[Nexus] Bronze Keep-Muh Freedoms

[TechnoScrabble]

Gatehouse

Riley's head pops over the wall crenelations, a shaggy mess of black hair from beneath which pokes the boy's dull hazel and grey eyes. Next to him is what appears to be a horned bush covered in flowers, but is really just a skiddo in a bad need of a pruning. Riley watches Magtok blankly, quietly, eerily, for a long time. He's heard things about the cyborg. Bad things.

After a bit, he calls down from the gatehouse roof, his voice firm and clear as opposed to the shaky, quavering tone he had not too long ago.

"This place is rightfully laid claim and occupied, find your treasure elsewhere."

[Lord Magtok]

Gatehouse

Magtok smiles at the accusation, ignoring it completely as he looks back up at Riley. "Surprise inspection. Don't tell Skyside, but I have a shipment on its way. Dunno if GLoG and HALO can care for them all, and apparently the Lotus Gardens have a sort of indentured servitude thing for a year, for the new releases, so that's no good. Figured I'd explore my options, see if this is the sort of place I'd recommend to the newly liberated."

Magtok hovers upwards as he speaks, intent on making eye contact with Riley from only a few feet away, at a matching altitude if he can.

"So...is it alright if I float back down and you give me a tour of the premises? Can't really vouch for this place if I don't know what it's like, after all."

[TechnoScrabble]

Gatehouse

Riley scrambles back on the roof from Magtok as he floats up, his arm shifting halfway to shield mode before turning back, and Fourteen-Ball bleats angrily. Riley pus himself up, trying to ignore his short bout of panic and hoping Magtok didn't notice or is too self absorbed to remember.

"Newly liberated?" he looks Magtok in the eye, an incredulous look on his face, "Since when do you free slaves?"

[Lord Magtok]

Gatehouse

"Since the slave buy-back program a few months back. Rousing success, if you can call a bunch of plague-ridden bodies that had been stuffed in small spaces a success. I mean, I'm glad a couple of them made it, but..."

Magtok shakes his head. The elf responsible for that was killed by a sniper or something; it's not something to be so haunted by anymore. Better to focus on the net good than all the pain and suffering the magical tuberculosis-ridden masses underwent.

"Anyways, the new plan is much less likely to be exploited like that. Also, due to a hilarious series of ridiculous coincidences and shenanigans, I'm now currently commander of HALO. I know, I know, it doesn't sound the slightest bit believable, but that's Nexus for you. It didn't take much to claim the job, but now I've got to earn it, y'know? Win HALO's hearts and minds over right from the start, so they stop leaving cyanide capsules in my candy jar."

[TechnoScrabble]

Gatehouse

Riley's face runs a gamut of emotions, none of them positive, and ends in something that surprises even him.

Anger. Mild, but potent.

He doesn't scowl at Magtok, but a clearly upset look crosses his face and he stares horrible, slimey, tentacle-y daggers at the celebrity cyborg. He stamps up to the side of the wall and jabs a finger in Magtok's direction to emphasize his words.

"Listen, I don't know what it's like up top having all that money and power and luxury, being able to run away and dull yourself to the world whenever you want, but down here we're ****ing struggling, awright?" his voice doesn't raise at all, but it does deepen considerably, "I don't joke around here, right? Noone does. We've been through too much, seen too much, some of us forced to do too much, and we didn't get fame and god damned fortune for it!"

His arm lowers, but his face has contorted into a smoldering glare.

"No doublespeak. No jokes. I want serious and honest."

[Lord Magtok]

Gatehouse

"The serious and honest truth is I'm going to be freeing some slaves, and want to make sure you people won't be eating them if I send some here. I don't want to just assume you're legitimate and then come back to find out I sent someone to their death, or worse, because I was too lazy to check your credentials."

Magtok looks at the Keep all about and around Riley, and frowns.

"Down here. Struggling, he quotes. "You have a very nice place for someone claiming to be at rock bottom, you know."

[TechnoScrabble]

Gatehouse

"Looks about that way, don't it?" Riley says with half a hoarse laugh, "Come on."

He shimmies down a drain pipe into the courtyard where the giant tree's roots twist around boulders and beautifully made stone and stained glass benches, Fourteen-Ball following via a set of stairs.

"I didn't make the place. I found it. The villagers in Meadowgreen just...let me have KT. I don't tax them, but they bring me food and clean water. Not enough for everyone, but it makes it easier."

[Lord Magtok]

Gatehouse => Stairs

"About how tight is food rationing right now? Like, on a scale of one to ten?" Magtok asks, following along and trying his best not to get too distracted by the pretty scenery along the way. If this sort of thing is still here, the fancy benches and whatnot, it makes Mag wonder what's already been sold off to pay the bills. Not too much, though. They're still fairly new here after all, right?

