Inside 65: A Very Busy Intersection

[Westhart]

Liadi blinks for a moment, er guard barely dropping. So... Alright then, what are you doing here? She goes to pick up the whip, making sure there's no traps attached to it or anything.

Why are you staying out here in the middle of nowhere? Her face is confused, and now she tries to eye it, looking at the shadow and anything else that an illusionist or trickster may forget.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court]

Right, prep time is a go.

Down moves swiftly and urgently, collecting a small number of particular armaments somewhere near the counter (where presumably the ammo is also stored).
Something she's familiar with: a typical energy discharge weapon. Something she's very familiar with: a hoof gauntlet of sorts with energy integration.
Something she's less familiar with but understands the usage of: a small flamethrower.

Presuming the establishment actually has all of these, they will be neatly procured and laid out along the counter, whereupon she is going to have to snag the shopkeeper's attention away from the...whatever the other guest is.
Polite attempts first, smiles and expectant looks for attendance.
Less polite inquiries for urgent, potentially emergecy-staving aid if polite fails.

Not enough time to wait for the other patron to be serviced, if it's going to take more than the little time she expects to have.

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

Hmm...

Well.

It doesn't appear as though anyone is going to be opposing these goings on, thankfully. And before Down finishes gathering all her things, that weird bipedal critter leaves, too! How fortunate. He'll trot over to Down and eye the collection of tools. "My! That's quite the arsenal, miss. Planning on hunting some big game?"

That's probably a euphemism for something.

Or maybe there are just giant monsters around here that would require gear like that to explode?

"Is there anything I can help you out with?"

He seems normal enough for an earth pony. Except without all the emaciation and irradiation Down might be typically accustomed to.

Sunder still hasn't returned. It'll probably be a while yet.

[Forested Park]

Upon picking up the whip, our hero will feel a strange compulsion to pick up the chair as well. What happens next will depend largely on how they respond to this effect.

"Oh, you know, just sitting in a cage. Getting abused now and again for the enjoyment of a bunch of jerks," the lion replies. "You didn't follow that clown in here, did you? This is his turf."

[Westhart]

Liadi blinks at the compulsion a hand slipping on to the chair before she shakes her head slightly and sits down. What do you know about the clown? Also, why we're at it would you like to get out of here?

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court]

Small urge to say something snide and unpleasant about the big game comment...contained.
"I am desperately hoping I don't have to, but you wouldn't believe the week I've had."

Or. Well. Maybe you would.
But Down has this slim little hope that maybe she isn't completely and utterly screwed, in which case the salespony has no earthly idea.
That would be nice.

"I do have a few questions for you though, if you wouldn't mind. First off, you do sell ammunition or energy packs for these weapons yes?"
And could possibly indicate where they are located?
"Additionally, I would be rather grateful if I could borrow a lighter for like...half an hour. Or so. Maybe less if my week is looking up. Also a thin rag."

This all sounds like she really wants to commit arson and perhaps this thought occurs to her...because she puts on an awkwardly large, hopeful smile a moment later.

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

The clerk laughs at that. "Oh, I can probably believe it. Just the other week, I had someone-" someone? Must be a generic way of referring to a range of races rather than just ponies. "-in here after an automatic stake-launcher. I guess there was some outlying village being harassed by a gaggle of half-red dragon vampire trolls."

That sounds pretty terrible. In fact, any one of those three things would probably be terrible. But then you to go and combine them into something especially bad.

"Of course we sell ammo! What kind of equipment shop wouldn't?" the clerk replies. "We keep it locked up in the back, though. We've got a two-for-one deal going right now on hyper-capacitor cells, if you're interested. High energy density, fast recharge, and great for dumping one huge buck into a single shot."

Useful for exploding large things! Fun for the whole family, no doubt.

An eyebrow is raised at that last request.

"Why? Looking to start a revolution?"

[Forested Park]

"I would be pretty okay with getting out of here, yeah," the lion replies. "But you would need a key to the cage. And the clown has the key."

