Skyside 4

[goto124]

Near the Street of Slavers

The near-slave nods when asked if she needs help, barely turning her head to see whom is offering help. She's presently assuming the ghost was herself a slave, and is after vengeance. Revenge is a common motivator for restless spirits, she's heard; never met one before.

Three guards in the smart clothes are running after the escaping slave, before one stops and raises his shotgun, aiming a beanbag at the running girl. He doesn't fire yet, though; one of his colleagues has got in front of him.

Near the Street of Slavers

The Blue Dress girl isn't entirely wrong. Though, if she wants to know more about the ghost, she'll have to wait until there's time for a little chit-chat.

The girl ghost flies over the colleague and dashes straight at the guard raising his shotgun - she's still unclear on what guns are, but the way he's holding it implies it's some kind of weapon. Along the way, what appears to be an energy construct in the shape of a morningstar mace forms within her right hand. She then takes a good swing at the shotgun-wielding guard, aiming to smash his skull in.

Do these guards have the means to attack a ghost? Pretty much any kind of magic would work.

[Earl of Purple]

Near The Street of Slavers

The Iron Ferring keeps running, without looking back.

The ectoplasmic morningstar proves very effective, smashing through the hardened velvet of his bowler hat and the skull beneath, laying him flat and dead.

These particular slavers work primarily with technology, so don't have any magical weapons or armour. In their line of work, weapons that are more effective are actually a hindrance, and ones with non-lethal enchantments are rare and expensive. Cattleprods, tasers, clubs and beanbag rounds are what they go for.

[Shadowcaller]

Metallic room

Sam shakes his head. "Uh, nah, I don't think that would work. Wouldn't look right with the rest of me...me. I don't really know what I'd want, really. Maybe we'd find ideas while you're looking through my brain. Though, who exactly are you people? I thought it was rude to ask before..."

Metallic room

"Ah. Very well. I see no harm in satisfying your curiosity while we wait. I am Jin. My people are known as the ethereals, we prefer to operate without corporal bodies as you can see." It gestures towards itself. "Anything specific you wanted to know?" It will press a few buttons on it's wrist computer and one of Sam's strands of hair will suddenly disappear.

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

"Uh, well, I guess I just wanted to know what this is all for, but I'm sure I won't understand all the details. " he says.
He's hoping that everything about this offer is legitimate. He meant what he said about wanting to be less skinny, and getting his number of limbs in order is crucially important. He wonders about asking about his pig problem, but that's nothing he thinks they can help with. For now, more arms, better body. The feet thing is tempting. The few people squatting around with hooves and paws and the like don't have to worry about shoes and the like, but you can't have that sort of thing as a human. It'd be weird. Wouldn't look right at all!
He does wonder why they're doing this, but as long as there aren't too many strings attached he doesn't really care.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

Cessie raises an eyebrow, every week? That was insane. How many slaves did this city need? It simply couldn't be profitable forcing that many people to simple manual labor. "Do you know what these slaves are used for? I find it hard to believe they could need that many." Perhaps they were used for body parts? As grotesque as it sounded it sounded more likely than someone needing that much manual labor. What about jobs that required more education? How did they even keep control of so many slaves?

[Arkant's Factory]

"That is indeed a lot of slaves," Wenomir says. He's not as shocked as Cessie, but it's still disturbing.

[Arkant's Factory]

"Sadly, no. We just see a few on the slave market, but thats only around halve of those who dissapeared. We got no sign about the rest." Arkant replies.
"I'm not aware how many slaves are needed in this city and I haven't been here for long with my company. I guess they focused on my employee after I aranged a health care for them. I didn't thought that would backfire."

[Darkcomet]

((I actually have a reason for being slow this time. Namely, I have been low on will to do anything on the internet on account of my connection flipping its lid constantly, often to the point of being unusable, and frustrating when not. Sorry about that.))

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]

"Data relayed," is all the drone replies with.

Then the representative shows up, a sight perhaps far more unusual than the drone. A bald man of dark complexion, looking to be in at least his forties or older, wearing a business suit marked with the lion logo of Infinite Descent on the shoulders, his strangest feature is the obvious surgical scarring on his head. One wonders what that is. "I've been informed you want to try barter here." The voice is slightly monotonous, though not quite completely. "I'm authorized to work out a deal," he explains, looking over the group and waiting for whichever one they want to do the talking.

