[Nexus] AMEN XLV: The Zoo

[happyturtle]

Ilphy's Room with Darcy

Ilpholin was just getting done with how glad she is Darcy decided to share herself with Ilpholin too.
But those words are surely a sudden and clear mood change to the atmosphere.
"... What did you do Darcy?"

Darcy shrinks into herself. "I didn't come here to spy for Watchtower again, but I'm still a member. Darkcomet called."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholin's Office - Zefir]

"Technically I thought they won't explode. They just release the plague and leave. We could use the sewer for that purpose."

[Ilpholin's Office - Zefir]

Sorry. Thought I replied to this. Had one in my head and everything.

"I didn't expect them to explode. Sewers would keep them out of sight, certainly. Not the ideal place to spread around spores though." She'll call it plan B.

Ilpholin's Room

"I'm fairly certain, yes. I have Cin for nude groping sessions, I wouldn't think of wasting your valuable time with them when we're in the midst of planning something so important. Now, once you begin to feel your skin heat up you should bathe and drink something to wash away the excess vaccine. Then you'll be fully inoculated." Shayan heads to the bathroom to rinse her own hands thoroughly after that, but is soon back.

"Are there any direct questions you have for me before I give you my general status report?"

Ilpholin's Room - Shayan

"I'd never call groping a waste of time, but otherwise, no. No questions yet." She'd prefer to hear the report first anyways before asking questions.

Ilphy's Room - Darcy

Ilpholin props herself up, sitting up and becoming more tense with each word. "So? I'm still a Watchtower member too. Tell me he didn't mentally force himself on you. I'll kill him if he did."

[happyturtle]

Ilphy's Room - Darcy

"No! Of course he didn't!" Darcy protests. "But he asked what AMEN was up to. And... I told him please don't be mad."

[Lord Magtok]

MagChamber

Spoiler

Show

[MagChamber]

Wow!

That actually worked? That actually worked! That's more than Clarissa could have asked for! That's not her entire backstory either. She also took over an underworld and subjugated most of the demons living there forcing it to run like a corporation dealing in souls, but that's neither here nor there.

Clarissa immediately squeaks "Okay." after hearing Magtok's proposal. She's still crying a little, but that'll be done and over with soon enough. She attempts to offer Magtok her right hand so that they can shake on it and finalize their verbal treaty of mutual nonaggression.

Oh gods, don't tell him any of that. He's already groaning on the inside, rolling his eyes over what he considers a pompous, preposterous world-building story. Of course she's the tragic fallen princess, of course she's also the creator goddess, but if she also turned out to be a CEO of souls I think he'd be bashing his head against his desk hard enough to knock himself out.

"Alright, there. You can leave all of the stuff you've dropped in here, though. And if Becky's waiting outside the door for a chance to do the same you can tell her to just give up and get lost; she's a silly, helpless kitten trying to pass itself off as a tough alley cat in a pit of sharks, and no amount of tragic backstory's ever gonna change that." Magtok offers his hand in return, but the handshake's pretty limp. I think he's still very much stuck on the 'begrudging' half of this whole 'begrudging acceptance' thing.

[Zefir]

[Ilpholin's Office - Zefir]

"The sewer is more the way to get them in. I could place them under sewer cover in the more busy zones. Befor they know what it is, they got contaminated."

[Earl of Purple]

Corridors

"I don't think so. The Sinful Heart I met wasn't a biped- he was a pegasus pony. Plus, I might have accidently bucked him into the machinery of a cloud factory." OK. Maybe she isn't making it up. "I don't think the base likes me. I've been searching for what feels like days, and I still haven't found. Haven't seen anyone but you, either, besides the door flower and that biped in the makeup." Meaning the clown with the latter and Stu with the former.

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholin's Office - Zefir]

"Well I'll let you know. Anything else?"

Ilphy's Room - Darcy

"... Or he brainwashed you after he 'asked you'. It's ok Darcy, it's not your fault. He just... got in your head." Ilpholin says, getting up and getting her clothes. By the tenseness of her body and jerkiness of her movements, it's pretty clear she's still mad.
Very mad.

