[Nexus] Inside 48

[FireFox]

[Blue Zone]

So what are you doing here anyhow? Toby jumps right into her business with an authoritative tone.

[The Bushranger]

[Blue Zone]

"Trying to find work," Lucy retorts, pulling herself up to her full height...which is probably a little shorter than Toby. "What are you doing here?"

[FireFox]

[Blue Zone]

Tobias looks her over, then raises an eyebrow as he jumps to conclusions. Is prostitution legal in this city?

[The Bushranger]

[Blue Zone]

That gets a roll of the eyes as Lucy waves to the twin katanas strapped Deadpool-style on the back of her fully covering, if tight, black top.
"Fiftee dolla, I keel you," she drawls.

[FireFox]

[Blue Zone]

What is mercenary work if not selling skills and talents instead of bodies?

[The Bushranger]

[Blue Zone]

"...you might have a point."
Lucy's expression betrays her expression at her countersalvo having been parried.
"But you still haven't said what brings you to this wreched hive of scum and villiany."
And she crosses her arms beneath her chest...

[FireFox]

[Blue Zone]

This isn't the Red Zone here. He looks around at the very clean streets. I had an important appointment here, not that it's any of your business.

[The Bushranger]

[Blue Zone]

"I said the wreched hive of scum and villiany, not the death zone," Lucy observes. "And it's just as much business of mine as my business is of yours."

She pauses.

"So there!"

[Gullara]

Generic Street

"No thanks are needed," Imesah says, giving an equally warm smile. If the woman can sense divine aura's, she might be able to tell that Imesah is an Aasimar.

Then another woman stumbles over the homeless woman, and Imesah is a little surprised at it. She narrows her eyes a bit. "You should be more careful."

[Generic Street]

The cloaked woman flushes red, and gathers herself off the ground. She bows slightly, and says, in a soft voice. "My apologies. I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings..."

She glances almost reflexively in the direction that she came from, and releases a shuddering breath. "...it seems my pursuers have left for now. Not to say they won't come back..."

Giving a sheepish look to both the one she tripped over, she reaches into her cloak and pulls out a smaller coin bag, placing it on the ground. She grins. "Hey, it's the least I could do for tripping over you."

[Generic Street]

"Oh, thank you." The woman gives a hesitant smile. "Don't worry about tripping over me. Most people would have kept walking, or shouted at or kicked me." She chuckles, though it's a grim sound. She at least seems to be in good humor, despite her situation.

[Devixer]

Generic Street

Imesah does not chuckle with the young woman. In fact, she looks a little irritated that someone would kick her for seemingly no reason. "People need to respect those less fortunate than them."

[happyturtle]

Ice Skating Rink

Spoiler

Show

Ice Skating Rink



"I've rode a bicycle with schools of three-legged fish across the Sea of Delirium. Driven a submarine through skies of chaos, a vessel fueled by the awkward feeling of having mistakenly overtipped a waitress. I've shed my flesh and joined with the Infinite March of Skeletons. To skate across frozen water is nothing, madam, it is the simplest of-"

Needs Food Badly attempts to skate. He spends about a second in midair, his legs whipping about against the ground in a panicked attempt to stabilize himself, which promptly fails and causes him to fall facefirst onto the ground.

"...I, err, I definitely meant to do that."

Needs' cheeks go red, but whether that's because of his face getting cold, the embarrassment of having fallen so gracelessly, or because there are red goo monsters swimming around underneath his flesh, well...that's anybody's guess.

Tracey braces herself and tries to help Needs up. "You need to keep your feet under you, and if you feel you're starting to fall, skate faster." Honestly, I have no idea if that's good advice. I don't skate.

---

1

Institute of Humanist Studies

Spoiler

Show

[Institute of Humanist Studies]

Progress is rapid. It takes very little time for the drones to start taking everything apart and bringing it up out of the lab, placing it to one side.

"Indeed, I am aware of the situation. My concern for the security of my workers made me forget that my actions could be misinterpreted. They'll be moving in the new equipment soon, by the looks of things."

Timeskip?

[blackouttwo]

Warwick Works

Willow drapes her arms over his shoulders. "And all this time, I thought you were a bad boy." she says with a smirk.

"Yeah, I'll bet you did." Arthur's attitude shifts from getting all thoughtful and introspective to genuine anger. He reaches up and slowly removes Willow's arm from his shoulders, glaring into Willow's eyes. His expression softens after just a second, and he looks away, shame filling his features quickly. "I...I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. It's just that I've been taking my new outlook on the situation a little seriously..."

[Earl of Purple]

Cave of Being

"If the sword is evil and he is not, then perhaps he's a captured innocent used to bait cultists and demonologists and such that might want to free a demon into keeping the demon bound." Kind of like what the Wizard and Mrs. Bloodplunder are up to.

Cave of Being
Gabriel is still waiting for his freedom...
It's all he can really do at this point.
"What are you waiting for? Free me already!"