[ThirdEmperor]

Spoiler

Show

[Triangle Street - Factory]

If Bo didn't already have a low opinion of these guards, these latest shenanigans would be enough to convince him.

The sorcerer almost triggers another shield spell by reflex at the muzzle flash. But it's draining to keep doing that kind of thing. Instead Bo responds in kind, sort of, by dragging the dead man's body in front of him as a shield for the few steps needed to reach better cover. He finishes up crouching among the broken glass and litter with an overturned workbench between him and the guard.

As he moves, the shimmering air around him takes on an ugly red tone. From cover, he sights the guard - and then the sorcerer's magic lashes out at the gunman in a wave of red light. The attack is aimed at the gun itself. If Bo's spell is on target, the man's weapon should rapidly heat up and become too hot to hold. After that, if left to continue, it could even cause the metal parts to melt; and at that point bad things would be likely to happen to any chemical propellants in the ammunition.

During the few seconds' wait to see if the spell worked, he keeps taking quick looks all around, trying to gain an impression of the changing situation.

The blood all over his hand is sticky. His coat is going to need professional cleaning.

Sparks skitter across the concrete flooring, tumbling droplets of gold rolling together to take shape as a curl of solid flame. The golden fire serpent rears its head again as Bo drags himself and his shield towards an intact table, coiling itself around the broken splinters and growing bright, growing large as they burn away within its molten flesh, brief shadowy cinders on the surface of flowing gold and flaring sunspots of red. Its eyes follow him, tongue searing the air it drinks.

Across the way, the gunman loses his job as the gun slips from his hand, landing with a melted *thunk* as its form collapses against the floor. With a brief crackle of powder going, it splutters in volcanic bubbles, spitting out the shapeless bullets as leaden streaks from the cooling puddle of gunmetal. The guard reaches instead for the slim blade on his hip, gripping the knife tense between his fingers as he draws the smarting hand up and squints to aim.

And with a flick of the wrist and a little snapping motion, the blade whirls into a long glimmer of silver stretching over the table and arcing down towards Bo.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The Nebari steps forward to begin. "I would like this rifle, and asked its price. If it is out of my price range, I asked if some tests on the stealth-suit I wear would serve as a discount." She hopes the rifle is affordable, since she relies on this suit when somebody needs killing.

"I have offers from my organisation, to find a supply of uniform weaponry rather than our present eclectic mix, and also to see if you would be interested in the combat drugs we produce." He sincerely doubts they are, though. Everything he's seen suggest nice, clean and efficient, and some of the drugs they produce are nasty, messy and brutal. The drugs are made principally by the Great Khans, and are therefore primarily from the Fallout universe.

[Shadowcaller]

Metallic Room

"Uh, well, I guess I just wanted to know what this is all for, but I'm sure I won't understand all the details. " he says.
He's hoping that everything about this offer is legitimate. He meant what he said about wanting to be less skinny, and getting his number of limbs in order is crucially important. He wonders about asking about his pig problem, but that's nothing he thinks they can help with. For now, more arms, better body. The feet thing is tempting. The few people squatting around with hooves and paws and the like don't have to worry about shoes and the like, but you can't have that sort of thing as a human. It'd be weird. Wouldn't look right at all!
He does wonder why they're doing this, but as long as there aren't too many strings attached he doesn't really care.

[Arkant's Factory]

"Sadly, no. We just see a few on the slave market, but thats only around halve of those who dissapeared. We got no sign about the rest." Arkant replies.
"I'm not aware how many slaves are needed in this city and I haven't been here for long with my company. I guess they focused on my employee after I aranged a health care for them. I didn't thought that would backfire."

[Arkant's Factory]

"That is indeed a lot of slaves," Wenomir says. He's not as shocked as Cessie, but it's still disturbing.

Metallic Room

"You are probably right." Jinn says as he/she looks at the wrist-computer once again for a moment before looking up at Sam. "Say, would you be comfortable letting your own mind decide the shape of your new body within reason? It would be a lot simpler." There are no eyes behind those bandages, just a glowing purple energy.