[BladeofObliviom]

Corridors

"Like I said, I've been to some very interesting parties."

And he leaves it at that. Anyway...

"Alright, if that's a problem, why don't we try the express route?"

...Oh look, Cyrus uses his overly flashy hellfire-portation, trying to go straight to the entrance of Nephrim's room. Blood Rain might be dragged along too, unless she suddenly jumps away or resists or something.

Oh, and when he comes out he's a pony too. Shapeshifting is apparently present in Cyrus' list of spells. Either that or Blood Rain's hallucinating.

[Earl of Purple]

Corridor --> Nephrim's Room

"I will never get used to teleportation." That's when Blood Rain turns to look at her companion. "Maybe it was you, after all." Though I don't know what kind of pony Sinful Heart is, nor his colouration or cutie mark. If he even has one of those, though the lack of one will likely get noticed rather quickly as her eyes drift steadily flankwards.

Unfortunately, Nephrim's currently in the Gym, watching Dam'Bul practice his swordplay.

[BladeofObliviom]

Nephrim's Room

Oh, right. Total lack of actual description. Probably should do something about that. Let's go with pegasus, since he modeled the form off of one, and the dweomer of the magic would probably have left him with a deep burgundy-to-almost-black coat. Spooooky.

No cutie mark though, since he either didn't notice hers or assumed it was some kind of tattoo and not a vital part of pony puberty identity.

"Hm. I'm not sure he/she/whatever is here. Do you want to come back later, maybe? Check somewhere else? Break in?"

[Zefir]

[Ilpholin's Office - Zefir]

"No, I have said all I wanted."

He stands up, waiting a moment to see if she has anything to add.

[happyturtle]

Ilphy's Room - Darcy

"... Or he brainwashed you after he 'asked you'. It's ok Darcy, it's not your fault. He just... got in your head." Ilpholin says, getting up and getting her clothes. By the tenseness of her body and jerkiness of her movements, it's pretty clear she's still mad.
Very mad.

"What?! No he didn't! I told him because I'm a Watchtower member and what you're doing to Riverside is exactly the sort of thing Watchtower is set up to fight!" Darcy says. Now she's mad too.

[ThirdEmperor]

Shayan's Lab

"Mmmkay.."

-> Main Room

A few minutes later an incredibly fat clown wanders in, looking around for some henchmen or other grunt work types. "Hello? Some lady wants me to asseme a dunk tank, so I'll be needing some help, hmm?"

[Slii Arhem]

Shayan's Lab

"Mmmkay.."

-> Main Room

A few minutes later an incredibly fat clown wanders in, looking around for some henchmen or other grunt work types. "Hello? Some lady wants me to asseme a dunk tank, so I'll be needing some help, hmm?"

Main Room

Some henchmen, more afraid of being eaten by the clown if they disobey than they are intelligent, will wander from their various places in the Main Room to help set up the tank.

It isn't long before Shayan wanders in though, freshly showered and sprayed with sterilizing acid and changed into a fresh set of clothes.

She also has a bag with contents that clack together held in one of her spare vines, presumably full of the clown's payment.

[Ilpholin's Office - Zefir]

Sorry. Thought I replied to this. Had one in my head and everything.

"I didn't expect them to explode. Sewers would keep them out of sight, certainly. Not the ideal place to spread around spores though." She'll call it plan B.



Ilpholin's Room - Shayan

"I'd never call groping a waste of time, but otherwise, no. No questions yet." She'd prefer to hear the report first anyways before asking questions.

Ilphy's Room - Darcy

Ilpholin props herself up, sitting up and becoming more tense with each word. "So? I'm still a Watchtower member too. Tell me he didn't mentally force himself on you. I'll kill him if he did."

Ilpholin's Room - Shayan

"The general report is that the spores are ready and I've come up with a more time efficient way of inoculating the rest of AMEN that's waiting on some specialized equipment I had the Cat Burglar order. So long as Isabelle's delivery system is ready and Magtok's pharmacy has had sufficient time to establish its legitimacy, I should see no trouble in starting the operation as soon as everyone involved is properly vaccinated."

