[Nexus] Inside 49

[Rebonack]

[Tenttop?]

Amil gets caught!

And then both she and her savoir begin to descend. Thankfully this gives the jeanstealer enough of a respite to start thinking and sprout her own pair of wings and a nice ruddered tail to help her steer.

The reluctant Tyranid begins beating at the air much more effectively now!

And when the half-dragon robot...moth...? person speaks up it takes a little while for Amil to process the voice.

For a few moments she just looks puzzled. But then a look of recognition slowly creeps across her face. "...Kate...? What happened to you? I thought you were a robot. Or... not a robot. A thing that's like a robot? Uuugh... why do I try to make sense of the Nexus..."

She rubs a hand through her increasingly pink and tendril-like hair. "Right. So it decided to vomit strange all over you. Because when it comes to normal humans it just can't leave well enough alone. Are you alright? Why are there disembodied voices chatting around you? What's-"

Aaaaaaand then she registers all the crazy going on below. "-going on..."

[Lost_Deep]

On Top of a Building, but Still Inside the Tent

"I wasn't ever a robot. I haven't seen you since... I can't remember right now. Was it the masquerade? Anyway, long story short, chaos goddess wand mecha cannon transformer and I think I heard reality rip?"

"I like their paths. How interesting, how nice that they intersect."

"Please tell me you can hear that."

[ThirdEmperor]

Red Zone: Docks, Canneries and Taverns

"Lobster?" The mer stops, looking at Pepperjack with a distinctly annoyed expression, his catfish whiskers twitching with agitation. Either that's slang for something quite unpleasant, or the merkin simply doesn't enjoy being compared to a lobster.

After all, he's clearly a shrimp, not some bottom-feeding, cantankerous crustacean who's highest aspiration is to be boiled alive, slathered in butter and labelled 'gourmet' despite having been served as peasant food for over a century. "You say that why?" Well, okay, he might be a little bit cantankerous. But otherwise, he's nothing like a lobster!

[Rebonack]

[Tent of Chaos]

"Right. Never a robot," Amil echoes and files away those memories in her 'never think of this again' folder.

The jeanstealer seems a bit worried about the whole reality rip thing. She deftly avoids a giant hamster with a hobbit riding in its mouth that suddenly comes tumbling about of the hole in reality.

"Okay. This is pretty terrible. And I doubt it's healthy to stick around here. I don't want any more weird getting shoveled onto me if I can avoid it," Amil says with a slow nod.

Aaaaand then gives Kate a scrutinizing look.

"Hear what?"

Yes. She's messing with Kate now. Amil had mentioned earlier that she could hear the disembodied voices.

[OrchestraHc]

Red Zone: Docks, Canneries and Taverns

Pepperjack holds his gloved hands up in apology. "My apologies. No offense intended. I like to think my education was quite comprehensive, but it has left me without much knowledge of sea-life." Although he has learned numerous fisherman's knots. Quite useful for a garrote-man. "I was merely guessing the maritime elements of your personage. If you aren't a lobster, maybe a shrimp or prawn? Are those different things? But why guess at your species when I can simply ask your name, which would be?"

[Lost_Deep]

Tent of Chaos

"Never a robot, but-ohhh! Look! So then-ooooooh! This place has the best paths!"

"I want to find that green woman now."

Green wom-

"Oh! It may have been Copi. Psychic powers, green hair, talks a lot?"

Kate, you're getting distracted... crud, she's so much pixie right now that she's having trouble keeping track of what's important. I guess that happens when you use pixie dust for rocket propulsion.

[Rebonack]

[Tent of Chaos!]

Green woman...?

Clearly must be referring to a moon princess. There are so totally moon princesses in the Nexus. At least one would think that there are moon princesses in the Nexus. There's certainly everything else.

"Copy?" Amil echoes. "Copy cat. Cute."

Someone has a weird sense of humor.

"Eerr... robot doppelgangers notwithstanding we should probably leave," Amil points out. Once again she dips out of the way lest she get crushed by alot of rocks. The weird looking critter drops head over heels before smashing into the ground far below.

Won't wait for a reply.

Just reaches out to grab Kate by the hand and starts pumping her wings toward the nearest wall of the tent. If push comes to shove she'll just cut a hole through the fabric. Hopefully a psionically empowered blade will be able to hew through the fabric of unreality.

[Lost_Deep]

Chaos Tent

"Not yet!" Kate sets her boots in reverse, effectively nailing herself on the spot. "I met a friend and he's still in here, I should take him with us."

"No no no don't go"

"Please we want to play dress up!"