[Arkant's Factory]

"I see. So have you any clue who's responsible for this? Considering you didn't want us to fight all slavers, I assume you suspect there might be a single group behind the majority of these kidnappings." Cessie asks.

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

"Uh, sure? That sounds pretty reasonable." says Sam.
He isn't honestly sure what he's referring to. Jinn presumably means subconsciously. Otherwise, wouldn't this conversation be his own mind choosing things?

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"With my research I found three groups responsible for the kidnapping." Arkant says. "They are to big for us to do anything. We got a few places they have been seen, but we don't know where their main bases are."

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Three groups targeting your company? This is going to be more complicated than I thought. Are they working together or separately?" Cessie asks, three groups were going to be hard to deal with.

Metallic Room

"Excellent. If it's okay with you I will but you to sleep now to make the procedure easier. Don't worry though, you will wake up in your new body once it is over." Jinn tilts his/her head. "May I?"

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

Sam nods slowly, dread creeping up his spine, but it's too late to turn back now.
"Yeah, sure."

[Orm-Embar]

[Triangle Street - Factory]

Spoiler: Third Emperor

Show

Sparks skitter across the concrete flooring, tumbling droplets of gold rolling together to take shape as a curl of solid flame. The golden fire serpent rears its head again as Bo drags himself and his shield towards an intact table, coiling itself around the broken splinters and growing bright, growing large as they burn away within its molten flesh, brief shadowy cinders on the surface of flowing gold and flaring sunspots of red. Its eyes follow him, tongue searing the air it drinks.

Across the way, the gunman loses his job as the gun slips from his hand, landing with a melted *thunk* as its form collapses against the floor. With a brief crackle of powder going, it splutters in volcanic bubbles, spitting out the shapeless bullets as leaden streaks from the cooling puddle of gunmetal. The guard reaches instead for the slim blade on his hip, gripping the knife tense between his fingers as he draws the smarting hand up and squints to aim.

And with a flick of the wrist and a little snapping motion, the blade whirls into a long glimmer of silver stretching over the table and arcing down towards Bo.

The Imperial agent glances at the fiery serpent as he regains his feet. The creature doesn't seem hostile... and besides: dragon! "Welcome to the field of battle, dragon spirit!" he says. Then the smile fades from his face as his attention returns to the guard, and Bo's sword once again appears in his hand.

The warrior stands ready, waiting for the right moment when the guard commits to his throw. Only then, at the last second, he steps to the side, sword rising to brush the knife away; the shining bit of sharp metal goes flickering by him to clatter somewhere in the gloom.

And then the swordsman moves fast, vaulting over the fallen table and taking a few steps towards the guard before launching himself into the air in tobi-yoko-geri, a leaping sideways kick that could break the man's neck or cause a concussion, if applied correctly; the follow-on swordstroke aimed at the guard's head comes immediately after while he's still in the air.

Unless events intervene, Bo lands on his feet and looks about him swiftly, once more trying to gain an impression of the overall situation.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"Three groups targeting your company? This is going to be more complicated than I thought. Are they working together or separately?" Cessie asks, three groups were going to be hard to deal with.

Metallic Room

"Excellent. If it's okay with you I will but you to sleep now to make the procedure easier. Don't worry though, you will wake up in your new body once it is over." Jinn tilts his/her head. "May I?"

[Arkant's Factory]

"We don't know. It is hard to tell . We only know this by retracking where the slaves come from. I guess they got some kind of agreement, since I haven't heared about any fight between these groups, at least not in the last time." Arkant replies. The documents lay in front, mostly data about the captured person. The main informations are the time when they dissapeared, the time they appeared on the market, the gang that was mentioned who sells them and the price he had to pay.

[Shadowcaller]

[Arkant's Factory]

"So what are these groups exactly? What names do they go by? We need any information that you have on them." Cessie asks.

Metallic Room

"Excellent. I'll start the procedure immediately then." Jinn takes up a mask which she/he will attempt to put over Sam's mouth. "So just relax, this won't take long." If Sam doesn't protest, he will be out of it in a manner of seconds.

