Inside 61

[Lady Serpentine]

[Horror Street Alley]

"You disappoint, lady... You are too smart, even if that is what makes you fun to chase." It pouts at her, somehow, holes rusted in its lips, but steps back, its mistress giggling softly from a few steps behind the girl, with nothing to say if she's been there all along, or is simply good at moving silently.

"Very good... Now, then, she has explained to you what I want, but I think she did not do it too well, though that is not her fault." The woman smirks, red eyes barely showing through the curtain of black hair that hangs over her face, the rest of her hidden by a long duster made from dark red leather, and a pair of black silk gloves. "I have no desire to do you more harm than is necessary; I simply propose to increase my own power a bit... At the low cost of your mortality, and a quantity of blood. Does that sound acceptable to you?"

[Ionbound]

[Horror Street Alley]

The girl swallows at the spirit's words, then turns, looking at the woman, horror growing in the pit of her stomach as she realizes the situation she's in.

Her hands ghost over the same bulge in her pocket, but she tries to resolve things peacefully first, saying, "No, no. I just want to go home. That's all. Just let me leave."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Horror Street Alley]

"This is unfortunate... Especially for you." The woman sounds less than pleased, to say the least. "Surely you realize that this was not entirely random? You are young enough to be useful; old enough to fit in a number of places, with a predictable route, as well as being, if not gorgeous, at least not distasteful enough to make me not wish to approach you closely enough. And there is no reason you could not go home afterwards... It would not even take long enough to delay you, too much. In fact, as you would be faster, you would not be nearly as late as our having stopped you would leave you. Did she scare you? I promise, that is not what you would become; she is a spirit in my service, and no relation to myself." She unfolds her arms just enough to wave negligently at the kami of decay, one still crossed over her chest, then points at the girl herself. "On the other hand, well..."

The vampire shrugs, a faint edge entering her voice. "You have the means to identify me. And I do not think you can take us both at once. Would you rather lose your life or the time limits upon it? I am trying to be pleasant to you, but there are so few options you have potential to enjoy that it is quite hard, and I can stop, if you reject them all.."

[Ionbound]

[Horror Street Alley]

The girl swallows and steps away from the vampire, saying, "I die either way, don't I..." She frowns, thinking briefly, and says, annoyance and anger clear in her tone, "Fine. You know what, fine. Go ahead, turn me. It's not like this is the Nexus and it'll stick for more than five minutes."

[Rebonack]

[Weather Factory]

That seems like kind of a silly idea, doesn't it?

A weather factory.

As in, a place where weather is manufactured and shipped out from.

Certainly, weather just happens on most worlds, but there are enough that something like this whimsical floating building made of solid clouds can exist in the Nexus without raising too many eyebrows.

For the most part weather in the Nexus is left to its own devices, but there are people and places that want tailor-made weather and are willing to pay premium for it. And that's where the weather factory comes in! Need a sunny day for your wedding? And thunder storm to give your haunted house a bit more ambiance? Then call the weather factory and they'll set you up!

Best of all, visitors are allowed into certain portions of the factory for tours, but of course one need to put on cloud-walking shoes to do so. Wouldn't want to fall through the floor after all.

[Lost_Deep]

Carousel Court Weather Factory

A black limo pulls up, and out steps a Very Important Pony. Gilded Caravan, upon hearing that there was a proper weather control industry in town, immediately made an appointment for an examination. Ponies had always been more efficient and precise than machines, and Gilded Caravan had found a few places that needed some small environmental adjustments.

Amazing what you can do with a bit of elevation alteration. Amazing how hard it is to alter elevations when it's constantly pouring sleet.

Gilided Caravan, in any case, intends to walk int the factory's front door like she's the most important pony for miles. So... with the same style she does everything.

[Rebonack]

[Weather Factory]

Good thing for Gilded there's an elevator down at the ground level, because otherwise getting up there would be hard.

Unless Gilded has some sort of flying power armor.

But that would be silly, right?

Right.

