringing together a strange, sing-sony incantation. Bright and warm and energetic.

With a fizzling POP an area of brilliant omnipresent sunlight springs into being around the unicorn, banishing all shadows within. Bad kitty. Go away.

Examining would reveal fairly clearly that it was Twilight's magic that wrote around it.
So that should answer Sigil's thought pretty conclusively.

"Well probably! We were out for...a long time!"
Pinkie Pie briefly struggled with trying to figure out exactly how long they were frozen, before deciding that was silly.

Everyone else just gives her a little look, not recalling being out for anything at any point.
"...if she has already come through, then it is likely that her plan is already in motion, whatever it may be. I don't suppose Magtok's space telescope can scan for specific magic?"
Be pretty easy, if he could just hunt Twilight down by her magical signature...


Meanwhile, LIGHT.
Light, which doesn't really seem to make the cat's shadow go away.

Instead, the entity just arches its back and proceeds to run off in the opposite direction, silently hissing out distaste.

"Oh dear...um, was that really necessary?"
"Don't think it hurt it none, sugarcube. Ain't what's important right now anyway."
"Right! We need to be finding Twilight! I'm gonna fly up a bit higher and get a better view."


[Red Zone - Sewers]

Spoiler

Show

[Red Zone- Sewers]

Landing in the darkness in a crouch, Yuki's white wings curve over his head, covering him from sight. A few moments pass, then a bright light emanates from him, filling Kirlia in a sense of happiness and warmth.

He draws his scalpel, and shaves of a small sample of the floor, examining it. "Interesting architectural idea. Seems organic, almost. We're almost definitely on the right track to finding these... things."

Red Zone - Sewers
You mean possibly filling her with a sense of happiness and warmth
And Kirlia, as she jumped down first, lands crouched in the darkness. She moves slightly forward, getting out of the way just before Yuki lands.
She peers into the darkness for a moment before Yuki lights up the darkness.
Kirlia looks at the black substance with disgust. This was worst than a regular sewer!
"Shhhh! What if they hear us?"
She hovers slightly above the ground, not wanting to touch the black substance.

[Red Zone- Sewers]

Yeah, probably.

"Then we hear them back." Yuki replies in a slightly quieter voice, shrugging and grinning.*"And by 'hear', I mean, 'capture at least one and eliminate the rest'."

He reaches into his bag and pulls out a thin canister of a translucent orange substance and offers it to Kirlia before pulling another one out for himself.*"Here. It's a blessed/cursed nanite-based debilitator mixed with several magical poisons in a hypospray." He shows her the applicator and the trigger. "It'll probably shut them down long enough for me to put them in a holding box, and has enough for ten doses. See how many we can capture, 'kay?"

He smiles, then turns to reexamine the shard of black... stuff.

Unfortunately for Kirlia, hovering will be the only way to avoid the material covering the sewer's normal appearance. It is rather literally everywhere except the air.

The air just smells like the usual sewer foul with a faintly acidic tang.
Or severely, if one moves close to the walls.

Shaving off a bit of the floor will prove faintly difficult, but not impossible. It is rather significantly durable, but not infinitely so. Some determination will see the deed done.

Separated from its surroundings, the material definitely seems more organic, a bit like carapace, bone, or a perversion of enamel.

Not much more to be said beyond that. It's hard, black, and likely life-based.
Also smelly.


This coating persists in either direction from their location, rather indiscriminate as far as grates, forks, or tunnels go.
Only manholes seem to be uncovered, for whatever ominous reason that foretells.

A triple fork is to the left, the right is a straight shot.

Nothing is immediately trying to kill them or otherwise exist. This is likely a very temporary state of affairs.

[Rebonack]

[Blacklight Street]

Well good! Shoed the critter away.

"If we run into anything unfriendly here the Daylight should encourage it to keep its distance," Sigil replies. Because he just loves giving explanations for things right? "It's hard to say where Twilight would have gone from here. Though the two obvious choices would be the Philip Memorial Library or Trog's Tavern. The library since... well..."

It's a library.

And Twilight is Twilight even if her brain is all twisted about.

"And Trog's is something of a hub for the whole Nexus. If someone has seen her we could probably find them there."

Army men continue to drift down from the heavens. Though more of a light sprinkle than a downpour. Sigil brushes one of them out of his mane.

[The Alexandrian]

Dave's Clinic
Roger opens his soot colored eyes for the first time.
Oh gosh, something warm's enveloping me!
I like warm things.
The demonic looking baby(yes, little horns, scaly red skin, and a fork tongue and tail), coos softly!