[Earl of Purple]

Corridors

Blood Rain's eyes are drifting along Sinful Heart, but when they reach his blank flank she shudders and wrenches her eyes away. "Well, I think I'm also supposed to meet the leader of this organisation, and they might have a better idea as to where we should look. Also, please do something about your flank. It's... Unnerving."

[Reinholdt]

[Ilpholin's Office - Zefir]

"Alright, thank you. I'll see to your room thing." Ilpholin says as the door opens for him.

Ilpholin's Room - Shayan

"Good to hear, though I have a few more details to wrap up." Primarily making sure Cat Burglar got those warehouses, getting them filled with some raw materials, checking on Magtok's portal plan, and talking to Becky about sneaking squirrels into riverside through the shadows. Shouldn't be lengthy though.

Ilphy's Room - Darcy

"And that makes it so much better! I told Watch, I told them straight up when coming here that I wasn't going to castrate AMEN. I refuse to become another Gordon trying to keep this place idle and getting myself killed in the process!"

Ilpholin jams her boots back on and snatches up her whip. "Do you even remember AMEN's contingency plan Darcy? DO YOU?!" She starts barreling for the door, clearly intending to leave. "Too much resistance and it's all out pointless bloodsport and devastation! ALL BECAUSE OF SOME SHORT-SIGHTED FOOLS!!"

Unless Darcy's gotten in the way at this point or otherwise intends to interfere, Ilpholin will be exiting her room, closing the door with a rather loud slam.

[The Bushranger]

Poor Darcy and Ilpholin.


...Becky meanwhile is in ur base, out on one of the totally not railless-death-platforms overlooking the valcano.

[Ashen Lilies]

And sneaking up behind her... is Kal!
Hmmm.... maybe if I got behind her and *pushed*... nah, better not.
Instead he settles for standing just behind her, like so, and then saying at the top of his voice:
"Hi Becky!"
In the most chipper and innocent sounding manner he can! And if she jumps off the valcano edge in fright, well, he can hardly be blamed for that, right?

[The Bushranger]

Kal?
Sneaky?
Who is this and what has him/her/it done with Kal?

...oh, now shouting. It really IS Kal!

And Becky does indeed jump!
In place.
Not forwards. No doubt to the dissapointment of Kal and any number of henchies watching on the security cameras and placing bets.
Teal just put 50 X-Bucks on seduction...

"...oh, hello, Kal. Not long enough, no see," Becky declares, turning to face the devil (which may or may not be to his dissapointment) with a smirk on her face. [color=darkred]"Do that behind Magtok next time, will ya?"[color]

[Ashen Lilies]

Kal is perfectly sneaky, I'll have you know. He is an assassin after all. It's kinda a required trait.

"Do what?" Says Kal, putting on his best innocent look. Which is... surprisingly good. It's a good seduction tool. And assassination tool. He leans forwards, already being uncomfortable close, putting his face about an inch from Becky's.
"So, have you betrayed AMEN recently?"

[The Bushranger]

But did Kal fail the camoflauge course at assassin school with a perfect nonattendance record?

"Sure have." Becky's smirk doesn't flinch a bit at Kal's suave closeness and innocent airs. "Have you? Better try and keep up! I hear it's all the rage these days, you haven't arrived until you've arranged a good betrayal, you know?" The shadowmancer chuckles. And sticks her tongue out at her Infernal verbal sparring partner.

[The Alexandrian]

[MagChamber]

It was a sound business strategy! Her last gig went belly up so she diversified so she'd have something to fall back on in the future just in case! Regardless, that reaction wouldn't be too bad compared to what he did last time.

It is a wonder that Magtok miraculously manages to remain relatively sane despite putting up with all of the overwhelming, crazy shenanigans he does on a daily basis (from where I stand, at the very least).