There's a somewhat bored looking pegasus manning (maring?) the elevator controls. She perks up a bit at the sight of Gilded. "Oh! Hello there, welcome to the Carousel Court Weather Factory! Are you here for the tour or do you have an appointment?"

Very important questions!

So which is it?

[Lost_Deep]

Weather Factory

"I am Gilded Caravan, Interrealital Trade Magnate and I have an appointment for a tour."

Part of her wanted to just go in at random and take a surprise tour, but that's not fair. It's best to let them show off a little.

[Rebonack]

[Weather Factory]

The elevator perks up immediately.

"Oh! They said you would be coming, welcome to the factory Miss Caravan, I'll take you right up!" the pegasus replies. She gestures with a wing for Gilded to step in. "Do you need some cloud walking shoes, or are you supplying your own?"

Wouldn't do to have the elevator take off and leave Gilded standing on the ground.

That would be really embarrassing!

[Lost_Deep]

Weather Factory

"I'm wearing a hairpin for that," Caravan says, pushing some hair aside to show a small white, horseshoe-shaped hair decoration buried in there, "I prefer to keep my front hooves open."

[Cyber Punk]

Market Street

Isaac turns and points.
"You're going to want to go four blocks that way, make a left, go two more blocks, make a right, and just keep going until you see a sign for Metropolis Square."

His directions are a bit faked, but the way the city always changes, thinking that you know where you're going tends to work.

Market Street

"Thank you, you're so kind. See ya!" With that, the man runs off.

((I'll be back to see the weather factory, but I don't want Hotaru to be in too many places at once.))

[Rebonack]

[Weather Factory]

"Wow, that's pretty neat," the elevator operator comments. "And yeah, most people don't like wearing shoes if they can avoid it. Makes it really annoying to pick things up."

And speaking of picking things up, the pegasus doesn't! Nope, she rears up and pushes an over-sized elevator button that looks like its made out of a solidified chunk of rainbow. How shiny! With a *ding!* the doors will slide shut and the elevator begins its ascent as pleasant elevator music begins playing.

"So! You're a merchant, sort of?"

Small talk!

Everyone likes small talk.

Except those people that don't.

Is Gilded one of those people?

[Lost_Deep]

Weather Factory

Caravan doesn't seem to care. "Connected, but no. Rather, I run a business that transports distributes goods. One place's trash is another place's treasure, literally. Did you know there are worlds out there where diamonds are considered a waste product? Truth. Now, since I'm running the company, I generally only worry myself with the big picture and certain projects."

[Rebonack]

[Weather Factory]

"Well, diamonds aren't worth that much back in Equestria, but as far as I know no one has been able to get a permanent portal from the Nexus to any version of Equestria to work. It's a real shame," the pegasus replies. Shortly there after comes a *ding!* as the elevator doors open. "Here we are! I've already alerted the higher-ups that you're here. Someone should be with you shor-"

"HELLO!" comes a very cheerful voice. The voice, as it happens, belonging to something that's a pretty unusual sight. Unusual even by Nexus standards! And what is that, you ask? Why, a draconequus, of course. Fortuna appears to be obeying all the normal laws of physics at the moment (aside from the usual cloud walking nonsense), so one needn't worry about reality crying too much near her. "You must be Gilded Caravan! I'm Fortuna Wonder, the head engineer here are the weather factory. I'll be giving you your tour today."

Wow!

That sure sounds great.

Who could ask for a better tour guide?

[Lost_Deep]

Weather Factory

If Caravan has heard anything about draconequus in general or Fortuna in particular, she doesn't let it show. "Wonderful! Give me the full spiel, however much detail you want, I'm not pressed for time in the slightest."

[Rebonack]

[Weather Factory]

Well, that's good.

Most people who have heard the stories about what draconequus do typically run screaming in the other direction. Considering the people Gilded typically works with, though? Understandable why that wouldn't bother her.

Anywho!

Fortuna begins trotting off toward a nearby door.

"Okay! We can head off several different ways. The weather production rooms are probably the most exciting in the more traditional sense. But we've also got some displays on the weather-based technologies we construct here. Ever use a cloud computer before?" she asks with a grin. "And that's quite literal. None of that working through remote servers stuff."

