[Nexus] Remnant IV

[UncleWolf]

Rec Center

Aliz sets his tea aside and pushes himself up before offering his hand to the assassin. "Come with me. I think there's something we should talk about in a more private location." He says, all joking out of his voice now.

[Devixer]

Rec Center

Iamar stands from her chair and nods. "Of course," she says, staying on her guard.

[UncleWolf]

Rec Center => Interview Room

Aliz guides Iamar out of the center before reaching into a pocket to pull out a headset and turning it on. "Aliz to Taul. Meet me at Interview Room 1." Once he gets a response, the mage nods and gestures for Iamar to follow him.

If she does, she'll find herself guided to a room that's normally used for Interrogations. Waiting there is a tall, pale elf with black hair. If she'll recognize such, she'll see that he's a cleric of Hel, Goddess of Death. He gives her a small smile. "Doin' alright?"

[Devixer]

Interview Room

Iamar follows Aliz to the interview room, and she recognizes Taul from when she was first interviewed. "I am fine," she says.

[UncleWolf]

Interview Room

"If you don't mind, I'd like to see if you have a soul. While it isn't necessary for what we'd like to ask you to do, it does help." Taul admits before attempting to put a hand on Iamar's head to try and sense if she has one.

[Devixer]

Interview Room

"I suppose. I'd like to know myself." Iamar does indeed have a soul, under the traditional definition of the word. "What do you wish for me to do?"

[UncleWolf]

Interview Room

"You have one." Taul says with a smile before stepping back.

"As for what we want you to do, we want you to join Mortal Coil if you wish. But it takes two sacrifices. One greater than the other. The first, is one of the flesh." Taul points out, raising his left hand to reveal his missing pinky as Aliz does the same, showing his again. "This way there will always be something we can bring you back with. The second is tying your soul to a contract, to safeguard it from manipulation and theft. However, after you die, you'll be sent to one of two "underworlds" to serve a duty. Neither are pleasant and both are agonizing. Time moves faster there, so it's a month there for a week here before resurrection."

"After signing the contract and the sacrifice of flesh, you're to go through an extremely brutal training that will dull you to pain. It...isn't pleasant."

[Devixer]

Interview Room

That whole thing is rather new to Iamar, and it frightens her a little. Less the removal of the finger and more the whole "signing my soul to a painful afterlife." "...I do not know. I have other loyalties to consider."

[UncleWolf]

Interview Room

"Your soul would not belong to the gods who safekeep it. The afterlives are a return service." Taul points out as he tilts his head. "I won't ask what loyalties you have, but I had thought you hadn't had any others. By this point however, I think it's meaningless whether you do or don't. You're still a Remnant. Consider the offer, the choice is yours. Take as long as you need."

[Devixer]

Interview Room

"I will need some time," Iamar says. "This is a lot to consider."

[Lord Magtok]

Entrance => Vas' Office

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Entrance => Vas' Office

The guard nods and gestures that he can close the case before the gate opens up. Vasquez, fully armored, is waiting for him on the other side, a wry smile. "I figured you wouldn't be able to resist coming here." She says before tilting her head to gesture him to follow her. "Lets head to my office and we'll work out a deal."

"Well of course not. It's the Reinholdts and Dipsnigs and Watchtowers that get negotiated with over the phone. The Commander Vasquezes, they-Aww, and you brought the armor! I'm touched that you'd even pretend I'm threatening enough to warrant that!"

Magtok smiles as he closes the case, and follows her to the office, where he'll take a seat and then set the valise down on top of her desk.

"...That, or you thought I'd be checking you out the whole meeting otherwise. Maybe both. Hrm. Anyways! Information. I have it, and you want it. The AMEN stuff, I'm offering that at a reasonable price, but I think we both know that's not why I'm here. If this was really about AMEN, I wouldn't even bother saying anything on Wall in the first place."

The case opens, and Magtok takes out a pair of photos, held up so Vas can see it, but those of us on this side of the fourth wall can't.