[TechnoScrabble]

Stairs-->Courtyard

"There isn't any right now," Riley says, "Any rationing, I mean. But I've only got so much money, and if we get more people coming in, I'll need to set somethin' up. Can't be runnin' back and forth all day doing the groceries. Then there's medical supplies, power, amenities, worrying about the *******s coming through looking to get their product back or some easy loot, recreation for the people livin' here. Protection when they go out. Some of the people here don't freakin' learn, and it's a bit of a stress to keep them safe even when they run willy nilly all over the place being superheroes."

He shoots a glare at Keith, the hobgoblin napping atop a pile of branches.

"To be honest...I didn't really think this out too well when I started. But there's no quitting now. Gotta keep the ball rollin' till we hit something good, right?"

[Arkhosia]

Magtok may notice Thalia sleeping peacefully, leaning on a tree.

[Lord Magtok]

Courtyard

Magtok shakes his head. He recognizes Thalia, but makes a point of not making that too obvious by looking her way for more than a moment. Don't give Riley anything to work with; don't allow him to exploit your familiarity with one of his subjects. He'll be more likely to hide whatever dark secrets he might have from her, if he knows she's reporting to the cyborg.

"You can't just sit in a corner and hope good things will come your way. You have to reach out, leave your comfort zone and seize what you need. I don't mean that in the 'villain trying to seduce someone to the dark side' sense, more the whole carpe diem thing. Making deals for those things, promoting yourself as a charity or whatever, getting help from GLoG or whoever's got resources to spare."

[TechnoScrabble]

Courtyard

"The last time I 'left my comfort zone'," Riley says in a bored, matter-of-fact tone, "My arm got shot off, eighteen children were fed to an elder god, and I was tied down, ripped half to pieces, and sexually assaulted by a snake-woman."

He's lying, though. His arm was shot off before then, and he's left his comfort zone plenty of times since then.

"Probably shouldn't be talkin' to you, really. At least, not this much. Why do you care? When and why did you start freeing slaves? Didn't really give me a straight answer the first time I asked."

[Lord Magtok]

Courtyard

"I gave you the straightest answer there is, you just refuse to accept it because it doesn't fit comfortably into your narrow-minded, cynical worldview. I started a couple of months ago, and I'm doing it not because if whatever crazy villain shenanigans you think I'm up to, but because I should. There's no secret agenda, no MagSlave Emporium in the works that needs all those other slavers out of business, no convoluted take-over-the-world scheme that starts with me winning trust and confidence from people in HALO, boy. I'm just doing what I can to help others. I really don't know why that's so hard for you to believe. Free will is sacrosanct, and people who violate it should be marched into the streets and shot."

Strong words, coming from a cyborg just as guilty of infringing upon the free will of others as any slaver. HazMag's still waiting for you to set him free for all his months of dedicated service, y'know. How long do you intend to keep him waiting, Magtok?

[TechnoScrabble]

Courtyard

"You're about as good at talking to people as a squid faced cultist, arnchta now?" Riley says, his tone indicating he has the experience to make the comparisons of things to squid faced cultists, "Empathizing with 'em, too, if you really don't understand why I don't take what you say at face value even after most of the bad humour and bitter sarcasm has been cut away. You make the kinda comments that make airport security tackle people just saying hello."

He stops in front of the entrance to the hall of the keep.
"But alright. Let's suppose I won't regret ever meeting you. How many are we talking about, and what kind of care will they need?"

[Lord Magtok]

Courtyard

"I was all set on respect and empathy and the whole kit and caboodle, but then you had to go bragging about how terrible your life is, and how sheltered mine is, how I've never so much as sprained my ankle before. You get what you pay for, Riley."

Magtok glances at his wrist, and frowns. Ugly goings-on elsewhere in the Nexus. He'll have to hurry this up.

"I imagine approximately thirty to sixty right now. In total, that is. Only a fraction of those would be coming here, as I'm going to try to recruit anyone interested in joining HALO, send others to GLoG, and see if I can't find existing family members of a couple of them. The phony orphanage ones will need standard child slave stuff, the ones from SLAVE will likely be victims of sex slavery, and the gentlemen from MALE...I don't actually know much about the male slave market. I imagine it involves heavy manual labor, mostly."

[TechnoScrabble]

Courtyard

Bragging?
Bragging?

Riley's hair stands on end for a fraction of a second, before he realizes any more outbursts would be nothing more than a hindrance to anyone living here, if not just drive Magtok away.

"Sorry, I just have a hard time believing someone is serious when they joke about cyanide and plagues and whatever. I have about enough money to keep the upper number well fed for about two weeks if I send Keith shopping, I'll find more income or as the farmers for help. I'll find a therapist, maybe arrange trips to GLoG. For everyone, you'd be unpleasantly surprised to find out how little age or gender matter in how a slave is treated."

[Lord Magtok]

Courtyard

"The plague thing wasn't a joke. I nearly came down with the stuff myself while trying to help them. Had to have the clone recycled for my own safety. The cyanide thing I'll give you, though. Definitely hyperbole, but still more plausible than I'd like; HALO is still full of people who don't approve of my being in office. Part of the reason for this whole anti-slave operation, y'know. Got to start off strong, hit the ground running and whatnot."