That's potentially problematic.

"He's a fae of some kind, a pretty powerful one. I don't know how long he's had me locked up here, but he hasn't been very nice about it."

[Westhart]

Liadi shakes her head, and holds up a lockpick, which changes to a stiletto, which changes to a coin. She touches the lock, attempting to morph it into a small U shape. This should work... I Think.

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court]

You know, that might not be entirely inaccurate.
"Starting a revolution". Although that would imply that there is a force she can rally to the cause, that wasn't just her desperately trying to avoid death for a few extra seconds and causing tremendous collateral damage in the process.

Down's awkward smile becomes slightly more forced.
"Um. No?"

In an effort to escape how enormously damning that answer probably is, she quickly skitters off to the prior topic.
"Those hyper cells...how much wear and tear do they inflict on weapons they're used with?"
Typically, in her experience, overcharged cells of the sort she's used to have a tendency to break her guns. Or melt them. Or in one instance make them explode.

[Lazorath]

[Leaving Library]

Mia nods. "I haven't interacted with such civilisations as well." she says. "You should speak to someone befro you go so you learn their general rules."

"That would be wise," Veya nods, "maybe someone from Vigil could help me with that, but we have an ancient creature to defeat, and an island to repair before I do that. How many people do you think would accompany us on the journey to get the power core?"

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

"Depends on the weapon they're being used with," the clerk replies thoughtfully. "They're amazing with electrical discharge weapons, like an electro-laser or your power-hoof there. They don't work so well with traditional laser weapons, though."

In other words?

Great for zappy.

Not so great for blasty.

"Do you mind if I ask what sort of trouble you'll be shooting?" the clerk inquires. "I might be able to make some suggestions for you."

Suggestions are always nice!

And not even a little bit suspicious.

Sunder, meanwhile, has gotten home. She's now trying to figure out where the inventory space on Down's armor is.

[Forested Park]

The lock itself wavers slightly, but doesn't actually change. Our hero will get the distinct impression that should have worked. In fact, she'll be met with the idea that it worked without any physical evidence that anything changed. It's like what is and what ought to be aren't syncing up properly. Too bad elves don't dream, otherwise she might recognize this incongruity effect as being one of the hallmarks of frustrating dream logic.

[Westhart]

Liadi shakes her head and then stands up, looking around. This is... strange to say the least. She pulls out a long stiletto, made of cold iron. Well, I haven't had to use one of these in a long time... As she says this she breaths on the blade, which leaps to life, the runes flaming with a cold blue fire. If someone wants to fight, its a fight they'll get. She looks around trying to find the clown but if she doesn't see him she intend on heading outside, of course reassuring the poor lion... Wait, what if the lion is the clown? Liadi shakes her head, dismissing the dark thoughts and everything else they bring, steeling herself against the memory, and something on her left wrist flares momentarily, although what isn't clear under her coat. Se shakes her head and continues looking around the room.

[Shadowcaller]

[The suburbs of Inside]

A old-looking car comes driving down the sunny streets of suburban nexus. Sticking out of a window is a goblin with cellphone that looks severely over-sized for him.
"Okay... but are you sure we're in the right place? This, is, uh... right. Okay, okay. We'll see to that then." He says before hanging up, placing the phone on the dashboard of the car. "They apparently want us to cruise around in the suburbs." He says, throwing his hands in the air as he looks at the gnoll in the driver seat. "Apparently this place is great for business." He gestures at the peaceful environment around them. "I mean, what are they paying those wind-rags for?"

His companion seems unconcerned however and keeps her eyes on the road, the slouch hat that sits upon the slouch hat nearly pulled down all the way to block the gazing sun overhead. "It's 'she' you know. 'Ishmat identifies as female."

Her companion blinks. "Okay...? Why should I care what those freak identifies as, I thought it was heretical in their society or something."