Amelia also opens her bright blue eyes!
What the heck? What's around me?
She looks up at her mother than across to her father.
?
The little angelic baby(tiny wings, perfect skin, probably going to have blonde hair), just looks a bit confused!

Dave smiles and cannot get over how precious their children are.
One can only know that Dave will be a very doting father.
He sits down next to Clarissa and asks a very important question!
"So...what shall we name them?"

[Dave's Clinic]

Spoiler

Show

The adorable, little babies really do take after their mother, don't they?

They're probably gonna be a real handful and get into a whole lot trouble if that resemblance is as mental as it is physical.

The first of Clarissa's group of babies is of a very, very chaotic nature. One minute, she is graced with the features of a common nekomimi but before the next is up, she bears a striking resemblance to a drow. She is an entity of never-ending change and chaos, but that's not exactly a bad thing.

Things! Hi things!

She reaches out toward her father.

The second baby is the spitting image of Clarissa except with a paler shade of skin, red irises, and raven black hair.

"Sleepy..."

She falls fast asleep!

The third appears to be a red-haired, purple-eyed normal human girl at a cursory glance. Upon closer inspection (if one's body, mind, and spirit are in harmony with magic), blood-red symbols of power run up and down the entire length of her body, and the fluid pumping through her veins is something more than blood.

Oooo! Pretty!

Dave might find a purple object floating toward this daughter, if one is to be had in this emergency room.

The fourth is a cross between Dave and Clarissa. He has Dave's nose, Dave's brown (?) eyes, Clarissa's skin tone, Clarissa's wings, Dave's smile, and Clarissa's bubbly personality.

Hugs! Give me hugs or else!

This baby is holding onto its mama!

The fifth child is another male. Closed maws are mounted in the palm of each of his hands. His thick hazel hair shines in the light of the room and his emerald eyes sparkle with curiosity.

Dude! Where am I?

This baby raises his head and looks about the room!

Clarissa didn't even have a name for herself when she first met Dave! She permitted Dave to name her instead of naming herself because she's about as good with names as she is at resolving conflicts without copious amounts of bloodshed!

"I don't know. I'm no good with names. But look at how cute they are! Cootchie-cootchie-coo!"

Clarissa attempts to tickle the little babies' bellies. If her smile were any wider or warmer it'd stretch off of her face or be on fire, respectively.

[Abandoned-Looking Factory]

Zefir only knows one person right now who could help him.

"You will have to sleep now. You just hatched and need some rest. I will be here when you awake."

With that he takes aaway the remaining egg pices to leave the blanket for the baby dragon. He will stay for some time to see that the baby dragon is asleep. Let's just hope it won't awake while he is going to care for some things.

[Abandoned-Looking Factory]

And that one person would be Clarissa, wouldn't it?

"Okay, daddy."

The baby dragon nestles up under one of the wrinkles in the fireproof blanket and falls asleep within the minute, her little tail poking out from one side of the blanket endearingly. She won't notice Zefir slipping out of the room unless he stomps his feet or does something more to disturb her.

-------

[Alyca and Miriah's Car -

"Not from my end," Justin says. "I'd say won't eat junk food before bed anymore, but I don't eat anything else."

As Justin unbuckles his seatbelt, he remembers another dating rule. "Is it sexist to open the door for you?"

[Alyca and Miriah's Car - Justin Should Eat a Well-Balanced Diet]

Dating rules!

"We'll just have to fix that, then, won't we? I know how to cook...sort of."

Alyca smiles confidently as she nods at Justin. I mean come on, how difficult could cooking something be? You just throw a bunch of edible items into an oven and there you go! Could it be more challenging than brewing a poison? No! Therefore, Alyca can totally do it. Totally. ... This is bound to end in tears.

"Go ahead and open the door for me if you'd like. Just remember that we're going dutch. There's absolutely no good reason for you to spend money on my obnoxious sister."

"Hey! I resent that though I may very well resemble that!"

Miriah chuckles from the outside of the car where she can easily bolt if Justin death stares her again...