Cave of Being

Yes, m'lord, only one moment more. The Wizard says to Gabriel, before turning back to speak with Mrs. Bloodplunder. I think we must free him then. I can't leave an innocent to suffer at some demon's hands. It's not a decision he's altogether happy with, but it's the only one he can see that doesn't condemn someone to an eternity of torture.

"I am ready to whack him if we are mistaken, do not worry. I'll try and prevent you from going 'squish'." Because everyone knows wizards are squishy.

[Mindfreak]

Sewers
"No."
From what she remembered, she was tasked with eradicating them. Not capturing them.
And so, she proceeds to fly at the one on the ceiling, bringing back her fist in preparation of slamming it into the arms. Her knuckles have silver on them, so she's expecting the punch she's attempting will be effective.

---

Cave of Being
Gabriel waits.

[Murkus]

[Lots of Hope Hospital]

"Um..." Sakura doesn't seem to enjoy that same thought. Driving just seems nerve wracking, to say the least. "You can probably just handle it. You're the expert after all."

"Okay," Adir says, undeterred. "Well, how about some shopping then?" Which may or may not be handwaved. Up to you.

[Fresh Outta Humor in the Red Zone]

Prosit. Taking the vial with a nod of thanks to Ashely, Wrath raises it in toast then swallows down the potion in a single gulp. He grimaces a little as it begins knitting the severed muscle and flesh back together- It's not a painful sensation, but not altogether pleasant either.

So, uh... You're an android, then? He asks Kailee, managing an almost conversational tone in his attempts to avoid offending her. Not that he's sure why she might be offended. Only that it's the sort of thing that people tend to get offended about.

Out of Jokes About the Red Zone

"Potions are liquids that have magical effects brewed into them." Ashley digs out a small vial containing a red liquid and walks over to Wrath to hand it over. "Drink this, it should get you on your feet." Should he do so, the potion will act as a fairly standard healing potion.

"That's amazing," Kailee says, squatting down to watch it work with a clinically blank expression. She'll reach out to touch the spot where Wrath's cut used to be, once the potion's work is done. Escorts have this... issue with personal space. "No nanites. Just... red liquid."

When Wrath poses his question, Kailee stands up again. "If by android you mean 'robot that looks like a person', then no. I'm human. I just run on batteries." She seems to be entirely serious.

[Devixer]

Never any Jokes in the Red Zone

"Well, are a lot of different ingredients in there that give it its effects," Ashley says. She doesn't think her potions are that amazing, but she's used to them.

She lets Kailee and Wrath talk about the Escort's being human. She doesn't have much to add to it, knowing less than nothing about robots.

[Rebonack]

Adventrue Park

"True, but... man, I wish I had a flashlight or something." She continues to peer into the cave. Someone is going to have to go in first, and Gerri isn't going to do that. On the other hand, she isn't going to ask rick to go in first.

Even though Rick is the one with the sword and shield and and has at the least good combat instincts or at best some prior training.

"Hey Myrrh?" Rick calls out in a commanding tone.

"Nyar?" the lizard replies, glancing down from his perch curiously.

"Can you still do that thing where you glow?"

"Yes! That is a thing for am which doing!"

The critter hops from the rock face and the seal on his forhead begins to glow with soft white light. Along with the matching seal on Rick's hand! Woooo!

Who needs a flashlight?

[Gullara]

[Lots of Hope Hospital]

Sure, might as well play it out. For a bit of it at least.

"That's probably a good plan. Better do it before I get too big to move." Sakura laughs. Cessie managed well enough, but she still wonders how much of an effect carrying twins will have.

"Mallside then? We'll have to get a mountain of toys I think. And two cribs... It's a good thing we have the truck."

[Morcleon]

Spoiler

Show

[Generic Street]

"Oh, thank you." The woman gives a hesitant smile. "Don't worry about tripping over me. Most people would have kept walking, or shouted at or kicked me." She chuckles, though it's a grim sound. She at least seems to be in good humor, despite her situation.

Generic Street

Imesah does not chuckle with the young woman. In fact, she looks a little irritated that someone would kick her for seemingly no reason. "People need to respect those less fortunate than them."

[Generic Street]

Nodding, the cloaked woman sighs. "Some people are just selfish." She plops down beside the woman on the ground, and extends a hand in greeting. "Suppose I should introduce myself. I'm Kagamine Hi- ah, Kagamine Sayuri."

Spoiler

Show

Sewers
"No."
From what she remembered, she was tasked with eradicating them. Not capturing them.
And so, she proceeds to fly at the one on the ceiling, bringing back her fist in preparation of slamming it into the arms. Her knuckles have silver on them, so she's expecting the punch she's attempting will be effective.

[Sewers]

Yuki blinks, then sighs. "Well, I'll have to do that then..."

He continues with his previously stated attempt at a preemptive strike.

[Gullara]

[Generic Street]

The woman runs a hand through her hair hair, dislodging some wispy grey dust. The other two will briefly be able to see the ragged looking notch on the outside of her right ear. "Yeah, they're real bastards alright." She rubs her leg at the thought.