"Yeah, but we just got the freaks in Skyside." The gnoll continues with eyes still on the road. "But really, I know these places, I grew up in one after all. It's all perfect on the surface but once you scratch it, well, then you find a lot of potential customers." The car suddenly slows down as the gnoll tips up her slouch hat with one claw. "Like here, for instance."

Her goblin looks skeptical as he stares ahead. "Uh, really? Isn't that a little..."

"It's perfect." The gnoll driver insists as she gazes upon the high school.

It was time to get to work.

-------------------------------------------------

There is a new drug on the streets of Inside, mainly popular among young people. It is known simply as "Echo" and is praised by its users for not causing any long-lasting side-effects, simply a high that can last for an hour after inhaling it.
But while this positive trait can make it seem better than other drugs, the addiction can still ruin lives, especially for people still going to school.

What is also worrying is that these drugs appears to be sold by a group known as "KABAL" which only have been active in Skyside until now. They are standing around in various areas of Inside, selling the infamous (or famous) drug. Their numbers mostly made out of gnolls and goblins, but there are also a few humans and small rock-like creatures that call themselves "gnomes". Apparently their group is nearly only for races that start with a "G".

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court]

More oomph in the powerhooves would actually be pretty nice. The splatter she was getting off of Red wasn't nearly satisfying enough.
Mostly because Red kept moving afterwards.

Now here Down has a slight predicament to consider. If the shopkeeper is actually clean, they might have valuable information on what specifically might be useful here. She doesn't recognize most of these weapons, although she can guess the functions of a few.
But then again, if the shopkeeper isn't clean...then we have an instant problem.

Or, perhaps...a test case?

After taking a subtle step away under the pretense of examining another nearby weapon, she elects to answer.
"A possibly endless horde of shapeshifting abominations disguised as acquaintances, which typically only respond to heat-based attacks."


Meanwhile, by Down's armor!
The correct answer to how the storage works is more or less "magic". Down doesn't know either. There's a hatch along the side, that somehow compartmentalizes a lot of materials into a very minute amount of space, that she tries very hard not to think on very much.
Although at the moment it really only has said "money". The suit chomped up most everything else to keep her and itself functional.

Given a bit of pushing and pulling, Sunder can probably crack it open sooner than later.

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

The clerk wrinkles his nose. "Shape shifters? Like... malevolent fae? Or are we talking mimics like that alien in The Thing?"

There's that movie again.

An involuntary shudder from the clerk. "That movie gave me nightmares when I was a colt. The scene with the dogs was just... ugh..."

Just awful. The whole movie was a pretty distinct brand of awful.

"If you're dealing with eighties sci-fi horror monsters, I think I've got something special that would beat the horseshoes off a flame thrower, one sec," he says before trotting off into the back. A minute or two later, he'll return with a rather fancy, boxy looking rifle. He plunks it on the counter in front of Down. "This is a phaser rifle, it's a human-made weapon. Nasty thing. They've got a pretty wide array of functions and firing types, but the most important thing they can do is absolutely denigrate stuff by disrupting atomic cohesion. Even against a big gribbly, you could reliably reduce it to some stray wisps of plasma. They're a real energy hog, though."

Huh.

Sounds a lot like a sparkle beam. Except with the option to use more power and get an absolutely guaranteed dusting.

"But they've also got a wide-dispersion stun setting. That can disrupt the nervous system of a whole room worth of monsters at once. And when you have them all flopped on the ground, it makes it a whole lot easier to finish them off."

Non-lethal options, too? That's pretty great.

"The stun effect doesn't work so well on things that aren't actually alive, though. It wouldn't get you much mileage against an elemental or a zombie or whatever."

Meanwhile!

After quite a bit of swearing at the armor (thankfully without breaking anything) Sunder manages to get into it! She'll start heading back to the shop with money in hoof.

[Forested Park]

The clown doesn't appear to be around anywhere. Not inside this particular tent, at least.