-Later-

Sam will wake up in what appears to be a different room, quite unlike the one he fell asleep in. The wallpaper is pink with white clouds and there are fluffy sheeps floating around near the ceiling. They appear to be some kind of illusion. Sam seems to be laying in a bed with blue covers. "How are you feeling?" He can suddenly hear Jinn's voice.

[Deathkeeper]

Metallic Room

Sam attempts to sit up, groggily opening his eyes and looking around for the source of the voice.

"I'm getting near twenty, you know. Sheep are a bit juvenile, don't you think?" he jokes, still tired.
He'll also immediately turn his attention to his right hand, which unlike before he went to sleep, should actually exist now.

[FireFox]

[Vetting Omecha Herrienegoiakakoa]

A man remembers a mental note he made to himself long ago. Or, rather, he recalls something a younger version of himself wants him to do in both of their presents. Because this man is a king, and kings have people to do things for them, he picks up the phone and calls the chief of Nexus station for his intelligence service. He spends a few minutes explaining what he wants done, then hangs up the phone, his part played. The clandestine manager entrusted with this mission, however unimportant and beneath his talents and training it may be, handles it professionally. Might as well use his bloated operational budget lest it be cut next fiscal year. He makes a call to a lawyer who supplements his legal practice by occasionally working as professional middleman and arranges for a wire transfer to pay for the hiring of three groups.

A cheap private detective is hired to locate and confirm the identity of a certain winged elf. The only thing he was given to go on is the long family name and the title "Magos Genetress", so he'll be doing a lot of bumbling around and unsubtly poking his nose in whatever addresses a directory search will lead him to.

The second group is a rather expensive security firm, specializing in surveillance and very good at doing it discreetly. They put a team of trained professionals on the amateur PI 24/7, staying far back from him even if they don't think the Philip Marlowe wannabe will ever make them. They have been hired, through the intermediary, to conduct counter-surveillance. The idea is to see who shows any interest in him after he starts looking into the Herrienegoiakakoas. If the experts can, they'll split the detail to follow anyone following the first detective and see if the hypothetical watcher leads them anywhere informative.

The lawyer was supposed to hire another private investigator, this one more discreet, to make one last phonecall, but he just pockets the money and tells his secretary to do it. The woman first looks for any information in the city about an "Urban Development Committee". Then she'll call the number given to the lawyer (if the number is different than any public number she finds listed for the Committee, she'll make a note of that for the client) and asks if they might be able to provide a job reference for a girl named Omecha. That conversation will be recorded and transcribed for the client, who will be billed by the long, drawn out, busywork hour.

Positive security vetting is a sometimes expensive and rarely definitive, but always boring task. Then again, this is the Nexus and bioweapons may possibly be at stake. Perhaps something interesting will come of this necessary precaution.

[Recaiden]

[Vetting Omecha Herrienegoiakakoa]

The cheap PI should easily discern that "Magos Genetress" is one of a collection of titles held by the person at the center of Tower Industries, an old foreign merchant company that's been largely eclipsed by BrightStar since the fall of the monarchy. Atorre Tavlii is rarely seen outside the heavily fortified company HQ. No two people could give the same answer as to what her company does.
Seems to have no connection to the Herrienegoiakakoa family, three winged elves who live down in Thunderhead in a tiny and but surprisingly posh apartment. A man, Baubo, in his late twenties who works on the docks, Tyson, a boy of age 14 who's still in school, and Omecha. They seem to be relatively recent entrants to the city, appearing a few years back, with their citizenship applications sponsored by the Seaside Committee for Prudence, an organization of which no other record can be easily found.

Counter-surveillance? By some nobodies? The PI attracts an unusual amount of attention, but isn't followed by anyone in particular.

The Urban Development Committee seems to be a cluster of low-level civil servants. They're responsible for the unusual proliferation of abandoned warehouses in the city, getting buildings put into use and and sometimes renaming roads. It takes a while for the secretary of the Committee to find the file on the person being asked about - keep misspelling the name, you see. The numbers are different, the public number, if called, is listed as out-of-service, but the number given works. A job reference, they're all too happy to provide a job reference. Nothing but good things to say about their former employee. Goes off into tangents easily, starts talking about other employees and how hard ti is to get good help these days.