Magtok peers at his wrist for a moment, before smiling.

"I'm being told GLoG is practically rolling in cash, since Reinholdt's little auction. Whatever they're willing to offer, it's bound to be at least ten times what you might expect."

[TechnoScrabble]

Courtyard

"Not really a fan of charity," Riley says with an awkward laugh and an even more awkward attempt at a smile, bundled up in a scratch at the back of his head that could inflict social anxiety on any observing too closely, "But I can't say it wouldn't be useful at this point, can I? Alright, I'll hit up GLoG and see what I can't find elsewhere."

[Lord Magtok]

Courtyard

"For someone who doesn't care for charity, you definitely seem to be running one," Magtok points out, eager to get the rest of this tour done with so he can give this place his stamp of approval and move on.

[TechnoScrabble]

Courtyard--->Castle Tour

"People do charity because it's 'right', or they want to feel good about themselves," Riley says with a small amount of derision, "I do this because I know what they've been through."

He opens the door into the keep's grand hall, which now is sparsely but finely decorated and connected to kitchens, storage, and stairwells up the towers. The architecture is distinctly Germanic, but the decorations are inspired by Turkish and Islamic art, with lots of geometric patterns and carefully woven tapestries.

[Lord Magtok]

Castle Tour

"That's why people donate to charities, sure. Folks running the show and making it their jobs generally have more empathy about it, though. Generally, I mean." Magtok would be the first to admit he has doubts about some of GLoG's staff, where the distinction between a caretaker and a person being cared for by the organization can be rather unclear. There were quite a few adventurers shamelessly using it as a glorified motel back in the day.

"Y'know, as important as this work is, part of me thinks that we're both coming at this from the wrong angle. That there's some fancy, clever way to just cure slavery, wipe it out in all of its forms across the Nexus, and make it one of those outdated sort of things that nobody polices because nobody does it anymore, like telegraphs and horse-drawn carriages and gasoline-powered engines." Magtok? Erm...people still drive cars in the Nexus, actually. I know, it's silly that they aren't using cold-fusion or magic (or magical cold fusion), but some habits die hard. Remember that kid with the yo-yo that didn't wind itself on its own? Silly primitives are everywhere, Magtok.

[TechnoScrabble]

Castle Tour

"Simple," Riley says, leading Magtok through one of the underground tunnels full of evergreen trees and glowing flowers and mushrooms, "Slaughter the slavers. Round them up, break their legs, stick them in deep, dank pits full of swampwater and hungry ghouls."

[Lord Magtok]

Castle Tour

"If it were so easy, we would've done it already. Slavers are like roaches in that respect. Roaches in iron castles, guarded by a wall of innocent bodies," Magtok shakes his head in disgust. Firebombing Fallows would be so easy, but then he'd have gallons of innocent blood on his hands, and Fallow would probably get away somehow, anyways.

[TechnoScrabble]

Castle Tour

"Some would suggest arming the slaves," Riley says with something between a cough and a laugh as he shows Magtok through the kitchen and on to the halls and lower halves of the towers, "But that leads to heroics. Which leads to martyrdom."

[Lord Magtok]

Castle Tour

Magtok shakes his head. "There's nothing wrong with martyrdom. That is, so long as the right people are doing the martyring. A cyborg with too many lives, a adventurer-for-life from Watch, the werewolves in HALO, etc. You don't feed the mutt six inch sirloin when you've got some perfectly good dog chow for it."

[TechnoScrabble]

Castle Tour

Riley looks slightly taken aback, his eyebrows disagreeing on which way to furrow.

"Gotta be honest," he says, "There's a lot of different ways to take that."

[Lord Magtok]

Castle Tour

"I'm saying that some people, by nature of their own choices in life, are more expendable than others. Slaves and ex-slaves, they deserve a second chance at life. People who make getting into danger their profession, their way of life? Who have every opportunity to find safer, less hazardous work, but keep throwing themselves into violence anyways? They don't. Someone who continually lives by the sword is bound to die by it, sooner or later. Better that they do, than someone with a purpose and function above and beyond all of that killing and dying."

Magtok shrugs.

"Or you could have clones, and be expendable that way, instead."

[TechnoScrabble]

Castle Tour

Something about that just doesn't sound right to Riley, even though it's pretty much exactly the argument he's used for years. It's not fun having your defense for your own cowardice thrown back in your face, even if the person doing it seems unable to take things seriously for longer than a moment.

"...I'm sorry 'bout how I spoke to you earlier."

[Lord Magtok]

Castle Tour

"I've heard worse, don't worry about it," Magtok waves a hand in dismissal. There was a time where even his closest of allies thought decapitating him was just harmless fun and shenanigans, after all. "So is there anything else we still need to cover?"

[TechnoScrabble]

Castle Tour

"You'd know if I didn't," Riley says with a slight sigh, "I'm not sure what all you want or need or what should be done, really. I'm just doing what I can here."