"What?"

Amil may suddenly fell herself being grabbed by two pairs of hands, which will try to drag her back down to the ground.

"A soul so strong, it will stick to any body!"

"Oh such fun such fun!"

Kate has the holy symbol back out, and looks around to try and figure out where the voices are coming from. She does not want to play dress-up.

[Rebonack]

[Tent of Chaos]

Amil gets grabbed by heaven knows what! She decides that now would be a perfect time to panic. Mostly because she's guessing that the whole 'a soul that sticks to any body' is probably referring to her. Suddenly the idea of 'dress up' sounds horrifying to her.

See, Amil is rather odd. Her Tyranid body holds her memories. And her spirit cloven to that body is her consciousness. If she gets yanked out she'll lose most of her sense of self.

Even worse her body will be just a normal Tyranid. And normal Tyranids are absurdly dangerous.

She had been forming that Bone Saber of hers in case something needed to be cut open. And now the weapon's edge is humming with psionic power as she begins to wildly thrash around at whatever is holding onto her. The weapon's reach can transcend into the Warp, so if these 'voices' happen to be chilling on some nearby plane of existence it might manage to bite into one of them.

Otherwise Amil will just be flailing spastically whilst screaming, "LetmegoLetmegoLetmego!"

[Lost_Deep]

Tent of Chaos

Kate will activate her energy shield and back away from Amil! She doesn't know what exactly it's using, but it's from the 40k verse and it's humming so she REALLY doesn't want to touch it.

Amil, however, will feel the blade cut deep into... something. The grabbing will stop then.

"Oh! It stung me."

"Must remove the stingers first."

"It's so full of stingers!"

"Well, we're going to play dress-up anyway."

One pair of invisible hands will try to grab her shoulders, another will try to press on her chest. If these odd things have their way, Amil's memories and consciousness (despite the fact that it shouldn't work that way) will be suddenly transferred into a new, generic body. Vaguely feminine, and humanoid, but utterly featureless: no face or anything. No wings or blades or the potential to make them, and that nasty tyranid body will be no where to be seen.

[Rebonack]

[Tent of Chaos]

Welp.

Amil just got her body stolen. Which is a shame because she was finally starting to get use to that thing. It had managed to save her life in a few situations and now it's heaven knows where.

As for the spirit? Well. She just got crammed into a new and mostly featureless body. Suffice to say she's terrified again.

And flailing a lot?

Yeah.

Flailing seems like the thing to do.

So she does that.

"What did you do to me?" she wails in a voice not her own despite her current lack of mouth.

[Lost_Deep]

Tent of Chaos

"Amil!"

Kate will rush over to the now-faceless Amil and use her holy symbol to put up a circle of protection around them. Being a priestess (by default) of a protection god has perks, and highly effective wards-

"Beep!"

"Gah!" Kate rubs her nose. "Amil, what did you use to sting them? This magic isn't working."

"It's very pretty! Unlike you. Poor thing, all patchwork and hodgepodge. We must start you from the beginning."

[happyturtle]

Warwick Works

[Warwick Works]

"...Yeah." Arthur just nods quietly holding Willow a little closer when she leans into him. "Yeah, something happened. Several somethings, actually." He doesn't sound happy when he thinks about it, to say the least. Like he's somehow disappointed in himself for some reason. "Listen, enough about my little epiphanies. How was it while I was gone?" And he's quick to change the subject.

"Mostly uni. I'm just back for the holidays. But university is great! I tested out of most of the boring humanities crap, and the science courses are actually challenging!" Willow says.

---

1

Ice Rink

Needs shakes his head, and tosses a fish over his shoulder. The child should forget there were ever any lines at all, regardless of where the flounder lands. Anyone who tries to eat the flounder will never know happiness ever again, though.

"The King in Yellow. The one who causes bad things if you say his name three times. Starts with an English 'H', and a ₴₮₳₤₧₦ian '₪' That one."

A whatian what now? I don't even know how to pronounce those characters, let alone what they mean!

"Or at least, one of him died there. Nexus likes some people more than others, and makes extras. Lots of Deaths, Cthulhus, Tobiases, and so on."

"I'm glad it doesn't like me. I prefer to be the only Tracey Elton around," Tracey says.

Just then, another tall redhead in stylish clothes skates by effortlessly and gives a friendly wave. "Hi Tracey!"

Tracey glares. "Ignore her. It's Stacey Shelton. Definitely not another me."

[Rebonack]

[Tent of Chaos]

"My bone saber, it can cut across dimensional boundaries!" Amil calls back as she continues to struggle against the invisible limbs hanging onto her. "But I can't make it without my body and these things just stole my body!"