[Darkcomet]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

The Nebari steps forward to begin. "I would like this rifle, and asked its price. If it is out of my price range, I asked if some tests on the stealth-suit I wear would serve as a discount." She hopes the rifle is affordable, since she relies on this suit when somebody needs killing.

"I have offers from my organisation, to find a supply of uniform weaponry rather than our present eclectic mix, and also to see if you would be interested in the combat drugs we produce." He sincerely doubts they are, though. Everything he's seen suggest nice, clean and efficient, and some of the drugs they produce are nasty, messy and brutal. The drugs are made principally by the Great Khans, and are therefore primarily from the Fallout universe.

"We are actually prepared to offer you that weapon free, in exchange for the examination of the stealth suit," the representative offers, oddly generously for Chimera. "Combat drugs are...those might be interesting, but we'll require further information on them. I'm sure you understand."

[Shadowcaller]

Metallic Room

Sam attempts to sit up, groggily opening his eyes and looking around for the source of the voice.

"I'm getting near twenty, you know. Sheep are a bit juvenile, don't you think?" he jokes, still tired.
He'll also immediately turn his attention to his right hand, which unlike before he went to sleep, should actually exist now.

Metallic Room==> Fluffy Room

"My information suggested that it would have a calming effect in most sar's. It must have been mistaken." By now Sam can see, even underneath the sheets that that his body-shaped have rounded out and that his skin has become a grey blue-ish color. His arms are now rather muscular and there appears to be a second pair of them just below the original two. "I wanted to give you a distinctive color. It could be changed of course. This body is perfectly healthy though, it will likely last at least twice as long as the old one."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam look in surprise at his hand, and then gapes a bit at the other one. "This..." Four arms? He could have sworn he had told Jinn that he'd been joking about that. He flexes his hands in front of him over and over, mystified. They feel pretty good, to be honest. Strong. He's distracted enough by them for now he doesn't notice his enlarged belly.
Blue? Why? He probably looks ridiculous. "How'd you pick this color? You have a mirror, right?" he asks, looking around. If there is one, he'll try to get out of bed and examine himself. He wonders if Jim put clothes on him...

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate- Trade Platform

The Nebari's mouth twitches up in a half-smile as she hears the news. "Excellent. What kind of tests would you like?" If they include destroying the suit, she'll have to decline.

"Of course. We have Psycho, Turbo, Cateye, Slasher, Mentats and Fixer. Psycho is an addictive, psychoactive drug, as suggested by its name. It increases aggression, but decreases higher brain function. It can cause dementia, memory loss and misplaced hostility. Turbo speeds all the reactions up, making everything seem slower, but it is the most addictive drug we've got. Cateye causes eye-dilation, and hyperactivity in the rods, or maybe cones; I don't understand the science. It boosts eye sight in the dark, and has no addictive components. Slasher is a mix of Psycho and painkillers, letting somebody hit hard and ignore injuries, as addictive as the Turbo. Mentats boost mental acuity, creativity and intelligent reasoning, though addicts suffer the reverse. Fixer helps addicts recover, permanently neutralising the physical side-effects, and causing temporary disorientation." The Night Queen's Daywalker motions to one of the Khans, who pulls out a collection of injectors, several boxes of pills and a large inhaler from inside his leather vest.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

"The color was randomly selected. Your mind expressed a desire for your new body to look 'different' so no one would mistake it for the old one." Jinn replies, the ethereal standing right behind him, gesturing towards a large mirror nearby. The rest of the room Sam might notice is filled with teddy bears and other cuddly dolls.

Jinn steps back as Sam approaches the mirror. He will feel stronger overall and even if his belly is now partly hiding his legs, he can tell that they're also more muscular. His movements might feel more sluggish however. Once he reaches the mirror he can see that he's larger overall, both in length and width. He's huge. Not to mention those four arms. His face looks slightly different too, you'd have to look hard to see it's him. (His player can decide the details.)