"Ignai Innominata is my name." When she takes Kagamine's hand, the other woman might notice that her skin is unusually hot to the touch.

[ThirdEmperor]

No Joking Matter in the Red Zone

Wrath's obviously a little uncomfortable with Kailee poking at him, but he doesn't bring it up just now. She's got worse problems than not respecting personal space. "Okay, uhm... Not an android. Still, theee Elexxion guys are looking for you. Not good." To put it lightly. As a resident of the Red Zone, he's had a first-class seat to Elexxion's rise. Those people have scary amounts of power.

"Why?" Cautiously, Wrath tries standing, putting as little weight on the previously-injured leg as possible. To the vigilante's pleasant surprise there's no stab of pain and he doesn't collapse again. He shifts a little more of his weight onto it. Still nothing. Healed. "I mean... It's your business. But I want to help and I'm not sure if I can, without knowing why they're after you."

[Lost_Deep]

Adventrue Park

"Useful. Okay, lead the way, Myrrh." Gerri will step into the cave after Myrrh, cautious but not cowardly.

Not about this, anyway. The whole reason she got lost in the park is because she was too busy not thinking about pressing issues in her life. Issues that she really should be dealing with right now.

But she's not cowardly about the cave. Only cautious.

[Halae]

"Yeah, that's another big question. Tons of theories. Some think that this is a place that catches things that fall out of other realities, like a safety net, or that it's a place that's actively combating stagnancy by constantly pulling in new things, or it's the result of the There Is No Fiction theory and gratuitous crossover fanfics... really, it depends on who you ask and what they think of the multiverse."

[The Road]

H scratches his chin for a moment, possibly bringing notice to some albino facial hair that Kate might not have noticed, given its light color, "Is it possible that non are truly incorrect? If nothing is fiction, then theoretically, everything a person assumes or theorizes is true."

Well, he's jumped straight into philosophy now, hasn't he?

[Lost_Deep]

The Road

"That is possible, but what I was referring to by "There is no fiction" is that every work thought of as fiction in one reality is true somewhere else in the multiverse. Because in an infinite amount of different realities, no matter how unlikely a thing is it has happened, and even happened an infinite number of times."

"Anyway, it is possible that all of them are correct simultaneously, I think, due to the fact that the powers in question are probably powerful enough that an omniquantic view is viable."

Oh snap, Kate isn't fazed at all by the philosophy. How deep down the rabbit hole do you want to go, summoner?

[Halae]

[The Road]

"That would suggest that, technically, while I'm here, I'm also where I was, in many, many iterations of the location of 'where I was', all of which may be minutely different. Even so much as a blade of grass tilting a different way may have been enough for that version of myself to not have dropped into this world."

"This, of course, begs the question of where this stands in theCosmology of the universe. If it 'catches' what falls out of other worlds, theoretically, it's where everything lands, below the rest. alternately, it's like a drain, and everything swirls towards the center."

It seems he put on an excavation helmet just for that rabbit hole. Let's see how far it goes then.

[Devixer]

Generic Street

Imesah removes her helmet, revealing her full face and black hair. She does notice the notch Ignai's ear, but doesn't bring it up. "I am Imesah Zhirov," she says while lowering the helmet to the ground.

[Lost_Deep]

The Road

"Well, we have to keep in mind that we're dealing with transrealital physics, not just astrological or planar. We don't know just what kind of comparisons we can make and still have them be accurate. We can probably guess at the complexity by extrapolating up from what we know."

"Let me think. Assuming your home universe uses some kind of planar system, in which there is a material plane and there are other planes where outsiders live, we can extrapolate up using degrees of separation. We'll use planar separation as zero, that would make timeline separation one, universal separation two, and realital separation three. Assuming that's how a particular reality is tiered, anyway."

"Oh, functional definitions. In this case, I'm calling a timeline something with the same beginning or source but differentiated by the actions or events they contain. Universes have different sources, but follow the same overarching ruleset. Realities are a collection of universes that follow the same rules. That sound about right?"

Kate... Kate... you've thought this through before. It's turtles all the way down, Kate!

[Halae]

[The Road]

"My world only operates on three... planes. We have Gaia, the world of humans, the spirit world, and the Flow of Souls, where the dead go. The beings I commune with come from the spirit world. Regardless, this sounds like an accurate assessment of some temporal philosophy I've heard. you wouldn't happen to be a student of such teachings, would you?" The summoner quirks an eyebrow.

[Lost_Deep]

The Road

"No, I'm just a nerd."

...

"Ah, that is I read a lot of odd stories, and as a result I've thought about this before. With being pulled into the nexus especially, I've had plenty of reason to think about it."

[Halae]

[The Road]

"Ah, yes, I was about to ask. normally we call people like you Scholars, however, even if it's informal. Not many people I know of can quote so much theory back to me."

"... And I've just realized, I've never given you my name. Hadlin, of Yehuda."