Our hero steps outside and finds... well... this isn't where she came in at. Not in the least. Not a clearing in a forest. She's instead surrounded by an honest to goodness carnival. Ferris wheels, merry go rounds, game booths, a roller-coaster looming in the distance, an unnecessarily creepy looking fun house. The works. Heavy mist hangs in the air, obscuring sight beyond a few hundred feet. All the sounds and smells of a fair fill the air, off-beat carnival music. Whirling rides. The low din of hundreds of conversations mingled with laughter. But no one appears to be here. At most, there's the vague impression of people, hazy moving shapes. But nothing more. The place is absolutely empty.

A deep dread hangs over this place, far thicker than the mist.

[Westhart]

Liadi moves through this surreal nightmare in a slight daze, blinking rapidly, hugging herself, looking around This stopped being funny a while ago... After wandering a while she gives a shiver, and decides maybe she better go back to the tent where the lion was at, maybe talk with him a bit, it couldn't be worse then this... could it?

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court]

Were Down such an individual, she might be compelled to kiss the shopkeeper.

Instead she just does a really weird sort of cooing, as if the weapon was a particularly adorable fuzzy animal.

She has no idea what a human is, or what phasers are, but she knows what the vast majority of the rest of the description meant and it makes this weapon quite attractive.
It reminds her a bit of the rumors of a handful of super energy weapons floating around, that reduce everything they fire upon to ash without fail. Only...bigger? And with some extras!
Including one very particularly convenient extra, that a small voice in the back of her mind says is suspicious, but the rest of her sees as quite the opportunity.

"Tell me more about this stun function. Does it leave targets otherwise unharmed, after it wears off? How does the dispersal aim, is it a wide-set cone?"
Oh she has so many other questions to go with it, but these seem the most immediately prudent.
As it is, with the look on her face, it seems a bit like she's trying to avoid petting the weapon.
"For the actual firing itself, do you have a test fire range? Energy weapons can be...odd with their shots occasionally, and it would be nice to know ahead of time."

[Rebonack]

[Carousel Court]

Ah, now there's the expression that makes the clerk's job worth while.

When a customer is so happy to see the perfect weapon they practically purr over it.

"I hear they wake up with a nasty headache, but otherwise yeah. It's one of the best non-lethal weapons around if that's what you're going for," the clerk replies. "And the stun function can be fired anywhere from a wide cone to a tight beam. The weapon has a built in range-finder computer system that will calculate optimal beam dispersion for the coverage of the shot you're after. Wider is going to have less range, of course."

Of course.

"And of course we have a range. What kind of equipment shop do you take us for?" the clerk replies as he motions for Down to follow him. "The phaser will be locked in the 'heat' function while it's being used in the range. Don't want my back wall getting disintegrated."

That seems like a pretty reasonable concern.

Meanwhile!

Sunder is in the process of flying back! She'll probably arrive in a few minutes.

[Creepy Carnival]

Nothing will stop her from retreating back into the tent. The lion is still there, looking exactly as listless and utterly without hope as he was last time. "Hey. Guess you realized you aren't in Kansas anymore, huh?" he says with an absolutely mirthless laugh.

That isn't encouraging at all. Perhaps following the clown onto his own turf alone wasn't the best plan of action?

[Chaotic Bob]

[Carousel Court]

Down has feelings towards this weapon she is not entirely sure she has felt towards anything else before.
Mostly platonic feelings. Mostly.

Anyway! Things other than feelings towards the largely inanimate object!
Like how suspiciously perfect that stun function seems to be for preventing Operation "Accidentally" Burn Down the Store.
Let's not think about that.

She quickly scoots after the clerk, finding a grain of seriousness with the prospect of test-firing the gun. She likely does not have a lot of time left here.
"This should work for getting a feel of how things work. Now, does the stun function also have a visual effect so that I know what I'm doing?"
And will I be able to test that, too? is the followup thought to that process.