"When you glow this bright with honor and self-righteousness, people are going to notice, Vas. Even more so when you decide to go doing all manner of skullduggery in the dark; then you stick out like the pink neon sign over the ChainMale Bikini. These people, to tastelessly quote modern cinema, merely adopted the dark; I was born in it, molded by it. Satellite or not, nothing and nobody escapes my notice."

[UncleWolf]

Interview Room

"Take all the time you need. You may go." Taul informs Iamar, nodding to the door.

Vas' Office

When Vasquez sees the pictures, she leans back, fingers steepled in front of her as she sits in deep thought. For her credit, she seems rather cool with the information presented to her. It's literally several minutes before she speaks, and even then, she remains calm. "What is it that you want? Just the hint you've given me now can grant a lot. I assume you have something in mind."

[Devixer]

Interview Room

Iamar bows her head towards Taul. "You should have my answer before long," she says before turning and walking out.

[Lord Magtok]

Vas' Office

"Either DC of Watchtower, a known Remnant ally, or your pet, the Altaran Irregulars, were responsible for the bombing of my Cave at the most inconvenient time possible. Damages were tremendous, and recovering from them will be costly. Suspending relations with AMEN may help MagMart do better, but I'm not holding my breath."

Magtok pulls out the hologram device, and turns that away from our side of the fourth wall, too. Jeez, Mag, if you're going to be like that, why not have this whole meeting offscreen instead of teasing us like this? Jerk.

"Money. It's money, nothing else matters. If you have the dough, I'll surrender the subject of picture number one instead of throwing it at Watchtower, but for that specifically, because of the personal costs involved, I have to ask for a lot. DC has insulted me, NO has belittled me, the world has spat in my face, and I could turn everything on its head with just that one little ace up my sleeve. I promised to destroy Watchtower, and my reasoning for doing so remains intact, with or without AMEN.

Money, and whatever can be done to refurbish my image, if you've any ideas. I'm not about to ditch the supervillain look and reputation, and the MagMarts might be finished one way or another, but I need the masses transfixed again, mewling in awe and adoration like they used to. I need their hearts and minds slightly more than I need their wallets."

[UncleWolf]

Vas' Office

Vas is contemplative for a few moments before she finally shakes her head. "I can't offer money. As much as I'd like to offer such, money isn't something Remnant can make very easily and there probably isn't enough to be given out to you. I can offer something better though, if you can bring me proof that the pictures are connected." She says before taking a deep breath and letting out a small sigh.

"I can offer you protection. Publicly too. Vyrn, Watch, NO, whoever. Touching you would be the equivalent of touching Remnant provided you don't provoke them unduly. That should give you plenty of time to recover your losses and from the attack. However, to do this, we need to bring a third person into this. Literally for the sake of my life and those of my officers. Any objections, say so now. That is the biggest condition I have and I will not be swayed."

[Devixer]

It's around two days before Iamar finally makes up her mind regarding Mortal Coil. She can be seen walking around Remnant, looking for either Taul or Aliz.

[Lord Magtok]

Vas' Office

"No objections here, Commander." Magtok's a little disappointed about the money thing, but he's sure he can work past that. There's plenty of other little odds and ends he can bring up once the other party is here, to try to bump up the value of Remnant's offer. Removal of the space ban, full pardons for any outstanding arrest warrants, a fancy hat and/or t-shirt, autographed calendar, a celebrity endorsement deal or two on MagMart products...Hopefully the tremendous quantity of 'minor' favors and conditions don't frighten Remnant away. He's already given out too many freebies to risk leaving this base without some sort of an agreement set down.

"May I ask who?"

[UncleWolf]

Rec Center

Iamar will find Taul and Aliz playing pool against each other in the Recreation Center, with the latter losing terribly as Aliz sighs, leaning on his cue as he watches the elf sink ball after ball.

Vas' Office

"Praetorian Halifax, the literal sword above my head." Vasquez explains before turning on the intercom. "Alice? Call for Halifax. Really damn important business in my office right now. Sorry to cut her vacation so short already, but I just need fifteen minutes of her time." Vasquez says before shutting off the system, knowing that Alice will do as asked.