[Deathkeeper]

A Completely Inconspicuous Alley

The quiet of the (insert time of day here) is broken by a loud fwoosh sound as a newcomer steps into the unoccupied space. He's best described as a seven-foot-tall raptor-like dinosaur with a handheld computer strapped to his left wrist. Looking about, he starts hitting buttons.
Let's just make sure everything's the same as last the time I checked.
The Gauntlet's screen blinks for a moment, displaying:
Ambient energy levels: moderate
Exposure risks for user: Minimal
Urban center: -> That way
Well, okay. That's settled at least. Wonder what I'll find in a place like this. But I guess the uncertainty is the point of showing up.
The arrow points to one of the walls, so he takes off in the direction of the visible street, listening to the soft clicking of his claws on the stone below him.

[Devixer]

Yup, it's the Red Zone

Ashley falls silent as well, as ensures that her cloak doesn't falter. She wasn't sure what happened with the two others, but she still didn't want to be noticed unless it was necessary.

[Morcleon]

[Red Zone - Sewers]

Unfortunately for Kirlia, hovering will be the only way to avoid the material covering the sewer's normal appearance. It is rather literally everywhere except the air.

The air just smells like the usual sewer foul with a faintly acidic tang.
Or severely, if one moves close to the walls.

Shaving off a bit of the floor will prove faintly difficult, but not impossible. It is rather significantly durable, but not infinitely so. Some determination will see the deed done.

Separated from its surroundings, the material definitely seems more organic, a bit like carapace, bone, or a perversion of enamel.

Not much more to be said beyond that. It's hard, black, and likely life-based.
Also smelly.


This coating persists in either direction from their location, rather indiscriminate as far as grates, forks, or tunnels go.
Only manholes seem to be uncovered, for whatever ominous reason that foretells.

A triple fork is to the left, the right is a straight shot.

Nothing is immediately trying to kill them or otherwise exist. This is likely a very temporary state of affairs.

[Red Zone- Sewers]

Yuki walks forward carefully, monomolecular scalpel in one hand, debilitator hypospray in the other. Upon reaching the four-way route, he halts and sighs. "Of course, it just had to branch off, didn't it..."

He turns to Kirlia. "I say we just go down one, explore it fully, then come back here and go down another. What say you?"

[Murkus]

Red Zone!

That explains some things. But it only confirms what Wrath had already guessed on instinct, that Kailee's definitely the victim here. Then, no. I'm going to have to ask you to leave her alone... As the ringing in his ears fades, Wrath notes that the voices past the corner have gone silent. That could be a good sign, but more likely, it was very bad. ... And even if you get past me, there's someone else with her.. Might be another bounty-hunter, might be a friend, but either way, why would they let you have her?

"It's a robot, you idiot!" The hunter says, laughing cruelly, pointing his sword at Wrath in challenge. But even with all that jerkiness, he still hesitates. He's just a human, after all. "It's just a robot."

...

"Are you really ready to die for that thing?" The hood asks, his brow furrowed.

[Lots of Hope Hospital]

Sakura grins and puts one arm around him. "Yeah, it's pretty amazing." Laela reaches out and grabs Sakura's flowers while they're close. The dryad giggles. "Look at the screen, Laela. Do you see your brothers?"

((I assumed Adir is holding Laela.))

That assumption can be correct. I hadn't thought to have Adir pick her up out've the stroller. The stag turns Laela a little, trying not to let her get tangled up in Sakura's hair before she sees the screen. "You guys are gonna get along well, I think." Adir adopts a remote look, his smile never wavering, his eyes speaking of far-off daydreams. Probly imagining what their kids are gonna be like. Tumbling over eachother in the crib, crowding into his truck, all growing up together. Gods Adir is glad he changed his mind about kids.

Yup, it's the Red Zone

Ashley falls silent as well, as ensures that her cloak doesn't falter. She wasn't sure what happened with the two others, but she still didn't want to be noticed unless it was necessary.

That gun that had been forming out've Kailee's arm finishes its transformation, a grotesque looking cannon that's speckled with dents and pockmarks. But she, too, hesitates.

[ThirdEmperor]

Don't They Read Asimov in the Red Zone?

Shakily, Wrath raises his machete and mirrors his opponent's pose as best he can while still clinging to the palletes for support, like two fencers squaring off. I.. I don't think I'll be the one dying..

Maybe. Hopefully. His leg's good for at least one more burst of speed. He can see again, mostly. That's something. But not as much as he'd like. Once again, it seems all he's really got in his corner is the vague faith that this will all turn out alright.

[Devixer]

Not Much Reading in the Red Zone

Though it probably will go unnoticed, Ashley's face twists in anger as the bounty hunter refers to Kailee as 'it.' She didn't claim to know much about robots, but the woman she was trying to help sure acted like a person.