Amil doesn't sounds very happy about this.

To be fair it is totally understandable.

This is the second time now that her body has been taken from her and she's been shoved into a new one.

Hmmm... Wonder if any of her abilities have carried over? The Tyranids are creatures of biology, soullessly drawing power from the Warp without danger or repercussion. But a few of Amil's abilities were based firmly on the magic of the Nexus instead.

Hmmm... "I'm going to try something!"

Amil does her best to focus her mind and then reaches inward. Should all go well the featureless humanoid will suddenly wink out of existence as she jaunts onto the Ethereal plane.

[Lost_Deep]

Tent of Chaos

"Dimensional boundaries? I wouldn't be surprised if-AAAH!"

Kate then is reduced to a faceless generic female herself. She reflexively covers up, since the voices took her clothes, too. Not that it matters; she doesn't have details.

As for trying to jaunt to the ethereal plane, it almost works. Unfortunately, one of the voices presumably intercepts Amil or something, because she is pushed back into the material plane.

"Ohh, don't go anywhere. We need to make you beautiful!"

"Yeah! You'll be so pretty when we're done!"

"What should be do first?"

[Rebonack]

[Tent of Chaos]

Well.

That's certainly a problem. Yes sir, it certainly is! Amil isn't too pleased about getting held in place. Nor is she too happy about, "KATE!" getting blanked as well.

She begins to struggle and strain against whatever it is that's holding her.

It hasn't dawned on her just yet that she can still remember who she is despite having been stuck into a new body. Before she was nothing more than a wisp, a naked spirit. All her memories had been recorded in the brain of that Tyranid body. And those memories shouldn't be with her anymore.

Which means... She's been upgraded to a specter? That's actually a good thing! But Amil really doesn't have the presence of mind at the moment to contemplate that.

"Let us go!" she hisses at the unseen assailants. "Give us our bodies back and leave us alone!"

[Lost_Deep]

Tent of Chaos

Kate tries to switch to her spare, normal body... but is similarly blocked. Whatever these things are, they can push from most every angle that exists.

"How will we shape them? Should we give strong shapes? Or small shapes? Oh, I saw some of the thin reading things! Some think that this is pretty!"

Amil should then feel hands, pushing on her, shaping her like clay. The voice will work to make her thinner, thinner... into the impossibly, unhealthily thin figure of a supermodel. Alas, flailing would not distract the sculptor, there will be no difference in how it feels or what happens.

Kate watches this in horror.

"She looks like sticks. Like a tarp on sticks."

((godmod permission was given to me, due to the nature of the situation.))

[KerfuffleMach2]

Outside DFI

Krystal walks out of the building, then turns and waits for her new companion to join her.

So, what do you want to do now, Lady?

[Rebonack]

[Tent of Chaos]

Has Amil stopped flailing yet?

Nope.

Absolutely not.

Though she does give a wheeze of discomfort at the sensation of being sculpted like a lump of putty. This is an altogether horrible experience.

"Uugh... I feel sick..." she mutters, her wriggling slowing down a bit. Technically she could probably just straight up abandon her body right now. Specters aren't exactly tied down by a physical form after all. But as mentioned previously she isn't aware that this has happened to her as of yet.

[blackouttwo]

Warwick Works

"Mostly uni. I'm just back for the holidays. But university is great! I tested out of most of the boring humanities crap, and the science courses are actually challenging!" Willow says.

Arthur smiles a little and reaches down to take Willow's hand, giving it a light squeeze. "Good for you. Gods know you needed a challenge."

[Lost_Deep]

Tent of Chaos

"I think that it's a better idea to make them look like they are healthy."

"Ack!" Kate begins to flail as she suddenly gains a lot of height, becoming six foot four.

"Muscles!"

"Amil, run! We have to try," Kate says as she starts to gain muscle mass. She begins running toward the fire escape... and is caught, like she's hit a net. This doesn't stop whatever is shaping her, and she quickly begins to look like a caricature of a bodybuilder.

"No! That's not beautiful! It's just freaky."

"You're right." Kate will seem to deflate, and Amil will inflate, back to their original bland proportions.

"We need some references, so that we have an idea what to do."

"Yeah. We'll be right back, jewels!"

[Rebonack]

[Tent of Chaos]

Well.

At least Amil doesn't feel sick anymore.

Just generally weird from being treated like play dough. These creatures don't seem to be malevolent. They're just... well. They don't seem to know any better. Amil has run into powerful beings like that before. And it is generally a wise plan to give them LOTS of space.