[Devixer]

Rec Center

Iamar approaches the pool table that Taul and Aliz are at, but decides not to interrupt their game. She's content to just watch for now, despite not knowing anything about pool.

[happyturtle]

Vas' Office

Vas' Office

"Praetorian Halifax, the literal sword above my head." Vasquez explains before turning on the intercom. "Alice? Call for Halifax. Really damn important business in my office right now. Sorry to cut her vacation so short already, but I just need fifteen minutes of her time." Vasquez says before shutting off the system, knowing that Alice will do as asked.

A few minutes later, Missy arrives, dressed in civilian clothes. To be more specific, mommy clothes. Seriously, she doesn't look nearly hot enough to have ever dated Magtok.

Spoiler

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"Reporting, Sir," Halifax says.

[UncleWolf]

Rec Center

Aliz, knowing he's already lost, simply puts a 20 on the side of the table and sets his cue away before smiling to Iamar and walking over. "How's it been?"

[Devixer]

Rec Center

Iamar smiles back at Aliz, lowering her hood to reveal her brown eyes and short black hair. "I have been well, Aliz. Yourself?"

[Lord Magtok]

Vas's Office

Magtok raises an eyebrow, suddenly struck by a dozen or so questions for Vasquez, all of which he decides are none of his business and not worth asking.

"Hello, Halifax. I'll skip the pleasantries and get right to the point - I have copies of every member application that's been filled out in AMEN, up to the point where I left. I can offer an effective means by which to take down the eldritch thing that lives in AMEN's walls, assuming nobody else has finalized their plans to do so already. I can provide a map of the mines that Zefir has placed all around AMENside, and I can provide directions to the secret Atlantis base they're liable to fall back on once their primary base has gone kaput.

None of that, however, even comes close to comparing to the goldmine of information I've put together elsewhere. I have intel now that puts everything MagSat has ever done in its entire history to shame. Wild, completely outrageous classified information, that I myself wouldn't believe if I didn't have the evidence for it buried away inside my own head. Vas can tell you what I've already let her know; I've got to take a moment to rewrite my prices, now that I've been told money's off the table."

Magtok reaches for the blank backside of one of the sheets of paper in his suitcase, and without so much as a pause to ask nicely first, attempts to steal any stray pens on Vasquez's desk, and start scrawling some numbers and whatnot on that sheet of paper.

[UncleWolf]

Rec Center

"Losing." He admits as Taul picks up the money and stuffs it in his pocket. "Have you decided?"

Vas' Office

Vasquez holds up the two pictures when the time comes for her to do so. "All I need to know is if anything I do in repayment for this, namely protection over Magtok Inside from other factions and Orgs, as well as maybe one or two other things, is appropriate. I need you to know that this is nothing personal."

[Devixer]

Rec Center

"I have," Iamar says. She casts her eyes about somewhat. "Should we go somewhere quiet?"

[UncleWolf]

Rec Center

Aliz shakes his head. "Just a yes or no here will suffice. We can always talk more at a more convenient time unless you want to go now."

[Devixer]

Rec Center

"I see," Iamar takes a short breath. "In that case, my answer is yes."

[happyturtle]

Vas Office

Missy blinks as she looks at the picture. "That. That I did not expect." She turns back to Vasquez. "How do we deal with... that?"

[UncleWolf]

Rec Center

"Do you agree to the terms, or did you want to join without any sorts of bindings or sacrifices?" Taul asks as he racks up the balls again. "You can do the latter, but then it's a one-way trip for the most part, and you aren't nearly as secure in being. There've been times when only one of us has been left alive."

Vas' Office

"Us? Nothing yet. Lord Magtok says he'll take care of it for us as long as we're willing to make a deal." The Commander explains as she sets the photos down. "Hence my question."

[Devixer]

Rec Center

"I agree to the terms," Iamar says. "If I am to join a unit where such an outcome is likely, then I should take any precaution I can."