[Zefir]

"That would be wise," Veya nods, "maybe someone from Vigil could help me with that, but we have an ancient creature to defeat, and an island to repair before I do that. How many people do you think would accompany us on the journey to get the power core?"

[On the way]

"I guess only 1-2, maybe 3 others will come with us." That's mostly based on the fact that more people in fighting scenes cause it to need more time.
"Also the island is not broken. It never had an engine to move around. I was just giving it that. In fact we could as well tame an ancient wind crature and use it to drag the island around if we would find onw." She says the last part with a smile. She isn't 100% seriouse there.

[Westhart]

Liadi looks at the Lion, "I don't suppose you'd no a way back eh?"

[Mee]

Blue Zone Markets

Iamar shakes her head and looks back towards Naku. "I can't help but wonder what made you run in such a manner for so long. Is it for fun? I suppose people choose stranger forms of entertainment around here... and if it is how you prefer to get around, then I cannot tell you to cease."

Blue Zone Markets

Naku shrugs, almost slightly embarrassed. "It's good exercise, I suppose. And it just helps me clear my head after a long day. It always feels nice getting to stretch your legs, I found." Naku's never really thought about it; she used to run a lot, back 'home'. But that was because she had to, it was a good half of her job. She doesn't need to run any more.
But now it was running for the fun of the running, for the joy of feeling free. And that made it better.

[Morty]

[Theatre]

One evening, a goblin and a bunny-girl will be leaving the cinema, having seen "Wings of Love and Wrath", a film about a warrior-princess who fought dragons, but also fell in love with one. Condemned by critics for its trite, cliche-filled plot, stilted dialogue and over-reliance on elaborate fight scenes, it's nevertheless popular.

"That was great, wasn't it?" Iknika asks, looking up at Claire with a big, toothy grin.

[Devixer]

Blue Zone Markets

"To clear your head... Yes, I think I understand. I may not do the same as you, but I have my own ways of clearing away the events of the day." Iamar closes her eyes and nods once. "I do not think you will be catching me running across and between buildings any time soon, but I am glad you find enjoyment in it."

[Gullara]

[Theatre]

"Uh yeah, it was pretty fun." Claire says diplomatically. She never would have seen that movie on her own, but that's not really the point. "There's a lotta actors in that movie I wouldn't have expected. Some big names." Who even knows why they're in this movie, though.

[Devixer]

[The suburbs of Inside]

A old-looking car comes driving down the sunny streets of suburban nexus. Sticking out of a window is a goblin with cellphone that looks severely over-sized for him.
"Okay... but are you sure we're in the right place? This, is, uh... right. Okay, okay. We'll see to that then." He says before hanging up, placing the phone on the dashboard of the car. "They apparently want us to cruise around in the suburbs." He says, throwing his hands in the air as he looks at the gnoll in the driver seat. "Apparently this place is great for business." He gestures at the peaceful environment around them. "I mean, what are they paying those wind-rags for?"

His companion seems unconcerned however and keeps her eyes on the road, the slouch hat that sits upon the slouch hat nearly pulled down all the way to block the gazing sun overhead. "It's 'she' you know. 'Ishmat identifies as female."

Her companion blinks. "Okay...? Why should I care what those freak identifies as, I thought it was heretical in their society or something."

"Yeah, but we just got the freaks in Skyside." The gnoll continues with eyes still on the road. "But really, I know these places, I grew up in one after all. It's all perfect on the surface but once you scratch it, well, then you find a lot of potential customers." The car suddenly slows down as the gnoll tips up her slouch hat with one claw. "Like here, for instance."

Her goblin looks skeptical as he stares ahead. "Uh, really? Isn't that a little..."

"It's perfect." The gnoll driver insists as she gazes upon the high school.

It was time to get to work.

-------------------------------------------------

There is a new drug on the streets of Inside, mainly popular among young people. It is known simply as "Echo" and is praised by its users for not causing any long-lasting side-effects, simply a high that can last for an hour after inhaling it.
But while this positive trait can make it seem better than other drugs, the addiction can still ruin lives, especially for people still going to school.