And hope they set their attention on someone else.

Amil falls to her knees and begins panting despite her current lack of mouth. With the... things... currently gone it gives her a brief respite to think.

What does she realize you ask?

"I can still remember who I am."

That.

"I shouldn't have my memories. They took my body. So that means..." on a whim Amil once again focuses on the feeling of slipping into the world of spirits, but this time she doesn't try to take her body with her. Should all go well she'll abandon the blank and it'll drop to the ground like a puppet with cut strings.

[Halae]

[Chaos and Musicals]

The King in Yellow rubs his creepy plastic beard as the summoner ponders. Then reaches out, grabs the man's previously invisible thought bubble, and stretches it out like a scroll.

"Let's see here... typical misgivings... Comparing me to whatever cute little things inhabit his world... Oh! So you're worried about the whole servitude thing are you?" the King then yanks the bottom of the thought bubble, causing it to quickly roll up and begin flapping like a hastily pulled window blind.

He then casually tosses it over his shoulder. It lands somewhere off screen and explodes in a shower of tires. One of the flaming wheels goes rolling past which The King pays no heed.

"Next month will work just fine-" a snap of the fingers and a huge novelty Dilbert day calender appears above Hadlin before shedding a month's worth of comics on top of him. "Now listen up mortal and I'll tell you how I play The Game. The nonsense with the Yellow Sign is just that, nonsense. Everyone expects that sort of thing from a being like me so who am I to argue?"

There comes a loud buzzer sound as a red felt X is super-imposed over the Yellow Sign brand.

"No contract," the King transforms into a massive paper shredder and grinds up a big fancy looking legal document. "No servitude," the hitherto unnoticed shackles on Hadlin's wrists pop off. "You just say 'Hastur' three times and then speak aloud whatever your wish is. If I find your request suitably amusing then I'll grant it. Truly it is the epitome of simplicity!"

The King slides up along side the summoner and moves to prod him a few times with his elbow in a cajoling fashion. "So come on, buddy. Waddaya say? Have some fun! Stir up some chaos! Request the impossible! And I'll see what I can do."

[Chaos And Musicals]

Reading his thoughts like that? That's somewhat intimidating. On the whole, the deal was starting to sound more like a pact, something Hadlin was definitely more used to. Despite this, there's still one thing he has to ask.

"I can't really expect something for nothing. What do I need to do to uphold my end of the bargain?"

[Morcleon]

Spoiler

Show

[Generic Street]

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Ignai is reassured at all by this sudden shift. The Nexus is a weird and often dangerous place, so people, especially those in her position, need to know when to make a swift exit. The woman turns around, and without delaying any further, she starts swiftly walking away.

Generic Street

Judging from the fact that Imesah has not put away her talisman yet, she doesn't seem convinced that this sudden shift is a good thing either. She bends down to pick up her helmet and put it on her head. "You keep away," she says before turning and walking away, with Ignai if allowed.

[Generic Street]

As the now brown-eyed woman stares at two complete strangers simply rejecting her, she slumps down on the street. After a second, her voice sounds out along the almost-empty street, seeming to glow with a force intrinsically compelling you to answer. "...why? Is it because of what I am that you run from me? Tell me, why?"

Spoiler

Show

Sewers - Red Zone

Well, isn't this an interesting little situation.

On one side, we have a Black Creation...thing performing a controlled detonation and caving in one half of the Hunters' directional options.
There's an ominous rumbling in the ceiling above, as this portion of the sewer's structural integrity is threatened.

One another we have Yuki charging directly at a mass of of claws, tails, and carapace wielding two blunt pseudopods and a scalpel.

About halfway towards his target, the entire mass leaps out of the wall to meet him, several times his size and apparently completely unconcerned by the prospect of being cut by the puny medical implement.
Surely their impact will be pleasant, no? If you ignore all the weight, the claws, the spiked tail, and there may be a maw of fangs unfolding inside there somewhere.


And then, there's what Kirlia is doing.
The good news is that anything vaguely near a "kamehameha"'s level of energy will completely vaporize the target.

The bad news?
It's also more than enough to completely vaporize the ceiling above, the ground above that, and the street above that.

The sewer rumbles.

[Sewers- Red Zone]

Yuki's eyes widen as the dark creature leaps at him. With only a split second left before impact, he increases its power through a small sacrifice of HP life energy. Through the magic of improbability and the improbability of magic, the scalpel's chance of penetration has been heightened, and his target's chance of defending has been lowered!

He winces internally at the loud rumblings. Why did all of his companions have to do so much collateral damage?