Ashley starts to prepare one of her spells in anticipation of whatever might come.

[Murkus]

Not Many Books in the Red Zone

The hood breathes hard, staring at Wrath's machete warily. A thinking look passes over his face, and an awful silence follows. Then, inexplicably, he lowers his sword. Perhaps some god is with Wrath after all.

The weapon's sheathed in a second. "This isn't worth five grand." It's just not. Not worth the burden on his mind that would come afterward, provided he wins. And certainly not worth the neighborhood losing someone like Wrath.

"Your leg's gonna need a hospital," he says. "Don't stand on it for a few days."

Mr. Hunter draws his hood back up, and hides his sword inside his coat. Bam, just like that. Another red zone nobody. Kailee breaths a sigh of relief as she watches the scene come to a close.

[happyturtle]

Institute of Humanist Studies

[Institute of Humanist Studies]

"Machine of course. Though most likely far more advanced than anything you've encountered before." Roberts has quite the smile on his face. "This is why I say only the mind matters. Wherever we encounter something that our bodies aren't good enough for, our minds develop a solution instead."

But since the drone appears lesser than a human in pretty much every way, one might wonder just how it is of any use.

"As long as they are only machines, they can proceed." Professor Bauer says.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Institute of Humanist Studies]

"They're rather simple machines at that...individually, anyway. Their strength lies in their unmatched ability to coordinate. A machine hivemind, as it were, each unit perfectly in sync with the rest."

As Roberts speaks, several dozen drones make their way into the warehouse.

They're remarkably quick. Within moments they're arranged in ranks, ready and waiting.

"Now, if you wait out here they can be done in an hour. If you insist on waiting inside, then I'm going to have to manually override things so they are capable of working inefficiently. That will take some time, but I imagine we'll still be done well before the end of the day. And then I'll have to spend a lengthy period of time undoing the overrides afterwards."

[Gullara]

[COLOR="Gold"]That assumption can be correct. I hadn't thought to have Adir pick her up out've the stroller. The stag turns Laela a little, trying not to let her get tangled up in Sakura's hair before she sees the screen. "You guys are gonna get along well, I think." Adir adopts a remote look, his smile never wavering, his eyes speaking of far-off daydreams. Probly imagining what their kids are gonna be like. Tumbling over eachother in the crib, crowding into his truck, all growing up together. Gods Adir is glad he changed his mind about kids.

[Lots of Hope Hospital]

Laela looks at the screen and babbles a little bit. Sakura smiles at her and wipes away the tears welling up in her eyes. She gives Adir a kiss on the cheek before turning her attention back to the unborn twins herself.

Dr Darkspear gives them a few minutes before speaking up. "They both look to be healthy. We'll do a full checkup while you're here to make sure everything's going well. I assume you two will want a picture of them?"

Sakura nods. "Yeah, that'd be great."

[happyturtle]

Institute of Humanist Studies

"Go ahead, Doctor. I'll stay out here. I don't know why you couldn't have explained things to start with," Professor Bauer says in that 'you young kids can't do anything right' voice that she so often uses.

[OrchestraHc]

[Alyca and Miriah's Car - Justin Should Eat a Well-Balanced Diet]

Dating rules!

"We'll just have to fix that, then, won't we? I know how to cook...sort of."

Alyca smiles confidently as she nods at Justin. I mean come on, how difficult could cooking something be? You just throw a bunch of edible items into an oven and there you go! Could it be more challenging than brewing a poison? No! Therefore, Alyca can totally do it. Totally. ... This is bound to end in tears.

"Go ahead and open the door for me if you'd like. Just remember that we're going dutch. There's absolutely no good reason for you to spend money on my obnoxious sister."

"Hey! I resent that though I may very well resemble that!"

Miriah chuckles from the outside of the car where she can easily bolt if Justin death stares her again...

[Alyca and Miriah's Car - 16 Years of Soybeans = Right to Eat What You Want]

He eats the four food groups: Sugar, Caffeine, Salt, and Fat. What a growing boy needs.

"Hmm..." That sort of left some room for doubt. The Applehills advice on cooking for his girlfriend might be useful. This is good motivation to learn if nothing else.

"Alright," Justin says as he leaves the car. Walking around the front he pulls on the handle and opens the door. "Madam." He says in a dignified manner, probably the first dignified thing he's done all evening, and offers his hand for the young lady to take