What is also worrying is that these drugs appears to be sold by a group known as "KABAL" which only have been active in Skyside until now. They are standing around in various areas of Inside, selling the infamous (or famous) drug. Their numbers mostly made out of gnolls and goblins, but there are also a few humans and small rock-like creatures that call themselves "gnomes". Apparently their group is nearly only for races that start with a "G".

Lots of strange looks are thrown Cassidy's way when she's on her morning roadwork here. She supposes it makes sense. These neighborhoods were for the most middle of the middle class in Inside, and a woman practically covered in tattoos running down the road was far from a common sight. Combine that with the recent rumor of some new drugs on the streets, and people tended to treat her with suspicion. She just rolled her eyes every time and kept on jogging. This was a good route for her run, after all, with plenty of hills and valleys to test her stamina further.

But even as she ran, she couldn't help but think about that group that was selling the stupid wonder drug (Yeah, right.) People like that were nothing new to her at all. There was always some chemist back home that had something new to peddle to the homeless. She tended to turn a blind eye to that, but these people were selling to kids, and that disgusted even her.

She shook her head and kept on jogging on the sidewalk. It wasn't like there was much she could do about it.

[Mee]

Blue Zone Markets

"To clear your head... Yes, I think I understand. I may not do the same as you, but I have my own ways of clearing away the events of the day." Iamar closes her eyes and nods once. "I do not think you will be catching me running across and between buildings any time soon, but I am glad you find enjoyment in it."

Blue Zone Market

"Oh, um, t-thank you." Naku replies, her cheeks flushing with juuust a hint of color. Why, she'll never know. But they do. "What-what do you usually do? If you don't mind me asking."

[Shadowcaller]

[The suburbs of Inside]

As Cassidy jogs past, she might notice a strange blue holographic eyes floating at streetlight level nearby, staring right at her.
Somehow, this also brings the attention of one of the gnoll drug dealers who glances at her as she is running past. She gives her the evil eye as the other one, a gleeful goblin is handing over some drug to a elven girl that couldn't be older than 16.

The drug dealers have certainly seen her now. But she is just another person in the crowd, right?

[Devixer]

Blue Zone Market
Iamar notes the color on Naku's cheeks, but makes little note of it. There was no way it had anything to do with her.

"I read, mostly. I meditate when I can. Sometimes I take walks late in the night, listening to the sounds." There were other things too, but Iamar wasn't about to tell of those.

The Suburbs of Inside

Cassidy's eyes flit to the holograms staring at her, then at the gnoll, then the goblin pony putting a kid on their cash sheets. They didn't recognize her, did they? She was a member of MERC, but she'd been laying low ever since she crossed the Red Samurai. They couldn't recognize her from that, there was no way. But still...

Cass took stock of the situation. She didn't have any of her weapons on her - in fact, they were at least five miles away, depending on how far she'd jogged today. But she could definitely still put the paces on some street punks with only a little bit of tech. For now, she just keeps right at her roadwork. Watching these jackasses ruin lives set her teeth on edge, but beating them down by a school wouldn't solve anything.

[Mee]

Blue Zone Market
Iamar notes the color on Naku's cheeks, but makes little note of it. There was no way it had anything to do with her.

"I read, mostly. I meditate when I can. Sometimes I take walks late in the night, listening to the sounds." There were other things too, but Iamar wasn't about to tell of those.

Blue Zone Markets

"Reading is good. There are a lot of wonderful books. And late night is the best time to take walks." Naku went for a lot of walks herself in the middle of the night. And runs. And just to go exercise.

She liked the dark okay.

[Shadowcaller]

The Suburbs of Inside

Neither the eye, nor the drug dealers attempt to stop her as she passes. But the eye does follow her with its gaze as she jogs away until she is completely out of sight.
As she is finishing her run, she also sees another eye, or possibly the same one, but this one is simply floating past without paying any attention to her.