Clarissa can't help but chuckle and smile at the analogy Magtok draws between kittens and Becky. She agrees with it wholeheartedly due to a dozen comparisons she thinks up off-the-cuff loosely associated with Becky, curtains, and the altogether unique behavior of cats. But she'd hardly call this org a pit of sharks, even if she won't bring it up because she doesn't want to risk upsetting Magtok ever again. A division of nerds geeking out and tinkering with weird experiments between WoW raids, a master thief that relieves abusive owners of their pets, and a pervy potted plant on legs aren't even as threatening as a bowl of cereal, much less a bowl of living, overgrown seafood with bad teeth.

"Thanks. And don't worry! I don't even think Becky knows I'm doing this, and even if she did, she has this strange trait about hating on anything that's male without good reason so she probably wouldn't follow my example on this anyway."

Clarissa turns around and takes three steps toward the door before stopping dead in her tracks and cautiously addressing Magtok.

"Um..."

"If it isn't too much to ask, could you please do me a small favor before I go? You see, one of my daughters is a big fan of your's and she's been asking me all week if I could get your autograph for her. If you'd be so kind as to sign, like, a piece of paper or something, please, and slip it under my door when you're passing by my room when you're not busy, I'd be much obliged."

[Ashen Lilies]

"Naaaah. I'd betray us all over the bloody place, but, you know responsibility." Kal rolls his eyes, then turns abruptly and takes a few steps away, examining his fingernails as he turns slightly back to converse with Becky.
"Rooting out traitors, weeding out spies, all that boring stuff. Terribly dull business. I mean, have you seen the average AMENite? Most of them couldn't betray themselves out of a wet paper bag."
He sighs dramatically.

[The Bushranger]

"I'd like to think the average IQ here went up about 10 points or more when we kicked out some of the riff-raff awhile back, but I see your point," Becky agrees, walking over to lean against a convienent wall, arms crossed. "And there's simply no sense of style. Whatever happened to the sudden but inevitable betrayal? Kids these days, no respect for tradition!"

...Becky, you're one of the kids here.
"Shut up."
...shutting up. F.W.M.U. dispatched.

[Ashen Lilies]

"Hmm... yes." Says Kal, in the tone of one suddenly not caring.
"Well, I should go ask the rest of the members whether they've betrayed AMEN or not. Won't that be fun."

Um... Kal? I think there are probably better ways of gathering information. I think even Becky knows that, and you don't want to be stupider than her! There are limits to how far this charade can go, man.

[The Bushranger]

"Need somebody to play badass cop to your good guy cop?" Becky asks, raising one eyebrow.
Yup, she knows it.
...she's not going to suggest this fact to Kal, though.
She's wanting to see how deep this rabbit hole goes.
"Or I could fetch some henchie-stuffed doughnuts."

[BladeofObliviom]

Corridors

"What, did I make it the wrong size, or... ...oh, right. Butt tattoo."

Sure, "Sinful." That's about the worst mistake coverup I've seen all day. Seriously, what if you'd been wrong about her concern? That would have just been awkward. Anyway, a slightly cartoony image of a blackened, mummified heart appears in about the right spot, give or take a centimeter or two.

"Oh, Ilpholin's office. That would be... ...this way!", he says, pointing in a random direction and trotting off.

[Ashen Lilies]

...
"I like this plan! Onward!"

And so the devil and his new shadowmancer sidekick are off to find AMENites to annoy interrogate!

[The Bushranger]

Becky, quite pleased at having come up with a Most Cunning Plan, follows BlackadderKal!

[Hattish Thing]

The Main Room

Clegg leaves Ilpholin's office a little bit upset. Too many bad memories of Reinholdt....and that drow woman was bringing them up.mshe was a manipulator....Clegg always knew their kind. Deceptive manipulators. They always fall in the end...

As Clegg thinks these things he notices Kal and Becky walking in. He growls at them both. Oi! Ye pair 'o' living' ones! Where be th' cafeteria! There I' one right'? Eh! He's dripping seaweed and being all undeadish and smelly.