[Lost_Deep]

Tent of Chaos

Without the things here to stop her, Amil can step into the spirit realm and her body will be left behind. Kate will walk over to the body. "Amil? Did it work? Can you hear me? Are you coming back?"

Kate will wait for a few minutes, to see if Amil comes back. She doesn't really want to be left alone in a strange but bland body... but she doesn't want to be here when those things come back, either.

[Slii Arhem]

Tent of Chaos

Around Amil, Kate, The King, Hadlin, and the two whatever-they-ares that seem to have an obsession with dress-up, the circus continues on as if nothing had interrupted it. Bears make bear noises, trainers crack whips, and audiences applaud at feats of derring-do by the acrobats. No one reacts to the newcomers or the flattened trees and piles of raw meat as if they were anything but part of the show. On of the lion tamers grabs up a steak and tosses it to his beast as reward for a job well done.

High in the sky, the rent in existence flickers as a little boy in the audience looks up and notices it for the first time.

FLUUUUUURWRMUP Goes spacetime as a trickle of milk shoots out of the nose of every person in attendance (barring any PCs who specifically don't have that happen to them or aren't in possession of nostrils at the moment) and time jumps ahead by about six hours relative to every other place in the Nexus, darkening the skies and probably making some people very late for their appointments.

[Rebonack]

[Musical of Chaos]

For some inexplicable reason The King in Yellow is now a robot. And he begins laughing when the summoner poses his question. "Ha ha heh heh heh heh," he pauses, then leans forward slightly. "Oh wait, you're serious. Let me laugh even harder. AH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

The robot then opens up the compartment in his chest and a tiny King hops out as the robot toddles off chugging a bottle of booze.

"What makes you think that you have or can offer anything of any value to me? The only endearing thing about mortals is their capacity to create some gloriously unpredictable hilarity with their whims and whimsy. And to that end-" he pulls his crown down over himself before growing back to normal size. "-I offer wishes. Give a chance at anything and who knows what they're going to request!"

The King suddenly looks thoughtful as he pulls a little tablet computer out of his robes and regards it. "-and time jumps ahead by about six hours relative to every other place in the Nexus, darkening the skies and probably making some people very late for their appointments...' Well! How bothersome. Loki's probably going to throw a fit about missing brunch."

[Roof of Chaos]

The blank body just...

Sits there.

Being completely uninteresting.

Stupid uninteresting body.

Then there comes a flicker of green and brown as something begins to grow. Growing out of the air like creeping vines specked with dainty ethereal leaves. Vines that wrap and twine around each other as they struggle to take on shape. Emerald light pulses within the hollows of the ghostly figure as it probes at its surroundings.

And then?

A voice.

"I feel... strange..." sounding like the wind rustling through branches. "Is that you, Kate...? It is... so hard to see..."

[Lost_Deep]

Roof of Chaos

Kate will reach out to touch it, to give it something to grab onto.

"Amil! I'm here, and I can hear you." Amil must have stepped out of her body... and is now this for some reason? "Try to focus. Can you reach to me? We need to move before they come back."

[Rebonack]

[Roof of Chaos]

Specters are weird. And generally a bit on the dangerous side. Usually they're the result of a ghost finding its wisp (or the other way around) and the sudden awareness they gain can be... jarring. In Amil's case her memories had been preserved and now they've been copied.

Not only that copied but reunited with her spirit!

Apparently the twins were unaware that memories and consciousness are two different things in Amil's world. Ah well! Amil isn't complaining!

Kate passes a hand through Amil! And Amil doesn't seem to notice. "Right. Need to move. Need to... find something..."

And that said she slithers between the cracks in the roof.

...

For a few moments nothing happens.

And then a vaguely animal-shaped thing made of tar and concrete and steel and wood all bound together by very real ivy rips its way out of the building. The wood in its body looks as though it has become petrified and shimmers with emerald opal.

"You're right, Kate," the clutter of stuff agrees. "We need to get out of here. Down the fire escape?" Amil points a cobbled together 'hand' at the steel structure nearby.

[Halae]

[Chaotic Musical]

Hadlin looks up at the sky, wondering what just happened. Made about as much sense as anything had since he arrived here. So, for now, he ignores it, "So what you get out of this is amusement? ...I find that a fairly acceptable trade from my end, soif I need yur help I just call "Hastur" three times? I think I can remember that," given the complex rituals needed to summon the other pacts, this was a veritably simple thing.

"I just have one last question; can you point me towards a woman named Kate Kyland? She's the only person I know in this place that isn't an entity of reality warping power."