A beat.

A contemplative look.

"Though I suppose you could use cloud computers to make a computer cloud..."

[Lost_Deep]

Weather Factory

"I'll leave you to it, you're the expert. Now, I grew up in Equestria, I know things, but don't let that cramp your style. It's your tour, do your best!"

Given how much caravan showboats, she'd feel hypocritical if she didn't let other people showboat when they felt like it.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Horror Street Alley]

"Death is permanent in one case. I could have simply bound a spirit of air instead and had her rip the breath from your lungs before I drained your corpse. Be glad I chose mercy over practicality." The woman glares at her, stalking forward and trying to grab her chin in order to force her head back. "But I am glad you are at least willing to be reasonable to this extent. Thank you." And, with that, commence blood-drinking. And everything else that goes along with turning people, along with hopefully a bit of extra friendliness towards the turner.

[Ionbound]

[Horror Street Alley]

The girl grits her teeth as her head is tilted to the side and she's bitten, but as her blood drains out, she feels her strength flagging, and ends up clutching the vampire, just to try to remain standing as she's turned.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Horror Street Alley]

The girl, contrary to her expectations, doesn't actually die - in fact, she doesn't even go unconscious; instead, shortly after she ends up clutching the mage to try to stay standing as long as she can, the vampire bites through her own tongue, lapping gently at the wounds with the bleeding tip - it could be described as gentle, oddly, if the girl weren't so reasonably upset about the idea of becoming a vampire, despite the woman's obvious frustration earlier, and her lack of care at the start. Still, however she would choose to phrase it, the fact that the wounds seal as their blood mixes, all her senses growing sharper as it spreads through her veins; there's a distinct cut-off between areas that it's reached and those it hasn't, in fact, in terms of how intensely she can feel.

Assuming that Elizabeth doesn't do anything that would interfere, once it's spread through her, the vampire steps back, holding her up by her shoulders in a surprisingly tender manner, and offering the newly-turned girl a reassuring smile, staring into her eyes. "Good. You should do very well. Now... Are you hungry, Liz?" Sarah grins at her knowingly, well aware that unless something odd happened, she should be starting to feel absolutely ravenous right about now, as her body needs to replenish the blood lost from being drained on top of its normal hunger. "I taste sweet and it'll take the edge off, if you like, but we will need to get you a better meal than that either way."

[Ionbound]

[Horror Street Alley]

The girl gasps as the vampire licks her wounds with a bloody tongue, then shudders as she feels her wounds close and the waves of sensation of being turned wash over her body.

When Sarah stares into Elizabeth's eyes, it's obvious they've changed color, gaining a crimson hue behind what was still discernable as an original green coloration. She nods at the question and, without even saying anything as a response, tries to bite down on the other vampire's shoulder, new fangs extending for the first time as she desperately tries to get at the sweet, sweet ichor.

[Deathkeeper]

Huntside Imports Delicatessen

A small building is what Isaac leads the new magic professor to. Simple red brick composes the facade and its name is drawn on a simple wooden sign.
Inside the place is a multitude of smells among the various products lining the walls, and the sight of the counter might be astounding, as not only is it enormous and absolutely packed with meats and dishes of various kinds, but many of its contents are probably far too exotic for a normal person to recognize. I mean, Barioth tails?
A menu board takes up the entire wall behind the counter.

Behind the counter is a rotund, blue-and-tan-skinned porcine fellow in an apron a small hat, a rather classic image of a butcher. The tag on the Seeq's apron reads: YORICK. You'd likely have to be Ivalician to know if the fellow's actually overweight or just as fat as his people tend to be. Either way, his profession is likely not helping the situation
"What's your pleasure, gents?" asks the Seeq in a rough voice.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Horror Street Alley]

Sarah shivers, letting out a quiet little moan that is, nonetheless, entirely audible to Elizabeth as the fangs sink into her shoulder, hands coming up to clutch the younger vampire's head - though given that rather than trying to pull away, she's gently holding her in place and stroking her hair, it's pretty hard to misinterpret that as her taking offense at how eager for blood Liz is.