"Is this to your satisfaction? There are also a great deal of improvements that aren't visible. I'll give you a list of them."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

As Sam throws off the covers, he takes a moment to look in horror at his big, round belly. He pats it in disbelief, and finds the rather unfamiliar feeling of fat under his fingers. Shaken, he hops off the bed and lumbers over to the mirror. His hair's gotten a bit more blueish to go with his skin and his nose more wide and upturned, along with a few differences in the shape of his eyes and head. Though since the body is brand new he now has perfectly clean teeth, and straight ones at that!
He pokes at his belly, and his slightly flabby pecs, but it seems that despite his rather round appearance, he at least has a lot of muscle underneath it. That's...manageable, he supposes. It could have been worse; now he can get a good job lifting things. He tries to look at Jinn to get a scope of how big he's gotten. And judging from his reflection, his feet are still normal, so he didn't go off and do that, too. Just out of curiosity, he lifts his shirt to see if whatever process they used to make this body still left a belly-button

"I'd like that list. I don't know, Jinn. I'm flat broke. I don't know if I'm going to be able to feed myself when I'm this big, let alone buy a whole new wardrobe for all of this." he says, shaking a hand at his torso. His voice sounds the same to his ears, but due to the size increase it's probably a lot deeper to people listening. "And are you sure there's no health issues with this body? I look downright fat."
Sorry, Sam, but "look" is a bit misleading. "I am" would have been a more appropriate phrase.

[Shadowcaller]

Fluffy Room

Jinn looks up from his/her wrist computer for just a moment. "I have other models. But the 'fat' was to include the other features I included." The ethereal presses a button and a long list of holographic features is projected from the computer so that Sam may see it.
The list features and improve immunity system, a more effective metabolism (which really should make him thinner, not fatter), improved nightvision, less need for sleep... among other features that we can decide on.
"I could make you another body though if you're not satisfied with this one. As I said, there are other models I prepared you might want to have a look at. Of course, we should decide what to do with your old body first. It's still sleeping in the other room."

[Deathkeeper]

Fluffy Room

Sam raises an eyebrow.
"So I have to be fat to include all that stuff? I guess that would make it worth it...
The body? If my original dna is on record and I can just get a straight copy of it whenever I'd need, I don't think there's any use for it. Yeah, I think I should look at the other bodies though. I think this one might be too big." he says hesitantly.

[Darkcomet]

[Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform]

"A set of scans, an examination by our engineers, that sort of thing. Nothing destructive-we're not AS." Even the other two Syndicate factions seem to be distancing themselves from their allies'...activities here. "As for the drugs..." The representative pauses in thought for a moment. "I believe we may be able to find a use for the combat drugs. The Psycho, Turbo, and Slasher, specifically, plus the Fixer to be safe." One wonders what this guy's idea is. "Less so the cateye and mentats-technology obsoletes the former and we prefer to keep our thinkers sober."

Knowing Big MT, they're probably right.

[Earl of Purple]

Chimera Syndicate Trade Platform

"Then we have a deal." The Nebari will not let it out of her sight, though. She doesn't want them to swap it with an inferior copy.

"I'm glad to hear it." He also places an order for two hundred of the basic laser rifles, an appropriate amount of ammunition (I have no idea how much is needed or wanted, but enough to last a hundred such rifles for at least a week), one of the missile launchers and four of the HL-24 laser cannons, and sorting out the amount of drugs Chimera wants to buy.

Each of the Khans will place an order for a Gauss pistol, ammunition, and power packs.

[Zefir]

[Arkant's Factory]

"So what are these groups exactly? What names do they go by? We need any information that you have on them." Cessie asks.

Metallic Room

"Excellent. I'll start the procedure immediately then." Jinn takes up a mask which she/he will attempt to put over Sam's mouth. "So just relax, this won't take long." If Sam doesn't protest, he will be out of it in a manner of seconds.

-Later-

Sam will wake up in what appears to be a different room, quite unlike the one he fell asleep in. The wallpaper is pink with white clouds and there are fluffy sheeps floating around near the ceiling. They appear to be some kind of illusion. Sam seems to be laying in a bed with blue covers. "How are you feeling?" He can suddenly hear Jinn's voice.

[Arkant's Factory]

"I can give you the papers. We just just know they seem to kidnapp people and sell them. Whatever they do futher is not at our knowledge." Arkant says. "The reports contain all the informations we got. Sadly we can just assume when people got caught."

((Note I just waited if anyone wants to play a groupe so I leave the names open))