And speaking of blood, it is indeed sweet; surprisingly so, actually - though obviously she hasn't tasted human to compare yet -, with a slightly smoky undertaste, and a pleasantly refreshing sharpness that keeps it from being cloying. It also should dampen the aching need that's awakened in her, not quenching her thirst, by any means, but dulling it so that she can think.

[Ionbound]

[Horror Street Alley]

Elizabeth takes a deep breath, rational thought returning to her mind, as she lets go of Sarah and says, now suspicious but still aching with thirst, "Yes...Oh god. Once I actually feed, you're going to explain to me how all this works, Sarah. Like how you know my name and how I know yours."

[Lady Serpentine]

[Horror Street Alley]

"There are many things you need to know, Liz," Sarah agrees quietly, nodding as she turns towards a nearby building, looking it over thoughtfully. "That being one. And I promise, I'll tell you all of them." The words at least sound sincere, though of course that's no guarantee they are, and she looks back at the newly-turned woman with a reassuring smile as she speaks; all in all, if she's lying, she's a very good actress indeed.

Regardless, though, there are more pressing matters, like the thirst that's pressing at both of them now, since Sarah needs to replenish what she just gave up despite having just fed, and as such, she softly beckons Elizabeth over, starting to speak again as she goes to help her climb up the side. "Would you like to learn as we hunt? If you feel up to it, I can answer that question rather simply..." Another smile, this one accompanied by an attempt to take her hand for just a moment, to give it a gentle squeeze.

[Ionbound]

[Horror Street Alley]

Elizabeth accepts the help in climbing the building as she says, "Fine...I really, really need someone to drink from." She sighs as her hand is squeezed and frowns, though decides that voicing a concern about Sarah being a creepy lesbian vampire would be a bad plan.

[Lady Serpentine]

[[Horror Street Rooftops]

Elizabeth might be able to tell that while the pieces are most certainly right, and Sarah (who, for all her bluffing and affectations, is only twenty) is certainly not averse to the prospect of taking her to bed, that's not where most of it is coming from; she honestly does want to ensure that this newest addition to her family knows what she needs to survive.

"I know, just try to stay calm... I'll get you someone, don't worry, I didn't turn you just to let you starve." Sarah darts off across the rooftop, far faster than it looks like she should be capable of, though Elizabeth will find she has no trouble keeping up. "Do you have a preference for your source? Or will any do, for now?" She pauses at the edge, a sense of uncertainty coming through their bond, as she's not sure where to go without knowing that.

[Ionbound]

[Horror Street Rooftops]

Elizabeth shakes her head and says, "N-no...It doesn't matter right now...Not that I'd even know what I want." Through the bond, Sarah can likely feel nervousness, fear, and resentment, as Elizabeth angrily tries to deal with her new instincts.

[Lady Serpentine]

[Horror Street Rooftops]

Sarah nods quietly and runs off again, taking a somewhat more conservative route than she ordinarily would, to let Elizabeth get used to her new abilities, though it still involves a fair bit of leaping between rooftops and climbing up buildings; it's also fairly short, since she doesn't want to make her wait any longer than she has to - something that probably comes across through the bond as a sense of sympathy and concern, now they've settled on the roof of an apartment building and the bond is something that can be concentrated on without it being potentially lethal, or at least very painful.

"Now for the hard question... Are you the sort who wants to drink someone dry, or would you rather I stop you before it gets dangerous and we move on to the next?" Sarah doesn't seem to be judging either way, so far as can be told through the bond; she's simply making sure of which it is so that she knows what to do when they get to that point, not wanting to make Elizabeth carry that around with her for the rest of a very long existence if she doesn't want to.

[Ionbound]

[Horror Street Rooftops]

Elizabeth follows Sarah as well as she can, making a few missteps here and there and nearly slamming face-first into a brick wall at one point, but eventually makes her way to the rooftop of the building next to Sarah. The feeling of concern makes her smile, just a little bit, before reality pulls back into view and she frowns, saying, "No. I don't want to kill anyone. I don't even eat meat..."